sea of poppies

Amitav Ghosh has a number of books, but I don't recall reading any of them. I came across Sea of Poppies in a library book sale and decided to give it a whirl. Its an historical novel that takes place in India in the early 1800s when the English colonizers there were running an opium trade between there and China. After looking this up for a link, I found that it is the first in a Trilogy know collectively as The Ibis Trilogy. The other books are River of Smoke, and Flood of Fire.

There is a wide cast of characters, but they come from three major groups: the local Indians, the western colonists, and a sort mishmash of transplanted folks who end up being on the outside to both of the other parties. Its this group of people, who intermingle with the locals and the colonizers, whose perspective I ended up identifying with and thereby viewing the story from. I suppose, depending on where you're from, or where your sympathies lie, your viewpoint may be different, but perhaps its Ghosh's multicultural lifestyle* that allows us to see the story from each side. I felt the plight of the local folks who were being forced to grow poppies to feed the opium machine, even to the point that they weren't allowed subsistence crops to feed their families.

The story is epic in its story arc, but ended abruptly for my taste, but perhaps knowing as I do now that its the first of a trilogy, makes the needle lifted from the record ending a little more understandable. I do like books, part of a series or not, that have a beginning, a middle and an end. This one does, to be sure, but the ending was a little abrupt.

I'll keep my eye out for the others, but I won't be seeking them out at the store or the library.

 

Note: I'm trying to post about a few of the recent books I've read. I've fallen out of the habit of writing about them as I finish them, but I did manage to record what books they were. You can find a list of them on the Books page here, linked on the tab above.

* According to the book jacket, Ghosh lives in India and New York.

bear over the mountain

I picked up William Kotzwinkle's The Bear Went Over the Mountain * at a library book sale on the South Shore. I don't recall reading any of Kotzwinkle's work in the past, but it looked like it might be fun and the price was right. and, we get to help out the public library, right?

Kotzwinkle has written a bunch of children's stories and novels, he has also written a couple of screen plays, and has also written novels based on movie scripts. I wouldn't put this book in the realm of hilarious books I've read, but it was amusing. He certainly seems to have nailed down some of your typical New England archetypes. The suspension of disbelief on this one requires are fair amount of work, and probably tips this book from humor to outrageous.

I don't think I'm giving much away if I tell you that the bear put on a suit and went to the city--it shows as much on the book cover--what I had trouble with is that apparently, no one noticed. Maybe that's an editorial on forced ignorance, political correctness, or perhaps even the narcissistic self-absorption of city dwellers. Maybe its just zany. Who knows. We've all seen crazy things in the city, but come on, you're asking a lot from your readers. 

Perhaps this started out as a children's book, and only became an adult book when the bear's animal allure eventually leads to women not being able to resist him. And then, yeah, banging. Nope, not a guy in a bear suit; ** its all Sodom and Gomorrah up in here. I assume the intent was humor. Again, just outrageousness. Sometimes outrageous is funny, but like an SNL skit with an outrageous shtick isn't funny if it goes one minute too long, this novel is the full English breakfast version of that skit.

Myeh. Not for me.

* You may recognize the title, which is taken from a children's nursery rhyme of the same name.

** Yes, I know the character in The Hotel New Hampshire is a woman. I haven't read a ton of books with people in bear suits. Sue me.

impossible lives of great wells

The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells is a 2014 book by Andrew Sean Greer, the author of The Confessions of Max Tivoli, 10 years prior. I liked that earlier, book and I liked this one too, altho perhaps not quite as much. There are some similar themes Greer is exploring here, and the premise of the story is also fantastical.

Greer is again examining love, loss, and longing. And because this also has historical fiction aspects, he is also looking at a woman's place and standing in American society in the various time periods in which the story takes place.

This was a fun ride and Greer has constructed some pretty complex characters, and developed their personalities and interactions in ways that really help us understand how these people feel about each other, and how society, from differing time periods, influence those personalities and interactions.

Suspension of disbelieve is again required for this one, and if you enjoyed Max Tivoli then you'll probably enjoy this one.

body in the fjord

The Body in the Fjord is an installment in the Faith Fairchild mystery series, by Katherine Hall Page. Number 8 of 26, according to the Amazon description. I haven't read any of the others, I picked this book up, along with a handful of others I've read recently, at a library book sale in Dracut, Massachusetts. I haven't written about my reading recently as I've been absorbed in other things that have eaten up some of my spare time.

This mystery doesn't feature Faith Fairchild much, but rather, her employee, Pix Miller, who works with her at the catering business Faith Fairchild runs in the fictional town of Aleford, Massachusetts. Pix's mother, Ursala Rowe, who emigrated to America from Norway, is contacted by an old fried who is missing her granddaughter, Kari. Pix promptly flies off with her mother to Norway, and books passage on the tour of Norway's fjords by cruise ship, where Ursula's friends granddaughter was working when she disappeared, and which is apparently still underway, notwithstanding  a death of one employee and a missing second.

They quickly learn that Kari's fiance was killed in a tragic accident--he fell into a waterfall and was drowned in the fjord below--and Kari hasn't been seen since. 

Pix and her mother Ursula discover all kinds of interesting facts, altho its unclear if any have anything to do with the missing woman. Other people die, swastikas are lit on lawns, the other tour passengers are an odd group, and each of the mother and daughter team attempt to learn more about each of their fellow travelers in order to uncover the mystery of the woman's disappearance.

After a very set of adventures, and meals of interesting, traditional Norwegian food (recipes included) they eventually solve the mystery, altho I'm not sure exactly how. They seems to just stumble upon it, along with a another criminal enterprise, which they also help to put an end to.

This was a funny little story, but I can see how the quaintness of the travel, and the food, including recipes at the back of the book, can be fun for the right audience, and someone clearly buying Katherine Hall Page's books. I just think I will be one of those, based on this read.

on-the-fringe

Sweeney On-the-Fringe is a short, sweet little novel by Dave Robinson, which states on the cover that it is "Based on the notes of Owen Kivlin" <--you can see it right there * who is the narrator of the book, and the 'compiler' of the various stories about Sweeney, and poems written by Sweeney, which were either either left around, or more often mailed to the narrator by Sweeney, from some exotic local where Sweeney was invariably surfing and relaxing. The motivation behind the telling, is that no one has seen or heard from Sweeney at the time Owen Kivlin begins to try and figure out both where Sweeney may have gone, and why he left. He attempts to figure out the mystery of Sweeney by trying to discover more about him; a folk tale of their fictional Massachusetts, seaside town of Seawell, located at the mouth of the Merrimack River. 

The small town, we soon find out, is actually a small city, and the name, its location--and the author's home town--all point to Seawell being inspired by Lowell, Massachusetts, combined with some other small, New Englandy towns. The Merrimack River actually meets the Atlantic between Newburyport and Salisbury, Massachusetts. Neither of which is a city, nor has a university, and I don't think either has an airport [nope, hold it, looks like Plum Island has a small airport.] Plum Island is a pretty big island that runs north-south along the coast of Newburyport, and apparently, you can surf there, as well as north of the river's mouth, at Salisbury Beach.

Sweeney is the story of a local legend. That guy from a few years ago, who always seemed to be able to do whatever he wanted, and no one could figure out how, and most couldn't figure out why. The story is told through a series of transcribed interviews with, and letters from, people who knew Sweeney; interspersed with Sweeney's own poems. The interesting part is that Sweeney knew a lot of people, from different generations and walks of life, and they all knew different parts of his story, but none knew his whole story. And even by the end of the novel, Owen Kivlin still doesn't know all there is to know about this enigmatic man who touched all of their lives, in profound and subtle ways.

In the 'About the Author' blurb in the backmatter, the author indicates that this 2007 novel is the first in a trilogy. A quick look around the interwebs turns up only this: Sweeney In Effable, which is a single volume containing five books, one of which is Sweeney On-the-Fringe. The description of Effable on it's Amazon page includes this line:

"This contemporary protagonist is based on the ancient Irish legend from Trevor Joyce's translation, Sweeny Peregrine, with a nod to Seamus Heaney's Sweeney Astray." 

So there is a tradition for this slippery, Loki-esque or Pan-like character. This one was a fun ride.

Read this Book.

* Another thing you can see on the cover, is the horrible font they used for the title, which unfortunately, follows us throughout the book. I was thinking, what does on-the-Frince even mean?

space between worlds

I'm pretty sure this book came from the book sale at my local library. It didn't seem like anyone had even opened it when I picked it up (for a dollar or two!) so I assume it was a gift or something. you missed out, bro! Micaiah Johnson is a young author from the desert west, and The Space Between Worlds is her first book, from 2020. She has a new one out now, which is called Those Beyond the Wall.

Sci Fi is one of my go-tos but I don't often get the chance to read something new and great, and this was both. Johnson has created an alternative world, which may be in our future, or it may be in an alternate universe, very similar to ours. And we aren't alone. Johnson's protagonist, Cara, is a bridge between the world of poverty and oppression she was born into, and the shining white city on a hill where she is currently employed. She is also the bridge between the infinite worlds of the multiverse, playing the various versions of people and places that exist in each, but only tuned to a different frequency, Cara finds that she can learn from, borrow from, and interact with different versions of the people she knows, weaving their frequencies together in a song only she can hear, discordant though it may be.

There is also conflict within Cara, between the two parts of herself that struggle with wanting to be true to her roots in poverty, while striving to become accepted in the city she works in. To complicate her struggle, their are people she loves in both worlds, people she both wants to be with, and not disappoint.

The interplay and layers of realities and relationships, and how Cara finds her way between and around them, is what makes this story work so well. Classicism and prejudice are more ingrained, more ineradicable, in this world. And because that is so, its all the more grating and ruinous. The peoples that populate this world take it for granted; its a given, and that starkness is both an unflattering mirror of our own world, and heartbreaking in its despair. 

Johnson has created a world that is both hard to look at, and too beautiful to ignore, peopled by characters with similar qualities. I enjoyed this all the way through. Good for you Micaiah Johnson. 

Read this book.

persepolis

I haven't read a ton of graphic novels, but some.* This book was a loan from my oldest; not too long ago I commented that I had read a bunch of books written by authors sympathetic to the Israeli point of view in its continuing quarrels with its Middle Eastern neighbors, and I was hoping to read something that took a different view. Marjane Satrapi was born in Iran, was raised there as a child, and moved to Austria for her education--what ended up as essentially a boarding school, with her parents stuck in Iran--not long after the fundamentalist revolution or uprising in Iran.  

Persepolis ** is her telling, in two parts, of her life as a child in Iran,  her teens in Austria as a student and newly birthed innocent into the ways of the West, and her eventual return (at least for a while) to her home and family. One assumes this is strictly autobiographical, but I don't know that I actually read that anywhere... let's check. Random House lists it as Biography/Memoir, so I guess so.

The illustrations/cartooning in the graphic novel are bold, black and white. When I did an image search for Marjane Satrapi a lot of her photos are also black and white, which made me wonder if that is so because that is what she wanted, or if the photographer or publisher of the photo used black and white because of the novel's imagery. hmmm

The story of Satrapi is one of conflict; between her and her family and the oppression the are forced to live under, as well as the conflict of her innocent early years in contrast to the modernism of Vienna where she attended school. She rebelled against the regime as a child, and rebelled against xenophobia and elitism in Vienna, and after her return to Tehran, she rebels again as an adult, and eventually leaves again to live in France and find the freedom she tasted as a teen.

As you would expect there are scenes of sweetness, and sickening oppression, stress, anger, prejudice, love, and healing, but none of these ideas and feelings overwhelms the story. In the end I felt for the author, and had the feeling that she did the best she could with what she had. Maybe not as good as some in similar circumstances, but better than most. 

While confirming for this blog entry, I discovered that there is another book, Persepolis 2, that presumably continues the story, so I'll need to look for that. There was also an animated movie of the same name, with a limited US release, in 2007.

* Watchmen, and one or two others.

** The title Persepolis, I presume, comes from the capital City of the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire, of the same name, founded by Darius I, about 2500 years ago, which sits in current south-west Iran. The city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

biblio tech

The full title of this book is BiblioTech: why libraries matter more than ever in the age of google. This book is from 2015, and when I got a fair way into it, I thought that maybe I had just waited too long to read it, given that what John Palfrey is discussing here is how libraries stand against cutting edge technology. So perhaps its was because the technology he was analyzing is from 2015, and that's what made his arguments a little weak.

Nope.

Its because the majority of of what John Palfrey says in this book is included in the book reviews. Here an example from Goodreads, which I assume is written by... who, the moderators? crowd sourced like a wiki? Who knows, its not attributed:

"... John Palfrey argues that anyone seeking to participate in the 21st century needs to understand how to find and use the vast stores of information available online. And libraries, which play a crucial role in making these skills and information available, are at risk. In order to survive our rapidly modernizing world and dwindling government funding, libraries must make the transition to a digital future as soon as possible -- by digitizing print material and ensuring that born-digital material is publicly available online."

He also says it will be difficult, and it will cost money, and therefore we as readers and library supporters need to support libraries so they can take on this task, collectively.

That's it. Its an 8 minute speech, tops.* Its a pamphlet. In BiblioTech, he just repeats this nine times, in chapters 1 through 9, and the repeats it again in chapter 10, which he helpfully titles "Conclusion." Each chapter focuses on a different point such as how preservation, cloud computing, or networking tie into the problem and the solution he's suggesting, but each of these points is included in nearly all of the chapters. "hey john, how can we spin this crimson article up into a book?"

By the time I was three-quarters through, I was pretty sure that each chapter was written as an stand alone essay in support of the main message. And probably with enough time between them, that he wasn't exactly clear on what he'd written in the others.

Here was the clincher for me: Each chapter has a quote taken from history or literature that one assumes is designed to set the tone for the chapter. The quote at the beginning of Chapter 9: Law, is from an 1813 letter from Thomas Jefferson to Isaac McPherson. It reads:

"He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me."

Ah, learnin' I get it. We share what we know, and it helps others without harming us. Sharing knowledge should therefore be freely undertaken. Gotcha, good one. Inspiring, actually. Pretty sure I've heard it before though... where was it? Oh, yeah, 9 PAGES EARLIER, in Chapter 8: Education, word for word, same quote. 

That's just sloppy. you come on up here and write we must support libraries on the blackboard three-hundred times, smartypants.

All good ideas. Make a bullet list and print them on a bookmark. Don't waste my time.

* It is a speech, you can find it on YouTube and other places. Its over an hour! Criminy! I'm sure you can find it yourself.

operation shylock

Philip Roth is not called a modern American master for nothin'. At least, I assume folks call him that. 

I've read just a few of his books, and its always a fun ride. In the last one I read,* he wrote about himself in the first person as well, using his own name, but in what I could only assume was a fictional way. This story includes the same technique, and its not at all clear that the Philip Roth that inhabits the universe of this novel, Operation Shylock: a confession, is the same as the Philip Roth who inhabited that novel, whether fictional or semi-fictional.

In general terms Philip Roth talks about growing up in the New York area, and mentions the name Claire as someone he is connected to, which is the name of a character from the last novel of his I read (I'm almost sure.) But...

Keeping the reader guessing seems to be one of his delights, as well as his dry humor and honesty. And the surprises he slides in between the lines, or in a single line; so subtle. I found myself second guessing, did he just say that that happened?

Roth is talking about big ideas, with thoughtfulness and well formed characters. They struggle with and against one another is ways that make them seem real. His writing is so believable, that at times it can be as slow and uneventful and your every day, and then we turn a corner and step into the jaws of another reality, one just as real, but often far outside our day-to-day.

 

I finished this a while ago, but just haven't gotten around to writing my thoughts about it. I have one or two more to catch up on.

* It wasn't the last one, this was the last one. And it was great. I think I confused the two books, given how close together I read them.

march monthly planner

March is yet again upon us.

After a few teasers of warmish weather here north of Boston last week, it chilled down again in the past few days so that we slid into March with cold days and colder nights. It was sunny yesterday, March 1, but still cold and windy as all heck. That's Lion for you.

Today it started cloudy and now, at about 5:30 PM, its getting dark, its rainy and cold. But its Saturday! Can't be all bad, right, and while today is definitely the Tiger of March, tomorrow the rain is supposed to stop, and it will just be cloudy all day, and may even get up to 50!

Yeah, a Bear. Definitely. We going to grill anyway. Just try and stop me.

But it just gets better from here. March may come in like a Lion and go out like a Lamb, but don't forget all the days between, and what their names are. How else can you plan your month? In a few weeks it will be Saturday the 16th. Got plans? It may be important to know that Saturday the 16th is the Ox of March. And the next day is Elephant, in case you're planning the whole weekend.

Not sure why that matters? Well feast yer eyes, my friends!

March 2024

March 1 - Lion: How was this beast for you this year? Did it help to have Leap Day first?
March 2 - Tiger: I just ran an errand, and yep, today feels like a 700 pound killer.
March 3 - Bear: Sounds like we may have more of a black bear than a grizzly tomorrow.
March 4 - Shark: Rain and clouds forecast for the rest of the first week. Sharks don't care.
March 5 - Wolf: These dogs hunt in packs.
March 6 - Bull: Can get to 6-feet, and 2500 to 3000 pounds.
March 7 - Moose: Road signs say Brake for Moose. Its not to save the moose.
March 8 - Eagle: Hunter from the skies.
March 9 - Scorpion: If you're not careful they can get into your collar, or up your pant leg.
March 10 - Dingo: Here's where's... I left it right here! Turn your clock ahead! *
March 11 - Hawk: Maybe not as fierce at the Eagle, but keep your cats and small dogs in view
March 12 - Lynx: Not a house cat. Think jaguar in a smaller package.
March 13 - Bat: Seeing these guys in the night sky means the bugs are back.
March 14 - Monkey: Monkeys have tails, apes don't. HBD Coleen!
March 15 - Snake: No legs, but they DO have a neck, backbone, and a tail. Horrible mistake.
March 16 - Ox: Slow and strong.
March 17 - Elephant: Huge and gray.
March 18 - Raven: Black, and bigger than it has a right to be.
March 19 - Stag: Also called a hart, these big boys run in small family groups in Spring.
March 20 - Crab: Watery and unchanging. First day of spring!
March 21 - Goat: Cheese and devil associations.
March 22 - Horse: Clydesdale or pinto.
March 23 - Pig: Get your boots!
March 24 - Dog: Time for a walk! And maybe a catch.
March 25 - Dolphin: Bright, fun and wet.
March 26 - Rooster: Early rise, and lets get things done.
March 27 - Turtle: No one stays closer to home.
March 28 - Toad: Nobbly and damp.
March 29 - Robin: When these guys come back, news is looking up.
March 30 - Rabbit: They live in shrublands, which is why they like the suburbs. You got shrubs right? HBD Kelton!
March 31 - Lamb: Fluffy, warm and delicious!

If you find this helpful, let me know in the comments. 

Headed back to work Monday? Its Shark, take an umbrella. And maybe some reinforced pants.

* Turn your clock ahead at 2:00 AM on Dingo, up to 3:00 AM. That's right you lose an hour or sleep between Scorpion and Dingo this year. And don't make plans for 2:30 AM, Dingo morning, that time doesn't exist.

path of vengeance

Star Wars: The High Republic: Path of Vengeance is a novel published by Disney Lucasfilm Press, so is is a novel or is it film related merchandise? I'm not sure, but it does seem clear that the author is likely working for the publisher, or is (was) under contract to produce this novel. Why do I say that? Well, if this author decided to write this on their own and just submitted it to Disney in hopes that they'd publish it, then this is fan fiction, and if this was an assignment that Disney gave to them then its merchandise, right? At least it is first and foremost; in my mind anyway.

Why is that important? For the same reason that when you pick up a book in the bookstore that has Tom Clancy or James Patterson's name on it. Those people aren't writing the stories, someone else is. Who? Somebody, but you'll probably have to dig a little to find their name. you can find your own links, I'm not going there

So what is the difference between an author who has been published in their own right, and an author who works for a corporation like Disney or James Patterson? Well, I don't think these companies are author mills, but the focus does appear to be more on cranking out the material (merch) rather than publishing the highest quality novels they can.

Long introduction (rant?) concluded. That said, here's where I am on Path of Vengeance and its author, Cavan Scott: The story was interesting, the writing isn't that great. 

I looked up Cavan Scott, who seems to be a good comic artist, and many comic artists are talented story tellers. Scott seems to have come up with a pretty good story, and it also seems like he originally started with Disney doing comics for them, and then started writing for them more recently. When you take a look at his work, it seems mostly to be comics. The writing isn't awful, its just a little flat, and has way too many clichés and idioms. Clichés aren't the worse things, but when you're writing about people living in a galaxy far, far away, its just unlikely that they are going to say things like we do, and that takes us out of the narrative. It lifts the veil. see what I did there? It disturbs our need to suspend disbelief while reading fiction. Here are some examples from the first few pages:

"the skin of her... teeth" p. 4 

"his nose had... been put out of joint" p. 8

They're pretty regular all the way through, and even the similes pull the reader out of the galaxy where the story takes place. Like the slur about Evereni being "sharks" or describing a creature that "ran on four legs like a lion." I assume they don't have sharks and lions in their galaxy. Its just the easy way out.

One cliché I couldn't find when writing this entry was something like 'lit up like a Light Festival bough.' That's just a lit up like a Christmas tree, with a few words changed. Try harder, bro.

Am I a snob? Maybe, but I probably won't go looking for more of these books. This one was a gift, and I'm very grateful. The story was fun, and it was interesting to look back at the Star Wars universe at a time when the republic was at peace, and things were good. This era seems ripe for stories, shows and movies, as well as books and comics. I just think the production value should be there regardless of the medium.

Here's an interview with Cavan Scott and 4 other authors working for Disney on these books and comics.

punch the future in the dick

Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick* is the second novel in the Zoey Ashe series by Jason "David Wong" Pargin. The first installment was good; I bragged about it to people like I wrote it myself, and at least one person went out and got a copy, and they enjoyed it too. The second installment was good, but perhaps not as good at the first. A lot of what was new in the first one, things I hadn't read about before, and what made the future that Zoey Ashe inhabits so interesting, are repeated in volume two. Mostly by necessity. 

I don't mind that so much, its what we expect when we read a sequel, but what the first one had in adventure, and character development, was lacking here. There are some new characters, but we don't learn too much new about the character's we met in book one, except a few scraps. So I guess this was a sequel, but it felt a little it like a Zoey Ashe adventure, rather than a stand alone novel. It was good, it just wasn't great.

This book, like the first, was published under Jason Pargin's pen name, 'David Wong.' Why? I don't know, but a lot of his previous books were published using the David Wong name as well. More recently, he's been using hi real name. When doing a little research for this blog entry, I found that he has written another book in the Zoey Ashe series, called Zoey is Too Drunk for This Dystopia, which just came out this year, and also has his real name on the cover. Not only that, but newer printings of his older books have revised cover art featuring Pargin's real name as well.

I thought this book was good, as I said, and will probably pick up book three at the library at some point. If and when I do, I'll try and write about it here. I will also say, as I did in my review of the first book, these stories have movie potential.

* I don't think its a spoiler to report that the future's reproductive organs we not actually harmed at any point in this novel; for those of you who may have been worried.