MaddAdam

 

MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Atwood has some searing insights into American disfunction especially when it comes to environment, sexual exploitation, drug use, and a society dictated by social media feeds. The abuse of science is front and center, with the juxtaposition of a religious cult that is not only just intellectual as the corporate scientists but whose faith helps them survive a man-made pandemic. Yet for a dystopian trilogy, the pacing is off. There are lots of interesting flashbacks, this book focused on Zeb, the "fixer" of the cult and Adam One's brother. Those are interesting, but when it comes to the action scenes, in the whole trilogy, and especially this one, there is a let-down, not a build up. And the monumental moments are told in profoundly uninteresting ways. This book, in particular, seems more of a denouement than finale. Many of the characters we got to know in Books 1 and 2 have bit parts to play here (Jimmy and Amanda and Ren) and even Toby and Zeb's relationship feels more inevitable than satisfying. Some (most) of Zeb's adventures have the feeling of myth instead of truth and makes what happens next even harder to fathom.

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Another Man's War

Another Man's War: The Story of a Burma Boy in Britain's Forgotten African Army by Barnaby Phillips
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A typical conceit of non-fiction writers is to use one or a few typical narratives to illustrate a more global phenomenon, and that could be seen as the device Phillips uses here: the experiences of Isaac Fadoyebo, a Nigerian recruited by the British to fight the Japanese in Burma in WWII, to explore the issues and conflicts from that part of the War and what has occurred since then in those areas.
Indeed, colonialism, race relations and the history of Nigeria and Burma (Myanmar), are all discussed here but Issac's story and the story of the author attempting to find and reunite the players in this drama are transcendent. This is an incredible story--very inspiring--eye-opening--heart-warming. One of the best books I've read this year.

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Pale Fire

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An interesting premise: a 999-line 4part Canto explicated by a fellow professor. Within the novel are at least 3 main stories--the story of Shade in form of the Canto; the story of Kinbote the fellow professor; and the story of an exiled king of Zembla and a would be regicide by Gradus. The poem is beautiful--I loved it just as is. The explication stories are amusing but a little plodding. I know there are schools of thought about what is true, who actually existed, etc. But I suppose I would have to be in a discussion group to really get involved in all that. As is, its an interesting presentation and an entertaining read.

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The sun is a thief; she lures the sea and robs it.  The moon is a their: he steals his silvery light from the sun.  The sea is a thief:  it dissolves the moon. 

The Year of the Flood

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The apocalypse (both pre- and post-) that was portrayed in Oryx and Crake is reiterated here, only following the stories of two members of The Gardners, a religious group that has separated themselves from society. They are part environmentalists, part survivalists, and part supplicant. Atwood treats these believers with more respect and compassion than I thought she would after The Handmaid's Tale and indeed many of The Gardners survive the plague partly because they are prepared for it. Characters from the first book make cameos and in the end, the two timelines converge. Atwood creates a rich world with multiple ways to react to the problems in society. This novel is slightly more hopeful than the last, but Atwood definitely is not optimistic for the future.

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Something in the Water

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A pretty great thriller to read at the beach. Honeymooners find a bag in the water that will change their lives. Erin is the protagonist and the first-person, present-tense narrator. Her every thought seems to be recorded, which makes for several should I? shouldn't I? debates, with her usually deciding on the crazier of the two choices. But she is consistent in that way, and it makes for a fun ride. If it all comes out with a bow on it, it may not be realistic, but do we really care?

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Jealousy

 

Jealousy by Alain Robbe-Grillet
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'll admit I had to read this twice to understand what Robbe-Grillet was doing, but once it clicked, I thought it was brilliant. Rather than describing in either first-person or omniscient narration what the character is feeling, Grillet puts you in the drivers seat. His narrator simply describes what he sees and hears with seeming technological precision. But when you see the temporal leaps, notice the differences in scenes described repetitively, notice adjectives used and recurring themes, you fill in the psychological questions yourself and become as intimately involved as if you were the character yourself.

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Midnight at Chernobyl

 

Midnight at Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Other than understanding only the basic rudimentary facts about nuclear power and only knowing that the Chernobyl was a nuclear disaster, I was delighted that this book made both subjects infinitely more understandable and entirely engaging. Not only was Higginbotham able to clearly and succinctly describe how a nuclear power plant works and what went wrong at Chernobyl but he was able to describe the events leading up to the disaster, what happened immediately after, and the long-term implications with gravitas but also with heart-stopping, page-turning, mouth-opening thrill. If you want real-life detective stories, fast-paced political thriller, or even science-fiction wonder this non-fiction work is for you.

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Deprived of information about why such rules might be important, the operators went on with their work as usual, ignorant of the potentially catastrophic consequences of breaching them.

The Soviet nuclear industry, lacking even rudimentary safety practices, had relied upon its operators to behave with robotic precision night after night, despite constant pressure to bead deadlines and "exceed the plan" that made disregard for the letter of the regulations almost inevitable.