I read this book quickly and it didn't give me any reason to think deeply about anything.
I will say, though, that it was much better than I thought it would be. It doesn't have the same depth as the first book, but it's still on OK read. After reading Dune I saw a quote from Herbert: "The bottom line of the Dune trilogy is: beware of heroes." The second book makes a little more sense if you keep that in mind.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The Ghost in Love by Carroll
This is a weird novel.
I guess you could say it's two stories at the same time - the story of a breakup and the story of man's interactions with his own self and life cycle.
It's hard to describe much without spoilers, because it is one heck of a weird story. There are ghosts, talking dogs, time travel, near-death experiences, and all manner of odd and cheesy-sounding characters and plots. But, for the most part it works.
The best reason I can give to recommend this book is that this is the type of book I usually hate but I finished it in an evening and was quite moved by it. The plot is kinda stupid, and the last 10% of the book feels utterly ridiculous while reading it. However, the way Carroll describes small things about people, the way they choose to express sadness and the way they store and talk about their memories, was great. I really felt like I could feel the heartbreak or joy of the characters. For that reason alone it's worth a read, as long as one isn't expecting anything else.
I guess you could say it's two stories at the same time - the story of a breakup and the story of man's interactions with his own self and life cycle.
It's hard to describe much without spoilers, because it is one heck of a weird story. There are ghosts, talking dogs, time travel, near-death experiences, and all manner of odd and cheesy-sounding characters and plots. But, for the most part it works.
The best reason I can give to recommend this book is that this is the type of book I usually hate but I finished it in an evening and was quite moved by it. The plot is kinda stupid, and the last 10% of the book feels utterly ridiculous while reading it. However, the way Carroll describes small things about people, the way they choose to express sadness and the way they store and talk about their memories, was great. I really felt like I could feel the heartbreak or joy of the characters. For that reason alone it's worth a read, as long as one isn't expecting anything else.
Religious Literacy by Prothero
I really enjoyed this book because it had a significant effect on my understanding of US history.
This book is divided into three sections. The first part, "The Problem" gives data and anecdotes to support the author's claim that Americans have no clue about religion. It had a bit of a "preaching to the choir" feel to it.
The second part, "The Past", was the most interesting for me. It lays out a brief history of how religion and religious education has changed in the US over time. I had no idea about a lot of it, and it explained a lot of things about American Christianity that confused me.
The third part, "The Proposal", gives the author's plan for reversing the effect of history along with a short dictionary of religious terms that one should be familiar with as an American citizen. I found the dictionary interesting to read through (this coming from a girl who used to read the encyclopedia for fun as a child), and I liked how Prothero explained why the term was important to American politics/society.
All in all I'm glad I read it, though I could have done without most of it. Anyway, I plan on checking out some of the references for more in-depth explanations.
This book is divided into three sections. The first part, "The Problem" gives data and anecdotes to support the author's claim that Americans have no clue about religion. It had a bit of a "preaching to the choir" feel to it.
The second part, "The Past", was the most interesting for me. It lays out a brief history of how religion and religious education has changed in the US over time. I had no idea about a lot of it, and it explained a lot of things about American Christianity that confused me.
The third part, "The Proposal", gives the author's plan for reversing the effect of history along with a short dictionary of religious terms that one should be familiar with as an American citizen. I found the dictionary interesting to read through (this coming from a girl who used to read the encyclopedia for fun as a child), and I liked how Prothero explained why the term was important to American politics/society.
All in all I'm glad I read it, though I could have done without most of it. Anyway, I plan on checking out some of the references for more in-depth explanations.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Dune by Herbert
I read this book before, maybe ten years ago, and have counted it among my favorites ever since. Reading through a second time, I realized how many things I missed in my first reading and that this book is a lot more interesting than I thought. In my younger years, my skills as a reader and a thinker were not as good, and rereading Dune reminds me of my desire to reread many of the books I read in my teen years. Also, it supports my belief that young people shouldn't be urged to ingest literature before they are capable of getting something out of it. (Even better example: The Scarlet Letter.)
One thing that is done very well in this book is the balance between plot and description. This is one of my personal pet peeves about so many writers, that they provide so many details to set a scene or establish a mood but I as a reader don't feel convinced that they are worth my time and energy to take in. Also I feel that the reader should be given the freedom of a little wiggle room for the imagination; if the details are not relevant, then the author does the reader a disservice by fixing them. In many books I skip/skim a paragraph if I realize that it's describing a character looking at a fence, or describing the room in which a meeting takes place, or some other stupid little thing. In Dune, I really felt like I received a rich setting, and I could easily imagine in my mind the places and people in the novel, but I wasn't bogged down. Somehow the writer earned my trust that each paragraph was worth reading, and I did very little skimming.
I also enjoyed the subtle politics and relationships that are a central part of this book. What does it take to deceive someone? What does it take to inspire perfect loyalty? When does logical reaction to the odds turn into treachery? When does a man stop being a son, lover, warrior and start being his own legend?
A couple negative things: the book is very heavy on its internal system of religion, legend, and prophecy, which can be a bit tedious at times. The end was not satisfying, it seems clear that Herbert had the sequels in mind when he finished this book. I haven't read the sequels before, but I will, even though I'm always a little afraid of reading sequels. If I like the first book enough to want to read the second, I don't want to have my experience of it ruined by a crappy follow-up.
A small note: I noticed he took some things from real existing religions of course, but I wonder how my reaction to his using the word jihad for something in the book is different from the reaction he intended back in the 60s?
One thing that is done very well in this book is the balance between plot and description. This is one of my personal pet peeves about so many writers, that they provide so many details to set a scene or establish a mood but I as a reader don't feel convinced that they are worth my time and energy to take in. Also I feel that the reader should be given the freedom of a little wiggle room for the imagination; if the details are not relevant, then the author does the reader a disservice by fixing them. In many books I skip/skim a paragraph if I realize that it's describing a character looking at a fence, or describing the room in which a meeting takes place, or some other stupid little thing. In Dune, I really felt like I received a rich setting, and I could easily imagine in my mind the places and people in the novel, but I wasn't bogged down. Somehow the writer earned my trust that each paragraph was worth reading, and I did very little skimming.
I also enjoyed the subtle politics and relationships that are a central part of this book. What does it take to deceive someone? What does it take to inspire perfect loyalty? When does logical reaction to the odds turn into treachery? When does a man stop being a son, lover, warrior and start being his own legend?
A couple negative things: the book is very heavy on its internal system of religion, legend, and prophecy, which can be a bit tedious at times. The end was not satisfying, it seems clear that Herbert had the sequels in mind when he finished this book. I haven't read the sequels before, but I will, even though I'm always a little afraid of reading sequels. If I like the first book enough to want to read the second, I don't want to have my experience of it ruined by a crappy follow-up.
A small note: I noticed he took some things from real existing religions of course, but I wonder how my reaction to his using the word jihad for something in the book is different from the reaction he intended back in the 60s?
Don Quixote by Cervantes
This is the first book I purchased with my new audible.com subscription. I thought it would be a good choice for audio because I've already tried to read it and found it way too long-winded to hold my attention. I always wanted to read it though, because of its reputation and importance in the history of literature.
Don Quixote was originally published in two parts in the 1600s. It tells the story of Don Quixote, a dude who decides to be a knight, and his squire Sancho Panza, and all the wacky situations they get themselves into.
The narrator (the reader of the audiobook) actually brings a lot to this - DQ is really funny at times, a fact which was less apparent to me in reading it, and I think it had a lot to do with the voices he chose for the characters and his own accent. It had me feeling like I was listening to a 40-hour episode of Monty Python. Also, I was able to focus on the humor of the story since I didn't feel like I was wasting my life reading unnecessary flowery phrases.
So, once I got into it I realized that DQ is really entertaining. Some of the jokes seemed a bit old and cheesy but this book is about 400 years old and had a huge influence over subsequent media, so of course I wasn't going to see something new.
Beyond the comedy, I really enjoyed the relationship between DQ and Sancho and the way it changes over time. These two characters are very well developed and we see both their goodness and asshattery.
The end was a little disappointing, somehow I expected a little better end for such a well-crafted story, but considering that it's about 2% of the book I can easily forgive it.
All in all I'm glad I finally finished the book, but it's definitely not for the faint of heart, and I won't be reading it again.
Don Quixote was originally published in two parts in the 1600s. It tells the story of Don Quixote, a dude who decides to be a knight, and his squire Sancho Panza, and all the wacky situations they get themselves into.
The narrator (the reader of the audiobook) actually brings a lot to this - DQ is really funny at times, a fact which was less apparent to me in reading it, and I think it had a lot to do with the voices he chose for the characters and his own accent. It had me feeling like I was listening to a 40-hour episode of Monty Python. Also, I was able to focus on the humor of the story since I didn't feel like I was wasting my life reading unnecessary flowery phrases.
So, once I got into it I realized that DQ is really entertaining. Some of the jokes seemed a bit old and cheesy but this book is about 400 years old and had a huge influence over subsequent media, so of course I wasn't going to see something new.
Beyond the comedy, I really enjoyed the relationship between DQ and Sancho and the way it changes over time. These two characters are very well developed and we see both their goodness and asshattery.
The end was a little disappointing, somehow I expected a little better end for such a well-crafted story, but considering that it's about 2% of the book I can easily forgive it.
All in all I'm glad I finally finished the book, but it's definitely not for the faint of heart, and I won't be reading it again.
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