The Spy Who Came In From the Cold

While on a business trip, I bought and read the novel "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold" by John Le Carre. This is set in 1950's Berlin, and tells the story of a British spy who gets one last chance at getting revenge on the East German spy master who killed his agents. It is a gripping story filled with twists and turns, and it has some surprisingly deep meditations on ethics and morality in geopolitics.

There is one passage in particular that stuck with me - the British and Soviet/East German spy masters all do terrible things, but the characters say that the British do it in spite of their ideals, while the Soviets are living out the consequences of their ideology. This is a very interesting claim, and it is left to the reader to decide whether the terrible things that happen are justified by the needs of the state. The novel is deeply ambiguous on this point.

I would highly recommend this book - Le Carre is a master, and this novel is brilliantly paced and wonderfully written.

March Books

March was another month where I didn't do a good job writing down the books I read. I think I only read two though, but I started a Serious Book, which has consumed my reading time. Without further ado...

Seed - Rob Ziegler. Set in a near future post apocalyptic America, global climate change has destroyed the fabric of society. What remains is held together by a bioengineered seed called Satori, produced by a single company. You can probably guess what happens next. I thought this book was ok, but not particularly novel or exciting.

The Domesday Book - Connie Willis. I really liked this book. In the not so distant future, historians study their topics by going back in time and observing them first hand. Kivrin is a medievalist who is going back to study the reconstruction after the Black Death. Unfortunately, the calculations are a little off, and she ends up too early and must deal with the plague itself. The time travel plays a relatively minor role in the story - anyone who enjoys historical fiction would enjoy this too! Highly recommend.

I think I only finished a measly two books in March!

February Roundup

Well, I have been remarkably bad at blogging the books I've read this year. So here is a brief recap of what i remember reading in February (March to follow later):

"Zero Day" by Mark Russinovich - First off, the author of this book is best known for his series "Windows Internals", a guide to how the Windows operating system works under the hood. So it was perfectly natural that he should write a computer security themed techno-thriller featuring someone who looks remarkably like him. The bad guys in the story unleash a variety of computer attacks that could cripple the US economy, and it is up to our plucky hero and his improbably hot love interest to save the day. There are actually some pretty accurate technical points in the book, but it is mostly brain candy.

"Hounded" and "Hexed" by Kevin Hearne - These are the first two books in the Iron Druid Chronicles, which follow the adventures of a 2000 year old druid (who still looks 23) who owns an occult bookshop in modern Tempe, AZ. He gets involved in a variety of mishaps and adventures involving the local werewolves, witches, faeries, and minor deities. These books are pure brain candy, but are a lot more entertaining than they should be by any critical analysis. I enjoyed them quite a bit - exciting fantasy adventures in a unique setting, with some great characters.

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis

Well.  I had to start this book twice because I just couldn't get in to it.  Then somewhere in the middle I couldn't put it down.  That crescendo faded fast and finishing it became slow and laborious.  I must be missing something.  It has gotten great reviews and the endorsement of Oprah, so it must be good, right?

The story centers around Hattie Shepherd who as a young 15 year old girl flees from Georgia to Philadelphia hoping for a chance at a better life.  However, that didn't go as planned.  She ends up marrying a man who is nothing but disappointing.  Her first two babies (twins) die of pneumonia in 1925 leaving Hattie a hard and bitter woman.  She gives birth to nine more babies and proves to be a cruel and seemingly unloving mother.  The chapters of the book chronicle her children and how their parents, particularly their mother, has made an impact.  Some of of the story telling is from Hattie's point of view, and some from her children.  I think that is what is going anyway?

I was not so crazy about the story line or the writing style.  I found it to be disjointed and it ended as if the author just got tired of writing.  I looked more than once to see if the Acknowledgments had some sort of conclusion.  No luck.  Maybe you will like it more than me but it isn't one I will re-read or recommend.  (241 pages)