I'm almost caught up. I've finished book 11, and I've already started book 12! I'm not sure if I can finish it and write a blog entry by tonight, but at least I'm getting pretty close to being current.
A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson
I read this on a recommendation from a friend on Facebook, who noticed that I had "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by the same author on my potential reads list (at least I think she did). She assured me it was quite funny, and she was not wrong. This book is immensely entertaining, not to mention surprisingly informative.
Bryson tells the tale of his quest to hike the Appalachian trail. His original intent is to hike the full length, from Georgia to Maine. He sets out in early March from Springer Mountain in Georgia, the southernmost point of the trail, with an old school buddy named Stephen Katz. Katz is a recovering alcoholic and substance abuser and is seriously overweight and out of shape, having replaced booze and drugs with donuts and Little Debbie snack cakes. He provides much of the story's comic relief as he struggles to keep up on the trail, puffing and swearing and indiscriminately jettisoning key supplies and foodstuffs in order to lighten the load of his pack.
They amazingly make it to the north end of Smoky Mountain National Park, when they come to the realization that they are never going to complete the whole trail. Rather than quit, this realization re-energizes them, and after a cab ride to Knoxville and a rental car to Roanoke, they resume their hiking in Virginia, often camping on the trail, but sometimes visiting inns and hotels to clean up, have a good meal, and rejuvenate. They stop when they get to Skyland, as Bryson has to take a break to do some book promotion duties. Katz goes back to Iowa, promising to return to hike Maine in August. After fulfilling his obligations, Bryson returns to the trail in a series of day trips, driving to various locations and hiking, but spending the night indoors. In August, Katz returns to attempt a hike of the Hundred Mile Wilderness in Maine with Bryson in one of the northernmost parts of the trail.
Bryson generously peppers the story with interesting facts about the origin of the trail, the animals that inhabit the wilderness, and tales of bear attacks and murders that have occurred. He talks about the purpose of the Forest Service (to facilitate logging), and the ineptitude of the Park Service in maintaining parts of the trail and preserving animal and plant life in the forest. He tells stories of various towns near the trail, and describes many interesting characters that he meets along the way.
This is a wonderful book, even if your idea of roughing it is no room service. It is warm and funny and informative. I highly recommend it. Thanks, Betsy!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Book 10 - (late) - The Blithedale Romance - Nathaniel Hawthorne
You may have noticed that I'm still behind, but things are not as bleak as they might appear. I actually finished this book a couple of days ago, and I'm about two thirds of the way through my next one. I expect to finish that book today, although I'm not sure if I'll get to the blog entry until tomorrow. If I can read one more by Saturday, I'll be caught up. By the way, the title of the Blog entry now reflects the book number rather than the week number, seeing as I can't seem to stick to the schedule.
The Blithedale Romance - Nathaniel Hawthorne
This is another book that I had to read for my American Literature course. It is from the same time period as Moby Dick (1852) but it is much shorter and easier to read. The story centers around a group of people who try to build a supposedly model society on a communal farm in New England. It is told in the first person by Miles Coverdale, who portrays himself as a poet, even though very little work of his has actually been published. His tale centers not so much around the commune, but around a love triangle between Hollingsworth, a monomaniacal philanthropist who is bent on turning the commune into a rehabilitation center for prisoners, Zenobia, a feminist of some renown, and Priscilla, a young girl who joins the commune under mysterious circumstances.
Coverdale is easy to hate. He comes across as lazy and weak and distorts time while relating the tale, albeit not overtly. He makes you think that things take longer or shorter than they actually do. Falling ill the first day of his arrival, he convalesces for what seems like an extended period of time, but which was probably only a few days. After recovering, he needs a break from the commune after what turns out to be just a few weeks, but he makes it seem like it's been months since he's been there.
Coverdale is a voyeur who seems to view life from the sidelines, and to exaggerate the importance of his relationships with other people. He is a peeping-tom, and he sets up situations where he can observe his subjects without their knowledge. He sets up a "hermitage" in the branches of a large white pine, where he observes the conversations (and who knows what else) of the other members of the commune. While away from the commune, he sits looking out his hotel room window watching the windows of a boarding house across the way, in a scene that might have inspired "Rear Window." Although Coverdale never describes observing sexual behavior, there is an implied sexuality to these scenes that was probably quite provocative in Hawthorne's time.
Hollingsworth, a bit of a strange man, has a strange hold on both Zenobia and Priscilla. Zenobia is smitten with him and despite her staunch advocacy of feminism, she stands by her man in a way that would make Tammy Wynette proud. Hollingsworth seems to be courting her for her wealth to fund his philanthropic vision. He eventually dumps her for Priscilla, for reasons, and with consequences that might give too much of the story away.
I've never read anything else by Hawthorne, so I don't know how this ranks in relation to his other work. My professor thinks this is a much better book than "The Scarlet Letter," and doesn't understand why so many teachers insist on teaching that book rather than this one. For me, this was a good introduction his work, and certainly showed me why he is considered to be such a great American author. I enjoyed the book, and maybe I'll get around to reading some more of his work one day!
The Blithedale Romance - Nathaniel Hawthorne
This is another book that I had to read for my American Literature course. It is from the same time period as Moby Dick (1852) but it is much shorter and easier to read. The story centers around a group of people who try to build a supposedly model society on a communal farm in New England. It is told in the first person by Miles Coverdale, who portrays himself as a poet, even though very little work of his has actually been published. His tale centers not so much around the commune, but around a love triangle between Hollingsworth, a monomaniacal philanthropist who is bent on turning the commune into a rehabilitation center for prisoners, Zenobia, a feminist of some renown, and Priscilla, a young girl who joins the commune under mysterious circumstances.
Coverdale is easy to hate. He comes across as lazy and weak and distorts time while relating the tale, albeit not overtly. He makes you think that things take longer or shorter than they actually do. Falling ill the first day of his arrival, he convalesces for what seems like an extended period of time, but which was probably only a few days. After recovering, he needs a break from the commune after what turns out to be just a few weeks, but he makes it seem like it's been months since he's been there.
Coverdale is a voyeur who seems to view life from the sidelines, and to exaggerate the importance of his relationships with other people. He is a peeping-tom, and he sets up situations where he can observe his subjects without their knowledge. He sets up a "hermitage" in the branches of a large white pine, where he observes the conversations (and who knows what else) of the other members of the commune. While away from the commune, he sits looking out his hotel room window watching the windows of a boarding house across the way, in a scene that might have inspired "Rear Window." Although Coverdale never describes observing sexual behavior, there is an implied sexuality to these scenes that was probably quite provocative in Hawthorne's time.
Hollingsworth, a bit of a strange man, has a strange hold on both Zenobia and Priscilla. Zenobia is smitten with him and despite her staunch advocacy of feminism, she stands by her man in a way that would make Tammy Wynette proud. Hollingsworth seems to be courting her for her wealth to fund his philanthropic vision. He eventually dumps her for Priscilla, for reasons, and with consequences that might give too much of the story away.
I've never read anything else by Hawthorne, so I don't know how this ranks in relation to his other work. My professor thinks this is a much better book than "The Scarlet Letter," and doesn't understand why so many teachers insist on teaching that book rather than this one. For me, this was a good introduction his work, and certainly showed me why he is considered to be such a great American author. I enjoyed the book, and maybe I'll get around to reading some more of his work one day!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Week 9 - (belated) - The Ascent of Money - Niall Ferguson
OK, I'm still behind, but I made it through this week's book. As I was saying in my last post, if I can knock out two books this week, I'll be caught up. I need to read "The Blithedale Romance" for school, so that will likely be the next book. I haven't decided what the other one will be yet.
The Ascent of Money - Niall Ferguson
The "Ascent of Money", is a world history of financial innovation. It attempts to correlate financial events to the historical time periods in which they developed, and outline how the current state of world affairs was related to the particular financial development. Ferguson's writing style is clear, and he explains complex financial instruments in language that the layman can easily grasp, and explains how these innovations affected and were affected by global events.
Ferguson's financial history ranges from the use of stone tablets to record transactions in ancient Mesopotamia, up through the most recent housing market bubble and the credit crunch. Along the way he discusses the way the bond market developed as a means for countries to fund their war efforts, and how inflation - especially hyper-inflation - can destroy the value of these instruments, as well as the economies of countries reliant upon them. Ferguson traces the corporation from it's Dutch origins and explains how a convicted murderer from Scotland used market manipulation to gain control of virtually the entire French economy during the reign of Louis XIV. He explains insurance and it's relation to the welfare state, and explains hedge funds and derivatives. The real estate market is examined, explaining not only the causes of the current boom and bust, but also the S&L crisis of the eighties. Ferguson also discusses globablization and the rise of China from the Opium Wars to modern day.
I found this book quite interesting, partly due to the fact that I spent eight years developing software to model securitization transactions, one of the financial innovations discussed, and one of the key contributing factors to the housing bubble. I recommend it to anybody who wants to gain a better idea of how modern financial concepts developed. PBS aired a multi-part special based on the book, which you can watch online. There are four one-hour episodes, so it wouldn't be much of a shortcut to this material, but I think it might be interesting if you were interested in the material but didn't feel like reading the book. I haven't watched it yet (I plan to), but I spoke with a friend of mine who did, and he said it was very good. Here's a link to the first episode:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ascentofmoney/featured/the-ascent-of-money-episode-1-from-bullion-to-bubbles/44/
The Ascent of Money - Niall Ferguson
The "Ascent of Money", is a world history of financial innovation. It attempts to correlate financial events to the historical time periods in which they developed, and outline how the current state of world affairs was related to the particular financial development. Ferguson's writing style is clear, and he explains complex financial instruments in language that the layman can easily grasp, and explains how these innovations affected and were affected by global events.
Ferguson's financial history ranges from the use of stone tablets to record transactions in ancient Mesopotamia, up through the most recent housing market bubble and the credit crunch. Along the way he discusses the way the bond market developed as a means for countries to fund their war efforts, and how inflation - especially hyper-inflation - can destroy the value of these instruments, as well as the economies of countries reliant upon them. Ferguson traces the corporation from it's Dutch origins and explains how a convicted murderer from Scotland used market manipulation to gain control of virtually the entire French economy during the reign of Louis XIV. He explains insurance and it's relation to the welfare state, and explains hedge funds and derivatives. The real estate market is examined, explaining not only the causes of the current boom and bust, but also the S&L crisis of the eighties. Ferguson also discusses globablization and the rise of China from the Opium Wars to modern day.
I found this book quite interesting, partly due to the fact that I spent eight years developing software to model securitization transactions, one of the financial innovations discussed, and one of the key contributing factors to the housing bubble. I recommend it to anybody who wants to gain a better idea of how modern financial concepts developed. PBS aired a multi-part special based on the book, which you can watch online. There are four one-hour episodes, so it wouldn't be much of a shortcut to this material, but I think it might be interesting if you were interested in the material but didn't feel like reading the book. I haven't watched it yet (I plan to), but I spoke with a friend of mine who did, and he said it was very good. Here's a link to the first episode:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ascentofmoney/featured/the-ascent-of-money-episode-1-from-bullion-to-bubbles/44/
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Week 8 (Sort of) - Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Well, I may be behind, but I'm definitely not out of the running. My goal is 52 books in 52 weeks, not 1 book a week for 52 weeks, although I really need to keep up with a book a week if I'm going to succeed. I think I'm on track to finish my latest book by Saturday, which will be the book for week 9, but I'll still need to read two next week to catch up. I think I can do it.
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
This is one of the books I had to read for my American Literature class. It's a long book, written in very dense 19th century english, and it's chock-full of nautical terms which are completely foreign to a landlubber such as myself. In my version of the book, which is the Longman Critical Edition, the text of the novel is 500 pages long. There are 70 pages of explanatory notes, in which the editors explain biblical, historical, and cultural references which they have deemed more involved than a normal footnote (of which there are plenty) would allow. There are also 40 pages of revision narratives, in which the editors explain differences between 3 key versions of the novel: the original American version of the novel, the English version which was released a month later and contained numerous changes and deletions by the British censors and Melville himself, and a 1988 scholarly version which attempts to incorporate some of the changes they felt Melville wanted into the original American text. The Longman editors start from scratch, working with the original text. They note whenever there is a difference between the versions and explain what the difference is and why they think the change was made. If all this sounds a bit obsessive and pedantic - it is. Which is exactly why I had to read every word of it.
That's just how I roll.
Personally, I abhor the industry of whaling. These are magnificent, intelligent creatures that deserve our respect. But the whaling world of Moby Dick was vastly different from today. These were sailing vessels, with no power but the wind, and expeditions would often last for several years. The smaller boats that pursued the whales were powered by oars or by sail. The harpoon was thrown like a javelin. It was hard work, but profitable industry, at least for those who had major stakes in the journey. Whale oil was used to light lamps and lubricate machinery, ambergis was used to make perfumes, spermacetti to make cosmetics. Of course, none of this justifies the hunting of these creatures, but it is what it is.
Ishmael, the book's narrator, tells the story of the journey of the Pequod, a Nantucket whaling boat, and it's obsessive Captain Ahab. Ishmael, an experienced seaman but a first time whaler, is eager not to just tell the story of their fateful voyage, but to explain to us all about whales and whaling, and to demonstrate to us his vast knowledge of biblical scripture and history. Ishmael is all over the place. In one chapter he'll be telling the story, and in the next he'll be attempting to explain different whale species or whale anatomy in textbook detail. Some chapters are written as a play complete with stage direction. Other chapters may start as narrative and morph into Shakespearean soliloqies.
The driving force behind the book is the obsessively vengeful Captain Ahab. Ahab lost his leg to a white sperm whale named Moby Dick on a prior voyage. Rather than recognizing it as simply a wild animal doing what wild animals do, Ahab assigns to this particular whale the embodiment of evil, and will stop at nothing to destroy it. He keeps this to himself until ship and crew are well underway, and then uses a combination of charisma and bribery to get his crew to go along with it. He leads the crew on a chase to the other side of the world, and while he is single-minded in his vengeance, they still catch plenty of whales on the way.
Queequeg, one of the Pequod's harpooners, is south pacific native and an experienced whaler. He befriends Ishmael in New Bedford when Ishmael is forced to share a bed with him at the local inn. They become very close friends, and undergo a marriage of sorts. They go to Nantucket together and both sign up for the Pequod. Queequeq is an interesting character. Covered with tatoos, he is a pagan and a cannibal, who nonetheless seems to be deeply religious and moral. A good deal of Christ imagery is associated with him: he tells parables, saves lives, and even "dies" and rises again. In many ways he seems to be a pagan who was sent to preach a gospel to the Christians.
Well, I'm not going to break down every character of the book, or tell you the whole story. Even if you haven't read it, I would think that you would have a general idea of how the book ends. If you don't, that's all the more reason to read it. Let's just say it's the story of an obsessive monomaniac who will stop at nothing to destroy an angry creature that's over 70 feet long, weighs over 50 tons and has a history of destroying every whaling vessel that comes in contact with it. What could go wrong?
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
This is one of the books I had to read for my American Literature class. It's a long book, written in very dense 19th century english, and it's chock-full of nautical terms which are completely foreign to a landlubber such as myself. In my version of the book, which is the Longman Critical Edition, the text of the novel is 500 pages long. There are 70 pages of explanatory notes, in which the editors explain biblical, historical, and cultural references which they have deemed more involved than a normal footnote (of which there are plenty) would allow. There are also 40 pages of revision narratives, in which the editors explain differences between 3 key versions of the novel: the original American version of the novel, the English version which was released a month later and contained numerous changes and deletions by the British censors and Melville himself, and a 1988 scholarly version which attempts to incorporate some of the changes they felt Melville wanted into the original American text. The Longman editors start from scratch, working with the original text. They note whenever there is a difference between the versions and explain what the difference is and why they think the change was made. If all this sounds a bit obsessive and pedantic - it is. Which is exactly why I had to read every word of it.
That's just how I roll.
Personally, I abhor the industry of whaling. These are magnificent, intelligent creatures that deserve our respect. But the whaling world of Moby Dick was vastly different from today. These were sailing vessels, with no power but the wind, and expeditions would often last for several years. The smaller boats that pursued the whales were powered by oars or by sail. The harpoon was thrown like a javelin. It was hard work, but profitable industry, at least for those who had major stakes in the journey. Whale oil was used to light lamps and lubricate machinery, ambergis was used to make perfumes, spermacetti to make cosmetics. Of course, none of this justifies the hunting of these creatures, but it is what it is.
Ishmael, the book's narrator, tells the story of the journey of the Pequod, a Nantucket whaling boat, and it's obsessive Captain Ahab. Ishmael, an experienced seaman but a first time whaler, is eager not to just tell the story of their fateful voyage, but to explain to us all about whales and whaling, and to demonstrate to us his vast knowledge of biblical scripture and history. Ishmael is all over the place. In one chapter he'll be telling the story, and in the next he'll be attempting to explain different whale species or whale anatomy in textbook detail. Some chapters are written as a play complete with stage direction. Other chapters may start as narrative and morph into Shakespearean soliloqies.
The driving force behind the book is the obsessively vengeful Captain Ahab. Ahab lost his leg to a white sperm whale named Moby Dick on a prior voyage. Rather than recognizing it as simply a wild animal doing what wild animals do, Ahab assigns to this particular whale the embodiment of evil, and will stop at nothing to destroy it. He keeps this to himself until ship and crew are well underway, and then uses a combination of charisma and bribery to get his crew to go along with it. He leads the crew on a chase to the other side of the world, and while he is single-minded in his vengeance, they still catch plenty of whales on the way.
Queequeg, one of the Pequod's harpooners, is south pacific native and an experienced whaler. He befriends Ishmael in New Bedford when Ishmael is forced to share a bed with him at the local inn. They become very close friends, and undergo a marriage of sorts. They go to Nantucket together and both sign up for the Pequod. Queequeq is an interesting character. Covered with tatoos, he is a pagan and a cannibal, who nonetheless seems to be deeply religious and moral. A good deal of Christ imagery is associated with him: he tells parables, saves lives, and even "dies" and rises again. In many ways he seems to be a pagan who was sent to preach a gospel to the Christians.
Well, I'm not going to break down every character of the book, or tell you the whole story. Even if you haven't read it, I would think that you would have a general idea of how the book ends. If you don't, that's all the more reason to read it. Let's just say it's the story of an obsessive monomaniac who will stop at nothing to destroy an angry creature that's over 70 feet long, weighs over 50 tons and has a history of destroying every whaling vessel that comes in contact with it. What could go wrong?
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