Designed to appeal to me - I have a love of both survival-in-nature tales (honestly come by - read my copy of "My Side of the Mountain" til the cover fell off) and disaster stories.
Of course, I enjoy Krakauer's writing - he manages to patch together a convincing human interest tale out of a few scraps of evidence. It's not terrifically maudlin, either, which is a danger when you're reading this kind of book - "when this tragedy-struck young man wandered off that Alaska path that sunny day, did he know that with that very step...," etc., etc. He also manages to convey the parallels between his life and McCandless's without seeming narcissistic, as if he's just using McCandless to get readers to read about his own life (it helps that Krakauer's story involves the perils of solo mountain climbing, one of which is burning down your tent by lighting a joint on the mountainside - who knew).
Monday 27 October 2008
Saturday 25 October 2008
"The Winter Queen," Boris Akunin
I am not an especial lover of the mystery genre, but a friend has sung the praises of Boris Akunin once too often for me to pass by "Winter Queen" when I had the opportunity to pick it up in the local library.
The story itself is as old as dirt - callow policeman is thrown into mysterious situation, manages to make his way out and catch the thugs but at what cost? - and the plot twists are apparent to anybody who's ever read this sort of novel before (or knows anything about foreshadowing). However, Akunin keeps the plot going at a good clip, and the unfamiliar setting (1870s Tsarist Russia) keeps things fresh as well. It's impossible not to like scenes of decadent aristocrats playing "American roulette" to prove their nihilist credentials. And there are ghosts! Definitely am going to read the next one - apparently it involves cross-dressing revolutionaries who can't resist our hero's imperialist booty.
The story itself is as old as dirt - callow policeman is thrown into mysterious situation, manages to make his way out and catch the thugs but at what cost? - and the plot twists are apparent to anybody who's ever read this sort of novel before (or knows anything about foreshadowing). However, Akunin keeps the plot going at a good clip, and the unfamiliar setting (1870s Tsarist Russia) keeps things fresh as well. It's impossible not to like scenes of decadent aristocrats playing "American roulette" to prove their nihilist credentials. And there are ghosts! Definitely am going to read the next one - apparently it involves cross-dressing revolutionaries who can't resist our hero's imperialist booty.
Monday 20 October 2008
"Claudius the God," Robert Graves
Ah, Claudius, everybody's favorite possibly-retarded Roman emperor. I've read the first volume of this duology and I adore the miniseries and would purchase it in a heartbeat if I had any of that little thing called cash. So when I saw "Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina" (no forgetting Messalina, people) at the library, I felt compelled to pick it up.
And now I have to pick a bone with Orson Scott Card, who slates Graves's Claudius books for being anachronistic and unappealing to a modern audience. I disagree - you don't have to have grown up scribbling "amo, amas, amat" under the beady eye of your headmaster to enjoy the books. The more knowledge you have of the time period, the more rewarding the book is.* But if you have an amateur interest in Roman history, or even if you've watched the I, Claudius miniseries, you won't be left scratching your head over the particulars.
In fact, that's a problem, as much of the book is taken up with Claudius and pals' various military and political endeavors, described in loving detail, so that you, the reader, know everything of the times. This matches Graves's conceit exactly - his Claudius prides himself on his historical works, so it's no surprise that much of this "autobiography" is a record of events. It's also no surprise that all of the drama and intrigue of the miniseries is gone, as there would be no reason for Claudius to dwell on the more sordid and personally painful aspects of his reign. Of course, this also means that there's no $1.98 orgy scene and no Decapitation-cam (although I doubt that those charms would translate into print - Colleen McCullough's "Masters of Rome" series, anyone? Time for some indigo prose!) Visual appeal aside, Claudius's viewpoint does become limiting, after a while - unlike the first book, in which he's mainly observing his crazy relatives, here he's mostly justifying his own actions, and it does become tiresome. Still, better written than most historical fiction, and a good companion to the miniseries.
* And if you know something about Graves's own life (I know the bare minimum), it's fun to extrapolate Claudius's prejudices from the author's life experiences.
And now I have to pick a bone with Orson Scott Card, who slates Graves's Claudius books for being anachronistic and unappealing to a modern audience. I disagree - you don't have to have grown up scribbling "amo, amas, amat" under the beady eye of your headmaster to enjoy the books. The more knowledge you have of the time period, the more rewarding the book is.* But if you have an amateur interest in Roman history, or even if you've watched the I, Claudius miniseries, you won't be left scratching your head over the particulars.
In fact, that's a problem, as much of the book is taken up with Claudius and pals' various military and political endeavors, described in loving detail, so that you, the reader, know everything of the times. This matches Graves's conceit exactly - his Claudius prides himself on his historical works, so it's no surprise that much of this "autobiography" is a record of events. It's also no surprise that all of the drama and intrigue of the miniseries is gone, as there would be no reason for Claudius to dwell on the more sordid and personally painful aspects of his reign. Of course, this also means that there's no $1.98 orgy scene and no Decapitation-cam (although I doubt that those charms would translate into print - Colleen McCullough's "Masters of Rome" series, anyone? Time for some indigo prose!) Visual appeal aside, Claudius's viewpoint does become limiting, after a while - unlike the first book, in which he's mainly observing his crazy relatives, here he's mostly justifying his own actions, and it does become tiresome. Still, better written than most historical fiction, and a good companion to the miniseries.
* And if you know something about Graves's own life (I know the bare minimum), it's fun to extrapolate Claudius's prejudices from the author's life experiences.
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