My latest choice for reading, A Crack in the Edge of the World, published in 2005, has proven to be very interesting. It's the second book I've read by Simon Winchester (the first was The Professor and the Madman), with one more to go (Krakatoa).
Mr. Winchester has a gift for making the most complex technical subject not only understandable, but compelling. I learned that when I read with relish his story of the making of the Oxford English Dictionary, a topic that would seem designed to excite only philologists.
This time he's writing about an inherently interesting topic, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, yet he risks venturing off into potentially sleep-inducing scientific realms to bring his readers not only an appreciation of the complex geology of the earth and its capricious movements, but a much greater understanding of how devastating quakes like the one in 1906 could occur.
I'm about a third of the way through, but already I understand more about the San Andreas fault than I ever did when I lived near it and experienced first hand its effects. But Winchester doesn't limit himself to that one point of plate dynamics; he takes into account all the plates that cover the earth, the history of their movements (as far as we know it), and how we have come to learn more and more about them over time.
So, it's a fascinating book and I'm glad I'm finally reading it. I'll let you know what else I discover in the next post.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Arts and Crafts
This week was another quick read, this time supplied by Stephen King, one of my long-time favorite authors. The book I read this time, though, was not a scary novel; it was On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. In it Stephen King gives an account of his life (including his horrific accident in 1999) and his work and then spends some time talking about how to become a better writer if you're already competent. If you're a bad writer, he says, there's no hope for you.
That kind of blunt advice makes this book a bit different from others that are obviously designed to be used in a creative writing course. King is highly skeptical of such courses, even though that's where he met his wife back when he went to University of Maine and was going through a period of writer's block, a malady he hasn't suffered from very often over the fifty-plus years he's been writing professionally. In addition to the fifty novels he's published, he's written numerous short stories, screenplays, and other works--enough to prove that he writes almost continuously.
I have to say I agree with King's doubt about the usefulness of creative writing courses. One of my creative writing professors once said that writing is self-taught, and I knew he was right, despite the fact that we were both there in a creative writing class trying to prove otherwise. What creative writing classes are good for, King admits, is to provide a place to seriously discuss and engage in writing, and to provide good jobs for writers.
King's attitudes are a large part of what I find refreshing about his book; the other part is the truly useful advice he gives. Some of it I've heard before; for instance, he says that to be a good writer, you have to write a lot and read a lot. But other advice was new to me: don't worry about plot; put your characters in a situation and let them work their way out of it--plot will take care of itself. That bit of advice was a revelation to me. Hey, I can stop worrying about plot! If anyone besides Stephen King had said that--say someone who writes "serious" novels that don't have a plot--I'd be skeptical. But King, like most popular fiction writers, knows how to keep a story moving forward. Writers like him are good at plot, so maybe it's not so mysterious after all.
Throughout On Writing, I get the sense that King is being honest and practical. Here's how I do it, he says, and here's what I think writers need to succeed at the craft. Interestingly enough, throughout the book he never refers to what he does as art (at least I can't think of a single instance). It seems to me that he has a worker's sensibility about writing, especially writing popular fiction. It's not high culture, but it is something valuable, something more than mere entertainment. A good story is essential to our lives, and in order to work, it has to be accessible. A story that hides its truth from readers is not doing its job.
Obviously, King and his stories have done their job for decades. And he's not ready to quit yet.
If you're interested in writing or reading, or if you're just interested in Stephen King, I recommend this book highly.
Now, on to the next. This time I'm going back to history with a story about the 1906 earthquake, A Crack in the Edge of the World. Another disaster awaits!
That kind of blunt advice makes this book a bit different from others that are obviously designed to be used in a creative writing course. King is highly skeptical of such courses, even though that's where he met his wife back when he went to University of Maine and was going through a period of writer's block, a malady he hasn't suffered from very often over the fifty-plus years he's been writing professionally. In addition to the fifty novels he's published, he's written numerous short stories, screenplays, and other works--enough to prove that he writes almost continuously.
I have to say I agree with King's doubt about the usefulness of creative writing courses. One of my creative writing professors once said that writing is self-taught, and I knew he was right, despite the fact that we were both there in a creative writing class trying to prove otherwise. What creative writing classes are good for, King admits, is to provide a place to seriously discuss and engage in writing, and to provide good jobs for writers.
King's attitudes are a large part of what I find refreshing about his book; the other part is the truly useful advice he gives. Some of it I've heard before; for instance, he says that to be a good writer, you have to write a lot and read a lot. But other advice was new to me: don't worry about plot; put your characters in a situation and let them work their way out of it--plot will take care of itself. That bit of advice was a revelation to me. Hey, I can stop worrying about plot! If anyone besides Stephen King had said that--say someone who writes "serious" novels that don't have a plot--I'd be skeptical. But King, like most popular fiction writers, knows how to keep a story moving forward. Writers like him are good at plot, so maybe it's not so mysterious after all.
Throughout On Writing, I get the sense that King is being honest and practical. Here's how I do it, he says, and here's what I think writers need to succeed at the craft. Interestingly enough, throughout the book he never refers to what he does as art (at least I can't think of a single instance). It seems to me that he has a worker's sensibility about writing, especially writing popular fiction. It's not high culture, but it is something valuable, something more than mere entertainment. A good story is essential to our lives, and in order to work, it has to be accessible. A story that hides its truth from readers is not doing its job.
Obviously, King and his stories have done their job for decades. And he's not ready to quit yet.
If you're interested in writing or reading, or if you're just interested in Stephen King, I recommend this book highly.
Now, on to the next. This time I'm going back to history with a story about the 1906 earthquake, A Crack in the Edge of the World. Another disaster awaits!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Lakes and Rivers
Well, I guess I've neglected my reading blog for too long! I've read three books in the three weeks I've been away, so I haven't been exactly shirking my reading duties, but I now have three books to write about.
I finally finished Rising Tide, the story of the 1927 flood, last week. I had to take a break from it while I was on vacation, partly because it's hard to focus on and partly because I needed a break from the frustration and sadness I felt reading about all the really big mistakes and the abuse of power that created the disaster.
So I read a murder mystery instead. Mysteries are fast reads, light and satisfying. Everything works out in the end--we learn who dun-it, the perpetrator gets punished, and none of the principal characters get killed. The book I read, Motion to Suppress, by Perri O'Shaughnessy--really a pair of sisters, Pamela and Mary O'Shaughnessy--was their first novel, and it was quite gripping. It takes place in Lake Tahoe and is about a wrongly accused woman and her defense attorney who is trying to prove she is innocent before the murder trial is over. It's a familiar plot, but it had some inventive elements and plenty of twists! I recommend it and the authors to all mystery lovers.
Rising Tide was an eye-opener on many fronts; I learned a lot about the Mississippi River's history as an avenue of commerce, about the depth of corruption in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and about the immense suffering of African Americans living in the Mississippi Delta and elsewhere in the south during this time. It's still terribly shocking to think such horrors went on in our supposedly law-revering country in full view of the public (and often with its consent if not participation), including the media!
I was also taken with how complex the issue really was--no simple solution could be found for dealing with all the warring factions that coalesced around the mighty Mississippi and its habit of flooding the land. Even now, the river still holds sway, despite all the measures taken to contain or control it over the last two centuries.
Rising Tide is an interesting book--filled with lots of detail and human drama. And to think that the author only talks about one small part of the vast area affected by the 1927 flood! I recommend it, especially for those who love American history. It's a story that everyone should know, but be prepared to be outraged.
Once I finished Rising Tide, I felt the need for something smaller, more intimate and shorter. The book I settled on, Shadow Tag, filled the bill. It's the latest novel by Louise Erdrich, an Ojibwe writer from Minnesota who has an amazing range. She writes about indigenous people--individuals and families--but she also writes about the non-Indians who live with and near them. Her stories are always compelling and sometimes disturbing, but never fail to ring true. Shadow Tag, about a couple's failing marriage and the attempts of their family to deal with it somehow, seemed especially real in that it was, I think, partly autobiographical. As I was reading it, I couldn't help recalling Erdrich's own seemingly perfect marriage that ended after years of turmoil that no one knew about until it happened. Not long after, Erdrich's husband, himself a writer, committed suicide. You may want to read an interesting article about the family's problems here: A Writer's Descent. I recommend waiting, though, until you've read the novel so you're not looking for connections.
I haven't decided what I'll read next. Maybe another novel, maybe something else. I'll let you know, and as always, I'll keep you posted. Sooner this time!
I finally finished Rising Tide, the story of the 1927 flood, last week. I had to take a break from it while I was on vacation, partly because it's hard to focus on and partly because I needed a break from the frustration and sadness I felt reading about all the really big mistakes and the abuse of power that created the disaster.
So I read a murder mystery instead. Mysteries are fast reads, light and satisfying. Everything works out in the end--we learn who dun-it, the perpetrator gets punished, and none of the principal characters get killed. The book I read, Motion to Suppress, by Perri O'Shaughnessy--really a pair of sisters, Pamela and Mary O'Shaughnessy--was their first novel, and it was quite gripping. It takes place in Lake Tahoe and is about a wrongly accused woman and her defense attorney who is trying to prove she is innocent before the murder trial is over. It's a familiar plot, but it had some inventive elements and plenty of twists! I recommend it and the authors to all mystery lovers.
Rising Tide was an eye-opener on many fronts; I learned a lot about the Mississippi River's history as an avenue of commerce, about the depth of corruption in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and about the immense suffering of African Americans living in the Mississippi Delta and elsewhere in the south during this time. It's still terribly shocking to think such horrors went on in our supposedly law-revering country in full view of the public (and often with its consent if not participation), including the media!
I was also taken with how complex the issue really was--no simple solution could be found for dealing with all the warring factions that coalesced around the mighty Mississippi and its habit of flooding the land. Even now, the river still holds sway, despite all the measures taken to contain or control it over the last two centuries.
Rising Tide is an interesting book--filled with lots of detail and human drama. And to think that the author only talks about one small part of the vast area affected by the 1927 flood! I recommend it, especially for those who love American history. It's a story that everyone should know, but be prepared to be outraged.
Once I finished Rising Tide, I felt the need for something smaller, more intimate and shorter. The book I settled on, Shadow Tag, filled the bill. It's the latest novel by Louise Erdrich, an Ojibwe writer from Minnesota who has an amazing range. She writes about indigenous people--individuals and families--but she also writes about the non-Indians who live with and near them. Her stories are always compelling and sometimes disturbing, but never fail to ring true. Shadow Tag, about a couple's failing marriage and the attempts of their family to deal with it somehow, seemed especially real in that it was, I think, partly autobiographical. As I was reading it, I couldn't help recalling Erdrich's own seemingly perfect marriage that ended after years of turmoil that no one knew about until it happened. Not long after, Erdrich's husband, himself a writer, committed suicide. You may want to read an interesting article about the family's problems here: A Writer's Descent. I recommend waiting, though, until you've read the novel so you're not looking for connections.
I haven't decided what I'll read next. Maybe another novel, maybe something else. I'll let you know, and as always, I'll keep you posted. Sooner this time!
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