More dissatisfying pop sci.

There’s a thematic resemblance to Pretty Woman going on here, but it was much less Hollywood.

Faceless Killers is the second Kurt Wallander novel that I’ve read (my first was Firewall). I’m now officially a fan of Henning Mankell; this was even better than the first.

Again we’re given the little details that make Wallander a realistic character. While investigating a horrific murder, he deals with mundane issues like weight loss, an aging father, a failed marriage, a troubled child. Many of these problems he’s hopelessly ill-equipped to solve, and he seems to recognize this but soldiers on anyway.

On top of that there’s a peek into Swedish immigration problems. It’s always interesting to get a look at what’s going on in other countries, even in works of fiction.

I’m going to make an effort to find the other books in the Wallander series, and anything else by Mankell that I can lay my hands on.

My comments are actually about the 2002 edition.

1. I didn’t learn anything. I’ve read a bunch of finance books and a few books on economics, and this book just didn’t add anything substantial for me, so it was a waste of time.
2. The author likes to give multiple metaphors to explain economic activities, things like people choosing a line at the grocery store. I found this to be boring padding, ymmv. I’d prefer a straightforward discussion of how it works, and then some detailed discussion of the nuances involved.
3. I found the author’s writing style pompous on occasion, which was a turn-off.
4. The book struck me as slanted to the right, although it’s probably true that I’m ignoring his minor attempts at appeasing the left. There’s the usual talk about “creative destruction” and rah rah for globalization. The author proposes that inhumane labor practices should be ignored in third world countries – after all, the alternative is prostitution for these workers, and no one is making them work under poor conditions in these factories, they are choosing it of their own free will! So buy your junk from Wal-Mart and feel good about all the tiny kids stabbing themselves with sewing needles for 12 hours a day, because we’re all winners in this equation! We are supposed to believe that only these two options are available, and that we have no say in adding more options for third world workers. There is not one mention of the fair trade movement. Negative effects of capitalism are sprinkled with fairy dust and swept under the rug with “yes, it really sucks to be poor, but we’ll give them a little government subsidy to soothe our consciences, but let’s not dwell on unpleasantness, but instead move right along to the next sterling example of creative destructionism.”

Made me think of a Disney film. The characters were cardboard. ’Nuff said.

I watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo today.

The movie’s well done, and very closely follows the book. The only problem is that there are no surprises. I’m glad I read the book first. I’d give the movie more stars if I hadn’t.

Now I sort of want to go out and get a nose ring…

I just finished viewing Water Lilies. Summary: teenage hormones run amok at the pool.

And the French word of the day is: un collier (necklace).

In On the Road to Kandahar, Jason Burke writes about his experiences as a reporter covering the Arab world (Pakistan, Iraq, etc). A lot of the time, I had a hard time understanding what was going on inside his head. I don’t always get the feeling that he’s horrified at what he’s seeing (whereas it horrified me) and that kinda creeps me out. I also don’t fundamentally understand the attraction? romance? of reporting in those regions; maybe it’s a British thing.

I found the book tedious at times. I think it could have used some editing, or maybe it’s just that I don’t enjoy the author’s writing style. Caveat: the book was given to me by a friend, so it’s not something that I picked up of my own accord. My attitude may be due to that.

The message: You shouldn’t eat processed foods, they’re not all that good for you. Well, duh! It’s not that there’s anything wrong with In Defense of Food, but the content is not exactly news. I don’t feel like I got anything out of it that I didn’t know already.

Death Echo is not a complete failure, which is why I kept reading. There’s a sliver of a plot which might have been developed into something interesting, and in the last 50 pages or so, I came out of my boredom-induced coma to yawn sleepily a few times.

That’s the good part. The bad part? The characters were superficial, which is typical for this kind of novel (think Baldacci). There was insufficient action and insufficient plot to make up for the lack of characterization. The chapters run a few pages in length, and in almost every chapter you are reminded of the burning lust that the two protagonists feel for each other. At some point it’s laughable. There’s way too much detail about boating and yachts here. Normally I might be interested, but the plot was so boring I could barely focus. Yawn.