pileofgreybooks: a book ring

This book is a complicated stew that is chock full of puzzles, genealogies, foul play, and dickinsian bleakness. It is the kind of book you struggle to finish-- eagerly counting off the pages to the end (that at times seems oh so far away), but when you do, finally, finish it you just have to mull over what what you read. It is the kind of book you talk about over and over trying to figure out just what it all means.
Now it is not the kind of book I would normally read. I dont like to try and figure out mysteries, I dont do puzzles, and I couldnt give two figs about genealogies and this book, for a large part, is nothing but the above. But hidden between the passages of puzzles and intrigue there are beautiful descriptions of Victorian England, sketches of fascinating characters, and deep intelligent discussions about trust, justice, equity, and altruism. It is the kind of book you could read several times and not totally grasp it(or at least it would take several readings for me). There are few books that really take the time--and this one (at 780 single spaced pages of tightly packed type) REALLY takes the time-- to confuse a story with the finer details, stories, and perceptions, of the characters who inhabit it.

The gods we took with us accross the oceans from our old homes are with us...slowly fading away into obscurity. Outshined by the new gods of telivision, internet, and security they grow old, forgotten. But a storm is brewing just on the horizon, a battle between the old and the new...
This was a great fun striaghtforward easy read. It is the kind of book you want after a long, hard, crazy day or after reading a "serious" depressingly literary novel. It is well worth the days spent. And what a concept! You will never look at tourist traps the same way again.
reviews

I just finished this book and I am wondering if the two burbon and waters helped or hindered me in understanding this surrealist book. I am not too picky all I ask for in a book is a few stable places to gather my barings before jumping into the next plot laberenth. This book had no such areas, I do not know if I really understand it and I really do not know if we are supposed to.
The basic plot is that a woman hires a private investigator to look for her husband who has been missing for almost half a year. The clues are scant: a worn matchbook with two different kinds of matches and a photograph.
One of the persistant themes of the book is that every person's life is a map and in order to understand that person's life you must first construct their personal map. The missing husband's map is unfinneshed and does not make a whole lot of sense and as the investigator progresses into the mystery his life and map becomes increasingly fragmented and ruined.
To tell the truth I do not know if I liked this book. I think one of the problems is that it was originally written in japanese and translated in the 70's...so the original meaning of the book might of been lost in the translation and much of it seems dated in its machismo sexism.
It is one of those paradoxical books where it is an easy quick read, but it is almost impossible to get a grasp on.
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I got this 9and someodd hundred page behemoth on a one week lone from the library. Now I am not the slowest reader, but I aint gonna win any speed reading medals either. A book that size would normally at least take me a week and a half of reading to plow through, but I finished it and less than a week too. I couldn't put it down. I didn't want it to end. Now I am not going to lie to you the first hundred pages or so are not all that intresting, but once you have those under your belt it is smooth sailing.
The hype machine called this book the "next harry potter". With the exception of both containing magic soaked plots there is very little in common between them. This book moves slower the characters are more complex the magic is more understated and there is absolutely no quidditch.

reviews

You cannot mention the Baroque cycle without mentioning Cryptonomicon. It was written before BC but takes place after BC during WWII and close to present day. I read BC and was able to understand what was going on (and loved it), but I think I would have gotten more out of it if I would have read C frst. There is just so many insider references in BC to C that I missed and did not get till I read C...oh well.
In alot of ways I look at C as a study in Badassery (is there such a word...there should be). It has a lot more action than BC (which is not to say that BC has little action it is just a different kind of book...anyway) and it is all pretty well contained in one novel...unlike BC which is spread out over three. There is some sections with some pretty complex mathmatics, but you can skim them and still follow the story. The author loves to explain things and while he does a great job of it, if you hate math no amount of great teaching will pique your interest.

Reviews

Warning this is a series of three long novels that are broke up into about 8 short (300 page) novels that all make up one loooong story. I loved this series, but I will admit that there were a few sections I skimmed (especially the Eliza and the french cryptologist...wordy as hell.
But
I know it is a cliche, but I am going to say it anyhow:
I look at the world differently from reading these books.
There is just so much history and information jammed into the cycle. As the reader you are lead out of chaos into a new order which in turn will in time become chaotic and a new "system of the world" will emerge.
Also they are just so damn fun to read. The characters are great and the action just kind of sneaks up on you when you least expect it.
I read the last book around christmas and I am still thinking about them. They are most definatly worth the effort.

Reviews

I just fineshed this book last week. It is one of those books where I wanted to read something else by the author and all the New York Public Library had was another of his books (Damn you NYPL and your millions of book hoarding members!)
anyhow I picked it up it looked at it saw it had some pretty good reviews and thought what the hell I will give it a shot.
It is an elegant book as expat novels should be. The characters are extreamly complex. In order to enjoy a book I have to feel for the characters and the author did a good job in accomplishing that.
There where areas in the book where I felt the story becomes mired down into the unnessary details of a buisness deal towards the end of the book. I felt the author could have accomplished the book without so much attention to needless dry detail. Personal preference I guess. And like the 90's it is drenched in Irony---which to tell the truth I have really had enough irony for 10 life times. If you are in the mood for an elegant character study this is a good choice.

Reviews

Disclaimer: I cant write book discriptions for shit....sorry I hope this is helpful

I have to admit that I began this book with terribly high expectations. It was the scifi book of the 80's and it is almost impossible to overemphisise neuromancer's impact on scifi written after (as I said on the link---the matrix would not have been made if there was not this book to rip off from). Before reading Neurmancer I had read Virtual Light (will review later), also by William Gibson, before reading Neuromancer and Neuromancer was mentioned in every review I read of Virtual Light. SOOOO short story long I was looking forward to reading this book. Of course, it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out that my expectations far overshadowed my actual experience of the book. To tell the truth there were several times I just wanted to stop reading the book and go to something else, but I felt I should read it so I kept at it.
I think if I had read it without knowing the hoopla surounding the book I would have enjoyed it a bit more....who knows.
My biggest problem with the book is that it is writen under the assumption that the reader is incredably knowlegable about the workings of the fictional world. From the first paragraph you are thrown into it---there is relatively little exposistion. Which really would be okay but it is extreamly technical. Also the descriptions of the technical wizadry of this fictional near future while complex where also a bit on the sparse side so the book constantly left me with a "whaaaa...?" feeling.
What I did like about this book and what made the time spent worthwhile:
The characters are badasses.
I dug the seedy vibe.
The Rastafarian Space station was a nice touch.

Reviews

The way I figure is on the links section each person could post suggestions and in the blog/post section we could talk about what we are reading and talk about the books we got from each others suggestions.

Hello and welcome to Pileofgreybooks book ring.
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