Lo, friends! Tis almost the end of the year. I almost cannot believe it. I have two more of these reviews to go before we are into 2022. Next month I will do a Top Ten List in addition to the normal review. As of the time of this entry, I am 120 books into the year. Hopefully I can keep up this pace next year too! I managed 12 books this month to make up for the last couple of months of slacking ;-)
God Emperor of Dune
By: Frank Herbert
I still love this book. I’ve read through the series five times and I still love this book. I am more critical of it than ever and I still love it. Its dense. Leto can be pompous. The Duncans can be obtuse. Nonetheless, the philosophical through-line is very clear and rings true even after so many years. It is an odd masterpiece. It sticks out like a sore thumb in the series as a whole, but it’s really great. Related aside: I run a Dune Stan account on Instagram. www.instagram.com/dunequotes I’m the OG Dune Quotes page on Insta since 2016. If you want to cheat and get some quote samplage, check it out. If you like what you see there, you’ll like the books.
The Golden Goblet
By: Eloise Jarvis McGraw
This was a mom-and-me read. It took a little while for Vor to get into it. I had to stop and give context quite a lot in the beginning. The first two thirds of the book were rather slow. There was a lot of repetition and a lot of setup for the ultimate resolution. However, the resolution felt very rushed and lacking in detail especially when compared to the rest of the book. I think it was worth a read but I’m glad we did it on our own terms. I think if I were one of the many kids that are forced to read this in school I would have resented the hell out of the ending and pacing.
Falling Free
By: Lois McMaster Bujold
I really enjoy this woman’s writing. It is fast-paced and funny. It is clever and imaginative. She does characterization really well, too. I randomly read the 5th book in this series first because its called The Vor Game, so duh, had to. I thought I would circle back eventually. I invited Matt to start reading the series with me and he cosigns on all of the above. This series does not ask as much of you philosophically as Dune. It does not hold your heart in its hand like Red Rising. It does not get into the mathematics of things like The Three Body Problem. But its unique with fun characters who are not your typical heroes. Highly enjoyable. Caveat: this book doesn’t fit into the series in a neat and tidy way. I am still waiting to see when it does. Supposedly it does…I guess we’ll see.
A Little History of Economics
By: Niall Kishtainy
This was everything I hoped it would be. It was informative and not boring. The narration was great and for a subject-matter book was perfectly easy to follow in audio format. My take-away is that I think we need a new theory of economics that takes into account people’s (individual and societal) time and the quality of their environment to calculate a true economic status. I was also reinforced in my belief that most economists, while probably well-meaning can really fuck off with this pseudo-science bullshit. If you’re going to make shit up, maybe try looking beyond the material. I wanted an overview and an interesting read to compliment some of the heavier reading I’ve done on the subject such as Road to Serfdom. For that, this book was wonderful. Nothing against the book, I just think most of this field of research is so terribly subjective that it’s absurd.
Five Children and It
By: E. Nesbitt
For Victorian-era children’s literature this was quite good. Compared to more contemporary authors, not so much. But giving credit where credit is due, this is a very imaginative and fun story that Vor was able to follow and enjoy despite the more antiquated language-structure. Taking a moment for broader reflection, I think it’s interesting how language has changed and how it requires a concerted effort on the part of younger readers to invest into classic literature. I’m thinking to myself as we are listening: “Vor doesn’t know wtf thou means.” We have run into this language disconnect several times now. The first time was with Beatrix Potter but I thought the content of those books was weird and have passed on the rest of her repertoire. Vor and I both enjoyed The Secret Garden, The Wizard of Oz, The Princess and the Goblins, and to some extent The Golden Goblet - all of which are written in a more formal, dated version of English. FCandIt was above the threshold of enjoyment as well. As a parent, be ready to patiently explain if you’re reading this with a kiddo.
Shards of Honor
By: Lois McMaster Bujold
Another fun read by Bujold. I loved getting to know the world through this love story. Love story? Yes. But not sappy, stupid shit. In this context the love story is a fun narrative device and ultimately is just a background thread tying the other events of the book together. As mentioned above, if you are expecting any continuity between Falling Free and SOH, you will be frustrated. Consider the context of FF as informative of the larger galactic context in SOH and leave it at that. Cordelia, Arol, Bothari, etc are all interesting characters unto themselves and interact in a way that left me feeling that the psychology of the characters was consistently considered when placing them in inter-relational situations. Well done.
The Practicing Stoic
By: Ward Farnsworth
I liked the book more as it progressed but, overall, would be curious to see if there is a better overview of Stoicism out there.
The good:
The Stoic principles are great. So, if you are a true beginner to the subject, you’ll probably get a lot out of this.
The organizational structure is really well done for what Farnsworth is attempting. The practicality and nuance of the subject-matter blooms the longer your keep reading but could indeed be taken piece-meal if one so chose.
The bad:
The organizational structure. This is a very personal preference, but I would have liked to experience the propositions in context. I would not have known that ahead of time, though.
TPS was not at all a bad book. You might like it way more than me. It didn’t light me up and ultimately, I have been a practicing Stoic for many years due to my personal integration/amalgamation of many spiritual practices. So at the end of the day, I wasn’t blown away with the book or topic but that doesn’t mean you won’t be.
Foundation
By: Isaac Asimov
Better the second time around. I listened to this book about 3 years ago. My take away then was: men talking stressfully at each other. Now, everyone is going batshit about the series on iTune. Since the positive reception of the show and my take-away didn’t fully line up, I was starting to think I was losing my edge or perhaps that my listening skills were not fully developed at the time I initially read the book. But, no. I was right. This book is like 90% dialog. The difference in my reception this time is in the knowing. I was familiar with the ideas the book was attempting to convey and that was helpful. Secondarily, I am way more familiar with early Sci-Fi as a genre and its nuances and short-comings. See more on that below. All in all, I liked the ideas much better this time because I wasn’t waiting for there to be action and could just sink my teeth into the dialog. Spoiler alert - there is no action. If you want a version of the story with action, definitely just watch it.
Netherwings
By Django Wexler
Well, shit. This was a good story. It was a middle-grade story but it was good enough to have me fully invested after about the 3rd chapter. Middle-grade books are really doing it for both Vor and me lately. They are dramatic enough with ample action and suspense to keep me invested while being just predictable enough that I’m not worried about sex and gore and major psychological trauma for Vor. For Vor they also hit a sweet spot. He’s not a baby so kid’s books are often too babyish for him but on the flip side, when it comes to hard copies, he could not actually read read these books yet. But that doesn’t mean he is not ready for the content. He is. So audiobooks work well for him to engage with stories that are at his maturity level if not his “reading” level. I’m really excited for him to gain mastery of reading text so he can start to choose books on his own from the library at school. In the mean time, he continues to surprise me with insightful and penetrating questions for books on this level that show me he is, very much, paying attention to relatively complex narrative structure and drama despite the medium. I hope we get more from this author in this dimension asap.
Barryar
By Lois McMaster Bujold
I am pretty well won over at this point and am a full-fledged fan of Bujold’s writing. The first half of this book is a little slower. The second half is a full court press. If you have read any of her other books, Barryar holds true to her witty/sardonic, character-forward approach. Cordelia and Bothari shine and the set-up for Miles to enter the scene is perfect. Highest Barryaran marks!
The Unfettered Mind
By: Takuan Soho
Not suspending disbelief or applying a critical mind - kinda stodgy. The metaphors were poetic but rigid. This was a very restrained work. Now, if we apply some perspective to the content, that same observation turns from critique to praise. I think restrained would be a compliment for the intersection of Zen and Swordsmanship! It’s a beautiful work and the narrator has a buttery baritone voice that is naturally suited for this gorgeously formal writing style. The question of whether or not you will like this book is likely going to boil down to whether or not you have enough historical basis to place the piece culturally. And, from there, whether you have an interest in Zen or Swordsmanship.
The Einstein Intersection
By: Samuel R. Delany
Good vintage Sci-Fi. To me, that means it was kinda weird, a little obscure, had enough detail to give you a sense of what was going on but left quite a bit up to the imagination. I wouldn’t want the same from more modern works. I’m learning to take the early stuff as a sub-genre and appreciate them in that context. This is probably one of my reading take-aways for 2021 as a whole.