Digested Reads

Update to Currently Reading (From May 12th)

Art Since 1900 -Hal Foster,Rosalind Krauss, Yve-Alain Bois, Benjamin H.D Buchloh:
Almost unreadable-but why? It's not that Foster &co have an academic agenda nor is it that it's a fairly obscurist view of modern art that will deter all but those majoring in the subject, no, my quibble with this text is that the authors consistently impute more spatial ability to their readers than is reasonable. From separating text from object, on to introduction of concepts in a non linear progression and through on to my favorite gambit- describing the impact of a certain art work from a given point of view BUT NOT ACTUALLY SUPPLYING A PHOTO FROM THAT ANGLE! Apparently, if you can't rotate objects three dimensionally in space, Mssrs. Foster etc don't want you reading their opinionated little text. Fine. Then don't. There are several dozen better books on the subject...

Yiddish Policeman's Union - Michael Chabon:
Weirdly compelling, even though I normally dislike his sort of naif storytelling but give me a Yiddish noir about an alternate time line where the Jews got Alaska instead of Israel and I'm like iron filings to the true magnetic north. Still can't decide if I liked it though. How strange is that?

Mcsweeney's 22 - Dave Eggers et al:
Pretty Pretty. Could do without the poems though, but that's just me. Otherwise, if you know McSweeneys, been introduced and done the dance already, you'll like it just fine. If not, I recommend # 13 ('the comics one', edited by Chris Ware) as a good place to start.

Raymond Chandler's Playback: A Graphic Novel -Ted Benoit & Francois Ayroles
Rediscovered screenplay that has been re-imagined visually in a blocky, yet somehow satisfying fashion by some french guys. And it's set in Vancouver! Am now intensely curious to know how much of the visuals are based on the actual architecture of the time. If anyone knows anything, please tell me!

Against the Day - Thomas Pynchon:
Still. Working. On.It. (Got about 400 pages in and then got waylaid. I'll be back though, I promise!)

In Defense of Atheism - Michel Onfray:
Interesting. French. Another take on the recently developing genre of loud'n'proud anti-religious tracts (And yes, I use that word advisedly)

God is Not Great - Christopher Hitchens:
This book's getting a stand alone review later in the week since I find I have so much to say about it.

Armadale -Wilkie Collins:
Type too small, fiendish book resists me every time I try to open it. Note to self, stop buying 50 year old paperbacks with 'hooky' fonts, you know you won't read them.

Good Omens Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman:
A delight and a hysteria, satisfying to fans of either/both.

Steep Approach to Garbadale -Ian Banks:
Disappointing and somewhat predictable. His output has been less than spectacular the last few outings but I'm ever willing to concede that even at his worst, he's still better than most. (See The Wasp Factory for a baseline comparison)

Flight -Sherman Alexie:
I have followed Sherman Alexie's work for years, he's a really interesting guy and I respect him a lot but unless this is a mislabelled Young Adult title, he somehow lost the plot with this one.
It reads like an after school special and I can't fathom why he plunged across the line he's always walked between writing fiction about First Nations that defies stereotypes (good & bad) and exhibiting a nuanced sense of humor, into the land of feel-good pablum.
Hmm, oh well, there's always the next one...