Books; Read Them.

I have been meaning to make a list of books that I have read recently.
Let's see.

Starship Troopers- Robert Heinlein: People complain about this book's fascist biases. I guess so, but I enjoyed it. Of course it was pro-military in odd ways, but it was also dumb in odd ways and interesting in odd ways. A very quick read.

Spartan- Valerio Massimo Manfredi: This was laying around a friend's house. It had its interesting moments but it really devolved into boringness. Part of it might have been an awkward translation, which made the tone hard to come through.

Spook Country- William Gibson: I didn't like William Gibson when I first read Neromancer. Now He is one of my favorite writers. His sense of place and descriptions and use of the physical world is the best out there, in my opinion. This is a very, very good novel.

A Widow For One Year- John Irving: John Irving is like the Cameron Crowe of novelists. I go in thinking that it will be moderate but I am surprised by how much I am effected. A solid novel. Standard Irving, childhood to adulthood with a lot going on in between. Well worth the read.

Wide Sargasso Sea- Jean Rhys: As I don't read any Bronte stuff I kind of missed all of the important references in this one. Nevertheless it was amazingly well written and I enjoyed it very much. The descriptions of life in the Caribbean seemed like something that is missing from literature. Maybe it is just my limited reading. My lack of Bronte interest made the ending a little muddled for me, but I found it profitable just the same.

All The King's Men- Robert Penn Warren: I set this one down for a bit and then came back to it. A change in moods I guess. Never has a better book been written by man. Truly great. I won't say without peer but it is up there with Trainspotting, As I lay Dying, WIseblood and the rest of the giants. I won't dwell on it, but I really feel that, sentence by sentence, it is the most skillfully written novel I have ever come across. It never loses its speed, it never starts to come apart. It is never not completely sharp.