A Modest Construct

Posts tagged `books`

¶ Shadow & Claw

Shadow & Claw by Gene Wolf: Publisher: Orb Books; Year: 1994; Pages: 416

What is one to make of a book entitled The Shadow of the Torturer? This famous 1980 novel by Gene Wolf, the first of a four-part series, is paired with part two, The Claw of the Conciliator, to form Shadow & Claw.

The title is not sensationalistic in the manner of some recent books, but genuinely reflects the topic of the book. The “hero”, Severian, is in fact a member of the “torturer’s guild”, and does in fact torture and execute a number of people. That he commits a grievous offense against his order/build—by allowing one of his charges to commit suicide—is the most we can say about Severian as a human being; there is not much otherwise to recommend him as a protagonist.

§7437 · December 31, 2011 · (No comments) · Tags: books, fantasy, reviews, science fiction

¶ The Yugo

The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History by Jason Vuic: Publisher: Hill and Wang; Year: 2011; Pages: 272

The first time I physically remember hearing the Yugo referenced in pop culture was seeing Die Hard with a Vengeance on TV (this must have been 1997 or so, when I was 12 or 13), though I must have known about it before because I laughed: Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson drive a commandeered Yugo down a busy freeway, and when Bruce (John) complains about their pokey pace, Samuel (Zeus) replies “It’s a Yugo; it’s built for economy, not for speed!”

I somehow realized or knew, though I don’t remember how or when I would have learned it, that the word “Yugo” was a punchline for a car only a few steps better than a pennyracer. Jason Vuic’s The Yugo is the story of how the hapless automobile came to be the butt of so many jokes, but also how it ever-so-briefly was a commercial success, and how one enigmatic business was behind it all.

§7463 · December 28, 2011 · (No comments) · Tags: books, history, nonfiction, politics, reviews

¶ Arguably

Arguably by Christopher Hitchens: Publisher: Twelve; Year: 2011; Pages: 816

Christopher Hitchens’ recent diagnosis of cancer is bad news for all the readers who appreciate his profound and prolific output as a writer of political journalism, social commentary, and literary review (this latter, naturally, encompassing both the former). A man who “writes faster than most people talk” naturally generates no small œuvre. Hitchen’s last book of collected writings was Love, Poverty, and War in 2003, and it’s no surprise that Arguably, his latest compendium—and morbidly, the last which will not be posthumous—is a hefty eight-hundred pages of essays hand-picked from Hitchens’ various media—Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Slate, and no few introductions to reissued classics—without likely exhausting the pool.

§7412 · December 7, 2011 · (No comments) · Tags: books, Christopher Hitchens, nonfiction, reviews

¶ V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore: Publisher: Vertigo; Year: 2008; Pages: 296

There’s no denying that Alan Moore is a force to be reckoned with in comic books; his work has produced a number of very famous books (Watchmen and V for Vendetta being two notable examples that have also been turned into major films) and popularized the “graphic novel” format. At the same time, one can’t help but find, eventually, that Moore’s strangeness, preponderance of imagined dystopias, and penchant for oddity, to be somewhat laborious.

§7416 · December 4, 2011 · 2 comments · Tags: books, comics, fiction, reviews

¶ Chocolate Wars

Chocolate Wars by Deborah Cadbury: Publisher: HarperCollins; Year: 2010; Pages: 352

If you’re curious as to the strange coincidence that someone named Cadbury is writing a book about the history of British chocolatiers, cease your cogitating: Deborah Cadbury is, in fact, a direct relation of the family which ran the largest chocolate business of the isles, though she is admittedly several steps laterally distant from the immediate chocolate-making family. If, now that you know this, you’re troubled as to the possibility that Deborah Cadbury may not, therefore, be the most reliable narrator, you may once again cool your firing neurons, because I can say with little hesitation that your fears are justified.

§7347 · November 7, 2011 · (No comments) · Tags: Book Reviews, books, history, nonfiction, reviews