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Book Reviews
- Thread starter Brick
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osubuckeye4
Well-known member
I also enjoyed it, but it felt more like a 'side quest' than a complete novel/novella.
My one real gripe with it is was how unexplored Three's actions (and the potential consequences of those actions) were. Given the page count I wasn't expecting a huge sprawling story like Network Effect... but I did think there was more than enough runway for 25-50 more pages where they got back to Preservation and Mensah filled Murderbot in on the extent of Threes actions and what it means going forward.
Wells has said that she's only contracted for one more Murderbot novel. I think just a little more at the end of this one could have set up an epic final book... which we might still get, but I feel like the first 25-50 pages of it are going to be what should have been the end of this one.
It was a fun short read though and I enjoyed it quite a bit more than System Collapse (though not has much as Network Effect)
I tend to agree; I thought the whole extraction escapade would be the first third to a half of the book and set up something else, but it was the entire book.
Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Set in 1950s Mexico, a pretty Mexican wealthy socialite living a party life in Mexico City gets a disturbing letter from her cousin, who has married into a once prominent but faltering (and slightly off) family in the countryside, so she ventures out to their dilapidated mansion to help her cousin, although help her "with what" she isn't sure. Has all the "Gothic" elements of the title; countryside/creepy manor, dashing strangers, weird happenings, isolated location, misty cemeteries, etc. Very well written story, it starts out quick and keeps up the pace as our heroine tries to figure out what is going on. Supernatural occurrences? Scientific explanation? Or are we just hearing from an unreliable narrator? Good novel and satisfactory finish (won a bunch of awards). I'll probably return to this author at some point.
It was slightly odd, though; I reviewed What Moves the Dead (Ursula Vernon) last year, which was a retelling of Poe's Fall of the House of Usher in which Vernon attempts to layer in more concrete explanations for the paranormal activity that Poe leaves largely unexplained. The odd party is that Vernon and Moreno-Garcia land on virtually identical causes of the strange happenings. Seems at first blatant plagiarism (Vernon's book came out after Mexican Gothic), but as it turns out it was a coincidence, and Vernon was half-way done with What Moves when she learned about MG and almost shelved her project because of the similarities, but instead finished and published and chose to address the similarities head-on and explain the coincidence. I tend to believe her.
It was slightly odd, though; I reviewed What Moves the Dead (Ursula Vernon) last year, which was a retelling of Poe's Fall of the House of Usher in which Vernon attempts to layer in more concrete explanations for the paranormal activity that Poe leaves largely unexplained. The odd party is that Vernon and Moreno-Garcia land on virtually identical causes of the strange happenings. Seems at first blatant plagiarism (Vernon's book came out after Mexican Gothic), but as it turns out it was a coincidence, and Vernon was half-way done with What Moves when she learned about MG and almost shelved her project because of the similarities, but instead finished and published and chose to address the similarities head-on and explain the coincidence. I tend to believe her.
Tosh
There Can Be Only One
I have this book on my short list, planning to pick it up on the weekend. Appreciate the insightful review.
Cancel Me if You Can, David Portnoy. I'm not a Portnoy/Barstool guy, but I knew enough of his story to get me interested in at least the business aspect of it. Basically, he started a free newspaper on his own from a basement, slowly grew it into a content empire, sold it to Penn National at a $650 million valuation, then bought it back like two years later for $1. Pretty amazing. Some interesting stories in the book, but quite a bit of it is clearly geared toward Barstool "insiders" with references to podcasters and influencers that I've never even heard of but he describes as being the biggest things ever (Pardon My Take? Call Her Daddy? I guy who goes by the actual name "PFT Commenter?" No idea who any of these are). A pretty easy, interesting read overall.
Essential Poker Math: Fundamental No-Limit Hold 'em Mathematics You Need to Know, Alton Hardin. Got this for free via some digital credits with amazon. Not a whole lot knew here for those who have studied this subject; pretty much every poker book has a section on math that covers most of these topics. Still, a good refresher on some things. Poker math is criminally underutilized by most casual players and is a source of huge edge for players like me, so it's always good to keep this particular knife sharpened.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson. Written in 1962 shortly before her death and considered to be her greatest work (you might also have heard of her from The Lottery and The Haunting of Hill House, both of which have been adapted into other media several times), this is a gothic horror novel set in Jackson's contemporaneous timeline (seems like the 50s/60s) in the U.S. Three surviving members of the Blackwood family live in seclusion in an old, once-great house; Uncle Julian and his nieces, Constance and Mary Katherine. These are very odd and eccentric folks, and early exposition tells us that four other family members died of arsenic poisoning six years earlier, with Constance being tried but acquitted resulting in the family being shunned by the rest of the village. Another cousin comes sniffing around eventually, and the story goes from there. Really, really good stuff; this was a great read.
Essential Poker Math: Fundamental No-Limit Hold 'em Mathematics You Need to Know, Alton Hardin. Got this for free via some digital credits with amazon. Not a whole lot knew here for those who have studied this subject; pretty much every poker book has a section on math that covers most of these topics. Still, a good refresher on some things. Poker math is criminally underutilized by most casual players and is a source of huge edge for players like me, so it's always good to keep this particular knife sharpened.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson. Written in 1962 shortly before her death and considered to be her greatest work (you might also have heard of her from The Lottery and The Haunting of Hill House, both of which have been adapted into other media several times), this is a gothic horror novel set in Jackson's contemporaneous timeline (seems like the 50s/60s) in the U.S. Three surviving members of the Blackwood family live in seclusion in an old, once-great house; Uncle Julian and his nieces, Constance and Mary Katherine. These are very odd and eccentric folks, and early exposition tells us that four other family members died of arsenic poisoning six years earlier, with Constance being tried but acquitted resulting in the family being shunned by the rest of the village. Another cousin comes sniffing around eventually, and the story goes from there. Really, really good stuff; this was a great read.
mrducks
Blue Wing
You are a very proficient reader. I don't know how you do it, but I'm a little envious.
Ulf Murphy
Old Man Yelling at Clouds
Easy. Retire.
The Time Machine, H.G. Wells. Written in 1895, this is the first novel of Wells' prolific and visionary writing career (Island of Dr. Moreau, The Invisible Man, War of the Worlds, etc.), this was an early classic of science fiction and far ahead of its time (see what I did there). Set in Victorian England with some early steampunk vibes, a group of aristocrats gather at an inventor's house where he claims to have invented time travel (indeed, it's claimed with this book Wells invented the very term "time machine") and shows them a small working model, which promptly vanishes, presumably into the future. The next week, they all gather again and a disheveled and wounded inventor tells them he's been on a journey through time. The bulk of the book is him describing to his skeptical audience his experience in the future, first at 800,000 years ahead, then much further, and the resulting state of the world and humanity. There seem to be some underlying commentaries by Wells about the growing divide between have and have-not (Wells was a commie), but that is easily ignored in favor of just focusing on a good story. Very quick read; would probably be classified more as novella than novel by modern standards.
Did you read The Time Ships (1995 Novel) by Stephen Baxter? It's a direct sequel to Wells novel. He wrote it with the agreement of the Wells estate to celebrate the 100th anniversary ot The Time Machine. I really liked it. Read it a bunch of times actually.
No, I hadn't heard of that one. I wiki'd it and looks like it was pretty highly regarded; unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be available in my library system, which is odd for such an award-winning book.
Yeah! Highly regarded but so different. A LOT of meat around the bone this time.
Not available on paper or do you use an e-reader? Because I have the EPUB if you want it.
Tosh
There Can Be Only One
SHADOW TICKET by Thomas Pynchon
Set in Milwaukee to begin with, it's 1932 and Hicks McTaggart, relieved of his law enforcement duties, is working as a private investigator.
As with all of Pynchon's work, the dialogue is excellent and the story bizarre. McTaggart beds a sexy red-headed Jessica Rabbitesque chanteuse and, shortly thereafter, is hired by a cheese mafioso to find that same dame, who has gone missing. If you are groaning, I did too. But it's Pynchon, so I read on. McTaggart chases her from Milwaukee to Prague and everywhere in between. Not unlike Inherent Vice, we are introduced to oddball characters and plot twists throughout, as gangsters and crooked cops foil his every move.
It goes along like this, with shadowy criminals and red herrings in plethorial quantities, until. Toward the end, he tries to tie all the characters with their individuals knots into a jumbled, intricate, multi-level plot inside a plot that does not deliver the denouement anticipated. The characters weren't alive enough for me to invest in them, the stories went from brilliant to convoluted and forced.
For a 1930's hard-boiled detective novel, it's too scattered. For Pynchon fans, it's below average, confusing in a bad way. It's like (if you speak more than one language, if not, skip this) when your native tongue is English, but you speak Spanish, and you are carrying on a conversation with a friend in Spanish, then one of his friends happens by and joins the conversation, speaking Spanish also, but with a distinct and heavy Scottish accent. You can follow the conversation, but it is difficult and, at some point, not worth the effort to work so hard to comprehend his prattle.
Set in Milwaukee to begin with, it's 1932 and Hicks McTaggart, relieved of his law enforcement duties, is working as a private investigator.
As with all of Pynchon's work, the dialogue is excellent and the story bizarre. McTaggart beds a sexy red-headed Jessica Rabbitesque chanteuse and, shortly thereafter, is hired by a cheese mafioso to find that same dame, who has gone missing. If you are groaning, I did too. But it's Pynchon, so I read on. McTaggart chases her from Milwaukee to Prague and everywhere in between. Not unlike Inherent Vice, we are introduced to oddball characters and plot twists throughout, as gangsters and crooked cops foil his every move.
It goes along like this, with shadowy criminals and red herrings in plethorial quantities, until. Toward the end, he tries to tie all the characters with their individuals knots into a jumbled, intricate, multi-level plot inside a plot that does not deliver the denouement anticipated. The characters weren't alive enough for me to invest in them, the stories went from brilliant to convoluted and forced.
For a 1930's hard-boiled detective novel, it's too scattered. For Pynchon fans, it's below average, confusing in a bad way. It's like (if you speak more than one language, if not, skip this) when your native tongue is English, but you speak Spanish, and you are carrying on a conversation with a friend in Spanish, then one of his friends happens by and joins the conversation, speaking Spanish also, but with a distinct and heavy Scottish accent. You can follow the conversation, but it is difficult and, at some point, not worth the effort to work so hard to comprehend his prattle.
Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut. Written in 1969, this work of fiction is a semi-autobiographical account of Vonnegut's experiences in WW2 which, like his protagonist, involved being captured by the Germans and present during the firebombing of Dresden. It also involves (which I was not expecting) time travel and alien abduction, albeit from the perspective of a protagonist that can charitably be called "unreliable" but more accurately as "utterly insane." Propped up as one of the greatest anti-war books of all time, I even found the anti-war messaging rather muted. Disturbed by the massive amounts of death? Well, no shit, not exactly a hot take. A good, classic book, but I think I came away feeling a bit underwhelmed given its reputation.
Losing the Nobel Prize, Brian Keating. Keating has been showing up on my radar lately for some reason, I must have listed to a podcast with him on it or something (he sounds familiar) so he's in my algorithm now, and I decided to check out this highly-regarded book. He's a cosmologist who specializes in designing and executing real-life experiments on Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) which is believed to be the key to understanding the very beginnings of the universe itself. The main focus of the book is regarding the infamous multi-year BICEPS2 experiment in which they thought they had discovered a value for base CMB originating from primordial gravitational waves that proved the inflation theory of the early universe (or something like that). This was to be a huge, fundamental discovery that would walk its way into a Nobel Prize. Unwisely, worried about getting scooped by competing experiments and overconfident in their data, they held a press conference to announce their findings prior to full peer-review, and the announcement made international news even outside of science circles, with many experts calling it one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time. Sadly...within weeks an error was found in their calculations, and the signals they found were not from the early universe but from present-day interstellar dust. Whoops. Despite the thick subject matter, the story is pretty compelling and Keating does a good job of keeping it relatively simple, and along the way gives a timeline history of our understanding of the cosmos from Copernicus and Galileo through Einstein and into the modern day. Very good layman's science book.
Losing the Nobel Prize, Brian Keating. Keating has been showing up on my radar lately for some reason, I must have listed to a podcast with him on it or something (he sounds familiar) so he's in my algorithm now, and I decided to check out this highly-regarded book. He's a cosmologist who specializes in designing and executing real-life experiments on Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) which is believed to be the key to understanding the very beginnings of the universe itself. The main focus of the book is regarding the infamous multi-year BICEPS2 experiment in which they thought they had discovered a value for base CMB originating from primordial gravitational waves that proved the inflation theory of the early universe (or something like that). This was to be a huge, fundamental discovery that would walk its way into a Nobel Prize. Unwisely, worried about getting scooped by competing experiments and overconfident in their data, they held a press conference to announce their findings prior to full peer-review, and the announcement made international news even outside of science circles, with many experts calling it one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time. Sadly...within weeks an error was found in their calculations, and the signals they found were not from the early universe but from present-day interstellar dust. Whoops. Despite the thick subject matter, the story is pretty compelling and Keating does a good job of keeping it relatively simple, and along the way gives a timeline history of our understanding of the cosmos from Copernicus and Galileo through Einstein and into the modern day. Very good layman's science book.
The King in Yellow, Robert Chambers. Intrigued by the mentions of Carcosa and the Yellow King in the work of Bierce that I read a bit ago, and having encountered these referred to before in Lovecraft and True Detective, I checked out this series of 10 short stories written in about 1895, most of which tie back to The King in Yellow, a mysterious text that one always takes the risk of going mad upon reading. I liked the first half which had a darker tone of supernatural horror, but the final 3-4 stories kind of abandoned all that and I really didn't get at all. So-so review overall. If you want to check into it, I'd say you can safely read the first 5-6 and enjoy them and skip the rest, which don't really seem to add much to the "mythology."
Through Gates of Garnet and Gold, Seanan McGuire. Entry number 11 in the series of novellas built around a school that houses children that at some point have wandered through doors to other worlds, then find themselves back in the "real" world; their temporary worlds are so fantastical and unlike our reality that they have difficulty reassimilating, and their parents ship them off to this school. This one involves a young lady named Nancy, who in previous stories ended up on a world called Halls of the Dead, then to the school, and eventually back (seemingly permanently) to the Halls. In this story, shit starts going sideways in the Halls of the Dead, so she returns to the school to enlist help from her friends and fellow students to set things right. A very creative story with some interesting concepts.
A Short Stay in Hell, Steven Peck. This was a really interesting read; another novella, so it's relatively quick. Our hero has died, and the story opens with him and a few others seated in front of a desk behind which sits a demon, in purely administrative style, deciding what Hell to send them too. But, they protest, "I was saved by Jesus!" or "I'm a good Mormon who doesn't even drink coffee!" Too bad, says the demon, since none of you adhere to the one true religion, which happens to be Zoroastrianism, lol. (Zoroastrianism is all but extinct religion from Persia founded about 1000 years before Islam). Our hero is sent to a hell that is apparently a nearly endless library -- countless floors, countless stacks of books. The library contains all books that could ever possibly be written, in any combination of characters. Most are just filled with random nonsense characters. Our hero can't get out of hell until he happens to find the book that perfectly describes the story of his entire life. If you run the numbers (and the story does), it's a seemingly impossible task that quickly stretches into mind-boggling scales of time and distance. Really cool story.
Through Gates of Garnet and Gold, Seanan McGuire. Entry number 11 in the series of novellas built around a school that houses children that at some point have wandered through doors to other worlds, then find themselves back in the "real" world; their temporary worlds are so fantastical and unlike our reality that they have difficulty reassimilating, and their parents ship them off to this school. This one involves a young lady named Nancy, who in previous stories ended up on a world called Halls of the Dead, then to the school, and eventually back (seemingly permanently) to the Halls. In this story, shit starts going sideways in the Halls of the Dead, so she returns to the school to enlist help from her friends and fellow students to set things right. A very creative story with some interesting concepts.
A Short Stay in Hell, Steven Peck. This was a really interesting read; another novella, so it's relatively quick. Our hero has died, and the story opens with him and a few others seated in front of a desk behind which sits a demon, in purely administrative style, deciding what Hell to send them too. But, they protest, "I was saved by Jesus!" or "I'm a good Mormon who doesn't even drink coffee!" Too bad, says the demon, since none of you adhere to the one true religion, which happens to be Zoroastrianism, lol. (Zoroastrianism is all but extinct religion from Persia founded about 1000 years before Islam). Our hero is sent to a hell that is apparently a nearly endless library -- countless floors, countless stacks of books. The library contains all books that could ever possibly be written, in any combination of characters. Most are just filled with random nonsense characters. Our hero can't get out of hell until he happens to find the book that perfectly describes the story of his entire life. If you run the numbers (and the story does), it's a seemingly impossible task that quickly stretches into mind-boggling scales of time and distance. Really cool story.
Tosh
There Can Be Only One
Slaughterhouse-Five was underwhelming for me, though parts were wonderful. Kurt Vonnegut said that using semi-colons was lazy writing, with which I strongly disagree. Time and place, though overuse makes tedious reading. Additionally, when I re-read this, it didn't age well.
If you liked "Losing the Nobel Prize," I suggest you try Arthur Koestler's, "The Curious Case of the Midwife Toad," which I reviewed earlier. A parallel tale, but truly fascinating. Scientific cutthroatery at it's cruelist.
Tosh
There Can Be Only One
UP AT THE VILLA by W. Somerset Maugham
Though much better known for his novels, this novella is my favorite of all his works. A cautionary tale that never seems to take, and is as true and relevant today as it was when it was written in 1941. Sure, it's dated and, on the surface, trite. The beauty of good writing is, any subject can be nurtured into words that evoke. So it is with Maugham.
Mary Panton is a vapid, silly, social climbing, beautiful English ex-pat gold digger. It's late in the 1930's. She lives lavishly in the Italian countryside of Florence. She is wooed often, currently by Sir Edgar, recently appointed Governor to a province in India. As with all her beau's, she puts him off, always seeking higher status, greater wealth.
At a party later that evening, she meets and is pursued by the local Cassanova, Rowley Flint, who excites her passion, but who she ultimately shuns as an unacceptable prospect, though she does lead him on by providing him her address.
Driving home, she passes a ragged, broken looking young man, who luckily happens to be quite handsome. He evokes pity and passion, so she invites him into her car, her home, her bed. He tells her his sad story of escaping the horror of Nazi Germany and imminent war. The more he talks, the deeper her pity, and the more sexual her advances become. Karl cannot believe his good fortune, this beautiful, rich woman feeding him with kindness, words of love, gentleness. The night is miraculous for him, and when he wakes in the morning beside her, the story begins.
It's a slim volume, a quick read. I find myself thinking of this story often, particularly when I hear of a murder committed by a young person who kills someone they know, who has been kind to them. People without exposure to the lower classes never can comprehend these stories. How could they do it? Why would they slaughter someone who took them in? Fed them? Counseled them? Middle and Upper classes cannot grasp the humiliation of pity, to a person who craves love and acceptance, but experiences condescension. Words are worthless to a battered, broken kid who is told, "I care so much about you," but, as a feral being, senses, "I feel sorry for you." That is not the story here, but that is what it evokes for me, as that is my experience with the tragedy of rich people trying to help the poor with their platitudes and comfort the poor see right through, and answer with despair and folly.
For so few pages, this tale will pull from you emotions toward or against characters, based upon your own experiences and perceptions.
Though much better known for his novels, this novella is my favorite of all his works. A cautionary tale that never seems to take, and is as true and relevant today as it was when it was written in 1941. Sure, it's dated and, on the surface, trite. The beauty of good writing is, any subject can be nurtured into words that evoke. So it is with Maugham.
Mary Panton is a vapid, silly, social climbing, beautiful English ex-pat gold digger. It's late in the 1930's. She lives lavishly in the Italian countryside of Florence. She is wooed often, currently by Sir Edgar, recently appointed Governor to a province in India. As with all her beau's, she puts him off, always seeking higher status, greater wealth.
At a party later that evening, she meets and is pursued by the local Cassanova, Rowley Flint, who excites her passion, but who she ultimately shuns as an unacceptable prospect, though she does lead him on by providing him her address.
Driving home, she passes a ragged, broken looking young man, who luckily happens to be quite handsome. He evokes pity and passion, so she invites him into her car, her home, her bed. He tells her his sad story of escaping the horror of Nazi Germany and imminent war. The more he talks, the deeper her pity, and the more sexual her advances become. Karl cannot believe his good fortune, this beautiful, rich woman feeding him with kindness, words of love, gentleness. The night is miraculous for him, and when he wakes in the morning beside her, the story begins.
It's a slim volume, a quick read. I find myself thinking of this story often, particularly when I hear of a murder committed by a young person who kills someone they know, who has been kind to them. People without exposure to the lower classes never can comprehend these stories. How could they do it? Why would they slaughter someone who took them in? Fed them? Counseled them? Middle and Upper classes cannot grasp the humiliation of pity, to a person who craves love and acceptance, but experiences condescension. Words are worthless to a battered, broken kid who is told, "I care so much about you," but, as a feral being, senses, "I feel sorry for you." That is not the story here, but that is what it evokes for me, as that is my experience with the tragedy of rich people trying to help the poor with their platitudes and comfort the poor see right through, and answer with despair and folly.
For so few pages, this tale will pull from you emotions toward or against characters, based upon your own experiences and perceptions.