Books 2012 - The Boys, Wanted, Red, Oliver Twist and baseball umpires
My reading list for 2012 is off to a slightly better start than it was in 2011, but with only eight books down and nine comics, it could certainly be better. My recent recommitment to the gym and all this writing I've been doing has made a dent in my free time as well. Still, I've definitely read some interesting things.
On the comics front, I got caught up on The Boys. I read the first two trades back in 2009 and now the library had the first eight of them. I can't recommend it unless [a] you are a Garth Ennis fan and [b] you have extensive knowledge of the Marvel and DC universes, as the Boys is a brutal send up of both mythos. I have a decent knowledge of both, but I'm absolutely positive that zodarzone would notice subtleties that I missed. I enjoyed it anyway, because I find Garth Ennis to be entertaining because he tries very hard to keep his promise to Out Preacher Preacher. Which means, basically, that every single disgusting thing you can think of happens. The Superman analog is a psychotic sadist, the Thor analog is quite literally a Nazi, the Captain America analog is pathetically naive, the Professor X analog is a child molester, etc. Darick Robertson's art fits the story very well. This is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended. Fortunately, I am in neither category and enjoyed it a great deal.
Also on the comics front, I read the Warren Ellis title Red, which inspired the 2010 film with Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren. Although I greatly enjoyed the film, I must admit that it has very little to do with the comic, which is short, brutal and to the point. It's worth the 20 minutes it'll take you to read it.
Lastly, I read Wanted, which loosely inspired the 2008 film of the same name. Like The Boys, Wanted plays with superhero arch-types. However, here the bad guys are the protagonists, because back in 1984 all the supervillains teamed up and used their technology and magic to destroy all the heroes forever. They've been running the world ever since, and the son of the greatest killer in the world (a David Cain type) has just inherited his spot in the world. Unfortunately, the Joker analog decides he doesn't like the current deal and chaos ensues. Lacking an in-depth knowledge of the superhero milieu won't hinder your enjoyment of this title, although it will help.
I read Oliver Twist in honor of the bicentennial of the birth of Charles Dickens. This was the one major Dickens novel I didn't have to read in high school, and I can see why. It's heavily anti-Semitic by today's standards - just look at Fagin and tell me otherwise. Perhaps more tellingly, it's full of cliches, ridiculous coincidences and generally weak plot twists. On the other hand, it's still oddly compelling and enjoyable to read.
My other 'great' book for the quarter was John Steinbeck's Cannery Row which is a loosely joined collection of stories set in Monterey in the late 1930s. I liked it and cranked right through it, but then I generally find Steinbeck to be very readable. If you haven't read anything by him, don't start with this one.
While I was in Philadelphia I read the first book of the Dresden Files, which is titled Storm Front. I wasn't impressed, frankly. There is a lot of urban fantasy out there, and I recommend pretty much all of it before you get to this one.
For some reason Microsoft uber-blogger Raymond Chen had reason to post a link to an old post of his that mentioned the book As They See 'Em: A Fan's Travels in the Land of Umpires by journalist Bruce Weber. This was a really interesting book about the most reviled man on any baseball diamond, the umpire. Weber goes to umpiring school, interviews a host of major and minor league umps, and talks about the mindset necessary. Umps who blew famous calls are asked what happened. The movement of the umpires on the field for any given play is dissected, as is QuesTec and the 1999 Umpires mass resignation. This book is required reading for anyone who loves baseball.
On the comics front, I got caught up on The Boys. I read the first two trades back in 2009 and now the library had the first eight of them. I can't recommend it unless [a] you are a Garth Ennis fan and [b] you have extensive knowledge of the Marvel and DC universes, as the Boys is a brutal send up of both mythos. I have a decent knowledge of both, but I'm absolutely positive that zodarzone would notice subtleties that I missed. I enjoyed it anyway, because I find Garth Ennis to be entertaining because he tries very hard to keep his promise to Out Preacher Preacher. Which means, basically, that every single disgusting thing you can think of happens. The Superman analog is a psychotic sadist, the Thor analog is quite literally a Nazi, the Captain America analog is pathetically naive, the Professor X analog is a child molester, etc. Darick Robertson's art fits the story very well. This is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended. Fortunately, I am in neither category and enjoyed it a great deal.
Also on the comics front, I read the Warren Ellis title Red, which inspired the 2010 film with Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren. Although I greatly enjoyed the film, I must admit that it has very little to do with the comic, which is short, brutal and to the point. It's worth the 20 minutes it'll take you to read it.
Lastly, I read Wanted, which loosely inspired the 2008 film of the same name. Like The Boys, Wanted plays with superhero arch-types. However, here the bad guys are the protagonists, because back in 1984 all the supervillains teamed up and used their technology and magic to destroy all the heroes forever. They've been running the world ever since, and the son of the greatest killer in the world (a David Cain type) has just inherited his spot in the world. Unfortunately, the Joker analog decides he doesn't like the current deal and chaos ensues. Lacking an in-depth knowledge of the superhero milieu won't hinder your enjoyment of this title, although it will help.
I read Oliver Twist in honor of the bicentennial of the birth of Charles Dickens. This was the one major Dickens novel I didn't have to read in high school, and I can see why. It's heavily anti-Semitic by today's standards - just look at Fagin and tell me otherwise. Perhaps more tellingly, it's full of cliches, ridiculous coincidences and generally weak plot twists. On the other hand, it's still oddly compelling and enjoyable to read.
My other 'great' book for the quarter was John Steinbeck's Cannery Row which is a loosely joined collection of stories set in Monterey in the late 1930s. I liked it and cranked right through it, but then I generally find Steinbeck to be very readable. If you haven't read anything by him, don't start with this one.
While I was in Philadelphia I read the first book of the Dresden Files, which is titled Storm Front. I wasn't impressed, frankly. There is a lot of urban fantasy out there, and I recommend pretty much all of it before you get to this one.
For some reason Microsoft uber-blogger Raymond Chen had reason to post a link to an old post of his that mentioned the book As They See 'Em: A Fan's Travels in the Land of Umpires by journalist Bruce Weber. This was a really interesting book about the most reviled man on any baseball diamond, the umpire. Weber goes to umpiring school, interviews a host of major and minor league umps, and talks about the mindset necessary. Umps who blew famous calls are asked what happened. The movement of the umpires on the field for any given play is dissected, as is QuesTec and the 1999 Umpires mass resignation. This book is required reading for anyone who loves baseball.