Abandoned—I just found the writing awkward and unengaging, so I had no reason to read further.

I always forget when I go a long time between Larry Niven books that he’s a bit of a misogynist, which is going to negatively color everything by him that I read. This is a book more about a concept than a story: a manufactured planet that forms a gigantic flat ring around its sun—what would that be like? Still, it’s an interesting concept, one that proved intriguing enough to keep me reading with interest.

Vonnegut explores the absurdities of the human creature through a plot in which the world is destroyed by our own folly.

While not as satisfying or as meaty as Earth, Brin’s portrayal of a post-apocalyptic America is still compelling. The main character, trying to survive in the Oregon wilderness, happens upon a dead mailman and confiscates his uniform. Putting it on, he becomes the “postman” for the people in the enclaves he visits and even begins carrying their mail, all the while bemoaning the fact that no one will take responsibility for restoring civilization without realizing that he, in a small way, is doing exactly that.

One interesting plot point is that the collapse is not brought about by war or disease but by an anarchist militia movement capitalizing on those things to destroy American society from within. Of course, at the end, the Postman and his followers must fight a decisive battle with that same militia to determine whose way of life will ultimately win out.

My review is here

My review is here.

My review is here.

Sorry, just couldn’t get into this.

Who is not familiar with the plot of Austen’s best-known novel (although I would argue that Emma is her best)? The headstrong Elizabeth Bennett meets the prideful Mr. Darcy, he forms prejudices against her family, she forms prejudices against him, but he still falls in love with her. He then shows her his true character, and she falls in love with him, and at the end, there is a wedding, of course.

This was my second reading of Pride and Prejudice—the first was in high school, I believe—but even if you are familiar with the story only from the numerous film versions, the book is worth a read. The most interesting character is the one the movies often gloss over: Mr. Bennett, Elizabeth’s father. Indeed, he represents the theme of the novel: the folly of an ill-chosen marriage. He has no respect for his wife, admits he squandered his income and thus put his five daughters at risk for poverty, and retreats from his life to his library whenever possible. Next to Mr. Darcy and even his own brother-in-law, Mr. Bennett is an ineffectual man, brought down by his own poor decisions. His one fear is that Elizabeth will follow the same path. Of course, she does not, and is rewarded with both bliss and riches.

It helps to think of this novel as a game, and you, the reader, as one of the players. There are many tipoffs that this is exactly the case. The title is one. The second is the chess metaphor for the novel’s narrative structure, starting with the opening gambit of “Pawn.”

Understanding that this is a game, and that there are secrets and strategies to be figured out, I won’t reveal too much plot. I will only say that the story is set in an English boy’s school that is erupting with scandal upon scandal, and that there are two opposing players, two narrators, although one of them—Roy Straitley, a Latin teacher—isn’t aware of the game until play is well under way.

This is a fun read, an entertaining read, a good book for when you’re sick or have a long plane ride ahead of you. It is not necessarily great literature, but then it doesn’t aspire to be, as the cutesy character names that underline the character’s personality (such as the teachers Meek, Keane and Dare) should alert you. If you approach the book as if it is a game, then you should get along fine.