This non-fiction book nearly reads like a page-turning thriller. It's worth reading for the history of the California gold rush and for the details ofThis non-fiction book nearly reads like a page-turning thriller. It's worth reading for the history of the California gold rush and for the details of deep sea exploration, with all the colorful concomitant characters involved. This is history and science at its best....more
Unlike most modern fiction written for adolescents, this one actually shows some craft. The narrative voice is strong. The plot is filled with surprisUnlike most modern fiction written for adolescents, this one actually shows some craft. The narrative voice is strong. The plot is filled with surprises that make sense. The short chapter arcs work effectively, some even serving almost as short, short stories. It bears rereading because of the unusual way the story is told. I am annoyed by the constant reference to A WRINKLE IN TIME, an over-rated alleged classic that both inspired the author and serves as part of this book's plot. AWIT is a sort of SF book that non-SF readers can like, but any real SF readers know AWIT is fluffy fantasy. This book too is fantasy, although sneakily so....more
Here is a bit of a shocker--this book is poorly written. Having read similar satirical works like Jonathan Swift's GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, I can attest thHere is a bit of a shocker--this book is poorly written. Having read similar satirical works like Jonathan Swift's GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, I can attest this is by far inferior. It lacks wit, which is the lifeblood of any satire. This was published because the author had money and connections, not because he had any writing skill. Yes, the idea spawned a genre, and the idea is fine. It's More's tedious and dull execution that make this painful to read....more
More than even most of his books are, this novel is marked by the time and place in which PKD wrote it--invasion by one culture into another (Vietnam)More than even most of his books are, this novel is marked by the time and place in which PKD wrote it--invasion by one culture into another (Vietnam), drug use, promiscuous sex, post-Freudian psychology, etc. There are analog characters for Malcolm X, Lyndon B. Johnson, MLK Jr., and others from the mid-1960s. I am not sure what level of collaboration PKD did with his co-author, but the most marked difference I see in this book compared to others PKD wrote at the time is that the plot is tight, all the characters have a major bearing on the plot, there are no real loose ends, and it follows a very standard story line in a traditional way. It even has a relatively tight ending, compared to other PKD books.
I wish I knew if PKD penned this or his co-author Ray Nelson because it made me laugh out loud:
"A shadow fell upon the still-life of the tranquilizer bottle to the nearby sand and Paul Rivers glanced up. Slowly. He couldn't place the face; the nipples, however, were familiar. Ah, he now remembered. It was Miss Holly Something-or-Other, the Vice-President of the local chapter of the Sexual Freedom Society. Perhaps in order to avoid the appearance of complete nudity she wore a pair of horn-rimmed, oval-lensed sunglasses."
I like to think this is PKD exploring the concept of "free love " (meaning sex without attachment or spirituality or commitment or money exchanging hands) and subtly making the point that it is in the end de-humanizing and pathetic. And funny.
I enjoyed the thoughts PKD introduced to the fiction. How do we perceive who we are in relation to others? Selective awareness, how we perceive who we are in a shared reality is shown in a very literal fashion. The gist of this idea manifests as how humans relate to an alien invader that has a shared consciousness. While there are telepaths and flying cars and aliens, the big extrapolation are devices that change the target's perception of reality, used as weapons....more
I put off reading this one even though I had it the year it was published. I wanted to wait until I had a car worth driving, or else reading this bookI put off reading this one even though I had it the year it was published. I wanted to wait until I had a car worth driving, or else reading this book would have driven me crazy. Now that I am the proud owner of a 2014 Mustang, I am glad to say this was an enjoyable read. The articles have mostly been previously published, but P.J. revised and improved them and made them read like they are chapters in one narrative. I read P.J. for the same reason I read Shakespeare--the sheer joy of reading the way he puts together language and the way he shares his thoughts. He is predictably unpredictable in how he shares his thoughts in a way that is just pure fun. Reading his writing is like flooring it down an on-ramp in my Mustang. Fun, thrilling, a bit scary--but in a good way--and never gets old....more
This mediocre text would more accurately be termed "A Summary of the History of Christianity." There are so many gaps, so many flaws, and I suppose thThis mediocre text would more accurately be termed "A Summary of the History of Christianity." There are so many gaps, so many flaws, and I suppose they could only be excused because this author tries to summarize the entirety of 2000 years of a religion in 500 pages. The biggest omissions are the good things. The bulk of the text is focused on the conflicts, the negatives, and the controversies. Imagine writing a history of America and then spending 90% of your text on the wars in which America was involved. That is what this book is like. Johnson occasionally pays lip service to some of the good works, but by and large they are slipped in as filler between all the negative aspects on which he obsesses. I suppose this was to make the book marketable to the mainstream. Who wants to read all the happy stuff? The people want blood and guts, so Johnson focuses on that. This would be okay, but even in this there are gaps. He treats his main subjects as if you have read all about them before and assumes you are familiar with them, and then spends his time on his take on things. He does not really give you details even about the negative aspects he spends the bulk of his time on. All is cursory. For example, he repeatedly discusses the tonsure of clergy and how it changed, but he never tells you what a tonsure is, never explains how it came to be, never gives its origin. His coverage of the apostles is spotty and jumps around and leaves huge gaps. This is just amateurish history writing. It was written like a journalist, a newspaper man would write history, which makes it not history at all, but superficial sensationalism. Another example is that he focuses on the Roman Catholic church, but only mentions the eastern Orthodox church in reference to the Roman Catholic church. He never gives a proper history or overview of the Byzantine side of the faith. Again, he assumes you know about things no one would know unless they themselves had studied the history of Christianity. He covers bizarre cults in Africa, even spending a quarter of a page quoting a strange poem they use, but never once explains the use of the fish symbol for Christianity, doesn't explain even one of Luther's 95 theses, and never even clearly states why the Roman Catholics created a position of pope. He gives more pages to the 5 years of Christianity during World War II than he does the hundreds of years of the eastern Orthodox church. In short, this book reads as if it were a 500 page summary of what was originally a 2,000 page book.
As far as content, this author makes a very naive observation that the Christians have done bad things and good things throughout history, as if this were some sort of revelation or brilliant observation. It is almost as if he went to a church, attended a service, and expressed shock that there were so many sinners in the pews....more
Amateurish writing make this thinly plotted juvenile story a painful read. It has a few moments, but there is very little depth. It reads like it was Amateurish writing make this thinly plotted juvenile story a painful read. It has a few moments, but there is very little depth. It reads like it was written from a paint by numbers set of adolescent coming of age. The first person viewpoint is never very convincing. The father starts out believable then turns into a movie thriller 2D cut out to provide an unrealistic ending. What makes me sad is that there are middle school kids reading this bad writing--when I was middle school I was reading Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, and C.S. Lewis. Sigh....more
Fantastic, fun, and thoughtful read. This has everything I like about Neal Stephenson and nothing I do not. It has the depth of character he uses in TFantastic, fun, and thoughtful read. This has everything I like about Neal Stephenson and nothing I do not. It has the depth of character he uses in THE BAROQUE TRILOGY and the page-turning tension of REAMDE.
No spoiler. In the first sentence, the Moon explodes and splits into seven pieces. From there it gets worse. How can humanity survive on Earth when much of the Moon is falling to Earth and threatens to wipe out all living things? There is the hook in the first chapter. From there we get space exploration, eugenics, orbital mechanics, philosophy, politics, asteroid mining, and tons and tons of heroic action.
What makes this book good? NS's prose and the science that he makes part of the story. This is hard core science fiction. You get orbital mechanics, strange physics of chains being used to move space vehicles, and all sorts of believably real, forward looking science fiction. Having said that, you get real characters. Deep characters, Varying characters. Picture Arthur C. Clarke's best stuff and then infuse it with characters who are interesting and real and that you believe could be living human beings. The narrative, the plot, the story, all of it is served by the science of the book. I learn things about space and exploration, but it is wrapped up in a page-turning plot with believable conflict, unpredictable twists, and stunning action.
Have you seen the movie SUNSHINE in which a group has to go put a nuke into the sun to restart it? This book reads like that movie. If you liked SUNSHINE, you will probably like this. No spoilers--the ending of SUNSHINE is a bit horror-movie like. The ending of this book is nothing like that. Very real. Very amazing.
What I like most about this is that this could have been expanded and made a trilogy. Instead, NS packs all the fun and plot and science into one (admittedly big) book.
The only slight pick I have is the take on religion. Almost out of hand, NS dismisses real religion. Then he kind of sort of tries to supplant it with something new his characters come up with. It almost works. The problem is he tries to maintain that his plot, what happens in his story, proves all the religions had it wrong. Instead, since he clearly does not know Christianity as well as he thinks he does, he ends up with a plot that would fit very nicely into a Christian's worldview. I am sure he would deny it, but, as a Christian, I have no problem with his plot. I disagree with his omniscient narrator, but the plot fits just fine into what I know and believe.
Full disclosure--I have read virtually all of NS's fiction except ANATHEM. I tried to read ANATHEM, but I found it an anathema. Couldn't finish it. Hated it. I don't even know why for sure. I loved THE BAROQUE TRILOGY and think it is the best thing written by any modern author that I have read....more
This book takes the war up to 10 April 1945, which is the day my paternal grandfather was killed by being struck in the head by shrapnel from a GermanThis book takes the war up to 10 April 1945, which is the day my paternal grandfather was killed by being struck in the head by shrapnel from a German mortar shell in southwest Germany. Hitler dies two weeks later. Good riddance to Adolph and all his cronies. RIP Karl Kindt, Jr....more
If you really really want to know what a modern soldier sees first-hand and thinks about what he does, read this book. But you really don't want to knIf you really really want to know what a modern soldier sees first-hand and thinks about what he does, read this book. But you really don't want to know, do you, liberals? I mean modern liberals. You will hate this book if you are a modern liberal. If you are a classical Liberal like me, you will thoroughly enjoy knowing what our soldiers do to keep us free. Stop hiding your eyes and read this to find out what stupid ignorant liberal media outlets (more like outhouses) like CNN are spewing into our brains. This book details the agony of giving it all for one's country, even when most of the folks in it don't deserve it....more
If you are reading ALL THE WRONG QUESTIONS, then read this. I enjoyed it, but not in the way I thought I would. I really thought it would be like EncyIf you are reading ALL THE WRONG QUESTIONS, then read this. I enjoyed it, but not in the way I thought I would. I really thought it would be like Encyclopedia Brown, but Daniel Handler style. They're not. They are really slice of life snippets from people who live in Stained by the Sea. These are character sketches, not really mysteries. I would re-read this, and would probably enjoy it more than I did this first read since my expectations will not be misaligned (which is a phrase that here means wrongly oriented), just for the flavor of Handler's language and the enchanting, disturbing setting that I have come to love from Snicket....more