Reginadelmar’s #CBRV review # 19 The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

 Probably not too many people think what the world might be like in about 100 years, and if they do, their vision may be similar to what they’re familiar with today.  Paolo Bacigalupi ‘s The Windup Girl depicts a future most of us hope can be avoided, a world in which nature has transformed beyond recognition, and the global population decimated. Diseases and pests mutate as fast as genes are engineered.

 In this world, calories, not energy are the global currency.  Global seed/food companies manipulate markets and overthrow governments prowling the globe for new or saved genetic material.  How this all happened is not explained, but it looks like peak oil, climate change and genetic engineering run amok.

 The main characters are an interesting mix: Anderson, is a calorie man for AgriGen (Big Pharma and Big Ag all wrapped into one).  He runs a quasi-biofuel company as a front, all the while searching for caloric opportunities and new genetic material.  His employee Hock Seng, is a refugee from Malaya, who is trying to survive in a country hostile to immigrants. Jaidee and Kanya are Environmental Ministry officers.  The Environmental Ministry has many responsibilities; one of which is protecting the Kingdom from invasive genetic species including windups.  Windups is the informal term given to the genetically engineered New People developed in Japan to aid an aging population. Emiko, the title character, is in Bangkok left behind like discarded furniture from her previous owner.

 There are a lot of ideas being explored in this book: the consequences of genetic engineering, the nature of humanity, the effects of the breakdown of the global economy, resilience and survival in the face of environmental disasters.  Bacigalupi explores these ideas without ever becoming preachy.  The narrative is well paced and the characters are engaging.  The book’s setting in Bangkok is a risk. The view of Bangkok falls within western stereotypes. Much of what’s happening in Bangkok in the 22^nd century feels a lot like the same city in the Bangkok 8 series: the despised farang, a focus on the sex trade, and a peculiar synergy between corruption and Buddhism.  Bacigalupi may have recognized this, in the acknowledgements he disclaims the book is a representation of present day Thailand and recommends several Thai authors for a better understanding of the country and the culture.

Overall, this was a good read.

Reginadelmar’s #CBRV review #18 Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt

I heard Stephen Greenblatt speak  about his book Swerve about a month ago. His  presentation was more a university lecture than a book promotion; yet incredibly interesting and the amount of information he shared was overwhelming. I haven’t snagged that book yet, but I had also seen snippets of Greenblatt on Shakespeare Uncovered so I thought I’d read Will in the World first.

 The subtitle of the book is “How Shakespeare became Shakespeare.” Greenblatt takes what is known about Shakespeare’s life (not a lot really) and what is known about the historical period and finds links to these facts in the plays and sonnets. What is known is that his father was successful in Stratford up to a point and then fell into debt.Shakespeare had what appeared to be a loveless marriage (he expressly disinherits his wife Anne in his will).  He had three children, his son Hamnet died at about age 12.  He was also a successful businessman, making money at the theater while others failed and invested that money in land back in Stratford.  What we don’t have is any direct communication from him, no personal letters, nothing about himself. All that is left are his literary works.  Greenblatt uses what is known and finds references in his plays and sonnets to show us Shakespeare’s world.

 This book fit well with the book I recently read: Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel.  Her books are set during the reign of Henry VIII and his break with the Catholic Church.  Shakespeare lived during Elizabeth’s reign, during which this transformation was still evolving. Conspiracies against the queen were continually uncovered.  Suspected traitors were tried, brutally executed and their heads spiked on the London Bridge.  What this might have taught Shakespeare was to “keep control of yourself; do not fall into the hands of your enemies be smart, tough, and realistic; master strategies of concealment and evasion; keep your head on your shoulders.”  Greenblatt demonstrates that Shakespeare did all of these things to great success.

 Greenblatt never directly addresses the claims that Shakespeare was not in fact the author of his body of work, but does devote a few chapters about how Shakespeare likely was educated and how he might have started acting and writing.  Greenblatt asserts that his skill for writing for the stage came from being an actor himself.  Shakespeare had a lot of material to draw from: other plays, legends, history books in circulation. He borrowed heavily from many sources, which apparently was the norm.  (not a lot of copyright litigation back then).  What made his work good was that he knew how to write for his audiences.  What may have made them last is that his audiences were not so different than us.

 There’s a lot more, including how Shakespeare evolved as a playwright.  This is a book for people who really like Shakespeare or have a strong interest in Elizabethan culture.  If neither interests you much, don’t read this book.

reginadelmar’s #CBRV review #17 The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha

What is more heart wrenching than the death of a child, particularly at the hands of a gun? Can a family survive that kind of tragedy? If it does, what is the quality of that survival? These are a few of the questions addressed in The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha.

The book begins with sheriff’s deputy, Nate Stanley announcing that he is moving his family from rural Illinois to rural Oregon.  His wife, Irene, doesn’t want to go, but she loses the argument and they go.  After a year they seem to be well adjusted, until their 15-year-old son, Shep, is shot in their home. The killer is quickly found, tried and sentenced to death.  However it is not until 19 years later that the death warrant is issued.

 The book follows Irene, Nate and their daughter Bliss’s struggles to live their lives after Shep’s death.  They struggle, rocking back and forth between depression and Midwestern stoicism.  For 10 years Irene survives on revenge, she will see her son’s killer executed.  Bliss, struggles to take care of herself and her parents.  But Irene can’t survive on hate forever, and so she makes another choice.

 Alongside the history of the Stanley family, Rakha tells the story of Danny Robbins, Shep’s killer.  Convicted at 19, Robbins has been on death row half of his life.  We see him through the eyes of the prison superintendent Tab Mason.  At the beginning of the book Mason receives Robbin’s death warrant and has 30 days to prepare for the event.  His first task is to tell Robbins. It is here where the book really stands out.  In 1996 Rakha covered Oregon’s first execution in 30 years, thereafter she interviewed not only families of victims, inmates and the prison staff charged with carrying out an execution.  The media often cover an execution, focusing on legal issues and maneuvers, protesters, celebrators and the inmate’s last meal.  The Crying Tree tells a compassionate story of what is going on inside the prison: preparing the room, deciding who will walk the inmate to the chamber, who will strap Robbins down, who will insert the IV? Mason is a compassionate man, selecting the team carefully, avoiding those eager to participate. He’s been part of executions in another state, he knows how hard it is on everyone and he wants to make sure it is done right.

 The book takes some twists and turns, but ultimately the character’s lives intertwine as the execution nears.  These are characters I cared about, and for whom I felt incredible compassion.  This is the accomplishment of The Crying Tree; it makes a beautiful story of the ugliest event possible.

reginadelmar’s #CBRV review # 16 The Dinner by Herman Koch

 It’s difficult to say much about this book without giving the plot away. For example, had I read the New York Times review before I read this one, I might not have bothered with it at all. The reason I did reserve it from the library was that I read an article about the popularity of Nordic mysteries and how few other European books are translated into English.  The Dinner was mentioned as one of the few other books that have been translated and gained popularity. This may be because Koch uses the gimmick of telling the story over the course of a single meal, sort of a literary “My Dinner with Andre” without the wit, pathos or Wallace Shawn.

 Koch introduces the narrator Paul with the Aperitif.  He and his wife Claire are to have dinner with Serge and his wife Babette. Paul doesn’t want to be there, but Serge has insisted. Paul loathes Serge and paints him as a boorish, shallow politician. He also hates restaurants like this one. Most people have to make reservations months in advance, and why would anyone actually do that?  The fact that Serge can call the day of and get a reservation just makes Paul resent him even more.

Paul confesses that just before dinner he walked into his son’s room and discovered something bad.  He also references Tolstoy’s opening line of Anna Karenina: Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. It’s fairly obvious that this is an unhappy family.

 Koch continues into the Appetizer course with Paul snarkily describing the pretentious restaurant, Serge’s political ambitions and introducing different members of the family. During the main course he finally reveals the reason why Serge has insisted they meet:  their sons have committed a terrible act and they must take appropriate action.  Of course they’re not all in agreement what that action should be.

 Throughout the meal there is quite a bit of melodrama, Babette is in tears, people get up from the table, going out or to the restroom and leaving others waiting between and during courses. All of the comings and goings become contrived and rather obvious tricks to move the narrative along.  During the course of the meal Paul is constantly criticizing the mannerisms of the wait staff, but I pitied the poor waiter who got stuck with this table of unpleasantness.

 Most of the story centers not so much around the problem with the kids, but about Paul.  And  there’s the problem: Paul’s story is implausible at best.  As I read what he had done in the past, I couldn’t buy that his actions wouldn’t have had some very different consequences. They set up the final actions of fathers, mothers, brothers and sons, but seemed like they were vehicles for those actions and not very likely.

 Overall, I would skip The Dinner and go out for pizza instead.

reginadelmar’s #CBRV review #15 The Calling by Inger Ash Wolf

Mysteries are often like junk food for me, I consume them quickly, often feel a little queasy half way through, and do not feel entirely satisfied at the end. Then I crave another. The Calling was like that for me. I couldn’t put it down, and stayed up a bit late last night to finish it up. The fact that I read it during air travel may be a contributing factor to the lack of enthusiasm, it’s just not that much fun in airports and planes these days. The Calling has all the mystery components: quirky crime solver, a well-described setting, a team of assistants who don’t all get along and a grisly murder committed by a psychopath who can’t stop with just one.

The crime solver is Hazel Micallef, a 61 year-old detective inspector in the small town of Port Dundas, Ontario. This is a town where crime usually involves teenagers in car accidents not murders. Hazel has issues: sciatic back pain, she’s mixing painkillers and alcohol, she’s divorced after a 40-year marriage and living with her mother.  Her mother is trying to slim her down and get her back in the dating game. At work Hazel  has been acting Commanding Officer for several years, with the only perk of her office being a hand me down Crown Vick. Her boss wants to consolidate the police offices in this part of rural Ontario, so she’s always understaffed and lacks technical support. She’s obviously not well equipped to deal with a major crime.

This mystery isn’t a “who done it”, it’s a “how will they catch him” type of book. Simon is in the process of killing his Port Dundas victim in the first chapter. He is slow and meticulous. He appears to be in the business of mercy killing terminal cancer patients, but if that were the case, it wouldn’t be much of a mystery now would it? He is a man on a mission because one murder just wouldn’t be that interesting. In the tradition of Patricia Cromwell, John Burdett and Stieg Larsson there’s a lot of graphic detail of the killings, be forewarned. I’m grateful that in reality  we don’t have as many serial killers on the loose as in literature, but I often wonder why we’re so drawn to them in fiction.  Perhaps they’re easier to solve than issues like global warming.

Reginadelmar’s #CBRV review #14 Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

I knew I would be reading Bring up the Bodies because Wolf Hall was one of my favorite reads of 2012. For this reason I didn’t read prior reviews, but I promise I will search for them now. What surprised me about Bring up the Bodies was the way these books fit together so well, even though  they’re quite different. Wolf Hall introduced us to Thomas Cromwell and his rise to power, first serving Cardinal Wolsey and then Henry VIII himself. The narrative took place over decades, allowing us to get to know Thomas Cromwell and get a glimpse at the religious reformation occurring throughout Europe.  This was the macro view of Cromwell’s life.

Bring up the Bodies takes a micro view.  Rather than decades, it takes place in less than one year and focuses on the downfall of Anne Boleyn. Henry is finished with Boleyn because of her failure to bear him a son. His attentions have shifted to Jane Seymour, he’s wanting a third try. Having already gotten rid of one unsatisfactory wife, disposing of a second should be short work. Cromwell was instrumental in Henry obtaining his divorce from  Catherine, thus he is enlisted to remove another queen. This is a story in which we know the end, but like any good travel adventure, it’s not the destination but the journey that is so enjoyable.

What I like so much about Mantel’s writing is that she moves the story primarily through dialogue, and does it so incredibly well. Each character lives through his or her words, or dies because of them. Mantel chooses words well, just like her protagonist. Cromwell is a listener, who hears what he needs in his opponents’ words while being sparing with his own. Cromwell is a clever hunter, he sets traps, but most often the victims trap themselves in their own words.

Nevertheless, Cromwell is charting an iffy course. The powerful nobility hate him, in no small part because he is a commoner who has made the most of his skills, which far exceed their own. This is particularly true with respect to the management of wealth. Now he needs the help of the families that hate him because they lost power with the setting aside of Katherine. Because they hate Boleyn they are willing to work with him. Will they regain power and be the instrument of his destruction? Or will it be someone else who betrays him?  It is likely that Cromwell’s final lesson may be that the enemy of my enemy is still my enemy. I look forward to Mantel’s final installment of the trilogy.

Reginadelmar’s CBRV review #13 Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson

In the 1970s I used to babysit for a family that was better off than most folks I knew.  One day I was looking in the cupboard for a mixing bowl and saw this odd heavy piece of plastic with a 3-inch projectile sticking out of the middle. Clearly it was an appliance because it had a cord attached. Next to it was a plastic bowl with a donut hole in the middle. What the heck was this thing?  Later I learned how to use the Cuisinart, although I couldn’t understand why anyone would spend so much money on an appliance.

My own Cuisinart is now over 25 years old. I chop nuts, make hummus, salsas, sauces and pie crusts. I use it regularly and eschew the local kitchen store’s offer to trade it in for a newer model. It still works. Besides after 40 years a new Cuisinart still looks pretty much like an old one.

Consider the Fork is an interesting history about how people have cooked and eaten food since the discovery of fire. The book is organized around specific tools rather than chronologically which makes for a very interesting read. The pots and pans of today aren’t much of an improvement over those used by the Romans. Fire was used in the kitchen pretty much through the 18^th Century. Refrigeration was adopted rapidly in the US and slowly in Europe.

reginadelmar’s #CBRV review #12 Yoga for Peope Who can’t be Bothered to Do it by Geoff Dyer

This book has been kicking around the house for over a year, and for the life of me I don’t know how it got here. Was it a staff picks at Powell’s near the cash register?  Did a visiting friend leave it behind? My spouse denies any knowledge of it, even though travel books are right up his alley.  Not knowing how the book arrived is perfect, because it’s a tricky little book to describe. It’s not about yoga, although it’s a better meditation on life than many a yoga session I’ve experienced. The upper right hand corner of the back cover says Travel/Memoir.  I suppose this is accurate, but it’s less about the travels and more about numerous journeys over ten years pursuing nothing in particular.

The forward of the book is a short reflection of the meaning of home, is it a place where we experience certain things, or is it a place at all? Is the book describing a journey home, or is it merely a collection of travel stories?  Dyer’s travels to different places in the world include a lot of things: humor, truths, great dialogue, snippets of poetry and philosophy.  As all good travelers know, it is the ugliness, the unexpected, the inconvenient that make the best and the funniest travel stories. Dyer’s observations about mice, mold and excrement all made me laugh. His observations of people and place are witty and refreshing.

While Dyer probably would disapprove of this description, ultimately this is a book of self-discovery. I don’t mean this to be trite; it isn’t an Englishman’s version of Eat Pray Love. During the 10 year span of the book Dyer is experiencing self-doubt, and ultimately some type of breakdown. The breakdown is not the focus of the book; there is no self-pity. Rather, Dyer observes moments of truth and is cognizant enough to realize that it is these moments that get us through life. For example, he describes being in the “zone:” those moments where he doesn’t wish he were anywhere else. I’ve experienced that same feeling a few times: on a rocky point overlooking the Straits of Juan de Fuca or standing at almost 5000 meters in the Himalaya. Being in the zone is terrific, but of course, it doesn’t last. What Dyer knows is that life’s crap; unhappiness and struggles are part of life.  As are those rare moments which make you feel like your whole life is worthwhile.  It’s all part of the journey.

reginadelmar’s CBRV review #11 Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

Although I’ve been involved in sustainability advocacy for over 10 years, I had never read Silent Spring before this week. Of course I knew it was a seminal work that influenced the environmental movement of the 1960s. I also knew that chemical industry spokesmen and others tried to discredit Rachel Carson, attacking her credentials and characterizing her as a hysterical female.  What better opportunity to read the book than during the Cannonball Read commitment.

Reading Silent Spring over 50 years after it was published was interesting. The environmental issues it raised are not new but rather very familiar.  Many of the issues Carson discusses are still debated today. That is not to say that all the same chemicals are still being used in the exact same manner today as in the 1950s.  Yet, we still often introduce synthetic substances into our environment, our diets and our homes without fully knowing if they are safe. Our approach to introducing chemicals, greenhouse gasses, and other human-made substances into the environment hasn’t changed much.

reginadelmar’s #CBRV review #10 The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper

Helene Cooper opens her memoir with “this book is about rogues.” She explains that rogues were like thieves but were not the same. Rogues broke into your house. Thieves worked for the government and stole money from the public treasury.  But it would be more accurate to say that her book is about two centuries of theft, of social theft and personal theft.

For those whose history is a little rusty, freed slaves from the United States founded Liberia in the early 19^th century.  Whites wanting to protect the institution of slavery assisted in this venture.  Cooper gives a quick history lesson about these American colonists who were not welcomed by the native peoples living in Western Africa. As in most cases, the colonists won through force and established themselves as the ruling class.

Several generations later Cooper was born into this ruling class, known as Congo people.