The Polish Officer

This is a work of historical fiction - a spy tale set in various locales during the start of WWII. Furst's attention to detail and research is admirable. However, I felt this read more like a TV series - episodic, with none of the episodes building on the other, except, perhaps, in the incrementally positive worldview of the protagonist, Alexander de Milja. Also, I hate to nitpick on style, but I'm really starting to get annoyed with excessive use of sentence fragments by many writers, not just Furst.

The first chapter is brilliant, and Furst's writing vividly evokes war-torn Europe during WW II. Given that there seems to be only slight character development in de Milja and since all of the other characters are basically set pieces, I would have hoped for a tighter-knit story. Unfortunately, all we have are episodes of various missions that de Milja undertakes. I'll give Furst the benefit of the doubt that this was used to illustrate how lost and futile even one man's heroic exploits are in the larger context of war, but the futility of an individual during wartime is already a well-visited subject.

The Boxer Rebellion - Diana Preston

After reading Diana Preston's "The Boxer Rebellion," I've learned something about my taste in history books. Full-length books on relatively brief historical events tend to be filled with anecdotes. I do not enjoy reading a book full of anecdotes. A encyclopedia entry will suffice.

This is a book admittedly telling only the Western side of the story. Preston claims that Chinese historical accounts are rare. A quick google search shows a few, so I'm dubious of this claim. Suffice it to speculate that a superstitious Chinese Empress believed that the xenophobic and violent "Boxer" sect actually possessed the mystical powers they claimed and were going to be able to throw out the racist and imperialist foreigners. What isn't speculation is that the rebellion failed, causing a summer of misery and fear in 1900.

For a more detailed account, here is the wikipedia article. If you think you might enjoy reading 360+ pages of anecdotes about turn-of-the century Westerners' plight during these times, you could read this book.

Let the Right One In (the novel) - John Ajvide Lindqvist

After seeing both the Swedish and American film adaptations of this novel, and liking both, I was excited to read the novel. The books are always better, right? Not in this case.

Oh my. Where to begin? As well as being an original, creative vampire tale, I think Lindqvist was trying to make a larger statement about the moral decay of society. Pedophilia, alcoholism, and excrement all play a much too large role in this novel. Raskolnikov from Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" is mentioned a few times, alluding to this societal decay theme. If Lindqvist was attempting a modern, vampirish take on "Crime and Punishment," he failed. There are way too many points-of-view (including a squirrel, at one point), truly gratuitous descriptions of pedophilia, and the entire book leaves you wanting to take a shower.

Kudos to both films for getting the great nugget out of this book and leaving the rest behind. Gross. Stick with either film (I prefer "Let Me In."). I now understand why the person who lent me this book didn't care if he ever got it back.

Consent to Kill

After the upheaval that is moving your stuff from one structure to another, I desperately need to get back in a routine of writing.

Without further ado, I'll discuss my encounter with "Consent to Kill," a spy thriller written by Vince Flynn.

This novel had a Tom Clancy, "best seller" air to it, and I wouldn't normally have read it, but an acquaintance of mine, Florian, recommended it highly.

Unfortunately, my instincts were correct. This is a ridiculous book. Mitch Rapp is the super spy who doesn't like to answer to anyone and frequently doesn't. His wife is the White House correspondent for NBC. His enemies are assassins trafficking hundreds of millions of dollars. He's the only one who truly understands what it takes to protect our freedom! If only the bureaucracy and petty minds would get out of his way!

Time to get back to "A History of Western Philosophy." It has more intrigue than this pulp moon pie.

12 Books to Read During 2011

I'm going to participate in Roof Beam Reader's 2011 TBR Pile Challenge. Here are my 12 books from my tbr (to be read) pile:

The Darkness That Comes Before - R. Scott Bakker*
Let the Right One In - John Ajvide Lindqvist
Consent to Kill - Vince Flynn
The Boxer Rebellion - Diana Preston
A History of Western Philosophy - Bertrand Russell
The Polish Officer - Alan Furst
Woken Furies - Richard K. Morgan
I Married a Communist - Philip Roth
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Feast of the Goat - Mario Vargas Llosa
Occidental Mythology - Joseph Campbell*
Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco
Chicago: City on the Make - Nelson Algren
The Havana Room - Colin Harrison

* - alternates

The most amibitious book, I think, is "History of Western Philosophy," by Bertrand Russell. In the event I find it too daunting, I have "Occidental Mythology" by Joseph Campbell as a worthy alternate.

It's somewhat disconcerting to lay out these books as my reading list for all of 2011. I tend to be spontaneous with my picks, but maybe there is value in having this structure.

"Consent to Kill" would probably not be on my list if an acquaintance of mine hadn't already lent it to me and implored me to read it.

Giddy up.