(no subject)
Quick book catch up
Swing Time - Zadie Smith
I've liked most of her books and I liked this one though didn't love it. It's supposed to be about two women, childhood friends from north west London but it's really only about one of them mainly. She is the PA to a well known pop star and gets involved with the star's charity work in Africa. The narrator, who is this one of the two women, is not reliable and is a bit of a fuck up, frankly. But I did like the story over all.
Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi
Follows two half sisters and their descendents covering two and a half centuries of very different lives. One sister was sent to America in a slave ship and the other lived with the white governor of the slave company affiliated with the British. She and her descendents follow the ups and downs of the emerging Ghana while the American slave's descendents deal with racism and the struggle of living a minority in white America. It's quite good, all the stories connect to each other in the line of descendents.
Fifteen Dogs - Andre Alexis
It's a fable that parallels the state of humanity. I don't get fables and allegories really. It's not my thing. I read this because it's one of the books being defended in Canada Reads. The story itself isn't bad but the deeper meaning really is lost on me. 15 dogs in a vet clinic are given the human ability to reason and think by two Greek gods on a bet that it will make the dogs' lives better (or worse). We follow the lives of the dogs as they deal with their new abilities and see how they survive or not. It's ok, but not really my thing
The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead
This is the book everyone seems to be hyping. Is it worth it? It's not bad. But I've read better on the subject. My first time trying an audio book though I think this was more abridged and condensed than a standard audio book. I streamed it from BBC4 radio's Book at Bedtime in 10 parts. Perhaps I'd get more if i read the actual book, though. It's about a woman, Cora, who is a slave and escapes via the underground railroad, which, in this book, is a real railroad with a real train. It covers the horrors of slavery and it's not easy to read/hear sometimes. Cora is a good character but there are a lot of characters in the book that are barely there and feel like filler. It's not bad but I think it could be better.
Quantum Night by Robert J Sawyer
This is heavy on quantum physics and philosophy, the psychology of conscience and consciousness. It's set in the near future where a psych professor has discovered he's lost 6 months of memories 19 years ago. Turns out he was participating in a neurological study that went badly. His own research has identified that there are three types of people, philosophical zombies (i.e. people that don't really think for themselves and just follow the crowd), psychopaths, and people that have a conscience and are self aware. Can people be changed from one type to another and what happens if they are? Meanwhile there's a crisis in the country and world in general as riots and hate crimes and violence increase rapidly. Can it be stopped? Aside from the heavy science aspect, the story was good though it took some time to really get going.
Swing Time - Zadie Smith
I've liked most of her books and I liked this one though didn't love it. It's supposed to be about two women, childhood friends from north west London but it's really only about one of them mainly. She is the PA to a well known pop star and gets involved with the star's charity work in Africa. The narrator, who is this one of the two women, is not reliable and is a bit of a fuck up, frankly. But I did like the story over all.
Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi
Follows two half sisters and their descendents covering two and a half centuries of very different lives. One sister was sent to America in a slave ship and the other lived with the white governor of the slave company affiliated with the British. She and her descendents follow the ups and downs of the emerging Ghana while the American slave's descendents deal with racism and the struggle of living a minority in white America. It's quite good, all the stories connect to each other in the line of descendents.
Fifteen Dogs - Andre Alexis
It's a fable that parallels the state of humanity. I don't get fables and allegories really. It's not my thing. I read this because it's one of the books being defended in Canada Reads. The story itself isn't bad but the deeper meaning really is lost on me. 15 dogs in a vet clinic are given the human ability to reason and think by two Greek gods on a bet that it will make the dogs' lives better (or worse). We follow the lives of the dogs as they deal with their new abilities and see how they survive or not. It's ok, but not really my thing
The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead
This is the book everyone seems to be hyping. Is it worth it? It's not bad. But I've read better on the subject. My first time trying an audio book though I think this was more abridged and condensed than a standard audio book. I streamed it from BBC4 radio's Book at Bedtime in 10 parts. Perhaps I'd get more if i read the actual book, though. It's about a woman, Cora, who is a slave and escapes via the underground railroad, which, in this book, is a real railroad with a real train. It covers the horrors of slavery and it's not easy to read/hear sometimes. Cora is a good character but there are a lot of characters in the book that are barely there and feel like filler. It's not bad but I think it could be better.
Quantum Night by Robert J Sawyer
This is heavy on quantum physics and philosophy, the psychology of conscience and consciousness. It's set in the near future where a psych professor has discovered he's lost 6 months of memories 19 years ago. Turns out he was participating in a neurological study that went badly. His own research has identified that there are three types of people, philosophical zombies (i.e. people that don't really think for themselves and just follow the crowd), psychopaths, and people that have a conscience and are self aware. Can people be changed from one type to another and what happens if they are? Meanwhile there's a crisis in the country and world in general as riots and hate crimes and violence increase rapidly. Can it be stopped? Aside from the heavy science aspect, the story was good though it took some time to really get going.