The Long Road

01/06/2004 Archived Entry: "Books I read last term (fall 2003)"

The goal last term was to read only books by authors I had not read before (I've read some Gaiman comics, but they're not "books").

The Starchild Trilogy by Pohl and Williamson: A book of BIG IDEAS. Each subsequent book in the trilogy deals with crazier and crazier sci-fi ideas culminating in Sentient Stars. The book is marred by pretty boring cookie-cutter characters and bad prose (every time The Planner or the Planning Machine are mentioned they are emphasized with “himself”/”itself”). The book is still worth reading for the out-there ideas it has (if you’re into that sort of thing), something tells me that Grant Morrison has read this.

The Tar-Aiym Krang by Alan Dean Foster: This was recommended to me a while ago and it was pretty good. After I read it, I thought that it definitely felt like just the beginning of a story and sure enough, upon some research I found that this was only the first book of a TWENTY-ONE book series set in the same universe. This book was the author’s first and it is a pretty impressive first effort and I’m certain he’s gotten a lot better since, but there’s no way I’m committing myself to 21 books.

Nightfall by Asimov and Silverberg: An awesome premise. What would it be like in a world of perpetual day and the suns finally set after 2000 years. The book takes a bit too long to set up Nightfall and the final resolution seems a bit too Deus Ex Machina to me. What I really want, after having read this, is to read the original short story by Asimov.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman: By far my favorite book this term. This book, right up Gaiman’s alley, is the story of man stuck in the middle of a brewing war between the waning Old Gods that people used to believe in and the new Gods of America: such as the god of media, the internet, and the God of Cars (who’s received more human sacrifices than any other god). Gaiman’s prose is rather tasty and all his characters are instantly likeable. The ending is a bit anti-climactic but the book is worth it. I’m really impressed with the amount of research that must have been done to write this, including the research into all the small towns, and the many, many gods of so many cultures. After having read this book, I have a pretty big desire to go out on a road trip and find all the cute little towns featured here. A quote: “I need her, not as an end in herself but to wake me up a little. Even King David knew that there is one easy prescription to get warm blood flowing through an old frame: take one virgin, call me in the morning.”

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. This book screams “English class”. All the imagery, themes, and metaphors are so obvious. But still, I liked it a lot. The ending was an emotionally gut wrenching part, I had to read it twice. There’s nothing sadder (in mine eyes) than a goodbye that you know is forever. Here’s an anecdote, the essay in the front of the book says it was originally titled “Something That Happens”. Haha!

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Another one of those books with an essay in front. I honestly didn’t understand anything out of this book. I found it very boring and impenetrable. And it took me almost a year to read. The only interesting part I found was near the end was when the narrator began talking to the widow, there was some stuff there that I could really relate to (shush!). And then the book ended very suddenly! I really didn’t like it. The writer’s so Polish!

Replies: 17 comments

The writer is so Polish?...:P!

Posted by dAN @ 01/06/2004 10:37 PM EST

LOL!! you replied to that statement much faster than I thought you would! Only took nine minutes!

Posted by Rayne @ 01/06/2004 10:39 PM EST

He's Polish cuz his real name is Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski.

Posted by Rayne @ 01/06/2004 10:42 PM EST

I thought the same of your hasty reply...by the way, when you were explaining American Gods to me at Bubblicity...I swear you gave me a different rendition of the plot synopsis...:P

Posted by dAN @ 01/06/2004 10:44 PM EST

Didn't you read "Of Mice and Men" in English class? We had to. And then we had to watch the movie. I didn't particularly like it then. I remember being bored. Maybe one day in the future I'll read it again and like it. A few of the other books that we read in high school that I did like were, Dune, 1984 and Brave New World. We also read a lot of Shakespeare, which I really enjoyed. Could have been the teacher though. Mr. Butters would read it to us or have some of us read it out loud, and then we'd talk about it and he'd act out some of the parts. He had a golf club (that had the club part snapped off) and the end was wrapped in cloth and taped that he'd use all the time. He'd re-enact sword fights and such with it. He even jumped on a table once and fell off it while doing a scene. Absolutely the BEST English teacher I've ever had!

Posted by Andrea @ 01/06/2004 10:56 PM EST

Got to read Dune in High School...LUCKY!

Posted by dAN @ 01/06/2004 11:15 PM EST

Brave New World!! That is it, that is the book I have been trying to think of for months. I've had it recommended to me many times and I've never actually read it. Maybe now I can finally read it.

Posted by Mike @ 01/07/2004 12:06 AM EST

I've read it many times and love it! I first read it in grade 10 before the M.O.W came out. If you can ever find the movie watch it. I remember it being good, though I haven't seen it in about 7 years.

Posted by Andrea @ 01/07/2004 01:06 AM EST

American Gods is by far the best book I've read in a long while. All the characters have this unique "flair" that somehow manages to stick inside your brain everytime you close the book; I remember dying with anxiety because I'd have to wait another 24 hours to open the book again.

(I read it during that mandatory 15min reading period in every Ontario High School) :)

Posted by Dave @ 01/07/2004 08:25 AM EST

there was a mandatory 15 minutre reading period in every high school? hmmm ... wonder how mine got out of that

it comforts me to know that i wasn't the only one having difficulties getting through heart of darkness ... i really should finish it some time ... it's just collecting dust on the shelf right now ... there are so many more interesting books to read though ..

Posted by melpie @ 01/07/2004 09:33 AM EST

Dune in high school?!?!?!?!??! boooooo for you =P. I didn't get to enjoy Brave New World/1984 as much 'cause I had to read them both at the same time for class.(If they're the books i think they are)

Posted by Anonymous @ 01/07/2004 09:37 AM EST

Never read Of Mice And Men in english. Though I think I would have liked to. Dune in english class would have been amazing!

Dan: I think I gave you a different synopsis because I had written that american gods part not long before and didn't really want to repeat myself.

Brave New World is by far, much better than 1984. I definately want to see the movie, it features Leonard Nimoy!

I also never had a mandatory 15 minute reading session. We were supposed to read on our own time, much in Uni.

Posted by Rayne @ 01/07/2004 11:21 AM EST

I don't think I can stress this enough, and I've probably already told this to some of you but you should all read the book "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn. And if you like it then I can recommend even more by him. If you read it and it doesn't move you in some way, open your mind to new ideas, or even change the way you see life then I'll do your dishes for a day, I'm serious. I'd lend out my copy to anyone that asks for it but it is currently lent out to someone right now. To me this is probably one of the most important books ever written, give it a shot, you can probably even find it at the library.

Posted by Mike @ 01/08/2004 04:07 PM EST

Mike: Sounds interesting. I'll look it up in my school's library.

We didn't get to read Dune in class, but we did get to read The Hobbit, Chrysallids (*sp), Lord of the Flies, and just recently in grade 12 -- Fifth Business (One of the greatest books to read!)

Posted by Dave @ 01/08/2004 04:16 PM EST

I didn't get to read The Hobbit in school but we did have to read The Chrysalids and Lord Of The Flies. And All Quiet On The Western Front, Who Has Seen The Wind and Animal Farm. We read a lot of books. lol. I had never actually heard of Dune until my teacher brought it out as one of our options to read. I'm very glad that he did.

Posted by Andrea @ 01/09/2004 01:48 AM EST

I read the Chrysalids! I wasn't interested in the book until I realized the book was exactly like the X-Men then I couldn't stop reading.

Posted by Rayne @ 01/09/2004 02:38 PM EST

LOL

Posted by Dave @ 01/10/2004 01:20 PM EST