A Little Ludwig Goes A Long Way

An aha moment for me recently. Two unusual books I have read recently have significant online presences. Rant has a fairly rich site with a lot of content related to the author and the book. Nothing that really changes the book experience, but some useful supporting materials.

The Raw Shark Texts is a much deeper experience – Steven-Hall.org. I can see now that reading the book has only given me a facet of the story, there is a tremendous amount of additional discussion and material online, some of which may be very material to the story and the experience. The physical book is truly just the tip of the iceberg. 

I just happened to stumble on the Raw Shark Texts web info, I was looking for the author’s email to send him a note asking about the quality of the Kindle version. 

And now I wonder why the Kindle version can’t be more than just a rerendering of the physical book. Why can’t it be a subscription to the ongoing content stream? I’d pay more.

• Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith. A self-absorbed eccentric man leads an eccentric life with eccentric friends. Thankfully short. Amazon says 3.5 stars, this seems high. 2 stars I’d say.
• Real World by Natsuo Kirino. Curious to read a well regarded novel from Japan. But didn’t do it for me. Callow angst-ridden teenagers, yawn. Amazon says 4 stars, I say 1.5. Couldn’t finish the book.
• Obedience: A Novel by Will Lavender. Kind of interesting premise, a psychological game unfolds on a campus, slowly sucking in some students.  But the characters were thin and the pacing forced and all a little unbelievable. First novel so here’s hoping practice makes perfect. Amazon says 2.5 stars, why did I buy this book?? I’d say 1.5 stars — I could finish it but I wish I hadn’t.
• The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall. Another first novel, this one is a crackerjack of a story. A gripping opening, an interesting central premise about memes, great imagery. Really awesome. Amazon says 4 stars, I agree wholeheartedly, an interesting book.
• Rant: an oral biography of Buster Casey by Chuck Palaniuk. Chuck, you need therapy. A disturbing tale of epidemic, time travel, moral laxity, bigotry, disease. Interesting, yes. Corrupting, probably. Amazon says 4 stars, I’d agree, though this is a warped book.

• The Walls Of The Universe by Paul Melko. Starts out very promising, protagonist and his doppelgänger travelling through a many worlds multiverse, trying to recapture the lives they had. But the deeper emotional themes get swamped by a uninspiring run-of-the-mill conspiracy story. Amazon gives it 4.5 stars, I’d say 3.
• The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson. Outrage at humanity’s casual misuse of the planet and each other, despair, a smidgen of hope, with hints of Bradbury, LeGuin, Moorcock. Not my taste at all. Amazon says 4 stars, I’d say 2, but some people like this style.
• The Right Mistake by Walter Mosley. Great collection of stories about a modern day urban Socrates.  Uplifting. Amazon says 4 stars with some saying earlier books in the series are better, I haven’t read them, I liked this one just fine.
• Genesis by Bernard Beckett. Modern day retelling of the Genesis story with some twists. Entertaining and thoughtful, short and sweet. Amazon says 4 stars, I’d agree.
• The Good Guy by Dean Koontz. Solid action tale. Ending a bit too pat and the underlying conspiracy a bit too standard, but nice tale up to that point. I expected supernatural from Koontz and was pleased that this book was not supernatural. Amazon says 4 stars, I’m good with that.
• Halting State by Charles Stross. Good cyber adventure. Stross is reliably entertaining. Another 4 star from Amazon, I like this as well as anything in this set, I might say 4.5 stars. 
  

• Alphabet Juice by Roy Blount Jr. Fun wordplay. Probably best read as a bathroom book. If you hate word etymologies, crosswords, etc., don’t bother. Amazon says 4 stars, true if you are a word geek.
• The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow. A little plodding at times but a reasonable discussion about the prevalence of chance in our lives and our continual efforts to force cause-and-effect structures on the brownian motion all around us. The key life lesson is this — persevere and swing the bat as often as you can. And be humble about your successes and forgiving of others lack of success, because luck plays a bigger role than talent. Amazon says 4 stars, I’m ok with that
• Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. A solid magazine article blown up into a book. Success == hard work, built on top of the opportunities provided us by our unique family/culture. Fun anecdotes. Amazon says 4 stars, it is a well-written book, but a little thin.

Actually, reading The Drunkard’s Walk, Outliers, and The Black Swan as a set would not be a terrible idea for most people to learn about randomness, how it will affect your life, and strategies for coping.

• War As They Knew It: Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, and America in a Time of Unrest by Michael Rosenberg. Good story of the Hayes/Schembechler rivalry years and the times and changes on their campuses during these years. Enjoyed more than I thought I would. Amazon says 4.5 stars, I think this is right if you are a Michigan or OSU fan or big college football fan.

• Calculating God by Robert Sawyer. Fine first contact tale with a lot of pathos. Amazon says 4 stars, it is a solid effort. 
• Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen. Tale of a psychotic man trying to make sense of his life. Oddly engaging, you want him to succeed. Amazon says 3 stars but very bimodal, you either love or hate this book.
• Family Planning by Karan Mahajan. Tale of maturation of eldest son and father in a huge family. Tends towards farce at times which I did not enjoy, but the core relationship stories are good. 5 stars on Amazon, that may be a bit rich, but a good book.