November, 2019 Readings ("And it's hard to hold a candle/In the cold November rain." Guns 'n Roses

Starting off November with some trashy dark fantasy.

Chuck Wendig's WANDERERS--right now it feels like an out-sized "X Files" episode but we'll see how it progresses.

Commentaries on the Gallic Wars by Julius Caesar. Romans vs. the euro tribes.
I've barely read any fiction this year. Not sure why.

Finished Wendig's WANDERERS.

A beach read, THE STAND meets HOT ZONE.

Overlong, meandering, but as readable as anything by Stephen King, if your tastes lie in that direction.

After reading a NYT review of Permanent Record, posted by Cliff I believe, I bought & read the book then repackaged it {pretending it was new} and sent it to a relative as a gift.

I was surprised that Snowden's autobiography starts out in North Carolina where I live and he describes areas near the coast I am familiar with and I have had friends who live there. The tone is a homey stylized account of his career in computer programming and how without a formal four year degree he rose to the ranks of department chief operator in the NSA,CIA and other government entities. His ascension to the not managerial but technical side of these areas was interesting to read - profoundly so since he did all this while in his 20s .

Probably books on Snowden would provide more technical information but he describes the bolts & nuts of the clandestine government surveillance in startling detail for people who were ignorant of the whole field {like myself}. An easy quick read if you have a few hours.

Clock Dance – Anne Tyler
Audiobook performed by Kimberly Farr
3.5***

The novel follows Willa Drake, her hopes, dreams, disappointments and joys – over 5 decades, from 1967 when she’s a schoolgirl trying to cope with a missing mom, to 2017, when she’s longing to become a grandmother and not sure she ever will be.

I like the way that Tyler explores the everyday drama of life. Not much happens – as far as a plot to carry the reader along – and yet much happens in terms of the character’s life. I don’t always relate to Tyler’s characters, and certainly there are many incidents in Willa’s life that I haven’t shared, but I often feel that I know these people; I recognize the scenarios among my friends and acquaintances if not in my own experience.

Willa frustrated me for much of this book. She was so passive that I wanted to shake her, although always a good person, kind-hearted and generous, obedient and responsible. Perhaps her role is life IS to be the “giver” but she needs to make that decision for herself, rather than just accept it. Ultimately, she understands much more about the situations she finds herself in than most people give her credit for. She is a confidante to those who need to confess, and she remains calm in a crisis. As wonderful as it is for those around her (for any of us) to have a Willa in their lives, I am pleased that she finally seems to be looking at what SHE needs, wants, desires from her life, and beginning to dare to assert herself.

Kimberly Farr does a marvelous job of narrating the audiobook. She set a good pace and had the skill to different the many characters.

About to finish Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, an imperial enterprise among whites. It's a bit hard to follow because there were a lot of Gallic tribes. (The Belgians seem to have been the toughest. Who knew?) Makes me think of Asterix in a new way.

Just started From Hell by Alan Moore.

Ways To Hide In Winter – Sarah St.Vincent
Digital audio narrated by Sarah Mollo-Christensen
4****

A young widow is trying to recover from her own trauma by working in a remote state park deep in Pennsylvania’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Kathleen is fine, she insists, and happy to be left alone. But when a stranger with a heavy accent comes into the store/lodge where she works flipping burgers she is intrigued. He says he’s a student from Uzbekistan, but he’s clearly unprepared for the winter conditions in the park. To Kathleen, Daniil seems shell-shocked, almost terrified, clearly hiding from someone or something.

This is a tightly written, marvelous psychological / political thriller. The characters are skittish, guarded, and yet reveal themselves by their actions. Kathleen and Daniil recognize in one another a certain similarity – both are running from the truth, both profess to need solitude even a way to hide away, and yet both want desperately to confide and reveal their pain and their hopes. They both crave and fear connection. It’s difficult to believe that either of them will ever achieve happiness; their pasts are just too traumatic.

This short novel includes some major issues: domestic abuse, drug addiction, military and political intrigue / espionage. The landscape is practically a character, and adds to the feeling of isolation, loneliness and imminent danger. The reader is kept in suspense to the very end.

Sarah Mollo-Christensen does a marvelous job of narrating the audiobook. I particularly liked the way she voiced Daniil and Martin.

END TIMES: A BRIEF GUIDE TO THE END OF THE WORLD by Bryan Walsh.

Sobering look at the various ways humankind's tenure on this earth might be extinguished. Asteroid collision, super-bugs, A.I...

Walsh is a former reporter for TIME MAGAZINE and is well-versed on how to explain complicated ideas to a mass audience.

Not a good book choice for a depressing day; must be tackled with some sense of hope or it's a grim, grim read.

Finished DOG SOLDIERS, a Robert Stone novel about drug smuggling in the latter days of the Vietnam conflict.

This book was the basis for an excellent movie, "Who'll Stop the Rain", and, in this instance, I think the film was better than the novel. It's leaner and more focussed; the book meanders at times.

I love Robert Stone's writing but this book isn't great, merely good. I expected more from him.

Pursuing my nearly 3 year journaled reading interest in Chinese and Chinese-American writers, I'm delighted to read and soon (hopefully) review Meng Jin's debut novel, Little Gods, a kind of character portrait in China's last 30 years of history.

First 8 pp are terrific. ;^)

I'M WITH THE BEARS: Short Stories From A Damaged Planet.

Published almost ten years ago as a fund-raiser for one of my favorite causes, 350.org.

Bill McKibben's intro promises some timely jolts and there are some good contributions from David Mitchell, Helen Simpson and Paolo Bacigalupi...but the book is a bit of a misfire.

As the last line of my book journal entry notes: I'M WITH THE BEARS lacks the power and anger the subject matter demanded.

Another short story collection, Tobias Wolff's IN THE GARDEN OF THE NORTH AMERICAN MARTYRS.

I like Wolff's short fiction, it offers endings but nothing definitive or cut and dried.

Recommended.

Skimming my way through ASTOUNDING, a lengthy account of the figures behind the "Golden Age" of science fiction.

What immediately strikes me is how many of these guys were complete and utter dicks.

John W. Campbell was a racist, Heinlein to the right of Barry Goldwater, Asimov was a perv, and L. Ron Hubbard...well, we all know what kinda guy Elron was. The author also describes Randall Garrett as a "sexual predator" and...

Not exactly an admiring look at some of the seminal figures behind early SF.

Giving The Name of the Rose a try. Love the atmosphere and the writing but every time there are "inevitable conclusions" I roll my eyes.

>14 CliffBurns: The John W. Campbell Award for the best new writer has been hurriedly renamed after this year's winner tore into him in her acceptance speech.

I've heard contradictory things about Heinlein; about how he loaned Philip K. Dick money to get his typewriter fixed when PKD had so little money he was living on cat food, because "I may not agree with your politics or like the stories you write, but you are One Of Us"; or how the protagonist of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is revealed part-way through the novel to be black. I suspect this last was an act of sheer contrarianism on RAH's part; certainly he showed no ambition to depict black lives as such in the novel. (It's quite some years since I read it, but I think I'd remember that.)

Otherwise, I'm going to reserve judgement until I've read Farah Mendlsohn's study, The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein.

Passing – Nella Larsen
5*****

Irene Redfield is doing some shopping while on a trip to Chicago, when she stops for a brief rest and some tea at an elegant hotel’s restaurant. She notices a woman at a nearby table keeps staring at her and she’s immediately concerned. Could the woman have somehow discerned that Irene is not white, but a Negro?

Larsen was part of the Harlem Renaissance and this book is a marvel of social commentary. In this slim volume Larsen explores issues of black/white identity, of the desire to get ahead and the societal obstacles to that path, of male/female relationships, and female-female rivalries. There is tension, fear, anger, joy, desire and hope. We get a wonderful glimpse of middle-class Black culture in 1920s Harlem. And that ending!

My F2F book club had a stimulating discussion.

A word of caution re the introduction: Definitely read the introduction, which will give you much insight into the book, the author’s background, and the critical thoughts of various experts. BUT … read the book FIRST, as the introduction will contain major spoilers for what happens in the novel.

>16 RobertDay: IIRC, the protagonist of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is Hispanic. His name is Manuel Garcia O'Kelly. Johnny Rico in Starship Troopers, however, is revealed about 75% of the way in to be Filipino.

>18 iansales: I always felt that the point RAH was trying to make over the identities of the characters in 'Harsh Mistress' was that the Lunar community was fairly racially mixed. But it is a long time since I last read it.

UNDERGROUND AIRLINES by Ben H. Winters.

I envy Winters: he can move back and forth between genres with an effortlessness that is admirable. He's won both the Edgar Award and the Philip K. Dick Award, which should give you some idea of the range he covers.

UNDERGROUND AIRLINES is alt-history--slavery never ends in the United States and our protagonist, an African-American, has been forced to help the U.S. Marshal service return escaped black men to the four states that still have forced-labor driven economies.

Believable and gripping, one I highly recommend.

Winters is going to end up with two books on my year end, "Best of..." roster and that's a mighty rare thing, I gotta tell you.

>19 RobertDay: Yes, because Manny speaks a creole of English and Russian. But it's pretty ham-fisted.

>18 iansales: >19 RobertDay: Might want to check out ”For All Mankind“ at Apple TV if you get the chance (got a year for free with new iPhone). The series grew on me after sticking with it. My first thought was “an alternate history “ - ok but why ? High production values.

>22 DugsBooks: I watched the first two episodes, on the understanding it was free to watch. But apparently that was a one week trial. It's not worth paying for a streaming service just to watch one programme, so I'll wait until it's available elsewhere before watching the rest of it.

Just finished the absolute worst book I've read this year, IMAGINARY FRIEND by Stephen Chbosky.

Chbosky is the author of THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER. I didn't read that book but my wife and son did and liked it very much.

IMAGINARY FRIEND is so awful, so ham-fisted, obvious and formulaic it deserves nothing but ridicule. Yet it boasts blurbs from some big time writers and has been favorably reviewed all over.

It is 700 pages of insipid characterization, inane dialogue and a plot as old and creaky as a rusted car door. Stephen King (whom Chbosky idolizes) would be ashamed to release such drivel.

Garbage, from start to finish.