Notes
Gandhi's autobio is still not available (estimated wait time: 4 wks), but to keep in the groove, NY Times just published this photographic retrospective.
Completed
The Relentless Moon has proven to be every bit as enjoyable as the first two books in the series. There are a couple things that struck me along the way.
That. That was what Kenneth would want me to do. "Goddammit, Eugene Lindholm. You do not play fair."
In context, it was necessary for Eugene to be emotionally manipulative for Nicole's own good. I won't go into why, but it was. There is no moral ambiguity here, he is not doing it for any reason other than his own good, execpt arguably for the good of the entire population of the moon, but the emotional manipulation is not entirely different from what author's do sometimes. I wonder if Mary Robinette Kowal sees the similarity. (If I ever meet her, I'll have to ask ;) ) Her motivation, I think, is the good of the reader, who wants an engaging book, but there are books that I resent for similar reasons.
"Page turners" are not my thing. The feeling of not being able to put a book down, needing to see what happens next, is sometimes followed, when the book is complete, by a disappointment. Is that all there is? I binged on that and why? I once over indulged in honey mustard pretzels and decades later have not eaten one since, in fact, I avoid honey mustard anything. That's the feeling "page turners" can give me. One such book even made me stop reading for a bit, resentful that I felt a need to finish a book that when you stripped away the manipulation to keep reading, there wasn't really anything left. I won't say what book it was - OK, I will, it was Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. It turned out to be a good thing anyway, as I got back into reading, I started with shorts and grew to love the writing of Alice Munro.
Besides writing an excellent novel, Mary Robinette Kowal has written excellent end materials, which are something I always look at. Besides the Acknowledgements (authors seem, as a group, to be very appreciateive people), this series has "About the History" sections with tidbits like
The actual Moon landings were scheduled to take place at dawn. Without an atmosphere, it was incredibly difficult to judge scale, so the long shadows of dawn helped with depth perception.
I generally don't read all the end notes, where they occur, but have seen tweets suggesting that by skipping them (well, Erik Larson's at least), I'm missing some good stuff. I may have to start. And I heartily encourage any reader who does not look at the acknowledgements and other end materials to do so.
Continuing Reading
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
I have finished the Rules and Suggestions, Preface, Acknowledgements, Guide to Symbols, and Part I (it was suggested that I skip the italized ones in the first). Maybe it was a good suggestion. I'm still on the fence with the book. Eggers is without a doubt a very capable writer. The story he's writing, his life, certainly heartbreaking and whatever he needs to do to be able to write about it is fair, but I'm finding it hard to get motivated to move on to Part II.
Resumed
Surpise, I'm resuming a book that I had put on hold before staring the bookblog. Chronicles from the land of the Happiest People on Earth. From the linked publisher's page:
Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is at once a literary hoot, a crafty whodunit, and a scathing indictment of political and social corruption.
I haven't seen the book since last August and am hoping I will remember more as I continue. I'm picking up at Part II, which is about the last quarter of the book. We are in Salzburg as a major character is buried and the other major character fights against that location, rather than burying him in their native Nigeria. The deceased's family wants Nigeria, but The Family has exiled him in death to Austria.
In conclusion
I've written enough this week. Draw your own conclusions.