The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2004.01.01 | Books, Robert A. Heinlein
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2004 (The Best American Series)
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2004.01.01 | Books, Dave Eggers, Viggo Mortensen
The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (Bantam Spectra Book)
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2004.01.01 | Books, Neal Stephenson
Watchers (Brilliance Audio on Compact Disc)
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2004.01.01 | Books, Dean Koontz, J. Charles
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2004.01.01 | Books, David Foster Wallace
Model World and Other Stories
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2004.01.01 | Books, Michael Chabon
A Box of Matches: A Novel
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2004.01.01 | Books, Nicholson Baker
Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2004.01.01 | Books, William L. Shirer
On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2004.01.01 | Books, Stephen King
When the Emperor Was Divine
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2004.01.01 | Books, Elaina Erika Davis, Julie Otsuka
New Spring (A Wheel of Time Prequel Novel)
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2004.01.01 | Books, Robert Jordan
Characters and Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing)
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2004.01.01 | Books, Orson Scott Card
David Copperfield (Penguin Classics)
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2004.01.01 | Books, Charles Dickens, Hablot K. Browne, Jeremy Tambling
A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4)
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2005.01.01 | Books, George R. R. Martin
Knife of Dreams (The Wheel of Time, Book 11)
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2005.01.01 | Books, Robert Jordan
Girl in Landscape: A Novel
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2005.01.01 | Books, Jonathan Lethem
The Broom of the System
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2005.01.01 | Books, David Foster Wallace
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2005.01.01 | Books, Tom Robbins
Atlas Shrugged: 35th Anniversary Edition
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2005.01.01 | Ayn Rand, Books
Slapstick: Or Lonesome No More!
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2005.01.01 | Books, Kurt Vonnegut
Welcome to the Monkey House
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2005.01.01 | Books, Kurt Vonnegut
The Disappointment Artist
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2005.01.01 | Books, Jonathan Lethem
Austerlitz (Modern Library Paperbacks)
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2005.01.01 | Anthea Bell, Books, Winfried Georg Sebald
The Modern Library Writer's Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction (Modern Library Paperbacks)
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2006.01.01 | Books, Stephen Koch
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2006.01.01 | Books, Philip K. Dick
The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2006.01.01 | Books, Simon Winchester
Chronicles: Volume One (Chronicles)
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2006.01.01 | Bob Dylan, Books
To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2006.01.01 | Books, Jonathan Sacks
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2006.01.01 | Anne Lamott, Books
Way of G-d: Derech Hashem (Torah Classics Library)
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2006.01.01 | Aryeh Kaplan, Books, Moshe Chaim Luzzatto
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2006.01.01 | Books, Daniel C. Dennett
It's a Mitzvah!: Step-By-Step to Jewish Living
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2006.01.01 | Books, Bradley Shavit Artson
The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1)
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2006.01.01 | Books, Philip Pullman
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Musical Tie-in Edition)
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2006.01.01 | Books, Gregory Maguire
Consider the Lobster: And Other Essays
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2006.01.01 | Books, David Foster Wallace
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2007.01.01 | Books, Kurt Vonnegut
The Man in the High Castle
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2007.01.01 | Books, Philip K. Dick
The Challenge of Creation: Judaism's Encounter with Science, Cosmology, and Evolution
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2007.01.01 | Books, Natan Slifkin
Amulet, Book One: The Stonekeeper
I've been meaning to read a graphic novel for some time. One of my favorite online comics (albeit infrequently updated) is Copper by Kazu Kibuishi (his earlier Coppers are a bit better than his more recent stuff). When I read about Kazu's new graphic novel on Penny Arcade, I knew it would be a good place to start.
As expected, the illustrations were wonderful. Kazu has an uncanny ability to show emotions through his character's facial and body positions. He has excellent pacing and intersperses interesting "camera" angles to keep the visuals fresh between frames.
I'm always amazed by how much work it must take to create a graphic novel. Besides the story planning and writing (which, I have read, is one of the genres weakpoints), each frame must be painstakingly drawn and colored. Imagine writing a full-length novel, and then going back and handwriting the entire novel, paying particular attention to the penmanship. Now multiple that by ten. Or something like that. (I have dreamed of trying this--like most of my dreams, it usually fails because I don't have much in the way of interesting stories to tell, and, more importantly, strong artistic skills outside of squiggly sperm-like characters.)
MINOR SPOILER ALERT: The opening sequence of the book is very strong, as it starts with the death of the two protagonists' father (this is not much of a spoiler since every synopsis contains this tidbit). From there, it spirals down into a standard fantasy tale, where they meet characters who want to help them, and others that want to hurt them. There is a slight twist at the end--although the twist is more of a foreshadowing of who is the real bad guy in the story.
Overall, I enjoyed the hour or so it took me to read. I plan to go back through it to study his amazing art. While I doubt I will purchase the next book, I am glad to have read the first one (similar to how I was happy to have read Philip Pullman's Golden Compass, but was content to watch the rest of his story on the big screen).
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2008.01.14 | Books, Graphic novel, Kazu Kibuishi
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
This book was part of my buying spree based on the excellent Ask Metafilter post: What single book is the best introduction to your field (or specialization within your field) for laypeople?. There are wonderful suggestions in that discussion, and I narrowed down the suggestions to four books.
This was the first of the four I finished. (I read this a while ago, as you can tell by the create date of the doodle I drew after finishing it.) It was surprisingly deep and informative. I was going to say "for a comic book," but that would not be fair, especially after reading and understanding Scott's view of comics. While there are plenty of simple and uninteresting comics, there are just as many uninteresting books, movies, and operas. Meaningful art has little to do with the medium and everything to do with the messenger and the message. Comic books are no less art than novels or plays. But I will return to that in a moment.
The first part of the book discussed the meaning and history of comics. Scott ventured back in history to where comics began to take the reader through their evolution. This is where he arrived at his definition for comics: “juxtaposed images in deliberate sequence intended to convey information or produce an aesthetic sense” (this is the paraphrased definition I used in my doodle when the full definition didn’t fit in the bubble. The actual definition is a bit longer—regrettably, I don’t have Scott’s book in front of me).
The second part explained the mechanics of comics. He moved through how motion occurs between static frames, how color is used, and the basics of symbols: how simplifying a drawing transforms them from mere photographic reproductions to iconic representations that move beyond the mere objects they represent. In other words, the act of simplification actually imparts more meaning on the images.
The most enjoyable part of the book, however, was toward the end. He goes through what it means to be a true artist. He described the different levels of comic book artists. The Dreamer: a child who reads comic books and wants to write them, but doesn’t put in much time or effort and gives up her dreams early. The Dabbler: she draws comics as a hobby, spends a lot of time doodling, but never moves beyond the hobby level. The mechanic: she works hard and becomes an artist, but a low-level artist, who draws or inks comics for other artists. The Expert: she moves past the low-level artist and even writes and draws her own comics, but she never takes risks. She tells the same stories in the same styles as the other artists who came before her. She may be monetarily successful, but she is not, The True Artist: she makes it to the Expert level, but decides to take a risk and push the current boundaries of comics. She creates her own styles and modes of storytelling. She moves the art form forward, not by relying on how others do it, but by taking risks and moving beyond what others accomplish. She sometimes fails, but when she succeeds, the comic world is changed.
I’ve not done Scott justice on this part. I had to read this chapter twice as I love reading this philosophy. It’s similar to what I learned from my former boss (and to a much lesser and flawed extent, Ayn Rand): it’s the independent risk taker that succeed or fail miserably in any worthwhile endeavor, whether it be succeeding in business or creating true art. To change the world means to move beyond how the world currently is. All great artists and people do this. This is what makes people truly great.
Scott ends with his thoughts on the future of comics. He believes that we are on the edge of a new interest in this art form: Society is poised to accept comics like paintings, novels, and television before it. Reading his book, I cannot help but agree.
Even for a person who has no interest in reading or creating comic books, this is an excellent book. It’s useful to understand different art forms, and develop an appreciation, if not a love, of comics.
⊕ Seattle, WA | 2008.01.15 | Books, Comics, Scott McCloud
You Suck: A Love Story
I'm not proud to say this: I enjoyed this book. It was a last-minute purchase at the Seattle airport before we left for Hawaii. Julie was buying her usual mix of informative and trashy magazines, and I was browsing the book section. I brought a few nonfiction books and Neal Stephenson's second book in the Baroque cycle. Although I wanted to get started on that book (I'm about halfway through it now), I opted for light reading for the plane ride. There's something about bubblegum novels that makes air travel tolerable.
I went with this book. There were a bunch of Moore novels on the wall, and I realized I had never heard of Moore. This was his newest and the red star (where they usually include book awards) won me over: "Now with More Moore!" I figured anything that cheesy must be good. The publisher colored the top, bottom, and side edges of the pages red to signify blood. It reminded me of books from my childhood where they took the time to add a splash of (usually faded) color to the edges of the hardcover book.
The book was a fun, easy read as it took only a handful of hours to finish. I was done on the second or third day of our vacation. It is a "love" story about two new vampires. It took me a while to figure this out, but the book is a continuation of the story and characters in one of Moore's older book. You don't need to (and I didn't) read that older book to enjoy this trashy novel.
I'm a big fan of "world building," where the author creates a set of rules for an alternative universe. In Fantasy Novels the rules usually revolve around the magic system. In Vampire Novels the rules revolve around what it means to be a vampire, with all of the vampire's advantages and disadvantages. This book was no different and provided a few minor twists to the usual vampire genre (such as the many Anne Rice novels I read).
What really dragged me in was a character that Moore introduced about halfway through the novel, a 16-year old goth chick who becomes the vampires' minion. Moore used what read like blog entries to represent her point of view. Her writing was overly overcaffeinated, highly intelligent, and completely entertaining. Moore managed to channel her thoughts with amazing accuracy--at least thoughts I would imagine she has. (It should go without saying that although she was highly entertaining, her thoughts and actions were also highly improbable, and likely not that of a 16-year old, but a 51-year old man trying to channel a 16-year old.) It was worth reading the rest of the book just for her chapters.
When eating dinner at that strange restaurant on Thursday, I saw someone else reading this book. I caught the red edges of the pages and I had my suspicions. When we went to order dessert, I passed by and peeked at the cover and saw the title. The person reading it was a 16-year old girl: I found the target audience for the novel. I'm not sure what it says about me that I also enjoyed it.
While I doubt I will read through many more Moore (heh heh) vampire books, it was a good purchase as it provided a nice easy transition into the vacationing mindset. Moore has a reputation as an absurdist in the line of Vonnegut. While I didn't see it in this novel, I am willing to check out some of his other attempts. If nothing else, I imagine they'll be highly entertaining and help me survive more airplane rides.
⊕ Kauai, HI | 2008.02.04 | Books, Christopher Moore, Kauai 2008
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir
This is not an autobiography, it's a time machines. Bryson, the author of many entertaining travel and adventure books, teleports us to Iowa in the 1950s and early 60s. Bryson is at his best exaggerating moments in his lives. This is my third Bryson book, and my favorite.
⊕ Kauai, HI | 2008.02.05 | Bill Bryson, Books, Kauai 2008
Foreskin's Lament
It's as if I wrote this book. While my family life was not as fucked up as Shalom's, I shared many of his thoughts, particularly the cynical ones about religion. It was difficult for me to put this book down. It was both hilarious and insightful, a difficult combination to pull off well.
⊕ Mercer Island, WA | 2008.08.15 | Books, Shalom Auslander
The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel (P.S.)
This book was a fun (if a bit slow) read, but I don't see it as a Hugo-award winning book. It's science fiction in the same way as historical fiction is science fiction. It provides an alternate universe placed in a what-if scenario, all wrapped into a boring detective story--at the end, when the big murderer reveal takes place, I had forgotten that there was still an outstanding mystery. It could be I'm just jealous, but I don't get it even though I like his writing.
⊕ Mercer Island, WA | 2008.08.25 | Books, Michael Chabon
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (Modern Library Paperbacks)
This book sat next to my bed for many months. I would peek into it every night before falling asleep. I found that a history/biography is perfect for late-night reading. Even though the writing was superb, there were few parts that would keep me up wanting to read more. The exception was Roosevelt's participation in the Spanish-American war with Roosevelt's Rough Riders. I knew nothing about this war, and I found myself fascinated by the history, explanations, and how Roosevelt resigned as Assistant Secretary of the Navy to participate as an officer commanding the troops. It's easier to understand what it means to be courageous (in it's non-cynical form) when you review Roosevelt's life.
My only complain with this book is that it needed a huge sticker on the cover: "WARNING: This book ends when Theodore Roosevelt becomes President of the United States of America. Read at your own risk."
I should have known something was up when Julie asked me where I was in the book a few days ago. I told her that Roosevelt had just become President of the police board of NYC. I was about three-quarters of the way through. It never dawned on me that it may end on the day he assumed the presidency. I finished reading last night, realizing the last eighth of the book was endnotes, and stormed to find Julie, stamping down the hallway between our bedroom and our office to tell her about the cliffhanger ending.
Overall, it was a great read. Roosevelt is a fascinating individual--one of those great men who people want to be near just to bask in his energy. You can feel that energy reading about his early life. I now need to find out how his presidency went. Time to visit Amazon again.
⊕ Mercer Island, WA | 2008.11.24 | Biography, Books, Edmund Morris
Watchmen
With the movie releasing in a few months, this graphic novel is everywhere. I picked it up for light reading over our Thanksgiving vacation. The Borders salesperson told me I was in for a treat. She was right.
The novel has a wonderfully character-driven story. I don't read many graphic novels, and it always takes me time to remember to look at the pictures and not just the text. What surprised me the most was the ending. It was good. I'm so used to watching animes with incredible setups and endings that are tacked on to call it finished. This novel had an overarching story that interweaved with about five character stories. There were plenty of origin and flashback scenes, and everything came together nicely at the end in a twisty ending.
After seeing the previews for the movie, I'm looking forward to seeing how they translate it for the big screen. From what I've seen, the tone and look are spot on.
⊕ Mercer Island, WA | 2008.12.02 | Alan Moore, Books, Graphic novel
Bluebeard (Delta Fiction)
This is a fictional autobiography of a giant in modern art who through most of his career used paint that fell apart five years after use. It is classic Vonnegut with a hint of war, and broken relationships.
⊕ Mercer Island, WA | 2008.12.14 | Books, Kurt Vonnegut
Steeped in Books
This may be the last Horrible for a week or so, as we're heading to Taiwan on Sunday night. I cheated a bit and found a doodle that shows my plans for the week: lots and lots of book reading. I spent part of yesterday buying new books in preparation for our travels. I can't wait to read and write and doodle and not work.
I'm fighting off a cold that is threatening to ruin my book vacation. Hopefully my heavy clothes and intake of vitamin C will hold it at bay. I'd hate to get to Taipei and be turned away at the airport for fear of flu.
We have our Naginata seminar and test this weekend. We should be good and exhausted by the time we board the plane on Sunday night (technically Monday morning).
I plan to have diary entries for our travels posted here. We all know how my plans usually go.
Mercer Island, WA | 2009.10.16 | Cast of Horribles | Books, Text
Many worlds within worlds
