Bear by Marian Engel

Read: 2005

Lou is a recluse, working in a basement and rarely going out. After five years of living like a mole, she is given an assignment: to catalogue a 19th century library in northern Ontario. Soon after she arrives, she encounters the house's only other inhabitant - a bear.

This is a rather shocking story about a woman exploring her sexuality with a bear. Yes, you read that correctly. Yes, it's graphic.

I read this book as an assignment for my Canadian Literature course in university - a course that prompted this émigré to define Canadian literature  as "roughing it in the bush with animals."

Reading this book for a class was a great experience. We spent about two weeks on it, during which we had to discuss, as a class, sex with bears. By the end of the unit, our chairs were polished with the amount of uncomfortable shifting we were doing. The best part was that, at the beginning of the year, we all had to sign up to read a portion of a book (pages to be decided by the professor) in class. We got to pick the book, but of course no one had read Bear yet so no one knew to avoid it. I will always remember that poor girl who had to stand up before at least 50-60 people and read a scene in which a woman has sex with a bear. Her face would have blended in perfectly with a basket of tomatoes.

I initially enjoyed Bear because it was shocking. It was fun to tell my friends about what I was reading for class, and to watch their faces contort in wilful disbelief. But as time passed and I've had the chance to remove myself from the "omg, I'm going to be sick" factor, I've come to realize that Bear is actually a great work of fiction.

There's an economy of elements to the book. No character is present who isn't necessary to Lou's psychological development. There are no filler scenes. I've also come to notice that much of the book is either symbolic or allegoric. Even the house Lou is living in, and her movements within that house throughout the story, can be reinterpreted in view of her transformation.

This is a really good book. It's rather uncomfortable to read, but it's short and you then get to say that you've read a book about a woman having sex with a bear.

Night Watch #2: The Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

Read: 19 December, 2010

During a battle with a powerful witch, Day Watch witch Alisa is drained of all her power. She is sent to a children's summer camp to work as a councillor while she recovers and, there, falls in love with a young man. Everything seems to be going well until her powers start to return and she realizes that her lover is a witch with the Night Watch!

In Night Watch, we got to see how the Others on the side of the light operate. Now, we get a glimpse into their enemy organization, the Day Watch.

This was a great addition to the series! I really enjoyed how the Dark Others were presented. They aren't evil, per se, they are just approaching life and relationships differently. In fact, I think that many people would agree with their individualistic philosophy. Lukyanenko did a great job of making the two sides distinct, with thoughts and motives that are diametrically opposed, while at the same time making them eerily similar. I think it's a mark of a master writer to be able to convincingly write about a feud between two enemies while convincing the reader that both are entirely justified.

As with Night Watch, the book is composed of several short stories that don't seem to have a whole lot to do with each other. But by the end, it becomes apparent that each has actually been building up towards a particular climax, that every seemingly unrelated event has actually been part of the leaders' strategies. Again, it's truly impressive how Lukyanenko is able to pull this off without it ever feeling contrived. The climactic reveals are truly revealing, and not in a cheaty way.

The setting is wonderful. It's a magical world laid over our own modern day one, and this is done very creatively. But most impressive is how very Russian the magic system is! There is little natural limit to what the witches can do, something that would be a recipe for Mary Sues in the hands of most other authors. But here, the use of magic is restricted by a complex hierarchical bureaucracy. It's like something straight out of Brazil!

And, as a fan of Russian music, I've been having a great time trying to match up the translated lyrics with the original songs.

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

Read: 24 November, 2010

When we found out we were having a son, I started reviewing my planned reading lists for gender-interest. That's when I realized that my knowledge of "boy books" is woefully inadequate. I have oodles of "strong willed girl finds her place in society as she transitions into womanhood" books - more than enough to fill any childhood. I certainly want my son to be exposed to these kinds of books, but I realized that I was going to have to expand my repertoire to include at least some books that aren't about girls getting their first periods if I was going to make a life-long reader out of this kid.

I decided to start with the classics of boy's literature, and that's how I ended up reading Robin Hood.

It was fantastic! Even though there was a serious lack of menstruation, there was more than enough exciting adventure to compensate.

The book is told as a series of short stories that build on each other only very loosely. Each one is an adventure involving Robin Hood and his companions; many of them tell how a particular individual came to join Robin Hood's gang.

The stories are exciting and full of action (and more than a little violence). They are also full of witty arguments, which are often very clever and funny. I found myself laughing out loud more than a few times!

Robin Hood is a sort of trickster figure, often seen playing pranks on others that sometimes backfire.

It's a great book! I'll definitely be recommending it to my son once he's at least put diapers behind him. It's a children's book, but it's certainly worth the reading for adults too!

PS: Given what I knew already of the Robin Hood legends, I was surprised to find out that Maid Marian is such a non-character - at least in this rendition. She's mentioned a few times as Robin's girlfriend, but that's the extent of it. I don't think she even makes an appearance in the story, and we certainly never learn any biographical details about her!

Gil & Alys Cunningham Mystery #1: The Harper's Quine by Pat McIntosh

Read: 11 September, 2010

I think that anyone who pays some attention to my reviews here would easily be able to guess that I love mysteries and I love historical fiction. So when I came across Harper's Quine as a book that offers both, I had to buy it. But, as is so often the case, it sat on my shelf next to a whole lot of other unread books as I tried mightily to catch my reading rate up to my shopping rate.

Finally, finally, it was time to give Harper's Quine a turn, and I immediately regretted that I had waited so long!

Gil Cunningham is expected to enter the priesthood. But when he becomes mixed in with a murder investigation, he is led to meet the lovely Alys, his future becomes rather less than certain.

I really enjoyed this books for quite a few reasons. The biggest is that the mystery is solvable by the reader - pay attention while Gil gathers clues, and it's possible to figure out the murder rather early on. It's a little frustrating to see Gil continue to stumble about in ignorance, but it's immensely satisfying to be proven correct at the end. These are my favourite sort of mysteries!

Another aspect I really enjoyed was the relationship with Alys. Alys is an active participant in the mystery solving. She's smart, capable, and contributes a lot to the detective work. But at the same time, this doesn't feel anachronistic. Unlike Rowland's Uechi Reiko, Alys is not a modern feminist trapped in the past. She's a strong woman, but she's still plausible. And, as a woman, she has many responsibilities. While her father and lover are out having great adventures, she must remain mindful of her household and its need to be continuously managed.And she can't just "do it all" - there are times when she can't get to a particular task that's relevant to the mystery because she is occupied with being the lady of the house.

If I had to look for a flaw, it would be with the fate of the baddie. I've complained about this before, I know, but I find it rather distasteful when the baddie(s) meets with a gruesome end. I understand that it's supposed to be cathartic, or some such nonsense, but it just strikes me as barbaric. A simple hanging, while only slightly less brutal, would at least have the benefit of being that age's expression of justice.

But leaving that aside, this was a truly remarkable book, a rare gem. I can't recommend it highly enough to anyone who is a fan of mysteries and/or historical fiction!

Misquoting Jesus by Bart D. Ehrman

Read: 28 September, 2010

It is often said that the Bible is the divinely inspired word of God. But which Bible?

In Misquoting Jesus, Ehrman takes the reader through some of the changes that have been made to the Bible over the years, both deliberate and not, and the techniques scholars can use in an attempt to uncover what the original might have said. He does an amazing job of making some pretty complex material accessible to a lay reader.

My first encounter with Ehrman was through his textbook, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. I was a Christian at the time, and, while I knew that the Bible had been translated and that it was therefore subject to the manipulations inherent in translation, I had no idea just how deeply the transmission errors lie.

As I read through Ehrman's textbook and studied the material in class, I found my faith deeply challenged. Just as Ehrman describes in his introduction, our way of knowing God is through scripture. And if scripture is flawed or inaccessible, what can we truly say we know about God?

This thinking put me on a path that eventually led to my deconversion.

Misquoting Jesus is every bit as challenging as The New Testament. I find it rather interesting that the most damning argument against Christian belief comes from the Bible itself - from reading it, from understanding it within the context of its writing, and from learning just how fragile texts can be.

But Ehrman never argues against the Christian faith. He is by no means a Dawkins or a Hitchens. Rather, he simply presents the research and allows it to stand, or fall, for itself.

The Gathering Night by Margaret Elphinstone

Read: 31 October, 2010

One night, Bakar disappeared. His family is left alone, with only an old man to hunt for them. But then a stranger appears with a story of a great wave that killed his people, and this sets in motion a series of interweaving stories, told by the many voices of the People.

Set in prehistoric Scotland, The Gathering Night is a story about survival, as well as a community's attempts to heal itself after a tragedy.

As I was reading, I couldn't help but to compare this novel to Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear series. I think it might be blasphemy to say this, but I found that Elphinstone actually did a better job. Both authors try to convey a lot of "land knowledge" in their books, explaining the various things that can be eaten for example. But while Auel simply lists them in page after page of plant names, Elphinstone builds it right into the story.

The story itself is captivating. I've been very critical of books with multiple narrators in the past, but it works in this case. The set up for telling the story is plausible, and the narrative voices are distinct enough to feel like the story is really being told by several different people (but not so much that it feels like a gimmick).

All in all, I'd say this is a very worthwhile read. It preserves all off the appeal of prehistoric novels while avoiding many of the flaws.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Read: 19 September, 2010

I bought the book because I kept seeing it everywhere and I thought - why not? Then it sat on my shelf for a long time as I read other books on my reading list that were a higher priority.

When my dad came to visit, he was looking over my bookshelves and saw that I had The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I admitted that I hadn't read it yet, and he told me that I absolutely must. Well, with an endorsement like that, how could I refuse?

I say this because it tainted much of my experience of the book. When I got to the anal rape scene, for example, all I kept thinking about was my dad reading it... and liking it. Yes, I know, the book is excellent and I'm sure that my father's endorsement was not predicated on a predilection for anal rape. Still, though, it made reading about anal rape even more uncomfortable that it is normally.

Not that I normally read about anal rape...

But apart from all that, this was an amazing book. It's a mystery - a disgraced journalist is hired by a wealthy businessman to solve the 40-year-old murder of his niece. But it's far more than that. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a statement about misogyny and violence towards women. In one way or another, each of the book's plots and subplots hinge on hatred towards women. Larsson strikes that very delicate balance between making his point without being it. Again and again, he shows us violence against women, but he never allows it to normalize. It's as horrific the last time as it is the first.

And boy, is it ever horrific! The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was an extremely uncomfortable book to read. Larsson takes society's dirty little secrets and shoves them right in the reader's face with unrelenting force. But the writing is so masterfully executed that I found myself unable to put the book down, even while my head and stomach both were reeling.

When my dad was making his pitch for the book, he said that it's incredibly long, but that the style is so accessible that he was able to finish it in under a week. It took me only a couple of days. It takes a while to get into, introducing the vast network of characters slowly, and it might be easy to give up within the first couple dozen pages. But stick with it, the payoff is well worth the wait.

Black Man by Richard Morgan

Read: 5 June, 2010

Black Man (or Thirteen, as it's known in the US) envisions a future in which genetically modified super-soldiers have come and gone. Carl Marsalis is a 'Variant Thirteen' whose escaped persecution by becoming persecutor, his job is to use his enhanced abilities to hunt down others like himself.

It was an interesting book with a rather frightening image of the future. For one thing, the US has been split apart by ideology, with a vast portion fenced off and backwards, an anti-technology society referred to as 'Jesusland.' The hints dropped throughout the book about how this future came about are frighteningly plausible.

Given the subject matter, it should come as no surprise that the book contains quite a bit of graphic violence. It did verge on the gratuitous at times, but it fights with the context. Thirteens are hated and excluded from society precisely because of their psychopathic violent tendencies.

I've read that the name was changed in the US to avoid the more racially-charged title. It's a shame, because the fact that Carl Marsalis is black plays a fairly important role in the story. The whole idea of the 'Variant Thirteen,' people who are seen as not quite people, echoes back to the rhetoric we've so often heard in the context of race. To censor the title, eliminating the big neon sign pointing at the analogy of the book, doesn't avoid racism. Rather, it just hides it - and it's questionable just how much use not talking about a problem can have in fixing it.

All in all, a solid future-fiction with a good plot and an excellent premise.

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens

Read: 27 April, 2010

"God should be flattered: unlike most of those clamoring for his attention, Hitchens treats him like an adult."

The above quote is from the New York Times Book Review and appears on the cover of my edition. I find it to be an excellent summary of the book, and of Hitchens's work in general. He treats God like any other human adult, holding him responsible for the actions attributed to him, and not letting God's celebrity status get in the way of justice.

My complaint of this book is the same as my complaint of pre-sober Hitchens in general. He has a lot of zingers and truly quotable lines, but they're buried under a meandering and unstructured argumentation. The book is divided into chapters, but there's no build-up or progression. It's more like Hitchens merely writes in the train of thought and then publishes, without regard for editing.

I also didn't like the lack of notation. He does have end-notes, but they aren't marked in the text and mostly only provide citations for the passages he quotes. Any "facts" that he writes aren't sourced, so it's often difficult to check their veracity. For example, on page 110 of my edition, he write: "One recalls a governor of Texas who, asked if the Bible should also be taught in Spanish, replied that 'if English was good enough for Jesus, then it's good enough for me.'" Unfortunately, no details are provided about this incident that might help the interested look it up. No name, no year, nothing except the location. It seems plausible that it's true, but I have no way of verifying it.

I'm being harsh on the book, but I did enjoy it. Hitchens is an excellent writer - funny, interesting, and he certainly keeps the pace moving. So this is a fine book to read while travelling or sitting by the pool. What it isn't is a resource or an argument. It's the fluff of the atheist library.

Free-Range Kids by Lenore Skenazy

Thanks to Matt who gave me this book, which I had been wanting to read for years, while I was holed up waiting for my son to decide that he was ready to be born.

Read: 31 January, 2011

It all started with a New York mom letting her 9-year-old son ride the subway. Little did Lenore Skenazy know, as she wrote an article about her son's experience, that she would soon be dubbed "America's Worst Mom," propelling her head first into the fight against what she calls "helicopter parenting."

"You can't be too safe! Or can you?" she asks in the introduction. The book is not really a guide to Free-Range parent, but rather an argument for it. We are currently living in a society that is safer than it's ever been, yet children are kept indoors for fear of abduction and all adults are treated as perverts just waiting for an opportunity. It's a crazy situation that leaves kids under-confident and completely unprepared for adult life, argues Skenazy. It also drives mom crazy, telling them not to leave their children alone - even for just five minutes! - at an age when previous genertions would have been out babysitting.

I think it's important to note that Free-Range does not mean negligent. The Free-Range parent cares a great deal about their children, and takes the time to make sure that their kids are never given responsibilities that they aren't ready for. The Free-Range parent doesn't let a child walk home until they are confident with the route - and maybe they will still start out by walking just behind their kid, testing and making sure that Junior knows the way and crosses roads safely.

I have to say that I agree with Lenore's philosophy. Reading this book, I realized just how lucky I was. My parents were Free-Range before the movement had a name, but I come from the first generation that was typically under constant adult supervision. I loved my childhood, and I can really see how being allowed to "roam" has given me the confidence to step outside my comfort zone when tasks need to be done.

This book is a great read for parents who want to be Free-Range but are still weighed down by that old "worst first" thinking. It's also a great book for the already committed Free-Range parent, just for the confidence booster. It's a short, easy read and Skenazy has a delightful sense of humour. The whole book is written in a quick and conversational style that made me feel more like I was on the receiving end of an excitable friend's rant than reading an actually book. For this content, it really works, and it makes Skenazy seem very approachable and real.

You can read more about Free-Range Parenting on Skenazy's blog, where she posts updates on Free-Range wins and losses from around the world. If you already read the blog, the book is more of the same, but I really can't get enough of her humour. She reminds me of a chipmunk, talking in double-time. It's adorable!

Gaius Ruso mystery #3: Persona Non Grata by Ruth Downie

Read: 4 October, 2009

When Gaius Petreius Ruso receives a strange letter from his brother, he has no choice but to return to Gaul. Once there, however, he discovers that he has been tricked and he's about to find out just how dangerous "civilization" can be.

We've seen quite a bit of Roman-occupied Britain, but now we get a glimpse of Ruso in his own environment; and this presents its own whole set of dangers. Once again, Downie is able to stay faithful to everything I love about the series without making it seem like just another replica.

I was a bit concerned when Christianity was introduced to the story, as Tilla spends time with Christian slaves. Books with Christian subplots so often devolve into apologetics either for or against the religion. I was practically holding my breath through the whole novel! But Downie manages to handle it with great finesse, simply including it as she does other historical details, and remains blessedly non-partisan.

Gaius Ruso mystery #2: Terra Incognita by Ruth Downie

Read: 2 July, 2009

Britannia's Twentieth Legion is heading north, to the very edges of civilization, and taking Gaius Petreius Ruso and his slave, Tilla, along with it. As in Medicus, he soon finds himself pulled into a murder investigation. Only this time, Tilla may be connected.

Terra Incognita is a wonderful sequel, capturing much of what made Medicus such a great novel while simultaneously finding its own unique value. As with the first book in the series, the murder comes almost secondary to the comedy and drama of the characters as Ruso and Tilla explore their growing relationship.

One of my favourite things about this series is how well Downie is able to balance making the characters true to life and yet also ridiculous. It's that subtle, deadpan British humour - and Ruso certainly does come off as the proto-typical old school Brit!

Funny, interesting, and  suspenseful, all at the same time!

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

Read: 20 December, 2009

Will Graham is tracking down the Red Dragon killer, but he needs a little help to get into the mind of the beast. It is Hannibal Lecter, a serial killer, who provides Graham with the dues he needs to solve the case. But Lecter has his own motivations, and Graham must outwit him if he's ever to catch the Red Dragon.

This was an interesting story with some pretty good suspense. However, after having seen the movie, I found the character of Hannibal Lecter to be somewhat lacking. Anthony Hopkins was able to give Lecter an almost god-like presence, and to appear simultaneously enticing and frightening. His dialogue, his expression, everything about movie-Lecter made him the perfect monster. By comparison, book-Lecter seemed only half-developed. It was really quite disappointing, especially since the book format offers so much more opportunity for character development.

But the book was quite good, and it's certainly an easy read. Certainly, a great choice for beach reading now that the summer is here.

Don't Look Now and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier

Read: 17 November, 2009

The thing that struck me the most about this collection of stories is that it could have been classed as travel narratives just as easily as horror. I found it so interesting to read about exotic locations while at the same time getting a wonderfully-crafted suspense story!

Don't Look Now

I wanted to read this story after seeing the excellent movie with Donald Sutherland, and it certainly didn't disappoint! The pacing is delightfully slow with great suspense-building, and the story has one of the most fabulous final lines I've ever read.

Not After Midnight

A schoolmaster holidays in Crete, hoping to work on his painting. But while there, he notices strange things starting to happen... An interesting story about madness and paranoia as the schoolmaster becomes obsessed with fellow vacationers.

A Border-Line Case

Shelagh's father dies, his final words some kind of plea, or perhaps an accusation. Confused and racked by guilt, she decides to find Nick, the estranged best man at her parents' wedding, to learn more about her father's past. This story was excellent, a crazy psychological "mindfuck" with a great twist ending.

The Way of the Cross

A group of pilgrims visiting Jerusalem meet with disaster. This is possibly the most character-focused story in the collection, but also the least interesting.

The Breakthrough

This is a story of science gone awry. The main character gets a new job with a team of scientists trying to find a new energy source. He quickly realizes that something far more sinister is going on. An interesting story with some really great lines, though not the best treatment of scientific ethics.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Read: 6 April, 2010

True love is incredibly rare, but Buttercup and Westley have found it. When Westley is killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts, Buttercup agrees to marry Prince Humperdink. She's kidnapped just before her wedding, and is followed by a mysterious stranger. Who is he? Has he come to rescue her?

This was a fantastic book. I was pretty sure it would be after knowing and loving the movie for many years, but there was so much more to the novel form. The movie follows the story of Buttercup and Westley pretty accurately, but that's only half the book. The other half describes the narrator's relationship with S. Morgenstern's novel, the way it impacted his relationship with his father and with himself, and the way he hopes it will impact his relationship with his son.

The Buttercup portions of the novel are greatly entertaining for readers of all ages. The adventure is exciting and fast-paced, and it never takes itself too seriously. But the addition of the narrator's story is what promotes The Princess Bride from great novel to masterpiece. The novel could pass for a treatise on the value of books and literacy, and for the deeply personal and emotional ties we can have to our books.

Choose to read this superficially and be entertained. Or, choose to read it deeply and be challenged. Goldman pulls both facets off with rare skill. This book should be on everyone's reading list!

Bridget Jones' Diary 2: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding

Read: 2005

I am often typecast by friends and family as "the one who likes books." To non-readers, a book is a book is a book, so I often end up getting some really weird books that I would never pick up for myself. This is how I ended up in possession of The Edge of Reason, Helen Fielding's second Bridget Jones novel.

In this novel, Bridget stumbles through her day-to-day life, surviving one ridiculous mishap after another, until she is finally reunited with her love.

The writing is designed to imitate a form of shorthand that might be used to keep a diary. It reminded be somewhat of Flowers for Algernon in the sense that the form was an important part of the content (something that we (should) see often in poetry, but that is quite a bit rarer in novels). It was interesting and it gave the story quite a bit of verisimilitude. The short sentences kept me reading at a faster pace than I do normally, which was rather interesting. And even though I read this about four years ago, I still use the "v." (or "vee," if I'm speaking) as a shorthand for "very."

Bridget Jones herself is a hilariously inept character, bouncing from one situation to another with little agency of her own. I have a soft spot for such characters, so long as they aren't annoying about it, so I rather enjoyed her as well. The situations themselves were so ridiculous (particularly the one involving a naked boy and a bunny - yes, really) that they had me laughing quite a bit as I read through.

This is the ice-cream of the reading world - it's enjoyable, not particularly nutritious, but it won't rot your brain out either (provided it's consumed only sparingly and interspersed with meatier fare).

Sand Daughter by Sarah Bryant

Read: 3 December, 2009

Part historical fiction and part fantasy, Sand Daughter is the story of Khalidah, born of a Djinn mother and a Bedu father.

I had just picked it up without knowing what it was about, and the first portion read like a standard historical fiction, so I was taken rather by surprise when the story veered off into fantasy territory. That's not to say that it was unpleasant. Bryant managed to combine the two in a way that worked, inserting magic into real history while still keeping a good hold on the novel's verisimilitude.

The storytelling was quite good, making the book very readable. This is always a plus, especially in longer works!

Another aspect that I quite enjoyed was the inclusion of a homosexual romance as one of the subplots. It's lovely to see homosexuality dropped into a story without it being the story, normalizing it as just another possible pairing, undeserving of freakshow attention.

I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. There are aspects of the history that I could argue with, but that seems unimportant in the face of a good story. Recommended for fans of both historical fiction and fantasy, but not for purists in either genre.