<i>A Private Hotel for Gentle Landies</i> by Ellen Cooney

I took a class from Ellen Cooney at MIT on writing short stories. It was a good class, though it happened during a rather tumultuous term. She talked about what she wrote in class , but never had us read anything of hers. That is probably a sign of a secure writer---that you don't have to get validation from the class of students you are teaching.

About the book. I enjoyed it---it was a nice diversion. I instantly thought of my mother as I read the detailed passages about the horses. There was much to-do about the bells, which really set off the entire story.

AS I read, I was reminded of the stories I would hear at school about male students who worked at gay strip clubs to make money for school. I am sure Cooney was exposed to similar stories in teaching at MIT and Harvard and wonder if those served as inspiration for the men at the hotel.

The writing was tight, though rather romantic. There was definitely a theme of women's empowerment---women taking thier lives and sexuality into their own hands. Woman holding non-domestic jobs and a brief appearance of Fannie Farmer. The sex scenes were done well---not too much focus on them, but enough to portray some sensuality and, again, the opportunity for empowerment.

I liked the New England scenes, which were well done and believable for the time period. The characterizations of the people were equally believable though, again, rather romantic.

7/10

<i>Neuromancer</i> by William Gibson

I often have trouble following these "cyberpunk" novels. It is sort of like reading one's first Russian novel---you can't, for the life the life of you, keep the characters straight and, after making it through 2 or 300 pages, you are lucky if you have even a basic idea of the plot. This was definitely the case for me when reading The Golden Age series and The Diamond Age.

I, though, after this book am getting a better feel for the genre---what is the basic play between good and evil and what are the character types I can expect. I was more prepared for the battle inside the computer and how it interacted with what was going on outside---both The Golden Age and The Diamond Age use the interplay between cyberspace and the real world as a major theme of the stories.

There were some really great images in the book. I really liked the images of cyberspace that Case was hacking through. Of course, it is very attractive to think of coding and hacking in that way---visual---despite the fact it is rather like writing (if I am to believe my coding friends). Though, I guess when I write---and get things right---it is not a pleasurable sound I have in my head, but more like fitting puzzle pieces together to have a perfect picture. So, maybe for coders it is a similar imagery in the brain, and since Case has a neural link to the system, and we are looking through his POV, it could be that we are seeing his brain interpretation of the code.

Another great image was of the sacks of poison hanging inside of Case to keep him in-line. I imagined the dynamics of these sacs as Case moved along and they swung like so many shopping bags gently hitting his internal organs. There are few things as frightening as the poison inside you.

The ending wasn't bad. It left enough unsaid to not make it feel like Gibson as wrapping everything up with a bow. It was short, to the point and uncomplicated, as Case's life quickly became the same. So, overall a good read. Gibson is great at describing a cyberspace in 1983. It didn't read like dated sci-fi. My 21st century brain still felt this was in the future not the present or the past. That's pretty good for a book from 25 years ago: before the web and cell phones.

8/10

<i>"Fire in the Hole"</i> by MJ Boss

A coworker of mine wrote this book. I believe it was self-published through an online publishing house. When I had read and returned it, I told him he needs an editor, which he does.

He was going for a modern terrorist thriller and had a rather interesting compound story. Unfortunately, though, the book read little better than my journal entries---a series of events and interactions merely listed off. The characters were hardly developed, causing them to be easily confused as I read. It was little more than 120 pages (in 14 pt font, 1.5 spaced), though the plot could have easily filled the 400 pages generally given to a Clancy or Crichton novel.

The worst, though, was the distractions caused by the non-existent editing, which allowed the poor word choice, poor grammar and improper punctuation to reach the page. My advice is, still, to get an editor, then spend some time expanding the plot. It was a nice try, but a complete miss.

2/10

<i>Deadeye Dick</i> by Kurt Vonnegut

I swear I read somewhere that this was Vonnegut's favorite of his own works. I can't though, put a source to it---and a Time obituary says it was Slaughterhouse Five. Despite the internal mis-attribution, I enjoyed the book.

This is a self contained novel compared to other Vonnegut works where characters, words and phrases are shared. Like Player Piano in that sense: it almost seems like a different author. We become wrapped up with one character and his personal story and it is not outside events that shape his life (like Billy Pilgrim w/WWII), but his own actions (shooting into the night, writing a play).

Even with the main character (Rudy) acting without pressure from an exterior crisis, the book covers the regular Vonnegut theme of the inevitableness of life (there is little one can do but go with the flow). With no war or similar, Rudy shows this by doing nothing based on his own ambition. He writes and submits his play to a contest based a comment from a teacher. He becomes a pharmacist based on a comment from his father. The only act that he does on his own is the shot into the night. From there on, he is swept along by everyone else.

I like how Vonnegut set Rudy's most upsetting scenes as mini plays. It gave them more action---more interactions between people than the retelling of those interactions. It made them strong and more fun. Sometimes more can be done with brief stage directions than with a paragraph of dialog.

This was a good one. I enjoyed it.

9/10

<i>The Great Santini</i> by Pat Conroy

This is a book I should have read in high school.

A ticket taker on the train saw it and said that when he read it, he made it about 2/3rds of the way through when he got so mad at the story that he had to put it down for a few days. Based on that, I expected there to be a huge blow out between Ben and his father. Though there are a number of incidents, there was nothing obscene enough to make me put the book down.

I appreciated the complexity that Conroy gave Ben's father. Though the Marine attitude was getting on my nerves quite a bit, there was more dimension to Bull's character. He had fun with his kids and gave up his post to make sure his son was safe. It was easy to hate him, but it was hard to say that he had no redeeming qualities---something that Ben realized by the end.

I generally liked Ben. I was pissed---just as he was---that he listened to his father in the basketball game. The better strategy is to take it and just play tougher---get revenge in regular play. One of the things, though, that Ben was learning was when he should and when he shouldn't listen to his father. Mary Ann was generally his conscience on such matters, but she couldn't be with him on the court, and, indeed, was nowhere to be found in the stands.

Overall, a good book. Conroy was tight with his prose and portrayed the characters motives and ideals clearly. I would like to know what happened to Ben. I assume he became a pilot to honor his father. But it would have been poetic justice to see him become an English professor.

8/10

<i>Prey</i> by Michael Crichton

It appears that the last Crichton book I read was Jurassic Park, back when I was riding the bus home from high school. I remember from that experience that Crichton is a quick engaging read and does a reasonably convincing job with the science.

Prey was similar. I read the entire 500 pages in one day. It was an excellent read for waiting at the train station and for taking a slower than expected train ride from Sacramento to Reno. The science is reasonable, if not believable. I enjoyed many of the characters, though Crichton kills them off pretty readily.

Despite the sci-fi of the book, Crichton addresses a modern concern: how do we control what we create. It is similar to the point made in Jurassic Park---life finds a way. More specifically, evolution works and anything with mutating genes will work its way out of our control. It reminds me of the concern over genetically engineered crops.

The writing was fast paced. There were a couple moments when the writing was wrong, or just not how a computer programmer would talk or think about a problem. It was a satisfactory book for its purpose.

6/10

<i>Smilla's Sense of Snow</i> by Peter Hoeg

Rodin does not have a good record. Two books, two misses.

I started out really like the book. I liked the mystery about the boy's death. I liked the relationship between the boy and Smilla and the boy and the mechanic. I though that was going to be the story. Then I realized that this is a thriller and a NYT best seller.

There are a few things that bother me about conventional thrillers. One is the amount of time pope spend having the crap beat out of them, with generally little to no effect on the speed of the plot. Here, once Smilla's beatings started, it was a pretty regular occurrence, though she was still able to continue with the adventure with no issues. It got to the point where I was unable to suspend disbelief for any longer. There was little chance that she could have done half of what she did if she really had the crap beat out of her as described.

Another thing I dislike is how the plot has to get so out of hand after a while because the author has almost backed himself into a corner and can't otherwise find a way out. Really? Aliens?

I really did like the background on Smilla and her life with her mother in Greenland. I would have liked to hear more about her childhood and her interaction with her brother. I liked hear about the different clothes, boots and tools that Greenlanders used as they lived, worked and walked on the ice.

One other thing that really bothered me was the review on the back of the book from People that Hoeg was Hemmingway-esque. No. That is entirely wrong. There was more exposition than Hemmingway would have ever used and the plot was far to complicated to be a Hemmingway story. And there wasn't nearly enough drinking.

Not a very good read, though I did enjoy learning about Greenland and its relationship to Denmark.

4/10

<i>QED</i> by Richard Feynman

Feynman gave me some more tools than I previously had for understanding quantum mechanics. While I knew that electrons bumped around energy levels emitting and absorbing photons, I never really understood why that is significant or what phenomena it produces. What Feynman does is use common examples based on light to give meaning to the quantum behavior---give the why, when before all we could say is "defraction".

Though I will have to refer to this book again to understand these principles in further detail, Feynman did a great job presenting a rather difficult topic. I was confused at some points when he referred to a mathematical principle I am familiar with, such as referring to vectors as "arrows", or when I was trying to understand his description based on the quantum mechanics I already understand. I now, though, really want to read the physics book he wrote so I can better understand everything else I already think I know.

8/10

<i>War and Peace</i>: Volumes III, IV and Epilogue

Volume III

In Volume III, we see the war making its way more into domestic life: the division that Tolstoy has previously kept between them starts to fade. Pierre, in particular, becomes more involved in historical event than he is in earlier Volumes. He rides out to visit the troops and experience the war. Unlike Andrey and Nikolay, he is not fighting and makes an almost comic figure on the field, getting in the way of the soldiers. He quickly realizes the horror, which shocks him greatly: he is amazed that people can actually do this to each other and will come to their senses once they realize it is so bad. Tolstoy uses Pierre to show that the fashionableness of war only exists in the salons. Once out on the field there is little more than chaos and horror.

One of the most interested portions of Volume III is the abandonment and occupation of Moscow. Tolstoy shows this event in a few different ways. Kutuzov (the Russian commander)quickly recognizes there is no hope, based on the current state of the army in defending Moscow. They are weak after the moral victory at Borodino and must recuperate at their stores before engaging the enemy again.

Tolstoy agrees strongly with Kutuzov, citing him as the only man in the Russian army who, through extensive experience understands that the army will do what it will do and there is little effect that commanders can have on the outcome of the day---it comes down to the individual decisions of the soldiers. Really due to the esprit de corps. As a result, Kutuzov sees there is little hope in getting a tired army to defend the city: it is better to move on and regain strength.

In following the Rostov household, Tolstoy shows the domestic aspects of fleeing the city. There is the incredible organization required to pack up the rugs, dishes and other trappings of a high-class live in Moscow. The sequence highlights Count Rostov's inability in organization events that are life and death, versus organizing a dinner party. Natasha is the only one who can bring order and put both her mother and father in their places so work can be done, also pulling her out of her funk.

Of course, in Tolstoy's Russia, even the aristocrats feel for the soldiers---especially Natasha---and the Rostov's quickly unpack their cars to pack them back up with with wounded soldiers. This includes Princes Andrey, who up until this point was assumed to be dead. His presence leads to an emotional scene with Natasha, Mayra and Andrey later and his final perfect enlightenment (which he was unable to reach in his lifetime) at his death. (To comment briefly on this scene: Tolstoy had made clear Andrey's struggle with accepting love and enlightenment from god, which is embodied in Natasha in Volume II and is otherwise only reached in near death experiences. He reaches it the final time at his death. He never lives a happy and content life due to this lack of enlightenment. In contrast Pierre is able to find happiness through love and accept god. Tolstoy has it in for those who think critically of their faith.)

Pierre stays in Moscow during the evacuation, giving Tolstoy the opportunity to describe and more vividly show the state of Moscow beyond his beehive metaphor, which though very good, does not give the human sense of the city with so few in it. Pierre's wandering through the city (in search of Napoleon) gives a more stark view of the fires (previously seen only from a distance and in a rather romantic manner) and the lives lost due to them. Also we see a contrast in how the French troops treat the Russians when there are many of them versus how Pierre is treated by the single officer who takes up rooms with him: one-on-one, they can be nice, congenial and understanding; in a group-to-group setting, it is more violent, resulting in Pierre's arrest for protecting a woman.

We additionally see Napoleon's perspective on the empty city. Tolstoy revels in the idea the Napoleon waits and waits for the "welcoming" party to hand the city over to him (as other capitol cities have done) and no one very shows. The French then disappear into the city, with Napoleon losing control quickly. Tolstoy calls this loss of control inevitable---a result of moving soldiers into an empty city. The fire has a similar cause---a lack of normal inhabitants to prevent it.

I was fascinated by the empty city. As Tolstoy describes tens of thousands of people empty out, leaving the shell behind. The idea of wandering through an empty city with homes left as is or hastily packed up, then occupied (and looted) by soldiers is very cool.

I was a little put off by Andrey's death. I thought the use of it to bring together Mayra and Natasha was good. Their relationship was starting to become critical after Nikolay and Mayra's meeting. And Andrey's death allows further development of Nikolay and Mayra's relationship. Though it was a rather conspicuous plot point, it was a nice development.

Volume IV

Volume IV is a race to the end. Napoleon is bleeding as Tolstoy describes, comparing his ill-fated march back across Russia as a dying animal. The comparison is apt: Napoleon retreats down the toughest roads, carrying spoils from Moscow they can no longer bare and desperate for food and warmth. Tolstoy is able to capture this terror well in describing the cold and hunger. We see it not only from the more historical point of view, but also up-close-and-personal by following Pierre's detainment as a prisoner---which he finds almost pleasant and at very least freeing and enlightening due to interactions with Tolstoy's favorite class (the peasants)---and forced march with the retreating French soldiers.

It seems to me, and Tolstoy probably intends it that way, to be a rather bizarre proposition: marching your prisoners back across thousands of mile, when you don't have enough food or fuel for your own men and have ultimately lost the war you are fighting. But Tolstoy presses the idea that no rational decisions are being made (neither on the French nor Russian side) and the men involved in the retreat can hardly be controlled. If orders are given, they mean nothing---as every soldier knows exactly what they are doing: heading back home as quickly as possible.

On the home front, we see an equal rush to the end: final matches bing made and families being completely passed to the next generation---clearest with the death of Count Rostov and the return of Nikolay to take charge of the family. I was happy to see the decision of Nikolay to marry Mayra, though, Sonya, really troubled me, as her only selfish act backfired with the death of Andrey, leaving her pushed aside in this race to the end.

Pierre has yet another renaissance following his release and the death of his wife. Though I was not surprised by his joining with Natasha---I believe it was well telegraphed throughout the book---I was still a bit put off by the results. Natasha is portrayed as so pured---despite her brief dalliance with Anton---that even Pierre, with his rather regular redemptions, seems too rough for her. He seems like a poor alternative to Andrey who may have not been pure in soul, but was pure in deed, something Pierre, even with his redemptions was never. I suppose Natasha's influence was what he was missing to be pure in both ways It seems though, that to Tolstoy it is not the deeds that make the man, but some measure of his soul, which redeems him. (As a side note, I was surprised that Pierre did not give the Mason's white gloves to Natasha, as they were to represent just the type of love that Pierre found with her.)

Epilogue

The Epilogue looks seven years in the future to see hove the lives are for the couples formed in the final volume. Everyone is now contented with family lives. The most interesting, though, is Sonya. She is not given any sort of life and is hated by everyone for her constant acts of selflessness. It is almost a punishment that Tolstoy gives her, though I am unsure if it is due to her one act of selfishness or more a commentary on how a poor person raised with the rich is caught into a horrible position: no money for a dowry, yet too genteel to marry below her adoptive family's station.

The story with the family ends rather abruptly, with just the sense that life will go on as it has been described. The commentary in the back notes that it was rather unorthodox for the time, which I agree with---there was no closed cadence. Instead we are led into Tolstoy's argument about history for one final time.

I have come to agree at least partially with Tolstoy. History cannot be described exclusively through heroes. A command of a single man is not the whole story and despite everyone's best efforts events never go off just as planned because there are far too many individual decision makers (variables) involved in every event. Based on the decisions made up to a given point in history and the individuals involved there are no options (or very few). History is a constant contest between fate and free will, with neither winning out entirely.

It seems that the modern interpretation of history takes this more into account---the will of heroes is rarely put up as the reason; cause and effect is more closely examined. While it may not completely be the historical calculus Tolstoy is looking for, we are doing better at looking at the integral as opposed to the individual points.

Great book. A long read, but worth it.

8/10

<i>War and Peace: Volume II</i> by Leo Tolstoy

Volume II is a volume of peace. There is little mention of Napoleon. All of our soldiers are on leave, hunting down wives. The biggest transformations are in definitions of character within Pierre and Andrey.

Pierre frustrates me for most of this volume. He becomes enraptured with the Freemasons and attempts to follow their ideals. He has a very easy conversion from being an atheist: "longing to believe with all his soul" and feeling a "joyful sense of calm, renewal and return to life" the moment he is introduced to Freemasonry. This conversion reminds me of Levin's conversion in Anna Karenina, where he was convinced to believe based on the existence of an absolute goodness that is given to man through revelation. In both cases, the men are convinced not by some divine occurrence, but through a reasoned approach. The difference, though, is that Pierre is readily convinced---making his conversion quickly, almost rashly---where Levin is more measured, taking time (at least more than the ten minutes Pierre seemed to take) to think things through.

Anna Karenina ends before we see the longer term effects of Levin's conversion. Here, though, we follow Pierre as he seizes the opportunity to convert, participate and apply what he has learned. He is quickly frustrated by the lack of action of his fellow members and the fact that they have not fully abandoned themselves and their fortunes as masonry demands. Though, when Pierre attempts to apply his goodness on his estates, he fails---though he never knows it---due to his lack of understanding of the real world and his own lack of conviction in (or tendency to be subordinate with) his own beliefs.

Pierre's attempts at freeing his serfs and improving their lives is soon put into contrast with Andrey's quick and effective institution of such things on his own estate after a brief conversation with Pierre. Tolstoy dwelt on Pierre's failure while only briefly mentioning Andrey's success to perhaps imply that it is unsurprising to see Andrey succeed where Pierre had failed. I also think Tolstoy is showing some disdain for Pierre with this comparison.

As the volume progresses, we see Pierre torn more and more into one of those individuals he had criticized early in his Masonry. He returns to some of his heodonistic ways. He reduces (or at least Tolstoy doesn't mention) his attempts to be charitable to his serfs. Though he does stay active and travels to visit other Freemasons, it no longer appears to be an obvious part of his life.

Andrey's transformation from depressed---following the death of his wife---to joyful; from absent to revengeful; is as quick. Tolstoy uses a tree to mirror Andrey's transformation: from feeling he had no one to live for but himself before the bloom of spring, to stating his "life must be lived for [him] but also for other people." This feeling is carried through his relationship with Natasha, but falls away quickly when he learns of her impulsive actions. I would imagine that he would see the tree at the end of Volume II in a much gloomier light.

I am a bit peeved at Andrey for so quickly denying Natasha. She did act rashly and impulsively, but she is young and he had more-or-less abandoned her, despite his statement upon seeing the aged tree in a new light: "My life must be reflected in them [Natasha and Pierre] and they must live along with me, all of us together!" Though he most certainly did not mean physically together, he did little to bring Natasha with him in any other way: he did not stay in the area, have her visit him on his travels, or better give direction to Pierre to look out for Natasha. Really, this exercise seemed doomed to fail from the start, with Andrey's father's disapproval standing as a rather clear omen.

One particular scene that was great fun in this volume was that of Natasha, Nickolay, Petya and the rest of the hunting party having dinner at "uncle's" house. following the hunt. While the explanation of the hunt was in many ways tedious (Tolstoy staged it much like a battle, but the geography and movements were difficult to follow without a map on hand), the celebration after was really great and exposed the Russian culture runs deep. Despite the refined education in French language and culture, Natasha danced with a spirit, which was "truly Russian, imitable [and] unteachable."

With that and the desire to release the serfs, we see some exposure of a belief from Tolstoy in the innate value of individuals, despite the class they are born into. Sonya reflects this well. She is an orphan---a cousin---brought up with the Rostovs who is able to transcend her lack of a dowry. She is regularly noted as the kindest and gentlest person willing to wait indefinitely on Nickolay. Tolstoy also shows this belief through the kindness Marya shows the "Servants of God": she sees goodness in their suffering and wants to live as they do, understanding life by experiencing it more fundamentally.

And now, to move on to the next volume: war?

<i>War and Peace</i>: Volume #1 by Leo Tolstoy

Since this is a rather long book and Tolstoy conveniently divided it into volumes, I've decided to comment on the individual volumes as I go. I can thereby keep some sort of continuum of understanding on the text.

First, though, some notes on the version I am reading---a recent translation by Anthony Briggs. Included in the appendices are three sections that have so far been invaluable to me as I read: a list and brief description of the characters, maps of the major battle areas and one to two sentence summaries of the chapters. As with most Russian novels, it is virtually impossible to keep track of the characters with the patronyms, honorifics, given names and nicknames. The list of characters is broken down by family, which is very helpful in comparison to the basic lists I've usually run across.

Any time I'm reading a book describing battles---especially 19th-century battles with detailed troop movements---the maps are essential. Finally, since so many stories are interwoven, the chapter summaries are useful in recalling earlier plot points.

Tolstoy spends the first parts of the volume introducing all of the characters in their civilian social lives. We start to understand the relations between the families---which son is planned to marry which daughter---and the current international situation: the movement of Napoleon and where the political affinities of each character lie (it is surprisingly fashionable to have sympathies for Napoleon in Russian 'society').

From the social layout, two plot lines appear to be of particular import for later in the story. The first is the legitimization of Pierre from the status of a bastard son. Through the events surrounding his father's death, he moves from being scorned to celebrated (from a bastard to a Count). Pierre goes with the flow, seeing the changes in his life and the maneuvering of Prince Vasily to get Pierre to marry his daughter. He sees this all as inevitable---despite his misgivings, he feels there is no way he can resist.

While Pierre sees destiny, Rostov and Prince Andrey instead see opportunity to distinguish themselves and change history. It seems, though, that Tolstoy does not agree with their beliefs, as both are swept in directions beyond their control. And, despite their intentions, are unable to act as they had initially planned.

The other plot line that looks like it will be a centerpiece is that of Princess Marya. The oppressiveness of her life is outlined completely---her horrible looks (except those of her eyes) and the way her father frightens her and forces her lessons. But, despite, or maybe due to, this oppressive atmosphere, she is able to resist the tide of events and decide that her marriage to Prince Anatole is not best in the grand scheme: it is better to find a way for her friend to marry Anatole.

Two battles are also completed in this volume. We see quickly that the Russians are no match for the French in the second battle---the French are better organized, more prepared and have a plan, unlike the allies (Russian and Austrian) whose plan is extremely complicated and has little support from those carrying it out. Tolstoy notes his thoughts on the plan for the battle of Austrerlitz by describing the "disposition [of troops] was very complicated and hard to understand" and "went on and on." With that description and Kutuzov sleeping through its announcement, there was no hope for the Russians.

One aspect that Tolstoy is very keen to communicate is the reverence and adoration of the Tsar, shown most clearly through Rostov. Tolstoy describes how Rostov "longed for some means of expressing his love for the Tsar." And that Rostov contemplates that if the Tsar ever spoke to him, he would "die of happiness." Tolstoy later mentions how "nine-tenths of all the men in the Russian army were in love...with their Tsar and Russian military honor." A very hard thing to consistently live up to in a time a war. I sense we are soon to see further disillusionment of soldiers as the war continues.

<i>Ender's Game</i> by Orson Scott Card

This was a really great read. I would have, I think enjoyed it even more reading it as a 13 or 14 year old. Card mentions in the introduction that many gifted kids use the book as their Bible---identifying strongly with Ender. I had trouble seeing that for myself---though maybe the 13 year-old me would have easily made that identification. Now, though, Ender seems too perfect, too young and the one story too well worn (though I really liked this retelling) for me to identify completely with Ender's point of view.

With that said, really liked the sci-fi aspects of this book. Card mentions in the introduction how he was trying to figure out how fighting would be different in space. I think Ender demonstrated that most perfectly in the idea that there is no "down" when there isn't any gravity. "Down" is toward the goal. The orientation of the entry point's ceiling and floor means nothing once you are in a weightless environment: orientation is relative to your task.

I liked how Card visualized the internet. Granted his last revision for the copy I had was in 1991, but even then, few people had any vision of how the online world would emerge and dominate. He saw it as the primary location for human discourse, with entire symposiums held online. We haven't quite reached that point yet, but we are getting there.

The battle school appears to be a necessary outcome of the time the plot is set. With 2 invasions of aliens fought off, it is expected that militarization would be required to keep them at bay---a normal human response to an external threat that we are unable to understand.

Card concludes the story with redemption---absolution given by the enemy to the humans through Ender. Ender is the one---with enough empathy, survival instincts and smarts to save the world as a tween (a young Paul Atrides, Luke Skywalker or Neo) and later redeem human kind to bring back the enemy in the name of empathy.

A well written and engaging book.

8/10

<i>Laughter in the Dark</i> by Vladamir Nabokov

Throughout the majority of the book, I thought the title referred to the start of the story, where Albinus meets Margot in the cinema. After completeing the book, though, it more obviously refers to Albinus's cuckold position later in the novel and his blindness. Though, beyond the more obvious poetic justice of a man being cukolded by his lover after leave his wife, it may also reference how the relationship began in the dark and tended to stay that way for Albinus.

There were two parts to this story that I particularly liked: the first few and the last few sentences. The first few reminded me of How to Read a Book (in which I checked and found no reference to it), in that it gives us the whole story in two sentence, but concludes by noting:

This is the whole of the story and we might have left it at that had there not been profit and pleasure in the telling; and although there is plenty of space on a gravestone to contain, bound in moss, the abridged version of a man's life, detail is always welcome.

The last few sentences describe the last scene in terms of stage directions, which is very effective since the beginning of the chapter was told from Albinus's blind point of view. since we are seeing with him, we have a limited understanding of the room and the actions within it. With the stage directions, we get to see the results of the last actions, giving us a better understanding of how Albinus, Margot and the room interacted.

The story, overall, was very good, though I am generally frustrated by stories where people seemingly effortlessly remove themselves from long held relationships. I find the section where Albinus was blind and the conclusion of the story to be a bit rushed after the long set up between Rex and Margot.

Rex was a despicable character---pretty much a conman who can draw. His amiability for life, seen most easily in how he teases Albinus, was very amusing to watch, but painful to think about in reference to Albinus.

The sympathies of this story are reverse to those in Lolieta. To HH, one is more sympathetic at the start, but less sympathetic later in the book. Here, as Albinus is planning his infidelity, I was must less sympathetic as his actions were rather pathetic. But, as Rex and Margot start conning him and he becomes blind, my sympathies for him increased greatly.

A very good read.

8/10

<i>Men, Machines and Modern Times</i> by Elting E. Morison

Dave gave me this one.

Come to find out, Elting Morison started th STS (Science, Technology and Society) program at MIT. You can see that interest in his writing. There are 8 essays in this book, which address some questions on innovation.

My favorite essays focused on the mechanical. Morison includes two essays on computers, but like many thoughts on computers they don't age well. It may be due to thoughts that are generally had regarding any new technology are very optimistic at the outset---"none of the processes involved in human creativity appear to lie beyond the reach of computers" (I'm not an AI person, but I think that we don't say that with certainty now)---then it is slowly determined that the problem is much more complicated than originally thought.

But, back to the mechanical. These essays are about men (all the examples were of men) who were able to create---as Clayton Christenson would say---disruptive innovation in their respective fields. Morison puts this down to a type of personality more than anything else. In the case of the naval gun site, the man (Sims) who faced the change

was moved...in part by rebellion against tedium, against inefficiency from on high, and against the artificial limitations placed on his actions by the social structure

He gives other similar examples related to the expansion of the use of the Bessemer process in the use.

Morison aims, though, not to say that we should all fight our hierarchies (despite the fact I really want someone to give me permission to do so), but

that in a world such as ours, new ways to do things [are] standard operating procedure and that we had all better realize it and become an adaptive society before we [are] shaken apart or disintegrated under the strain produced by our blind resistances.

But within this we have to beware of our

mechanical triumph...produc[ing] a mechanical atmosphere we can't stand...the design of our technology must take into greater account our interior needs."

One note on an essay included here, but does no easily fall into either of the two categories above. This one was on bureaucracy and described it quite wall as a state reached due to years and years of refinements put into place with the best intentions, but never reconsidered---"it is easy to make a regulation than to abolish it." As a result, organizations are "highly dependent upon outside stimuli to force changes...Everyone inside is too committed to the special world." All due to the order we try to apply to the chaos we see around us.

A very good read---minus the essays on computers.

7/10

<i>Peyton Place</i> by Grace Metalious

This reminded me, very much, of a cleaned up version of The Beans of Egypt Maine. The Beans, though, was written from the perspective of the "shack dwellers," where this was written from that of the townspeople. I also agree with the Introduction to Peyton Place that the Beans are more caricatures of individuals, whereas Metalious's characters are more dimensional and believable.

Metalious writes very well about northern small town New England. The descriptions of the of the people and places ring true and are not forced. I was frustrated, somewhat, by the rather prosaic descriptions of Indian Summer, which occurred at least twice and was functioning almost exclusively as a metaphor (not quite as bad, though, as Wolfe's "island fortress"). Generally, though, she captured the color well and I enjoyed reading.

I was put out of place a bit by the year the book was set. I kept thinking it was set around the time the book was written (mid-1950's) instead of about 15 years before. The war seemed out of place due to that. And the times when the years were identified ("Class of 1939") it stood out to me like a sore thumb. I think Metalious could have gotten away with setting the book in some undefined and undefinable time.

As with most books that ere once banned or considered deviant, now the idea seems quaint. I think I've read modern "teen" books with more sex and "shocking" behavior in them. I suppose, though, the more shocking idea is the extent to which the characters kept up appearances and took the mantra "live and let live" to the extremes. The realization to the reader was that even polite, idyllic small-town society has its secrets and often they are kept by the whole town.

As a former and probably future resident of small-town New England, I found the characters quite believable and the secrets very true. Overall, a good read. Well paced and written.

8/10

<i>Mindless Eating</i> by Brian Wansink

I read about this book somewhere online. Wansink is a food researcher and completes experiments to asses what effects how much and what we eat. The food labs he uses include the standard one-way glass and a full service restaurant on campus.

It is very sobering to see how much influence advertising has on us. I suppose it shouldn't be much of a surprise, since modern advertising has been figuring out these things for a number of years. Wansink gives a number of examples of this: printing the number of servings in large text a package contains causes us to eat less; having an emotion tie to a food influences us like it that much more; etc. He used his lab to prove these and a number of other behaviors that modern humans have with food---a serving is how much we have in front of us (proved, in part, by an experiment with a never-ending soup bowl; that would've been an awesome Course 2 UROP).

Wansik outlines a diet based on this research. The idea is to generally reduce the amount you eat---not drastically, but by only 100 calories a day (i.e. if you normally eat 2100 calories a day, aiming for 2000), otherwise you fell hungry or deprived---to slowly lose weight. Since thought the eating behavior you develop becomes a habit over time, you tend to keep the weight off that is lost in this manner. The goal: mindless weight loss.

The strategies are basic: split big meals; pick two: dessert, drink or appetizer; keep food out of sight and distant from you; use smaller plates; don't eat straight from the bag. I like the advice a lot, as it doesn't tell you: "NO! Don't eat THAT!" You don't have to feel deprived, you just need to adjust your habits slightly to lose weight over th long term.

This book was interesting for three reasons: (1) it offers reasonable advice for a better diet; (2) it explains (at least partly) why we tend to overeat; (3) it includes some great annecdotes about the results of studies completed in Wansink's food labs. An educational, quick read.

8/10

<i>Father and Son</i> by Edmund Gosse

Back almost a year ago when Slate.com had its series of articles about memoirs, this book was mentioned as a first in its genre: the "tell all" memoir . First, this is a tell all by Victorian standards. So, don't go reading it expecting to find tales of lurid sexual affairs or the exposure of wrists or ankles. It is a tell all more in the terms of feelings and relationships---equally as repressed as sex during that time period.

Second, despite being a "significant" book in the history of literature, it is very good.

Gosse recounts his youth. Since much of his youth was spent only with his father---his mother died of cancer when he was six---it is mostly about his relationship with his father and his relationship with religion. His mother and father were strict Plymouth style Puritans. His father often preached the good word, but he would often be found in his study working on his day job as a naturalist.

In one very interesting part of the book Gosse describes the difficulty his father went through when first encountering the ideas of Charles Darwin. Since his father was, at very least, observant about nature (he drew, painted and cataloged it for many books), Gosse describes (and imagines) his father's final decision to promote a creationist style view as very difficult. Once, though, the decision was made, his father never looked back, even going so far as to write a book about God's role in geological formations, despite geology being far outside his ken.

Another dramatic part of the book is Gosse's baptism. Part of the Puritan belief is that one can only be baptized once one is an adult. Gosse's father convinced his congregation that his son was so advanced in spirit that they must baptize him despite him only being around ten years old. Gosse, at this point, was very enthusiastic about his religion---even to the point of smugness---despite not believing in the same idea of god that his father saw. This belief goes back to a much younger time: Gosse tested the idea of a vengeful god by putting another god before him. One afternoon, around the age of five, while his parents were out, Gosse said his usual daily prayer to a chair---replace all the "Oh Lords" with "Oh Chair" (a very comical scene). Since nothing horrible happened, he concluded that the vengeful god of his father's mind was not the correct understanding of god.

This difference of interpretation widens then contracts throughout Gosse's boyhood. By the end, though, Gosse has moved to London to study and finds his father's intense interest in his son's soul stifling. Their relationship breaks a part.

The story of Gosse's young life and relationship with his parents is wonderfully told. He describes his younger days without raging sentimentality. He is sober when describing his mother's illness and death, but still brings out some of the small charms that occur during such life-changing events (Gosse at age six reading his mother poetry). The writing is clear, witty and engaging. Well recommended.

9/10

<i>Welcome to the Monkey House</i> by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

I always find it very hard to write about collections of short stories. And for Vonnegut, I am finding it even harder---it has been more than two weeks since I finished this book that I am writing this down. Many of the stories in this collection were written prior to most of my favorite Vonnegut novels: Mother Night, Slaughterhouse 5 and Galapagos. As such, I can see many of the themes of those works in these stories: the future of the human race, sci-fi more generally, the meaning of life and human relationships.

I have spent some time thinking and can't identify a favorite. Two of them, though, made my skin crawl---always a worthy attribute in a short story. Those are: "All the King's Horses" and "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow". "All the King's Horses" flashed me back to "Heart of Darkness" and "The Most Dangerous Game", but with a marginally happier ending. (On a side note: it is interesting that these types of human sacrifice stories stand out more as short stories than as novels. Maybe they are better---and creepier---if there is less said about them.) The skin crawling aspect in this one was based on the lack of free will of the individuals and the Captain's forced god-like power over them.

"Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" has a similar theme of a lack of free will, but feels more possible. This one reminded me of My Petition for More Space, though with less order (bureaucracy?) and the bad side of Sax's quote which I included when writing up Blue Mars. It is a question, though, we will have to contend with as our life spans get longer. While I hope the solution is expand skyward, the cynic in my gut tells me we may be headed to something more like Vonnegut's future. That gives me the heeby-jeebies.

In general, these are all excellent stories. These leave a different feeling on your skin than a Ray Bradbury story, despite the similarities. With Bradbury, the extrapolation point seems too far out. Though Bradbury still captures the Twilight Zone feeling, Vonnegut is more visceral: that extrapolated point is very close, giving a tighter feel to my skin when I finish reading.

9/10