36. Set This House In Order

by Matt Ruff (478 pgs)

Rating: 5

Andy is 26, Andrew is about 24 years younger. Andrew is the name of one of about two dozen personalities that inhabit Andy's body. In the beginning, Andrew is a fairly stable individual, all be it suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder. However, over the course of the book, it becomes evident that many issues have been left unresolved leaving cracks in his stability.

I found Set This House In Order chilling at times, warm at times, and provocative always. I'm not sure how accurate it is when it comes to the experience of multiple personality disorder, but I did get into the idea of how having lots of people in your head would work. Ruff is insightful and tender. He turns an un-blinking eye to the types of trauma that causes MPD and realistically portrays the kinds of confusion and turmoil inherent in an MPD's life. Instead of being demeaning, he managed to empower the two main characters of the novel as they took charge of their illness and wrestled with the metaphysical/spiritual issues. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I really like this book.

Recommended to everyone, but particularly psychologist or anyone curious about issues of mental health.

List 4: Mothers and Daughters

Source: Book Lust page 159

By way of a late-ish (I've been working on getting it together since before Mother's Day) Mother's Day present I'm doing a short list completely centered around mothers and their daughters. Incidentally mom, start checking for a box in about 5 days.

These are all books about relationships, both good and bad, between mothers and daughters. I know nothing about these authors and you would not believe some of the places I had to go to find them (I'm going to be sneezing for weeks.) Hopefully Mom and I will discover them together.

I love you Mom.

1. The Odd Woman by Gail Godwin
2. A Mother and Two Daughters by Gail Godwin
3. Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
4. Anywhere But Here by Mona Simpson
5. Charms for an Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons
6. True Confessions by Mary Bringle

Review of List 1: Connie Willis: Too Good To Miss

It's time, finally time, to do a list review. I bet y'all thought I'd forgotten mwahahahahahaha. *ahem* *cough* However, since this is not really a thematic list in the first place, I imagine that this review will be somewhat different from reviews I cobble together in the future.

Looking back over the list, I have to say that I enjoyed every book on there. I haven't managed to find a copy of Firewatch in any of my local libraries so I will probably break down and buy myself a copy but I feel that I can assess it as a list at this point.

I think when Pearl put this list together she just listed every novel and collection of short stories available at the time. As a living author this list is bound to grow. For a complete bibliography of Connie Willis' works click here. I think the important thing to say is that Willis is brilliant. She explores interesting concepts and it truly feels like much of her fiction spirals out of a 'what if' kind of question. The other thing to say is that, despite apparent subject matter, Willis books are not easy reads. I would not recommend reading her works rapidly and back to back the way I did. Eventually, it gets hard to continue reading even though the writing is not suffering and the plots are not less interesting.

It's hard for me to pick a favorite from this list so let me pick a couple.

Favorite:

Willis book over all: Doomsday Book - I simply couldn't put it down.

Fantasy: Water Witch

Piece of speculative fiction:Bellwether closely followed by Lincoln's Dreams

Short story: Even the Queen (Impossible Things)

35. To Say Nothing of the Dog

by Connie Willis (493 pgs)

Rating: 4

Ned is an overworked time traveler in need of a vacation. Too many trips in a short time have given him something like nitrogen narcosis and, in a fit of good timing, the boss needs some one to ferry a package to the Victorian era and they send Ned who can, while he's there, get some much needed rest. Unfortunately for Ned, he can't remember his instructions, what the package is, that he even has a package, or what he's supposed to do now that he's in Victorian England. This really is something of a problem and it gets worse as his presence seems to be creating more and more incongruencies in the timeline.

Set in the same world as Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog is a much lighter story about time travel and the things that can go wrong. Instead of the Middle ages, this story is set in Victorian England. It's a far more lighthearted look at time travel than Doomsday Book but there is an underlying issue that is looked at soberly. I'm glad that I read Three Men in a Boat first, Willis references it frequently and having just read it, I did appreciate the humor.

Generally recommended but be willing to be a little patient. It's a long long book.

34. Castle Roogna

by Piers Anthony(329 pgs)

Rating: 5

Dor, son of Bink and Chameleon, is now 12 and beginning to notice certain...things...about women. He's being groomed as the next king of Xanth and feels a certain angst about his relationships with other children. He consults King Trent who sends him on a quest to get a restorative potion for Millie the once ghost's love, the zombie Jonathan. (read The Source of Magic for the full back story) Because of his new awareness of women, this whole quest is problematic for the adolescent but undertakes the quest anyway. The major problem is the potion of restoration only exists in the past causing Dor to time travel 800 years in Xanth's past to find the remedy for his adolescent crush's undead love.

Castle Roogna surprised me delightfully. I think I missed this one when I was reading the series as a kid. It is essentially a coming of age story but I found it uncharacteristically touching and involving. The story, itself, was quite strong and Dor was extremely well fleshed out. He grew noticeably as a person throughout the story and I found that many of his self doubts were familiar. His internal monologue was reminiscent of things I say or have said to myself. In addition, the character of Jumper the giant spider was very well done and intriguing and I noticed no unresolved loose ends. All in all, a superior Anthony novel and perhaps my new favorite in the series.

I recommend this to every kid (even adult-kids) who feels awkward...ever...about anything.

33. The Source of Magic

by Piers Anthony (336 pgs)
Rating: 3

The second book in the Xanth series, Source of Magic continues to follow Bink as he is sent on a quest by King Trent to locate the source of all magic in Xanth. Not coincidently this happens while his wife is 9 months pregnant and very angry about it. He gathers up a host of characters and nearly destroys Xanth in the process.

the Xanth books are all basically fluff. Some of them are better than others. This is actually one of the better ones. The pace is good and the ever present puns don't get in the way too much. The character development was good and the somewhat convoluted resolution came off cleanly. All in all a fun read. There really isn't much to say about these books except that I would recommend them to kids between 10 and 15. They are enjoyable and indulge in language play which I feel is good for that age group.

32. The Left Hand of Darkness

By Ursula K. LeGuin (215 pgs)

Rating: 4

Genly Ai is a member of the Ekumen assigned to Winter as a kind of first contact specialist. His job is to live among the native inhabitants and lay a foundation for their entry into the interstellar sort of federation...or brotherhood maybe. In any case, Genly being what we think about as a typical human, physiologically speaking that is, is on a world with people who are potentially either/both genders and go through cycles of sexual readiness and are essentially non-sexed the rest of the time. This physiological fact has shaped their society and Genly quickly gets himself into trouble.

While not my favorite LeGuin book, The Left Hand of Darkness is one of my most loved science fiction books. When I was a teen I tried to read this book over and over and could not get past the first chapter. Eventually in college I had to read it for a creative seminar in science fiction and fantasy. Like many of LeGuin's books, The Left Hand of Darkness explores a number of fairly complicate questions. In this case concepts of gender, identity, and behavior take the fore. It's worth struggling through the beginning of the book. Aside from being a fantastic story it also contains interesting insights into why humans behave as they do and how language reinforces that.

I recommend this to all sci fi fans and anyone interested in gender identity issues.

31. The Handmaid of Desire

by John L'Heureux (264 pgs)

Rating: 4

Olga: A semi-mysterious, semi-divine, semi-ruthless, and semi-kind character of undefined origins and with obscure goals. A literary theorist invited to teach at a California university for a semester and quickly ends up the puppet-master of the petty intrigues of the department. The persistent question of the book: is Olga a character in a book that we are reading or is she, in fact, the author writing from within the pages? Or perhaps she is simply a deluded and eccentric narrator. It's impossible to tell.

I have to admit, The Handmaid of Desire had me hooked in under 10 pages. The concept is inherently intriguing but the writing was easy to follow and flowed well supporting the bizarreness of the plot without intruding. Truly, a well written book. As far as content: I think the plot was interesting and a touch of magical realism made for a invigorating spice. In fact, I think without it, the plot would have come off as a bit drab. I am interested to read more of L'Heureux's books...and also possibly check out the creative writing program in Stanford.

30. Foundation and Empire

by Isaac Asimov (234 pages)

Rating: 3

Two more installments in the Foundation Odyssey. The first, an ambitious general from the defunct empire makes a stab at reannexing Foundation through military might. Predictably Foundation pulls through. The second, is the first hint of real trouble. The introduction of a mutant fouls up the Seldon plan causing all sorts of havoc including a rush to the old imperial archives.

I think the momentum is failing. Yes. I think that's the problem with Foundation and Empire. It was still enjoyable but definitely was a bit laggy on the action. The big surprise in the second half was obvious to me nearly two chapters in.

I wouldn't bother with it unless you enjoyed the first book.

29. Carrie

by Stephen King (174 pgs)

Rating: 3

Carrie is the misunderstood butt of the high school. At 16 she doesn't know what menstration is and for some reason weird stuff always happens around her. Her overbearing zealot of a mother cows her into self loathing. So when Carrie get's invited to the prom by the most popular boy at school all hell breaks loose.

Reading this book almost makes me wish that I'd never seen the movie. I'm not the biggest King fan but I must admit: This book made my skin crawl. The way it's written is highly effective at keeping the reader off balance and the multiple points of view make the suspention of disbelief a little easier.

Recommended for horror fans

28. Passage

by Connie Willis (594 pgs)

Rating: 5

Joanna is a researcher studying and chronicling Near Death Experiences (NDEs)as scientifically as possible. Richard is a neurobiologist who's found a way to stimulated the brain into entering the NDE state by use of a drug. They team up to find out what the biological cause and function of NDEs is. This is all complicated by a sensationalist evangelical new waver named Mandrake, a labranthine hospital, and contaminated test subjects. When Joanna starts undergoing the tests as well, she finds herself on the Titanic...or does she?

It took me almost 3 months of reading, on and off, but finally I've finished it. We're back to the concept of speculative fiction, I guess. I would call Passage Sci-Fi maybe. But sci-fi has come to mean wookies and zap guns. Not that I have anything against either, but it would be a misrepresentation of this book. Much of it was about neuro-transmitters in the brain. There's a historical-fiction aspect of it in the importance the Titanic plays in the plot but even though it is important it's still tangential. I think the importance of this book is the philosophical aspects about death and grieving. There's a message there that touched me deep down and that I won't forget.

Recommended to anyone curious about death and to research scientists who I feel will appreciate some of the humor.

27. Foundation

by Isaac Asimov (236 pgs)

Rating: 3

The time of the Galactic civilization is ending. Progress has receded to stagnation and backslide into mysticism. The empire fails. A psychohistorian has the foresight to create two outposts of scientific advancement. This book follows Foundation over the course of about 200 years and 3 'Seldon crises.'

Asimov is an interesting writer. I've heard it complained that this is a boring book and I certainly had a hard time getting into it as a kid. However, it's not boring, just very very slow. The premise of mathematical predication of vast social movements is an interesting one although I have a problem with the term 'psychohistory.' It is a good exploration of the problems of a galactic empire.

Recommended to Science Fiction fans, this is something that should be read for the sake of the genre.

26. The Haunting of Hill House

by Shirley Jackson (246 pgs)

Rating: 4

Two young women, a antropologist, and a young man understake to spend a summer at the infamously haunted Hill House. Elenor is a young woman suddenly in possetion of her own life since her aged mother died. Theodora is a somewhat eccentric artist. Dr. Montague is an anthropologist, sort of, but really a researcher on the paranormal. Luke is a scalywag who is invited because Hill House belongs to his family. All four of them are there to challange the house and determine the truth of the rumors.

The Haunting of Hill House is perhaps Jackson's most well known novel. Mainly due to the fact that it's been made over into a movie at least twice I believe. The last time was in the 90's and was somewhat regretable. In any case, the book is technically fascinating. Throughout, it gives very reasonable technical explinations of the effects in Hill House while at the same time giving the idea that it is truely haunted. It's a very creepy book.

Recommended to all who enjoy a good ghost story...just don't watch the movie first.

25. We Have Always Lived in the Castle

by Shirley Jackson (214 pages)

Rating: 4

Mary Elizabeth and Constance, along with senile uncle Julian, are the only surviving members of the Blackwood family. The rest of the family died under somewhat mysterious circumstances which implicate Constance, although she's been acquitted. Together, Mary Elizabeth and Constance live out their lives in a routine way hiding from the nearby villagers who hate them. And then cousin Charles comes and things begin to change.

I might not call We Have Always Lived in the Castle horror per se. I would certainly describe it as chilling or disturbing. I can't really see it fitting well in any other genre, so I suppose horror will do. In any case, Jackson does a wonderful job of building a believably creepy person. However, as is the case with most of her novels, it was a little slow.

I recommend it for a somewhat disturbing read.

24. Demons Don't Dream

by Piers Anthony (340 pgs)

Rating: 3

Two mundane kids, Dug and Kim, get to wander around Xanth by virtue of a computer game. What they aren't told though is that they are actually pawns in a larger game to decide the fate of Xanth.

Reading Demons Don't Dream was skipping a ton of material in the series that I probably needed to have to really enjoy this one. Generally speaking I don't think it much matters what order you read these books in but this one needs to be towards the end I think. In any case, it was cute. There was a lot of groaning at the puns and I think Anthony pegged what a mundane kid would think of Xanth if they'd never heard of it before.

It's worth reading if you have a free afternoon.

23. Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses

by David Lodge (251 pgs)

Rating: 4

Philip Swallow and Morris Zapp are English professors who exchange places for a term. Zapp goes to England and Swallow comes to America. The story is set in 1969 and amid the beginnings of feminism and anti war activism, Swallow discovers a life more pleasant. Zapp finds his training as a ruthless American academic puts him in the perfect place to help the poor little English university expand and grow. Both of them find they like the other's life...better.

I want to go on the record as saying this is a strange book and my rating may change after I have more time to think about it. Whether it goes up or down is something I have no answer for.

Changing Places is meant to be a satire. It is poking at the lifestyle of the academic communities in both Britain and the U.S. making out neither to be particularly better than the other. It pokes at U.S. history surrounding Viet Nam, the sexual revolution, and woman's liberation movements. Also, it pokes at the British post-colonialism attitudes. I know just enough about all of these to identify that they are being satirized but not quite enough to really appreciate them. All except the lifestyle of the literature academic in the U.S. and that's debatable. I do know plot wise, this is a fascinating book. Something like watching a train wreck.

Structurally, there is some interesting things going on and a disturbing awareness in the text of it. The book is broken unevenly into 6 sections. The voice in the first section is third person omniscient distanced narrator. In the second and fifth section it's a more conventional third person non-distanced voice. The third section is epistolary, the forth is news clippings, and the sixth section is a teleplay. An example of what I mean about disturbing awareness can be found on page 130 deep in the epistolary section a character writes, 'There's a whole chapter on how to write an epistolary novel, but surely nobody's done that since the eighteenth century?' It's clever in a gentle sort of way but it happens through out.

In any case, I'd recommend this to anyone in academia and those who consider themselves 'serious readers.'

List 3: Academia: The Joke

Source: Book Lust page 3

In celebration of me leaving my job behind I've decided to read humerous fiction about academia. It didn't occur to me that there would be enough material out there to support this list but on reflection it makes considerably more sense. After all, academics tend to be highly literate people and highly literate people are more likely to write books and people tend to write about what they know....in this case academia. (run on sentance I know) In any case, I haven't heard of any of these authors so it'll be an adventure.

1. Pictures from an Institution by Randall Jarrell
2. The Groves of Academe by Mary McCarthy
3. Moo by Jane Smiley
4. Japanese by Spring by Ishmael Reed
5. The Handmaid of Desire by John L'Heureux
6. Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis

David Lodge
7. Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses
8. Small World: An Academic Romance
9. Nice Work

Malcolm Bradbury
10. Eating People Is Wrong
11. Stepping Westward
12. The History Man
13. Rates of Exchange
14. To the Hermitage

22. A Spell for Chameleon

By Piers Anthony (344 pgs)

Rating: 4

Bink is a man in a land of magic with no apparent magic of his own. Unfortunately the law is that those with out any kind of magic talent at all must be exile to the dreaded and drear Mundania. Through much adventure, Bink learns that he has a talent but no one can identify what it is.

I read A Spell For Chameleon this when I was in Jr. High and remembered almost none of the plot when I picked it up to re-read it. I have to admit, the love story was much more touching, the characters much more interesting, and the writing much tighter than I remembered it.

Anyone who likes light-hearted fantasy or Douglas Adams would probably appreciate this book.

21. Prince of Chaos

by Roger Zelazny (241 pgs)

Merle is suddenly whisked away to the Courts Chaos and informed that with the king dead, he's suddenly in line for the throne. Unfortunately, he doesn't want it. Perhaps even more unfortunately...it's obvious that there are forces out there that want him to have it.

Apparently Prince of Chaos is meant to be the end of the series. I came away from with many more questions and a sense of incompletion. It seemed very much that this is a set up for a new series which of course will never come...at least not from Zelazny's pen.

It was a good read. Definitely worth it if you've read everything leading up to it.

20. Knight of Chaos

by Roger Zelazny (251 pgs)

Rating: 4

Merle and Jasra start the Knight of Shadows off as allies. Go figure. If you haven't read the previous books that's not going to make a lot of sense...but it is, in fact, a strange turn of events. Merle's brother Mandor is introduced. Things between the Pattern and Logrus get more strained. There is a continuation of a whole mess of plot lines that could just be dropped but the book is enjoyable in a day time soap opera kinda way.