The Complete Novels (1939-1967) 787 pages, by Flann O’Brien. At some point while reading O’Brien’s At Swim-Two-Birds, you realize that O’Brien has taken you on a dizzy journey of unapologetic and very funny virtuoso writing. Like Cormac McCarthy with irrepressible humor. The Third Policeman is disturbing. Probably would have kept a sober Edgar Allen Poe up at night. I admit I found The Poor Mouth, The Hard Life, and The Dalkey Archive less accessible and less interesting.
The Coming of the Third Reich (2003) 622 pages, by Richard J. Evans
The Coming of the Third Reich (2003) 622 pages, by Richard J. Evans, is the first of a trilogy of books by Evans describing the rise and fall of the 20th century’s most documented dictatorship. Evans describes the social, political, and cultural factors that led to the Nazi’s assumption of power. Most of the book centers on the period from 1918 until the Summer of 1933, about six months after Adolph Hitler was appointed Reich Chancellor. What were they thinking? What were we all thinking?
True Grit, by Charles Portis
True Grit, by Charles Portis
Is not a great American classic, but it’s a fine read. More suitable for an airplane ride than for a month in the desert.
Embracing Defeat, by John W. Dower
Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II, by John W. Dower
Recommended by my brother in law Travis Doty, a comprehensive look at American occupation of Japan between 1945 – 1952. What worked, what didn’t, and the lingering question – was it a success?
A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson
A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson
In sum, we live on an eggshell covering explosive unstable molten rock. Humankind is a momentary blip on the universe’s radar. Fascinating, well-written, puts things in perspective.
Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Watchmen, by Alan Moore (writer), Dave Gibbons (illustrator/letterer), John Higgins (colorist)
Exquisite graphics, ambitious, challenging. Better than the movie, but the movie captures the moral ambiguity, the darkness, the humanity. O, the humanity.
A World at War: Books on World War II
A World at War: Books on World War II, by Brian P. McLean
Last Fall I began an ambitious project: read six books that describe some of the critical battles, personalities, materiel, politics, aftermath, and enduring effects of World War II, starting with the invasion and occupation of North Africa by allied forces, and ending with the war in the Pacific. The following are strongly recommended: Continue reading A World at War: Books on World War II
One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez (1967), 432 pages
One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez (1967), is a great book, obviously, but in reading it in English I wonder how much of the original Spanish is lost in translation. It is a brilliant yet exhausting book to read, where there are no heroes, no true and enduring love, no real meaning to life, and, after a hundred years, the magic is gone.
Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel (2009), 615 pages
Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel, is fiction based on the life of a real person,Thomas Cromwell. Picked by a number of pundits as one of the best books of 2009, it doesn’t disappoint. It does well what some of the best books do well: capture a world and populate it with believable characters whose actions and motives ring true.
No Way to Treat a First Lady, by Christopher Buckley (2002), 288 pages
No Way to Treat a First Lady, by Christopher Buckley, is a quick read, well-written, funny, quirky, and romantic. The novel probably most closely resembles a Reader’s Digest version of a Scott Turow novel, penned by Dave Barry.