by Al Franken
The 2004 paperback, with added material on the utterly baseless Fox lawsuit over the subtitle ("a fair and balanced look at the right". What can one say about this book? It’s enormously funny but at the same time rage-inducing. The sheer hypocrisy of the right is one thing, but the fact is that Bush’s administration is destroying American values and the middle class. That is no exaggeration and no joke. Franken paints a picture of a Bush who is no amusing bumbler, but a shrewd, if ignorant, politician using a false stupidity as a front. His deliberate lies and anti-intellectual attitude brought about a war that has cost so far 430 billion dollars, even as he cuts all programs that might possibly benefit American society, and rewards big corporations for despoiling God’s creation. A truly evil presidency.
four stars
Friday, May 11, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Legacies
by F. Paul Wilson
The second Repairman Jack novel; in this episode, Jack is hired by a
pediatrician who works with HIV-positive children to investigate the
secret of her father’s will. He has left his house to her, and her
half-brother wants it, and bizarrely, he’s backed by a very wealthy
mysterious group. And more bizarrely, she doesn’t want to sell the house
or have anything to do with it. Of course, there are secrets within
secrets, and soon Jack is crawling through air ducts, getting shot and
being tailed by a Japanese assassin, among other adventures.
A
terrific read, just as exciting and enthralling as the first, another
page-turner even (again) at 430 pages. Wilson's villains, as in the last
book, are fully-fleshed humans with desires and motives and fears. For
example, one killer has a grandmother with Alzheimer's, and an Arab
mastermind feels guilt for the deaths he causes as well as for his
shameful urges around the Victoria’s Secret catalog. This attention to
characterization has two effects. First, combined with the relatively
restrained heroics of Jack, it makes Wilson’s world richer and more
credible. Second a bit more disturbingly, it helps makes the reader see
Jack, when he finally wreaks his relentless vengeance, as very much a
cold-blooded man possessed by fury and totally outside any civilized "system."
four stars
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Moby-Dick
by Herman Melville
1851
Having never read this classic but knowing a bit about it, I think I was expecting a dry, meandering discourse. But what this book is, is possibly the finest American novel. Seriously, I never believed that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn had a rival for the title of Great American Novel, but this just might be it. It has its share of meandering discourse, but also unexpected humor, both high and low; sheer drama; poetry; amusingly dated amateur scientific investigations; tragedy; and, of course, what may be the greatest character in American literature, Ahab.
Ahab is a masterpiece; he’s a compressed ball of madness and drive powered by a monstrous will to power, but Melville tempers his character with flashes of humanity and compassion, flashes which are driven back by Ahab’s overriding thirst for vengeance. While the entire opus has some of the most eloquent prose this side of Shakespeare – no kidding – it’s Ahab who gets the really good lines. “Ye see an old man cut down to the stump; leaning on a shivered lance; propped up on a lonely foot. 'Tis Ahab – his body's part; but Ahab's soul's a centipede, that moves upon a hundred legs. I feel strained, half stranded, as ropes that tow dismasted frigates in a gale; and I may look so. But ere I break, ye'll hear me crack; and till ye hear that, know that Ahab's hawser tows his purpose yet.” This is, quite simply, a mind-altering masterpiece.
five stars
1851
Having never read this classic but knowing a bit about it, I think I was expecting a dry, meandering discourse. But what this book is, is possibly the finest American novel. Seriously, I never believed that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn had a rival for the title of Great American Novel, but this just might be it. It has its share of meandering discourse, but also unexpected humor, both high and low; sheer drama; poetry; amusingly dated amateur scientific investigations; tragedy; and, of course, what may be the greatest character in American literature, Ahab.
Ahab is a masterpiece; he’s a compressed ball of madness and drive powered by a monstrous will to power, but Melville tempers his character with flashes of humanity and compassion, flashes which are driven back by Ahab’s overriding thirst for vengeance. While the entire opus has some of the most eloquent prose this side of Shakespeare – no kidding – it’s Ahab who gets the really good lines. “Ye see an old man cut down to the stump; leaning on a shivered lance; propped up on a lonely foot. 'Tis Ahab – his body's part; but Ahab's soul's a centipede, that moves upon a hundred legs. I feel strained, half stranded, as ropes that tow dismasted frigates in a gale; and I may look so. But ere I break, ye'll hear me crack; and till ye hear that, know that Ahab's hawser tows his purpose yet.” This is, quite simply, a mind-altering masterpiece.
five stars
Thursday, January 11, 2007
The Tomb
by F. Paul Wilson
The first novel of Repairman Jack — a New Yorker who lives outside the system: without taxes, a SSN, or any other traceable ID. Posing as an appliance repairman, he actually does violent revenge work for those who pay him. When the elderly aunts of his estranged girlfriend Gia are kidnapped, she reluctantly comes to him for aid. Jack is then drawn into a crime based on a century-old supernatural curse involving Kali worship, rakoshi, and two proud Indians with magic necklaces.
Part of the book relies on a very wildly improbable coincidence (Jack is hired by the aunts' kidnapper on an unrelated matter the same day he's hired by Gia), though that hardly signifies in a book that deals with demons and magic. And the surprises (such as what the magic necklace's power is) are surprises only to Jack, but that's okay too. Jack is a very likeable driven anti-hero, and Wilson is adept at pulling the reader in with drama and suspense. And even though the horrors Jack faces are real evil, Wilson’s characters are not cardboard; the villain has his own doubts, fears and credible motivations. A terrific page-turner, even at 440 pages.
four stars
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Them: Adventures With Extremists
by Jon Ronson
The author, an intrepid reporter, details his interviews and meeting
with several extremists of the world, including a London-based Muslim
whose goal is the overthrow of all secular Western governments; Randy
Weaver (who seems to be a fairly normal guy, actually — the feds really,
tragically fucked up on that one); a KKK Grand Wizard who’s trying to
polish the KKK's image, some very humorless Aryan Nations skinheads;
radio personality Alex Jones — who's made out in the book to be a
paranoid lunatic — and David Icke, who believes that the New World Order
is run by aliens who can transform into giant lizards. (Many people
believe that this is Icke’s code for "Jews," but Ronson’s dealings with
the man seem to indicate that he really thinks they’re alien lizards).
Ronson’s
a very funny writer, and as he transforms his subjects into hypocrites
and buffoons, he makes the bizarre seem mundane. The book’s climax shows
Ronson, who has already interviewed a member of the mysterious
Bilderberg Group, infiltrating the completely stupid Bohemian Grove
owl-burning ceremony, a quasi-druidical ritual at a retreat for the
wealthy that’s half Iron John and half frat boy drinking club. Excellent
reading, and Ronson’s got the right mix of level head and humorous
suspicion to alternate the reader into bouts of panic — do the
Bilderbergs really control the world? — and bouts of laughter, as he
makes another extremist out to be a ignorant, short-sighted fool. Good
stuff, though it’s pretty sad how many people — my people, in a sense,
Americans — are so stupid and deluded about the "Jewish menace." I mean,
as horrible as Islamo-fascism is, their beef with Israel is
understandable. The USA’s policy with Israel really is biased; Israel
really does behave abominably to Palestinians. But some stupid bigot in
Idaho whining about Jews running the New World Order and UN helicopters,
that’s just sad and stupid.
five stars
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare
by Stephen Greenblatt
Greenblatt sketches out what is known about the life of Shakespeare, interspersing the meager details with background information about Elizabethan England. He tells of, for example, the tension between Catholics and Protestants, the vilification of the Jews, the myriad ways in which the society was brutal and bloody, and King James’ beliefs on witches and prophecy. The result is a very intriguing book with many interesting and extremely debatable propositions.
That some of the sonnets seem to be written to a man seems undeniable (see for example Sonnet XX); that Shakespeare was hired by nobles to write the sonnets in order to convince another young noble to marry a certain woman seems highly unlikely, especially since as Greenblatt himself notes, the sonnets hardly argue the merits of marriage. Or to take another case, Robert Greene’s obvious attack on Shakespeare is immediately denounced by the people involved in it; but Greenblatt inadequately investigates why a mysterious and very powerful protector should concern himself with a player and playwright. Or again, Greenblatt’s juxtaposition of “hamlet” with the death of Shakespeare’s son Hamnet and the deterioration of his own father is a very tenuous argument at best, but his connection of the writing of “Macbeth” with James’ paranoid obsession with witches and scrying makes perfect sense. It is true that nearly every single statement about Shakespeare made in the book contains a qualifier like “probably,” or “it can never be certain that,” or “highly likely,” or “if;” but in the end, all these hypotheses don’t detract from the book’s purpose: to place Will Shakespeare in his world.
four stars
Greenblatt sketches out what is known about the life of Shakespeare, interspersing the meager details with background information about Elizabethan England. He tells of, for example, the tension between Catholics and Protestants, the vilification of the Jews, the myriad ways in which the society was brutal and bloody, and King James’ beliefs on witches and prophecy. The result is a very intriguing book with many interesting and extremely debatable propositions.
That some of the sonnets seem to be written to a man seems undeniable (see for example Sonnet XX); that Shakespeare was hired by nobles to write the sonnets in order to convince another young noble to marry a certain woman seems highly unlikely, especially since as Greenblatt himself notes, the sonnets hardly argue the merits of marriage. Or to take another case, Robert Greene’s obvious attack on Shakespeare is immediately denounced by the people involved in it; but Greenblatt inadequately investigates why a mysterious and very powerful protector should concern himself with a player and playwright. Or again, Greenblatt’s juxtaposition of “hamlet” with the death of Shakespeare’s son Hamnet and the deterioration of his own father is a very tenuous argument at best, but his connection of the writing of “Macbeth” with James’ paranoid obsession with witches and scrying makes perfect sense. It is true that nearly every single statement about Shakespeare made in the book contains a qualifier like “probably,” or “it can never be certain that,” or “highly likely,” or “if;” but in the end, all these hypotheses don’t detract from the book’s purpose: to place Will Shakespeare in his world.
four stars
Thursday, October 26, 2006
The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings
by Edgar Allan Poe
"The Cask Of Amontillado.” A man takes cold, calculated revenge on a noble whom he perceives has insults him, walling the poor guy up in a catacomb. Very creepy, especially the part where he echoes the noble’s screams. [read three times]
"The Tell-Tale Heart.” A elderly man with a cloudy eye is murdered by (presumably) his caretaker. This reading really brought home how bat-shit insane the murderer is: he takes a full hour to put his head in the door. The themes of guilt and paranoia run deep here. Deservedly a classic. [read twice]
"The Fall of the House Of Usher.” A new Poe story to me. A man comes to visit a childhood friend, Roderick Usher, and finds him suffering from a possibly mental illness that makes him react in horror to most light and sounds. His twin sister is also suffering from catalepsy. She dies, and they entomb her in the house, but that’s when the really morbid stuff starts happening. This story is just pure Gothic horror. There doesn’t seem to be any kind of allegory or meaning here, just a portrait of supernatural fear (the house seems to be almost sentient). It’s written in an extremely lofty style, making it rather inaccessible to the casual reader, so it lacks the emotional punch of the previous two stories. Still, it’s a spooky tale.
"The Black Cat.” A man, once known for his kind disposition, is corrupted by drink and kills one of his pets, a cat. Disaster and murder follow, capped by an ending very similar to “The Tell-Tale Heart,” except with a more gruesome twist. Though this story isn’t narratively tight as the former, I found it just as compelling. It talks of the overpowering spirit of perverseness, doing “wrong for the wrong's sake only,” in all people. It mixture of the fantastic (the cat’s shadow on their burned house) and the mundane (drunken dissolution) is also appealing. Terrific and creepy as hell.
"Berenice.” Possibly the most pointlessly gory of Poe’s tales. A man suffering from spells of obsession on minor details becomes fixated on the teeth of his cousin, Berenice, who, though once athletic and merry, has succumbed to a degenerative disease. So he removes them while she’s still alive. Apparently, Poe himself said this story crossed the line of good taste.
“The Man Who Was All Used Up.” A rather humorous piece; the narrator meets a general famed for his bravery and is foiled at every turn when he tries to find out details. Finally, he goes to the general himself, only to find that scalping and the removing of limbs was only the start of what those savages did to him. Not brutally told, this is a light story, and it was amusing, thought he constant repetitions of the interlocutors grated after a bit.
four stars
"The Cask Of Amontillado.” A man takes cold, calculated revenge on a noble whom he perceives has insults him, walling the poor guy up in a catacomb. Very creepy, especially the part where he echoes the noble’s screams. [read three times]
"The Tell-Tale Heart.” A elderly man with a cloudy eye is murdered by (presumably) his caretaker. This reading really brought home how bat-shit insane the murderer is: he takes a full hour to put his head in the door. The themes of guilt and paranoia run deep here. Deservedly a classic. [read twice]
"The Fall of the House Of Usher.” A new Poe story to me. A man comes to visit a childhood friend, Roderick Usher, and finds him suffering from a possibly mental illness that makes him react in horror to most light and sounds. His twin sister is also suffering from catalepsy. She dies, and they entomb her in the house, but that’s when the really morbid stuff starts happening. This story is just pure Gothic horror. There doesn’t seem to be any kind of allegory or meaning here, just a portrait of supernatural fear (the house seems to be almost sentient). It’s written in an extremely lofty style, making it rather inaccessible to the casual reader, so it lacks the emotional punch of the previous two stories. Still, it’s a spooky tale.
"The Black Cat.” A man, once known for his kind disposition, is corrupted by drink and kills one of his pets, a cat. Disaster and murder follow, capped by an ending very similar to “The Tell-Tale Heart,” except with a more gruesome twist. Though this story isn’t narratively tight as the former, I found it just as compelling. It talks of the overpowering spirit of perverseness, doing “wrong for the wrong's sake only,” in all people. It mixture of the fantastic (the cat’s shadow on their burned house) and the mundane (drunken dissolution) is also appealing. Terrific and creepy as hell.
"Berenice.” Possibly the most pointlessly gory of Poe’s tales. A man suffering from spells of obsession on minor details becomes fixated on the teeth of his cousin, Berenice, who, though once athletic and merry, has succumbed to a degenerative disease. So he removes them while she’s still alive. Apparently, Poe himself said this story crossed the line of good taste.
“The Man Who Was All Used Up.” A rather humorous piece; the narrator meets a general famed for his bravery and is foiled at every turn when he tries to find out details. Finally, he goes to the general himself, only to find that scalping and the removing of limbs was only the start of what those savages did to him. Not brutally told, this is a light story, and it was amusing, thought he constant repetitions of the interlocutors grated after a bit.
four stars
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