The Gunslinger from The Dark Tower series - Stephen King

COVID lockdown has made me reach to the back of the bookshelf (as I still semi-resist e-books). After the challenging length and depth of The Overstory I snagged The Gunslinger and raced through it as it was a generally straightforward story of things actually happening. Although not that much really happened upon reflection. As admitted by King, he was inspired by Tolkien and this was his attempt at creating a multi-volume fantasy world. And the same critique that I had for the Lord of the Rings (of which I quit two or three books into) holds true here - there's a lot of trekking and then fighting and then walking some more, but the journey just isn't that interesting. Much of this is told in retrospect, as the protagonist shares memories with those he meets along the way to help build the backstory. As is plainly written this opening volume closes with "the end of the beginning" which is all that it feels like - a setup for the rest of the series. I'm not sure I'll continue (seeing as there are something like six more books) despite Stephen himself promising that it gets better.

5
April 2020

The Overstory - Richard Powers

What a vast, all-encompassing book. It's amazing how it spans the entire existence of the USA within the story itself, and really the whole of the earth in concept. I'm very impressed by the sheer ambition of it, not to mention the execution. It wasn't that the story itself necessarily compelled me, as it moved relatively slowly, but perhaps that was the point. I still wanted to keep going with it and immerse myself like walking into a forest. It pointed out and reminded me so much about life, my own and humanity's.,But it also really made you dwell on nature and think about life on earth in general. I'll be honest that there were moments of author-indulgence, going into the details of a certain species of tree, or listing all of the streets of San Francisco, or whatever the case may be, but even though they didn't necessarily further the storyline they did help to build the world.

As the pages dwindled at the end I realized that in building a massive tale like this it would be nearly impossible to properly "wrap" it, similar to Neelay's conundrum about building Mastery so large that he then wasn't able to properly point it anywhere, but I still thought that the ending was acceptable. Bringing it right up to the present-day, and then spinning out the (almost) inevitable future of both humanity and the earth was the only thing that could be done really. Some heartbreak for sure but that's unavoidable. I almost feel as if the author was personally struggling with the environmental impact of mankind and may have even considered the extremist actions described in the book but then played the consequences out. Honestly, the book likely will have a bigger impact than any of those actions could - especially with the notoriety of being a Pulitzer Winner and Man Booker finalist. It surely made me question myself.. like the refrain of "when will it be enough?" "just a little more" made me think and really should make everyone. The smallness of us in the zoomed out picture of earth/time, and the unavoidable truth that we are selling out nature for an extra slice of... of what? And for such a short term gain. It's pretty disgusting so to point our faces in it via a book like this is a thing of beauty.

8/10

March-April 2020

Lincoln in the Bardo - George Saunders

Received this book as a Christmas present and found the opening third, snippets of articles and historical written versions of the same event, to be inventive and intriguing. (Although I at first thought they were all true but now wonder if it wasn't just creative writing on George's part.) I especially liked how a lot of the accounts contradicted each other, just as these things tend to do, at least before everything being filmed. The speaking dead in the graveyard was a little odd for me, to be frank, but played out well enough. Overall the mixture of history with fiction, but not quite in an "historical fiction" type way was very unique.

Early 2018
6.5/10

Meatspace - Nikesh Shukla

I plowed through this tale of two names in a matter of days. It may not have been the most prolific but it was fun and quick to get into. I think I preferred the "meat" of the story to the resolution. Not necessarily one to recommend but I got what I wanted out of it.

6.5
September 2019

Last Orders - Graham Swift

A very confusing beginning with a bunch of generic, old-man names and the narrator changing depending on the chapter. However after drawing a family tree diagram of characters and pertinent details it started to fall together. Touching on the intricacies of small town connections, all in English manner, it improved muchly. Not the most compelling story it revealed historical details on dribs and drabs that eventually coloured the scene and all of the interactions. A reflection in the grey between right and wrong, the power of faithfulness and what it means to live and to die. Worth it in the end.

6/10

December-January 2020

Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy - Serhil Plokhy

It's impressive how this book meticulously covers every aspect of the tragedy, from the scientific, to the medical, the political, and the human side in a manner that is both entertaining and easy to digest. I loved it. I've always been very curious about the tragedy itself and having visited the year prior, and watched the also-excellent HBO mini-series I still found this book to be highly engaging.'

9/10

December 2019

Corrections - Jonathan Franzen

A well-written tale that is more of a family history than a proper story. Really enjoyed the early chapters about Chip, the good-for-nothing son who leaves for Lithuania to swindle American investors. The tale of Denise starting the restaurant in Philadelphia was also engaging. Coming all together at Christmas for the ending seemed the right thing to do as well, though as my friend Lee put it, Franzen doesn't really know how to finish what he's started. Some hilarious one-offs in this book too. Entertaining if not superb. 

November 2019

7/10