Review 721: The Illustrated Man

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This Bradbury book is a series of short stories. The opening, prologue has a man who meets the illustrated man who warns him not to look to closely. But of course, he does. The images on his skin move and talk and tell these stories... An interesting frame, except it doesn't hold up in the final story.

Then the stories themselves have not aged well. All the women hold traditional roles. Many stories feature rockets going to Mars, or other planets, and it is the men. They hold the jobs; women do the domestic work. I suppose it is to be expected for stories written in the late 1940s-50s, but I had hoped for more imagination.

As mentioned, a rocket was in most of the stories. It felt there wasn’t enough variation of the stories. A few of the stories tended towards horror, or somewhat odd. Although the book is clearly science fiction, the writing focus was on the people and relationships, as much as you can in a few pages. The setting of a rocket going to another planet was just transportation. It wasn’t described how it was possible, nor how the time to travel was quick. What mattered to the story was the man being away.

Overall, the book was not as spectacular as I had hoped, just okay.

Review 720: Interference

Interference by Brad Parks
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Matt Bronik is a quantum physicist; his wife Brigid is nearly deaf. They have a son together living near Dartmouth where they work. Brigid works in the library, Matt as a professor and researcher. Their life is unremarkable until Matt starts having a weird medical condition. It came on all suddenly, he passed out and was in a coma like state for several hours.

This happened twice. Brigid was on edge about her husband’s problems. What was going on? Perhaps it was his lab experiments, with a virus that he was working on. It sounded plausible. Matt was also stressed out since he couldn’t seem to get further in his research. He hadn’t published in a while; he needed to publish. Then a ultra rich businessman approached Matt with a crazy job offer. $1 million a year to work in his own lab, only doing research, no teaching, he could focus on research. When Matt refused, he upped the amount.

Then Matt had a third episode. This time it turns out that he was kidnapped. The rest of the book is about what happened to Matt. Naturally, a veteran detective gets involved and we get his POV. Through most of the book it switches between Brigid and the detective.

Brigid becomes way more involved in trying to find her husband than would happen in real life, her sister helps out with the son. A few of Matts colleagues become involved. All these people pose lengthy theories of what happen and how. Then a new fact arises and they switch the theories around and discuss at length. All of this with the how involved the wife is and all the discussions kinda bugged me. I know its fiction, but it was so far off from what would really happen. Brigid goes on scene to a spot they think Matt is being held. No police would allow the wife to wander around while they collect evidence.

Anyway, the book was okay. There are some twists, of course, and at least one, the most crucial seemed forced. The science was minimal I had hoped for more.

Review 719: White Teeth

White Teeth by Zadie Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An extensive book about two, then three families. The book is written with heavy amount of humor, tongue-in-cheek and outlandishness. This over-the-top style didn't vibe with me.

The first half or so of the book would jump from one person to the next without a seeming plot, so it was hard to get placed within the book. By the time the plot came out it was just ridiculous, and I could hardly care anymore.

I will say for a first book it is well done, there is writing skill. It just wasn't for me. I've had this book sitting on my shelf for so long, thinking I'd enjoy it more. At least I finally got to reading the book.

Book rating: 2.5 stars.

rounded up for the writing skill

Review 718: The Whiskey Rebels

The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss
My rating: 4.25 of 5 stars

Quite enjoyed this historical fiction book. Takes place in the 1780s to early 1790s, while the country is barely begun and still forming itself, particularly with banking. The book also is a bit of a mystery, but not quite either.

There are two main characters, both you cannot help but like despite their faults. Joan Maycott is a woman (gasp) and highly intelligent, the other, Ethan Saunders, being a drunk and falsely accused of being a traitor during the revolutionary war.

Their lives intersect with this banking business and trading of shares. It tended to go on slightly long, and I found some of all that trading got to be too much, otherwise I would have rated the full five stars. I did quite enjoy the humor though, somewhat deadpan humor mostly.

Review 717: Fires in the Night

Fires in the Night: The Earth Liberation Front, the FBI, and a Secret History of Eco-Sabotage by Matthew Wolfe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The events discussed in this book took place mainly, but not entirely, in the Pacific Northwest by a group of young people called ELF, Earth Liberation Front during the 1990s. The first part of the book is more focused on several of the people involved in setting fires or actions to liberate animals. Law enforcement is peppered throughout the book but is discussed more thoroughly in the later part. The author Wolfe is neutral in this book, doesn’t provide opinions only facts of what happened or balanced, counterposing views. The writing was done well in making this a coherent narrative.

There was a good discussion on how these types of acts have become labeled as (incorrectly) terrorism, also known as eco-terrorism. There was a major shift after Sept.11, 2001 with Bush declaring a war on terror and including these types of groups with increased surveillance and infiltration.

The book was intriguing. These young people were working towards laudable goals, wanted to improve the world, but went about it entirely the wrong way. At least they were always mindful to harm only property, or seemingly help animals, and never purposefully harm people. Yet in the end, they had to ask themselves how much did their actions help in promoting their cause?

Thanks to Viking Penguin and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.