TWI Books: #30
May. 7th, 2007 11:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akujunkanI had a dream the other night that I read Watership Down and enjoyed it. Clearly, it is a sign of the literary End Times. Wonder if these other eight had something to do with it.
1) Bodai – J.M.
This booklet, published by the Soto Mission of Hawaii, was given to me my the principal of K-town's own largest nursery/preschool/daycare center after one of our many discussions on all things Japanese. It's a neat little compendium of Zen errata but probably not something you'd want to tackle without prior knowledge of the subject, as the translation can be less than lucid in places. It's also quite useful in that it contains romaji transliterations of the Heart Sutra and a few other important texts.
2) God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian – Kurt Vonnegut
My love for Kurt Vonnegut is unstinting. The way he managed to make such cutting, insightful observations into the human state with such a minimum of words will never cease to amaze me. Read this book if you want something that makes you think.
3) Life of Pi – Yann Martel
What an extreme letdown to go from Vonnegut—-one of the best authors dealing with issues like meaning and purpose--to this talentless hack. Life of Pi made a huge splash in Japan about three years ago, which is when I first started hearing about it; perhaps the general scarcity of English-language books is what accounted for its reception there. Because it is, in a word, crap. Martel has a firm command of some of the most flat, lifeless prose I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. The book is supposed to be an uplifting tale about the power of faith, but I'm left wondering if Martel has ever genuinely experienced it. And how ironic that a book supposedly extolling the wonders of religious tolerance is so full of obnoxious racial typecasting? At least I can give Martel some credit for Pi's creative premise--oh wait. I can't, seeing as how he stole it from someone else. Ignore this one; it isn't worth your time.
4) My Life at Rose Red -
This week's parade of mediocrity continued with My Life At Rose Red: The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, which I mooched thanks to the site description, which said it was written by "Ellen Rimbauer, the young bride of Seattle industralist John Rimbauer, who began keeping a remarkable diary at the turn of the century...a secret place where she could confess her anxieties about her new marriage, express her confusion over her emerging sexuality..." Turns out it's actually a Blair Witch-esque tie in to some Stephen King franchise. I lose!
The book itself reads like decent fanfic, what with its shallow and infinitely malleable character development (the better to fit the contrived plot) and countless potentially intriguing but ultimately red herring moments of foreshadowing. The overwhelming narrative emphasis is on the sex lives of the main characters and evinces all the alarming gender stereotypes and double standards one has come to expect from American pop culture. The "diary's" "editor" has left notes here and there throughout the text referring readers to a website at which the more lascivious excerpts (supposedly removed to spare the family embarrassment) have been archived for posterity's sake. Alas, said website appears to be a glorified commercial for the franchise and the much-hyped sex scenes are nowhere in sight. The horror elements are also paradoxically lacking in horror, due to their very numerosity--it's the hand of Satan at work! No, an Indian burial ground! No, it's actually African witchcraft! By which I mean, of course, ancient Chinese occultism! No, it's because the house is alive! Or because the husband is a serial rapist/killer! I can't keep track! Why anyone would pay to read this when there's similar fare available for free (and in infinitely kinkier permutations) on the Internet is beyond me.
5) A Woman's Voice – Eddie Rowley
And onward to another unremarkable book, this time a biography of eight female Irish singers. The emphasis, unfortunately, is on anything but traditional music; the book appears to be linked to some effort to bring these women out into the mainstream, which is too bad because I'm in it for the sean nos. Also of high aggravation is the women's collective frequent and strident insistence that they are not feminists! Decent folk everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief over this, the text pretty much states outright. And yet not two paragraphs later those selfsame women are bemoaning the fact that they've been separated from their spouses for decades but are legally unable to procure divorces (at least four of them), talk about the boring drudgery of having eschewed higher education for secretarial school (about three of them), their horror at a brutal ruling in a recent rape case (all of them) and about how difficult it is to build a career by touring and performing while saddled with the duties of motherhood (seven of them). What the fuck do you think feminisim IS, idiots!? Obviously not my cup of tea, but would be well worth reading for anyone who's a fan of modern Irish music and/or social "conservatism."
6) Hellboy: Seeds of Destruction – Mike Mignola
I had to go read some Hellboy to wipe my brain clean. Reading the first book, I'm reminded of what drew me to Hellboy in the first place—amazing art coupled with themes and storylines that could have rivaled those of Gaiman's Sandman series had Mignola been able to flesh them out more instead of cutting straight to the chase. Still, it's creepy good fun and well worth the read if you're a fan of either graphic novels or pulp fiction in general.
7) Prince of the Pond – Donna Jo Napoli
Donna Jo Napoli has made a name for herself retelling fairy and folk tales. Prince of the Pond (three guesses what this one was based on) is one of her best efforts, in my opinion. It's got a cute, informative story for the kids and some nicely hidden kink for the adults—all very Naono Bohra in feel. The illustrations are quite nice, too.
8) The Birdcage – Robert Rodi & Elaine May
This book is Rodi's novelization of the movie screenplay, although all he seems to have done is written play-by-play prose descriptions of the action as seen on the silver screen. This is by no means a bad thing—May's screenplay is hilarious, but I was hoping that more of Rodi's touch would be evident in the grand scheme of things. That said, it is well worth reading if you've seen the movie (or especially if you haven't) as it's quite clever and there's a lot of astute social commentary lurking beneath the giggles.
SBS: Up to 96, because I decided I might as well read the books I probably won't want to keep around forever first. Yes, there is a B-list, too. (T.T)
That will be all.
1) Bodai – J.M.
This booklet, published by the Soto Mission of Hawaii, was given to me my the principal of K-town's own largest nursery/preschool/daycare center after one of our many discussions on all things Japanese. It's a neat little compendium of Zen errata but probably not something you'd want to tackle without prior knowledge of the subject, as the translation can be less than lucid in places. It's also quite useful in that it contains romaji transliterations of the Heart Sutra and a few other important texts.
2) God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian – Kurt Vonnegut
My love for Kurt Vonnegut is unstinting. The way he managed to make such cutting, insightful observations into the human state with such a minimum of words will never cease to amaze me. Read this book if you want something that makes you think.
3) Life of Pi – Yann Martel
What an extreme letdown to go from Vonnegut—-one of the best authors dealing with issues like meaning and purpose--to this talentless hack. Life of Pi made a huge splash in Japan about three years ago, which is when I first started hearing about it; perhaps the general scarcity of English-language books is what accounted for its reception there. Because it is, in a word, crap. Martel has a firm command of some of the most flat, lifeless prose I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. The book is supposed to be an uplifting tale about the power of faith, but I'm left wondering if Martel has ever genuinely experienced it. And how ironic that a book supposedly extolling the wonders of religious tolerance is so full of obnoxious racial typecasting? At least I can give Martel some credit for Pi's creative premise--oh wait. I can't, seeing as how he stole it from someone else. Ignore this one; it isn't worth your time.
4) My Life at Rose Red -
This week's parade of mediocrity continued with My Life At Rose Red: The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, which I mooched thanks to the site description, which said it was written by "Ellen Rimbauer, the young bride of Seattle industralist John Rimbauer, who began keeping a remarkable diary at the turn of the century...a secret place where she could confess her anxieties about her new marriage, express her confusion over her emerging sexuality..." Turns out it's actually a Blair Witch-esque tie in to some Stephen King franchise. I lose!
The book itself reads like decent fanfic, what with its shallow and infinitely malleable character development (the better to fit the contrived plot) and countless potentially intriguing but ultimately red herring moments of foreshadowing. The overwhelming narrative emphasis is on the sex lives of the main characters and evinces all the alarming gender stereotypes and double standards one has come to expect from American pop culture. The "diary's" "editor" has left notes here and there throughout the text referring readers to a website at which the more lascivious excerpts (supposedly removed to spare the family embarrassment) have been archived for posterity's sake. Alas, said website appears to be a glorified commercial for the franchise and the much-hyped sex scenes are nowhere in sight. The horror elements are also paradoxically lacking in horror, due to their very numerosity--it's the hand of Satan at work! No, an Indian burial ground! No, it's actually African witchcraft! By which I mean, of course, ancient Chinese occultism! No, it's because the house is alive! Or because the husband is a serial rapist/killer! I can't keep track! Why anyone would pay to read this when there's similar fare available for free (and in infinitely kinkier permutations) on the Internet is beyond me.
5) A Woman's Voice – Eddie Rowley
And onward to another unremarkable book, this time a biography of eight female Irish singers. The emphasis, unfortunately, is on anything but traditional music; the book appears to be linked to some effort to bring these women out into the mainstream, which is too bad because I'm in it for the sean nos. Also of high aggravation is the women's collective frequent and strident insistence that they are not feminists! Decent folk everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief over this, the text pretty much states outright. And yet not two paragraphs later those selfsame women are bemoaning the fact that they've been separated from their spouses for decades but are legally unable to procure divorces (at least four of them), talk about the boring drudgery of having eschewed higher education for secretarial school (about three of them), their horror at a brutal ruling in a recent rape case (all of them) and about how difficult it is to build a career by touring and performing while saddled with the duties of motherhood (seven of them). What the fuck do you think feminisim IS, idiots!? Obviously not my cup of tea, but would be well worth reading for anyone who's a fan of modern Irish music and/or social "conservatism."
6) Hellboy: Seeds of Destruction – Mike Mignola
I had to go read some Hellboy to wipe my brain clean. Reading the first book, I'm reminded of what drew me to Hellboy in the first place—amazing art coupled with themes and storylines that could have rivaled those of Gaiman's Sandman series had Mignola been able to flesh them out more instead of cutting straight to the chase. Still, it's creepy good fun and well worth the read if you're a fan of either graphic novels or pulp fiction in general.
7) Prince of the Pond – Donna Jo Napoli
Donna Jo Napoli has made a name for herself retelling fairy and folk tales. Prince of the Pond (three guesses what this one was based on) is one of her best efforts, in my opinion. It's got a cute, informative story for the kids and some nicely hidden kink for the adults—all very Naono Bohra in feel. The illustrations are quite nice, too.
8) The Birdcage – Robert Rodi & Elaine May
This book is Rodi's novelization of the movie screenplay, although all he seems to have done is written play-by-play prose descriptions of the action as seen on the silver screen. This is by no means a bad thing—May's screenplay is hilarious, but I was hoping that more of Rodi's touch would be evident in the grand scheme of things. That said, it is well worth reading if you've seen the movie (or especially if you haven't) as it's quite clever and there's a lot of astute social commentary lurking beneath the giggles.
SBS: Up to 96, because I decided I might as well read the books I probably won't want to keep around forever first. Yes, there is a B-list, too. (T.T)
That will be all.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
reposted to fix html errors >.<
on 2007-05-07 04:56 am (UTC)*I have seen the movie several times as a child, and own a copy of a picutre book using art from the movie
Re: reposted to fix html errors >.<
on 2007-05-13 03:19 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-05-07 06:14 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-05-13 03:20 am (UTC)Just wish I had more manga to report on, but it's nigh impossible to buy new books here!