Fascinating take-down of personality testing across the board, starting with phrenology and working through more or less chronologically. It's a good exploration of how many of the tests have been used for purposes well beyond their initial design, and how little evidence there is for their utility in most settings. I think the part of this book that was most chilling was the section that looked briefly at a high school using the 'Colors' personality test (which I hadn't heard of before). Teachers suggesting that further study wouldn't be worthwhile because someone was an 'orange' or whatever .. ugh.
Interesting history of language punditry, and Crystal's position is well-reasoned. It turns out I'm more interested in actual linguistics than the drama surrounding language usage. I haven't read [b:Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation|8600|Eats, Shoots & Leaves The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation|Lynne Truss|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309285488s/8600.jpg|854886], and this does end up referring to that quite a bit.
Hollinghurst writes so beautifully, and does especially good party scenes. I loved the first three sections of this, while the final two (no parties) I thought were only okay. The book didn't quite come together as a whole as much as [b:The Line of Beauty|139087|The Line of Beauty|Alan Hollinghurst|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1172099924s/139087.jpg|918312] did. I enjoyed Daphne as a character, and liked reading about her across several different timeframes and contexts.
Fascinating; read like a fast-paced thriller at times (I even stayed up well past my bedtime at one point). This looks at the global financial crisis from the point of view of a few oddball characters who bet on it happening and did very well out of being right. I didn't think this did quite as good a job of explaining the complex financial instruments in play as did [b:Liar's Poker|1171|Liar's Poker|Michael Lewis|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309285703s/1171.jpg|855103], or maybe they're just that much harder to understand.
1
I did try this once before, many years ago as a teenager, and couldn't finish it or appreciate it at all. This time round, I did like it, if I read it in very small doses. The first 110-odd pages were just great, and periodically throughout there were some really beautiful and interesting passages (poor, poor Pip!). That wasn't quite enough for me though, when there are such large stretches that don't feel like a novel at all.
I did really enjoy the first half of this, when it was set in Mexico and the narrator was working for Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Trotsky. However, I struggled to remain interested after that, when the narrator ends up in the US. He isn't really a strong character, and at that point, he isn't hanging out with particularly strong characters either.
This is about NZ soldiers' time in Italy during WWII. It doesn't discuss the campaign or battle at all. I found it interesting, mainly because my grandfather was one of these soldiers, and met my grandmother in Trieste. It's written in a chatty style, and focuses on anecdotes and rumours about things like the black market in selling army supplies, and the attitude of the NZ soldiers to authority. It's very much of its time though (published in the 60s). I cringed in horror when I realised that the chapter entitled "The Darker Side" was so-called because it was about the Maori Battalion. It's also pretty insulting about Italians (especially the men), and the NZ women with the troops (snobs for only dating officers, apparently), among others.
This was fabulous and I loved it; I think it's one of the best novels I've read in ages. It's very sad and beautifully written.My favourite parts were the way it explored the relationship between the two sisters. Greta and June were both were credible characters flipping between childhood and adolescence.
1
Intriguing mix of well-written short stories, many of which play around with aspects of New Zealand history. Some are longer than an average short story, e.g. 30-50 pages. Highlights for me were:- The title story, with a Pakeha-Maori mysteriously turning up injured in the present day and developing a friendship of sorts with the man who rescues him.- My Brother's Blood about two brothers separated for years and the clash when they meet again; one is a sealer and the other in a religious order.- The Snack Machine set in the present and about the relationship between a man and his young step-son.
On the basis of this, I prefer Didion's non-fiction. This was closest in tone to the essay "Slouching Toward Bethlehem", which was probably my least favourite in that collection. This book is very much of its time, late sixties, and it was hard for me to relate to the despair of characters whose 'problems' are largely self-imposed. I thought first section from Maria's view point and the insights into that throughout were some of the strongest parts.I liked the style: it's fast-paced (some chapters aren't even a full page), spare, and conveys the despair and ennui of the characters incredibly well. It was just that I didn't always feel it was earned.Some of the language is of its time, I found the references to faggots jarring. My 70s library copy also uses retarded not once but twice on the dust jacket, but this wasn't in the book itself.
Sweet and thoughtful reflections of (privileged) family life pre-WWII. They are only a few pages each. Enjoyable and fast read, if at times a bit inconsequential.
I admired this but I didn't love it; I didn't find it emotionally engaging. I found myself without a preference between the various endings, because I wasn't really invested in the fate or motivation of either Sarah or Charles. I did very much enjoy the references to Hardy and especially [b:Persuasion|2156|Persuasion|Jane Austen|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1298411870s/2156.jpg|2534720]. This site was very helpful with translations of random French snippets, pictures of the area, endings to stories alluded to but not finished in footnotes, and sundry other references I didn't pick up. http://www.bookdrum.com/books/the-french-lieutenants-woman/9780099478331/index.html
Funny and appealing satire, but with characters you could care about. It focused on a believable mother-daughter relationship, with a teenager who actually seems like one. I can see that for some people, this might cross the line between quirky and annoying, but I was prepared to go along with it.
Kindred
I found this a thought-provoking and absorbing read. Every time I read something about slavery, I am always struck by how it really wasn't that long ago...Butler uses time travel as a mechanism to provide a modern (late 1970s) black woman's perspective on slavery. Having a modern protagonist is very effective; because I could relate to Dana more easily it made the story feel much more immediate than a lot of historical fiction. Each of Dana's involuntary trips back in time develops her relationship with the other slaves, and with the owners of the plantation she finds herself in. I thought these were explored very well. The effect of her time as a slave on Dana's relationship with her 70s husband is also very interesting and subtly done, particularly as an example of how hard it is to have a 'normal' relationship in an abnormal and unequal situation. The book acts as a challenge to the way people look back at the past and say 'why didn't they just...?" It's a really good example of situational ethics; Dana frequently finds herself compromising what she would like to do or thinks is the right thing to do, for a range of reasons (self-preservation, concern for the effect on others.I found the ending slightly abrupt and unsatisfying (mainly the fact that we don't find out the fate of her fellow slaves) but overall I thought Kindred was excellent.
Interesting Wall St memoir - Lewis worked for an investment bank in the late '70s through to beyond the '87 crash. The anecdotes from actual time in the business keep this a surprisingly fun read. Lewis is quite funny and cutting about his fellow traders, but never completely absolves himself either, e.g:It was striking how little control we had of events, particularly in view of how assiduously we cultivated the appearance of being in charge by smoking big cigars and saying fuck all the time.He also explains finance concepts well, without making my eyes glaze (e.g. I now have a vague and hazy understanding of mortgage backed securities, CMOs, and junk bonds, although I am unconvinced it will stick). A lot of what he's writing about has implications for the more recent global financial troubles, even though it's more than 20 years old. I will eventually try and get to [b:The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine|6463967|The Big Short Inside the Doomsday Machine|Michael Lewis|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1290480108s/6463967.jpg|6654434].
Loved this - very readable, fascinating look at the life and times of Cleopatra, and by extension, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, and Augustus.Schiff explains the context for Cleopatra's life: the history of Cleopatra's family as rulers of Egypt, and what it meant to rule in Egypt, especially alongside a completely unstable and growing empire like Rome.She focuses on ancient sources, acknowledges their limitations, and tries to reconcile discrepancies between them (but is always clear when they disagree), and shows when and why much of what people think they know about Cleopatra was introduced into the narrative.It's written in a lively style (I loved all the footnotes about the fates of people not central to the story).