2011 Haruki Murakami Challenge #2

I just don't know what to say about this book. It feels like half a book, or I am severely missing the point. This was Haruki Murakami's second published novel in Japan, as well as the second in what is referred to as the 'Trilogy of the Rat', the first being 'Hear The Wind Sing', which I reviewed last week, and the third being 'A Wild Sheep Chase', his first U.S. release. I had similar issues with the first, but not nearly to this extent as I felt that it had a more complete arc. It was still a fun read for a long time Murakami fan like myself as I get to see the development of what have become his signatures in his writing one such being dual stories with alternating chapters.

I cannot recommend this book to non-Murakami fans, as I feel it has so many basic story flaws. It also feels experimental, as it probably was, and I think that would turn a lot of first time readers off.

Overall, I did enjoy this book, as with the Murakami book from last week, it just has a certain feel that I associate with his writing that I enjoy. As far as my disappointments, I'm holding out hope that in the final book of the trilogy my patience and diligence will be rewarded.

2011 Random Read #4...You are what you eat eats

Yet another great read and potential contender for best book i'll read this year. About the food we eat and how it gets to us The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals taught me many things about the natural and unnatural food chains that we all find ourselves in. If you're a fan of McDonald's, or any other fast food, its probably a good idea for you NOT to read this book because what you don't know can't made you vomit. I am not a fan of fast food, and this book only reinforced my aversion to it. But, unfortunately it has also turned me off of mass produced meat, meaning I now will probably have to spend more to buy grass fed beef instead of the grain fed Frankencow meat that is sold at most grocers.

But wait, there's more. Don't think this book venerates 'Whole Foods' either. Pollan, the writer, it brutally honest about the price still paid in order to sell food cheaply, regardless of where its sold or how its marketed, may it be labelled organic or not.

Pollan breaks down the three potential chains that can connect us to our food in a concise and descriptive way. He starts with a look at what he calls the industrial system. This is the chain that provides food to most Americans. It consists of produce loaded with pesticides and chemical fertilizers and meat adulterated in the name of cost eating foods that aren't natural to them causing illness and higher fat contents at the cost of taste and loaded with antibiotics to fight disease. To fully experience this food chain he takes his wife and son to, where else, 'McDonalds' for an industrial family meal. Yum dripping with a warm sauce of sarcasm.

Next, he breaks down what has become of the 'organic' chain, which in reality has become just another arm of the industrial, and in most cases owned by the same parent companies. Many of these 'Industrial-Organic' have even gained the moniker of 'Face-Farms' because of the positive P.R. those parent companies garner by owning them. There is hope however in the case of many a smaller organic, or 'beyond organic' as they call themselves, farms. One such is Polyface farm in the Shenandoah valley in Virginia. Here they practice sustainability at its best and bring farming back to a place of real nature with seemingly no waste. This place sounds amazing, but to enjoy any such farm you need to live with a half days drive, which I don't. Once again, to complete the chain Pollan has a meal, in this case a series of meals as he stays and works on Polyface farms for several days.

At his point I was frustrated, not with the book, but with the food system that we are all a part of and that the U.S. government advocates and supports thanks to lobbyists working for these food producing giants.

Then came the last of the possible food systems, the Forager, the modern day equivalent of our 'Hunter-Gatherer- ancestors. Now, I must admit, I am a minor league foodie. I love me some 'Top-Chef' and 'Iron-Chef' and late night Food Network is my channel of choice, so this last section really whet my appetite. Pollan learns, through the guidance of what he calls his forager 'Virgils', to find and identify wild mushrooms, and hunt california wild boar. With these two components as well as additions from his garden and fruit from area trees he makes an amazing sounding meal, basically made without any money as everything was gathered and prepared by him and one other guest.

If your interested in food and where it comes from definitely read this book, but if you'd prefer the bliss of ignorance about what is actually in your food don't even read this introduction. Happy reading AND eating.

2011 Haruki Murakami Challenge #1

Let me start off by saying that in order to read this book I had to order it off ebay and have it shipped from Japan. That is because of all Murakami's books, he has apparently vowed to not release the first 2, this being the the first of said 2, in the U.S. in an English translation. Why? you ask. I have no clue, thats just the way it is.

The most surprising part to me about this apparent refusal is that this is a very good little book, and when I say little I mean it. At 130 pages and literally small enough to fit in your front shirt pocket its very short, but in those few pages Murakami crafted an interesting 20-something tale of being somewhat lost and dissatisfied. The sort of novel that echoes the likes of young Hemingway and Fitzgerald, and forecast writers like Bret Easton Ellis. This may sound like hyperbole, but I stick to it.

Murakami is the type of writer that one cannot be told about, he must be experienced, so I can't wait to make my way through the rest of his books, some I've read and will re-read some I've not, during this year leading up to the release of his largest work yet, '1Q84', coming in November, and I suggest you give him a try as well.

2011 Random Read #3...Philosophy

I became aware of All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular Age because of the NY Times book review podcast, and am happy to have picked it up. Its basic premise is to track western mankind's outlook on the world as influenced by our various religious philosophies and how they have been portrayed in popular literature of the times. Starting with the ancient Greeks as portrayed by Homer in his epics 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey' as an easily understandable, easily ordered polytheistic world, then on to Aeschylus 'Oresteia' trilogy highlighting the conflict between the New Olympian gods and the old Furies, on through Dante's Aristotleian graded version of sinner and saint (hence the nine circles), eventually leading to the longest chapter of the book, and the most comprehensive, about Melville's 'Moby Dick'. Now, I have yet to read this book, and for the first time I am pleased about that fact. After reading 'All Things Shining' I now know that the story of 'Moby Dick' is a multi-textured, multi-layered one, and though I may have seen some of those textures/layers I am not the least bit confident I would have seen them all.

As for the actual 'new' philosophy this book offers I, though clearly not as seasoned as these writers in the world of philosophy, found their offerings somewhat meek. The majority of the book is a history of philosophy both ancient and modern, and the thesis they present falls a little flat in comparison though I suppose that is to be expected after reviewing the philosophical ideas that changed the world in their times.

All said, I enjoyed this book thoroughly, not because of what they did or did not offer, but because of what I learned. I am a confirmed bibliophile, and the new perspectives that they have gifted me with in this book makes it easily a permanent reference guide for literature. Not everyone will enjoy this book because not everyone can enjoy this book, but anyone with any interest in literary philosophy should absolutely pick it up.

2011 Global Reading Challenge North America #3

This is the last of the N. American novels that I've committed to reading this yr. with the Global reading challenge, and its a new release.

Karen Russell has been festooned with just about every award a young writer can receive, The New Yorkers '20 under 40', The National Book Foundations '5 under 35', and was chosen as one of Granta's best young American novelists for her previous book St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, and honestly after reading this book all the accolades are deserved. Russell shows a maturity in her fiction that can take decades to achieve, which makes her a writer to watch as her abilities will seemingly continue to evolve and improve.

Swamplandia! is the story of the Bigtree tribe (non-native american) of alligator wrestlers in the Florida Everglades. Russell, as a Miami native, was faithful to the traditions of Florida writing, with echoes of both classic, Matthiessen and Hurston, and contemporary, Hiaasen and Dorsey, Florida writers. She shows the knowledge, care and love for the history, lore and absurdities, which commonly intersect, of the state.

The writing style is playful. Russell toys with, without committing to, the ideas of 'Magical Realism' (a literary genre in which magical elements are blended into a realistic atmosphere in order to access a deeper understanding of reality' (wikipedia.org) that many a Nobel Laureate has written in, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Jose Saramago.) The door is left open for interpretation throughout most of the book whether or not any real magic is taking place or whether we are just seeing the world through the eyes of a child. I argue that it is magical realism, based on many inclusions throughout the book, including a red alligator and a seemingly living breathing swamp that very much acts as a main character, but can simply rest my argument on the basis that seeing the world through the eyes of a child is a magical experience.

I cannot leave this review without drawing the line to whom I see as one of Russell's closest contemporaries, the one I see her showing the most parallels to, and that is Haruki Murakami. He as well plays with the traditions of Magical Realism, though he uses it much more overtly, and even the structure of the book, with alternating chapters, resembles his works. If you read this and like it, pick Murakami up next. If you like Murakami, check 'Swamplandia' out.

2011 Random Read #2...IT'S SCIENCE!

When I read a good nonfiction book it turns me on to reading more of the like. That was the case with The Age of Wonder: The Romantic Generation and the Discovery of the Beauty and Terror of Science which I read a finished a few days ago. After finishing that book my eyes began scanning my shelves of unread books, searching for something to fill the need for more fascinating science, and I settled on this book, The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science That Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry. The author is Brian Sykes, a professor of genetics at the Institute of Molecular Medicine at the prestigious Oxford University, so he clearly knows his stuff.

It is about the breakthroughs Professor Sykes and his colleagues made in Mitochondrial DNA extraction and sequencing, and their discovery that through said mitochondrial DNA they could trace all of modern man back to their distant ancestors, anywhere from 10,000 to 45,000 yrs through the maternal line because mitochondrial DNA is only passed on through ones mother without any modification from the father's DNA.

Throughout their scientific journey they also settle some long standing fueds in the academic community about the origins of modern man, such as where the original Polynesian's came from, southern Asia of the Americas, and whether all modern man are the descendants of Cro-Magnon man or a hybrid of Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal.

Most of the book was intensely fascinating, but that last third of the book, when Sykes describes the lives of the 'Seven Daughters', the ancestral mothers of all modern Europeans, I found it, for lack of a better word, boring. That is because it was all pure speculation, Sykes even says so not once but twice, and after 200 pages of hard scientific facts it felt very out of place.

All said, I would recommend this book to anyone with a thirsty mind for any type of science, with the caveat that they may or may not enjoy the last 90 or so pages as much.

2011 Global Reading Challenge North America #2

Ann Beattie has been well known in literary circles for going on 35 years, but I'd heard of her only recently thanks to the placement of the latest collection of her short stories from the New Yorker being named as one of the NY Times best 10 books of the year. I opted not to read that book, but rather her first book, the book that garnered her many accolades in the 1970's from the likes of the NY Times and the late John Updike.

Chilly Scenes of Winter is an average to short length book, but because of the writing style Beattie employs it feels more shorter, much tighter, than its page number would suggest. Her character's are vivid, and the interactions they have, particularly the relationship between the main character Charlie and Sam, the friend he's had since elementary school. The story also feels true to life, something that is easy to aspire to as a writer but that is rarely seen to quite this degree, new people come and go, odd things happen, but life continues to roll on much the same as it always has.

There are only a hand-full of books that i've re-read more than once knowing that there are still more subtleties to be found, but I have all the confidence in the world that this will join that select group. The relationships are too sincere for there not to be. I LOVED this book.