Dune

by Frank Herbert

Just finished reading this book again. Really good, I sort of forgot the latter bits of the books, and there were some things after reflection on the book that I thought a bit rough. I say this with respect to the continuation to the second book (Dune Messiah) which I read a little bit of last night. There seems to be introduction of new factions without any mention at all in the first book. So that is a little disjointing. But as a book itself, Dune is pretty much perfect. If you can overlook some minor flaws, it is still a wonderful read. Herbert's mode of storytelling is wonderfully grand without being let down by the weight of the event's scope and gravity. He holds the level of plot very well. What I mean here is he is going through the story in terms the most pivotal characters in that universe and pretty much focussing on them. One does not feel the story is a self-serving prophecy, though it does mention this all throughout the story. For instance David Eddings books, one believe that the end outcome is only that one outcome, where the hero ultimatley meets his great destiny. Although Paul Artreides (Muad'Dib) is prophesized for greatness in this book, one always feel the weight and the tension to decisions made and nothing is ever set in stone. That constant tension, and criticality of events makes the whole story suspenseful. Good book to learn good fantasy writing.

Was

by Geoff Ryman

This book is a piece of fiction with some elements based on real people. It revolves around the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The three main characters are in three moments in time. First is Dorothy, which is the Dorothy in the real world who suffered a hard life whose substitute teacher (Frank Baum, original author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) writes of her life. Second if France Gump, also knows as Judy Garland, the actress playing the role of Dorothy of the original movie adaptation. Lastly is Jonathan, an ailing movie actor who trails after the history of Judy Garland and the original Dorothy to piece together their lives and in doing so figure out his own.

This book began well enough but about halfway through I began to not like this book at all. This probably began when Dorothy's Uncle Henry sexually assaulted Dorothy, repeatedly, then she goes slightly mental. She eventually flees her home and then later in life is admitted to a mental institution. Judy Garland actually has her story concluded about 1/3 into the book with a section of the recollection of Judy's mother at the moment before she dies. Then with Jonathan, he is actually a gay actor and is ailing and going slightly mad in the end. Pretty much all the characters met bad endings, if not literally than poetically very sad.

First I did not like the overall gloomy plot of the story. The original Story of Oz is encouraging, with a story of redeeming characteristics at the end. This has none of this. The message I sort of get from this story is "Life screws good people over, deal with it". Life is shit as it is, I do not need to read 450 pages for anyone to tell me that. When I read a book I want to be inspired, at the very least I want to feel for the characters and care. I ultimately fail to engage with any of his characters. Okay, even if one wanted to make this a really sad story, that's fine. Worse still is the jolting form of story-telling that leaves the reader unsatisfied with the prose being used to describe the full breadth of the situation and emotion. By the end of the story, I simply did not care about the characters and wished the story would just end.

Second, Ryman tags on characters about 2/3 into the book. For instance the character of Bill, the counselor for Jonathon. This is the most glaring introduction of a new character. Furthermore, several new concepts are introduced pretty late into the story that again pulls the reader out of being totally immersed in the story. Ryman seems to tag on plot points just for the sake of moving the story along. It is a very cheap approach to story telling. Overall, this book started off well enough. By the last 50 pages I simply lost interest and could not wait to be done with this book. I feel Markus Zusak's Book Thief is a better book (in tackling the themes of tragedy and living a hard life) compared to this. Very poor read.

The Big Short

by Michael Lewis

Just finished this latest book by Michael Lewis. It is a study of financial market through the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis. It focuses on the players behind the creation of this problem, those profiting from it and the resolution (albeit unsatisfactorily) of this period in time.

This again is a great book to read. Again, some of the financial jargon is over my head but Lewis' approach to the subject matter is very well-presented. I realise now this is because he tells it like a story from inception to conclusion, through the view of the various players in this problem. Being Wall Street though, none of these characters are particularly saints, nor are there evil (though some do come close). They are just human beings driven mostly by money. It goes to show if one removes government regulation that is effective and strict what can happen, the GFC.