May 2008 Archives
Kristin, 17 years old, runs from home just before the end of the millennium. Kristin responds to a curious classified ad and finds a new home living with an apocalyoptologist. This researcher of the end of the world has the new millennium starting at the May 1968 in Paris.
The book is quite a firework assembly. The events mix and shuffle a pack of characters whose paths get close to each other but never quite touch. The whole book is like a puzzle, and the pieces click - no, they slam hard - together as the story goes. What is it all about? I most certainly don't know, but it was fun to read nevertheless. This book is best read fairly quickly, because otherwise you'll lose track of who's who. [ The Sea Came in at Midnight at Amazon.co.uk ]
I love a good history book that explains the origins of something mundane and common-place. Kurlansky's Salt is a perfect example. This book is about mirrors, which is another great topic. And sure enough, the book starts well by describing the history of mirror-making. It's an interesting story, if a bit French-centric, and features suspense and the makings of an agent novel when France and Venice competed against each other.
However, from there on the book gets downright boring. The author forgets the concrete objects and focuses on literature, sociology, philosophy and metaphysics. Perhaps the rest of the book works for a reader who is interested in the effects of mirrors in the psyche of a French nobleman in the 17th century, but that's not me. I would love to hear more about making mirrors, really.
There's no doubt that the author is French, so extensive is her use of French sources and her focus on French life. The book could be titled The Mirror - A French History. I did read through the whole book, but skipped along rather briskly in the end. Only occasionally I found something worth a deeper look.
So, I'm recommending this book with some reservations. The first part is interesting and definitely worth reading, but if the beginning of the second part doesn't please you, read no further: it doesn't get any better. (Review based on the Finnish translation.) [ The Mirror: A History at Amazon.co.uk ]
Other blogs writing about the book:
Syaffolee: Zzzzz
From Booking Through Thursday:
What is reading, anyway? Novels, comics, graphic novels, manga, e-books, audiobooks -- which of these is reading these days? Are they all reading? Only some of them? What are your personal qualifications for something to be "reading" -- why? If something isn't reading, why not? Does it matter? Does it impact your desire to sample a source if you find out a premise you liked the sound of is in a format you don't consider to be reading? Share your personal definition of reading, and how you came to have that stance.
Of the formats listed above, I would count everything as reading except audiobooks - that's listening to. Perhaps that's why I don't do it? It is a different experience for different situations, and I find myself very rarely in a situation where I would want to listen to a book (or a podcast, for that matter, I haven't taken to that either). I read novels constantly, comics and graphic novels occasionally, manga rarely, e-books if necessary (rarely for pure reading pleasure, because reading from screen isn't fun).
So yes, if something interesting would be offered as an audiobook, I would skip it. Actually, same goes with e-books - every now and then I see something available that's interesting, but I just won't read it. For example. I had to mooch Cory Doctorow's novels, even though they are available as e-books on his website, for free. So, if I'm honest, in a way I don't count e-books as reading either. Then again, I'm currently reading an e-book on search engine optimization. There I have no options, and I have to read it - it's for work. Thus, I can read an e-book if I have to, but won't do it if I have a choice - and that choice may just as well be to skip the whole book, no matter how interesting it seems.
It's just that I don't find enjoyment from reading e-books and I don't have time or the right situation for audiobooks (and little interest in finding it). Reading from computer screen is not pleasant: the resolution isn't that good and my table is so bad that my legs are hurting as I write this, after I've been sitting here for what, 90 minutes. I do most of my reading in bed and while I can take a laptop to bed, I don't want to.
Lord Dunsany was an Irish poet and an author, who wrote short stories, plays and few novels. He made the most lasting impression in the field of fantasy literature, where he was a major fore-runner. Several later authors sing praises and acknowledge debt to Dunsany: H.P. Lovecraft, Ursula Le Guin, Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, David Eddings, Peter Beagle... J.R.R. Tolkien was fond of Dunsany's work as well, so it's fair to say fantasy literature wouldn't be what it is without Dunsany.
Lord Dunsany's most important novel was The King of Elfland's Daughter, published in 1924. I was glad to be able to read a Finnish translation, published by a friend of mine. His small publishing house is dedicated to producing translations of fantasy classics that have so far been unavailable in Finnish. He has already published Leiber's Lankhmar stories, Zelazny's Nine Princes of Amber, Matheson's I Am Legend... He's doing a wonderful service to the Finnish fantasy fandom.
The King of Elfland's Daughter is not just an interesting literature curiosity. It's a beautiful, tragic tale of what happens when ordinary people wish to have some magic in their lives. The people of Erl want a ruler with magic powers, so that the valley of Erl would be famous. The lord of Erl sends his son Alveric to marry the legendary Lizarel, the daughter of the Elven King.
It's not a "then they lived happily everafter story" - Alveric goes and gets Lizarel, that's not a big deal. That's where the complications begin... The story is wonderful, a proper fairy tale for adults. It's full of imagination and style. Dunsany writes in a flowery, archaic style, which is beautifully captured in the Finnish translation. The King of Elfland's Daughter is a book worth reading, for it's historical significance and it's literary value. (Review based on the Finnish translation.) [ The King of Elfland's Daughter at Amazon.co.uk ]
Allen's Getting Things Done is something of a legend in the field of productivity consulting. The book is a major best-seller that has sold an obscene amount of copies in several languages. And why not? The book is definitely a reasonable guide to being more productive in work and life in general. Modern information workers have problems with the boundaries of work: instead of concrete objects, they deal with neverending projects and information flows. Too much energy is spent to figuring out what needs to be done and when. Inboxes flood with things to deal with.
Allen offers a solution. His method is simple, but efficient. It involves creating a simple organisation system and using it to resolve matters as soon as they arrive: as soon as something hits your desk, you file it to the correct place in your organisation system or get rid of it. Large projects are looked at from the point of view of next action. The purpose of the system is to free the mind to focus on creative thinking instead of worrying about missing things.
The system seems sound. The book convinced me enough to give a reduced version of the system a go: I now have a bunch of lists on my computer to keep me up to date with all of my projects - hopefully! Getting Things Done is an inspiring and pleasantly concrete book that avoids the philosophical meanderings and focuses on simple and easy-to-implement devices and methods. If you're in trouble managing your projects, read this book! (Review based on the Finnish translation.) [ Getting Things Done: How to Achieve Stress-free Productivity at Amazon.co.uk ]
This book observes the life of a small Dutch village through the eyes of Fransje, who is bound to a wheelchair after a nasty accident. His accident makes him an outsider, looking in at the fringes. He can't even speak, just write. He keeps an extensive journal, writing down everything he observes.
When Fransje was waking up from his coma, he heard people talk about a new kid in town. His name is Joe Speedboat, and even his arrival was full of drama: their moving van crashed straight to the living room of the Maandag family. Joe's dad died in the accident and the Maandag's were properly scared.
Joe is full of energy and has a big effect on the boys of Lomark. Fransje gets to know Joe, and the boys get fairly close. Joe is a wild card that tips the balance off for the whole town. However, Joe's not the last stranger to move in, and many events in the book are somehow started by outsiders who arrive to Lomark. Being an outsider is a major theme in the book: there are the outsiders moving in to Lomark, then there's Fransje, who is also an outsider looking in.
Fransje observers the life in Lomark from school and through the final exams and sees how the other kids leave Lomark to take over the world - and come back, either temporarily or for good. Fransje gets his chance to see the world, too. There's lots of action in this book, but also slower moments, slower thoughts. Lots of laughs, too, both in good and bad taste. All in all, the story of Joe, as seen through the eyes of Fransje, is a rich tale worth reading. (Review based on the Finnish translation.) [ Joe Speedboat at Amazon.co.uk ]
The God Delusion was both entertaining and illustrating. I suppose you can guess my religious views now? Dawkins hits a full barrage against religion and the results are hit and miss. At times he's just ranting crazy, at times he's right at the mark. The result is, indeed, entertaining, but best if not taken too seriously.
Still, Dawkins has good points and at least parts of the book would be worth reading to some people - perhaps that would help those people understand the atheist's view of the world. Of course, reading some other parts would make those same people tremble in divine anger, so perhaps it would be best to just distribute the best parts... [ The God Delusion at Amazon.co.uk ]
Other blogs writing about the book:
One Good Thing: The God Delusion.
David Takes on the World: David Takes On: The God Delusion and The Conservative Right
Notes in Samsara: Book Review: The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
From Booking Through Thursday:
Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what's the difference between a book and a movie?
Yes. There are some things that work better on screen and some things that work better in writing. Movies are much better at making an emotional effect on me. Books rarely touch me at an emotional level, while movies can easily make me scared, sad or happy. Movies can make me cry, but books never do (though that may also be a function of the books I read).
What works better in writing is detail. I love books that involve intellectual entertainment and education. Neal Stephenson's large works are that kind of books, full of all sorts of information that has relatively little to do with the plot, really - and in a movie, they would be the first thing to go. In books, I can enjoy all that detail. Tristram Shandy is another example of something that just wouldn't work on screen: I just love the way Sterne wanders from one topic to the other (Tristram Shandy - A Cock and Bull Story
I do prefer books, but both have good sides and some things just work better in a movie. I'm tempted to say Lord of the Rings works better as a movie, as the movie version has so much more emotion to it - the attack of the Rohan cavalry always brings tears to my eyes, which the book never did... So, I'd say whatever works for the story is good!
Looks like I share something with one of my favourite authors, Jonathan Carroll:
A library recently asked me to give them the five books that have mattered most to me. I wrote back saying sorry, but I don't keep books I have already read. In one of those "people are divided into two groups" distinctions, I have a feeling readers are divided into two camps on this matter-- those who keep their books, and those who give them away once they're read. Talking to someone about this, they were horrified I didn't at least own copies of books that were especially important to me. I could only shrug and say again 99% of the books I own I haven't read yet.
The quote is from his May 21st blog entry. I'm definitely in the "give them away" camp, and BookMooch has been a blessing for me (funny this came up, as I just read about Bookmooching at Adventures in Reading and wrote a long comment there about the joys of BookMooch).
My library isn't quite 99% unread, but that would be a good state, yes, especially for fiction books.
The city of Berylon was ruled by the Tormalynes, until Arioso Pellior, head of another major family, slaughtered them all. Only one small boy survived, hiding in the ashes of a fireplace. The boy was delivered to a rocky island far north, to be raised by the bards. The boy, Rook, has no idea of his past, and he seems content to live on the island, teaching music.
However, his heart holds the fire that burnt his family and one day, almost 40 years after the slaughter, the arrival of a distant relative brings the memories back. Rook must travel back to Berylon to face his past. But Berylon is already burning... McKillip takes a classic setting and twists it into a tale that won't fit in the mold of a standard revenge story.
Curious instruments and the magical music played by them is an important theme in this book. There's actual magic in the world, capable of both good and evil. Song for the Basilisk is a beautiful book, as can be expected from McKillip, a true master of words. The book offers plenty of pretty words and lyrical prose, while telling an exciting plot that will hold reader tight. This is no routine fantasy, but a wonderful story in a world full of magic, written with genuine skill. (Review based on the Finnish translation) [ Song for Basilisk at Amazon.co.uk ]
Other blogs that write about the book:
Books under the Covers: Song for the Basilisk, by Patricia McKillip (warning: spoils the plot)
The Pendragon Legend is an Hungarian novel from 1930s, but the story isn't particularly Hungarian. A Hungarian researcher and bibliophile János Bátky is introduced to the Earl of Pendragon and is invited to study the books in his exquisite library. Bátky soon learns that getting involved with the Pendragons can be dangerous: he is threatened by mysterious forces and many strange events happen at the Pendragon manor. Antihero Bátky is an outsider who gets drawn into quite a mess.
The story is a strange mixture of gothic horror story and light comedy. The Earl Pendragon is a gloomy old gentleman and the history of the family features legendary characters. Rosicrucianism plays an important role in the story. The Finnish publisher advertises the book as Da Vinci Code published 60 years before Dan Brown's novel. This is advertising, of course, but the books belong in the same genre.
The Pendragon Legend is a charming story. It's not high literature, but the plot is clever, Bátky is a lovely lead character and the story has a good vibe to it. I also enjoyed the old-fashioned atmosphere of the 1930's England, and the translator did a good job capturing that in the language used. The Pendragon Legend is a tasty mystery with flavours of horror and occult. (Review based on the Finnish translation.) [ The Pendragon Legend at Amazon.co.uk ]
Other blogs writing about the book:
26 books: James's book seven: The Pendragon Legend by Antal Szerb
This book promises to teach all the necessary tricks and tips so that the readers can achieve the desired status of a cool dad. There's party games, outdoor fun, magic tricks, urban legends, funny facts, all sorts of stuff.
It is rather entertaining collection. The illustrations could be better and some of the material is less inspiring, but for a small book, it's reasonably packed with neat stuff. Oh, and mothers can use it just as well! [ Be the Coolest Dad on the Block: All of the Tricks, Games, Puzzles and Jokes You Need to Impress Your Kids (and Keep Them Entertained for Years to Come at Amazon.co.uk ]
Other blogs writing about the book:
Boing Boing: Be the Coolest Dad on the Block -- book pick
From Booking Through Thursday:
Following up last week's question about reading writing/grammar guides, this week, we're expanding the question....Scenario: You've just bought some complicated gadget home . . . do you read the accompanying documentation? Or not?
Do you ever read manuals?
How-to books?
Self-help guides?
Anything at all?
That's a good one. No, in general I don't read instruction manuals for gadgets, at least not before I start using them. I might browse through them later, as reading instructions usually leads to finding out some interesting new features. Usually, though, I only refer to the manuals when there's a problem to fix and troubles to shoot.
I don't read much self-help either - though I just received a review copy of David Allen's Getting Things Done which I suppose counts as self-help. That's certainly interesting, and I just read Web Copy That Sells, too - so I do read how-to books. I've read plenty of programming language manuals and other computer books.
So, I suppose it depends. Most gadgets are done well enough that using them without reading manuals is easy, and often the manuals are rather dull. Nokia cell phone manuals are a prime example: they seem to just explain the obvious, and if you do have a real problem, they're completely useless. A good manual can be a pleasure to read, but it's a rare pleasure.
This is my contribution to the 12th Bookworms Carnival, themed on fairy tales. I was first going to pass the carnival, but then I came up with the perfect book to introduce to the readers of the carnival.
It is Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi by Johanna Sinisalo. The English title is more straightforward Troll : A Love Story, a direct translation would be Not before sundown (which is the title of the first English edition of the book) or something like that. I'll come to the origin of the title later, it's a fascinating thing in itself.
Let's start with the book first and I'll deal with the background later. The book starts with a simple assumption: trolls exist. The book switches with the story, told by different narrators, and all sorts of fragments of literature (web sites, nonfiction, fiction) about trolls, written as if the trolls were a natural thing, an animal amongst the others.
The story is about Mikael, a young photographer, who finds something strange in his backyard. It's a troll, and Mikael takes it home and adopts it. A bond, relationships starts to form between Mikael and the troll, and soon things get complicated, when primal forces mix with modern world and culture meets nature. Add to the mix a Filipino mail-order wife living downstairs and couple of other characters and it all gets rather interesting.
It's a fascinating story, with a strong sexual tensions - it certainly is a love story, as the English title has it. Sexuality is, of course, a recurrent theme in many traditional fairy tales, especially in the original versions. I don't know about the quality of the English translation (or any of the other translations), but if it's as good as the Finnish original, this is one captivating and charming book. Sinisalo is a master writer and can craft convincing alternate realities. After you read this book, you start to believe trolls might indeed exist...
Then some background. Johanna Sinisalo is a well-loved author in the Finnish science fiction circles. She started by writing short stories and has seven times won the Atorox, the Finnish award for the best science fiction or fantasy short story of the year. She's since worked in television, writing the most popular Finnish daily TV series. She's also writing the script for Iron Sky, the new movie from the people who made Star Wreck.
Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi won the Finlandia prize for the best novel published in Finland. That is a major award, and Sinisalo was the first science fiction author ever to win the award (and only one so far). That was a major milestone for the Finnish science fiction literature, even though Sinisalo doesn't really write pure science fiction anymore - nevertheless, she mixes reality and fantasy in a wonderful way and really enhances the Finnish literary world.
The book also won James Tiptree, Jr. award in 2004.
Then I promised to tell you about the title. It's from one of the best-loved songs for children in Finland, Päivänsäde ja menninkäinen (Sunshine and a troll). In the song, sun is setting when one of the sunshines is left behind and meets a troll. The troll immediately falls in love with the sunshine and wants to take her home, even though her shining is making him blind. The sunshine refuses, saying that the darkness will kill her, and she must hurry home before she perishes. The song ends in a sad acknowledgement of how some are children of light and some travel in darkness, and never the two shall be together. It's a really beautiful, sad and sweet and song and a perfect source for a title for this book.
Do you want to sell something with a web site, but aren't satisfied with your sales? You know your copy could use some editing, but aren't sure how to proceed. Worry not! Writing killer web copy is easy when you know the secrets of doing it right. In this book, Maria Veloso reveals the secret of writing web copy that sells, and all you need to do is to buy this book and you too can sell like a pro.
If this book works, that should motivate you all to go buy this book. Well, I don't know how effective the teachings of this book are, but Veloso certainly appears qualified (it's hard to find anything non-commercial about her in the web) and presents a clear, easy-to-follow formula of writing web copy. The ideas seem effective and Veloso's writing is enthusiastic - though at least to my eyes the book seems a tad pushy and aggressive in selling it's ideas, but perhaps I'm not just to used to the American style of direct marketing (I have a feeling that marketing in Finland is considerably less aggressive).
So, if you have web copy to write, reading this book won't hurt and will likely improve your copy, especially if you're interested in the advertorial style of copywriting and write for a web site that's purely dedicated to selling something. [ Web Copy That Sells - The Revolutionary Formula for Creating Killer Copy Every Time at Amazon.co.uk ]
Other blogs writing about this book:
Magnetic Messages: Web Copy That Sells, by Maria Veloso
Shogi is the Japanese version of Chess. It has some rather curious features, but perhaps the most shocking of them for players familiar with the Western Chess is the drops: a captured piece may enter play owned by the captor. That alone makes sure endgames are not boring wars of attrition!
The game can be fairly hard to learn, though, and not the least because of the pieces which are identified by Japanese calligraphy symbols. The same learning curve issue affects this book as well, because Fairbairn uses the Japanese symbols in his diagrams. That's the way to do it, I suppose, as everybody has to learn the symbols anyway to play the game, but it sure makes the book hard to read.
If one is willing to overcome that obstacle, Shogi for Beginners is a fairly thorough introduction to an interesting game. Fairbairn explains the rules in a (mostly) clear way and then continues to basic strategy: castles, openings, middle game, endgame and so on. Shogi isn't easy to learn, but if you're willing to put some effort to it, this book will certainly help. [ Shogi for Beginners at Amazon.com ]
From Booking Through Thursday:
Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries-if any-do you have in your library?
Well, actually - I just placed a mooch for the classic writing guide, Elements of Style and am looking for some guides on writing for web, as I'm going to do some work like that soon. So, better get some new ideas! And who knows, perhaps my blogging for fun will profit from some lessons? I don't know, but I'm definitely curious to learn more.
I do like reading grammar books, for example the Eats, Shoots & Leaves was fun to read. I like reading about languages in general, I've read few books of the development of Finnish language and they've been all very interesting.
I don't have a Finnish dictionary, but I do have The Times English Dictionary and Thesaurus - it's a huge book, and I got it for just ten euros or so few years ago. Haven't read it a lot, though, because it's such a pain to go get it from the top shelf just to look up a word. I just type "define:word" in Google to find out how something is spelled and if the word means what I think it means (always best to be sure, especially since checking is so easy when you're online).
Since Trish brought up phone books: I so agree those are a complete waste of good trees. I haven't used one in years, and still I get two of each (no, make it four, since both consist of two parts) every year. Well, at least I don't have to wonder what to use to prop up the crib when our toddler has flu...
The bestselling author Sam Bayer is frustrated with how his latest book is turning out. Going back to his childhood roots in the small town of Crane's Village, he comes up with a much better book: he's going to tell the story of Pauline Ostrova, Crane's View's teenage beauty and oddball who was murdered when Bayer was a teen.
Bayer wants to tell her story, find out what really happened. He gets support from Frannie McCabe, the former juvenile delinquent, the current Crane's View police chief (he appears in other Crane's View books as well, so if you like him, read The Wooden Sea where he is the main character) and Veronica Lake, his fan and soon his lover. Veronica appears to be a perfect woman, exactly what Bayer needs - but that is just the first impression.
There are no supernatural elements this time, but plenty of suspense and surprising twists to hold the reader tight. This is some sharp writing. The plot is excellent and the characters are interesting and deep. In my opinion this is one of Carroll's very best works. [ Kissing The Beehive at Amazon.co.uk ]
Chinese Chess or Xiangqi is an interesting, fast-paced variant of Chess: similar enough to be fairly easy to learn, yet different enough to be interesting even to those thoroughly bored by Western Chess. It's clearly a game worth exploring, but books on the game are rather rare and hard to come by. Sloan's book is from 1980s and slightly dated, but the game hasn't changed, of course, so the lessons contained are still valid.
To be honest, the book could certainly be better. It does cover everything necessary: it introduces the pieces, explains the rules, explains strategy, has sample games... All good and well, yet the presentation could be clearer, the text a tad more captivating and I would really prefer if the sample games were included in their entirety. Still, it works, and to those who prefer reading books to reading web pages, this is still worth considering. The prices currently asked for the book in UK Amazon are way too much, however. It's not that good... [ Chinese Chess for Beginners at Amazon.co.uk ]
From Booking Through Thursday:
Quick! It's an emergency! You just got an urgent call about a family emergency and had to rush to the airport with barely time to grab your wallet and your passport. But now, you're stuck at the airport with nothing to read. What do you do??
And, no, you did NOT have time to grab your bookbag, or the book next to your bed. You were . . . grocery shopping when you got the call and have nothing with you but your wallet and your passport (which you fortuitously brought with you in case they asked for ID in the ethnic food aisle). This is hypothetical, remember....
This would be an annoying situation. After all, waiting without reading is a pain. I would likely have my iPod with me, that would help a lot - though with any luck, it would run out of power soon. I don't know, it might get desperate enough to get me to a airport bookstore. I'm fairly sure I'd find some paperback worth reading, some interesting enough mainstream novel I haven't read yet. Some cheap thriller or Dan Brown lookalike...
The other option would be, like Trish said, a magazine (I used to buy thick English computer magazines when travelling abroad), crosswords or sudokus. I don't usually do sudokus, but it might be just the trick for a situation like this. Crosswords depend on the availability of the right level - most crossword magazines sold in Finland are very easy and I find little joy in filling those mechanically. Then again, the hard ones tend to be too hard for me, I get maybe one or two words per puzzle. I'm a fall-between guy there.
