There were parts of this movie that I really liked, and perhaps they make me feel all the more disappointed in the long run, because there was alot of potential in this movie that never really came to fruition. I enjoyed alot of the humor, and visually the film was interesting enough… but some of the melodramatic elements (especially Largeman’s twin father/lover monologues at the end of the movie) really seemed forced and empty. Very different from the relaxed and realistic conversational tone that the movie tends toward throughout. It just seems like the movie succeeds better when it isn’t trying so damned hard to be deep.

I’m all for the young male’s journey toward manhood theme (god knows it’s been done enough)... but it has certainly been done better in many respects. Hack out a little of the feigned drama, and cut some of the gratuitous twentysomething angst, and this would be a much better film.

(Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah) – (Whiny Voice) – (Tyco Xylophone) + (Goth References) = Say Hi to Your Mom

I was originally assigned to read this novel in graduate school, as it was the subject of a thesis by a schoolmate of mine. I didn’t read it at the time, as I presumed that any book set in Puritan New England and written in 1827 would lack even one iota of interest for me.

I was pleasantly surprised, reading this novel (four years overdue) at the progressiveness of much of Sedgewick’s social commentary, as well as how modern much of her character development and storytelling was.

The novel reads like a movie script, and follows the somewhat soap-operaish adventures of a tangle of people and a triangle of lovers in Puritan Massachusetts. Covering topics like the assassination of the Indians, the stifling confinements of hyper-religion, the alienation of women within their own culture, and the way context can dictate morality, this was an interesting and very accessible glimpse at the mind of a talented female author who lived almost 200 years ago.

A good book for those interested in social dynamics of early America, as well as those who just like a good dramatic read with lots of eyes rolling to the heavens, and praise of golden ringlets.

A suggested read.

Not only for the foundation it laid for much of the scifi that followed, but also for the aesthetics of Gibson’s prose, which is alternately turgid (but in an effective way) and pointedly simple. Gibson is great because, at least in this novel, he avoids the common pitfall of vapid characters floating in lush and detailed environs. On top of the literary merits of the book, it is so entwined culturally with our modern technological era that it could be read as a reference work as well as a story.

A highly suggested read.

A companion book to the PBS series, this book is great both for just flipping around looking at all the pictures, and for reading. A visually pleasing book that touches on all the facts of the Lewis and Clark Voyage of Discovery, and includes some interesting perspectives on the legacy of the voyage, from Native American and female viewpoints.

A good book for people who are kind of interested in the American West, Lewis and Clark, or American history in general. It won’t tell you everything you want to know, but the book provides an attractive starting point.

Suggested read.

A decent novel, with some measure of suspense, but I found the ending to be kind of a letdown. Overall the kind of book that is quick to read and even more quickly forgotten. There are better books out there that are more worthy of your time.

Not suggested.

When someone lent me this book, and spoke so highly about Patterson’s books, (and when I realized this author’s books are bestsellers time and time again) I really expected something special.

Disappointingly, I found the dialogue cliched, the romance tacked on, the story development stilted and the ending predictable. Some of the psychological development of the characters (the bad guys, mostly) was interesting, but Patterson tossing in references like Chomsky and such made me feel like he was trying to “smarten up” this story, instead of just writing a story that was smart to start with.

It’s books like this making the bestseller list that make me wonder what the world is coming to. However, it does clear up my confusion about how some authors manage to pump out book after book after book…

I have an image in my mind of Twain writing this book, and in that image he is constantly getting distracted, then getting drunk, then getting distracted again.

That’s not to say that the book comes across like some sort of punctuation-less Neal Cassady tract, but rather that it tends to meander, without a firm identity, from the first page to the last.

In the novel, a young man is conked on the head, and wakes up in Medieval England. With typical American audacity, he sets about revamping Medieval times by infusing them with a steady wealth of technology and progress. Along the way, he rails against autocracy and plans a democratic revolt, all of which eventually roil the world which he has entered.

Sounds simple enough, but under Twain’s hand, the story is like a wagon ride: bumpy, jolting, and prone to getting bogged down in the mud. It’s not the typical Twain-ian asides that I am referring to that make the story sort of mangling… more like an editor gone amuk.

Suggested if you’re trying to get through the Twain library. Otherwise, there are better Twain options out there.

I had some issues with Maggio’s other book, Mattanza, which was kind of a personal narrative set against a historical and contemporary consideration of ancient Sicilian tuna fishing rituals. Because of those issues, I was hesitant to read this book, but was pleasantly surprised.

Stone Boudoir is a lovely “travel journal” type book about the mountain towns of Sicily, and Maggio’s writing in this book, as opposed to in Mattanza, is personal without being self-absorbed, and has a lighter touch that gives a very fair but deep treatment to her real subject: Sicilians themselves.

The prose is clean and simple but very evocative, and the chapters, each a little snippet recounting a particular town or story, are short but rewarding.

If you have Sicilian family, you’ll find in this book the comforting sort of learning experience that you would hope to have by travelling to Sicily yourself.

If you just have interest in travel literature, or in Sicily or Italy, the book will do well to present to you an understanding of an ancient culture that, even in our day, is still poised on that brink between the past and the inevitable current of “the future.”

A suggested read.

I usually read books like these not so much for the discussions and considerations of battles and warfare that they (almost entirely) focus on, but for the little snippets of every day life that are tossed in as asides.

Xenophon’s book was no different in its passionate concentration on horse brigades, or triremes, or the constant give and take of shifting alliances, sieges, battles and peace treaties around which the ancient world seems to have revolved, all very “soap opera” and such.

There were some interesting tales he chose to tell, including one about a wife of a slain leader who became a powerful leader of a city state (fascinating, especially in an era such as hers). The recounting of various speeches and tactics therein, used at the assemblies in Athens, were also very interesting reads.

If you’re into warfare, or war strategy, you’ll love Xenophon, because he loves those things too; you’d probably find this book absorbing. If you don’t like the battle chat, but have historical or cultural interest in the ancient world, you’ll find this book a good one to skim.

Suggested with reservations.