A Confederacy of Dunces

A Confederacy of Dunces by John F. Toole

Coming Soon

Siddhartha

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

Coming Soon

Howl's Moving Castle

Coming Soon

Buddha's Kitchen

Coming Soon.

Grave Sight

Grave Sight - Charlaine Harris

Coming soon.

Fitzgerald's War

Coming Soon.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows JK Rowling 9/10

What can I say about the seventh book in the series? If you're going to read it, you will. The only reason to read the seventh is if you read the first six, and if you read that far you'll continue.

I finished Deathly Hallows in a day - I started just before 9 a.m. and finished a little after 7 p.m. This 10 hour reading spree (well, less. I took a few breaks throughout the day) wasn't because it was the best book I'd ever read...I think I just wanted to read.

It's ironic that, after my criticism of the fantasy genre with Faith of the Fallen, I return in the next post to state how much I enjoy a different fantasy book. Frankly, Deathly Hallows is a fantasy I can enjoy - the plot is not focused on the startling difference of the fantasy world with long descriptions of the environment, it's simply focused on events and characters who happen to be in an alternate world.

The Harry Potter series is not just a book for children, though it's mostly appropriate for them. If you enjoy reading and a good story...well, then, you've probably already read them. If you haven't, what are you waiting for?

Faith of the Fallen

Faith of the Fallen Terry Goodkind 7/10

Faith of the Fallen is the sixth or seventh in a series of fantasy books entitled "The Sword of Truth". I hadn't read any of the preceding books and was thus coming into things a little blindly, but the book was rife with detailed explanations of events that I can only imagine were covered even more specifically in the books where they originally occurred.

To be blunt, Faith of the Fallen is merely a rehash. It's a rehash of Ayn Rand and the Objectivist philosophy, only it's written by a less talented and less knowledgeable writer. I hate to be cruel for fear that Mr. Goodkind will someday stumble upon my blog and be deeply insulted, but I can only be honest. Faith of the Fallen is an obvious attempt to retell the story Rand told in The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged in a new scenario. He does a fairly good job, but simply due to subject matter he'll always be compared to Rand, and it's simply not a favorable comparison.

Rand had not only a better understanding of Objectivism, she had a clearer storytelling method and a more believable set of characters and character progression. If you want to read a novel to find out about Objectivism, I would recommend any of Rand's books over Faith of the Fallen unless you had a strong predilection to the fantasy genre.

Faith of the Fallen wasn't just about it's Randian hero and his battle against the quasi-communistic "New World" forces - it had other story elements to appeal to the fantasy enthusiast. Goodkind is a master of his alternate universe, and he is skilled in portraying a believable fantasy world, and then drawing us into accepting it.

All things said, I'm generally not a fan of the fantasy genre. My review has a negative slant for this reason. My understanding is that Goodkind's Sword of Truth series appeals to a wide audience. Choose your reading appropriately.

Becoming Human

Becoming Human Ian Tattersall 9/10

Not much of a review is required for this excellent book on the history of human evolution. What can I say other than it was impartial, informative, and overall simply well-written. Tattersall runs us through the evolution of mankind from the earliest known fossils to modern homo sapiens, explaining the probable capabilities of each and the definite achievements. He doesn't get bogged down, as some philosophers seem to do, on the exact definition of words - most notably, the exact definition of language. He defines it in a (admittedly ethnocentric) fashion, and then proceeds to explain when (and how) in the evolutionary cycle we likely developed this capacity. Yes, one can argue that "grunts and pointing" are a language of sorts, but there's no reason to be caught up in the details that are really just (ironically) a problem of language.

Much of the book is written similarly - he clearly describes what he expects a word to mean, and moves on. Perhaps the only reason this is so refreshing is that I've spent so much time in the philosophy world that I've forgotten how people can simply be practical, non-hair-splitting writers who focus on what's important rather than on meaningless issues of definition.

If you're interested in a readable and concise history of human evolution (including a fair evaluation of its questions and shortcomings), this is an excellent book to read.

Disgrace

Disgrace J.M. Coetzee 9.5/10

Disgrace is a masterpiece. The 200 pages are sparsely written, terse and trying. One can hardly muster sympathy for the apathetic and unprincipled protagonist (Lurie) as his distanced, uninvolved life is slowly stripped from him. Disgrace is the story of a man who had almost nothing, and loses that.

Lurie lives a solitary, passionless life as a professor of communications at a Cape Town, South Africa university. "Because he has no respect for the material he teaches, he makes no impression on his students...Their indifference galls him more than he will admit." Lurie merely goes through the motions of life, living without purpose and only moderated joy.

Characters in disgrace are believable and complex - from his lesbian daughter living alone in the countryside to Bev Shaw, the animal lover whose veterinary clinics primary responsibility is the disposal of unwanted animals. The irritatingly indifferent Lurie changes only in miniscule measures - measures unknown and unnoticed by the stalwart professor who repeatedly claims that at his age, it's too late for change, too late for growth.

Lurie loses everything and rebuilds himself in the African countryside, but it's clear that nothing has really changed. Lurie is different now, but the world is the same and the political environment that has brought about the society he's a part of doesn't change simply because we grow. Even his relationships are established - the roles each member plays are established and too firm-set to change. Disgrace is not an uplifting book, but is excellently written and intriguing...and that's what I look for in a book.

Conversations with God (Books 2 and 3)

Conversations With God (Books 2 and 3) Neale Donald Walsch 8.5/10

It’s so hard to give these books a high score. It was difficult to get through them: they both significantly slowed down my reading schedule as I could only handle so much of them at a time. I reviewed the first book earlier: 2 and 3 didn’t stray too far away from the path laid out in book 1. Personally I found book 2 much more agreeable than book 3: book 3 was a bit of an idealistic mess, constantly re-treading on to cover material from the first two books when it wasn’t making absurd claims about the ideal society.

I could complain and complain about these books, but the fact is that much of the truths in the book resonate well with my own moral standpoint. I have the good fortune of being able to dismiss the arguably preposterous theme of the book: that the author has a direct connection with God, and can freely ask and receive answers to questions he asks. God has a suspicious tendency to never mention anything out of the realm of the author’s experience, leading the astute reader to question whether Walsch is, at the core, “making it all up”. My personal opinion: he is making it all up. I just don’t care about the source – if there is valuable knowledge or wisdom, I’ll listen.

The primary truth that I finish the series with was never specifically stated: “we have the best answers to our own questions”. We know how to solve our problems, we just need to learn to listen. If I’m ever giving advice, that’s the path I try to take: I listen to find out what the advice-asker really thinks he or she should do, and then advise that path of action. In my personal experience, if someone is asking for advice, what they are often looking for is actually affirmation or justification of the choice they know they should make.

This is rarely a conscious process. If it were a conscious process, I think pride (or shame) would be likely to get in the way. It’s rather ironic that pride might keep us from living life as we’d like to – it makes that pride seem rather misplaced.

Either way, back to the book. I love affirming that we make our own truth, that we are the ones who control who, what, and where we are. It’s humbling, especially when it’s so tempting to place the blame for our misfortunes and faults outside our area of control. It’s a big step in life to realize that we are fully and wholly responsible for our position and station in life, and that we have the capacity and the potential to make the life we want as long as we’re willing to do what’s necessary. I’m sure some who are reading this will wonder at my youthful ignorance – how I’ve managed to believe in this ideal society where we’re all created equal and everyone is blind to race, color, sex, or whatever discrimination we claim.

The fact is, I can only speak from my own experience. I know that I can’t have everything I want now – but if I choose to keep wanting something and do everything I can to have it, I will have it. I’ve yet to meet someone who I felt had any more or less potential.

Forever Odd

Forever Odd Dean Koontz 6/10

Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas is purportedly his most well-liked creation. Koontz is a popular dog-loving Californian writer with a penchant for mixing the supernatural into his mystery and/or adventure stories (normally with a heartwarming bit of romance).

Forever Odd eschews romance in favor of a stronger emphasis on the supernatural: the protagonist, Odd Thomas, can see ghosts. He can talk to them, but they sadly (and sometimes amusingly) lack the ability to talk back. The majority of the story is a murder mystery where Thomas tries to find the killer who kidnapped his best friend and killed that friend’s father. He relies on his improbably accurate intuition to follow the killer through an intriguing path involving villains even more odd than me.

This is the second book in the series, and a few of the familiar characters return. His old boss (from his days as a fry cook at a local burger joint) and mother figure gives him solid advice, and the tragic yet morbidly amusing ghost of Elvis plays a small part as well. Ozzie, the fat chef and writer, makes an appearance along with his strangely terrifying cat Terrible Chester.

I enjoyed Forever Odd, but I won’t be actively looking to read the other books in the series. I think I read so much Koontz as a teenager that I’m a little too familiar with his writing style. He’s a very prolific writer – I’m sure he has over fifty books, of which I’ve read more than twenty. Perhaps I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I could have because, at the current stage in my life, I’m looking for lessons. I’m looking for purposeful writing with a message. Some find it condescending: like the author takes on a role of moral superiority by ‘lecturing’ us on right and wrong, mature and immature, or good and evil, but lately I’m able to put aside my pride and try to glean whatever wisdom I can from a story. “Forever Odd” was an intriguing, engaging, and funny story. I read it in two days, hardly able to put it down (though that seems to happen with 90% of the books I pick up) until I was finished. Koontz knows how to entertain, and he shows it once again with “Forever Odd”.

The Beginning Place

The Beginning Place Ursula K. LeGuin 7.5/10

I enjoyed this short, simple novel. Somewhere in between fantasy and science fiction, The Beginning Place is a story of growth. It has no pretenses of greatness or extraordinary originality – the tale seems familiar, like I’ve heard it many times before with different variations. What I particular like about this is the type of development that takes place. I’m tempted to call it a “coming of age” story, but I think that title is reserved for youths making their initial forays into young adulthood. The characters that develop in this story are well into their young adulthood – finished with school and living lives that could, potentially, go on forever the way they are going now. The male lead, Hugh, lives with his clingy and overcritical single mother, unhappy but trapped by his love for his mother. The female lead, Irena, is similarly locked in a living situation – she protects her mother and siblings from an abusive father. They’re both waiting for the right situation to begin chasing their own dreams, to begin living their own life.

The majority of the story takes place in a sort of alternate reality – a world separate from ours and accessible only to Hugh and Irena. They both escape to the alternate world for solace and peace from lives they don’t enjoy so much in the real world. Well, I’m not going to give an entire plot summary, but it’s an enjoyable story that’s worth a read if you come across the book.

Catfish and Mandala

Catfish and Mandala Andrew X. Pham 9/10

Something about a book writing about familiar locations seems foreign - it feels like I'm cheating, or like I'm not really reading a book but a classmate's story. Catfish & Mandala was set in very familiar locations - Carmel, Santa Cruz, Crescent City, Portland, Seattle...even Nha Trang, Vietnam. These are all places I've visited, even lived at. This intimate knowledge of the places he describes (ie his friend's house in Southeast Portland, where you can party a little longer into the night without worry) felt odd and strangely comforting. Perhaps it has influenced my outlook, but I really enjoyed this tale of a man and his journey to understand his heritage.

Catfish and Mandala. The catfish are a staple food in Vietnam, strong symbolism for what the author feels the Vietnamese do very well: survive. Not only is the catfish capable of surviving, but the catfish also provides an amazing long-term sustenance for the poor who have to find something to eat. The Mandala, on the other hand, is representative of what his journey was to him. Buddhist monks will use the creation of the mandala as a tool for concentration, slowly placing the sand over a course of weeks before destroying the entire pattern weeks later. His physically strenuous journey allowed him this level of clarity - not because he was able to think so clearly while he exercised: quite the opposite in fact. The exercise cleared his mind of thought, it became a physical meditation.

The author was strangely condemning and disrespectful of the Vietnamese - he didn't see any beauty in his "home" country, only the ugliness of poverty and a beaten people. In his Vietnam the cops are corrupt, the poor shameless, all the women temptresses vying for an opportunity to leave Vietnam to America, the "golden land of opportunity". This was not what I saw in my visit to Vietnam, but there are other things he describes that I connected with. Mostly, just the description of life. The crazy driving, the strange way that every transaction is negotiable (I could never get used to this, I hate bartering to try and get the best price), the shops lining the street...it was all familiar and accurate, it brought back memories that were somehow already buried -- it's only been a few months, and already I'm forgetting.

I recommend Catfish and Mandala to anyone with an interest in Vietnam, but it's not just a book for Vietnamese. It is about a misplaced person on a journey to find his source, trying to find out what it means to be American or Vietnamese, and it's a journey worth reading about.

The Twentieth Wife

The Twentieth Wife Indu Sundaresan 7.5/10

The Twentieth Wife is a bit of historical fiction detailing the life of the woman Mehrunnissa, wife of the influential Indian Emperor Jahangir. Sundaresan has taken known history of the era and woven a believable and enthralling tale of fiction that believably fills in the blanks. I could hardly put the book down once I started it: somehow the mix of realism and guesswork is irrestible inside the 300-some pages of the book.

With all these positive words of praise, how does the book only come out to a rating of 7.5? Well, it's not fair, but I grade the books not by entertainment value but by how they influence my life. This book was a wonderful story and there are lessons to be learned (both moral and historical), but all in all it was put entertainment first. What I got from the story was a history lesson, an Indian culture lesson, and a first-rate tale.

Prep

Prep Curtis Sittenfeld 8/10

Prep is an impressive novel. Much like Catcher in the Rye, it doesn't feel like a work of fiction. It's another book providing insight into the real world, allowing me to remember what those high-school years were like. Sittenfeld is an amazing author in her ability to present situations that beg for some kind of moral judgment with a kind of distinct objectiveness. You want to know what's right, you want to know what is to be learned from a situation, but you're forced to make your own decision.

In a certain way, the novel is depressing in that way. Not because we can't come to our own decisions about what's right, but that the protagonist can't. We're forced to live through years of poor decisions, and as such it becomes a very difficult read. It's so easy, from an older age, to look back at some of the problems and insecurities of youth dismissively...but we get no such satisfaction from our protagonist in Prep. Late into her junior year, one of her classmates attempts to come up with a particularly cutting insult. "Lee," she says, "you haven't changed at all since freshman year." The classmate is correct, and reading Prep puts you through all those years with Lee while you agonize over the poor decisions she makes over and over again.

I don't mean to focus on the poor aspects of the book. I highly recommend Prep if you enjoy books that spur thought, self-evaluation, and remind us of our not-so-perfect past. Just don't expect you'll read it and be cheered right up.

Catcher in the Rye

Catcher in the Rye JD Salinger 9/10

Catcher in the Rye has been reviewed and analyzed much deeper and more effectively than I plan to do in this blog. I haven't read any outside reviews (which is a bit unusual) but I want to talk about what really stood out to me about this book: a brutally believable protagonist. Salinger's "coming of age" story isn't a fable with morals and platitudes...it comes across like life comes across: ordinary. What makes this such an outstanding work of fiction is not that it transports you to another world: instead it seems to shed light on ours.

It's a reminder of what it felt like to be in that in-between stage, where you're not an adult and you're no longer a child. As a matter of fact, I'll probably recommend it to my mom: maybe she'll understand my younger brother a little better after reading it.

Conversations on Consciousness

Conversations on Consciousness Susan Blackmore 9/10

I was very tempted to give this book a 10/10, but I just couldn't. It was a great book and perfect for me (I would say it's perfect for anyone starting out exploring popular theories on the basis of consciousness and free will) but the book had it's problems.

Conversations on Consciousness details a series of interviews between psychologist and hard determinist Susan Blackmore and a smattering of well-known experts in the fields of philosophy and neuroscience. She does well at finding a variety of scientific viewpoints: you won't find any faith-based supporters in the book, only those who attempt to use our current scientific knowledge and theories as a base from which to make their speculations.

The interviews tended to center around four questions:

1) What is consciousness? Why is it so difficult to define and to study?
2) Do you believe we have free will?
3) Do you think that the Philopher's Zombie is an actual possibility?
4) This question varied, but was related to their specific field of expertise or their most well-known theory.

I didn't understand why Blackmore felt the thought experiment of the Philosopher's Zombie was so important. The question she was trying to ask was: "Do you think conciousness arises merely because of our capacity to behave the way we do?" but using the Philosopher's Zombie thought experiment to ask this question led to more problems than it solved. Too often, the answer was a criticism of the thought experiment rather than an answer to the real question. I agree with those who criticize the experiment: I don't see a lot of value in pure speculation that, at some level, has to be scientifically ungrounded. Of course, the way we live our life is partially through pure speculation, but that is through necessity.

The best thing I got from the book was an understanding of the controversy in the fields of consciousness. Dennett, author of Freedom Evolves, somewhat represents one side of the argument. He's certainly well-known - half of those interviewed used Dennett's views as a way to state their own through contrast. Dennett does not cohesively meld his viewpoint in a way that it represents "the determinists", but his viewpoint is well-known and clearly stated, which at least gives others in the field a way to contrast, a reference point from which to deviate.

Conversations on Consciousness fostered more questions than it answered. It's a book that I've read that's only shown me that I need to read more books. It has moved some authors to near the top of the list though. David Chalmers, Roger Penrose, and Daniel Wegner (well, he was already near the top) all piqued my interest enough that I will certainly read their books to better understand their viewpoint. I identified with Penrose more than any other philosopher, and I'm interested to read more about why he believes what he does.

Freedom Evolves

Freedom Evolves Daniel Dennett 8/10

This was a difficult book to evaluate. It's a philosophical exercise by Dennett - an attempt to point out the inadequacies in a number of commonly held philosophical perspectives, and a best-guess amalgamation philosophy given the body of scientific knowledge at the time of the writing. I separate the book as such because I believe Dennett's goals were only half-met. He faltered a bit in his explanation of the shortcomings of common perspectives while he very reliably and intelligently presented his own view.

Two-thirds of Dennett's book was convincing, fairly clear, and for the most part sensible and comprehensible. Unfortunately (for him) it's the latter two-thirds of the book. Getting through the initial couple chapters proved to be particularly difficult for me...quite simply, Dennett spent a lot of time trying to support determinism by using examples that were completely inadequate. In attempting to provide simple examples to prove his point he lost some of the inherent complexity that is human life. For example, Dennett uses a "game" called Conway's game of life (link). Conway's game of life shows us that in a limited plane patterns of amazing complexity can arise. Conceivably, notes Dennett, given a large enough plane we could mimic the functionality of any computer system. Naturally, this is the case: despite their apparent complexity, computer processors are simple extremely fast at processing 1s and 0s: that is, on and off. A processor simply reacts to strings of electrical current that is either on or off. The data on your hard drive is stored similarly: a byte (1/1024 of a kilobyte, which is 1/1024 of a megabyte, to gigabyte, etc) is 8 bits, and a bit is just a 0 or 1 value.

Anyway, the fact that a simple system can reach extraordinary levels of complexity does not mean it can be used comparatively with the "real-life" system. Dennett's argument is that in a fixed system everything behaves in a predictable and unchanging manner: this is a solid argument. The disconnect takes place when you try to prove that our universe is a fixed system.

Despite all my argumentation on the matter, my real opinion is that the discussion is a waste of time. Whether or not life is deterministic or indeterministic is truly unimportant, and should not have a real bearing on how we live our lives. This is Dennett's conclusion and while I don't agree entirely with the means, it is an end I can fully support.

Light of Other Days

The Light of Other Days Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen Baxter 7/10

Two Critically acclaimed sci-fi authors (Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter) cooperated to write this book. I actually picked it up on accident, intending to read a well-known short story of the same name (about something called slow-glass). I don't regret making the mistake though.

Light of Other Days is an excellent sci-fi book. It's been a while since I last read a purely fictional book, and it was a welcome escape. Well, except for the fairly depressing undertones of the book. The near future (2050, or so) is not quite a dystopia, but it's a depressing place to live. Humanity has come to terms with the fact that a moon sized asteroid is headed towards the earth, due to hit in approximately 500 years. Science sees no foreseeable method of averting what will essentially be the extinction of humanity. The effects on culture as a whole are interesting but not overdramatic - just an increased melancholy with the idea that there's no real need to attempt to progress as a race given the impending extinction.

The title of the book comes from an unrelated scientific development. A purely capitalistic (but somewhat evil) entrepreneur develops a sort of super camera - a device that can look anywhere. To put it simply, he develops a screen that allows for real time surveillance of anywhere on earth. The book is partially about the changes to society that result from what is essentially a complete lack of privacy...political changes (politicians simply can't be corrupt, no one can hide anything) and personal changes.

It's a medium length book, and if you're a fan of the genre I recommend it.

Spoiler (highlight to see)

The book ends on an interesting note. Technological developments from the WormCam (the name of the device that allows you to watch anything) expand to allow us to watch the past (and therefore debunk a number of historical and religious myths). Anyway, the epilogue proposes what I thought to be an interesting idea...if all we humans are is our body, then eternal life is certainly possible. If everything that makes us who we are is physical, then the technology could potentially exist to recreate us exactly as is. The book ends with the main character being woken up some 150 years later, and finds out humanity has started a quest to right it's wrongs...by bringing every human being back to life. Interesting idea.

Utopia

Utopia Thomar More 8/10

Thomas More's Utopia is a well-known work describing a communist utopia. More lived in the Middle Ages (17th century, I believe) and was executed in his thirties for refusing to bless the king's divorce and subsequent remarriage (he was an adviser of some sort for the king). I think knowing a little about More can help one understand the book - More loved humor. He joked about everything, and was even accused by a friend of putting forth everything he said in a joking manner...as a sort of safety net so that he could always retract the statement, saying it was merely made in jest. Utopia itself seems to be an example of this practice - the book seems to purvey itself as serious, but upon closer inspection might just be mocking anyone who could believe in a successful communist society. His Utopia is anything but.

Conversations With God (Book 1)

Conversations with God Neale Donald Walsch 8/10

Considering how highly I've rated this book, it was startlingly difficult to start. Reading through the first 40-50 pages without just throwing the book down in disgust took a strange kind of persistence. You see, the basis of the book is that the author is having a direct conversation with God (who seems most similar to a Christian God). It's not supposed to be fictional, and I'm confident the author would argue that the experience was "real". I find it much more likely that the author tapped into part of the vast internal knowledge we all have...because, whether or not he spoke with God, the book is impressive. Walsch (the author) puts forth a reasonable and insightful world-view.

Incidentally, I've heard from multiple sources that the book is commonly recommended by Buddhists despite what I see as a fairly Christian basis.

Sophie's World

Sophie's World Jostein Gardner 9/10

A very enjoyable work of fiction intertwined with a very educational review of philosophy, starting with the first known Greek philosophers and ending with more modern theories like existentialism and logical empiricism. I don't know if it's more enjoyable for the fictional part of the story or the thoroughly entertaining non-fiction/educational part.