The Geographer's Library

Although the title might scream “Pick Me Up!” to all bibliophiles, The Geographer's Library by Jon Fasman is not quite as book-centric as the title seems to suggest (or that I hoped for upon scooping it up a few months back for $1 at one of the fall book sales I attended). Fasman’s first novel is an unevenly paced mystery which includes some entertaining history… with a noir sensibility and the inventiveness of a Russian history major who believes in Alchemy, this book really was sort of fun. Reviewers compared it favorably to The Da Vinci Code (which seemed to be some publishers and authors main goal in creating books a few years ago), but since I never read Dan Brown’s bestseller, although I did see the movie, I really can only comment to say - yeah, I’m not real sure about all that - but, it might appeal to those who enjoyed it.

I guess I could recommend it to those who enjoy mysteries of an esoteric nature, but even then I am not sure… this book in no way has the literary or entertaining qualities of say some Umberto Eco's novels. I mainly have two complaints with this book - one is that Fasman seemed to give too much of the mystery away too early in the book… at a few points he seemed to be trying to reveal something clever that even this absent minded reader knew was coming - and, to me, this was obviously an author’s first novel… not necessarily a bad thing, but it does have some underdeveloped ideas and missing things which would fill out the story better (or “room to grow” if you prefer). As a point of success, I can say I would pickup Fasman’s next book, out now, at some point to give him another shot.

Hibernation Time

As winter is coming and the holidays are almost upon us, I figure this is a great time to catch up on my reading and curtail my buying some (the economy is in the toilet, I hear)… cold blustery weekends spent on the couch with a book is my idea of good time, after all. Of course, this doesn’t mean not buying books, just limited adventures for a while. Don’t worry, my attempted hibernation will not cause me to disregard this blog at all - thanks to the the past few book sales I have attended I now have a nice sized stockpile of new-to-me books to be read… lots of potential reviews coming your way. And, of course, saying I am taking a break from book buying is like a drunk telling you he is taking a break from the bottle.

By the way, Santa, if you are reading this - a gift certificate to a bookstore is always appreciated!

And - “winter is coming” reminds me, everyone should read George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series - good good books.

Blindness

Blindness by Jose Saramago

Wow… that is really all I could say upon finishing this book.

First off, big thanks to my friend’s girlfriend for bringing it to my attention - Thank you, Amanda!

What if people begin going blind for no reason? The government quarantines those initially infected in an old mental hospital. Everyone is scared, vulnerable… human. Now, what if there is one person left who can see? What responsibilities are required of that person in such a situation where survival is uncertain? At what point does survival mean everything? What part does love and faith play in such a situation? How fast do we lose our humanity? What does it take to hold onto our humanity? There you have it - this is what Blindness by Jose Saramago is about. Now, of course, all that occurs upfront, and it is what the reader can gain from this book in between which is its true beauty. As an allegory of our own lives, it has an almost limitless and timeless quality to it. This book’s language and style grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go - described by some as "experimental", the long sentences and lack of dialogue distinction, in the end, enhances the reading experience - you get so into the words, punctuation somehow becomes of little importance (and barely noticed). In turns horrifying and absurd, beautiful and haunting, funny and tragic… Blindness is all that, and often times more, and does it all with such simplicity and weight that the reader has no choice but to follow along within the author’s vision. It leaves you feeling at once exhausted and inspired. I believe this book has the ability to affect many people on many different levels (an impressive feat), and I know it will stay with me for quite some time. I would recommend this book to nearly anyone.

There is a movie adaption of Blindness which looks entertaining, but I doubt the subtlety of the language Saramago uses translates well into film, and the movie will surely be the main plot, missing the little in between moments of real meaning that occur in this book - with that being said, I look forward to seeing it (I never judge a book by its movie or a movie by its book), the trailer does look entertaining.

Collector’s Note - a first American edition of Blindness seems to be going for somewhere on the rich side of $100, and upwards - worth it, on the low end, if you love the book or author - Jose Saramago is a Nobel Prize winner after all (and not only people who collect prize winners would be interested in this book) and I am sure the movie is not hurting demand either... there is a possibility that once the exposure the movie has created for the book decreases, the price will come down as well - for me that is a chance worth waiting for, as you never know when you might come across a reasonably priced copy somewhere (plus, I don’t normally spend that much on one book anyway).

It’s a… Thing

A LibraryThing, that is. When looking for options to catalog my books I was fortunate enough to come across LibraryThing. LibraryThing is an online cataloging site that allows you to keep track of your books in one place. I dove in, started entering books, and enjoyed the site as a whole from the moment I discovered it. It is immensely fun for booklovers. I have now looked into many similar sites (including anobii, BookJetty, GoodReads, and Shelfari - there are others still) and feel that LibraryThing does everything they are able to, but just a little better. While other sites seem to concentrate on different things, such as social networking and trading book, LibraryThing’s main focus seems to be your books - exactly where an online cataloging site should put its emphasis. All other things available on the site are just bonuses... and oh what cool stuff there is - organizational tools, ability to tag books, groups with active discussion forums, user book reviews, an author gallery of the writers in your library, a ton of different statistics, chances at early review copies, the ability to export your catalog, and lots of other book stuff. Even with all the “stuff” available, it is incredibly quick and easy to use. LibraryThing is free for up to 200 and then can be subscribed to on a yearly basis or as a lifetime membership for a nominal charge. Do yourself a favor, check it out and join now… there is lots more I could add, but I believe that will take away some of the fun of discovering and using this wonderful site.

See my LibraryThing catalog and profile here and here.

A Passion for Books

(Fair warning - my writerly skills get put to the test when trying to properly discuss book themed books).

Books about books are great fun for a book lover... or, at least, I tend to really like them. Book books are an area of literature and book collecting that I am slowly begin to acquire a greater appreciation of - don't worry, as I learn, I will share what knowledge I have gained. Book themes seem to be present in literature (fiction, nonfiction, and poetry) for as long as the book itself has been around. This, as one might expect, is most likely due to the fact that a lot of writers loves books. These type of books, at their best, can provide insight into, and knowledge of, a variety of aspects of collecting and the history of books themselves. Plus, as an added attraction, many are downright entertaining.

A wonderful example of such a book has been hanging out in my stack of current reading material for a little while now… A Passion for Book: A Book Lover's Treasury of Stories, Essays, Humor, Love and Lists on Collecting, Reading, Borrowing, Lending, Caring for, and Appreciating Books, edited by Harold Rabinowitz and Rob Kaplan, with a forward by Ray Bradbury, and published by Random House through Times Books. This book contains a nice selection of writings on books, both newer and older, which are sure to inspire your love of books. It is set up in perfect way to be read a little at a time, being enjoyed as the mood strikes. Reading about others with the same passion as one that you have (although taken to different extremes with different goals, methods, and means) can reaffirm and strengthen that passion within yourself, and that is exactly what this book is able to accomplish.

It seems this book has been published over a couple of editions, the one I have is a trade paperback from 1999, and is a nice looking book. Other editions that I see include the similar looking, although hardcover, first edition, and further trade paperback printings with changed cover art (still featuring pictures of books). Was this book good enough for me to search out a first for the shelves? Yes. However, the list of books I want to add first edition copies of is quite long, so it may be a little while - I will just have to savor my enjoyment of simply reading it in the meantime.

Plenty more discussion on books about books to come… I have various such books, both read and unread, which I am looking forward to talking about - and I am always on the lookout for more.

Not a Review

OK, so what did I think of the book used as an example in the previous post? Well… ok - Gardens of Moon by Steven Erikson, my thoughts:

Let me first say I really wanted to like this book, as should be evident from the fact that I purchased the first three books of the series together… wishful thinking and a gamble. I have read a few reviews of Gardens of Moon and they seemed to run a full spectrum from love to hate to so-so in attitudes towards both the first book and the series as a whole. This left me with a somewhat open mind not expecting too much from the series, yet I was still anticipating a better than average read, I guess. Alas, it was not so.

Many of the things I had read about Gardens of Moon began with the caveat that 200 pages should be read before the story really comes together… and yes this is true, Erikson drops you into the story and it does take a little while to get your bearings. Well, I read 350 pages (around half), and then closed the book, most likely never to return it. I never feel bad about not finishing a book that I am not enjoying, and often drop books after as little as 50 pages in if I am not into it - many times I return to a book to give it a second or even a third chance as my mood changes - although, I never feel obligated to finish books, there are too many books out there I want to read (probably more than I can read in a lifetime, as a matter of fact) for me to worry about not finishing them all. The story was there and sort of interesting, but no characters I could really care about were present. I tried and tried to like this book, I really did, but in the end the writing left me feeling detached and uninterested.

Now, just because I did not enjoy Gardens of Moon, I still feel it has enough going for that other fantasy readers might enjoy it immensely (different stroke for different folks, you know)… it just was not for me.

Conclusion - yep, the three volumes of this series are now heading into a “to sell” or “to donate” box of books… a good reminder for all to tread lightly when purchasing books in a series - buy the first and then decide if the next book is worth your investment (unless you are grabbing them for $.50 a piece at a book sale - then, by all means, have at it, and buy buy buy).