media.loath.org

Finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz

Very good. A quirky mix of the Dominican Republic and the New York Metro Area. Odd juxtapositions of latino slang and SciFi and Fantasy references. Solid, sympathetic characters. Fatalistic without being hopeless.

Finished The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman

I know this is a book intended for children, but I kind of wish Gaiman were a little bit subtler about his Chekhov's guns, or at least waited more than a couple pages to fire them.

I actually read this as an eBook borrowed from the SFPL, to try out their system. Unfortunately their DRM scheme meant that I couldn't read it except using Adobe's software on my Mac, which kind of defeated the point (I'd hoped to read it on my phone to see what that experience was like). Glad I chose something short.

Finished The Last Samurai

The Last Samurai, Helen De Witt

This would have been a solid book, if it hadn't changed directions several times midway through. As it is, it's an amazing book. It's about a prodigy, raised, and home-schooled, by his unmarried mother. His mother won't tell him who his father is, telling him that it's better that he not know. He takes matters into his own hands.

Finished Swords and Deviltry

Swords and Deviltry, Fritz Leiber

Solid classic sword-and-sorcery stories. Good characters. Page-turning adventures.

Finished Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig

This is one of those books where I dislike every character, and not in an entertaining way.

The narrator seems to think that he's wiser than his friend John because he's decided to teach himself to maintain his own motorcycle, while John has instead bought a reliable new bike (a decision which the narrator ascribes to a "romantic" fear or technology). He points out some of John's rookie mistakes, and related frustrations (trying to start the bike with the choke on when it was warm).

But his method doesn't seem to be any better. He fails to notice that he's out of gas and has to abandon his bike because it won't run. He strips a screw and can't complete a repair. More seriously, he endangers himself and his passenger by starting a long road trip with a badly worn tire, and somehow manages to destroy his chain guard along the way. Over the course of the trip in the book, the narrator sends a significant amount of time doing maintenance and fixing problems that John simply doesn't have.

I've tried both of these approaches. I've owned a motorcycle that required a lot of maintenance. Sure, I learned lot about how motorcycles work, but it was also a waste of time to be constantly needing to fix it. I gave it away (okay, sold it for $1) and replaced it with a much newer model that requires almost no maintenance. That's not me being afraid of technology, it's me liking riding better than wrenching.

I didn't find the philosophy in the book any more convincing than the arguments about motorcycles.

Finished The Tombs of Atuan

The Tombs of Atuan, Ursula Le Guin

Good.

Started Swords Against Death

Swords Against Death, Fritz Leiber

Noticed The Art of Game Design

The Art of Game Design, Jesse Schell

Noticed City Come A Walkin'

City Come A Walkin', John Shirley

Noticed The City And The Stars

The City And The Stars, Arthur C. Clarke

Noticed Rendezvous With Rama

Rendezvous With Rama, Arthur C. Clarke