Book-A-Day

The Power and the Glory

2012-06-05T07:00:00.002-05:00

June 5, 2012

Book of the Day: The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

Grade: A+

First published: 1940

1-word review: Oppression

8-word review: Man is either broken or he breaks himself.

In the southern Mexico of the early twentieth century, priests have become all but extinct due to the zealous efforts of an anti-clerical, authoritarian government (in this case, personified in a nameless police lieutenant), who have forced them to either renounce the faith and marry, or be put to death. In the midst of this hell, one unnamed priest holds out and does his best to evade the authorities and, despite himself, continue in his duties. But this man is wracked by guilt and far from holy. He drinks, earning him the appellation of "whisky priest," and he has fathered a child. He seems to believe that he is damned no matter what he does, but, ironically, he struggles throughout the story to find some sort of redemption. It is up to the reader to pass judgment as to the ultimate worth of this man's soul.

In a heartbreaking side story, Padre Jose, a priest defrocked and forced to marry, is ridiculed by his former parishioners and subjugated by his wife. Children gather around his porch at night to mimic his wife's calls for him to come to bed. He loathes himself, but he fears the state too much to defy it, to show courage.

Greene was inspired to write this novel after a visit to Mexico in the late '30's. In the state of Tabasco, its governor had established a paramilitary force called the "Red Shirts" to harass Catholics and terrorize the clergy. Religion was effectively banned in the state.

Tomas Garrido Canabal, the anti-clerical governor of Tabasco

Don't be fooled by his silly outfit. He wasn't very nice.

I am in awe of this novel. It has remained my favorite since I first read it almost six years ago. Greene's mastery of words is always noteworthy, but his language is remarkable here, with nary a word too many or too few. Greene was a prolific author, and many of his other novels rank among my favorites (e.g, The Quiet American, The Heart of the Matter, The End of the Affair, The Comedians). Read him.

Graham Greene (1904-1991)

Grand Re-Opening

2012-06-02T07:00:00.001-05:00

I am restarting this blog. Originally, it was for a project of mine where I read a book every day for the month of December 2009. It will continue to follow a similar format, but I will not be reading a book every day, and my posts could be about any book I have read, whether recently or a long time ago. I may even write occasional pieces that are more generally about reading, instead of focusing on specific books. Enjoy.

A Month in Books (December 2009)

2010-01-05T20:50:00.019-06:00

I'm sure you as my massive reading audience greatly enjoyed my month in books (not that I'm suggesting that you, dear reader, are personally massive). This will be my last post until my next Book-a-Day month, at a yet to be determined point in the future. Here are my December awards:

Book of the Month Award - Arabian Nights and Days, by Naguib Mahfouz
Honorable Mentions - Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell; The Atom Station, by Halldor Laxness; The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John le Carré
Worst Book Award - The Museum of Dr. Moses: Tales of Mystery and Suspense, by Joyce Carol Oates
Dishonorable Mention - Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer

And here are some of the things I learned over the month of December:

If you choose to read a book a day, pick a month other than December to do it, even though you'll be out of school. The holidays really screw with the reading time.
Avoid trying to read a short story collection in a single day.
Write in your blog immediately after finishing each book, or you'll keep putting it off.
Blogging is actually a pretty good way to deal with writer's block.
Tiger loves him the ladies.
I'm pretty much invincible at fantasy football.
It really isn't the thought that counts.
Idaho is a bottomless well of endless amusement.
Reese loves you!

Homage to Catalonia

2010-01-05T20:37:00.008-06:00

December 31, 2009
Book of the Day: Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell
Grade: A
First published: 1938
1-word review: Civility
8-word review: It's preferable not to be shot at all.

George Orwell goes to Spain in 1936 to report on its civil war. He ends up joining a militia, the Workers' Party of Marxist Unity (POUM), and becoming an active fighter in the struggle against Franco. Despite joining a group with communist sympathies, Orwell finds much to criticize in the practical application of communism as a political philosophy, although he finds POUM's anti-Stalinist stance more palatable than some of the other Marxist groups active in the Spanish Civil War. He ends up leaving for England after surviving being shot in the neck.

Spain spent decades under fascism before becoming the relatively liberal democracy it is today. Learn from this, Idaho! Shrug of the propagandists of the right and aim for the light of freedom! What have you gained from blindly following a single party? I mean really, you're basically a third-world state! Imagine that the potatoes were all gone. Just suppose we had a Great Idaho Potato Famine. Then where would you be? Lentils can only carry you so far. I guess there's always the white supremacist tourist trade.

This is your future, Idaho!

The Theory of the Leisure Class

2010-01-04T23:08:00.015-06:00

December 30, 2009
Book of the Day: The Theory of the Leisure Class, by Thorstein Veblen
Grade: A-
First published: 1899
1-word review: Conspicuous
7-word review: It's all pecuniary conspicuity, you materialistic bastard.

This is an interesting, sometimes funny, frequently profound, take on our consumer culture. There's a certain desire to achieve material success just to show others that we have achieved material success. Furthermore, our motivation comes from seeing the success of others. These factors lead to what Veblen calls "conspicuous consumption." We like other people to notice our stuff.

Then there are those who try to try to wow you with their stuff when their stuff isn't all that impressive. Veblen refers to these people as "Boise State fans."

Just a little love tap.

His Excellency: George Washington

2009-12-31T23:58:00.006-06:00

December 29, 2009
Book of the Day: His Excellency: George Washington, by Joseph J. Ellis
Grade: B-
First published: 2004
1-word review: Undeification
7-word review: Washington actually had some character to him.

George Washington has always been a mystery to me. Despite knowing many facts about his life, I'd always felt like I knew nothing about him personally. Frankly, I thought he was quite boring. Ellis does a decent job of shedding some light on Washington's character. I enjoyed this biography much more than Ellis's over-hyped Founding Brothers.

Washington quite literally commanded respect. If a person judged his character in a way that differed in the slightest from his image of himself, that person was cut off. He was constantly accusing people with which he did business of cheating him, fairly or not. He was a shameless self-promoter, and he capitalized monetarily from his name. He was one of the few prominent founding fathers to die wealthy.

Despite all this, he deserves the credit he receives, for holding the fragile early republic together. He was greatly admired by his peers and recognized for his charisma and strength. He was the easy choice to lead the Continental Army, and he was the first Electoral College's unanimous choice to be President.

If Washington had known about the eventual creation of Idaho, would he have called the Revolution off?

A Moveable Feast

2009-12-31T23:52:00.009-06:00

December 28, 2009
Book of the Day: A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway
Grade: B-
First published: 1964
1-word review: Gossipy
8-word review: Hemingway dishes on some famous people, including himself.

Hemingway's experiences in Paris as a young man had an enormous influence on his writing. Here, in a book published posthumously, he writes about that time, the city, the booze, the culture 0f expats, the famous writers he knew (Stein, Joyce, Fitzgerald, Pound), his first wife, etc. It gets a little too detailed and voyeuristic at times, but it's still an interesting read.

Hemingway committed suicide in Idaho. What does this tell us about Idaho?

Go Tell It on the Mountain

2009-12-31T23:42:00.008-06:00

December 27, 2009
Book of the Day: Go Tell It on the Mountain, by James Baldwin
Grade: B+
First Published: 1952
1-word review: Motility
7-word review: Man changes little in space and time.

With energy and passion, Baldwin tells the story of an African-American family's struggles through poverty and segregation, in the South and the North. His writing informs all the senses, and not always pleasantly. His honesty is frequently discomforting, but necessary.

Idaho has a Black History Museum (really!), despite the fact that no black person has ever set foot in the state.

http://www.ibhm.org/

The Hive

2009-12-31T23:33:00.005-06:00

December 26, 2009
Book of the Day: The Hive, by Camilo José Cela
Grade: B+
First published: 1953
1-word review: Groupthink
6-word review: Normal folks aren't all that normal.

Franco's Spain has produced an excess of selfish, judgmental people among the lower middle-class. Cela tells their story as a series of interlocking vignettes. He revisits each of his numerous characters as needed throughout the novel, adding bit by bit to their collective story.

Francisco Franco was a Spanish dictator.

He ran his nation much as Idaho is run today. Spain was a single-party state, and its people were largely mindless automatons following whatever propaganda came their way. I shudder to think what Franco would have accomplished with Fox News.

The Lawless Roads

2009-12-30T23:26:00.008-06:00

December 25, 2009
Book of the Day: The Lawless Roads, by Graham Greene
Grade: B+
First published: 1939
1-word review: Faithless
8-word review: In Mexico, they execute for treason, not religion.

As I've said before, my favorite novel is The Power and the Glory, by Graham Greene. It is set in a Mexico that has essentially outlawed the practice of religion (i.e., Catholicism), and priests have been executed, imprisoned, or forced to marry. This book documents the journey that Greene took through the southern Mexican states of Chiapas and Tabasco, during the time of the clerical purges. This trip gave him the material to later write his great novel.

While it doesn't compare to his best novels, The Lawless Roads is still a wonderful read. Greene is frequently a grouchy traveler, and he doesn't always appreciate the culture or scenery of southern Mexico. I found this refreshingly honest, at least compared to most travel books. He speaks of the barbarism of the state, which executes outspoken priests following trumped-up charges of treason. Much the same is happening now in Idaho, whose state motto is "Catholic-Free and Proud.".

A Christmas Carol

2009-12-30T23:22:00.002-06:00

December 24, 2009
Book of the Day: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens
Grade: C
First published: 1843
1-word review: Bah!
5-word review: "I think I'd rather not."

I liked Scrooge better before the ghosts visited him.

Idaho-ho-ho!

Black Elk Speaks

2009-12-30T23:16:00.012-06:00

December 23, 2009
Book of the Day: Black Elk Speaks, as told to John G. Neihardt
Grade: B
First published: 1932
1-word review: Smoke
6-word review: Traditions change, by force if necessary.

We become eyewitnesses to the subjugation of a culture, yet Black Elk speaks plainly. This is the way it is. Our traditions are strong, and we fight for them, but we've had to adapt. We hope to preserve our culture, yet we realize the uphill climb that we face.

This is a narrative told mostly in the voice of Black Elk, a Lakota holy man who is there for Little Bighorn and Wounded Knee, performs with Buffalo Bill, and dies in 1950. Neihardt admits to making slight changes to Black Elk's words, in order to make the narrative clearer, but he still manages to make the story feel authentic. It is heartbreaking and spiritual, in equal portions.

Many Native Americans had to suffer to make room for white Idahoans. Are the potatoes really worth it?

A Good Man Is Hard to Find

2009-12-30T22:49:00.012-06:00

December 22, 2009
Book of the Day: A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories, by Flannery O'Connor
Grade: A-
First published: 1955
1-word review: Salvation
7-word review: The rural South is a happy place.

Not many writers, even great ones, can write a good short story. There's something about condensing an idea to its very essence that a novelist can't handle. Flannery O'Connor was a great short story writer. Like a poet, she could communicate a complete idea in the fewest words required. Her characters are briefly described but fully fleshed out, and the reader becomes engulfed in each story's environment. The rural South is a scary place in her stories, yet there is always some sense of hope for salvation.

However, I've come to the conclusion that a short story collection should never be read in one day. A writer has certain themes and settings that she likes to repeatedly revisit, so reading all of her stories in such a short period makes it difficult to appreciate each one individually, since no matter how different they are from one another, they will run together a bit.

O'Connor was a Georgia native, and all her stories are set in the South. Why aren't more stories set in Idaho? Your assignment for today is to write a story based on the following representative Idaho photograph, taken by Joe Deaver.

Discussion Question:

Why doesn't the sign say "Rabbits & Meat Bunnies?"

Arabian Nights and Days

2009-12-26T23:34:00.005-06:00

December 21, 2009
Book of the Day: Arabian Nights and Days, by Naguib Mahfouz
Grade: A
First published: 1982
1-word review: Genial
8-word review: It's better to be a genie than not.

It is the end of the tales of Shahrzad (a.k.a. Scheherazade), and she is married to the apparently reformed sultan, but the stories continue in their kingdom. Mahfouz forms these interconnected stories into a powerful novel. Every human emotion is explicated wholly. Genies are mischievous and amoral, and they can't help interfering in human affairs, seemingly out of sheer boredom. And an angel walks around in a human disguise.

Mahfouz is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers. Perhaps you should give him a try, if you know what's good for you.

Quick fact: One Thousand and One Nights was originally set in the wild lentil-laden plains of Idaho (not widely known).

Mahfouz!

The Accidental Theorist

2009-12-26T22:06:00.006-06:00

December 20, 2009
Book of the Day: The Accidental Theorist and Other Dispatches from the Dismal Science, by Paul Krugman
Grade: C
First published: 1998
1-word review: Capital
6-word review: Economics really is a science, really!

Why do popular economics books always exaggerate the veracity of claims made by economists? Krugman manages to do this while at the same time insulting the many economists he disagrees with. How about just one mention of the generally recognized rule that an economic theory is considered to be a wild success if it can be shown to apply in just two-thirds of cases?

Krugman has become famous in recent years as a public intellectual, specifically a liberal one. Despite his liberalism, he is an ardent defender of capitalism, and many of these essays reflect that. His writing style is only adequate, and this book is pretty forgettable. And I was disappointed that Idaho didn't get a single mention.

Gilgamesh

2009-12-26T21:38:00.005-06:00

December 19, 2009
Book of the Day: Gilgamesh, by Stephen Mitchell
Grade: C-
First published: 2004
1-word review: Repetitive
7-word review: Gilgamesh was kind of a whiny jerk.

Gilgamesh is a mediocre version of a mediocre, but historically important, epic. Mitchell has made a bit of a specialty out of stealing other people's translations of great works, dumbing the story down, and claiming authorship for himself (while crediting some of the translators' works he has stolen). And his introduction is absurd, both in length and quality.

Here are some interesting facts about Idaho:

The official state bird is the mountain bluebird.

The official state fish is the cutthroat trout.

The official state mammal is the white supremacist.

This Side of Paradise

2009-12-21T22:54:00.014-06:00

December 18, 2009
Book of the Day: This Side of Paradise, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Grade: B+
First published: 1920
1-word review: Lost
9-word review: Maybe an estate tax isn't such a bad idea.

Here we have F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel, a look at spoiled rich kid, Amory Blaine, with too much time and money on his hands. His father acquired the family's wealth via inheritance from dead older brothers (not a bad way to make a living). Amory lives a shallow life before serving in the Great War and winding up in advertising, a career perhaps shallower than any other. Ultimately, he is damned, and his hell is on Earth. And no, I don't mean Idaho.

Blow the House Down

2009-12-21T21:27:00.007-06:00

December 17, 2009
Book of the Day: Blow the House Down, by Robert Baer
Grade: B
First published: 2006
1-word review: Incompetence
5-word review: Our intelligence ain't so intelligent.

With prose like a hard-boiled detective novel, Robert Baer excoriates the U.S. intelligence system for its failures in the lead-up to 9/11. The signs are clearly there, but a stubborn reliance upon old practices, fighting among agencies, and a pathological fear of telling the truth lead to tragic results.

Baer has gone down this road before, in terrific books such as See No Evil and Sleeping with the Devil. The difference here is that Blow the House Down is a work of fiction. It's not going to go down as one of the great novels of the decade, but it's a good thriller nonetheless. A CIA agent is apparently being framed for crimes he did not commit. He chooses to not go down without a fight. Baer draws upon his own experiences in the agency to give the story a feel of authenticity.

Nine out of ten Idahoans believe the CIA is sending them subliminal messages through advertisements for dog food. Potatoes are our only defense.

Into the Wild

2009-12-19T14:11:00.007-06:00

December 16, 2009
Book of the Day: Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer
Grade: D
First published: 1996
1-word review: Peripatetic
10-word review: Not all who wander are lost, but Chris sure is.

Chris McCandless leaves civilization behind and roams the West. Sort of. He eventually finds his way to a remote corner of Alaska, where he starves to death. He embarks on this journey without money, wilderness training, much food, or many tools. He was a rich kid who grew up in the D.C. suburbs and graduated from college in Atlanta, at Emory. He became obsessed with stories about life away from civilization, especially the writings of Thoreau and Jack London. And he hated his parents with an intense passion, for reasons never made very clear in the book.

Why is it that the writings of Jon Krakauer always make me angry? Not just at the people he writes about, but more so at Krakauer himself. Maybe it's because he so frequently jumps to ridiculous conclusions, whose lack of logic he manages to gloss over with writerly tricks. Maybe it's because he so frequently has to remind us of the extensive research he does. Or maybe it's just the fact that he has to turn almost every story he writes into a story about himself, making himself the protagonist, at least for a while.

Krakauer insists that McCandless is not crazy, while inadvertently giving evidence to the contrary. McCandless is compulsive, obsessive, peripatetic, controlling, manipulative, charming, restless, paranoid. He has trouble with intimacy and a tendency to get lost in a fantasy world. He shows little real regard for the feelings of others. He is intensely self-centered. These are all common characteristics of various mental illnesses. Krakauer seems to think that McCandless can't be crazy because he reminds him so much of himself.

By the way, did you know that Idaho is not just the top producer of potatoes, but the top producer of lentils in the United States as well? What an amazing state!

Living in Idaho is certainly better than starving to death in Alaska.

Netherland

2009-12-17T22:13:00.009-06:00

December 15, 2009
Book of the Day: Netherland, by Joseph O'Neill
Grade: B+
First published: 2008
1-word review: Terror
8-word review: Cricket eases the pain, some of the time.

Things get a little weird in New York after 9/11. People are afraid. Many foreign nationals move back home. The Chelsea Hotel houses some peculiar residents. A multicultural hodgepodge meet in parks around the city to play cricket. And one naif holds on to an ideal image of the American dream. In this bizarre world, a Dutch native named Hans struggles to find meaning. It's an unusual and surprising read.

Here's what the game of cricket looks like.

See, the guy throwing the ball is the bowler. The guy holding the bat is the batsman. The guy in the back is, I'm almost positive, part of the grounds crew. The goal of the batsman is to hit the ball, or not, I'm not really sure. I think they score points somehow, possibly, and somehow they decide when the game ends. The rumor is there is something called a "sticky wicket," but this might just be an urban legend. Anyway, this typical cricket scoreboard should clear things up.

Um, as far as I can tell, England is playing New Zealand. So there you have it.

I hear Idaho has some lovely cricket fields.

Islam

2009-12-16T09:54:00.007-06:00

December 14, 2009
Book of the Day: Islam: A Short History, by Karen Armstrong
Grade: C+
First published: 2000
1-word review: Ummahculate
8-word review: For Muslims, political history is inseparable from religion.

Armstrong is a former Catholic nun who writes books about religion, usually from a comparative perspective. This short book on Islam is fairly good, but not particularly insightful. A pronouncement is made at the beginning that, more so than other major religions, Islam's identity and systems of belief are inseparable from its political history. This is a valid stance to take, but in so taking it Armstrong gives short shrift to Islam's impressively rich cultural and intellectual history.

In my opinion, Reza Aslan's book No god but God is a much better introduction to the history of Islam.
Former Boise-area Congressman Bill Sali (pictured below) believed that the election of a Muslim to Congress in Minnesota was going to bring God's punishment down on our nation. It's no coincidence that Islam is currently illegal in Idaho.

The Ministry of Fear

2009-12-15T23:48:00.010-06:00

December 13, 2009
Book of the Day: The Ministry of Fear, by Graham Greene
Grade: B+
First published: 1943
1-word review: Sneaky
6-word review: Don't ever accept cake from strangers.

In a war-time London continually under siege by German bombers, a man wins a cake under mysterious circumstances and becomes a target for murder. Greene had the habit of of classifying some of his novels as "entertainments," or less serious works geared towards a more general, less literary audience. This is one of those entertainments, as is Our Man in Havana.

And it is entertaining. There are all sorts of twists and turns and complex characters, and more humor than most of his works. Still, like his more serious works (The Heart of the Matter, The Power and the Glory, etc.), it exhibits Greene's mastery of language, plotting, and character development. I'm a tremendous fan of Graham Greene. You should be one too.
Britain was under constant bombardment because of this man, Idaho's most famous native son.

Disgrace

2009-12-14T23:37:00.005-06:00

December 12, 2009
Book of the Day: Disgrace, by J.M. Coetzee
Grade: A
First published: 1999
1-word review: Brutal
9-word review: South Africa's still struggling in the aftermath of apartheid.

A communications professor in Cape Town resigns his job after having a scandalous affair with a student. He visits his daughter on her ranch in the country, where they are viciously attacked and robbed in her home. The rest of the novel, in sparse and nearly perfect prose, deals with the aftermath of this attack, examining white guilt, police incompetence, and intellectual bankruptcy.

Coetzee is a white South African who wrote a novel that depicts black on white violent crime in his country. As you may expect, this has generated quite some controversy, despite Coetzee's bona fide anti-apartheid status. Many critics have suggested that Disgrace should be read as an allegorical tale about the inadequacies of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a body set up in South Africa to examine the atrocities associated with apartheid. I can buy that.

Here's a photo of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

He would undoubtedly never be allowed into Idaho.

Freddy the Detective

2009-12-12T23:25:00.010-06:00

December 11, 2009
Book of the Day: Freddy the Detective, by Walter R. Brooks
Grade: A-
First published: 1932
1-word review: Porcine
5-word review: Don't mess with the pig.

Freddy the Pig awakes one morning to find Hambone, his best friend and longtime sty-mate, missing. He begins an investigation into the disappearance only to stumble upon the dismembered and eviscerated corpse of Hammy hanging in a meat locker. He proceeds to take revenge on those he deems responsible, doing to them what was done to his buddy. Blood flows as Freddy self-destructs in an orgy of violence. This is all rather surprising to find in a children's book.

Warning to my more sensitive readers! Here's a gruesome picture of some of Hammy's remains, shown only in the interest of science.

Here we have Idaho.

Dakota

2009-12-11T22:27:00.017-06:00

December 10, 2009
Book of the Day: Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, by Kathleen Norris
Grade: B-
First published: 1993
1-word review: Solitude
8-word review: Desolation brings enlightenment, but only for a few.

The western part of North and South Dakota is, perhaps, the most desolate, unforgiving location in the United States, even more so than Idaho. Populations shrink as farmers and ranchers struggle to make a living with nutrient-poor soil, harsh winds, little rain, and temperatures that range from well below zero to well over 100 degrees over the course of the year. Gossip and back-stabbing reign as residents struggle to find a reason for their hardship.

Still, Kathleen Norris has found peace in this place. She uses a strange mix of realism and idealism to describe her life in Lemmon, an isolated town of less than 2000 people in northwestern South Dakota, right on the border with North Dakota. She left New York City in the early '70's to take over the farm she inherited from her grandmother, and she has lived there, with her husband, ever since. She has evolved into a craver of solitude, even becoming an oblate (a sort-of part-time monk) at a Dakotan Benedictine monastery, despite herself being a Protestant. She comes to see herself as inseparable from place. Place defines her and molds her.

Here's a photo of western South Dakota. Click for a much bigger picture.

Here's an abandoned North Dakota farmhouse, a common sight nowadays, although the grass is usually not so green.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was Norris's too-frequent tendency to quote other writers. This became a distraction. Furthermore, she has too simplistic and rosy a view of other writers and intellectuals with degrees from prominent institutions. I understand her point about locals being resistant to new ideas, but maybe new ideas can sometimes be bad ones, even (frequently especially) if they come from well-educated people.