Gulliver's Travels

Day 21--21/501

General Musings: Just a reminder that tomorrow I am leaving for three weeks in Victoria for my residency at Royal Roads University. I will be taking a respite from blogging but will return to my sisyphean task once I am home.

My addled arithmetic tells me that I am 5% done my project--okay a fraction of a percent under but allow me a whole number. Just 480 more books and days to go--is it just me or does that seem like a big number?

Back at work and I am very excited by the pace and challenges of being an Assistant Deputy Chief. I'm also back into the physical fitness scheme of things. By mistake (or my wife's insidious design) I am watching a Zip.ca offering, Julie and Julia. It has just started and the characters are talking about blogging--very apropos. The husband of the blogging protagonist seems very supportive--I should be so lucky. Cooking a meal or two a day--what a joke--I think my challenge is better. I wonder if Meryl Streep will play me in the film--I bet she'll get my voice dead-on--if she can do Thatcher she can do McAsey.

Recently, the reading is going well although my commute home is not allowing me to get my full reading time in. I need to get up in the night for an hour and read--I'll let you know if it works.

Okay, sorry to prattle on but this movie is the most inspirational movie on blogging ever! Maybe I should plan on writing a book on my blog about Julie Powell's blog cum film about Julia Child's life.

Running Page Count: 5,689

Today's Title (Classic Fiction): Jonathon Swift's Gulliver's Travels

Preface: "One of the keystones of English literature...an exceedingly odd book" says 501 Must Read Books' entry on the novel. Swift was an Irishman (word to the brothers of Erin) and a satirist, poet, pamphleteer, clerk, essayist and alligator wrestler--okay his alligator wrestling is purely my conjecture, but feel free to cite me on it.

Swift's humour was timeless and a little more potent than battery acid. In A Modest Proposal Swift suggests (on the square) the Irish eat their children as a solution to the famine--he was the Stephen Colbert of the 18th century (you can quote me on that too). He was also a grammarian of unequaled snobbery and wanted to establish an English Academy to safeguard the deteriating language--I fear what he would do if he saw my blog!

Gulliver's Travels is a treatise within a satire posing as a travel book--confused? Excellent. Allow me to muddy the waters some more.

The Book: Lemuel Gulliver is a traveller extraordinaire and we are treated to four of his adventures. There are small minded little people who try to blind him, large people who keep him as a novelty in a cage, a kingdom dedicated to music and math that bores him, and a race of horses that are superior in character to humanity. Sound silly--well stupid, it is allegorical--it is supposed to be silly.

Grade: A-

Observations: I think Swift is my new favorite 18th century writer. The book is very funny--my favorite section is with the Lilliputians. When Gulliver needs to pee he causes a flood I found downright hysterical--you've got to love the corporeal humor. The second adventure needed an editor and the closing of the book is sobering but it is rock solid besides.

Segues: When I was a kid I read a book (entirely inappropriate for my age) in which a character referenced a game in which boys were tied to trees by girls and stripped naked and excited by precocious nymphets. The game was called Gulliver, the novel's title alas is lost in my memory but I remember the plot of two families on a volcanic island that becomes active while three relationships develop. It was my first introduction to sex and it no doubt is partially responsible for some of my neuroses. It has been cathartic to write this but wholly inappropriate and I fear trying any Google search about it. Something Explosion--if you know the book I'd love to read it again as an adult.

Segue update: After some Googling I believe the book I read at age 12 was authored by Robert Rimmer entitled The Love Explosion (out of print). Maddeningly, I can't find a synopsis or image of the book [so much for decoding my sexual programming].

There are films--more than a dozen-- including a Tamil film from 2007. I haven't seen one that I'm crazy about.





On my return the next book (Classic Fiction): Mary Shelley's Frankenstein 22/501

The Catcher in the Rye

Day 20--20/501

General Musings: Sorry for the delay! Yesterday I changed my ISP and it has been a bit trying with the new system. But I now have a PVR, a faster web connection, and caller ID--I feel like I'm living in the 21st century! My email is still in flux and I'll be sure to post my new address ASAP (done). The best part, I have HBO Canada on demand and I caught up on Entourage and Mad Men past episodes. Tomorrow night I'm going to watch some Classic Star Trek--my wife is not impressed.

This weekend I'm leaving to Victoria for three weeks for a residency at Royal Roads University. I'm told that it will be demanding and the web access is dodgy. I'll have to take a short break from this project--at least with the postings. Like MacArthur, I shall return. Please feel free to message me on Twitter @brian_on_fire if you have any objections, advice or want to work as my executive assistant (the pay is poor but I will write you a helluva recommendation letter).

Running Page Count: 5,353

Today's Title (Modern Fiction): J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye

Preface: J.D. Salinger is probably the most famous writer hermit in the history of literature--he didn't return my calls for an interview when I first read his book as a teen--so you know he's serious. He is also dead.

Catcher in the Rye is no doubt the most censored book in American schools for the past century. Published in 1951 the book (written for adults) features a teenage protagonist and the novel unintentionally became a touchstone for teenage rebellion. It also holds the dubious distinction as being the manifesto for both John Lennon's killer and Reagan's shooter.

The novel is written in the first person as if the malcontent teenage protagonist Holden Caulfield wrote it--a New York times book critic did a great imitation of the style that can be a bit grating for those who don't like the story (sorry I can't find a link). Some have said the book is an embrace of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's philosophy others have seen it as a modern version of David Copperfield (born with a big caul, hence the name). Regardless, it is the most famous bildungsroman in the American canon.





The Book : When the story opens Holden Caulfield is getting kicked out of school--again. Holden finds many of his schoolmates and teachers are "phony" and is anxious to leave his residence. He catches a train into the Big Apple and not wanting to return home rents a hotel room. He then spends three days in the city alone in which he manages to get drunk, hire a prostitute, visits a museum, breaks into his parent's house, and visits a possibly pedophile teacher. Holden sees himself as a protector of innocence and sees this charge manifest in his care of his younger sister.

Grade: A

Observations: Great book that reminds me of how discontent and profoundly lost and unhappy I was as a teenager. I love the ending--I won't discuss it so as to avoid spoiling it for others but it is divine. If you haven't read this book you need to so as to understand nearly every other allusion in popular culture.

Segues: There is no film and I hope to God there never is one. This year a specious sequel was written by a writer who appropriated the character of Holden Caulfield to have him return to New York as an old man. Salinger launched a lawsuit against John California (a pseudonym) for the rip-off entitled 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye.

My favorite homages to the book are the film Bottle Rocket and the novel Shoeless Joe (adapted to the screen as Field of Dreams) in which the protagonist kidnaps Salinger (in the film a fictitious author of similar stature).

Speaking of Field of Dreams--did I ever mention that W.P. Kinsella used to be a writer in residence at the U of C and I used to share an elevator with him every morning? I had no idea who he was and talked with him on numerous occasions thinking him to be a bit of a nut but a great guy, Btw last year he wrote his first book in years, Butterfly Winter--he had a brain injury and gave up the craft in 1997. He is also an ardent Scrabble player--they seem to be popping up in my life lately.



Tomorrow's Book (Classic Fiction): Jonathon Swift's Gulliver's Travels 21/501

The English Patient

Day 19--19/501

General Musings: Today I realized that my new phone that took four days to get working is not sending or receiving text messages properly--anyone want a broken Torch?

Some people have been asking me about a schedule for the books and I just want to explain why it has not been forthcoming. I have been scrambling to get enough books from the library due to availability of titles and the caprice of the hold system. I often don`t know what books I`ll be reading from week to week and only after I acquire books do I then adjust my daily reading to suit my life`s schedule. Reading three hundred pages a day is my typical reading project pace so a big book or little book can cause a schedule headache. There are several books on the list that far exceed daily norms and will need to planned months in advance--looking at you Proust (Remembrance of Things Past at 4000 pages). So far I have been faithful to my announced title from the day before.

Do you remember that my recent searches in the Calgary Public Library (CPL) led to some questions on how books were chosen and categorized--well today I have answers. There is a materials selection policy that guides the library through their purchasing choices. In terms of regular stock, the CPL uses (although not exclusively) Benet's Reader Encyclopedia, the Fiction Catalogue and the Oxford (American, Canadian, English) Companion[s] to Literature as their canon guides. The library also has a link for suggestions to the collection located here and on their main website's FAQ section.

The library also suggested the following books for me (why is it that when you tell someone you are reading a book they suggest another one and if you tell someone you are reading a list they suggest several more?):
1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die edited by Peter Boxall (on my to-do list)
The Book of Great Books: a guide to 100 world classics by W. John Campbell
Good Fiction Guide: 4000 great books to read by Jane Rogers

Now that you know a bit more about how the CPL works I just want to reiterate my plea for books. The CPL only has a portion of the books on the 501 Must Read Books (buy the book here) list the rest I'm desperate to acquire through other means. If you have a copy of a book on the 501 book list please lend (lease or sell) it to me and I'll make quick work of it. As an incentive I'll give you props on the blog.

Running Page Count: 5,139

Today's Title (Modern Fiction): Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient

Preface: Ondaatje is a Sri Lankan-Canadian poet and novelist who won the Governor General`s Award along with the Booker prize for The English Patient. I was first introduced to Ondaatje's work when I knocked a book off of a shelf on the 10th story of the University of Calgary Library Tower. I picked up the book with the odd title There's a Trick with a Knife I'm Learning to Do: Poems, 1963-1978 and found it to be the most approachable and interesting poetry I had ever read to that moment. I had read several books of Ondaatje`s poetry in the weeks before reading his book In the Skin of a Lion and was interested in what he could do with prose--I`ll never know since Ondaatje`s writing seems always to be a luxuriant verse. I was concurrently reading The Epic of Gilgamesh for a university class and found the title and theme to be serendipitous as my initial exposure to his writing. The English Patient is considered to be his greatest work. I once wrote him asking to option a poem for screen treatment but he hasn`t got back to me and I suspect he has bigger fish to fry.



The Book: The English Patient is a story about four people holed up in an Italian villa. There is a female nurse (Hanah), a Hungarian cartographer desert specialist (Almasy-he's actually the English patient--seriously), a thief sans thumbs (Caravaggio), and an Indian sapper (Kip). The narrative is non-linear and explores the lives of all four characters with an emphasis on the badly burned Englishman (I believe they would call him a crisp on the island) and his doomed romance with a married woman (Katherine).

There is romance at the villa with Kip and Hanah and in flashback with Almasy and Katherine, there is intrigue, betrayal, heartbreak, and a lot of desert geography. I don't want to spoil any of the plot (it is sad and romantic) but the story isn't in the plot points but in the telling.

Grade: A

Observations: Another great Canadian book--maybe Canada is the greatest country in the world after all. Ondaatje's writing is like honey and like any good treat you have to slow down to savor it. There is a great deal of eroticism and the exotic about it that really turns my crank. By the end of the novel you love the characters and the story although sublime it leaves you wanting much more.

Segues: The 1996 film The English Patient won nine Academy Awards including the Oscar for best picture. It was a commercial failure but a critical success--interesting piece of trivia: Demi Moore was originally cast as Hanah (shiver) but lost out to Juliette Binoche.

Ondaatje was involved in the filming and later wrote a book of his dialogues with the editor Walter Murc called (appropriately) The Conversations. The best book on film editing ever.

The character Elaine Benice from Seinfeld was not a big fan of the film and I have included two outtakes (the video is above) from the Seinfeld episode entitled The English Patient.

Elaine and Peterman are watching The English Patient:
Peterman: Elaine, I hope you're watching the clothes, because I can't take my eyes off the passion.
Elaine: (nearly in tears) No, I can't, I can't, it's too long. (to the screen) Quit telling your stupid story about the stupid desert and just die already! (louder) Die! (the crowd shushes her)
Peterman: Elaine, you don't like the movie?
Elaine: I hate it! (the crowd yells at her) Go to hell!
Peterman: Why didn't you say so in the first place? You're fired.
Elaine: Great. I'll wait for you outside.



Tomorrow`s Book (Modern Fiction): J. D. Salinger`s The Catcher in the Rye 20 of 501

The Day of the Triffids

Day 18--18/501

General Musings: Today I was downtown at a major flood call that displaced 400 people--it was a tough day but I think we did a good job with a tough situation.

Yesterday I took a test to see if my vasectomy was successful--it was of course humiliating and comical in equal parts. One-guy-one-cup says it all [I'd love to include a segue video here but this is not that kind of webpage]. Wish me luck with the results since I'd like to think having someone go medieval on my scrotum was for something.

After my lab visit I went to the mall and bought socks and underwear since I had successfully worn through all but three pairs of socks. The remaining trio were all running socks and didn't look too sharp in regular attire. Also, my underwear stock always needs replenishing--once I'm down to two pairs that usually raises a flag. I rarely shop and I found the activity to be both challenging and exhausting.

A good day to finish my book and get caught up on my school work. I am going to get back with my cycling workouts now that I have a Lemonde Spinmaster and no excuses. Feel free to call me for a workout--I'm always interested.

Running Page Count: 4,837

Today's Title (Science Fiction): John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids

Preface: I had confused the Star Trek episode The Trouble with Tribbles with The Day of the Triffids and had assumed the plot was about cute fuzzy little beings that multiplied quickly--my bad. However my error led me to watch the classic Star Trek episode again for fun and I just love Bones' line "they reproduce at will. And brother, have they got a lot of will! ".


The Day of the Triffids is in fact a 1951 post-apocalyptic story that deals primarily with sociological imperatives and choices in times of crisis. John Wyndham had written several sci-fi stories before but this was the first book published under his real name. The book conceptually owes a great deal to H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds but is really the first post-apocalyptic novel in the modern strain. Reading the book it is easy to understand the current fascination with Zombie films and stories--funny (often unintentionally), scary, philosophical, and sometimes profound the book is nothing if not archetypal. Did I mention that I love zombies?



The Book: Bill Masen is in a London hospital due to an injury on the job. His head is bandaged and since he cannot see he misses the most extraordinary comet and meteor shower that has everyone talking. Bill is a bourgeois priss, a pussy, a whiner, and a geek so when he wakes up the day after the astronomical event and doesn't get his tea on time he gets into a tizzy and begins to come up with worst case scenarios. Did I mention that Bill is biologist working with killer plants?

Oddly, the world is indeed in a worst case scenario and everyone that Bill meets up with is blind and highly anxious. In short order Bill abandons the hospital patients, begins looting, watches the enslavement of sighted people by the blind masses, and is witness (and a party) to serial suicide by the newly blind. What boggles the mind is that it has only been a few hours since the crisis developed! My God the British are pussies! How did they manage to beat the Nazis? But I digress.

Bill ends up in the company of a beautiful and practical young woman (Josella) who is infamous for writing a book on-- (wait for it computer nerds) sex. Bill and Josella witness more suicide and dying while eating crumpets, courting, correcting Latin grammar and Byronic poetry and waxing philosophical about ethical issues. Soon they are separated and experience the new world through different realized paradigms of various groups of survivors.

I don't want to spoil the story for you haven't read the book and I have omitted some big plot points. Suffice to say the world is never the same and Bill and humanity learn some hard lessons.

Grade: D

Observations: This is pretty juvenile stuff and the contrivances in the plot are so outlandish they make you laugh out loud. Killer plants and a blindness causing meteor storm seem a bit far-fetched to me. Wyndham treats both the protagonist's temporary blindness and the mass blind affliction like it was super-herpes. If I was blind I'd punch him in the mouth (I'd pretend to be feeling his face and then wham!). Wyndham obviously doesn't make much for his residuals on talking books or braille translations.

The protagonist Bill is so egomaniacal and preposterous that he seems a mix of James Bond and that Latin professor who had your number. Although my edition had a preface written by Desmond Morris pleading the superior writing of Wyndham over contemporary popular writers like Stephen King I don't buy it. Wyndham is an erudite thinker but a plodder of a writer and ought to learn the mechanics of story.

Also, who smokes in a hospital? I know it is set in the fifties but was that ever a cool thing to do?

Segues: There is a British film that makes the lame science even lamer with special effects from sock puppeters (skip it). Recently, the book cum film Blindness by Jose Saramago deals with a plague of blindness in which the victims are rounded up and imprisoned by society. Bill from Triffids would definitely be in favour of that!





Tomorrow's Book (Modern Fiction): Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient 19/501

Heart of Darkness

Day 17--17/501

General Musings: Today, after 9 hours of meetings and 2 projects that are ghastly in scope, I was in a bookstore and I was craving a new book but I am disciplined and will persevere with my prescribed reading. However, I bought my niece a great book--the graphic novel Persepolis about a girl's coming of age in revolutionary Iran. My niece goes to a French language school and although I have an English edition I hope she considers the original French version or the film that followed the same language course of the book. My prediction is that she doesn't read it or see the film--no vampires or werewolves and worse, her friends haven't heard of it.

Running Page Count: 4,609


Today's Title (Classic Fiction): Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness

Preface: Originally published in three parts in Blackwood's Magazine in 1899 the novella was later published in a book with his story Youth in 1902. Heart of Darkness is often considered to be the most important novella/novel in the English language and at the very least it figures in the English canon in seemingly every must read list--including ours. It is a story within a story (and sometimes within another story yet again) and remarkable piece of colonial literature. Conrad used elements of his own experience aboard a steamship in the Congo to frame the story of egomania fueled African exploitation and genocide. It does have its detractors namely Chinua Achebe (also of 501 Must Read Books [Things Fall Apart] fame) who feels it is a proto-neo-colonial novel typical of European stories that make Africa exotic and is condescending in its treatment of natives.

The Book: Marlow is on deck a ship on the Thames with a group of men and tells a story about his time in Africa as a steamship captain. Flashing back we learn Marlow's mission is to go up the Congo river and find an important company man. Kurtz is a legend in Africa getting more ivory than any other agent. Marlow's trip is fraught with danger and he slowly learns of the unorthodox methods and bizarre tales about Kurtz. Suffice to say Kurtz has "gone native" and trouble abounds in the aftermath of Marlow's mission. Kurtz's final words "The horror! The horror!" reflect a clarity of self, mission, and empire that epitomize the cryptic and damning novel that shows imperialism at its worst.

Grade: A+

Observations: Holy cow! This guy learned English as an adult! Can you imagine? An unbelievable work of genius. I've read the book a half dozen times and each time I'm blown away by it. Next time some Pollyanna tells you about the upside of colonialism remember the horror, the horror.

Segues: Maybe you heard about a little film called Apocalypse Now? In case you haven't you should watch the original, the redux and the Academy Award winning documentary on the film entitled (ahem) Heart of Darkness. There are film versions of Conrad's Heart of Darkness but none of them are any good--read the book! Conrad wrote dozens of novellas and novels that have figured highly in literature studies but Heart of Darkness is in a class by itself.





Tomorrow's Book (Science Fiction): John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids 18/501

Where the Wild Things Are

Day 16--16/501

General Musings: Today I was appointed Assistant Deputy Chief of Operations! Third highest rank in the CFD and the coolest division (I'm joking--a little). A great day for me and a day of infamy for our august department. I celebrated it by sitting in a very long meeting on strategic planning.

Running Page Count: 4,507

Today's Title (Children's Fiction): Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are

Preface: Originally published in 1963 Where the Wild Things Are is Sendak's masterpiece in writing and art. It is hard to believe that the story is a half-century old already. When it was published the grotesque fanged monsters (wild things) were a source of much debate and consternation. Originally Sendak drew horses instead of monsters but on his publishers suggestion he changed them to the awful teeth gnashing beasts. The book has sold over 19 million copies world wide so maybe his publisher was right. Sendak is a first generation American the son of Polish Jews and recently admitted to being gay and in a long time relationship--in a very non-Wild Things maneuver he actually waited for his parents to die before coming out.

The Book: A ten sentence story of a naughty boy Max that allows his emotions to get the best of him and escapes by sea to a far away land inhabited by monsters. Max has fun as ruler of the monsters until he becomes homesick and returns to his room despite the threats and exhortations of his beast subjects.

Grade: B

Observations: Great art that definitely steps out of the Disney friendly monster box. The story that is often denounced by conservatives for indulging children is in fact a treatise on how to handle feelings. Granted the story takes a severe turn into the psychoanalytic but the timeless anecdote works for both kids and adults. Some of the lines are scary, sweet, and weird all at the same time. The writing has a great rhythm and humour that I still enjoy as an adult.

Segues: An animated short feature, an opera, a video game, and most recently a live-action feature length film. The feature was directed and adapted by Spike Jonze and my son and I both enjoyed the long and challenging film. The film picks up the Freudian theme and takes it to the logical extreme. Ironically my son had a tantrum a short while after the film on the monstrous nature of anger.


Tomorrow's Book (Classic Fiction): Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness 17/501

Red Harvest

Day 15--15/501

General Musings: My MBA is full swing and I am learning a great deal about financial accounting. At first I was scared stupid about it. Now, I'm scared stupid and totally confounded by it! It is actually a lot of fun and I take all the challenges as a game--or dare I say a mystery? Leaving me with the perfect segue for today's review.

Running Page Count: 4,459

Today's title (Thriller): Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest

Preface: Hard boiled detective fiction and literature noir are simply my favourite genres. I fell in love with film noir when I was young--Blade Runner, The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Le Samurai, etc and later I realized the splendor of the originals. There is something very pleasing about a genre that deals with the ambiguity of right and wrong in relative circumstances. Being a good person isn't about being a saint but a selective sinner--Travis McGee is my ideal of the modern knight errant and I'd rather read John D McDonald pulp than Joyce any day.

Hammett single handily invented the hard boiled detective story and although he only wrote five novels his books are archetypal of all such stories. Hammett was born on a farm, dropped out of middle school, and became a Pinkerton detective in his teens. Red Harvest is semi-autobiographical and the events depicted (believe it or not) closely follow his own final case in Butte for the Pinkerton Agency.

Red Harvest was one of Time Magazine's All Time 100 English language novels. It was Hammett's first novel and today one of his least known titles but best known story.

The Book: The story is of a murder in a town beset by pervasive corruption by unions, police, criminal gangs, and mining magnates. The protagonist, simply known as the Continental Operative (or Op) plays all sides against the middle in an attempt to implode the Dantesque town of Personville better known to denizens as Poisonville (I would die for a Poisonville High School team jacket).

Grade: A+

Observations: A great book that is equal parts cynicism, terse dialogue, violence, and pragmatic killing. By the time it's done you'll be ready to take a roll of nickels in your fist and beat down a dirty cop (or a dirty cop communications person--don't get me started). Usually stories like this are set up for a wholly different pay-off but this one is very dark and very satisfying for the Eumenides-like justice that rains down on them.

Full disclosure: I am a bigger fan of Hammett's Maltese Falcon, the restraint of Spade and the influence of the Huston film make it a firmer if less violent story. But I believe my preference is a matter of taste and not quality.

Segues: You've seen the story before in films like Roadhouse Nights, Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars, and Last Man Standing. Moreover, the Coen brothers' (my favourite film director fraternity) first film Blood Simple owes the title to a neat snatch of dialogue from Red Harvest.




Tomorrow's Book (Children's Fiction): Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are 16/501

Life of Pi

Day 14--14/501

General Musings: A trying day for me--I resorted to reading a familiar novel rather than pressing ahead with a fresh one. Sometimes you need a break but I fear my reading needs to ramped up if I am to make it to 501 days. One day soon I'll sit down and figure out the math of my project. Feel free to barrage me with facts and figures.

A shout out to my extraordinary coworker Robin Kraeling who is contemplating reading the Man Booker Prize winning Martel novel that is my subject for the day. Robin is a red head that women adore and men admire. I tried to out bench press him recently with dismal results--I've started a false but popular rumour he is using steroids. Since that time he has been kind enough to feign interest in my blog and I feel all the worse for my byzantine plot.

Running Page Count: 4,135

Today's title (Modern Fiction): Yann Martel's Life of Pi

Preface: Another Canadian writer from the 501 Must Read Book list. A Canadian book that won a Man Booker prize. Everyone always talks about who won what book award but often little is known about the prize, so I thought I'd include a little background about the Man Booker (taken directly from Wikipedia).

The prize was originally known as the Booker-McConnell Prize after the company Booker-McConnell began sponsoring the event in 1968, and became commonly known as the "Booker Prize" or simply "the Booker". When administration of the prize was transferred to the Booker Prize Foundation in 2002, the title sponsor became the investment company Man Group, which opted to retain "Booker" as part of the official title of the prize. The foundation is an independent registered charity funded by the entire profits of Booker Prize Trading Ltd., of which it is the sole shareholder. The prize money awarded with the Booker Prize was originally £21,000, and was subsequently raised to £50,000 in 2002 under the sponsorship of the Man Group.

So there you have it, 100G for a book! Knuckle down and be the third Canadian or whatever you are (as long as you are part of the commonwealth) to win the thing. I promise I'll read your book.

The Book: Piscine Molitor Patel better known as Pi is a young man who ends up in a lifeboat with a Royal Bengal tiger, later christened Richard Parker. Times are trying for the seasick feline and the youth but they manage to have adventures that make the Odyssey look shabby.

Grade: A

Observations: Young male Indians have made a real comeback in the West with stories like WhiteTiger, 20 Questions (Slumdog Millionaire), and Midnight's Children (okay I'm reaching back a bit with Rushdie but my point is still valid). Are these post-colonial Kims little more than examples of neo-colonialism literary kitsch? I happen to like these modern Western books with Indian characters (and for that matter Kipling's Kim too) and I believe although they are not really Indian they are great Indian stories and characters.





Martel is a writer that takes you on a tortuous journey where finding out about a character's name can take a few dozen pages--and it works! Lifeboat pragmatics, fantasy islands, and animals both real and anthropomorphic make a story of survival a contender for a new, gentler Ulysses.

Segues: Martel has another book pending publishing that is about two animals on a man's shirt talking about the holocaust--er, interesting. Martel wrote a book called Self that is an homage to Orlando--a gender shifting protagonist. I found it boring and trying but then again I didn't much like the Virginia Woolf original.

Tomorrow's Book (Thrillers): Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest 15/501

The Island of Dr. Moreau

Day 13--13/501

General Musings: Last night was awful. Someone took umbrage with a joke I made about drugs last night on Twitter. I removed the post and apologized but it obviously struck a nerve with someone. My whole life I've aimed to be congenial and respectful, it kills me when someone gets upset by something I did. I have 10 hours left of being PIO and created controversy before I got to single digits.

Today I had a bit of trouble finishing my book on time. Incredible considering that it was a slim novel (dare I say novella?) but a crowded commuter train didn't allow for me to read on my travels, my work was very busy, and I misplaced my book for a few hours. I may have read a few paragraphs and little else until late tonight. But it is done.

I once read that a French count wrote a three volume historical book during the minutes in the morning he waited for his preening wife to arrive for breakfast--I believe it. Time is a gift that is given without warning and often in small parcels. I've taken to always having a book on me. Bathroom, elevator, driving--you never know when that stop light will turn into a 4 hour traffic jam or the elevator will stop and you'll be waiting on Otis. Estote Parati--Be prepared!

Running Page Count: 3,781

Today's Title (Science Fiction): H. G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau

Preface: I finally know what Devo, House of Pain, and Oingo Poingo were talking about! An oft quoted book in popular culture--I was wholly ignorant of the allusions until today (see below). Wells reminds me remarkably of Michael Chrichton. Both are weak writers (albeit stronger than me) that use great and speculative ideas in the world of science fiction. Michael Chrichton's Species is very much the same concept as The Island of Dr. Moreau substituting genetics for vivisection. Wells' writing is equal parts Victorian popular science and B movie plot. Wells was a student, although not a graduate, of biology and was fairly indiscreet in his private life--shocking Victorian/Edwardian society with his lady lovin' antics. A couple of years after the book was published the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection was formed. However, I don't believe Chrichton was ever successful in getting the American Society for Protection of Dinosaurs off the ground.





The Book: Edward Prendick's manuscript is discovered by his nephew and it is a whale of a tale. Prendick was aboard a British ship when it sunk and soon his two life boat companions die in a fight. Prendick is on death's door when he is discovered by a freighter with a doctor on board. Soon our protagonist is nursed back to health and discovers he is on a ship that resembles Noah's ark. The doctor who saved his life gets into some heated arguments with the captain of the vessel and when the doctor, his assistant, and the animals depart on a remote island, Prendick is given the hee-hoo too. Prendick is a sissy of enormous proportions and after pissing off his lifeboat companions and the captain and crew of his rescue ship he gets to work on the island's owner, Dr. Moreau and his physician from aboard the ship, Montgomery. There are some strange goings-on with the island including exotic fauna and an abnormal amount of animal surgery.

Grade: C

Observations: This book is about as badly written as a Penthouse Forum letter---with no sexy tidbits to compensate for the oddly wooden words. The concept is great but I live in the 21st century and it has been explored a wee bit since--with far better and more original insight. Better yet for my immature self it has some hilariously unintentional gay sections:

"My one idea was to get away from these horrible caricatures of my Maker's image, back to the sweet and wholesome intercourse of men." (p97)

"No one would believe me, I was almost as queer to men as I had been to the Beast People [...] my trouble took a strangest form." (p130)

When Wells isn't making awkward sentences about British bachelors he tends to pack the narrative with copious amounts of archaic words and scientific esoterica--my edition had end notes to explain and speculate.

Segues: Three films--I saw the 1996 one directed by Frankenheimer with Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando--awful but it improved on the original text with a cat-woman third act love interest. Note that the date of the pending scientific event is the 8th day of 2010--apocalypse seems always to be just around the corner! Also for an equally banal writing experience with an interesting primer on genetics check out Chrichton's Species.


Tomorrow's Book (Modern Fiction): Yann Martel's Life of Pi 14/501

The Accidental Tourist

Day 12--12/501

The Accidental Tourist

General Musings: I want to thank everyone kind enough to email, phone, or tweet me about the Thin Skin of Culture. I am happy that people have read it--it makes me feel kind of like a writer.

Also, I've had a few people offer me books and recommendations for the 501 list and I just want to review that aspect of the rules again. My 501 books that I am reading are all exclusively from the book 501 Must Read Books. This forces me to read books I've not read, many I've never considered reading, and these books are lauded by experts as having some quality that makes them exceptional. I'm not going to substitute, omit, abridge or expand the list. I do appreciate recommendations and books but my focus is on the 501 list and it is pretty demanding and very daunting.

Which leads me to a question, how do you decide to read a book? Drop me a line. Be honest. I've read books because of intriguing titles, beautiful covers, blurbs, award stickers, and bestseller lists--all rotten reasons. Word of mouth, reviews, required course reading, and zealous book fans have also figured largely in my choices--much better reasons to read a book. Isn't it odd that we (I assume you are as reckless in your reading habits as me) use our most powerful technology in human development so capriciously?

Running Page Count: 3,650 (adjusted due to book juggle--don't worry it will all work out this week)

Today's Title (Modern Fiction): Anne Tyler's The Accidental Tourist

Preface: Written in 1985 The Accidental Tourist was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. When I first began reading the story I felt the protagonist was thoroughly unlikable and I didn't understand him. By the end of the book I was haunted by the similarities between the two of us. I have made some changes in my life as a result of the book and have been thinking awful hard about the implications of the odd title.

The Book: Macon, I rhyme his name with bacon (reader's phonetic prerogative), is a middle aged man and unlikely travel writer who is in mourning for a son killed in a fast-food restaurant robbery. When Macon's wife leaves him he begins a crazy experiment in making his life as efficient as possible. The experiment leaves him injured and he returns to his childhood home in the care of his neurotic siblings. Macon's dog's aggression leads Macon to hire a dog trainer and he finds himself, despite his best intentions, falling for her. Macon's friends, family, girlfriend and wife all prove to be as quirky, screwed up, and complicated as he is.

Grade: A+

Observations: A great book that made me laugh out loud and cry in turns. My favorite scene is when Macon has a relationship epiphany in Edmonton--that's right Macon visits Canada and makes a crucial decision in the city of champions.

Segues: There is a movie of the same name (1988) with William Hurt, Geena Davis, and Kathleen Turner. I used to see it all the time at the library but I can't find it now for the life of me. I know a travel writer and I think I prefer Marcello Di Cintio's travel writing to Macon's. He has a great blog and a new book coming out this year about walls (seriously!).


Tomorrow's Book (Science Fiction): H. G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau 13/501

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Day 11--11/501

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

General Musings: Today I received my new uniforms for my new position starting on Monday. Fair to say it feels surreal. I am very excited and very nervous about the position. My MBA elluminate session was a bust when I found out the computer I was using couldn't support the session. I get a second chance on Thursday and I'll get it right.

I'm addicted to The Wire and I am working fast through the second season--I'm watching the third episode of the evening while I write today's blog.

The previous books read section came and went yesterday, it returns tomorrow with better formatting. I'm pretty busy with school this week and a big article so I'll spare you my jibber jabber.



Running Page Count: 2,799

Today's Title (Memoir): Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Preface: I remember the first time I was in a bookstore and saw a Queer Fiction section and being surprised by its existence. I also moved on pretty fast--my younger self assumed being close to Gay Fiction was a sure fire way to risk a sudden unwanted change in orientation.

Gay people writing about being gay? What was the point I wondered. I'd like to think that I've matured a little and I am no longer freaked out by the genre--although I still give an initial wide berth to the section and make sure to keep constant vocal contact with my wife.

Now Queer Fiction has gone mainstream and stories like Milk and Brokeback Mountain have become popular fare. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is an early and exemplary piece of Queer Fiction. In 501 Must Read Books the book is in the Memoir category, however, it is in fact a fiction with autobiographical elements.


The Book: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is a coming of age book about an adopted girl living in an oppressively Christian household. The protagonist Jeanette (note similarity to author's name) is adopted by a fundamental Christian family where the mother wishes to have a daughter without all that nasty sex. When Jeanette loses her hearing due to an ear infection her church believes her condition to be an effect of the rapture. In school her enthusiasm for the bible ostracizes her from other students.

Puberty for Jeanette is tough and doesn't get easier when she starts to realize that her Evangelical community is cuckoo. Moreover, Jeanette starts getting strong feelings for Melanie who works at a fish stall (I can't imagine having strong feelings for anyone who is a fishmonger or tobacconist). When mom starts to realize her daughter likey the girls she drives her daughter into the arms of a lesbian neighbor. Next day the mother adopts tough love (read: exorcism) tactics and Jeanette leaves home and strikes out on her own in all her lesbian glory.

Grade: C+

Observations: A good book but a muddle of memoir and fiction that loses its potency and veracity by not adhering to either genre exclusively. Unfortunately, the strength of the memoir is in the details of the ordeal rather than the quality of the writing or story. Winterson is a good writer and the story is an important one but it didn't do it for me. Winterson rejects the label of Queer and Gay Fiction citing the fact that such labels hijack stories. My lack of enthusiasm for the novel as story I hope would earn Winterson's respect. It may be an unconscious prejudice against Queer Fiction but I honestly believe I have read better in the genre and believe the book is an exemplary by its timing rather than quality.

Segues: There is a BBC television adaptation running almost 3 hours, you can get it on DVD--I haven't seen it (yet). For great Queer Fiction read Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain and see the Larry McMurtry adaptation directed by Ang Lee--homophobes can enjoy the cinematography and strategically time concession visits.

Tomorrow's Book (Classic Fiction): Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary (12/501)

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Day 10--10/501

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

General Musings: A busy day at work today but I managed to finish today's book during my commute. I'm sorry but my library questions still loom large with no answers--I will get to the bottom of them and report in soon. Today I realized an attribution error in a 501 Must Read Books entry--more about it below. A new feature listing our growing completed reads is on the blog today (way below)--tell me (bdmcasey@calgary.ca) where you want it (and don't take advantage of me teeing up a perfect insult).



Running Page Count: 2,607

Today's Book (Children's Fiction): Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Preface: The 501 Must Read Books lists this 1865 entry of Lewis's iconic classic with an accompanying illustration of Tweedledee and Tweedledum. But the identical twin enantiomorphs are in fact from the 1871 sequel Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. Not surprising since I myself attributed many of the characters and scenes from the sequel to the original. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has no chess match, no Humpty Dumpty, no Jaberwocky, and no Red Queen.

At 110 pages the book is a quick if slightly challenging (for non-adults) read due to the word play, poems, and crazy dialogue. Word games and logic tricks were the bread and butter of Lewis Carroll, who's real name was Charles Dodgson. He was a mathematician, logician, and prodigious photographer--with a penchant for nude female children [yuck]. It seems Mr. Dodgson was a pedophile--here is a slightly disturbing picture of the real life inspiration for Alice (Alice Liddell)taken by the Anglican deacon in 1858:

The Book: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a classic story of an adventurous girl who winds up in a world ruled by child logic, inhabited by animals, ruled by playing cards, and written in nonsense verse. It starts on a riverbank with a girl chasing a rabbit and ends with a Kafkaesque trial. It is written as a child's dream that seems closer to a psychedelic trip and is a delight for readers, although I suspect it would be more popular with adults than kids. John Tenniel's original illustrations are a necessity not only because of their quality but because of the many references in the text to the details of the pictures.

Grade: B

Observations: Over a third of the book is about Alice's struggle to enter Wonderland--it seems overly long. Also, there are many inside jokes about Dodgson's contemporaries, friends and family in the text and although you get the impression there is a joke they are easy to miss (like Bill the Lizard as Benjamin Disraeli). Read The Annotated Alice to appreciate all the riddles, jokes, and allusions. The denouement is stale for today's audience and a last minute change in point of view seems strange and unnecessary. As a whole the book is impressive and unprecedented--the nonsense style is amazing in style and execution. I believe the book is at its best with the wild characters and the subtler humour. One of the most alluded to books in the history of children's fiction.

Segues: There have been 22 film adaptations the most famous being the 1951 Disney animated version that takes the entire Alice literary franchise and condenses it down to 75 safe homogenized minutes of animated fun--which oddly synchronizes perfectly with Pink Floyd's The Wall.

There is also the Tim Burton feature with adult leads (it too produced by Disney), starring Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska released in 2010




Tomorrow's Book (Memoirs): Jeannette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (11/501)

Fifth Business

Day 9--Book 9/501

Fifth Business

General Musings: The library is dodging my calls but I promise to get to the bottom of the Library of Congress category issue and get some insight into how they select entries into their collection. I'm behind on everything at work, school, and reading--considering a short term crystal-meth addiction.

If you are reading this blog and want one of the books I've reviewed just drop me a line at bdmcasey@shaw.ca and I'll send it to you (if someone else hasn't asked first). My personal library must be culled and I cannot keep upwards of 501 new books.

Yesterday my router blew-up and the posting was late, so my apologies. Today I am using (surreptitiously) a neighbor's wireless network. Apparently some people are not assiduous with creating unique passwords. I am off to Future Shop to acquire a new router--my wife wants an Apple Airport.

Coming Soon: A selections read feature--look for it.

Running Page Count: 2,507

Today's book: Robertson Davies' Fifth Business

Preface: I am embarrassed to admit that I always avoided Fifth Business, no doubt due to my deep-seated insecurity as a Canadian literary consumer. The jacket of the book I have [not the same as the one pictured to the left] didn't help my prejudice. I have the original first edition paperback edition that has copy running just over the title declaring (in all caps):


"THE MESMERIZING BESTSELLER THAT "EVERYONE WILL BE READING...THE MAGIC, MYSTERY AND IRRESISTIBLE DRIVE OF THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN" -THE NEW YORK TIMES.



The last line is in just slightly smaller font than the title! What kind of publisher has a book share equal space with another title on its own book cover? Below the title the colorful montage of magicians, faces in profile and a naked woman proffering her buttocks makes me queasy.

The Book: Fifth Business is a story about three extraordinary lives that become entwined after an errant snowball hits a small town pregnant woman. The narrator is Dunstan Ramsay, teacher, hagiographer, war hero, writer and snow ball dodger. Dunstan tells his story in the form of a letter to his headmaster in rebuttal to a mediocre piece in the college newspaper that marginalizes his career and life. Dunstan's friend Boyd (later going by the name Boy) is the snowball thrower cum industrialist and while Dunstan pursues spiritualism Boy chases with equal vigour materialism. The third life is the pregnant woman's baby, Paul--delivered prematurely due to that snowball--a dullard that goes on to be a great showman magician. Dunstan becomes obsessed with saints after growing up believing Paul's mother is a fool saint capable of miracles and his exploration of spirituality and religion is a result of this childhood epiphany. Davies plays with paradigms while presenting a story rich with Jungian archetypes.

Grade: A (first one for those keeping track)

Observations: What a great book! And although it pains me to admit it I learned more about sex from this book than my Catholic sex education classes. Frank, intelligent, and riveting--I can't believe I thought it would be a boring read. I pronounce it to be the greatest Canadian novel ever (or until I read a better one). My only criticism is when Dunstan is in Mexico and is looking for something to do and decides to...take in a magic show...what? You never see that on tour agency signs--Mexico $1200-All inclusive, 5 star hotel...magic show! Maybe a little Barry and Stuart would make it a different deal:






Segues: I thought there was a film--there isn't. Davies made the novel into a trilogy--The Deptford Trilogy to be exact--but don't worry it works as a stand alone and you can read along with me without having to tie up loose ends. While Calgary is replete of snow right now I nonetheless have a video for those of you with limited experience with snowball technology:





Tomorrow's book (Children's Fiction): Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Charlotte's Web

Day 8--Book 8/501

Charlotte's Web

General Musings: Some people asked me how to contact me with comments and questions--the poorly spelled email on the bar above isn't ideal--try me at bdmcasey@calgary.ca. Please be kind, I have a gentle ego.

This weekend I was in Canmore cross country skiing with my family and while the adults slept in the fold-out the kids slept in a king sized bed. Being a parent is often uncomfortable, fun and humbling. Canmore is very beautiful and I'd love to move there.

I had a dream about a friend last night. I depise when people regale me with their dreams so I won't do that but the upshot is I woke up missing her terribly. It has put me in a terrible funk but it has also got me creative juices going--I've decided to enter this years CBC non-fiction writing contest.


Running Page Count: 2,269

Today's Book: E.B. White's Charlotte's Web

Preface: I read it as a child but forgot everything but Wilbur, Templeton, and Charlotte. Rereading it as an adult I realized the language is not dated and it very cleverly talks about some big themes to a young audience. The version I read for the blog was a "collector's edition" with the original illustrations by Garth Williams put to full color by Rosemary Wells (of Max and Ruby fame) with a "very simple palette". E.B White published this book in 1952 seven years after Stuart Little and he won The Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for both. He started his career as a writer with The New Yorker and co-wrote with James Thurber a piece called "Is Sex Necessary", a delightful dig on Freudianism. White later turned from his newspaper and magazine work to being a book author and poet who was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1973. He also won an honorary Pulitzer and a Presidential medal.


The Book: Charlotte's Web is a story about Wilbur, a runt of the litter pig, saved from an early death by the mercy of a little girl and again saved from slaughter by the ingenuity of a spider named Charlotte. Fern is the precocious eight-year-old farm girl who takes on the care of baby Wilbur. When Wilbur survives infancy he is sold to Fern's uncle who's farm Fern visits regularly and there she overhears the conversations of the animals including a rat named Templeton, the eponymous arachnid with an extensive vocabulary, Wilbur, and a barnyard full of others. Soon Wilbur learns of the meaning of his existence and is overwhelmed by his impending death. Charlotte saves the day, while battling her own problems, by using her webs to make people realize Wilbur's unique qualities and he ends up at the Fair competing for a ribbon and a pardon from the slaughterhouse. Better than his unique ability to squeal like a pig...




Grade: B (half a mark off for talking animals that can be heard by earnest humans)

Observations: The topic of death is approached deftly and with pragmatic sensitivity. Whether it is the song of lament from the crickets for the passing of summer, Charlotte's trapping and eating flies, the death of a character, or Wilbur's anxiety over the inevitable, White gives the topic of death a certain gravitas and comfort.

At the end of the first chapter Fern's brother Avery is sent to school with a donut and a gun! Charlotte has to leave Wilbur because it is unseemly to bring a pig to school-- but her brother can bring a gun? Strange.

Also, my favorite part is when Fern's mother, fearing her daughter has a screw loose, visits Dr. Dorain. Dr. Dorain is pretty philosophical and when he is asked about his impressions on the miracle web signs he points out with Existential non-chalance that all spider webs are miraculous.

Segues: There are two Charlotte's Web movie adaptations, a sequel, and video game. My favorite is the original 1973 animated version although I'm not completely sold on the soundtrack, here is Chin Up for your consideration:

Tomorrow's book (Modern Fiction): Robertson Davies' Fifth Business (9/501)

The Trial of Socrates

Day 7--7/501

The Trial of Socrates

General Musings: I was at my in-laws last night and my father-in-law expressed grave concerns over my venture. He believes the challenge to be impossible to complete. He also threatened to post nasty comments on the site--I look forward to his vitriol. I'd like to make a preemptive strike now and mention that he was currently reading Lee Child's Without Fail--trash! [Although I must shamefully disclose I have read most of Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels myself including the ridiculous Without Fail--crack cocaine for the pulp thriller reader]. Check out Lee Child on Craig Ferguson talking about Jack Reacher "the toughest guy in literature"





Also, somebody expressed concern over the page count and I just want to clarify a point for the nit-pickers. Different editions of books often have different page counts due to size of font, dimensions of the book (hardcover vs. softcover), and any corrections/additions/omissions from publishing. My page counts are from the editions I read that follow no rule except they are not those large print (16 point font) books for those with poor vision. I'll be talking more about book quirks in future blogs.

Finally I want to put a call out to anyone willing to lend Science Fiction, History, and Memoir entries to me (I only have access to a handful of them). A list of the 501 Must Read Book is here and I promise to return any books within a week's time.


Running Page Count: 2,085 pgs.


Today's Book: Isador Stone's The Trial of Socrates


Preface: As a budding classicist I was always warned by my professors against the quality of this I.F. Stone book. Stone was a liberal journalist in the tradition of the muckraker best known for his self-published newsletter, I.F. Stone Weekly. With hindsight his leftist views seem dead on--member of the Popular Front opposition to Hitler, supported the New Deal, outraged by the killings at Kent State, viewed the Vietnam War as futile,and he was a vigilant in guarding against anti-Semitism and racism [not exactly a wing-nut]. As a septuagenarian Stone retired from journalism and studied Ancient Greek and history in a bid to write this fascinating investigative history that proved to be a coda for the iconoclastic writer.


The Book: The Trial of Socrates is a brass tacks approach to the most infamous trial and most interesting suicide in history [looking at you O.J. to up the ante!]. Whereas everyone knows that Socrates was sentenced to death by a jury of his peers in the world's first (and I'd argue greatest) democracy few know what he was actually charged with--"refused reverence to the city gods and corrupted its youth"--or why he was convicted. The answer is as surprising as it is timely and I won't spoil it except to say, hegemony. Stone is unsentimental in his treatment of the father of Western thought and unlike Plato (in Phaedo) who raises Socrates to the level of martyr Stone shows Socrates as an often ugly, obstinate and seditious free thinker that put the state in an intractable and unwanted position as judge and executioner in a world that treasured free speech and free thinking. Like the Oldsmobile slogan, this isn't your father's hagiographic take on Socrates' death (okay maybe not exactly the Oldsmobile slogan). My favorite fact: after being convicted Socrates was asked by the state (like a good parent trying to impart the concept of consequence) what his punishment should be and he replied a state pension and free dinners for life--too bad his fellow Athenians didn't share his sense of humour.

Grade: A-

Observations: Stone is exacting over the Athenian legal machinations and his comprehensive treatment of the event is the best I've ever read. Although it has only been 25 centuries it may not be as fresh in people's minds as it should be and Stone gives context to the event without anchoring it to contemporary political ephemera. There is an old saying in Proverbs that he who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client--there is a time you just have to lawyer up.

Segues: The cover art is no doubt familiar and is in fact a detail from the eponymously named painting from French neo-classical painter Jacques-Louis David. Check out his biography on Wikipedia here.

And who can forget the most reverent and thoughtful depiction of Socrates? That's right Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure!(See around 4:45 in the video for his short Tarzan-like speech).





Also, for the more serious minded the best reading about the man who made the plan is Plato. Plato was a wrestler (he is known to us only by his nickname meaning "broad shoulders") who used to hang around with teammates, including the old codger Socrates, talking and thinking about, well, everything. Plato gave us Socrates, Platonism and was kind enough to teach Aristotle everything from "the cave" to how to clamp on a German-quarter Nelson--'nuff said.






Tomorrow's book (Children's Fiction): E. B. White's Charlotte's Webb (8/501)

Neuromancer

Day 6--6/501

Neuromancer

General Musings: I am going to be a chief! I have just accepted the appointment of Assistant Deputy Chief with the CFD. I am in shock and although I am very excited I am also overwhelmed. Wish me luck (and for that matter the Department).

Today I went to the library to get some books for my 501 reading list. I went through the Science Fiction section and was only able to find two of the fifty-something science fiction titles on the list--argh! I logged onto the library website and was dismayed that they only had a bare majority of the 501 books available throughout the entirety of the library. Obviously, this is a potentially big problem for me. Tonight I'll try to get an idea of exactly how big a problem I have throughout the genres. It surprises me that there is such a dearth of titles available but perhaps it is isolated to Science Fiction--but most of the titles seem familiar and the authors high profile.

While strolling through the stacks I was happily surprised to find three more books relegated to the General Fiction section. Although they are categorized as Science Fiction by the Library of Congress Classification System (LCC) apparently Calgary Public Library (CPL) uses a different system than the one preferred in the United States (Dewey Decimal?). After the weekend I'll call the library and report to you on how they decide on titles and categorize books--look for it on Monday. Hopefully I'll be less destructive in the library than Mr. Bean.







New Feature--Running Page Count-- As promised here is the page counter section with a one time break down of the past books:
Vendetta--272pgs
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory--176pgs
Captain Corelli's Mandolin--437pgs
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd--288pgs
The Handmaid's Tale--320pgs
Neuromancer--288pgs
Running total......................1,781pgs


Today's book (Science Fiction): William Gibson's Neuromancer

Preface: I read this book a decade ago in a Speculative Fiction class I took as an English literature elective. I was surprised by the similarities to the film The Matrix (1999) which had just been released and shocked that it had been written in 1984--on a manual typewriter by a neo-Luddite! It is recognized as being the first of the Cyberpunk Science Fiction sub-genre. Gibson coined the term "cyberspace" back when he wrote Burning Chrome and the concept was a twinkling in a geek's eye and the World Wide Web was a decade from being a reality.








The Book: Neuromancer is set in a dystopic future in a Japanese urban corridor, "the sprawl" home to a gifted hacker (a.k.a. cyberpunk, cowboy, cyberthief) named Case. Case isn't feeling to good after being poisoned with a neurotoxin by a disgruntled client--he physically can't hack anymore and he lives with terrible pain which he tries to cope with through a drug addiction. Along comes Molly Millions with cool implant eyes and some Wolverine claws representing a retired military intelligence officer. She gets Case into a black market clinic to instantly fix him of his long term health and addiction issues. But there is a catch. Case has been effectively recruited into being a data thief for Armitage and he becomes entangled in a complex plot involving the construct of the whole of the matrix (sound familiar?).


Grade: B+


Observations: “The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.” What a great opening line! Best opener so far. In my opinion the writing is very similar in style to Philip K. Dick's work. Drug addiction, alienation, monopolistic corporations, meshing of humanity and technology, and authoritarian governments are all present in this tour de force of Sci-Fi hardcore. Gibson said in an interview that he used drug and biker slang from the late 60s in Toronto as the basis for the vocabulary--it works. The best scenes are those of the sprawl, which remind me vividly of Blade Runner (based, not too coincidentally, on Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep?). The scene when Case is in a museum and sees a horse and speculates on what it would have been like blew me away. Neuromancer is the archetypal Cyberpunk work and this distinction is impressive in and of itself and although the writing can be at times like reading a Blu-Ray instruction manual it is over-all well written. The ending is equal parts cryptic and fatalistic but I liked it.


Segues: Gibson is another example of a talented Canadian better known by those outside the country than from within. I've read several of his works and prefer his short stories to his novels. I recommend Burning Chrome for those that like Neuromancer.

The Matrix is a total rip off of Neuromancer so go watch the Wachowski brothers' film after you read Neuromancer and make a list of everything they stole for the screenplay.




Finally, William Gibson gives an extensive and fascinating monologue on futurism in the Neale documentary No Maps for These Territories (2000).



Tomorrow's book (History): The Trial of Socrates (7/501)