Monday, April 20, 2020

'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman

American Gods, Neil Gaiman (4.0)
Why didn’t the gods of the old country survive the trip across the ocean and thrive in the US? Mr. Gaiman spins a complicated, though poetically written tale discussing their current state. Surprisingly, in his vision, they exist, though diminished due to their lack of devotees, and they are getting ready to go to war with the newer, shinier gods (think of commerce, TV, etc.). In some ways this book reminded me of ‘The Stand’ – albeit no one here really represents ‘good’. While the story and characters can be distracting and sometimes quite unsettling, I loved how I was transported to a truly realistic representation of Northern Wisconsin. His description of a bone-chilling walk 500 ft from his front door convinced me that Gaiman had indeed been to the small town where my parents grew up (a little Googling confirmed this). I can still feel the frost on my eyelashes from 30 years ago while walking to my dorm. Great books do just that: show, don’t tell.

Sunday, April 12, 2020

'The Snack Thief' by Andrea Camilleri

The Snack Thief, Andrea Camilleri (3.0)
This is a good mystery novel, though not a great one. It’s a reasonably happy murder mystery, if there is such a thing, and a nice distraction if you are stuck in your house and would like a little escape. The protagonist, a small town detective in Sicily, reminds me of a softened version of the typical Norwegian and Swedish flawed detectives. In this case he has a temper, not a lot of patience, and issues with interpersonal relationships. This episode has the police department following two murders that seem unrelated: a Tunisian sailor is killed seemingly randomly on a ship and a retired importer is stabbed in his elevator. You realize right away that they will eventually be related and the journey is filled with odd and funny characters. By the way, I don’t recommend reading this when you are hungry – he has a passion for Italian food and the descriptions will leave you drooling!

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

'Exhalation: Stories' by Ted Chiang

Exhalation: Stories, Ted Chiang (4.0)
Excellent short stories by the author who inspired the movie, ‘Arrival’. While considered Science Fiction, the stories are profound and thought provoking-  such as the musings of a parrot, wondering why humans try so hard to communicate with life forms outside our galaxy while ignoring those who are trying to communicate with them on earth, i.e. said parrots. Chiang introduces potential technologies, and then exposes the possible moral and ethical issues they could bring. I enjoyed the unintentional consequences, which were not always bad. I particularly liked at the end, he discusses his motivation for each story, which gave even more depth to them.