Tag: Books

( #JeffreyEugenides, #MarriagePlot )

When I found out that Jeffrey Eugenides released another book, I was excited to read it. His previous novel, the Pulitzer Prize winning “Middlesex” was (obviously) very good, with rich character history and unique plot. “The Marriage Plot” is a much different book in tone and story than “Middlesex” and not for the better.

Set in the early 1980’s, the book centers around a girl named Madeleine who is about to graduate college. She just broke up with her boyfriend and there is another guy that likes her. This love triangle makes up the entire plot of the book. The problem is that Madeleine is so unlikeable that you don’t want to read about her with either guy. You don’t want the guys to succeed in getting her, and I really couldn’t envision this girl being happy with anyone unless she changes (spoiler: she doesn’t). The whole love triangle was not enough to maintain the primary narrative of the book… what I am saying is that the book was boring.

Madeleine starts off as a self-centered over-privileged little snot and makes absolutely no progress in becoming a better person. One can argue that her caring for her depressed boyfriend Leonard during most of the story would count as growth, but I would counter that by saying she was just living up to social expectations. Her treatment of every other character in the book is horrid.

The other participant in the love triangle is a religious studies student named Mitchell. He spends most of the book traveling around Europe and India learning about religion and avoiding Madeleine’s relationship with Leonard. I would say he is the character you want to win in the story, but his attraction to Madeleine makes him suspect in my view.

I am not sure what the book was trying to accomplish. Perhaps it was a critique of expensive liberal arts colleges not preparing students for real life. Or it could be debunking the expectation that 21-year-old people should be treated like adults rather than children. Or perhaps it could be that relationships are complicated, but I would argue that is well covered grounds and this book didn’t add much to the conversation. My final thoughts on “The Marriage Plot” is that I found it to be a disappointing follow-up to an excellent book from a talented writer. The amazon reviews seem to disagree with my assessment, so feel free to make up your own mind.

( #Reamde, #NealStephenson )

I finally finished the book that would not end yesterday. It has taken me almost 2 months to read Reamde (although I have read other books during this period too), but I got it done. What is the book about? I think this was Stephenson’s attempt to tell an epic fantasy story but in the real world. It is an interesting and creative idea, I am just not sure if that was the intent.

Reamde is part action thriller, detective story, and fantasy tale. The general idea is that a guy (Richard) creates an online game that can be used to traffic real money globally. The game is huge, almost everybody plays it (essentially it is World of Warcraft, but more popular). Richard’s niece ends up getting kidnapped through a series of semi-ridiculous plot turns (I can forgive this in the vein of North by Northwest). The kidnapped niece is basically re-kidnapped by another group of bad guys and then British and US intelligence agencies get involved.

The book features as massive cast of characters that all converge at the end of the book. I suppose my main issue with the story is the sheer amount of characters, many of them were unnecessary and it seems Stephenson doesn’t know what to do with them in the end. There are several that essentially get dropped around the 60-70% mark of the book without another mention. Reamde spends alot of energy getting all of the characters to the same place for the climax. Even with the time spent, it feels completely artificial. Having gotten to the end, I think the book would have been better served killing off some of the characters before we got to that point.

I get the impression the Stephenson was trying to go for a reversal of themes. The story revolves around an epic online game, but the real world becomes much more exciting. I am taking a guess that Stephenson plotted the book out like a video game. You have the main story and the side quests. Minor characters that serve a function and need little backstory. It is a clever idea and if executed better, the book would have been outstanding.

I give Neal Stephenson (and his publishers) kudos for keeping this ONE BOOK. No trilogy, no cliffhangers. It is a complete tale, in fact it is a supersized story. I am glad I could finish this book without having to purchase more and I feel like I earned a gamer trophy getting through it.

( #StrainTrilogy, #vampires )

The Night Eternal is the final book in a vampire trilogy by author Chuck Hogan and director Guillermo Del Toro. You would think Vampires and Del Toro would equal awesome, not so much. The first book was decent but got into Jerry Bruckheimer territory towards the end (explosions, catch phrases, etc). The second book just kept the Bruckheimer vibe going. I was undecided on reading the third book, but I find that trilogies tend to sag in the middle to justify three books and the third usually ends strong. That theory was proven wrong with the Night Eternal.

The book is all over the place. Even at 250ish pages, it seems long and drawn out. Hogan introduces characters that are completely unnecessary to the plot and then discards them with little detail or interest (several members of the Hispanic gangs). Had more of the interesting characters from the second book (like the Lucha Libre wrestler – I know it is odd, but it worked) remained alive, there would have been better emotional payoff in the final book. The book also suffers from the passage of time. Two years has passed since the end of the second book and Hogan has to show the psychological damage the characters have endured during that time. The main character as a broken man searching for redemption is such a cliche it needs a new word to describe it.

The Night Eternal introduces a whole religious element to the origins of the vampires which started off interesting but quickly became… a bit of a mess. Hogan and Del Toro do such a convincing job of stacking the odds against the humans, the only way for them to win is to get God involved at a few key moments. I would not have an issue if there was a clear connection to Christian beliefs made in the previous books, this “revelation” comes out of left field and makes me think the authors didn’t have an exit strategy for the book.

Once again, my beef with trilogies is at the root of my issues with this book. If this idea was contained in one book, it would have been awesome. Instead, it was watered down into three, packed with filler that just detracts from what could have been a fun read in the vein of World War Z, instead it is a failure and makes me feel like a dumbass for buying three books (two of which I didn’t like).

( #WaterForElephants, #SaraGruen )

I finished reading “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen a few nights ago and decided to share my thoughts.

Who doesn’t love the circus? Animals, peanuts, drunk little people. Writer Sara Gruen picked this fertile backdrop to tell a love story and it was a good choice because I hate reading love stories. Getting right to the point, the most interesting aspect of this book is the actual circus history that Gruen cherry-picked for the story. The background characters, the economics of the circus, and the stories about the animals sell this book.

The dynamic of the “love triangle” and the main character’s circumstances are overly convenient and contrived. Within a few pages, the main character Jacob loses his family, his family’s business, drops out of school, and magically finds a circus to work at. I can forgive that because Gruen gets right to the meat. The “love triangle” setup was harder to swallow. Like any other book that has a likable lead that hooks up with a married woman, the husband has to be a complete sociopath. The husband beats the wife, the animals, and throws sick employees off the train. The hero Jacob sweeps in to save the beaten Marlena, ensure the crazy husband gets what he deserves, and of course saves the animals. All is wrapped up with a pretty little bow (forgetting the characters that paid the price for Jacob to have his affair).

Gripes aside (because honestly I would have issues with any romance novel), I liked the book because it was well researched and told interesting side stories. Now I am going to go rummage through my DVD collection and start watching Carnivale again.

Oh yeah they made a movie out of the book too (I have not seen it).

( #Robopocalypse, @danielwilsonpdx)

I recently finished reading the book Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson and here are my thoughts about it.

If you can’t figure it out by the title, Robopocalypse is a fictional story about machines and robots gaining a collective sentience and turning against humans. Slightly less horrific than the opening scenes in the Terminator movies, Wilson still manages to paint a gruesome picture. Society becomes dependant on robot assistance and is woefully unprepared for the slaughter even with several warning signs.

Wilson borrows the format from another apocalyptic novel: World War Z by Max Brooks. If you are going to rip off a horror book, might as well rip off one of the best. Like WWZ, the narrative in Robopocalypse is relayed by a “main character” but told in sections through a series of other characters. The main character is a soldier rather than a writer that comes across a device that collected the stories/horrors from whatever camera/robot that happened to be within the area of said tale.

The book is really entertaining, but due to the strong similarity to World War Z, it is hard not to compare the two books. In comparison, Robopocalypse is not as well thought out. One of the more appealing aspects of WWZ was how humanity rebuilds as a result of the disaster. Wilson gives tiny hints of society post Robopocalypse but nothing satisfying. While the “villain” in the book is defeated, you don’t learn about how the main characters reconnect and move on with their lives, which is a let down. As an example, Wilson introduces humans modified by the robots that managed to get free. They are horribly maimed and implanted with electronics. I really wanted to know more about these character’s outcomes (and felt they should have been more prevalent during the final showdown). That being said, Wilson left enough meat on the table for a sequel, so all sins might/could/probably will be forgiven.

Complaints aside, Robopocalypse was a well written, fun summer read and I recommend it (if you are the type of person that reads my blog, you are going to enjoy this book). On a side note, I read that Dan Wilson is an actual robotics engineer, which gives all of the techno-speak a waft of authenticity.

A fan created a clever trailer for the book, check it out:

Next on my reading list is “Too Big to Fail” about the origin of the economic meltdown of the last few years.