the reading reading: 2015

Thursday, December 31, 2015

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

My favourite McEwan work: short, sharp, touching, skilful.

The Moon and Sixpence by Somerset Maugham

I'd forgotten how sexist this book is, how sexist Maugham generally is. Nonetheless, it's a stunning portrait of a man who does portraits -- I'm writing this for myself so puns come aplenty, o imagined reader I am writing to regardless. Maugham combines psychology with storytelling, but in a majestic way: allowing a character's mysterious behaviour to remain mysterious, not providing reasons where reason knows not, all the while still rendering the characters believable.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

30-Second Mythology edited by Robert A Segal

Very lame. Hard to believe this collection of not-well-written mythological vignettes could be written by a number of contributors rather than a single author.

Monday, December 21, 2015

My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad

Fun, warm, a bit long. Dickensian in its portrayal of curious characters, yet lacking depth.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

A Geek in Korea by Daniel Tudor

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran by Robert Spencer

He cherry picks, is biased... but Spencer is also appraising the Koran more honestly than many others who more blithely claim the book to be about peace.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

The Koran by God translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali and another by Tarif Khalidi

Hard to believe this book is the basis for a religion. Tedious, repetitive. Is almost a book of Chinese whispers derived from the Old Testament repeated ad nauseam.

The Koran: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Cook

Dull work that detailed some of the more boring details in slipshod manner.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Dictator by Robert Harris

Such jolly good fun. A bit rushed in the end. The whole series should probably have been a tetralogy than a trilogy, but that's a trifling criticism when compared to the galloping joy of reading the series.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

In The Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire by Tom Holland

There was some really interesting content in here... most notably the dubious origins of what we think we know about Muhammad's life... but this book was far too long, covering too much minutiae in a narrative that was long-winded.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Lustrum by Robert Harris

Accidentally reread this -- I thought it was going to be the third of the trilogy, not the second. Even second-time round, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Thrilling, fun, action-packed. All non-literary novels should aspire to be this good.

Friday, November 20, 2015

Eva Luna by Isabel Allende

A catalogue of bizarre stuff happening that nonetheless felt humdrum. Little sense of climax, suspense.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

The Divine Comedy: Purgatory by Dante, translated by Clive James

It's a rollicking, picaresque tale about going through hell and back. Plus there's a bunch of highbrow references and allusions to the Bible, theology and Graeco-Roman mythology, which keeps academics employed debating minor points of long-forgotten arcana when not writing copious footnotes and prefaces and indexes to new translations. But essentially: it's a rollicking, picaresque tale that Clive James translates exceptionally well.

The Little Book of Economics by Greg Ip

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong

Offered too much detail, not enough overview for my liking. Also a little repetitive about the difference between mythos and logos, which was a little frustrating because the explanation of mythos was a little lacking. Nevertheless, the rise of literalism in exegeses of holy books being due to the reign of logos was an eye-opening thought.

Latham at Large by Mark Latham

He's crazy. He's also compelling.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

The Right Attitude to Rain by Alexander McCall Smith

What muzak should aspire to be.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

The Pigeon by Patrick Suskind

Half-arsed. He can write, but half-arsed is still half-arsed. He might never write anything as good as Perfume again, but Suskind did indeed write Perfume.