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vacation reading
Jan. 3rd, 2011 01:54 pmGot to do a lot of reading over the vacation.
Declare, by Tim Powers. I put this up on Goodreads afterward - this is my third or fourth reread.
Tim Powers is an incredible writer. Some of his early books stutter a bit - while I love them, several of them lack strong endings and aren't as cohesive as they might be. By the time we get to this novel, however, Powers is in full control. Declare is an intricately constructed novel of spies and the nations who run them, with the central character, Andrew Hale, involved in secret radio transmissions from Occupied Paris, agent-running in the Middle East, and occasional interaction with - and against - Kim Philby, another spy ( a real person, not an invented character). In his inimitable fashion, Powers introduces a supernatural element that serves to explain so many oddities that pop up in the biography of Philby and his equally strange father - oddities that may not mean much on their own but which, in the hands of Powers, combine themselves into a plausible...and truly scary...narrative. A book belonging in the secret history genre, where layers are peeled back from reality, revealing deep mysteries beneath. However, Powers never lets his plotting overshadow his characterization. Andrew and Elena and Kim are realistically brave, flawed, scared, heroic, and understandable.
Two books by Sarah Vowell, Assassination Vacation and The Wordy Shipmates, both of which I loved. I hadn't ever read Vowell before, and really enjoyed her style of geeky excitement, social commentary (about events past and present) and deep engagement in history. I'll have to find her other books.
Rob Rummel-Hudson's Schuyler's Monster: A Father's Journey with his Wordless Daughter. I'm glad I finally got around to reading this, as I've read Rob's blog for ages, and have had the book in my mental "to-read" pile for ages. If you like his blog, you'll like the book - the writing style is the same - and his story is a moving one. He doesn't hold back when he talks about his anger, his frustration, and his joys about being dad to a child with a disability.
Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. A fascinating narrative about race, science, and ethics, the book discusses a woman whose cells from the cancer that overtook her body became unexpectedly famous...and live on, long after her death, in labs around the world, used for research that helps save lives...and occasionally make big companies very wealthy. Meanwhile, her family never knew that a part of her was still out there, being cultured, tested on, and patented, while they remained ignorant and uncompensated. A very worthwhile read, written with grace, compassion, and clarity.
Declare, by Tim Powers. I put this up on Goodreads afterward - this is my third or fourth reread.
Tim Powers is an incredible writer. Some of his early books stutter a bit - while I love them, several of them lack strong endings and aren't as cohesive as they might be. By the time we get to this novel, however, Powers is in full control. Declare is an intricately constructed novel of spies and the nations who run them, with the central character, Andrew Hale, involved in secret radio transmissions from Occupied Paris, agent-running in the Middle East, and occasional interaction with - and against - Kim Philby, another spy ( a real person, not an invented character). In his inimitable fashion, Powers introduces a supernatural element that serves to explain so many oddities that pop up in the biography of Philby and his equally strange father - oddities that may not mean much on their own but which, in the hands of Powers, combine themselves into a plausible...and truly scary...narrative. A book belonging in the secret history genre, where layers are peeled back from reality, revealing deep mysteries beneath. However, Powers never lets his plotting overshadow his characterization. Andrew and Elena and Kim are realistically brave, flawed, scared, heroic, and understandable.
Two books by Sarah Vowell, Assassination Vacation and The Wordy Shipmates, both of which I loved. I hadn't ever read Vowell before, and really enjoyed her style of geeky excitement, social commentary (about events past and present) and deep engagement in history. I'll have to find her other books.
Rob Rummel-Hudson's Schuyler's Monster: A Father's Journey with his Wordless Daughter. I'm glad I finally got around to reading this, as I've read Rob's blog for ages, and have had the book in my mental "to-read" pile for ages. If you like his blog, you'll like the book - the writing style is the same - and his story is a moving one. He doesn't hold back when he talks about his anger, his frustration, and his joys about being dad to a child with a disability.
Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. A fascinating narrative about race, science, and ethics, the book discusses a woman whose cells from the cancer that overtook her body became unexpectedly famous...and live on, long after her death, in labs around the world, used for research that helps save lives...and occasionally make big companies very wealthy. Meanwhile, her family never knew that a part of her was still out there, being cultured, tested on, and patented, while they remained ignorant and uncompensated. A very worthwhile read, written with grace, compassion, and clarity.
