January 29th 2009
Books!
The last couple years I’ve wanted to do a complete booklog, but with the desire starting in February and my odd attachment to our calendar, I’ve shrugged it off as something that I couldn’t do correctly because I’d already forgotten a few of the books I’d read in that year. I remembered early enough this year, and I’ve not read too much yet so I can do at least a little bit of a write-up for the new books I’ve read so far this year.
Ha’Penny by Jo Walton - The third in the Small Change trilogy, set in an alternate history where England made peace with Hitler. This installment is told from the perspectives of Carmichael (a narrator in all three) and his ward Elvira (revealing more of her identity could spoil events in the other books), telling events from perspectives experience and compromise against youth and naivety. The book probably deserves better than reading it as quickly as possible on commuter rail, but it was gripping and felt really timely. It was a little blunt, though, or maybe I didn’t pick up on subtleties that are there. I’m willing to believe the second version of that pretty readily, since Half a Crown was just fantastic. Very worth reading, but I’d suggest reading either Farthing (if you like crime-type fiction) or Half a Crown (if you like Hamlet) first.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon - I have a deep love for novels narrated by characters that are fundamentally separate from humanity because there are elements of emotion or human interaction that the narrator just Doesn’t Get. Dexter Morgan from the Showtime series (I haven’t read the books, so I direct knowledge of his character in them I don’t have), Siri from Peter Watts’ Blindsight, Lennie Clark from Watts’ Starfish, or Lou from Elizabeth Moon’s The Speed of Dark are the ones that come instantly to mind. Christopher Boone, the main character and narrator of The Curious Incident…, is a semi-functioning autistic teenager who lives alone with his father after he was told his mother died of a heart ailment. The story involves a dead dog, some detective work, a pet rat, a trip to London and a bunch of heart wrenching scenes. It’s a really quick read, and balances the tear inducing parts with enough laughs that I couldn’t quite decide which way I was going emotionally. Pretty highly recommended.
False Colours by Georgette Heyer - I picked this up in DC because I wanted something pretty light and frilly to occupy my transit time around the town and on my flight back, and I’ve heard good things about her. I was promised breezy comedy of manners type stuff and that’s mostly what I got. I did almost write a rather unfortunate email, hopped up on all the Austin-style language, but I wasn’t drunk enough to go through with that. Worthwhile if you’re a fan of Jane Austin or enjoy comedy of manners type stuff. Decidedly not essential reading.
