some smart, some don't
Book blogging (mostly)
Perelandra
Jun 11th
Instead of listening to audio books during my daily commute, I have recently been enjoying lectures from The Great Courses. These cover all types of subjects, from classical mythology, to Einstein’s theory of relativity. The one I just finished, however, was a 12 lecture series on the life and writings of C.S. Lewis. I complimented this listening experience by reading Perelandra, the second book in Lewis’s classic Space Trilogy.
I’ve read Perelandra before, as well as a number of Lewis’s other works, but by listening to lectures discussing major themes of his work in general, while simultaneously reading a single work in depth, I was able to enjoy it at a much deeper level. I encourage anyone with the time or opportunity to do something similar.
As for the book itself, Perelandra follows Ransom (a professor of philology) on another interstellar adventure – this time to Venus (or Perelandra). While there, he becomes involved in Perelandra’s own Edenic struggle to resist temptation.
I loved reading Perelandra. Lewis’s ability to make the temptation believable, and compelling, is extremely impressive. In fact, the dialogue of this book is far more exciting than the “action” moments. Full of fascinating ideas, Perelandra is easy for me to recommend – to a certain audience. I can see how many, however, might not enjoy it nearly as much as I have.
First of all, science fiction fans who aren’t interested in Lewis’s Christian theology would find this book endlessly frustrating. Lewis makes no attempt to hide the Christian elements of this work, and I can see how someone who is not predisposed to believe the same things as Lewis would criticize this as being preachy or even condescending.
On the other hand, those who may hold the same beliefs as Lewis may not be as interested in a book that is so very science fiction. In fact, the sci-fi qualities are even more obvious than the Christian elements to the story, making a predisposition for enjoying this kind of work even more necessary. However if, like me, you are interested in rigorous theology in your hardcore science fiction, then this is definitely the book for you. That has to be one of the nerdiest things I’ve ever said.
“There seems to be no plan because it is all plan: there seems no centre because it is all centre” (218).
Stats at 50
Jun 8th
Now that the database officially has 50 books posted, I thought it would be fun to throw together some stats to analyze my reading habits for the last 18 months. I am also using this post as an opportunity to add the new Charts page to the wordpress blog. It’s basically just the old charts page, but edited and formatted for the main blog.
Note: all the stats below, as well as those on the charts page, are dynamically updated from the database, so regardless of when you read this, know that the information is up to date.
One of the first things that jumps to my mind when I think about my habits since December of 2008 is that I’ve been reading non-stop. But how much have I really been reading? Fortunately, I made an agreement with myself not to read two books at the same time, so by determining the number of days in each month that fall outside of the start and stop dates of a particular read, we can calculate this. The table below shows the breakdown, per month, since I started the book database.
| Month | Year | DaysReading | DaysInMonth | PercentReading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 2008 | 20 | 31 | 64.5161 |
| 1 | 2009 | 31 | 31 | 100 |
| 2 | 2009 | 28 | 28 | 100 |
| 3 | 2009 | 31 | 31 | 100 |
| 4 | 2009 | 26 | 30 | 86.6667 |
| 5 | 2009 | 31 | 31 | 100 |
| 6 | 2009 | 25 | 30 | 83.3333 |
| 7 | 2009 | 23 | 31 | 74.1935 |
| 8 | 2009 | 26 | 31 | 83.8710 |
| 9 | 2009 | 26 | 30 | 86.6667 |
| 10 | 2009 | 21 | 31 | 67.7419 |
| 11 | 2009 | 30 | 30 | 100 |
| 12 | 2009 | 24 | 31 | 77.4194 |
| 1 | 2010 | 18 | 31 | 58.0645 |
| 2 | 2010 | 28 | 28 | 100.0000 |
| 3 | 2010 | 22 | 31 | 70.9677 |
| 4 | 2010 | 26 | 30 | 86.6667 |
| 5 | 2010 | 26 | 31 | 83.8710 |
| 6 | 2010 | 30 | 30 | 100 |
| 7 | 2010 | 25 | 31 | 80.6452 |
As you can see I do spend a lot of time reading, but in total, I actually only spent 85.0329% of the available days actively reading a book. Or, to put it another way, of the 608 total days available to read, I was not reading during 91 of them. Now it suddenly seems like I could be spending even more time reading than I already am. In fact, that’s like 2.9934 months of additional reading!
Well, I hope you enjoyed that little bit of nerdiness. I’d post more, but my head feels like it’s going to explode. Still, I’m always open for suggestions on additional stats, so let me know if you have any.
The Ringworld Engineers
Jun 7th
It was probably 5 years ago that I read Ringworld – the tale of a group of 3 adventurers who are tempted to travel to beyond the known universe to explore a giant Ringworld in search of treasure and fame. Unfortunately, that’s about all I remembered about the first book, and so when I was looking to read the sequel last week, I decided to check Wikipedia for the details I could not recall. To my great disappointment, Wikipedia had only an extended, spoiler free summary. Yet another reason I wish I had started my book database years earlier!
Despite my failed memory and lack of information online, I went ahead and read The Ringworld Engineers. In this sequel, Louis Wu and Chmee return, against their will, to the Ringworld in search of a mysterious object. Louis and Chmee, however, spend most of their time looking for freedom from their paranoid Puppeteer captor.
Ultimately, not remembering the details of the first book was a minor point. I wish I had, but only because I think it would have added depth to the development of Chmee and Louis Wu as characters. As it was, I could only watch them grow within the context of the book. And while this was an enjoyable experience, I can’t help but think it would have been more meaningful if I could have seen them evolve from their original incarnations. Of course, the possibility also exists that they behaved in foolish and unbelievable ways in comparison to the first book, but I like to remain hopeful.
While I recommend this book, I do so with the caveat that this is hardcore science fiction. In fact, in the introduction, Niven admits that the whole reason this sequel was written was so he could deal with all the scientific and mathematical questions and concerns that readers raised after the first book. Now, if you’re like me, you just thought “Yes! Can’t wait to read it!” but if you are a normal person, feel free to pass on this series for something a little more down to earth.
“You only learn to ask more questions” (215).
Full Database entry on The Ringworld Engineers. Beware spoilers.
The Light – Morpheus Road Book 1
Jun 2nd
I love reading young adult fiction while on vacation. Last Christmas I tore through The Hunger Games in less then 36 hours, and it was absolutely fantastic. I didn’t know much about The Light, but I have listened to the first three books in MacHale’s Pendragon series, and they are good enough that I was willing to give this new series a chance.
The Light is, ultimately, a ghost story. In fact, the book starts with a hip “I believe in ghosts now” intro. From there, it follows Marsh, the main character and narrator, as he attempts to solve the various mysteries surrounding his haunting and his best friend’s disappearance.
While The Light was the fun, light reading I was looking for in a vacation book, it was also extremely disappointing. In spite of having an entirely different storyline and cast of characters, The Light felt exactly the same as the Pendragon books. In fact, in terms of the main character, there wasn’t anything to distinguish Marsh from Bobby Pendragon.
MacHale certainly isn’t a bad writer, but I’m starting to get the impression that his versatility is severely limited. If you aren’t absolutely in love with novels narrated by smart, sarcastic, angsty 15 year olds, who are just trying to figure out this crazy world, then I wouldn’t bother with The Light, or anything else written by MacHale.
It’s unfortunate, too, because he has some great plot ideas. I may even continue listening to the books in this series, just to find out what happens next, but I definitely won’t be reading them next time. Is that hypocritical, to continue reading a series that I won’t recommend? Perhaps, but I am a sucker for a cliffhanger.
Please stand by
May 31st
I apologize if you tried to access the blog/book database in the last few days. I was on vacation (which of course means lots of time to read) and I didn’t immediately realize the site had gone down. Then, once I did discover the problem, I wasn’t in any position to fix it. So, hopefully the issue was temporary and the site won’t be interrupted for so long again any time soon.
With that said I finished 2 books while at the beach and should have at least those 2 posts up this week. Okay, non-book relate post over!
Unwind
May 25th
I learned about Unwind from a coworker whose son was reading it for school. Apparently there was some controversy among the parents. Having just finished Don Quixote I figured this would be great light reading to bridge the gap before vacation. While easy to read, this definitely wasn’t exactly the light reading I had expected.
Unwind is set in a dystopian future in which America has fought its second civil war. Only this time, the fighting was over abortion. The war eventually ended with the signing of the Bill of Life. According to this document all life was protected from conception to the age of 13. From 13 to 18 a parent could choose to retroactively unwind their children. Unwind follows the story of 3 children who are set to be Unwound.
Unwind is full of interesting ideas and deals with the difficult subject of abortion with subtlety. However, the writing itself is just mediocre. It is worth reading if you want to start a discussion on abortion with a teen, but probably not otherwise.
In fact, the most interesting thing for me in regards to Unwind was finding the parallels between it and Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal (an essay in which Swift satirically encourages the Irish to eat their children in order to alleviate poverty). I would say more here, but I don’t want to spoil anything if you are interested in reading Unwind. Feel free to check out the last 2 paragraphs of my database entry for the details, though.
What suprised me the most, however, was that this would be picked for school reading. What do you think – is this appropriate high school reading?
Full database entry on Unwind. Beware spoilers.
P.S. I wrote this on my iPhone so please forgive any typos or weird formatting.
Don Quixote – First Part
May 17th
Okay, I confess I cheated; I decided to read only the First Part of Don Quixote. This part, at 459 pages, is technically a complete book in its own right. It was published in 1605, 10 years before the second part that makes up the other half of the copy you see depicted to the left. I will get around to the rest of it eventually but, honestly, I just needed a break.
I feel bad saying I needed a break because I really enjoyed Don Quixote. If you read my First Line post on Don Quixote you know I was having a blast halfway through the first part. It was funny, intelligent, modern, and creative.
At about 300 pages in, however, Cervantes decides to interrupt what could have easily been the most interesting and entertaining part of the book with two complete novellas. Seriously, he interrupts the action to tell two complete stories that deal with characters and plot that are entirely unrelated to Don Quixote. To be fair, these stories are good, but at this point in the main novel I’m reading, I honestly just don’t care what happens to these other characters. I want to get back to Sancho and Don Quixote, not read about The Man Who Was Recklessly Curious.
This post sounds a little negative, but only because I said so many positive things previously. Fortunately, all of those positives are still true and, as a result, Don Quixote is still a recommended read. However, I can completely understand why an abridged version would remove the two novellas that come so late in the work. In fact, I would go so far as to say, if you do decide to read Don Quixote, skip the novellas and finish the main story. Then, because they are good enough in their own right to warrant it, go back and read each novella. I know it’s a little vain to think that I can suggest a better way to enjoy a book than the author, but I really think your experience will be far superior if you separate the actual Don Quixote story from the two novellas.
“That’s the way,” said Sancho, “I’ve heard it said in sermons, we should love Our Lord: for Himself alone, not because we hope for glory or are afraid of punishment. But I’d rather love and serve Him for what He can do” (263).
Full database entry on Don Quixote. Beware spoilers.
The Book of Three (Audio)
May 10th
I can’t exactly remember who or what referred me to The Book of Three. All I know is a few weeks ago I received a “the book you placed on hold is now available” email from the library and so I went and picked it up.
The Book of Three tells the story of a young assistant pig-keeper named Taran who lives in a mythical realm known as Prydain. If you have seen the movie “The Black Cauldron” you have seen a movie loosely based on this book. (Interesting note – the second book in this trilogy is actually called The Black Cauldron, but the movie of the same title is based on the first book. Go figure). Anyways, Taran has to recover his lost pig, but ends up having a grand adventure along the way.
The story is your classic hero quest, but what makes this book so good is the plethora of interesting characters. From the sassy and hilarious Eilonwy, to the pathological liar/bard/king Fflewddur Fflam, The Book of Three is absolutely bursting with entertainment. By the end, the story was just a means for placing these great characters into situations in which they could interact with each other. That isn’t to say the story was boring, but the dialogue was by far the star of the show.
I highly recommend this (the narrator is excellent on the audio book, but I’m sure actually reading it would be just as good) to anyone who enjoys lighthearted fantasy. Personally, I can’t wait to read the next book in the series if for no other reason than to see what everyone is up to next.
First Line: Don Quixote
May 5th
You might not be aware of this, but Don Quixote is a massive book. As a result I will probably be doing multiple posts about it so that this blog doesn’t screech to a halt while I work my way through it. Note: I’m reading the Edith Grossman translation. Also, I am already about 240 pages into the book, so this discussion is being informed by more than a blind reading of the first line.
“Somewhere in La Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember, a gentleman lived not long ago, one of those who has a lance and ancient shield on a shelf and keeps a skinny nag and a greyhound for racing” (1).
First of all, I love the irony of Cervantes writing a 900+ page book about Don Quixote, but being unwilling to remember where in La Mancha he comes from. Not just because it’s inherently humorous, but also because it shows, immediately, the tone we can expect from the entire book. Though this may be a classic work of fiction, it is not a dry, dusty tome that we must put upon a shelf and venerate from a distance. It is a book that is meant to be engaged and enjoyed. Cervantes is telling us, with the very first line of the book, that we should have fun reading about the most famous knight errant of all time. And, 240 pages later, he’s done everything he can so far to reinforce this initial impression.
I also enjoy this first line because of how clearly Cervantes’s voice comes through. This intrigued me initially, but I didn’t realize how important it would become until I read more. I don’t want to spoil anything but Cervantes is more than just the author and narrator – he is, to some extent, also a character in Don Quixote. The extent to which the fourth wall has been broken in this book is surprising (and wonderful). What is just as impressive, though, is that this is clearly evident from the opening line of the book, if you take the time to consider the implications of its tone and style.
I was originally intimated by the thought of reading a classic like Don Quixote. I’m happy to report, however, that this opening line eased me into the book smoothly and pleasantly. If you haven’t read this classic either, I’m curious – what are your thoughts on this opener?
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Apr 26th
So I’ve done something for the first time since starting my book database – I’ve given up on a book. I started reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland over the weekend, put about 60 pages into it, and decided that was enough. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the book is terrible or anything, but I just couldn’t get into it. It was imaginative, bizarre, and absurd (in a good way), but it didn’t captivate me.
I realized I wasn’t having any fun, and a book like Alice seems like it should be all about fun, so I’ve decided to move on to one of the many other books I have on hand. What’s interesting is it’s definitely NOT the worst book I’ve read in the last two years. I guess I don’t think it’s fair to read this classic when I’m clearly not in the mood for it.
My question for you, though, is “What’s wrong with me?” Am I missing the innocent imagination of childhood required to become engrossed in Alice? Or is it just something about my current mood that makes the book unpalatable at the moment? I know there are some out there who must enjoy this book (and I can see why), so please educate me. It feels wrong to not get a classic like this. Oh well, hopefully I can find something on the bookshelf that fits my mood better….