Patrick Ness: The Knife of Never Letting Go

One Word Summary:  Poo. Todd. Poo. Poo. Poo.
Synopsis: A boy and his dog go on a very long journey.
Criticism: I liked this book the entire I was reading it. There's one point in the story where one of the villians shows up again, and Viola says, "You've got to be kidding." I don't know if the author was trying to be all tongue in cheek, but I laughed. I liked the premiss. Space pilgrims settle a far away planet, fight with the native aliens, and are infected with a disease that enables them to hear everyone's thoughts all the time, oh and it kills all the women. Very Lord of the Flies. I liked the ideas Mr. Ness explored. Redemption. Gender Roles. Manhood. Choice. And I really liked the dog, Manchee. I didn't realize I was bored until I got to the cliff hanger ending. I didn't realize I was annoyed until I started leafing through book two and said aloud, "You've got to be kidding!" That's when I decided I hate villians that won't die and stories that never end. This could have been great.

Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughter House Five

One Word Summary: Edgar Derby and the teapot

Synopsis: Billy Pilgrim is an unremarkable youth. He goes to war. He's still alive after the Dresden Bombings. He comes home from war and life goes on. Except he has a nervous breakdown. His life is remarkable only for its blandness-wife, children, big house. His fantasy life is pretty fantastic (he's on display at a Tralfmadorian zoo with his mate Montana Wildhack, an earthling porn star) but it also what you'd imagine a boring man would dream up. In the end he dies. And even though Billy is emotionally detached (among other things) from his life you kind of feel sad for him and wish it could have been different.

Recommendation: I liked this book. It has style. I didn't like this book. It is depressing.

Rate: 4.5 dimensions

Frank Herbert: Dune

One Word Summary: Feint within a feint within a feint.....
Summary: It's eons into the future. Human nature hasn't changed much, but humans are more evolved- physically and mentally. There's this spice, Melange, found only on one planet, Arrakis, that everyone needs. There's a company CHOAM which distributes the spice and controls the economy. There's political intrigue between the Padisha Emperor, the Bene Gesserit, The House Atreides, The House Harkonnen, The Guild. And then there are the worms and the Fremen and the ecology of Dune. Plus the advent of a messiah-figure.
More Words: Fantastic in depth and scope. Fascinating because so much revolves around a barren planet. Dune had to be The Matrix of the 1960's. My friend N.Bryson highly recommended it, nd that mysterious group the Bene Gesserit (who come from the school of Lady Macbeth) clinched the decision. Anyhow, I know this is a groundbreaking novel but I don't love it. Here's why. Italicized double thinks drive me crazy. There's got to be a way of creating political intrigue without them. Plus, my maturity level demands a clear cut good guy. The Harkonnen's were vile, but it seemed that the Atreides' were only marginally 'better'. And hurray Paul is the Muad'Dib, only what exactly is his purpose? I tried to read Messiah Dune, but I'm just not that interested. Too much of a good thing and all that (kind of like Ender's Game)

Questions:
How do the female character's reflect the ideas about women in the 1960?
What would the sierra club have to say about making even half the planet water friendly?
Do I live under a rock? Is everyone else's life this complicated?
Who else feels sorry for Princess Irulan and her literary aspirations?

Action List:
Watch the movies

Connie Willis: To Say Nothing of the Dog

One Word Summary: Redundancy

More Words: You know that dizzy feeling you get when you watch "His Girl Friday" or "Bringing up Baby"? This book is funny and zany in the same way. If you're old, like me, read this in small doses. Otherwise it's marvellous.

Plot Summary: Someone brought something back through time. It's an anomaly. It's supposed to be impossible. It could ruin the universe as we know it. Ned Henry is sent to correct the problem, only he's time-lagged and has no idea what he's doing in Victorian England. Luckily he has a Naiad to help. These are their misadventures trying to save the day.

Questions:
Why do time travel novels inevitably deal with fate and destiny?

Why is everyone so down on the Victorians?

Why don't I like mystery novels?

Other Books:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe by Douglas Adams

Audrey Neffenegger: The Time Travellers Wife

One Word Summary: Streakers demystified.
More Words: An alternative title for this book could be Hip & Avant Garde in the Early '90s for dummies. Seriously, it's practically a how to manual, complete with a play list, a reading list, a menu, a dress code,and a 'garden variety Marxist' ideology. Unfortunately my IQ is barely above average, I don't know any German (except Die Bart! Die), I never read poetry, and I was pathetic in high school. So, yeah, aside from the Love Story and the Time Travelling this book is really about a bunch of upper middle class kids being ironic... er... cliche... er... down on the man. I really liked it when Mrs. Kim prepared 'some sort of casserole with corn flakes', because up until then no one ate anything I would ever touch. Alright, so those are all my gripes. And guess what? I liked this book. I like that Neffenegger thanked the tax payers of Chicago for making it possible for her to write this book. I wonder how long she spent thinking and researching and writing. I've spent days thinking about this book.

Censorship: There is a lot of foul language. There is a lot of drug and alcohol use. There is a lot of sex. Around the time I was thinking: "Hey these kids are having a lot of sex", Clare said "You know, sometimes I can't even sit down". I'm not excited for my daughter to read this until she's in college. I'm not really excited to have a sit down lesson on sexual terminology. And really I'd prefer she look higher for ideas.
Quotes:

I can't believe I'm feeling jealous of a multimillionaire rock star geezer
old enough to be Clare's dad. p64

Running is many things to me, survival, calmness, euphoria, solitude. It is
proof of my corporeal existence, my ability to control my movement through space
if not time, and the obedience, however temporary of my body to my will.
p154

But you make me happy. It's living up to being happy that's the difficult
part.

Questions:

• What came first, the chicken or the egg?
• When did Clare choose Henry?
• Is it fair for Henry to tell Clare that he's coming back?
• What if Henry didn't exist?
• Why does Clare draw a self portrait as her first foray back into Art?
• What was the purpose of the interlude with the baby punks?
• What is The Chronicles of Nawat Wuzzer Hyderbed? Why does the author refer to it 3x?
• Is ignorance bliss?
• Do you believe in choice? Fate? Time Travel?
• The book group questions at the back of the book probe a little into Gender Issues and Roles. Why? Is there some sort of higher meaning coded into the fact that Henry is very Masculine AND likes to cook? Am I missing something about the nature of romantic love?
• If Clare is a Kitten, what animal is Henry? How about Gomez?
• Do you think their precocious daughter, what her name, is annoying too?

List:

• Homer's Odyssey
• Tristan and Iseult
• Selkie Folklore
• Marie de France
• E Aquitaine

Connie Willis: Bellwether

This is a funny book. It's a commentary about chaos theory and herd mentality. It’s full of running jokes, witty remarks, science anecdotes, fad histories, facts about rivers, and lists of books. Oh and a little about sheep. It clearly took a lot of effort to research and to set up. I think the author enjoyed herself a lot while writing. I can just picture her chuckling and pulling her hair out alternately. Sometimes I would think, enough with the jokes already, but it never felt over the top like Hitch Hiker’s Guide (which really really made me laugh; even now just thinking about it). I liked the plug for literacy, and the plug for creativity. I liked the book. I think I might like to read Browning after this.

I also like love stories. I didn’t expect there to be any love, but there was. It’s not dewy in the least. Here’s a quote that caught my attention. It could be a thesis statement, except the author clearly endorses chaotic systems with unknowing guardians. In it Sandra Foster offers her critique of the vastly popular book, Led On By Fate, which she has just finished reading:

“It’s premise was that everything was ordained and organized by guardian angels,
and the heroine was given to saying things like “Everything happens for a reason, Derek! You broke off our engagement and slept with Edwina and were implicated in her death, and I turned to Paolo for comfort and went to Nepal with him so that we’d learn the meaning of suffering and despair, without which true love is meaningless. All of it – the train wreck, Lilith’s suicide, Halvard’s drug addiction, the stock market crash – it was all so we could be together. Oh, Derek there’s a reason behind everything.”

I liked this book. I would read it again. I would own it.

http://www.rambles.net/willis_wether.html