This is an interesting story of one day in the life of a prisoner in a Soviet Gulag. It takes place in a cold January, the protagonist has to deal with the cold, guards, and fellow prisoners, he has a ten-year sentence for confessing to being a spy. He confessed to avoid being killed, his crime was being captured by the Nazis and then escaping. The prisoners are pit against each other for rewards of food, but have their own means of support. They have their own economy, and are able to bribe for favor. The life is hard, survival is uncertain, and the prisoner’s values are meager. The book shows Ivan Denisovich’es expectations within his world, the world is portrayed very well with lots of interesting details.
October 9, 2009
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
October 8, 2009
The Scorpio Illusion by Robert Ludlum
Disappointing, some of the conclusions seem jumped to. The information acquired isn’t well supported by events. The book isn’t one of his better works.
September 28, 2009
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
This is a typical murder mystery. The owner of a corporation dies and the one due to inherit looks guilty. Did I say typical, it was written by Douglas Adams, so it isn’t. This story involves a software program that converts business data into music, a detective who is in denial of his psychic abilities, a dead guy, a horse, an electric monk, and – as is typical for Douglas Adams, a perfectly ordinary sofa.
September 24, 2009
The Murderers by W.E.B. Griffin
This is the sixth book in the series, Badge of Honor. I had not read the previous books, and believe a background in the characters would have helped. The story is an investigation of murder. It is well told, but did not seem a good read.
September 16, 2009
No End Save Victory: Perspectives on World War II
This is a collection of short stories of World War II. The stories are from personal journals or personal accounts, and provide a different glimpse into different aspects of the war. One of the stories is of a Kamikazi pilot who was shot down and survived. There is one each from the German and Japanese perspectives of their end of the war, a story of a B17 and B52 bomber pilot, a German perspective on the invasion of Poland, and others. Each provides a unique view of the event and the people portrayed. The stories are well written and cohesive, although at time it can be gory. Overall, I found it an enjoyable and enlightening read.
September 8, 2009
Printmaking in the Sun by Dan Welden
This is a great intro to printmaking as well as solar plates. It covers basics of press use, inks and paints, and safety. The focus of the book is on solar plates. It discusses differnet printing methods as well as different exposure methods, how to determine exposures, and touches on different plates types. The book has a lot of useful information at several levels and should end up on your bookshelf as a handy reference.
September 4, 2009
The Cry of the Halidon by Robert Ludlum
I was disappointed in this one, I coulnd’t quite get into it. The characters didn’t seem very real and needed more development. As a result, I was reading as an observer without feeling for the characters or caring how things would come out.
The suspense/mystery portion of the story didn’t completely make sense. mabye I missed an element, but it made it difficult to follow. The action got exciting toward the end, but the book didn’t impress me well overall.
August 27, 2009
Sphere by Michael Crichton
The story was fun and intriguing, but I couldn’t quite get into the people. Most of them seemed a bit shallow, they had odd idiosynchrosies that didn’t seem to match the characters but were useful for the plot. For instance, the marine biologist was claustrophobic and couldn’t travel in a submarine. The theme reminded me strongly of the old movie, but if I name it, it’ll ruin the book. So there!
The ending seemed a bit contrived. I couldn’t see these people going to this conclusion. And some of the conclusions they jumped to seemed a bit far-fetched. But otherwise the book was enjoyable. The action and suspense is typical for Crichton.
August 20, 2009
Revenge of the Spellmans: A Novel by Lisa Lutz
The third installment of the Spellman saga. Izzy has her usual life, nowhere to live so she sneaks in her brother’s place, and she has to spy on him to figure out his secret. Her therapy isn’t going so well, she needs two doctors. Someone is blackmailing her to go to the museum and wash her father’s car. And she doesn’t know why! Meanwhile, Rae cheated on the Psssats, so her parents cancel their disappearance. Did I mention she has a job to spy on a man’s wife? And someone is tailing her. Then she was offered a big bribe, but for what?? Its all explained in the third book [now available in hardback.
August 15, 2009
My Man Jeeves: A Collection Of Short Stories. by P. G. Wodehouse
The Jeeves stories are fun, but not all the stories in the book involve Jeeves. The book started with three of them, and ended with another. The stories in the middle were not as good, and ended with more of a down note than is typical of the Jeeves stories. Wodehouse seemed to be experimenting with a different style that didn’t work as well. Skip those.
The Jeeves stories will meet your expectations, Jeeves is a step ahead of the rest of the world and provides insights and a small surprise to every situation.