 November 2002 |
|
The MRFH Book Club is not a review; it is a recommendation. Here are five books that have captivated your mutant staff, and which they'd like to press on you like that annoying guy who lives down the street and constantly hounds you to buy Amway. While not all of these books are movie-related, they do share a certain cultish flavor that we've come to expect from our most beloved flicks.
Recommended to me by my friend Alex, this massive novel might be categorized as fantasy, but it's not the dwarves-elves-Hogwarts style fantasy you might be used to. Miéville himself calls this genre "weird fantasy" because it almost defies definitions. In any case, this has to be one of the truly best books I've read all year, if not all of my life. Set in a strange world and an even stranger metropolis known as New Crobuzon, we go along on a journey to explore this bizarre and unique city even as danger arrives in many forms. Scientist Isaac, his lover Lin (a khepri, which has the body of a lady and the head of a beetle), and a guarda (bird-man) get caught up in dozens of plot lines. Isaac must master a new breed of science and magic to enable the impossible things to happen, Lin must construct a statue for the city's most dangerous crime boss, and, by the way, there are unkillable hunting moths hunting everyone. That's right, moths. I'm a map geek, so I was happy to have a map of New Crobuzon in the first few pages. Truly, the most remarkable thing of this story is the sheer detail given to this strange new world (called Bas-Lag) of Miéville's. He whips up dozens of races that live in a city so well-defined that you can smell the stenches and hear the alien cries of its inhabitants. I loved how the book takes us on a gradual tour through the town, and that -- along with numerous plot twists and imaginative creations -- kept me turning the pages. This book'll stun you, right up to the very end. - Justin
The Bone Collector is a suspense/thriller that I discovered a number of years ago and have come to love very much. It is the first book in a series about cop Amelia Sachs and retired cop Lincoln Rhyme. Whether or not you've seen the movie is irrelevant because you should read the book either way. Bone Collector is a tightly constructed mystery about a serial killer leaving puzzling clues behind at his crime scenes. The killer captures his victims by posing as a cabbie. But once they get into his cab, they're never coming out. The deaths are gruesome and there is palpable tension in waiting to see if Sachs and Rhyme will deconstruct the clues in time to save the next victim. What makes this more compelling than most serial killer suspense books it that the two main characters are amazing. Sachs is fiercely independent and not at all happy about getting assigned to this case. Rhyme is an early retiree because a crime scene accident left him paralyzed from the chest down. What the accident failed to paralyze was his intellect and that is what really carries the book. Rhyme is amazingly smart and his knowledge of New York City is amazing. You will learn so many things just from reading this book and you'll also be entertained and possibly scared at the same time. Also recommended: anything by Jeffrey Deaver. The Blue Nowhere, The Empty Chair, The Stone Monkey, The Devil's Teardrop. - Andie
Normally, books I have to read for college are 1) boring; 2) expensive. But Ishmael bucks that trend by being a nice little paperback that actually did change my life. And not just in a "this book made me change my underwear" kind of way! I actually think and consider things in a different light since I read this book! Wow! But not in a cultish kind of way, don't worry. It a pretty thin story (a man is enlightened about the impact Man has had on the Earth and what his ultimate destiny is), with the strangest of guides as a teacher (a telepathic . . . nah, why ruin the fun?), but the ideas and arguments that are made in the novel are so thought-provoking and challenging that no matter what your eco-awareness is you'll definitely have a few new things to consider. It is an interesting perspective on human culture and society that is worth a look, because whether you agree with the ideas or not it makes for a fascinating and very easy reading experience, regardless of your love (or deep, intense dislike) for philosophy. If you ever wanted to save the world, this book indicates how someone might want to start. You may want to skip the last couple chapters (once it goes from enlightening information to the dramatic device of the teacher's fate, it kind of gets boring/stupid/potentially sad) but that great middle of the book is fantastic! Highly recommended! - Kyle
Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga (or so the loose collection of her dozen-odd scifi books are called) have been close literary friends of mine for years, mostly because its protagonist, one Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, is such an interesting an likable character. A hyperactive megalomatic dwarf (born with several genetic defects after his mother was victim of a nerve attack), Miles lives on a planet of perfect 6-foot-something warriors, descended from Russian colonists. Despised by his home planet and rejected for military academy (despite his incredible intelligence), Miles takes to the stars with his bodyguard Bothari and his best friend Elena. Through a series of mishaps, he becomes a smuggler, then Admiral of a 4,000-person mercenary fleet -- and he's just 17! With a scifi backdrop, The Warrior's Apprentice is surprisingly human. This book never fails to crack me up (particularly when Miles has to deal with his thick-skulled cousin Ivan), and you gotta love the hyperactive, never-say-die charisma that Miles projects. Yet Bujold doesn't make it completely fun and happy; actions have consequences, and there are several somber moments as themes like bigotry and soldiers dying under your command bubble to the surface. I never stop harping this series to my friends, but it is a bit daunting to know where to start. Bujold wrote all of the books out of order, but there's a specific chronology that you can follow. For instance, The Warrior's Apprentice is preceeded by two novels about Miles' mother and father and their adventures; but I think it's best to start the series with this book. You can also find TWA in the three-book reprint "Young Miles". - Justin
I'll start on a strong note. My favourite book of all, at least in the humour category, has to be The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I know Justin was hoping to uncover hidden gems with this article, but let's call a spade a spade. This book (and the other books in the 'trilogy', all four of them) is the pinnacle of British humour. It features the destruction of the earth in the first thirty pages, goldfish that translate languages, pandimensional mice, and the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. If you haven't yet read the story of Arthur Dent's journey through the galaxy as the creators of the recently torn assunder planet Earth seek him out to do nasty things to his brain matter, you haven't lived. Highly recommended. - PoolMan |
Posted: November 23, 2002
Get Me Outta Here:
