Reading List 2008

Back in July, I posted an ongoing list of my reading as I finished them. I still have a few to add, but looks like I will about a little over 30 for 5 months. The last few months of 2007 my reading really dropped off, but it tends to go in cycles.

1. The Long Goodnight by Raymond Chandler (1953). Really lucky to find this hardboiled classic and it didn’t disappoint. Great period murder mystery, though I found Eliott Gould’s movie version of Philip Marlowe fairly drab. Will be reading more of this author.
2. The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda (1968). An anthropology student goes under the tutelage of a Mexican Indian sorcerer. Psychedelic drugs ensue. This was a pretty amazing book that launched some 14 more similar titles by Castaneda, who got these categorized and non-fiction. Turns out, there are a myriad of inconsistencies and in later life turned into a bonafide cult leader. Even so, this book rocked, especially the part about turning into a crow, and I’ll definitely read more.
3. Big Sur by Jack Kerouac (1962). Kerouac, known here as Jack Duluoz, chronicles three trips to a canyon in Big Sur, California. The tone is melancholy and despair with Kerouac suffering from delirium tremens which cause great bouts of depression. His alcoholism is strong, but he writes evocatively and truthfully about what is happening.
4. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey (2003). I generally avoid anything endorsed by Oprah and her Legion of Housewives © and this didn’t change my mind much. I liked it, but Frey’s fractured style (which could be said to represent the fractured life he leads) is sometimes annoying, especially at the start. Frey himself is pretentious and surrounded by scandal. The book is quite depressing and filled with misery and little redemption.
5. Captain Alatriste by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (1996). This first in a series follows the titualr character in his sword wielding adventures in 17th Century Spain. Quick and enjoyable historical fiction.
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe. I immediately snatched this one up when I saw it available to read. It seems a logical continuation of what the Beat Generation morphed into and has Neal Cassady, aka Dean Moriarty, as the sledge-hammer flipping driver of the bus the Ken Kessey and the Merry Pranksters take on some strange trips.
6. The Great Railway Baazar by Paul Theroux (1975). This series of interesting vignettes follows the author on his journey mostly by rail from London to India, across Thailand and Singapore, around Japan, and across the USSR.

   This book is a classic of the genre and Theroux’s humorous and cynical take is well worth a read. Its interesting to contrast his views in the 70’s to the countries today (I have visited lots of them). Vietnam was just emerging from years of war and Russia was ruled by Soviets.

7. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (1997). Funny tale intermixed with historical tidbits of Bryson and friend’s romp on the Appalachian Trial.
8. Off the Rails in Phnom Penh: Into the Dark Heart of Guns, Girls, and Ganja by Amit Gilboa (1998). I’m suspect of any book that claims “gonzo rant” culpability and this tale falls short of that claim in many ways. But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it with the general lack of similar works.

   The tales are interesting, choppy little tidbits of story. They often stop where you think there should be more story. The author includes his journal entries and notes as they are, which is a little annoying as a format at first bit you get used to it.

   He does peak into this corrupt world of 90’s Cambodia (by now its a bit dated) but never fully enters himself, always reminding the reader how his morals and dignity are still intact unlike the host of characters around him. I for one would rather have read a tale where he really indulged or at least convinced the reader he did.

   I’d rewrite the cover claim as “gonzo for pussies.” You’ll probably like the book if you’re considering it in the first place, but Dr. Thompson is rolling in his grave if this is gonzo.

9. Hard Boiled by Frank Miller (story) and Geof Darrow (pencils). The hardboiled genre is one that has interested me lately and this comes highly regarded. It’s sparse on dialog, but the intricate artwork will leave you starring. Very mature and graphic, giving new meaning to graphic novel.
10. Kafka on the Shore by Murakami Haruki (2005). I think I like Murakami’s sci-fi much better than his drama, though this one border’s both. This one is two separate tales that end up being related like some of his other work (see Hard Boiled Wonderland). It started strong but was just too long, random, and melodramatic.
    
    Murakami has an amazing ability to create symbols in his work and many of them are archetypes right out of Jung’s play book. This can have one of three effects.

    One: The author’s blatant flag-waving symbolism allows even the dimmest of readers to find the symbolic brilliance of the writing. Both the reader and the author are genius and you will tell everyone you meet about the wooooooonderful homage to existentialism you just read.

    Two: You have realized the author’s blatant symbols from the get go, from the cover actually. Naming the main character after Franz Kafka? Pretentious!

    Three: I fall somewhere in the middle. More towards two.

    Cut about 200 pages of dramatic bullshit and I like it a whole lot more and the sex with your mother/sister theme is a bit disturbing.

    But ok, its a decent story despite its length, melodrama, and random things you think could be very deep but end but are just… random.

11. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr (1969). Really I can’t believe I haven’t read this one before: Vonnegut’s pseudo-science fiction tale about Billy Pilgrim and the bombing of Dresden in WWII, which the author experienced firsthand. Deep yet easy to digest, Vonnegut delivers again.
12. Mr. Nice by Howard Marks (1996). The candid tale of one of the most prolific dope smugglers ever. You see this book (usually photocopied versions) all over SEA and I finally gave in and picked it up. Marks held over 40 aliases as he hopped around the world before finally being nabbed by the US government. His sprawling list of names and places is surprising very easy and fun to read. He has a few more books out that I will try to pick up, including a sequel. Off his website you can even can get autographed copies!
13. Cambodia by Lonely Planet. Bet you didn’t see this one coming… Since I just got back from 2 weeks there (as of this writing, Jan ‘08) its usually a good bet I’d have the LP. I’m quite shocked that Pol Pot was never brought to justice and died of heart failure in 1998. This is actually also listed in last year’s list too.

The above photo can be found in this set.