Books

The Stench of Honolulu - Jack Handey

The Circle - Dave Eggers

I'm back to actual Books, folks.  Above this line will be books I've read since the journey.  This time with the most recent one first (still trying to figure out why I did it any other way)...
________________________________________________________________________________

(NB: I'm putting actual pictures of books to make myself feel better about the fact that I'm reading these things on a Kindle...)

This Book is about Travel - Andrew Hyde

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

The Family Fang - Kevin Wilson 
Fantastic!

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon 
So good!

Full English Breakfast - Graduate Thesis Paper - Alexandra Olsen

The Art of Fielding - Chad Harbach 
It was decent, given all the praise I was expecting something a bit different.  A good, quick read nonetheless.

The Gunslinger - Stephen King (My first time reading SK.  Not too bad...  Will read his latest, *11/22/63* at some point on this journey)



Slaughterhouse-Five or the Children's Crusade (A Duty-Dance with Death) - Kurt Vonnegut

I totally forgot that I read this on the trip until now.  I love Vonnegut and often read one of his books in only a few hours. And I've read this one a few times already, so I guess I see where I overlooked adding it here.  But geez.

Best line: "It is just an illusion we have here on Earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone it is gone forever."

After Mandela: The Struggle for Freedom in Post-Apartheid South Africa - Douglas Foster 
A bit too heavy on the intricate details of timelines and S. Africa's political personalities for my full attention, but still found the overall point incredibly interesting.

Every Love Story is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace - D.T. Max 
A biography of a brilliant author who  struggled with depression, anxiety, living throughout his adult life before committing suicide before taking his life in 2008 at the age of 46.  Fascinating insight into his mind, process, and output. If you like his work, I recommend this as a read.  if you've never read him, I have some recommendations for you.

NW: A Novel - Zadie Smith 
A bit disjointed first section leads into two different, loosely-connected narratives of the long realities of growing up and becoming oneself. I loved *White Teeth*, but found both *On Beauty* and *the Autograph Man* difficult to get into, despite liking her writing.  If you can get through the first section without being too frustrated, the stories of Felix and Natalie are in many ways familiar, but also beautiful and well written.

Best line in the book: "I have it for work." "It's for work--I don't pay for it."I've got to have it for work, and actually it makes a lot of things easier."It's my work phone, otherwise I wouldn't even have one."  --  So true.  Made me happy to not have a phone right now. 

2nd Best line: "Thank you, I've been your potential murderer today, now I must be off..."

(and there were many more)

NYT review here

Open City - Teju Cole

Novel reads mostly like a journal with some incredibly interesting parts of the narrator's life in New York, his reflections on his Nigerian upbringing and various anecdotes from other intersecting characters.   The fact that there is no plot makes the book a bit hard to stay engaged with at times, but there is still a lot to like about the writing and journeys the narrator takes.

Capital - John Lanchester

A good recommendation from my friend, Davies.   There are definitely some interesting characters in this multi-narrative tale about money in the 21st century, to make it worthwhile.  And while overall I liked it; I found a couple of the characters underdeveloped and therefor pointless to the story, simply adding length to a pretty long book.    Also, it was weird for it to be my second book about London in the last 3.  I found myself getting the characters mixed up with characters from NW.   

This is How You Lose Her - Junot Diaz

A collection of short stories by the author of Pulitzer Prize Winning, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.  

I remember liking that novel, so I picked this up to read on the Kindle in bits and pieces between other novels.  

That said, I can't say that I loved it.  And it reminded me that I felt the same way about "Wao", though much less so.  There are moments in the stories where it all makes sense and others where I am hopelessly lost.  For as exciting a writer as he can be, I think the same energy and cultural nuance also drives me insane.   It probably isn't enough to give up on him as an author (due to my tastes, and my tastes alone), because it does make for a dynamic reading experience, but it might.

Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts

Holy smokes this book was long. Set in Bombay in the early to mid-80's this is a book with just about everything in it, except maybe an editor. That said, it's a great read, though as my friend Molly said, "you can skim the last 40%" (I didn't, save a couple paragraphs here and then, but she is right for the most part).

I was reading an interview with Salman Rushdie in a newspaper while i was in Mumbai where he said something to the effect that 'Bombay had changed so much that [he] figured he would have to live there again if he ever wanted to use it in his work'. The Bombay captured by Gregory David Roberts seems like it would fit this description. Much of the geography/landmarks remain the same, but I wonder how the tale would be different in today's Bombay, if it could even happen (Note: it is supposedly based on true events).  If you've got the stomach for some literary violence and some seedy bits of crime and drugs, as well as have the patience to read a behemoth, I'd recommend this one.

"Shipping Out" aka 'A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again' - David Foster Wallace

The master at his best.  Wallace recounts his week on aboard a Luxury Cruise Liner for Harper's.  Part of a collection of essays that I'll slowly make my way through over the course of this journey. 

Siddhartha - Herman Hesse 

A good little spiritual tale about teachers, students, and learning for oneself.

Parting the Waters: America in the King Years (1954-63) - Taylor Branch

Wow is really the only word I can use to describe this book.  An amazing history about Martin Luther King Jr. and the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement up until the Kennedy Assassination. 

I couldn't believe how much I didn't know and how fragile each step was (both forward and backward).  I couldn't believe how history (at least the one in my head) has been so kind to the Kennedys and their role in the Movement (though they certainly deserve a lot of credit).  And, was fascinated all over again by Hoover and his antics.  But, mostly, I couldn't believe how young King was as the movement started.  He was just a kid. 

The book paints an amazing portrait of King, the trials he endured and the imperfections he and many others) had.   A must read!

11/22/63 - Stephen King

It seemed like a fitting novel to read after *Parting the Waters*.  As I said above after I read *the Gunslinger*, I've never really read King, but was happy I read this book when I did.  The historical background was set and I recognized several of the peripheral characters as a result. It would have been a great read regardless, but it helped to be primed.  

It is a bit fantastical (the protagonist travels back in time to save Kennedy), but not ridiculously so.  I think it has a nice mystery thriller edge to it, but I never once felt like I was reading genre/J. Grisham-like writing. He does a really nice job defining the edges of characters and scenes, as well as some good interplay between the characters.

Anyway, it's long(approx 880 pages), but I took care of it in two days and think it's worth it. 

The line that made me laugh out loud (excuse the french below): 

"Here is one of the great truths of the human condition: when you need Stayfree Maxi Pads to absorb the expectorants produced by your insulted body, you are in serious fucking trouble" 

The Dharma Bums - Jack Kerouac

Definitely not as good as I remembered it, but I always love to read some Jack.  The energy he brings to the characters.  The purpose in which they live their seemingly wandering lives.  I wonder why he isn't taught more in High Schools... 

The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien

As I move towards Viet Nam, I wanted to read more stories about the War.  Especially after reading the nonfiction accounts of it in Parting the Waters and Nixonland (I'm in the Middle of the Vietnam War now in that one).  The stories, both the fictionalized like this one and true accounts, leave me speechless.  I will work on putting some of the thoughts I have down over the next month.  They're pretty unavoidable considering 45 years ago it could've been me. 

Matterhorn - Karl Marlantes

Another book "about" the Viet Nam war, this one has more of a running narrative than *TTTC* and a bit more perspective on what the soldiers went through, from losing friends to getting orders that seemingly made no sense yet must be followed (vs. looking back on the times).  It's different from Catch-22, but the idea is similar -- "Snafu".  The theme constantly runs through the book and gave me a greater appreciation for what the 18-24 year olds would've gone through in their time here in Vietnam.

Telegraph Avenue - Michael Chabon

It's been a long time since I finished a book.  Almost 6 weeks actually.  Too long.  So I put in some extra time and finished this one on my way from Santiago to Chiloe.  I like Chabon, and this is a fine efforts, but sometimes he loses me with the genre's he has chosen to highlight.  In this case, I found it odd that a white guy wrote a novel that is mainly focused on the lives of black people/culture.   Not that there is anything wrong with that necessarily, but something about some of the phrases just feels a bit hollow to me.  Like most of his books, it took awhile to get into.  Unlike most of them it doesn't really have an ending.  In between there is some really great writing though.  I'll still read Chabon whenever he publishes, but he's an acquired taste for sure.

The Final Testament of the Holy Bible - James Frey

I'll probably read all of his books moving forward.  I think he's an interesting writer who takes some risks.  More often than not he falls on his face for them (figuratively and literally in his "fiction"), but I think it's worth it.  This one was a bit weird and continues his multi-narrative approach from *Bright Shiny Morning* and an interesting story that goes along with it.  It won't satisfy everyone.  Particularly, if you haven't gotten over the controversy of *A Million Little Pieces*.  But, as shown in that aforementioned novel (are we calling it that now?), the man can spin a tale. 

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

Because no adventure is complete without it....

"DON'T PANIC"

Tenth of December: Stories: - George Saunders

A great short story collection given to me as a gift and then recommended to me by another friend in the same day.  I don't always find short story collections easy to read, but this one is pretty good.   Some are touching, others are funny and touching.  Anyway, it's on many of the top lists of this year's midpoint, so turns out my friends we're right.  Thank you for the gift!

The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes

Recommended to me by two different people almost 2 years apart (only worth noting because my email log revealed this fact to me as I was responding with thanks to the second recommender, Mr. Vinck!).  

This is a must read.  The first part of the book is about a boy discovering his sexuality and the second part is about that boy as a 60 year old looking back on his life.  It is sad, touching, and a page-turner that rewards at the end.   The best lines of the book ended up being the two my friend highlighted almost two years ago and I highlighted in my reading (without realizing she'd already done so for me long ago):

"We thought we were being mature when we were only being safe."

-and -

"I had wanted life not to bother me too much, and had succeeded -- how pitiful that was."

Thank you so much for the recommending this to me!  Keep'm coming!

Be Here Now - Ram Dass

A quirky little read with a very important lesson that I always struggle to remember, especially being worlds away from friends and family and "life" (whatever that really is). And the inspiration to a pretty awesome George Harrison song.

Stop-Time - Frank Conroy

David Foster Wallace had mentioned this book in a couple of books or interviews that I have read of his, so I wanted to check it out.  A really sweet and interesting memoir of a boy growing up in the 50s and 60s.  The part about Yo-Yos was fun to read, and made me hope that they are still cool when I have kids.

Good Old Neon (essay) - David Foster Wallace

Considered one of his best, I had never read it before.  A tale of a man's path to suicide, but with the usual Wallace charm and idiosyncrasies.  Not terribly long, worth checking out if you haven't already. 

The Mapmaker's Wife - Robert Whitaker

There is a pretty crazy, but not Sparks-ian, love story within the book, but the majority of it is about the French Expedition to define the shape of the earth and the true Equatorial point.  18th Century exploration, disease, murder, high seas, the inefficiencies of 18th century mail service , French arrogance, science.  It's all there.  And it is all based in Ecuador (then the Viceroyalty of Peru), which is where I read it.  The history is dense and the "love story" is light, so I can't imagine it is a book for everyone, but the story is crazy.  So why not give it a shot?

*I'm not really sure it is really even a 'love story', but there are some hints of it at the end.

Nixonland - the Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America - Rick Perlstein  

Finally, I've finished this one.  Whoa, what a thick read (900 pages), but damn is it interesting.  

I had wanted to read this book for about 4 years (after I read: *The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 days that Inspired America* - which was fantastic, btw) and never got around to it.  I'm glad I did.  

I'm kinda speechless about it all.  For those of age in this era, I'm sure a lot of the book will still be new information.  But, really I just don't understand how Nixon got a second term so overwhelmingly (not that the Democrats put up the best contenders, regardless of the fact that Nixon was openly sabotaging them). For me, and likely those in my bracket, it's unbelievable.  But also, from where I see the state of American politics, totally believable at the same time.  We're in trouble if we don't figure it out some day...

So many thoughts...  If you have 60+ hours of reading in you, check this one out.

Two related articles worth reading: 

1. From Charlie Pierce: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/Nixon_Still_Pretty_Much_Sucks?src=nl&mag=esq&list=nl_enl_pol_non_031813_nixon-sucks

2. From Hunter S. Thompson: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1994/07/he-was-a-crook/308699/

Cosmos - Carl Sagan

Because no trip round the world would be complete without a little knowledge of the great beyond as well.  I'm not sure how much of the information I'll retain in the end, but it was a really fun read.  At some point, I'd like to investigate the progress that has been made in the last 30 years since the book was published.  Sagan writes from the expertise of a scientist, obviously, but with the clear fascination of a child in all of this stuff.  It's not for everyone, but sure is worth the read. 

Currently reading: 

Walden: (Or a life in the Woods) - Henry David Thoreau

Another must for the journey of a lifetime!

PAUSE PILE: 

(my former English Teacher and Sensei has recently told me it is "ok" to put down a book.  I'm going to try it): 

- Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie - 50% complete - I'm not really loving it.  It's a little too fantastical and incongruous for me.  Normally I'm ok with the latter, but I think I'm tired of the book.  I think one really long book about India was maybe enough?  It is cool to have a visual or geographic sense of the places they are referencing, but maybe I'm on India overkill.  We'll see if my guilt makes me pick it back up.