Book #9

Generation Kill by Evan Wright is a story about and beyond Iraq. It reads like the best novels and informs like the best history. The ideas in this book helped shift my opinion of the Iraq war and its ultimate consequences on the American populace. And I almost didn't read it.
In my humble opinion, books on the Iraq war tend to be out too quickly - it is hard to get real depth on an ongoing conflict. Once they began cluttering up the Military History and New Releases book shelves I began to make a beeline away from them. It seemed hard to read about something which we do not yet have a historical perspective on. This is an evolving engagement which requires continual adaption. Certainly the definitive account has yet to be written.
Some would argue of course the definitive account of World War Two has yet to be written
and we are closing in on seventy years gone.
That said, Generation Kill is an incredible achievement. If you want to read one or two books on the Iraq war to understand the ground conflict, make sure this is at the top of your pile. The author was embedded with the Marines who formed the "tip of the spear" on the initial engagement. They were trained for a completely different mission and used against type. Through his writing, Wright exposes incompetence among command and a general sense of what could they possibly have been thinking? However, his human portraits of the men in the unit and their commitment despite bad decisions is richly detailed and defined.
Ultimately, Wright argues, the American people have let down the current generation who are fighting in our wars - we sent them away and abandoned them when we turned against the war. Regardless of the reasons for war, we must accept responsibility for the mess we rode a wave of patriotism for. As Slim Charles stated in HBO's epic The Wire: "Whether or not we fight on a lie, we got to fight...We in it now."
Powerful stuff.

Interlude - Whatever happened to Clive Cussler?

In lieu of a regular book review, I decided instead to ask a simple question: What happened to you, Clive Cussler? You used to be so cool, now your books are better used as sun protection on the beach then as beach reads. It did not always go like this; as I posted a little while ago, you've written some of the most fantastically entertaining novels around. Sahara is a personal favourite of mine and has been for a long time. Most of your Dirk Pitt books have been thrilling, adventurous reads that I have torn through with reckless abandon. However, times have certainly changed my old friend. Take for example your most recent "Clive Cussler" Dirk Pitt novel. Most of it, is, in fact written by your son Dirk whom I am sure is a nice fellow. He is not, on the other hand, a novelist of your caliber. The book will go along at a tight pace, then hit a patch which appears to have been written by a slightly imaginative fourth grader. I know you want your son to carry on your legacy Clive, and for sure it is easy money, but your readers deserve better.

Another problem has become the recycling of plots which is not surprising given the fact you are writing five or six ongoing series. All written with collaborators who do not share your prosaic gifts. Clive you used to make the incredible possible and somewhat plausible. Now, you've just given up trying to write semi-three dimensional characters. Let's compare your villians from a couple of books shall we? In Shock Wave (one of your better efforts) the bad guy is played by Arthur Dorsett, a man shrewdly intent on collapsing the diamond industry to propagate his fortune with rare gems. The murderous effects of his mining technology are unintentional but he ultimately views them as necessary to make his profits. In another of your efforts, the first with your son, Black Wind, the villain is named Kang - a man who intends to fire biological weapons at Los Angeles and blame Japan. In order to unify Korea. Okay...

I used to look forward to a new Cussler like I looked forward to Christmas. It was always my favourite book of the year. I tore through them and re-read each with eager anticipation of discovering a new avenue of thought I had previously missed. Now, I glance at them in the bestseller section and wonder who is still putting them there.

The essential Cussler begins at Raise the Titanic and ends with Atlantis Found (barely squeaks through). These 12 books are Cussler writing with imaginative history woven with action. These 12 books are about a man who saves the world...a lot. These 12 books take place before Dirk Pitt's grown children show up, which was a very regrettable plot point.

I read my first Cussler in some time, The Chase and halfway through I realized why I was enjoying it so much: he wrote it solo. No interruptions from other authors. When it ended I was happy he wrote a solid one - off book. Alas, I saw on Amazon.com that he intends to continue working with the character in new adventures, and with a writing partner.

Clive, when did you become the James Patterson of adventure fiction? Please Clive, come back to writing good books that actually make sense. Here's an idea, very hot, very edgy: start at the beginning. Look at all the reinventions of old characters that have breathed life into dying series: Bond, Star Trek, Batman... Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino still have life left in them, and adventures to endure with stoic humor. Maybe you cut back to one book a year and trim some unecessary characters, but at least it will be one book worth reading. Quality Clive, not quantity. I know the money is crazy, but give the fans who wait breathlessly for your work a treat: a Dirk Pitt book just written by Clive Cussler and set in the early 90's. Otherwise you may as well just kill off the character and start over, but please, do it on your own.

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 (s) # 7

The Winds of War and War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk are the quintessentially classic American novel. However, simply classifying these books as an American saga undermines the true thematic value and presence the story has in our world. They tell the tale of an epic romance, a world devestated by war, and characters who evolve and measure the ultimate theme the author has staked them too: we must stop war not through fear of war, but through love of peace. Wouk's twin tales are long - get ready to tuck in to two-thousand plus pages - but worth every sentence.
The epic tale is about the Henry family and those who come in and out of their orbit. The family is led by pugnacious navel officer "Pug" Henry; his wayward son Byron; shining star Warren; sister Madeline and mother Rhoda. Other characters cycle through the text particularly Natalie, the great love of Byron and her family Aaron and Berel Jastrow.
The Winds of War covers the rise of war in Europe and concludes dramatically with Pearl Harbor. War and Remembrance works through most of the war in the Pacific contrasted with the Holocaust at Aushwitz and across Europe.
However, that is quite simply, too simple a summary. The level of detail within the text is incredible. The main story is interladen with both commentary from a book by Pug Henry in addition to the memoirs of a fictious German General named Armin von Roon. No battle from the Russian saga to the battle of Guadalcanal is omitted and the details are powerful and illuminating. Fictional characters also interweave with historical ones as Churchill, FDR, Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, Goring, Himmler etc. all make appearences. Wouk handles these characters as deftly as the ones he has created and they never seem hokey or placed in the text under any fake pretenses.
However...the true triumph of the novels is in their description of the Holocaust. No book before or since has really captured in such exquisite detail the excrutiating depravity of the Nazi death machine. Not one horrifying moment is spared. The portrayls of the Nazi extermination system are sparse, taut and harrowing. Again, though, there is more than simply meets the eye.
Take, for example, the character of Berel Jastrow. His brother Aaron, while in a concentration camp in Czechslovakia, tells a group of youngsters the tale of Job from the bible. He discusses his opinions on why Job suffered ultimately for the greater good of his people. Berel is the Job of this story. The story of the Nazi extermination of the Jewish people is mostly told through his stunned eyes. His character experiences every significant event in that terrible oddessey and shies away from none of it.
When I was reading this book, it struck me at the end to make the connection between the story told by Aaron and the character of Berel. I went back and reread several pages - keep in mind I had already thoroughly enjoyed the entire fourteen hundred page book - and suddenly the story made sense in a whole new, exhilerating way.
I cannot recommend these books more highly, for years I was told to read them and demurred. When I developed an interest in World War Two I could not put it off any longer. One gets a true sense of the world being ripped apart in these books. The prose is incredible, the sentences are a beautifully constructed ballet that comes together as well as any other novel I have read. In particular, the final sentences and ending are indelible, fascinating and heart-breaking. As we draw farther and farther from the defining war of our lifetimes, it is important to look back and remember. Wouk's message is as powerful today as it was in his time. If you wish to read books which give an overarching illumination of the second world war, these are for you. If you want to read an incredible story of love, triumph and war - these books are for you. In all truth, Wouk was absolutely correct in his assumptions: we cannot stop war through fear of war, but only, truly, through love of peace.

Book #6 + BONUS

Lamb by Christopher Moore is one of those books that catches you off-guard and takes time to be truly appreciated. The premise, is hilarious and simple: the gospel according to Biff, the best friend of Joshua (Jesus to some). One of the interesting approaches that Moore takes is in relying as much as possible in a hysterical comedy of a novel on the truth of the gospel. No one really knows what happened to Jesus from the time he was little boy until the time he was thirty. Suffice it to say in Moore's version: hilarity ensues. On the back one of the tag lines states what if Jesus knew kung-fu? That should get some people to buy the book, but obviously not all.

At this point the book could easily be dismissed as a comedy of errors but it is much more than that. The writing is fluid, deep, engaging and emotional. This story tugs at the heart strings and at the end the soft beauty was evident. This is a touching book, and it is easy to get involved with characters whose names we have heard before in the bible. There is a slow melancholy at work here, and it mixes perfectly with the humor to create a wonderful blend of a novel.

There are others who will dismiss it based upon the whole "blasphemy" thing, but prove to me that this is not how Jesus spent thirty years and we will talk (and no, the bible does not count as "proof").

Highly recommended, and highly readable this story has a little bit of something for everyone. Read, learn and enjoy!

The Bonus:

From time to time, we are struck by something we read because it is so frighteningly powerful it becomes nearly overwhelming. Just last week, I learned something new about a part of the world where a history of brutality is becomming lost in the shadows of time. I was born after 1983 and thus had never really heard about the Khmer Rouge before, as there was really no connection to make. It seems as if that time period is still struggling to be understood by those who were silent witness to the atrocities. The level of brutality has never been connected to the Holocaust or "ethnic cleansing" and I believe we are at a crossroads. Should we continue to hold on to memorys of past atrocities in order to make sure they do not repeat, or should we try and put them past us? I say we can never forget the past because it will inform the future. Despot dictactors continue to exert control but their names are blurring over time - sure, I had heard the name Pol Pot but I never made the connection until I read this article on www.gq.com entitled "Never Forget" by Michael Paterniti. I read magazines now and again, mostly when I am intruiged by five or more of the articles. Gary Smith who writes for SI is my all time favorite magazine writer and had written the best article I had read. Until last week. Yes, this article is that good. It is long, haunting, powerful and really, there are not enough adjectives to do it justice. Go to the website and hit features to read one of the best pieces of literature I have yet come across. Period. If he ever writes a book on the subject, I will be first in line on the first day it comes out. The article pushed me to research and discover new things on the topic. Good articles make you curious; Great articles push you into entirely new territory. "Never Forget" falls into the great catagory. I have a new magazine writer who I will faithfully follow. Read this article, and never forget.

Book #5

Darkness Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane is one of those books that grabs you by the throat and refuses to let go until the last, brutal page. I read Mystic River and Shutter Island by Lehane but steered clear of his PI books featuring the team of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro.
That was a huge mistake.
I love the way Lehane writes, he truly makes you feel as if you are along for a pulse pounding ride with the characters. He writes with such emotion and naked truth that you cannot but glimpse the dark side of life and how it affects his protagonists. This story, like most that he writes, starts with a simple premise that explodes into a twisty landscape one can barely hold on to. Lehane shifts the mysteries within his book with a deft hand and pulls the reader from a confrontation with a mob enforcer to a story of a twisted serial killer looking for revenge against a mob that killed his partner. The twists are breath-taking and the writing elegant. Lehane is a master and this book stands out for me above all else. He examines the worst of us and finds a strange, twisted beauty beneath the darkness. All the Patrick Kenzie books are incredible and he writes few unmemorable bit players. The character Bubba, a childhood friend of the protagonist is an example: he is a psychopathic, homicidal, near-warlord, arms dealer who just happens to like the flawed hero of the story.
This was the book that reignited a love for mysteries I felt I had lost. I tend to have one guy for areas of the US (Pelecanos for DC, Burke for NO) Lehane is, and will always be, my Boston guy.

Book #4

Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr actually comprises the first 3 books of his Berlin Noir trilogy (since expanded to 6 books!) These first three books grab you by the throat and refuse to let go for the entire time you are reading them. In order they are: March Violets (a tale in which intrepid detective Bernie Gunther searches for a missing girl amidst the background of the 1936 Olympics), The Pale Criminal (in which infamous Nazi Reinhard Heydrich brings Bernie back to the police to investigate a murder in 1938) and finally, A German Requiem (which takes place after the war in 1947 with Bernie still struggling to escape the Nazi grip through a shattered Germany and Austria).

These books trace the Nazi arch throughout Europe and, in the next three books of the series South America. What makes these thrillers so fantastic is they are written so beautifully and hauntingly that being drawn in is unavoidable. Philip Kerr mixes humor, with the horrors of the Nazi regime which moves like an inescapable top spinning towards the edge of the table. One of the best things about the books is the way Kerr slowly builds you up and then completely pulls the rug out from under you. His twists are pitch perfect and staggering. Nothing seems out of place, even when Bernie is crossing paths with among others: Herman Goring, Heinrich Mueller, Himmler and Heydrich. He drifts dreamlike amongst the worst of the worst and still comes out seeming to be better than them, even as he frequently drops to their level. Bernie Gunther is a hard nosed detective quick with a quip and his gun. These novels are hard boiled and envoke a range of feelings in the reader. When I finished the second one, centered around the infamous Kristalnacht, I felt almost sick. The third was nearly a spy novel, with Bernie battering between the Americans and Soviets in postwar Europe. The fourth and fifth novels (watch for them in future posts!) were also taut, staggering achievements.

These books combine mystery and history in the best possible way. If you are at all interested in Nazi Germany and like mysteries, READ THIS BOOK! There is also a sixth Bernie Gunther mystery coming out in September, it's already at the top of my "To Buy" list.