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Book Report
May. 6th, 2016 05:29 pmIt's Friday evening and my plans include a book report, and maybe an episode of Kimmie Schmidt.
The Book of Fires by Jane Borodale – Historical fiction about a young woman in 18th century England who finds herself in trouble and runs away from home. It held my interest but will probably be forgotten shortly. There were also too many boring descriptions of fireworks, and a time-tested plot contrivance at the end. Grade: C
Sky Burial by Xinran – This was a re-read for me. I can’t remember when I first read this novel but it wasn’t that long ago, maybe 5 years or so. Decided to experience it again since I knew it would hold my interest on plane rides, and it still was indeed pretty captivating. Xinran tells us that this is a novelization of the life story of a woman named Wen who she met and interviewed over the course of a few days. Wen is a Chinese doctor, circa 1950 or so. She meets a fellow doctor, they fall in love – but the Chinese Communist party sends him to Tibet and weeks later, Wen is told that he has died. Determined to find out what happened to her husband, she heads for the wilds of Tibet. I don’t know if this is true or not (did Xinran really base this interviews, did she totally make this up, did the interviewee make it up?) but what a story! Grade: Well, it captivated me a second time through, so A-
Full Tilt: Ireland to India on a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy – As you can guess from the title, this is the author’s account of riding from Ireland to India on a bike. The book was published in 1965, and perhaps back then it was more acceptable to blatantly spell out your prejudices. The author makes these horrible, sweeping generalizations about....almost every group she encounters. Persians, Afghans, etc. (“Persians are more to be pitied than censured”. People in many of the Asian countries she rides through are “simple minded”.) Dozens of statements like that about everyone. Then it gets worse when she actually drops an N-bomb. (She describes a horse's color as n-word "brown". What??) She also is very opinionated and seems as if she’d be more or less insufferable to be around in person. Grade: F for the racism, C for the travel memoir (probably would’ve been a B+ if the author wasn’t an ass).
The Sex Myth by Rachel Hills – The book purports to dispel common societal myths about sex. A lot of the ‘insights’ revealed in the book were not that new to me. (e.g. - We tend to like people who are physically attractive, and they tend to be assumed to be more sexually active, and being physically attractive gives them a boost where others assume they are smarter and nicer! Not all men are constantly horny! Not everyone is having sex even though you might get that impression from pop culture!) Although the author does a great job of interviewing a diverse group of subjects in terms of sexual orientation and identity, all the subjects are Millenials. It’s odd and even disappointing, because the back cover of the book doesn’t say anything about Hills limiting her subjects and insights to Millenials. It’s also a big loss in my book because I believe a lot of people learn and grow in their attitudes and knowledge about sex, and so having interview subjects older than, say, 30 would’ve enhanced the book a lot. Maybe the ‘insights’ that are revealed - which to me were mostly stuff I already knew - would be news to more Millenials than people of other generations, and that’s why Hills focused on them? Grade: C-
Ask a Queer Chick: A Guide to Sex, Love, and Life for Girls Who Dig Girls by Lindsay King-Miller – I enjoy a good advice book. It was well-written and witty - but nothing outstanding. Grade: B-
The Book of Fires by Jane Borodale – Historical fiction about a young woman in 18th century England who finds herself in trouble and runs away from home. It held my interest but will probably be forgotten shortly. There were also too many boring descriptions of fireworks, and a time-tested plot contrivance at the end. Grade: C
Sky Burial by Xinran – This was a re-read for me. I can’t remember when I first read this novel but it wasn’t that long ago, maybe 5 years or so. Decided to experience it again since I knew it would hold my interest on plane rides, and it still was indeed pretty captivating. Xinran tells us that this is a novelization of the life story of a woman named Wen who she met and interviewed over the course of a few days. Wen is a Chinese doctor, circa 1950 or so. She meets a fellow doctor, they fall in love – but the Chinese Communist party sends him to Tibet and weeks later, Wen is told that he has died. Determined to find out what happened to her husband, she heads for the wilds of Tibet. I don’t know if this is true or not (did Xinran really base this interviews, did she totally make this up, did the interviewee make it up?) but what a story! Grade: Well, it captivated me a second time through, so A-
Full Tilt: Ireland to India on a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy – As you can guess from the title, this is the author’s account of riding from Ireland to India on a bike. The book was published in 1965, and perhaps back then it was more acceptable to blatantly spell out your prejudices. The author makes these horrible, sweeping generalizations about....almost every group she encounters. Persians, Afghans, etc. (“Persians are more to be pitied than censured”. People in many of the Asian countries she rides through are “simple minded”.) Dozens of statements like that about everyone. Then it gets worse when she actually drops an N-bomb. (She describes a horse's color as n-word "brown". What??) She also is very opinionated and seems as if she’d be more or less insufferable to be around in person. Grade: F for the racism, C for the travel memoir (probably would’ve been a B+ if the author wasn’t an ass).
The Sex Myth by Rachel Hills – The book purports to dispel common societal myths about sex. A lot of the ‘insights’ revealed in the book were not that new to me. (e.g. - We tend to like people who are physically attractive, and they tend to be assumed to be more sexually active, and being physically attractive gives them a boost where others assume they are smarter and nicer! Not all men are constantly horny! Not everyone is having sex even though you might get that impression from pop culture!) Although the author does a great job of interviewing a diverse group of subjects in terms of sexual orientation and identity, all the subjects are Millenials. It’s odd and even disappointing, because the back cover of the book doesn’t say anything about Hills limiting her subjects and insights to Millenials. It’s also a big loss in my book because I believe a lot of people learn and grow in their attitudes and knowledge about sex, and so having interview subjects older than, say, 30 would’ve enhanced the book a lot. Maybe the ‘insights’ that are revealed - which to me were mostly stuff I already knew - would be news to more Millenials than people of other generations, and that’s why Hills focused on them? Grade: C-
Ask a Queer Chick: A Guide to Sex, Love, and Life for Girls Who Dig Girls by Lindsay King-Miller – I enjoy a good advice book. It was well-written and witty - but nothing outstanding. Grade: B-
