I know I haven’t been posting, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been reading. I don’t have time to write up full blown reviews for the books of the last couple months, so these little snippets will have to do.

The Aeneid of Virgil by Virgil - Epic Poem

You probably remember Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, which told the story of the Trojan War from the Greek point of view. Well, The Aeneid is the other side of the coin. After the sacking of Troy, Aeneas, a Trojan, is tapped on the shoulder by the gods and told to go off and found the city of Rome. It was presented to Alexander and gave the Roman Empire, in general, and Alexander’s lineage, specifically, a divine source. Virgil pulls heavily from Homer and Ovid, creating an almost intertextual epic poem as he uses other works to justify much of his fictional history of Rome.

Away by Amy Bloom - Fiction

I was prepared to dislike this novel from the start. Instead, I ended up loving it. Not so much the story itself, although I thought the second have was significantly more interesting than the first half, but rather, I loved the way in which Bloom told this story. Her implementation of both the flash forward and the flashback are simply masterful, and the narrative is impeccably paced because of it. More important, the techniques Bloom uses are what make the story itself so interesting. Away is an adventure novel, and until the adventure really gets going, the storyline itself falls a bit flat. Once it does, thought, about a quarter of the way in, it is a difficult story to put down.

Between Panic & Desire by Dinty W. Moore - Nonfiction

I absolutely loved this book, and have read it cover to cover three times in the last six weeks. It is chock full of baby boom generational observations and cultural commentary. Far from the style of a traditional memoir, Moore tells his own story experimentally, using devices and structures uncommonly found in nonfiction. He plays with form, and he plays with words, and the end result is an immensely fun and entertaining look at a man who seems to have surprised himself by staying alive.

The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Inferno by Dante Alighieri - Epic Poem

What can I say… it’s Dante. Take a moment and close your eyes. Ok, wait until after you read this, and then close them. Once they’re closed, picture Hell. Got it? Chances are, whether you have read Inferno or not, your own image of Hell is formed at least partially from this book. That’s the kind of effect this manuscript had on the world. Told in the first person, it is Dante’s account of being escorted through the nine rings of Hell by Virgil. Dante utilizes contemporary events and people to put an almost autobiographical feel to his verse, as much of the inhabitants of Hell are, or were, his contemporaries. It is a wonderful blend of fact and fiction in an effort to increase the sense of veracity throughout his text.

Doctor Faustus­ by Christopher Marlowe - Drama

Another look at Hell, Marlowe takes much of his version from a mixture of Ovid, Homer, Virgil, and Dante. In this play, Faustus sells his soul to the Devil in order to become the most learned man in the world. It’s a wonderful look at the dangers of temptation and pride. Perhaps the most famous question to come out of this text revolves around the reasons for Faustus’ damnation. Is he damned because he is wicked? Or is he wicked because he is damned? A bit chicken or the egg, really, but in my opinion, the answer is there in the text. I’ll leave it to you to find it.

Duma Key by Stephen King - Fiction

Victim of a horrendous construction site accident that takes his right arm and much memory, Edgar Freemantle moves to Duma Key, Florida in an effort to piece his life back together. In classic King fashion, Edgar’s recovery is laced with a curious new ability: a talent for painting. Duma Key is, much like Lisey’s Story, a character driven novel. It’s about recovery and friendship, trust and truth. Until the end, anyway, when it becomes plot driven and looses much of the personal power it had in an effort to explain things. It’s still an enjoyable novel, but I am a firm believer that not everything needs to be wrapped up all the time.

Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road by Neil Peart - Memoir

Yes, that Neil Peart. I am conflicted with this one. The first third and the last third is some of the most engaging and, really, inspiring writing I have seen recently. Specifically, the chronicles of his 55,000 mile motorcycle odyssey is breathtaking. I found myself in tears, and I laughed out loud. The conflict comes in the middle third, where Peart relies on letters he sent to various people along his journey, and I almost ended up putting the book down on several occasions. In these letters, there are numerous instances where he tells the same thing to different people, using almost identical verbiage, and it got very old, very fast. And really, I think the letters were a diversion to what the book was about, and ultimately sidetracked what is an otherwise memorable narrative.

The Last Communist Virgin by Wang Ping - Fiction

This collection of linked short stories is a wonderful look at what happens when cultures collide. Ping’s portrayal of the contrasts that torment Chinese immigrants is simply stunning: cultural contrasts, personal contrasts, and emotional contrasts all interwoven into individual stories that both stand on their own as well as unite each other into a single cohesive arc. Ursula K. LeGuin called these types of books “Story Suites” as they fall somewhere between a novel and a collection of short stories. If the links are too strong, they begin to resemble chapters and the “novel” seems lacking. Ping’s links are subtle and strong, not so much providing a direct relationship between the stories (although some of the stories are most definitely directly linked) but rather an overall feeling of cooperation. A wonderful collection whether read and viewed separately or as a whole.

2/5 Memoir of a Misfit­ by Marcia Ford - Memoir

Suffice it to say that I didn’t care for this one. I found the narrator uninspiring and seeming not invested in the stories she was telling. There was a constant state of detachment that affected the overall narrative, and I found myself bored more often than not.

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After the 2 hour special last spring, I had high hopes for Knight Rider. I thought the special was quite well done and showed alot of promise.

After just two episodes, however, I have removed the new series from the DVR queue. It is, quite simply, the most horribly written show I have seen in… well… in a long damn time. The dialogue is awful, the pacing horrendous, and the 2 plots I watched insanely predictable. Oh, and the super-car capabilities they have instilled in Kit are utterly asinine. I’m not even going to give the show a graphical rating because I neglected to make an icon representing the shards of a shattered coffee cup scattering across the floor. (Hmm… that actually sounds like a neat idea for an animated icon. I have a Must Read category… perhaps I’ll do that for a Must Avoid category).

And there you have it. My shortest review ever.

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One reason why I don’t post about political topics, even during the heat of an election year, is that I am not the most politically minded person on the planet. It’s one of my shortcomings, I think, that I don’t pay more serious attention to the political issues we face here in the US and abroad. Those issues have always been, I think, of secondary importance to me. And while that hasn’t really changed much over the past eight years, I do feel as though I am more aware of those secondary issues than I have been in decades past.

Despite this attitude, however, one thing that has always been extremely high on my priority list is voting in both local and national elections. I have no party affiliations, so I just wait for the general elections to roll around and then go cast my vote. On the national side of things, the Presidential candidate who always got my vote was always whoever I thought was going to screw up the country the least. It has never been about who is poised to usher in a new era in yadda yadda yadda, or who stands for blah blah blah, but rather who is not going to do something that totally screws up the American way of life, or, more specifically, screw up my way of life. Basically, my vote has always been against someone rather than for someone.

Come November, for the first time ever, I’ll be casting a vote for a candidate. The importance this election has on the future of this country cannot be overstated. The importance of every citizen to educate themselves on the candidates cannot be overstated. And the importance for every citizen to go to the polls and make a decision also cannot be overstated.

If votes were counted today, mine would be for Obama. My reasons are my own, and I don’t feel the need to justify my decision to the internet. All I really care about is that you, whoever you are that stumbled across my little corner of the internet, make your own decision and then make that decision heard when it comes time to pull the lever. Vote. Put it on your calendar right now. Block out the hour or 90 minutes or however long it will take and make sure you are counted. I don’t care who you vote for as long as you take the time and help determine the direction this country is going for the next 4 years (ok… not totally true, I do care, but you understand the sentiment and know what I mean).

And that may well be my last political post untill 2012.

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