2009 Reading #39: Tapping the Source
Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
31. Dôra, Doralina by Rachel de Queiroz.
32. The Mercenaries by Donald E. Westlake.
33. A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter.
34. Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart (Part One of the Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox).
35. Saint Paul: The First 150 Years by Virginia Brainard Kunz.
36. The Story of the Stone by Barry Hughart (Part Two of the Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox).
37. Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin.
38. Eight Skilled Gentlemen by Barry Highart (Part Three of the Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox).
39. Tapping the Source by Kem Nunn. I've been carrying this novel around for a few years, meaning to read it; when I saw Nunn's name in the credits of John from Cincinnati (which I am liking, contrary to all the un-hype) I was reminded, and dug it out of the unread stacks. It's a mystery novel, a bildungsroman, and an exegesis on surfing. What distinguishes it, though, is the grounding and sensitivity of its characterization--not just of the protagonist, a man-child on a search for his missing sister, but of all the people he interacts with along the way. Nunn approaches Ike's story as simultaneously life-changing and peripheral to the stories of everyone else in his world, which is, you know, pretty much like reality. Perhaps things get a bit out of hand at the end, plot-wise, but Nunn is good enough that it doesn't subtract from what the book does right, which is a hell of a lot.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
31. Dôra, Doralina by Rachel de Queiroz.
32. The Mercenaries by Donald E. Westlake.
33. A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter.
34. Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart (Part One of the Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox).
35. Saint Paul: The First 150 Years by Virginia Brainard Kunz.
36. The Story of the Stone by Barry Hughart (Part Two of the Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox).
37. Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin.
38. Eight Skilled Gentlemen by Barry Highart (Part Three of the Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox).
39. Tapping the Source by Kem Nunn. I've been carrying this novel around for a few years, meaning to read it; when I saw Nunn's name in the credits of John from Cincinnati (which I am liking, contrary to all the un-hype) I was reminded, and dug it out of the unread stacks. It's a mystery novel, a bildungsroman, and an exegesis on surfing. What distinguishes it, though, is the grounding and sensitivity of its characterization--not just of the protagonist, a man-child on a search for his missing sister, but of all the people he interacts with along the way. Nunn approaches Ike's story as simultaneously life-changing and peripheral to the stories of everyone else in his world, which is, you know, pretty much like reality. Perhaps things get a bit out of hand at the end, plot-wise, but Nunn is good enough that it doesn't subtract from what the book does right, which is a hell of a lot.