Yes, summer seems like a very long time ago. But since I haven’t posted any book reviews in a while, there’s a fair amount of accumulation. I keep a reading journal to record notes. Let’s take a look.

 

The Islanders, Christopher Priest

Extremely difficult to classify the genre. Written as a guide to the islands of the Dream Archipelago, it is somehow whole yet also in pieces. Another example of a canon, almost. Occasionally it’s more a traditional short story style, but I liked it best when he was writing description or in the first-person. Mysteries aren’t always resolved and threads aren’t always tied together; even when they are it’s usually obliquely. Worth re-reading at some point.

 

The Stand, Stephen King

King’s first doorstopper back in 1978 was revisited in 1990 and became more of a cement-truck-stopper. He goes for the slow burn in this one, gradually building up tension as the world succumbs to a deadly virus that kills almost everyone. The survivors find themselves choosing sides in a battle between God and the Devil. Not to give too much away, but it’s quite a lengthy buildup for a showdown that never really happens. So many plot threads don’t end up anywhere; they just stop abruptly, often with someone’s death. When I reached the last page I was more than ready for the end.

 

Seriously Dangerous Religion: What The Old Testament Really Says And Why It Matters, Iain Provan

Following his first volume Convenient Myths (see my last review post), Provan now goes on to explain the worldview of the Bible, specifically of the Old Testament. Taking a close look at the opening stories of the book we call Genesis, he constructs a thorough and detailed picture of what the Bible believes about God, the universe, and humans’ place within it. At the end of each chapter he takes what he’s discussed and compares it with other religions and worldviews. The result is a finely honed account of the Bible’s story — and a sober argument that, whatever you believe, this ancient text is still relevant to our modern world, and must be reckoned with seriously.

 

Go Set A Watchman, Harper Lee

Lee’s first draft version of To Kill A Mockingbird generated some controversy this year, but I was looking forward to it. You can tell it’s a first draft. By a very talented writer, of course, but a first draft. I can see immediately why her editor wanted it rewritten to focus on Scout’s childhood; the extended flashback of Scout, Jem, and Dill playing “stories” is the best part of the book — and hilarious at that. I wish it had stayed in. This is a more adult story than it would later become, about disillusionment with childhood rather than about growing into maturity. Ultimately, I appreciated the opportunity to see this early idea that would be molded into one of the best novels in American literature.

 

The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril, Paul Malmont

Not only following in the tradition of the pulps, but also about pulp writers. Walter Gibson, creator of The Shadow, and Lester Dent of Doc Savage fame star in this atmospheric and page-turning mystery. The fog creeps in, but without drowning out a sense of humour. A sequel titled The Astounding, The Amazing, And The Unknown is set during World War II and focuses on the rise of science fiction with characters like Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and L. Ron Hubbard.

 

 

The Man Who Was Thursday, G.K. Chesterton

Still not quite sure what to make of it. Starts off being one thing, ends up being quite another. Absurdities abound, including an elephant running down the streets of London. In the end it’s a lot like a Charles Williams novel (and there may have been some influence on those). It’s going to take a re-reading, preferably in a more annotated edition, to fully plumb the depths. And I look forward to reading more from Chesterton. He has something about him unlike anyone else.