(no subject)
Mar. 4th, 2018 06:36 pmFriday into Saturday we had some sort of weather event, possibly a nor'easter, possibly something called a 'bomb cyclone'. I chose not to parse the distinction but to spend Shabbos indoors and comfortable in the heat where the precise nature of the weather event would hopefully not matter, and thankfully, I did not lose power. I read a lot. I finished three books, though only one was started fresh over Shabbos.
Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton
I was sad when![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ambyr told me that I'd missed the news that Sue Grafton passed away in December, leaving her Alphabet series to remain unfinished one book shy of completing the alphabet with Z is for Zero. I've been working on reading the series, on and off, for a while now, perhaps two years, and all the while I've been shooting to catch up by the time the final book came out. No matter, they are fantastic and Q is yet another great adventure for Kinsey.
I particularly loved her dynamic with Con Dolan, the surrogate father-daughter thing that never really existed and yet always meant something to both of them anyway. Dolan's a character Grafton has been writing since A is for Alibi, but until now he's always been a background character, a foil to Kinsey's more anti-authoritarian tendencies and a reminder of her ill-fated twenties. It says something about Grafton's gift for imbuing minor characters with life that the Dolan we see in Q is for Quarry is instantly a real person, his backstory almost populating itself.
Kinsey's interactions with her Aunt Susannah, too, are fabulously prickly. I love the slow burn of Kinsey discovering her family roots and trying to decide if she actually does want to reject them or if that's just training she needs to overcome.
Cycle of Lies by Juliet Macur
An account of the history of Lance Armstrong and his doping scandals, by a New York Times sports reporter who covered Armstrong closely for many years. It plays out as a fascinating morality tale, with so many people complicit in different ways that it's hard to pick out good guys and bad guys. Macur's title is designed to claim that the lies surrounding Armstrong go far beyond the doping- everything about his image is a lie, crafting by Armstrong and his cycling team and his marketers and by the media for the benefit of everyone involved, and to the peril of anyone who tried to gainsay the big lie. She opens with several chapters about Armstrong's childhood, showing that even the claims that he was raised in tough times by a single mother were exaggerated to sell books and to sell the Armstrong myth.
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
What I remember from reading this in childhood was not really following its plot, which seems impossible in rereading it now. It's true that Cormier does go off, for a half page at a time, on these weird flights of linguistic fancy, but for the most part the plot is telegraphically straightforward. Maybe I didn't actually read this as a kid, but read something else and mixed up the titles?
I'm not sure I liked it as an adult. The world Cormier describes is too nihilistic and cynical for me. The victory of the Vigils and Brother Leon, of the System and the Powers That Be in the end is too complete to be believed. Eventually, this kind of system collapses under the weight of its own denial. There may be victims in the meantime, but not to the degree that The Chocolate War posits. No, I rebel against that picture of humanity.
Today I took the train out to Newark to see the National Women's Hockey League game between the Metropolitan Riveters and the Buffalo Beauts. It was a really good time- well-played hockey with seats ten feet from the ice for $20. Hockey is the sport most improved watching it live as compared to on television, and even though the Riveters lost 2-1 I really enjoyed watching the game. They'll be playing a playoff game at home in two weeks and I'm already planning to go to that. Anyone wanna join me?
Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton
I was sad when
ambyr told me that I'd missed the news that Sue Grafton passed away in December, leaving her Alphabet series to remain unfinished one book shy of completing the alphabet with Z is for Zero. I've been working on reading the series, on and off, for a while now, perhaps two years, and all the while I've been shooting to catch up by the time the final book came out. No matter, they are fantastic and Q is yet another great adventure for Kinsey.I particularly loved her dynamic with Con Dolan, the surrogate father-daughter thing that never really existed and yet always meant something to both of them anyway. Dolan's a character Grafton has been writing since A is for Alibi, but until now he's always been a background character, a foil to Kinsey's more anti-authoritarian tendencies and a reminder of her ill-fated twenties. It says something about Grafton's gift for imbuing minor characters with life that the Dolan we see in Q is for Quarry is instantly a real person, his backstory almost populating itself.
Kinsey's interactions with her Aunt Susannah, too, are fabulously prickly. I love the slow burn of Kinsey discovering her family roots and trying to decide if she actually does want to reject them or if that's just training she needs to overcome.
Cycle of Lies by Juliet Macur
An account of the history of Lance Armstrong and his doping scandals, by a New York Times sports reporter who covered Armstrong closely for many years. It plays out as a fascinating morality tale, with so many people complicit in different ways that it's hard to pick out good guys and bad guys. Macur's title is designed to claim that the lies surrounding Armstrong go far beyond the doping- everything about his image is a lie, crafting by Armstrong and his cycling team and his marketers and by the media for the benefit of everyone involved, and to the peril of anyone who tried to gainsay the big lie. She opens with several chapters about Armstrong's childhood, showing that even the claims that he was raised in tough times by a single mother were exaggerated to sell books and to sell the Armstrong myth.
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
What I remember from reading this in childhood was not really following its plot, which seems impossible in rereading it now. It's true that Cormier does go off, for a half page at a time, on these weird flights of linguistic fancy, but for the most part the plot is telegraphically straightforward. Maybe I didn't actually read this as a kid, but read something else and mixed up the titles?
I'm not sure I liked it as an adult. The world Cormier describes is too nihilistic and cynical for me. The victory of the Vigils and Brother Leon, of the System and the Powers That Be in the end is too complete to be believed. Eventually, this kind of system collapses under the weight of its own denial. There may be victims in the meantime, but not to the degree that The Chocolate War posits. No, I rebel against that picture of humanity.
Today I took the train out to Newark to see the National Women's Hockey League game between the Metropolitan Riveters and the Buffalo Beauts. It was a really good time- well-played hockey with seats ten feet from the ice for $20. Hockey is the sport most improved watching it live as compared to on television, and even though the Riveters lost 2-1 I really enjoyed watching the game. They'll be playing a playoff game at home in two weeks and I'm already planning to go to that. Anyone wanna join me?