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Recent reading - Jan./Feb. '24
Feb. 25th, 2024 04:58 pmThe Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
I should probably have turned in my nerd card years ago, as I've never actually read the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Or even seen the movies. I'm planning to go through those books via the Robert Inglis audiobook series, and although I *did* read The Hobbit in maybe third grade, I remembered exactly none of it (so I'm not really counting it as a "previously read"), and figured I should go through that first. It's funny how some aspects come through as somewhat formulaic or cliched today, when in many ways this book was the wellspring of just about all modern fantasy stories (whether in written, screen or game form). You can't really criticize something for reflecting trends that it *created,* right? I'm on to the first few chapters of Fellowship now, and I have to say that I do find it a bit more interesting than The Hobbit - there is, so far, a bit more emphasis on character development in addition to plot, and I think Tolkien's writing - though by no means bad in Hobbit - improved quite a bit by the time he started the trilogy proper. As a side note, Inglis' performance of the audio version is a gem.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Yeah, that's a big one. Humbert is absolutely one of the least likeable "protagonists" I've encountered in a book, and that's not a criticism since that's exactly the point. Every time he mentioned how "handsome" he is I just wanted to punch him. But, the writing really is pretty superb here, allowing us to see the mental gymnastics this guy will go through to justify and even celebrate his actions. The line where he offhandedly mentions Dolores "crying every night" was a sobering glimpse of reality slipping past his BS. I wouldn't exactly call it a pleasant read, but it was an interesting one.
Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor
This is tied-in to the well-known podcast of the same name, and captured a lot of what makes the podcast good in an extended written form. The weirdness is on point, and the quality of the writing is excellent. The biggest criticism I can think of is that of the two lead characters, perpetually-19-year-old pawn shop proprietor Jackie seems a bit more roundly developed than recently-fired-mother-of-a-shapeshifter Diane (or shapeshifter son Josh), and I almost wonder if splitting them off into two separate stories might have allowed both - Diane in particular - to get a bit more depth added. That's ultimately a rather mild criticism, though, and I'll definitely read the next two Night Vale novels at some point.
The Moonshine War by Elmore Leonard
A quick read involving a feud over premium moonshine whiskey during the Prohibition era. The main emphasis is on action rather than character development, and that's fine for a novel of less than 200 pages. Frank Long, who begins the story as a Prohibition agent trying to take the whiskey - but perhaps more for his own benefit than the governments - is probably the most interesting character, as his arc takes him from ostensibly working for the law, to bringing in a group of criminals to try to aid him, then turning against them (when it becomes clear they're going to turn on him) and joining main character Son Martin in defense of his product and his home. Martin himself is a bit wooden, and the story begins with a boy who pops up a few times during the plot as sort of an observer figure, but really doesn't need to be in the story at all for it to work. A decent quick read nonetheless.
Here is New York by E.B. White
A thin volume in which White discusses the character of New York City in the late 1940s, admitting up front that even by the time the book was first published aspects of it would likely already be outdated as the city is in a constant state of flux. It's a neat little slice of life for that era, though, and the final pages in which White talks about the ever-present danger NYC is in due to the constant air traffic over the city - no doubt taken from the then-recent crash of a B-25 into the Empire State Building - seems rather eerily prophetic in a post-9/11 New York.
Cell 2455, Death Row: A Condemned Man's Own Story by Caryl Chessman
A memoir and one of several books by Caryl Chessman, who was convicted as the "Red Light Bandit" and ultimately went to California's gas chamber in 1960. He recounts the series of events in his formative years that turned him into a criminal (though he maintains his innocence for the Red Light crimes, he fully admits to his criminal past prior to that), and asks difficult questions about the society that creates criminals like him, and about the punishment thereof, up to and including the death penalty. It's a thought-provoking read, and the prose is legitimately very good - Chessman had actual talent as a writer - and it's somewhat haunting to consider that it was written by somebody who was actually slated for execution in his near future. On that last point, I'm somewhat reminded of the self-portrait of John Andre, drawn on the eve of his own excecution.
Ten from Infinity by Ivar Jorgensen (Paul W. Fairman)
A short pulp novel from the '60s. The premise is interesting - ten men, identical in every way, mysteriously appear around the country. In execution, it's very much an average book. The writing is OK, the plot is OK, the execution is mostly OK - but it's nothing that will stick in your mind for long after it's over. In many ways I guess it's exactly what you'd expect from a pulp novel like this.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin - Lost Years by Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz
The first Last Ronin book (compilation book, that is, or first comic series if you prefer) has received a lot of hype, but I think that's generally deserved; it was certainly a different side of the TMNT franchise as it went even darker and grittier than the Mirage comic series, let alone the friendlier takes like the '87 cartoon, the Archie comics or the live-action movies, and had a lot of surprisingly emotional moments, especially if you have any attachment to certain characters. Lost Years is pretty much more of the same, in a good way. It's a combination prequel/sidequel/sequel that fleshes out the original Last Ronin a bit, and goes a long way to setting up the next generation of turtles that it looks like will be further developed into a series of their own. Lost Years is basically to The Last Ronin what the El Camino movie was to Breaking Bad - not at all essential to enjoying the original series, but it's well-done and nice to have around.
The Box: An Oral History of Television, 1920-1961 by Jeff Kisseloff
This was a project to get through. That's not a shot against it; it's such an interesting topic, and the insights from people who were there in TV's early days are invaluable. But at 600+ pages it was definitely an on-and-off reading process for months (since mid-2023) to get through. I admit that there were a few sections that I did skim a bit (especially once it got into the mid-50s, since I've read more about that era already). But definitely interesting stuff and a book that will find a permanent home on my entertainment history shelf.
Fish Men Fear… SHARK! by Jerry & Idaz Greenberg
I bought this two or so years ago off the used rack at a local cafe. I mainly wanted it for the title. I mean, as scary as sharks may be, the fish men surely have greater concerns nowadays, right? Of course, it's really meant to suggest that the sharks are fish that men fear, but I do find the awkward phraseology amusing. Anyway, it's just a little 50-page book about sharks from the '60s, mostly made up of photos accompanied by some rather basic text. Nothing earth-shattering, and I'd imagine that at least some of the science has been revised since it was written, but it's reasonably interesting with some decent images.
I should probably have turned in my nerd card years ago, as I've never actually read the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Or even seen the movies. I'm planning to go through those books via the Robert Inglis audiobook series, and although I *did* read The Hobbit in maybe third grade, I remembered exactly none of it (so I'm not really counting it as a "previously read"), and figured I should go through that first. It's funny how some aspects come through as somewhat formulaic or cliched today, when in many ways this book was the wellspring of just about all modern fantasy stories (whether in written, screen or game form). You can't really criticize something for reflecting trends that it *created,* right? I'm on to the first few chapters of Fellowship now, and I have to say that I do find it a bit more interesting than The Hobbit - there is, so far, a bit more emphasis on character development in addition to plot, and I think Tolkien's writing - though by no means bad in Hobbit - improved quite a bit by the time he started the trilogy proper. As a side note, Inglis' performance of the audio version is a gem.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Yeah, that's a big one. Humbert is absolutely one of the least likeable "protagonists" I've encountered in a book, and that's not a criticism since that's exactly the point. Every time he mentioned how "handsome" he is I just wanted to punch him. But, the writing really is pretty superb here, allowing us to see the mental gymnastics this guy will go through to justify and even celebrate his actions. The line where he offhandedly mentions Dolores "crying every night" was a sobering glimpse of reality slipping past his BS. I wouldn't exactly call it a pleasant read, but it was an interesting one.
Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor
This is tied-in to the well-known podcast of the same name, and captured a lot of what makes the podcast good in an extended written form. The weirdness is on point, and the quality of the writing is excellent. The biggest criticism I can think of is that of the two lead characters, perpetually-19-year-old pawn shop proprietor Jackie seems a bit more roundly developed than recently-fired-mother-of-a-shapeshifter Diane (or shapeshifter son Josh), and I almost wonder if splitting them off into two separate stories might have allowed both - Diane in particular - to get a bit more depth added. That's ultimately a rather mild criticism, though, and I'll definitely read the next two Night Vale novels at some point.
The Moonshine War by Elmore Leonard
A quick read involving a feud over premium moonshine whiskey during the Prohibition era. The main emphasis is on action rather than character development, and that's fine for a novel of less than 200 pages. Frank Long, who begins the story as a Prohibition agent trying to take the whiskey - but perhaps more for his own benefit than the governments - is probably the most interesting character, as his arc takes him from ostensibly working for the law, to bringing in a group of criminals to try to aid him, then turning against them (when it becomes clear they're going to turn on him) and joining main character Son Martin in defense of his product and his home. Martin himself is a bit wooden, and the story begins with a boy who pops up a few times during the plot as sort of an observer figure, but really doesn't need to be in the story at all for it to work. A decent quick read nonetheless.
Here is New York by E.B. White
A thin volume in which White discusses the character of New York City in the late 1940s, admitting up front that even by the time the book was first published aspects of it would likely already be outdated as the city is in a constant state of flux. It's a neat little slice of life for that era, though, and the final pages in which White talks about the ever-present danger NYC is in due to the constant air traffic over the city - no doubt taken from the then-recent crash of a B-25 into the Empire State Building - seems rather eerily prophetic in a post-9/11 New York.
Cell 2455, Death Row: A Condemned Man's Own Story by Caryl Chessman
A memoir and one of several books by Caryl Chessman, who was convicted as the "Red Light Bandit" and ultimately went to California's gas chamber in 1960. He recounts the series of events in his formative years that turned him into a criminal (though he maintains his innocence for the Red Light crimes, he fully admits to his criminal past prior to that), and asks difficult questions about the society that creates criminals like him, and about the punishment thereof, up to and including the death penalty. It's a thought-provoking read, and the prose is legitimately very good - Chessman had actual talent as a writer - and it's somewhat haunting to consider that it was written by somebody who was actually slated for execution in his near future. On that last point, I'm somewhat reminded of the self-portrait of John Andre, drawn on the eve of his own excecution.
Ten from Infinity by Ivar Jorgensen (Paul W. Fairman)
A short pulp novel from the '60s. The premise is interesting - ten men, identical in every way, mysteriously appear around the country. In execution, it's very much an average book. The writing is OK, the plot is OK, the execution is mostly OK - but it's nothing that will stick in your mind for long after it's over. In many ways I guess it's exactly what you'd expect from a pulp novel like this.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin - Lost Years by Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz
The first Last Ronin book (compilation book, that is, or first comic series if you prefer) has received a lot of hype, but I think that's generally deserved; it was certainly a different side of the TMNT franchise as it went even darker and grittier than the Mirage comic series, let alone the friendlier takes like the '87 cartoon, the Archie comics or the live-action movies, and had a lot of surprisingly emotional moments, especially if you have any attachment to certain characters. Lost Years is pretty much more of the same, in a good way. It's a combination prequel/sidequel/sequel that fleshes out the original Last Ronin a bit, and goes a long way to setting up the next generation of turtles that it looks like will be further developed into a series of their own. Lost Years is basically to The Last Ronin what the El Camino movie was to Breaking Bad - not at all essential to enjoying the original series, but it's well-done and nice to have around.
The Box: An Oral History of Television, 1920-1961 by Jeff Kisseloff
This was a project to get through. That's not a shot against it; it's such an interesting topic, and the insights from people who were there in TV's early days are invaluable. But at 600+ pages it was definitely an on-and-off reading process for months (since mid-2023) to get through. I admit that there were a few sections that I did skim a bit (especially once it got into the mid-50s, since I've read more about that era already). But definitely interesting stuff and a book that will find a permanent home on my entertainment history shelf.
Fish Men Fear… SHARK! by Jerry & Idaz Greenberg
I bought this two or so years ago off the used rack at a local cafe. I mainly wanted it for the title. I mean, as scary as sharks may be, the fish men surely have greater concerns nowadays, right? Of course, it's really meant to suggest that the sharks are fish that men fear, but I do find the awkward phraseology amusing. Anyway, it's just a little 50-page book about sharks from the '60s, mostly made up of photos accompanied by some rather basic text. Nothing earth-shattering, and I'd imagine that at least some of the science has been revised since it was written, but it's reasonably interesting with some decent images.
