Book of the Summer

Every once in awhile you read a book that you do not want to finish. For me, this is either because the book is so terrible that I cannot will myself to make the end; or because even though I am desperate to know what happens I am so thoroughly enjoying the novel I just do not want it to end.

The Passage - though not flawless - definitely fits into the latter catagory. As readers of this blog will know, I am a big fan of Stephen King's epic The Stand. Cronin, like King, has managed to do what many others have failed to accomplish: he finds a unique voice. Given that you could slot this novel into the crowded "vampire" genre that means something. (Note: Calling this magnificent book a "vampire novel" is like saying Harry Potter is a simplistic children's book)

While I liked most aspects of the novel the one element that stands out is how well Cronin writes. His prose is a staggering achievement in a field which generally praises plot and ideas put forward through wooden dialogue and fake characters. Not so with Cronin who not only builds up his failing world from the expensive gas, destroyed and ruined New Orleans and unending wars in the middle east; all the way through its destruction via a Bolivian virus which transforms death row convicts into vampire-esque Virals.

Cronin builds his world through the eyes of his characters and then provides them with a glimmer of hope before it all falls apart - Amy, who is infected with the virus but does not become a viral, and who just might save the world.

Then Cronin takes a huge risk: he jumps ahead chronologically 92 years. Not many authors, having attached the reader to characters and destruction in such beautiful prose would attempt this, but you have to give him his due for pulling it off. Most novels would fall apart completely at this point and (I must admit) at the beginning of the new section I was a little put off. Then I kept reading. I am very, very glad I did. This is a book that is so much more than just the ideas it puts forth. It is deeply thematic and character driven. These are people who are struggling to be human in the most inhumane of times. Their journey is an incredible tale and well worth taking.

The book is the first of a trilogy and at the end I wanted to read the next installment right away, despite the fact it is probably two years from publication. I do wonder if Cronin can maintain his first effort but time will tell.

This is a fantastic beach read and while it can be a challenging book the reward makes it worthwhile. You will be hard pressed to find a better book this summer.

Highly recommended.

The Best Books of 2010 (Part One)

I read a lot of books. A lot. Last year, I posted a "Best Books of 2009" in November. This year, because I have already read so many great books, I decided to do one post for the first half of the year and one for the second half. I'm sure my adoring public has been waiting with baited breath, and will appreciate the extra recommendations...

The Clive Cussler Award (Could not put this book down):

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Given that his previous book in the Millenium trilogy won this award last year, it is only fitting to hand it to Larsson again. Deservedly so, as his second book kept me turning the pages so quickly I got windburn. After page 200 I dare you to attempt to put this book aside...it will not be possible.

The David Simon Award (Smartest Book):

The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons

Hilarious, witty, insightful - all these labels and more could be applied to this book that also displayed an inhumanly encyclopedic knowledge of basketball and pop-culture. If you want to understand basketball or even more about sports in general, you have to read this book.

The James Patterson Award (Worst Book):

Omerta by Mario Puzo

I almost went with the new Dan Brown book (unread) and, truly, this one really pains me to write about. Sigh. The Godfather is rightfully a classic but this was a poor attempt on Puzo's part. Not quite as bad as The Godfather Returns / Revenge but it might as well not have been written by Puzo. All the things that made his other novel so great were shunned and replaced with a terrible and predictable story.

The Rick Reilly Award (Best Written Line):

If the Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr

(p. 454) "And if the house wasn't haunted, I knew I was, and probably always would be. Some of us die in a day. For some, like me, it takes much longer than that. Years, perhaps. We all die, like Adam, it's true, only it's not every man that's made alive again, like Ernest Hemingway. If the dead rise not then what happens to a man's spirit? And if they do, with what body shall we live again? I didn't have the answers. Nobody did. Perhaps, if the dead could rise and be incorruptible and I could be changed for ever in the blinking of an eye, then dying might just be worth the trouble of getting killed, or killing myself."

Ellroy Award*(Most Information Packed into One Novel - New!):

Exodus by Leon Uris

He literally could not have packed more info into this book about the birth of Israel if he tried. Whether giving the history of the holocaust, the Jewish state or religious background there are more facts in here than an atlas.

Top 5 Books of the First Half of 2010

5. Wizard and Glass by Stephen King

I am a big Stephen King fan - as evidenced by The Stand hitting number 3 on my list in 2009. This book blew me away for a couple of reasons: a) it is unlike anything else he has written before or since ; b) it is possibly the best romance story I have read. Romance? you say, Stephen King? In short order: yes, and yes. This novel, part of his epic Dark Tower series contains some of his best writing of his career.

4. Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow

This is an older novel and is highly regarded as a classic of the crowded, courtroom - drama field so overpopulated by John Grisham. Turow, in my humble opinion, has written the book Grisham always wishes he could. The story is realistic, moving and often insightful. The final twist literally takes your breath away.

3. If the Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr

Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther novels continue to amaze with their consistency and fantastic writing. And...somehow Kerr always manages to pull the rug completely out from under his reader with one stunning twist after another. This novel helped to shade the entire series in a new light for me - Bernie Gunther is a survivor who has bitten and clawed his way through one of histories darkest periods. His existence is a brutal purgatory where redemption and judgement always seem just out of his grasp (rightfully so?). I am eagerly awaiting the seventh offering: Field Grey due out in the UK in October 2010.

2. Open by Andre Agassi

1. The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons

These two books were so close in the rankings that, in honor of Simmons, they demand a point-by-point breakdown.

Purpose of the book: Agassi sets out to hold a mirror to his entire life and truly reflect on his whole being. He comes to the conclusion that tennis, as much a part of his life as it was, is not the most important part. Simmons write the defining book on the NBA. Period. Edge - Agassi

Writing Style: Agassi is straightforward and his prose is incredibly open and shockingly not self-serving. Simmons breaks up his book with more statistical analysis than Wall Street. Add in Simmons hilarious footnotes and we have a winner. Edge - Simmons

Best Part of the Book: Agassi details his comeback that leads to him playing the best tennis of his life long after he has passed an age when people continue to play. It is thoroughly inspiring. Simmons puts up his Pyramid of the top 96 guys in the NBA and the reasons why. It is thoroughly hilarious. Edge - Even

Revelations: Agassi could not win a tournament once because his wig was falling off. He also used crystal meth at a dark chapter in his life and Stefanie Graf was a way larger part of his life than you can imagine. Simmons details MJ's baseball "sabbatical" and just about every other possible thing that happened in the NBA. Plus he includes his "runner up" best cocaine story and best cocaine story in NBA history. Gold...pure gold. Edge - Simmons

Intangibles: Agassi has written a book that forces the reader to take a look in the mirror and reflect on their own life. It is truly a life changing book, and it rightfully deserves consideration for the Pulitzer prize. Simmons has written a 700 page book on the NBA that includes a "What if..." chapter, a "Wine Cellar team" chapter and paragraphs such as "Imagine a guy was in prison and the warden told him if he grabbed 40 rebounds in 40 minutes he could be paroled. That was how hard Moses Malone hit the glass." Unfailingly insightful and funny. Edge - Simmons (by a freaking inch!)

So ultimately, Simmons takes it...but not by much.

My Mount Rushmore of Writers - Fiction

Last week, I discussed who would be on my Mount Rushmore of Non-Fiction writers - now it is time for fiction. Naturally, this was even more difficult. I could do a Mount Rushmore of just crime fiction, but I stuck to the rules and picked four writers who have shaped my literary world. (Editors Note: I shied away from the "classics" - not because I do not believe they have helepd shape fiction; rather, because this is not a university class).

#1)

Clive Cussler has to be at the top of any literary pantheon of fiction gods for me. He is not the best writer in the world, no one will ever accuse him of being Charles Dickens or Shakespeare, but he just may be the most entertaining. Add to that the fact he got me reading, really reading for the first time, helped cement his place on the list. When I set out to create this list, his name was the only one absolutely set in stone.

Best Book: Sahara holds a special place for me in his trove of works. It has everything you could want in a novel; character, plot, history, action and great characters. A deeper novel then people will ever give credit, this is one piece of popular fiction which rises above the rest.

#2)

Herman Wouk earned a place on this list by writing what may stand as the two best books I have ever read. His two volume World War Two epic was everything a saga could be and set the bar for all war fiction that followed. Sure, the romantic subplots sometimes dulled the flow of the book, but you cared about the characters. You wanted them to find happiness, secretely knowing all along that they never would. At the end, all you want is to share Wouk's deeply powerful theme: the only true way to stop conflict is through love of peace, not fear of war. A staggering work of fiction everyone should read.

Best Book: Do you even need to ask? In case you missed my comments above, The Winds of War and War and Rememberance remain two of the greatest works of fiction. Timely, prescient and powerful these are books that demand reading.

#3)

There are probably five or six crime fiction writers I could have placed on this list, yet I went with Dennis Lehane. Why? Read his books and you won't doubt me for a second. Starting with his Patrick Kenzie / Angie Gennaro series all the way through Mystic River, Lehane has proven again and again he is a master of the literary noir novel. His novels are so much more than simplistic "crime stories", they are deep, thoughtful and thematic. Take his brilliant Darkness Take My Hand a harrowing look at the cost of violence. Who pays the price for the actions we undertake rashly? Who suffers? Read any of his books and you will see why the shattering twists and turns will keep you gripped in the story until the end. I'll wait for you to pick up your jaw from the floor.
Best Book: You could take your pick from the Kenzie / Gennaro series, or you could go with Mystic River or even the psychological brain-twister Shutter Island. I will stick with one of my all-time favorites Darkness Take My Hand, probably the best serial killer novel ever written.

#4)
Stephen King may eventually be known as the greatest writer of his generation. Laugh if you want, but who more than King has made popular fiction into literature? His books have examined many themes which have haunted our society and he continues to churn out stories at an astounding rate. Not bad for a guy who supposedly retired several years ago. The things that have come out his mind deserve recognition whether you think his work should be in the "great literature" cannon or not. A hundred years from now they may not be reading many authors from our time, but I guarantee they will be reading Stephen King.

Best Book: A toss up between It and The Stand, I ultimately went with The Stand but both books endure as great works. The Stand for its perfect depiction of good versus evil and It for its exploration of what it really means to let go of your childhood fears.

The Best of the Rest:

Philip Kerr - A writer whose depiction of the rise and fall of the Nazi's through the eyes of a Berlin private eye makes for pitch perfect novels. Try and stop yourself from reading all six books straight through. He just continues to get better and better - need proof? His lastest Bernie Gunther mystery A Quiet Flame may just be the best book he has written yet.

James Lee Burke - His Dave Robicheaux books have shown the dark side of Louisiana to the world and like Kerr, he just continues to get better and better. Also, he may have written the best book about Hurricane Katrina - The Tin Roof Blowdown.

James Ellroy - Has written some of the best Noir around, yet it is his unmatched ride through the turbulent history and tangled conspiracies of the Kennedy years that earns him his spot on this list. American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand are incredible books that should be required reading for understanding the darkest period in American history.

George Pelecanos - Like Dennis Lehane, Pelecanos writes books that ratchet up crime fiction. His stories are intensely character driven and play out like gritty, grim, urban westerns. Yet, there is the pulse of a city and the heart of nation beating beneath the decay and death he chronicles.

David Peace - Not familiar with the name? You should be: he writes dark, historical thrillers which examine themes of police corruption and the fallout from crime. Whereas most writers shy away from the cost of murder and violence, Peace revels in it. His Red Riding Quartet about the infamous "Yorkshire Ripper" makes for intense, bleak reading. Peace writes books that are so much more than crime thrillers, they are literature, plain and simple.

Don Winslow - I have read a few books by Don Winslow and most can be shrugged off as crime thrillers that are decent. Then, I read The Power of the Dog. His searing, unflinching look at the rise of the Mexican Cartels is one of the great books written on the subject.

William Shakespeare - There was no way I could forget the Bard! All we have, all that has been written, flows from his works.

Book #18

It by Stephen King is a monumental horror opus that rightfully deserves its handle as a classic of the genre. This is one deep rabbit hole to get lost in and once you plunge downward the book grips you and refuses to let go. The plot seems deceptively simple - seven children fight a shape-shifting, child-deviouring monster both when they are middle age and when they are twelve years old. Okay, maybe it is not as deceptively simple as advertised.

King wanted to write a book about a troll that lived under a bridge, yet in the author's universe a bridge is too small, so it quickly evolves into a town - his infamous haunted city of Derry, Maine (the setting of many of his best novels). The plot follows a monster which hunts and eats children for a period of two years out of every twenty-seven. A group of seven kids (Six boys and one girl) dubbed the "Losers", decide to make a stand against the evil destroying their town. King juxtaposes their decision to return to do battle as adults with the choices they made as children. This is a big book full of rich characters and details which pull you so deeply into the story you fell as if you have become one of the characters.

It is one of King's most ambitious novels and several cross-cutting themes weave through the twisty narrative. King is letting go of our deepest childhood fears and showing how we must face up to what is hiding in the darkness before it (metaphorically and literally) devours us.

Many scenes in the book are gut wrenching and emotionally charged, while others are blood chilling sequences best not read before bedtime. From the compelling open scene in which a child is sucked into the sewer by one of It's many guises - the clown Pennywise (why all children should be slightly terrified of clowns), to the thunderous climax which leaves the reader astounded and mind-blown, this book is a near perfect story.

The book is long, well over a thousand pages, and demands an insightful reading. In fact, it will take a stronger person than I not to open the first pages as soon as you have turned the last, as the deep contemplation truly begins. This is definitely not your stock horror story and showcases King at his thematic, metaphorical, metaphysical and philosophical best.

Book #8

It is the rare book that entertains as well as it informs but The Stand by Stephen King succeeds where many others have failed. Originally, I bought this book because it seemed like a great travel book: long, heavy, thematic and epic in scope. After looking at it on my shelf for nearly nine months, I could not put it off any longer and reached for it since I have some time this summer. I was not disappointed - in fact I should have started it sooner.

I only recently began reading Stephen King and have enjoyed several other novels he has written including IT which can also rightly be called a masterpiece. However, that said, I have never read a novel that can properly stand up (pardon the pun) to The Stand. It is a post-apocalyptic tale that does not ever really cross into the fantasy realm. The novel is classified as horror fiction and the vision of a world devestated by a superflu is chilling, terrifying and at times downright awful. King has succeed in making the book more than just the simple elements of a great story. There are powerful themes and allegory at work here, in addition to an epic struggle between good and evil (probably the finest yet crafted in print); the writing is fluid and brilliant.

In the course of reading a long novel (this one clocks in at 1141 pages) there are always spots which drag and King had a few...that said, they were countable on one hand (name another thousand page book you can say that about!). King's forte has always been his characters and they are so well drawn here the reader finds themself living in the same, devestated world for the duration.

Yes, the book is long, but remains the most fascinating vision of a world completely destroyed. King's reconstruction of the world and his social commentary are spot on and haunting in their shattering reality.

Bonus: Never has this book been as topical as it is right now with the threat of a major outbreak of H1N1 virus looming next fall. At one point in the novel King mentions swine flu - once again ahead of his time. This is not a simple read, but it is a rewarding one and the pages fly at a clip. One of the rare books I dreaded finishing, as I knew it would probably be some time before I read anything this good again.

Book #2

Book #2 is a recent read and I cannot honestly say it was one of the best books I have ever read. However, the first 200 pages came as close to representing my own childhood as I have ever found in print. The lazy summer mornings of bike riding, hanging out with friends and searching out the answers when weird things happened (invented or not). Like the characters in this thriller, I grew up with a group of kids who have remained lifelong friends. Throughout reading this book I continually wondered about how I would have reacted to the circumstances and placed myself into the vivid characterizations. The straight forward plot of this book contains a town which is beset upon by an ancient evil and group of kids who have to come together to fight it. I picked this up because it sounded alot like another book I had recently enjoyed, Stephen King's masterpiece "IT" (more about that book in a future post). I figured it would be generic and very similiar and could not have been more wrong. It was entertaining for all 600 pages but sort of fell apart at the end. While the conclusion was touching, it was a tad unrealistic and seemed hollow at times. However, that will not stop me from recommending this book to those who want to recapture small town summers of their youth. A fantastic book, terrifying at times and overall a great accomplishment of rememberance and terror. Simmons expertly captures the essence of why, deep down, we are all scared of the dark, even in the dead of sticky, hot summer nights.