Book Reviews
From the sublime to the ridiculous.
I've been on a reading kick lately, and since I'm a blogger I know you're all dying to know what I think about whatever. So here are some (very) short reviews:
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
A fascinating story by the father of science fiction. Part nature documentary, part high-seas adventure, it's kind of like a 19th-century underwater Star Trek. Highly recommended.
Bartleby The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street - Herman Melville
Funny short story about the passive-aggressive office worker that won't be pushed around, and the power of behavioral precedent. It has a poignant touch to it, too. Good story.
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
A popular classic is both for good reasons, one of those stories where you can call it "heartwarming" without being just an over-used cliche. Read it.
Daemon - Daniel Suarez
It's about a dying brilliant computer game programmer that takes revenge on the world by writing what is both the ultimate virus and the ultimate computer game. What's really scary is that all of the technology in the story exists. It's totally possible! I do believe this will get made into a movie, and there is a sequel on the way. Highly recommended for nerds, geeks, other techies, or paranoid conspiracy theorists.
The Zombie Survival Guide - Max Brooks
The son of Mel Brooks writes the ultimate survival guide on how to survive the coming zombie apocalypse. Hint: be prepared, and aim for the head. Great dry humor.
A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking
A summary of physics from the Greeks to string theory, this book is basically a recap of how man has tried to understand the workings of the universe. It's well-written and easy to understand, although it's a little frustrating for someone like me who knows enough about the topics to have serious questions, which to answer would require detail well beyond the scope of this book. Oh, and he repeats the usual nonsense about Gallileo (Church vs. Science!). I have the original 1988 edition, so I don't know if this was corrected along with the changes made in later editions. Still, everybody should read this book.
Sort of Harry Potter meets Star Wars meets The Box of Delights, it's one of the most imaginative stories I've read, it's hard to figure out exactly which genre it's in. Maybe fantasy, maybe sci-fi? The characters are interesting, and it's just impossible to tell where the story is going to go. One of the characters can move and see in four dimensions, which presented some difficulty for me since I visualize everything I read. It also has the most ominous line I've read lately: "Prepare the thousand-dimensional object!" Recommended.
Watchmen - Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons
Who reads the Watchmen? I did, and it was actually pretty good. I had read the whole debate about the book vs. the movie, and I already knew most of the plot (including the ending), but it was still very interesting. What you get out of the story depends on your world view. The point of view of the story is very nihilistic and cynical, although the characters are quite deep and draw you in. I thought the ending was disappointing, in part because I don't see the universe in the way the author portrays it in this story, although as a whole I enjoyed reading the book. Although I haven't seen the movie, from what I've heard it's much much more violent than the comic. The worst violence in the comic is described or implied, and not depicted. And Nixon isn't portrayed as evil (he's hardly portrayed at all). Recommended for those who are interested.
Currently reading:
The Night Land - William Hope Hodgson
Set one million years in the future when the sun has burnt out (written in 1910, they didn't how long it would actually last back then), one of the last survivors of the human race sets out across a land of perpetual darkness to rescue his beloved. It's very atmospheric, early sci-fi, and I'm only halfway through it, so don't tell me how it comes out.
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A fellow geek chastised me for not having read Ender's Game, so I just started that one today. I don't have anything to say about it yet. Don't spoil it!
