Cynically Speaking

This is the third Haruki Murakami novel I have read. Therefore, I think I may safely posit that "if I can tell you what a Haruki Murakami novel is about then it is not a Haruki Murakami novel."

I came to this conclusion some 200 pages before Tengo's father tells him (I loosely quote) "If you can't understand it without an explanation, then you can't understand it with an explanation".

Mr. Murakami's prose is wonderful. I find his male protagonist's more one-dimensional than than his female protagonist's or other supporting characters. Perhaps because the male protagonsits are on a journey. A journey they do not understand, other than they must not give up.

A final thought on Murakmi novels. I venture Murakami fans say the first Murakami novel they read is the best. While "1Q84" delivered a beautiful, enchanting, mystical, magical, weird, dark, enigmatic and transcendental experience it was NOT my first time through Mr. Murkami's imagination. That belongs to "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle".

The world from "1Q84" - with two moons, the smaller one, a dohta, to our usual moon, a maza will be with me a long time. But not as long as a simple well, the Japanese occupation of Manchura in WW II or two sisters with very strange powers from "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle".

Well, to be honest several of Mr. DeMille's works were on sale at Amazon so I got three I have not read. "The Panther" is much better than "The Lion". Mr. DeMille moves John Corey and the action from the US/NYC to Yemen. Mr. DeMille did his research. This novel has much less violence and is more about the politics of terrorists and Arab countries. He made Yemen enticing but was also very honest about the dangers.

Also, this has a conspiracy and Paul Brenner from "The General's Daughter".

John Corey is my second favorite cop. Especially his wit. "The Lion" is Mr. DeMille's follow up to "The Lion's Game" and is very violent.

A straightforward story that doesn't thrill and not much mystery. I much prefer these novels when there are conspiracies involved.

I am afraid to say Mr. DeMille's best work may be behind him. If you want good mystery/thrillers by Mr. DeMille read -

"The Charm School"
"The General's Daughter"
"Gold Coast"
"Plum Island"

Mr. Mitchell is my favorite author right now. "The Bone Clocks" features two of Mr. Mitchell's themes - The Soul and Time.

While none of Mr. Mitchell's books focus on religion he clearly has an interest in our soul. While I cannot say this, or any of his books, are spiritual several do involve the transference of Souls or the equivalent.

I mentioned time; I do not mean time travel or any other tricks with time. Mr. Mitchell uses Time (and the Soul) to create a sense of expansiveness in his works. The Bone Clocks goes from 1984 to 2043 and a lot changes.

One other technique Mr. Mitchell is very adept at (maybe the best at?) is leveraging multiple narrators ("Cloud Atlas") with different and distinct 'voices'. What I like here was almost all the narrators start out as very unlikeable. But grow on you by the time there story ends. And then the next part starts with a new narrator that that is not likeable. Very disconcerting.

Well, now I can get started on the fun stuff!  A new Gibson novel that has been getting very good reviews:

I do not really know what to think about this book.  There was no discernible plot but more structured than 'stream-of-consciousness'.  Well written with some biting dialogue and I really like the protagonist, Maxi, but...maybe I totally missed Mr. Pynchon's point; assuming Mr. Pynchon had a point for me to miss.

This is not a difficult read, I just kept expecting something to happen.  And on the rare occasion when something did I was not moved, nor cared.

At some later date I will read "Gravity's Rainbow" 

Lauren Beukes' The Shining Girls is on sale for $2.99 on B&N, Kobo and Google Play Books until September 15th.

Her new novel, Broken Monsters, will be released in the US on 9/16.  All Ms. Beukes' novels are very good.  The Shining Girls is about a time travelling serial killer.

Mr. Sweterlitsch brings together pieces from other dystopian novels, as mentioned in some of the summaries, but weaves a tight mystery and all the characters have an interesting back story.

This in NOT YA. Mr. Sweterlitsch paints a very bleak ad-sex driven future which is one way the Internet/Content/Technology/NSA/Government could go in the near future should an incident like the one that befalls Pittsburgh happens in the next 10 years.

I really like Mr. Sloan. This is a 60+ page prequel to "Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore". If you want to try something a little different give 'Penumbra' a try. If you want to try something different and don't want to pay $10, then download "Annabel Scheme" from Mr. Sloan's website -

www.robinsloan.com

If you read this Mr. Sloan I am a selfish reader; I want more Annabel Scheme. I really like Penumbra, but I really, really, really like Annabel Scheme.

"The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" is the first book I have read by Haruki Murakami.

Before I wrote this I went through my list of books to see if I have read anything like "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle".

There are none.

Going through my list I see parts (aspects) of certain books I have read-

>>>  "Razor's Edge" - Mysticism

>>>  "Life of Pi" - Spirituality

>>>  "Prayer for Owen Meany" - Destiny/Karma

>>>  "Mona Lisa Overdrive" - Not sure what is going on or where this is going :)

>>>  "Cloud Atlas" - Breadth/Time

I am not sure exactly what is the plot of the book.  A man trying to get his fallen wife back is way too simple.  Good versus evil is not accurate.  Mystical does not do Mr. Murakami's imagination justice.

The book is a journey.  A dream like journey; beautifully written, with characters who come and go and tell Mr. Okada (our protagonist) their stories.  And, as mentioned above, Mr. Okada's journey.  To get his Kumiko back.

Let me repeat 'beautifully written'.  Mr. Murakimi created many images that will be with me a long, long time.

If you have not read any Murakami before then any description of what goes on would probably turn you away from reading "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle".  And I certainly don't want to do that. If you have read Murakami before then you know what I'm talking about.

Sometimes it is best to first jump in the deep end of the pool.  That was how this book made me feel.

To Say Nothing About the Dog by Connie Willis is available on bn.com for $1.99.

This is the second book in Ms. Willis' Oxford Time Travel series but can be read first (as I did).  This is a great introduction to her 'trilogy-in-4-books' and the most irreverent.

If you are interested here's the link to the book:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/to-say-nothing-of-the-dog-connie-willis/1100619361?ean=9780307574084

The Doomsday Book, the first in the series and two-book set Blackout and All Clear are also very good, but somewhat more serious.  Ms. Willis is a great story teller and builds suspense as the narration moves back and forth between current events and the travelers in the past.

Her 'time-travel' rules are coherent, consistent and not overly mathematical or technical.  I think of these more as historical fiction than science fiction.

I am reviewing these two together as they both fall in the genre of 'Psychological' mystery/thriller.  Note:  These two books have nothing else in common.

I am more of a crime/murder/police/PI mystery/thriller (is that enough "/"s for you?  I will try to restrain myself), and the word 'psychological' added does not engender any more desire for me to read the book.

However, Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, was 'the' read this past summer and Night Film, by Marisha Pessl, was reviewed in the NYT Book Review.  I was intrigued by both.

I read Night Film first and was very impressed.

Let me mention here I exclusively read eBooks.  I have since 2010.  This is not a discussion of ebooks versus paper books, but I was sorely disappointed to discover the additional material and app at the END of the book.  First, this is an ebook for goodness sake's, why do I need an app?  Just add the content to the ebook with highlighted links I can touch and give me the content.  It would have greatly added to the "immersive" experience to have listened to Inez Gallo's Oscar acceptance speech at the appropriate time in the book instead of at the end.  I am very disappointed in the publisher, Random House.  

Night Film uses authentic looking articles and web pages to great effect, and Ms. Pessl keeps the story moving along taking you down the 'rabbit hole'.  A rabbit hole you willingly go down.

I am thinking about changing my rating to 5-stars; but I will not because of the ineptitude of Random House.

• Note to Authors - be very diligent in your digital rights; take care in the delivery of your content in eBooks.  It is important.

Gone Girl is a very different read.  I have scanned through reviews and Night Film's reviews are consistent overall, with the usual flames from those who probably have no business reading the book in the first place (or just like to flame!).  Gone Girl, however, has very passionate reviews at both end of the spectrum.  From raves to hate.

And that is exactly what Ms. Flynn does to her readers in this book.  It is very disconcerting to have your empathy for a character ripped from you so quickly and completely that is makes it difficult to finish the book.

I also give Gone Girl 4-Stars.  Ms. Flynn's execution is flawless.  I wished Ms. Flynn had spent more time giving depth to some of the supporting characters.  In particular to Nick's twin sister, Go,, or Detective Boney.  But upon further reflection, any supporting character development would have given the reader something to anchor them when the storm hits.  Ms. Flynn structures this book so the reader has no anchor.

I don't particularly like books where I can't like any of the characters.  That's why I did not give Gone Girl 5-stars.

Last Note:  If you have read any of my reviews, you probably notice I do not spend a lot of time on what the plot of the book.  I figure the publishers and other reviewers do a better job than I can ever do summarizing the plot.  I try to express how the book made me feel or what stood out to me.  Hopefully, I occasionally succeed.

If you are a big fan of Harry Potter I strongly recommend trying G. Norman Lippert's James Potter Series.

The Morrigan Web is James' 4th year at Hogwarts.  I have read the previous three and they are outstanding.

As these books are 'fan fiction' and under copyright protection Mr. Lippert's work is free.

Here is the link to the eBooks and their various versions - epub, pdf, kindle.

http://www.jamespotterseries.com/wizard_index.html

NOTES:

There is also a link for you to buy Mr. Lippert a 'cup of coffee' if you enjoy his work!  I did; better late than never.

I also highly recommend his novellas "Girl on the Dock" (Part of the James Potter Series, but does not take place at Hogwart's or includes any of Ms. Rowling's characters) and Flyover Country (not part of the 'Potterverse').

You may also find his original work at lulu.com

For those interested:

http://www.npr.org/2013/08/05/207315023/the-ultimate-backseat-bookshelf-100-must-reads-for-kids-9-14?utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=20130808&utm_source=books

I am going to miss Izzy Spellman.  After six books the narrator with a penchant for footnotes has said all she has to say per Ms. Lutz's afterword.

The Last Word, as all Spellman Files, is very funny with great quirky characters and snappy dialogue (and footnotes; don't forget the footnotes).  Just when you do not see how Izzy can dig herself out of the many messes she finds makes for herself things start getting resolved.  Just not the way Izzy (or you) want it to.  But, as Ms. Lutz says, that is how life is.

Good luck to Ms. Lutz in getting the first book made into a movie; I know I'll go see it.

PS:  Henry did mean it ;)

A couple of op-ed pieces from Wired Magazine and GigaOm some might find interesting.

http://gigaom.com/2013/07/10/the-real-villain-in-the-ebooks-case-isnt-apple-or-amazon-its-publishers-addiction-to-drm/

http://www.wired.com/business/2013/07/apple-amazon-book-prices/