What Are You Reading Right Now?

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What Are You Reading Right Now?

February 11, 2008

All right, before I start, allow me to explain why, lately, I post infrequently. I’m sure my readers want to know what’s happening to my life. It’s… not so great. Actually, it’s pretty bad. My home’s desktop computer was busted. A tire ripped while I was driving. My friend’s mom’s blood pressure rose. My office’s desktop computer’s (what I’m currently using - yeah, today’s an idle day. What can I say?) keyboard was busted, and I got an awful one as a replacement - and by that I mean the keyboard that wouldn’t write unless I pound it. I’m also pretty broke.

About the only good thing was that I’ve finished reading a few books last week.

Actually, I don’t know if I should call that "good" news instead of "normal", which would then be cancelled out by those predicaments I’ve been going through. One of the lofty goals I have planned for this year is to finish 52 books; that means I need to finish 1 book per week. Six weeks have passed, and I’ve finished six books. I don’t see what’s so great about that. If I’ve been a book or two ahead, that’s what I would call good news.

Additionally, I’m currently reading Odyssey. If you’ve read my "10 things" post, you know what’s to come next - a 900-paged, notoriously unreadable book that disregards everything you’ve learned about English, and yet is heralded as one of the most essential texts. I’m getting a mixed feeling of anticipation and apprehension.

Now for the first time, I’m not starting my paragraph with letter "A". I like doing that back in college so as to remind my professor that that’s the alphabet my grade deserves. I heard the effect is sublime, although I don’t think that ever worked the way I wanted. Anyway, this is not a term paper, and nobody’s doing any grading. Let’s get to gist of this post now.

I read Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe) and Foundation (Isaac Asimov) simultaneously, but I finished Things Fall Apart a day earlier. The title should give you the clue that this is a fall-from-grace story, and it is. It details the life of Okonkwo, who, in enduring many hardships, rose to become a person of high rank. His ego was as massive as the respect his village people paid him, and he ruled his family with iron fist, often resorting to violence. He eventually fell, but I’ll let you find out what led to that. I enjoyed Things Fall Apart very much, particularly how it paints the norms and the traditions of Africa, and although some of Okonkwo’s shortcomings leave a lot to be desired, I still find myself sympathetic to him. I also like Chinua Achebe’s writing style: it is simple yet crisp, and despite the relatively low verbal proficiency the book required, it never sounded dumbed-down.

Foundation takes place 10,000 (some) years ahead of now. By the powers of math and psychology, Hari Seldon predicted that in 200 years the Galactic Empire would fall. So he gathered a few notable scientists and built the Foundation, so that he can mitigate the effects. To think that math and psychology can predict the future is to oversimplify theories of divinations, but whatever, I still think the idea is sound. Sadly, I’m indifferent to whatever the hell is going on with the Foundation, and that’s because of the plot and the writing. Basically, there’s more talking and yapping than any movement, it’s like reading a boring dossier. It wouldn’t be so bad if the characters were interesting. They weren’t. Everyone was either the interchangeable manipulative intellectual powerhouse (Seldon/Hardin/Mallow) who always wins and who talks like he has rehearsed his every dialogue, or the also-interchangeable inept pseudo-intellectual "thinks he’s the shrewd devil" cannon fodder who always loses and who also talks like he’s rehearsed his every dialogue, except with more venom. And notice the choice of pronoun? That’s right, there were almost no woman, as if a woman is insignificant in politics (a bizarre belief if, while reading foundation, you’re in a country where a woman perverts democracy). I also think that the wins were done in a very annoying way - what I call the "Knew Ex Machina", which is the "I KNEW THIS ALL ALONG HOHOHO!" plot device. The readers never could’ve learned beforehand how a person could possibly overcome an adversity, then it just happens and that person discourses a whole chapter about how awesome his wit is. Such cheap storytelling! The setting is also irrelevant: I don’t know why this had to be in the future, because the description of such future was so sparse. It could’ve taken place now and the story wouldn’t alter. Heck, Asimov could put a lolcat in there and it won’t matter (like, "V10L3NZ D LAST PWNAGE 4 INCOMPETANZ!"). I heard that the latter Foundation books are better. I sure hope so, because the first book is bust, despite the good premise.

So that wraps my post for today. Anyone read any good books lately? Want to make some recommendations? Want to comment on my opinions of Things Fall Apart and Foundation? Then cram my comment box to your heart’s content!

Posted by nightdreamer at 9:09 am | permalink

Previous Comments

i agree the Foundation is a dry, dry thing. but that’s how it’s made: all wit, all talk, and static characters. asimov knows that. the greatness of the book is similar with the greatness of agatha christie’s or arthur conan doyle’s books—that is, the story is all about the mystery and about the twists. it is easy to discard The Foundation as having another “I KNEW THIS ALL ALONG HOHOHO” plot, but come on: the plot is brilliant. the premise is brilliant. that’s all there is intended to be in the book.

but i must admit, even asimov was suprised about the popularity of the book himself.

in the later books, you’ll find that the characters are more developed and things actually happen. i can’t say the same for the next two books as i haven’t read them, but the 4th to the 7th books are definitely better than the first. you’ll also find that the female characters are given important roles, either as antagonist or hero. they’re usually full of guts and their intelligence matches (or is actually better) than the males.

i’m re-reading The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman.

Posted by liz at February 11, 2008, 12:44 pm

The premise is brilliant, I agree, but the plot not so much. I do understand about mysteries and twists, but at least try to give the readers at least a small hint of how the problem can be solved instead of doing last minute explanations. The former always feel more satisfying (and it’s one reason why I’m so in love with Phoenix Wright. Yeah, it’s a videogame, but it could kick a mystery novel’s butt any day). Anyway, perhaps it’s better if what happened in this first book was instead footnoted or referred to in the latter foundation books, because to me the book merely felt like a huge prelude.

I couldn’t find a copy of the Golden Compass at all. Gee, perhaps it has now become too much in demand?

Posted by nightdreamer at February 11, 2008, 12:49 pm

You can read two books simultaneously?

Genius…

Posted by J at February 13, 2008, 10:12 am

Or, bored.

Posted by nightdreamer at February 13, 2008, 10:26 am

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