2014 Book Challenge

[Jeremy]

See previous topics. Challenge is to read 50 books in the calendar year, or as many as you personally want to set yourself, or just to record and discuss the books that you do read. Welcome to all. Also see the Book Club topic

1. Books v. Cigarettes by George Orwell, 126pp

Similar to the last book I read of last year, although I enjoyed this a lot more, perhaps because I had a better idea what to expect. The title essay is about what Orwell spends more money on books, or cigarettes, in defense of the worthy activity of buying books (much cheaper than smoking, although Orwell does both). Half the book is a longer essay in 6 chapters about his life in school, which was pretty interesting, although the bit where he degenerates the quality of food at Eton because they often had to eat a meal as working class as fried fish for dinner was probably the highlight (I think demonstrating how much attitudes towards food have changed, and also how ambivalent on class issues Orwell really was). Anyway a pretty fun read, I recommend it.

[bigdirtyfoot]

Sounds interesting Jeremy!

1. The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon, 152 pg.

I wasn't sure what to think of this book until I was about two-thirds of the way through, because I had a difficult time following the plot and remembering the list of characters. Pynchon's writing style in "The Crying of Lot 49" seems to me to be similar to James Joyce, Tom Robbins, and Robert Anton Wilson. The novel is intelligently complex like Joyce, funny and wacky like Robbins, and intentionally confusing like Wilson. I would estimate that the latter two authors may have been influenced by Pynchon. By the end of the book, I decided that I enjoyed it, but I would have to read this again (along with Pynchon's other works) to understand it any better.

After finishing the book, I took a look at the Wikipedia page for the novel and learned a good deal about the allusions in the book and inspirations for its conception, as well as references to it in pop culture that were pretty interesting. I would definitely suggest doing some follow-up research after reading the book if you are as confused as I was. Overall, a good book, but I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone - this is not an easy read for most people and requires some work to get through. I may choose to read all of Pynchon's works in the future, and would enjoy revisiting this novel.

[Jeremy]

Cool. I've read the first 7 pages so far, on ebook, still waiting for my physical copy. Obviously I'm not far into it, but it reminded me a lot of Vonnegut. Your description makes me think that too. I like to avoid research until after the first reading of a book, just so I can have a cleaner first impression, if that makes sense, but I'll definitely have a look afterwards (I always read introductions after I finish the book too).

[bigdirtyfoot]

Yeah I'm similar - I don't read anything about a book until I'm done with it, although I do read introductions before I start a book. I figure they usually don't have spoilers.

I haven't read much Vonnegut, but I started his book "Player Piano" today and am enjoying it so far. Another author that Pynchon sort of reminds me of is Joseph Heller.

[Jeremy]

1. Books v. Cigarettes by George Orwell, 126pp
2. Brain-Based Parenting: The neuroscience of caregiving for healthy attachment by Daniel Huges & Jonathan Baylin - 272 pp [ebook - google]

A very interesting and hopefully helpful book about how to be a good parent, based on current neuroscience. It did take me a while to get into it, because the first few chapters are describing the neuroscience, which is interesting, but felt very deterministic. There's a strong link between how parents were cared for as children and how they parent, let alone issues of how much control and free will we have. However the later sections in the book felt much more practical about the best approaches and what you can do when things are tough. I guess it's a few years until I can put any of this to much use, although I noted that the book, which is mainly aimed at professionals (therapists etc.) rather than parents did recommend taking the same approach in therapist-parent relationships as in parent-child relationships, and I imagine you can extrapolate it to all relationships. A lot of it did seem self evident. Understand why people behave in a particular way before reacting, that sort of thing. The very last sections about meditation and mindfulness were particularly interesting, as it's a topic I'm both a little skeptical of, but also have heard a lot of positive stuff about, and I'm prepared to at least investigate further, if not take up. Certainly I think there's value in training yourself to be calm and focused, but I'd love to see studies comparing meditation to other activities that require a similar focus and control (like footbag, or juggling, or maybe even driving). Anyway, I would thoroughly recommend this book to all parents and people interested in neuroscience (although there are probably better books with a less narrow focus if you're interested in neuroscience but not parenting).

[dp]

1. Giraffe by J.M. Ledgard 298pg

A novel about a large herd of giraffes that were captured and shipped to Czechoslovakia in the 1970s and then suddenly a bunch of hazmatted soldiers swooped in a slaughtered them all. Based on a true story. Strange story strangely written. Not particularly great, but not bad either. I only read this book because Teju Cole had great things to say about J.M. Ledgard's second book Submergence. Giraffe was his first. I'll give Submergence a try at some point I suppose.

[Zac Miley]

1. Bleeding Edge, Thomas Pynchon

probably shouldn'ta done that, but a friend let me borrow it. I thought it was pretty contemporary in its aesthetic and I wasn't particularly into the narration, but some of the word choice in it was pretty phenomenal. Also in the middle of some Borges stories and a couple others. Gotta get going on the other Pynchon.

[bigdirtyfoot]

2. Player Piano, Kurt Vonnegut, 295 pg.

Vonnegut's first novel is a great one - imaginative, engaging, and thought-provoking. The story is set in the United States, post-World War III, and automation from machines has put the majority of Americans out of work. There are two types of people - those with a high IQ, who are eligible to become managers and engineers, and those with a low IQ, who are eligible for the Army or a Reconstruction and Reclamation program. Each group lives and works in separate areas, and there is very little overlap between the two classes of people.

The main character, Doctor Paul Proteus, is a manager at a factory that gradually becomes aware of the unfair situation for the people on the other side of the river. We follow him through his awakening, and it is interesting to see all of the terrible things he must go through that truly test his mettle and integrity.

Overall, I found this to be a great book, and was fairly surprised at how strong it was since it was Vonnegut's first novel. I would recommend this to anyone familiar with his works.

[Pasquar]

1) The Last Narco: Inside the Hunt for El Chapo, the World's Most Wanted Drug Lord by Malcom Beith 288 pg

This was very interesting an information-dense. It sort of gets repetitive in that you get to understand the patterns that cartels run a lot in Mexico, most police/law enforcement are paid off, there are clashes with cartels & the army, the person put in charge of the "Drug War" is found to have ties to some cartel (this happened at least 3 times). Eventually the U.S. sends in the DEA to help out. In the end, "El Chapo" (Joaquin Guzman) in on the run and never caught to this day. Ironically, I came across this article the day after I finished the book http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-g ... tel-2014-1 which showed that the DEA worked with Chapo's Sinaloa cartel, meaning he fed the DEA info to bust other cartels. Everyone's corrupt!!

My sister gave me this book. She works in Mexico City with an NGO which does work around journalist protections, which is another huge issue. Cartel activity is under-reported and for good reason, many journalists who report activity are killed or disappear completely.

This book definitely provided a lot of info into the complexity of the "Drug War" in Mexico and how much of a clusterfuck it is. Heavy stuff. Definitely recommend.

[dp]

1. Giraffe by J.M. Ledgard 298pg
2. New Perspectives on Yugoslavia: Key Issues and Controversies edited by Dejan Djokić 224pg

Will be a senior in college next year and am casting about for a research project topic. Probably it'll be focused on something to do with the former Yugoslavia, so read this book to perhaps come up with some ideas.

[Pasquar]

1) The Last Narco: Inside the Hunt for El Chapo, the World's Most Wanted Drug Lord by Malcom Beith 288 pg
2) A Million Little Pieces by James Frey 430 pg
3) Ruminations by KRS-ONE 233 pg

A Million Little Pieces definitely had it's share of controversy, as being touted as a memoir but then found out that he fabricated a lot of details. So I mainly read it as a work of fiction rooted in some truth. I didn't quite like the style of his writing so much, he doesn't use quotations or anything like that, so everything reads up-front and sort of right in your face, which I got use to but still found annoying. For a book which takes place mostly in a rehab facility, I found it pretty entertaining. The overall truth about James Frey and how he overcame addiction (which is true) is the biggest take away for me: he refused to be a part of AA or the 12 steps because he disagreed with how they function and what they demand in the first place. From the outset, he does not buy that addiction is a "disease" and that the only way to overcome it is to work the 12 steps and turn yourself over to a higher power. I like this as I personally have issues with how the 12 steps or AA is court-mandated yet is rooted around religion/spirituality. It's nice to read about an example of how someone can overcome addiction through agency and will.

Ruminations was an interesting read. I was lucky to come across it from a friend of mine, as it has gone to of print and can run over $100 on some websites. Most of it reflects KRS-ONE's reflections (ruminations) about various subjects surrounding HipHop. Subjects range from what he terms "Urban Inspirational Metaphysics", varying views on the issue of reparations for slavery, 9/11, etc. The last 1/4 of the book is specifically about the culture/practice of HipHop (the creative spirit of inner-cities with various aspects: Rap music, break-dancing, graffiti, DJing, etc) and how it had been skewed by big record companies to the effect of cultural appropriation and exploitation. He always relates general philosophy and life lessons into his teachings about HipHop. I agreed with a lot, disagreed with a lot, and learned a lot.

[Jeremy]

Hooray we agree on something. I really enjoyed Million Little Pieces too, despite the controversy, and I agree about the 12 steps. Actually various studies have shown that people are just as likely to quit regardless of whether they use one of the "12 steps" programs or seek no external help at all, so it's a group of organisations sucking social services money from governments (at least in Australia) without even an ability to demonstrate that they provide any benefit. Some academics have argued that they actually have a worse probability of curing addiction than if the person seeks no help, but I didn't completely follow the argument. The sequel to Million Little Pieces was very average though.

[Pasquar]

Hooray we agree on something.

Common ground!

[Jeremy]

1. Books v. Cigarettes by George Orwell - 126pp
2. Brain-Based Parenting: The neuroscience of caregiving for healthy attachment by Daniel Huges & Jonathan Baylin - 272 pp [ebook - google]
3. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon - 152pp
4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - 600pp


Crying Of Lot 49
I'm a bit mixed about this. I really enjoyed the start. Pynchon's prose is excellent, and it was also funny and intriguing, however I really felt like it became bogged down in technical discussions of the conspiracy, which wasn't even an interesting conspiracy and the last chapter in particular was a real struggle to get through for a lack of either prose or excitement. The humour was missing towards the end.

Jane Eyre
Fairly contrasting to Lot 49, but far more boring. I considered giving up completely on this. The main thing I took from it was how shit social attitudes were in the 19th century, especially for women. This is mainly a book about repression, sacrifice, and suffering, with very strong religious "morality." Actually the book it reminded me most of was The Missionary Position by Christopher Hitchens, and the manner in which Mother Teresa spent all that effort and time prolonging the suffering of the poor because of her religious ideology, and is revered for it as some kind of humanitarian. The character of St John in particular is horrendous. Imagine today if a 30 year old man asked a 19 year old girl to marry him and travel to India on the basis that it's what God wants. At least we can be thankful that today's morality has changed significantly from the Christian morality of those times, when this was laudable and the girl was viewed as flawed and selfish for not accepting. Certainly a book of its times.

[dp]

1. Giraffe by J.M. Ledgard 298pg
2. New Perspectives on Yugoslavia: Key Issues and Controversies edited by Dejan Djokić 224pg
3. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon 152pg

Will post Lot 49 thoughts in book club thread soon.

[Jeremy]

1. Books v. Cigarettes by George Orwell - 126pp
2. Brain-Based Parenting: The neuroscience of caregiving for healthy attachment by Daniel Huges & Jonathan Baylin - 272 pp [ebook - google]
3. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon - 152pp
4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - 600pp
5. 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson - 561pp [ebook - kobo]

Hard Sci-fi set around the year 2312. This was ok, but I felt like the plot was weak, and just a vehicle for expressing KSRs view about the future, both technological and social issues. It's very utopian, with all left wing issues being solved. Everybody are hermaphrodites, and there is a sex scene that was fairly different on account of this, but we're led to believe this is normal now. There are some cool technological ideas. I especially liked the idea of a city on metal rails on Mercury, with the heat from the sun causing the rails to expand and pushing the city around, ensuring it stays in the night, and also the big weapon, which I won't detail for spoilers. Anyway, it was ok.

[bigdirtyfoot]

3. Manifesto for the Noosphere: The Next Stage in the Evolution of Human Consciousness, José Argüelles, 216 pg.

This was an alright book, although it was a little too fluffy - even for me. I did enjoy some of the descriptions of the history/future and the visualization of the Earth/universe metaphysical structure. There were some good parts to it, but overall I found myself not buying into all of it. A lot of the content seemed a little too far over my head, and quite unbelievable at times. I did especially enjoy the discussion of how we measure time, and I do agree that our current calendar does not make very much sense. It's pretty amazing how advanced the older civilizations were in comparison to us in certain areas. I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone except those who already subscribe to some of the beliefs of the inner hippy circle.

4. The Ultimate Vegan Guide: Compassionate Living Without Sacrifice, Erik Marcus, 190 pg.

This is a great beginner's guide to the vegan lifestyle. I recently transitioned from vegetarianism to veganism about a month ago and picked up a lot of good information and tips from this guide. The book starts with a good explanation of why people usually go vegan - for health and environmental/animal rights. The explanation on these topics is excellent, although I had read most of it before. Following these introductory chapters, the author provides recommendations for cookbooks, how to ensure you are getting enough nutrition (very important!), where to shop, how to eat out, equipment to outfit your kitchen with, how to talk about your transition with your friends and family, and advice for becoming an activist. Throughout the book are book suggestions and hyperlinks, so it is a great resource for learning more about the topic outside of vegan.com.

Marcus is the blogger at vegan.com, and he has an easy-to-read writing style, which is always appreciated. His advice is honest, well-researched, and concise. One thing that I liked was that there isn't too much harping on the horrors of the factory farming industry. There are some descriptions of it but the main focus of the book is on how to be a healthy and well-educated vegan, not on using scare tactics to make people change their minds. I'm not a big fan of scare/gross out tactics, as I think they are kind of a cheap shot and reflect poorly on the vegetarian/vegan community. I would recommend this book to everyone considering the transition to vegetarianism or veganism, and I will recommend specific chapters to family and friends.

[bigdirtyfoot]

5. The Castle, Franz Kafka, 528 pg.

I'm glad I read this book; when I first read through the introduction and the first few chapters, I wasn't quite sure that I would like it. The story is basically about a man who is called to perform land surveying duties for a castle in a town. He experiences great difficulty getting to the castle, and is misdirected by the town's citizenry at every turn. There is a heavy air of bureaucracy that keeps him from beginning his tasks as land surveyor, which frustrates him greatly. Yet he remains respectful and well-spoken throughout the book, only losing his temper in the rarest of situations.

It's a long book, but well written. I enjoyed how serious the townspeople are about everything. This certainly wasn't an easy read - I had to make myself pick it up time and time again. But after I would read a few pages it was easy to keep going. I'm not sure who I would recommend this to, but it is a good work of fiction. I'll have to check out more Kafka at some point, because I like his writing style, and the only other work I was familiar with was The Metamorphosis.

[Zac Miley]

1. Bleeding Edge, Thomas Pynchon
2. The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon
3. Nausea, Jean-Paul Sartre
4. The Castle, Kafka

Sorry for lack of participation in this and the book club - I'll give my thoughts when I've got more time and internet.

[dp]

4. Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson 224pg
5. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner 569pg

The first is one of the foundational studies on nationalism, or something. I read a essay-length version for a class and enjoyed it, so decided to read the whole thing.

Angle of Repose seemed like a modified version of East of Eden without the biblical allusions/bombast. If I actually finish a 569pg book it must have something that kept me going, but I'm not sure what it was here. I'm becoming increasingly tired of these kinda conventional novels. Old white man novels. Or something. Except that it's still the main way that novels are written. I read this article recently about (among other things) the negative effects of the workshop model on literature. Stegner is the quintessential workshop writer, and while this book was good, I'm just sick of these MFA-esque books.

Here's the article: http://chronicle.com/article/How-Iowa-F ... re/144531/

Does anyone else have opinions on MFA programs and the work they turn out?

Also, I'm about halfway through The Castle, and should have it done soon.