All Reviews by Carter
Cranford
by Elizabeth Gaskell
This is a perfect book to read before bed, or on a rainy day, on a plane or on vacation. Sweet-natured but not without bite, it's a well-reported look at the gentle absurdities of English village life in the Napoleonic era. Worth noting: it's written in fresh, thoughtful, modern language that requires no effort to dive right into. Recommended, and if you like this, try "Wives and Daughters."
The Princess Priscilla's Fortnight
by Elizabeth von Arnim
Less charming than "Enchanted April," this is still a lovely, diverting story for an evening read.
The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century
by John Ruskin
The title might sound allegorical, but the bulk of this lecture is really about clouds. His thesis is that the weather in early-1880s London is unusually gray, terrible and foreboding, and that this terrible weather has given rise to some equally terrible social conditions. If you're a student of weather and enjoy books like The Little Ice Age, this will be completely fascinating. It's also nifty to see the mind of an art critic applied to natural phenomena. This book is odd, to be sure, but worth checking out.
The Pit Prop Syndicate
by Freeman Wills Crofts
This was fairly tedious and repetitive, as other reviewers mention. I found myself skipping over pages and pages of re-told stories, to the point where I wondered if this was a literary device I was missing the point of. But it wasn't. Not the best mystery on manybooks.
The Janus Syndrome
by Steven E. McDonald
Looking at the cover you wouldn't assume there's much character development going on, but this is a pretty rich little story. The hero, Kevven Tomari, spends much of the book meeting odd creatures from around the universe and figuring out how to not get annoyed with them. It's a metaphor but a really fun one, with an imaginative cast. The actual plot is a run-and-gun space war with a heartfelt payoff. The first few scenes of the book are overwritten and even a bit hard to follow, but be patient; the author finds his groove. If your favorite part of Star Wars is the cantina scene, try this book.
Uncle Silas
by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
There's a great review of this in US Airways magazine, Dec. 2008, starting on page 53:
http://www.usairwaysmag.com/2008_12/full-magazine/index.php
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
by James Hogg
I started reading this because of Philip Pullman's recommendation: "A brilliant, chilling and subtle account of religious derangement. Every self-righteous fundamentalist ought to read this, but of course they won't." And he is so right! This book is funny and then frustrating by turns, because of the amazing characters that Hogg draws -- you feel what they feel. I'm only halfway through this story and have no idea how it will turn out, but I'm completely sucked in.
The Good Soldier
by Ford Madox Ford
Heartbreaking, cynical, funny, rich and strange. Ruth Rendell in the Guardian UK: "Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier is my favourite novel. I first read it in the 1950s and have read it about 20 times since. It’s possibly the best-constructed book in the English language."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2008/sep/02/crime?picture=337206683
Gravity's Angel
by Tom Maddox
Great short story, and very timely to read this week! It's about the day they turned on the Texas particle accelerator (that in reality we never finished). It's a tense, atmospheric story about what happens when Big Science meets a very human failing. Great read.
The Five Jars
by Montague Rhodes James
Wow, this is a fabulous and strange book. It's one of those magical old children's books that holds its own inner logic -- moving from one vividly imagined scene to the next, it contains visions that will stay with you forever.
(Found via Philip Pullman's Top 40 Booklist)
The Riddle of the Sands
by Erskine Childers
A fabulous read, and an insightful character study as well. Two young men take a boat trip that ends in a tense battle of wits against the Germans.
A Matter of Honor
by Ann Wilson
wow. this book was sick! the first part was hard to get through- lots of dialougue that was confuseing for the first chapter or two. but after that it was gripping. i couldn't wait for a free moment at work to pull it out and read another few pages. totally worth dowloading! i'd buy it. it's worth bank. write some more of em, ann! totally sweet.
Andersonville
by John McElroy
Amazing. I'm halfway through this and can barely put it down to eat. A matter-of-fact, day-to-day telling of life at the Andersonville prison in Georgia during the Civil War.
The Afterglow
by George Allan England
More survival-and-scavenging adventure. It definitely gets weirder in this title, and more xenophobic.
Castles and Cave Dwellings of Europe
by Sabine Baring-Gould
Exactly what it sounds like, and plenty of it. Defensive caves from feudal times, dens of robbers, cliff dwellings -- if you find this subject romantic and fascinating, this book is right there with you. The author gives lots of historical context to explain why people took to living in caves and cliffs, and how they lived there. Might be a good book to read if you're a rock-climber or hiker.
The Last New Yorkers
by George Allan England
It's basically the Futurama story: a guy wakes up in a high-rise building, a thousand years in the future. (Luckily, so does his pretty stenographer.) And so far as they know, they're the only ones left. This is a fun, overwrought survival-and-scavenging story -- but also, because the two characters went to sleep around 1910, it's a fascinating window into the pre-atomic, pre-civil rights, pre-synthetics American mind. Maybe because the modern past is constantly held up against the future here, the core ideas of 1910 stand out in relief, in all their sexist, racist, great-man-theory glory. So it's interesting as sociology, though there are some passages that are a little hard to take.
Space Viking
by H. Beam Piper
As thrilling as the title. Space ... Viking. The defense of feudalism as a modern form of government, that's just icing on the cake.
Dead Men Tell No Tales
by E.W. Hornung
Our narrator is sailing home from the Australian gold fields, flat broke, when he is thrown into wild, desperate adventure. This classic "ripping yarn" has it all -- the girl, the villain, the mouldering mansion. To say any more would be to spoil it. Great for a late night or a train ride.
He Walked Around the Horses
by H. Beam Piper
A short story in the form of letters. As in other stories by this writer, the science fiction angle is a tool to explore politics and human nature -- in this case, how politicians and average people deal with the out-of-the-ordinary, making attempts to understand and then covering up what they don't. It's definitely an anthology/magazine piece, not terribly rip-roaring, and if you're not familiar with the major historical figures referenced in here, you will miss out on the slow buildup of surprise. But if you like alternate histories, this is a nice small piece to add to your library.
Genesis
by H. Beam Piper
This is interesting, if a bit icky. A ship full of colonists crash-lands on a mysterious planet. Two men and five or six women must learn to survive without technology, fight the native humanoids, and reproduce. The women turn into busy baby-makers, and it definitely gets creepy when the next generation rolls around. But one lesson to take from this is, even if you feel like you're the sole defender of your little world and have no time to do anything but fight for every meal, take the time to teach your kids what you know, or everything you've worked for will disappear.
The Edge of the Knife
by H. Beam Piper
A tense little story about a history professor who finds he can see into the future. Careful details make the story come alive, and make up for some one-dimensional secondary characters. The story evokes the post-McCarthy-era university system, and the preservation of tenure rights is a big issue. So is the tension between hiding what you know is true but can't admit, and bringing truths out into the open before society is ready to hear them. It's a fun read.
Tales of the Jazz Age
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
If you know Fitzgerald mainly from "The Great Gatsby," these early stories will fill in the picture -- they run from melodrama to fantasy to short, odd drama. "The Camel-Back" is a lighthearted love story; "May-Day" is its opposite, a three-part tragedy in high and low society, vividly reported. One or two of the magazine pieces are the worse for being 80 years out of context, but other stories, such as "The Lees of Happiness," have enduring heart.
The Enchanted April
by Elizabeth von Arnim
This charming book is sweet but not too sweet. The backdrop of post-WWI England makes it easy to understand why these four British women would want to escape, and it lends depth to each woman's own story. (For instance, the two young women traveling alone are instantly assumed by everyone to be widows.) The bleak background makes the glorious scenes of Italy and the touch of magic realism very welcome. It's a page-turner -- take it on vacation or keep it for a sleepless night.
Four Max Carrados Detective Stories
by Ernest Bramah
These lively stories in the Sherlock Holmes vein feature Max Carrados, the blind amateur detective. Like Holmes, Carrados makes a point of noticing what others don't, in his case precisely because, as he says, "I [have] no blundering, self-confident eyes to be hoodwinked." Instead he uses careful deduction, his four other senses, and the well-trained eye of his manservant, Parkinson. Carrados' friend Carlyle, a private investigator, serves as his Watson -- he is just dense enough to require an explanation of how Carrados has solved each crime. Four unusual cases take Carrados, Carlyle and Parkinson to well-drawn locations in and around London, including the uncrackable Lucas Street depository and Carrados' own luxurious study in Richmond, where he makes some of his most surprising deductions.
In Morocco
by Edith Wharton
This is fascinating, but the writing style itself is less wonderful than you might expect. Wharton is clearly blown away by what she sees, on one of the first tours of Morocco by a Western person since the French occupation began, and there are many beautiful moments. The writing is impressionistic but oddly formal. If you're interested in Morocco or the Merinid/Almohad empires, this will be interesting; it's also key if you are interested in Wharton's own life and travels.
The English Gipsies and Their Language
by Charles Godfrey Leland
If you've read "Bury Me Standing," by Isabel Fonseca, or "Tribe," by John F. McDonald, or even if you've seen "Snatch" and become fascinated by Brad Pitt's character, this book is worth a look. Leland spent enough time among the English Romany people to learn their true language, which he traces back to Sanskrit roots. His analysis is fascinating, but what's equally clear throughout the book is Leland's genuine fondness and respect for the Romany people. Fun read: Romany proverbs.
Tom Swift and the Electronic Hydrolung
by Victor Appleton
Hyperactive tale of the boy inventor Tom Swift and his team of pals and scientists as they race to recover a space probe that crash-landed into the ocean, while fighting their Brungarian enemies on land and sea. Look for at least two new inventions per chapter, including one that requires Tom to buy a dolphin. Every breakfast, lunch and dinner Tom eats is noted in detail, and he throws a square dance.
Bab: A Sub-Deb
by Mary Roberts Rinehart
This book is charming. It's the story of a young heiress who is impatient to make her debut into society, and her troubles with boys and cars, her sister, her checkbook, the Theatre and German spies. It's like a kinder Gentlemen Prefer Blondes -- both the narrators can't spell and leave a cloud of destruction behind them, against which their charm and joie de vivre glitter even more. Full of period detail and gentle social observation, the book is a slice of upper-class life from the time of our entrance into World War I.