Tales from Q School: Inside Golf's Fifth Major is typical John Feinstein fare. Mind you, that's not a slight, the guy always writes good books and they stick to a formula. Feinstein takes a sporting event(s), a season, a conference, a team, and follows the action. In following the action, he draws out the human interest stories in ways that not many other writers can do (Buzz Bissinger is the only other one that comes to mind).
In this case, Feinstein looks at the PGA Tour's Qualifying School (or Q School). It's where those pro golfers trying to break on to the tour compete or those who didn't earn enough try to get back. Unlike most sports, there are no contracts. Golfers are on the Tour on their own merits. A bad season, and you have to qualify again.
What's particularly striking about Q School is that one putt, one drive, one iron shot, can all put you out of contention. You have to be amazingly consistent in order to thrive (and have nerves of steel). Yes, it's just a game, but a game that can put you into really good money if you qualify for the big tour.
Feinstein follows the success and failures of new and old players from all different stages of their golf careers. As usual, amazing stuff.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
JPod by Douglas Coupland
Douglas Coupland is one of my favorite authors. His wit and style are just terrific. JPod is another in the Coupland line of fine books, but I worry that he might need to start spreading his wings a bit before he becomes a genre unto himself.
Anyhow, JPod is about Ethan Jarlewski and his co-workers in JPod who work for a computer game company in Vancouver. The book starts by Ethan getting an call from his mom at work and asking him to come over to her house. It's then that we find out that she has a marijuana growing operation in her basement (which Ethan knew all about). What was unexpected to Ethan is that his mom killed a biker in the basement. And, if you can believe it, the story just gets weirder from there. In a over-the-top Vonnegut-esque way, Coupland actually writes himself into the story. It's hard to tell if the Coupland in the book is the villain or the savior (which is kind of the point).
The best part of JPod, as in most Coupland books, is the dialog. The discussions between Ethan and his podmates capture a good deal of the inanity of working life and life in general in the 21st Century. It also shows how intelligent and creative people behave when put in a stifling environment. Another interesting thing Coupland does is with the formatting of the book. Interspersed with the story are chunks of seemingly random text (which are actually things you see everyday, whether it's on the web, on a box of staples, on the nutritional panel of a bag of Doritos, about 21 pages of pi out to a hundred thousand digits, etc.). This is actually perhaps the most interesting point of the book because it's stream-of-consciousness in a much more intriguing manner. It shows how we're victims of information overload in so many ways that just media saturation. He even makes it so that these everyday intrusions even interfere with that most single-minded pursuit, reading a book.
In all, a very good book, even by Coupland's lofty standards. I'd put it right up there with my favorites, Hey, Nostradamus and Miss Wyoming. Much, much better than his previous book, Eleanor Rigby.
Anyhow, JPod is about Ethan Jarlewski and his co-workers in JPod who work for a computer game company in Vancouver. The book starts by Ethan getting an call from his mom at work and asking him to come over to her house. It's then that we find out that she has a marijuana growing operation in her basement (which Ethan knew all about). What was unexpected to Ethan is that his mom killed a biker in the basement. And, if you can believe it, the story just gets weirder from there. In a over-the-top Vonnegut-esque way, Coupland actually writes himself into the story. It's hard to tell if the Coupland in the book is the villain or the savior (which is kind of the point).
The best part of JPod, as in most Coupland books, is the dialog. The discussions between Ethan and his podmates capture a good deal of the inanity of working life and life in general in the 21st Century. It also shows how intelligent and creative people behave when put in a stifling environment. Another interesting thing Coupland does is with the formatting of the book. Interspersed with the story are chunks of seemingly random text (which are actually things you see everyday, whether it's on the web, on a box of staples, on the nutritional panel of a bag of Doritos, about 21 pages of pi out to a hundred thousand digits, etc.). This is actually perhaps the most interesting point of the book because it's stream-of-consciousness in a much more intriguing manner. It shows how we're victims of information overload in so many ways that just media saturation. He even makes it so that these everyday intrusions even interfere with that most single-minded pursuit, reading a book.
In all, a very good book, even by Coupland's lofty standards. I'd put it right up there with my favorites, Hey, Nostradamus and Miss Wyoming. Much, much better than his previous book, Eleanor Rigby.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Where to begin? This book is epic in scale and tale. It takes place over 50ish years of Indian history, from the late colonial period, through the partition of Pakistan, Indian independence, Indo-Pakistani war, war between East and West Pakistan, and through the "Emergency" of Indira Gandhi in the 1970s. The story takes place all over the subcontinent, from Bombay to Karachi to Kashmir, and many, many other places. Further, the cast of characters is enormous. Just a few from memory: Saleem Sinai, Parvati-the-witch, Amina Sinai, Mary Pereira, Alice Pereira, Ahmed Sinai, Picture Singh, Mian Abdullah, Padma, William Methwold, Aadam Aziz, Naseem Aziz, Hanif Aziz, Jamila (Sinai) Singer (aka The Brass Monkey), General Zulfikar, Shiva, Wee Willie Winkie, Tai the boatman, Pia Aziz, Nussie-the-duck, Eyeslice, Hairoil, Cyrus-the-great, Evie Burns, Glandy Keith, Commander Sabarmarti...need I go on? There are many more and frankly, it's difficult to keep them straight. However, to Rushdie's credit, there seems to be a purpose to all of the characters.
Essentially, it is the story of Saleem Sinai, born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the precise moment when India threw off the yoke of British colonial rule. But, as you can tell from the above, it's much more than that. Saleem's struggles are a microcosm of the struggles of the new nation. It's also a story of the role of the individual in history, in a family (and does nature or nurture make a family?), and in a nation. It's also a story of colonialism and post-colonialism. A story of a multicultural, multiethnic, and multilinguistic culture. So, you have all that, then throw in some magical realism: Saleem is a telepath with a preternatural sense of smell. So, in short, the book is extremely complicated, but also extremely rewarding.
Book One is the backstory of Saleem's family. Book Two is Saleem's and India's coming of age story. Book Three marks then end of the power of Midnight's Children and hands it off to a new generation. This is paralleled in India with the repressive measures of Indira Gandhi's Emergency. How to tell more without giving anything away? It's probably impossible, so I won't try to tell any more, other than that it's just a wonderful book.
Rushdie's writing is exceptional and his dropping of breadcrumbs to keep the reader interested in what's coming next is just amazing. He does this without patronizing the reader's intelligence, but certainly stokes the reader's curiosity to turn the pages to find the resolution to all these threads of the story. Rushdie is a master weaver of tales.
I learned so much about India and it's peoples (from the lowest to the highest) from this book. I realize it's historical fiction, but even having read Kim earlier in the year, I never realized what a vibrant multi-cultural jumble India is. It's certainly whetted my appetite to learn more.
Midnight's Children ranks in the top three of the books I read on my list this year. I would find it hard to rank it better or worse than Beloved or The Naked and the Dead, but that's lofty company to be in.
Essentially, it is the story of Saleem Sinai, born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the precise moment when India threw off the yoke of British colonial rule. But, as you can tell from the above, it's much more than that. Saleem's struggles are a microcosm of the struggles of the new nation. It's also a story of the role of the individual in history, in a family (and does nature or nurture make a family?), and in a nation. It's also a story of colonialism and post-colonialism. A story of a multicultural, multiethnic, and multilinguistic culture. So, you have all that, then throw in some magical realism: Saleem is a telepath with a preternatural sense of smell. So, in short, the book is extremely complicated, but also extremely rewarding.
Book One is the backstory of Saleem's family. Book Two is Saleem's and India's coming of age story. Book Three marks then end of the power of Midnight's Children and hands it off to a new generation. This is paralleled in India with the repressive measures of Indira Gandhi's Emergency. How to tell more without giving anything away? It's probably impossible, so I won't try to tell any more, other than that it's just a wonderful book.
Rushdie's writing is exceptional and his dropping of breadcrumbs to keep the reader interested in what's coming next is just amazing. He does this without patronizing the reader's intelligence, but certainly stokes the reader's curiosity to turn the pages to find the resolution to all these threads of the story. Rushdie is a master weaver of tales.
I learned so much about India and it's peoples (from the lowest to the highest) from this book. I realize it's historical fiction, but even having read Kim earlier in the year, I never realized what a vibrant multi-cultural jumble India is. It's certainly whetted my appetite to learn more.
Midnight's Children ranks in the top three of the books I read on my list this year. I would find it hard to rank it better or worse than Beloved or The Naked and the Dead, but that's lofty company to be in.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
The Eight Books I Didn't Get To
Well, I knocked off 29 of the 37. Not bad. Not what I was hoping for, but not bad. I didn't get to the following books:
1. The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow
2. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
3. Don Quixote by Cervantes
4. The Age of Jackson by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
5. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
6. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
7. Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
8. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson
I'll probably get around to Bellow, Dumas, and McPherson eventually. It seems like I've been meaning to read Schlesinger for over a decade, so I think he's done for.
Other books I read when I should have been reading books on the list:
1. Quirkology by Richard Wiseman
2. I Am America (And So Can You) by Stephen Colbert
3. Kill Your Idols by Jim DeRogatis, ed.
4. I Have Fun Everywhere I Go by Mike Edison
5. The Space Merchants by Frederick Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth
6. Generation Kill by Evan Wright
7. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
8. The Librarian by Larry Beinhart
So 37 books so far this year. Way behind last year's total of 53, but a good deal ahead of 2006's shameful 33 and right on par with 2005's 37.
1. The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow
2. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
3. Don Quixote by Cervantes
4. The Age of Jackson by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
5. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
6. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
7. Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
8. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson
I'll probably get around to Bellow, Dumas, and McPherson eventually. It seems like I've been meaning to read Schlesinger for over a decade, so I think he's done for.
Other books I read when I should have been reading books on the list:
1. Quirkology by Richard Wiseman
2. I Am America (And So Can You) by Stephen Colbert
3. Kill Your Idols by Jim DeRogatis, ed.
4. I Have Fun Everywhere I Go by Mike Edison
5. The Space Merchants by Frederick Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth
6. Generation Kill by Evan Wright
7. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
8. The Librarian by Larry Beinhart
So 37 books so far this year. Way behind last year's total of 53, but a good deal ahead of 2006's shameful 33 and right on par with 2005's 37.
Finished Midnight's Children Last Night
I finally finished Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie last night. I'm not sure when I'll have the review up, because it's a complicated book and I'd like to do it justice (though I'm sure I won't).
In other news, I believe I'm ending the 37 book project a little early. While I'm glad for the books I've read this year that I would have never read otherwise, it's obvious that I won't finish by the end of the year. Ok, also, I tried to start reading Robinson Crusoe yesterday and that early 18th century writing pissed me off. I've got a long list of things I want to read that have accumulated through the year and I want to have fun reading during the holidays.
Though don't despair, dear readers, as I've had a lot of fun doing this blog, so I'm going to keep it up for my other readings. (that is, of course, if any of you are still reading this blog).
So stay tuned for the review of Midnight's Children and a reflection on this project.
In other news, I believe I'm ending the 37 book project a little early. While I'm glad for the books I've read this year that I would have never read otherwise, it's obvious that I won't finish by the end of the year. Ok, also, I tried to start reading Robinson Crusoe yesterday and that early 18th century writing pissed me off. I've got a long list of things I want to read that have accumulated through the year and I want to have fun reading during the holidays.
Though don't despair, dear readers, as I've had a lot of fun doing this blog, so I'm going to keep it up for my other readings. (that is, of course, if any of you are still reading this blog).
So stay tuned for the review of Midnight's Children and a reflection on this project.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Getting There
Again, just let me say that Midnight's Children is a phenomenal book. But it's pretty dense and confusing at times with a large cast of characters. However, that isn't the problem...the problem is getting me to sit down and read these days. Arrrrggggh. Anywho, I'm getting close.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)