Rick Kohut
I revisited this book almost 40 years after the first time I was assigned to read it - in the year 1984 - when I was in 8th grade. I've changed since then and so has the world. I listened to the audio book, read of course by an author with a British accent, and was gripped by how much the world today is like the universe which Orwell creates.
I listened to an excellent performance of this on audio book. The story, while fictional, contains so many actual figures and events, that it is better described as “alternative history.” I particularly appreciated how the author concluded the novel with a detailed analysis of who/what in the story was factual and what was fictional.??
If you're up for the worthwhile challenge of reading Dante's “The Divine Comedy,” this is absolutely the way to go. Jo's use of modern references in her translation of this 14th century classic makes the tale both engaging and relatable. The annotation is acceptable, but one who wants to go deeper into the meaning of the poem in its time period is advised to use another source as well.??
This is one of the best audio books that I've ever listened to as the reader was perfect for the 1st person novel. The world building in this series is amazing because it is both detailed and simply described. And while the world of the novel is fantastical, it is highly relatable too. I cannot wait for the next book in this series!??
I listened to this as an audio book, so my experience of it is influenced by the media. It was a creative story well-told from the first-person perspective of the AI Klara. The world building was mainly hinted at and thus I would have liked it to be more clear and direct. I think the author is one of the most innovative novelists of our time.??
A wonderful guide to a cycle of prayer which is the other side of the traditional Stations of the Cross. As it is Jesus' life, death, resurrection and ascension which saves creation, I found this highly practical book to be useful - especially during the Easter season. Highly recommended for Catholics and Christians of all denominations!
A good companion to the actual text of The Screwtape Letters. The reflection/discussion questions are generally good, yet they are from a pretty conservative, Evangelical Christian perspective. This would be best used with another book (or website) which helps to explain the letters as this book is simply questions and similar about the novel.
Wow - an amazing, disturbing, engaging, thrilling, page-turning and terrifying first novel by a journalist who has covered stories from Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, the Arab Spring and the protests in Ferguson, MO. So, when he imagines what a future U.S. (the novel begins in 2074) ravaged by climate change and resource depletion, looks like when it hurtles into a second Civil War, you know he writes with experience and authority. While I found the story of the family at the center of the novel to be compelling, his description of the war (told between the narrative chapters via “historical” documents, ala “World War Z”) was most riveting. No spoilers here about the details of how the U.S. and the world looks five and a half decades from now - one has to read this novel to grasp the potentiality of what is imagined. Even a glance at the U.S. map (in the first pages), carved out by rising sea levels, with the new, well inland (to handle the Great Inland Migration) from the coasts, capital of Columbus, Ohio (my hometown) shows what a future could look like. I'm hoping for a sequel in which El Akkad - continues the history of the “universe” he's created here - to better understand what happened to cause it - so that we can better avoid it actually happening. A must-read and must-discuss novel for our troubled and uncertain times.
This novel fits right into the wheelhouse of stories that I like - our recognizable universe, but with an interesting (and not necessarily explained twist). In this case, it's the mysterious way that evolution begins to run backwards. I'm okay that the “why” of this not explained in the course of the plot, but I would have liked more description of the “how” as this is only alluded to in a few places.
I found the narrator an interesting one, yet would have liked more development of one of the not insignificant aspects of her character - she's a convert to Roman Catholicism. While this is evidenced in her reverence for saints, particularly the Native American Kateri Tekawitha, I would have liked to see more connections made. At the heart of my practice of the Catholic faith is a reverence for how God is present in the physicality of creation. There is speculation by the narrator that perhaps the God behind the drive of evolution has withdrawn from creation and this why everything is devolving. This is an interesting thought and I would have liked more of this religious/scientific/cosmological speculation woven throughout the plot.
I've seen this novel on a few “Best of 2017” lists. The description of it as a “modern-day King Lear” intrigued me. “Lear” was one of the Shakespeare plays I remember (sort of) reading way back in high school. After reading “Dunbar” I definitely need to go back and (actually) read “King Lear.” This centuries-old play has been gaining new attention as the ignorant, hubris-driven, greedy King Lear, or, in the novel's case, Henry Dunbar, is lived out daily in the Twitter rants, bizarre interviews, and the unceasing marketing of another one named tycoon - Trump. I enjoyed the brief, quick read of “Dunbar,” but my enjoyment of it would surely be increased by greater familiarity with “King Lear.” Although “Dunbar,” like “Lear” is a tragedy, there is reconciliation and redemption in it. I wonder if we'll ever see a similar end to the story of our “Lear” - King Trump.
For the reason why I'm re-reading this series, see my review on the first book in the trilogy - "The Last Policeman." For me this was the most fully formed and engaging of the trilogy. The countdown to the arrival of the asteroid is at just two weeks when the novel begins. The narrow window of time and the focus of the mystery (where's the main character's wayward sister?) gives a focus and urgency to the plot not as present in the first two novels. There's more twists plus some authentic suspense in the final third. I particularly appreciated the arc of the encounter with the Amish patriarch and his large family. His answer to the main theme of the stories - how should we live with impending, catastrophic doom - is a thought-provoking and different response than what we witness elsewhere. A highly recommended - and quick to read series - especially as we in the US wait for the "asteroid" of the Nov 5th election day to arrive.
A graphic novel which is charming, thoughtful, touching, and perhaps challenging - especially for the Japanese culture in which/for which it was apparently written. Although I've read manga my teenage son likes (and therefore I know how to read it from right to left), I've not previously read a manga which so forthrightly addresses a social reality - in this case the reality of same-sex marriage. The art is simple, but expressive enough to get a strong sense of the characters and the internal and external struggles they face. After the relationship between the brother's husband of the title and the brother and his daughter is solidified, I like how the husband has a chance to support a young man who is struggling to come out within a traditional Japanese society. I am glad to see that the manga art form is being used not just to entertain but to teach and challenge in various ways.
A Fantastic Story of Love and Connection
I read this novel for a “community reads” with the high school at which I teach. It's a rich, multi-layered story of young love torn by prejudice and the horrible internment of Japanese Americans. It's also about the distance between fathers and sons and how understanding and acceptance can overcome this. A few elements of the plot were more fantastic than realistic and these only contributed to the fairy tale aspect of the story. With the start of the school year next week, I look forward to the discussions out students, faculty and staff will soon have about this memorable novel.
I'm not a huge fan of the “True Crime” genre, but this entry appears on enough “best of” lists that it grabbed my attention. I'd also heard the author on a podcast sharing a sketch of the remarkable and shocking “reign of terror” described in this non-fiction book. The Osage Indians in the Plains States got rich in the early 20th century due to the discovery of oil underneath their nation. Although they were able to enjoy their wealth for a while, eventually numerous and notable members of the tribe were murdered. When the local law enforcement authorities were unable or unwilling to bring the killer(s) to justice, the U.S. government sent outside agents from the fledgling agency which would later be called the FBI.
Two intertwined stories are masterfully woven together by Grann - the Osage murders and the hunt for those involved in these crimes and how the FBI was formed by this investigation. The story becomes a page turner due to Grann's abundant use of details in describing the colorful characters and shocking events. Ample period photos add to the drama. Tremendous research and analysis is clearly at work. Once the historical story is told, a substantial epilogue is offered relating how Grann's findings and his communication of these with living descendants of those who were murdered brought healing and closure to wounds eight decades later. An engaging and eye-opening read which should not be missed and which lives up to it's “best of” status!
Once again, a novel from a “best of” list. Once I realized this wasn't meant to be a fast-paced, white knuckled thriller, I enjoyed the book more. Until I came to this insight, which was about three quarters of the way through, I kept wanting the narrative to have more twists, turns, and excitement. There is drama in the story, but it's not really in the plot points, but rather within the conflict which arises internally and externally among the characters. Yet, too much of this drama felt too tidy. It's about three families, each neatly constructed with a boy and a girl. And not to give a spoiler, but even the conclusion and the long epilogue felt too tidy as well. For a novel with a truly gut-wrenching premise and at least one agonizing scene describing about the worst thing that could befall a teen-aged girl, the conclusion wrapped things up nice and cleanly. In life, things do wrap up smoothly, but often not this perfectly.
Another book I found on a “Best of” list which almost lived up to the hype. Starting with a double murder described in engaging prose, this novel drew me in and kept my attention throughout. The story has a fair amount of suspense, but it didn't turn into a “page turner” for me until near the end. What interested me was the description of the artistically minded family falling apart as they try to build a life in Upstate New York. Each of the family members is struggling to connect with the others and this builds as much tension as the way that the murder from the past increasingly weighs on the present.
The most curious character and the one who elevates this novel from a pure murder mystery into something deeper is the mysterious Observer. Acting as a type of omniscient narrator, this being hovers over the human characters' interactions. While some readers might find this narrative devise odd or even hokey, I think it adds layers to an otherwise run of the mill tale. Certainly a good choice for the “beach reading” genre.