Review: The City and Its Uncertain Walls

The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If, like me, you read this book right after having read "Hard-boiled wonderland and the end of the world", you will be very confused at the beginning. I couldn't tell if this was a prequel, a sequel, or another story from the same universe, or a retelling of the same story.

Luckily Murakami provides an explanation at the very end, so I won't expound on it.

The story itself wasn't among my favorites. Based on his explanation, I tend to agree with another reviewer in that this was something Murakami felt he had to get out of him and do correctly. Let's hope he got it out of his system. I enjoy all of Murakami's worlds, but I've spent enough time in this particular one.


Still, a solid 4 stars.



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Review: Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan

Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan by Joanna Lillis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was quite interested in reading this, since I know next to nothing about Kazakhstan, and the book does not disappoint.

It has an interesting format, focusing first on the former dictator, followed by a somewhat 'social studies' analysis of Kazakhstan (which, between the Turkic, Russian, Chinese and Muslim links, is singular). The third part is a collection of human interest stories.

I confess I expected more of a history of the region from beginning to end. This was probably a much more entertaining format, but I'm not sure I prefer it.

Regardless, this is probably the definitive book for those interested in learning something about Kazakhstan.



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Review: The World's Most Expensive Novel

The World's Most Expensive Novel by Kim Min-Jung
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm not sure I 100% understood this novella, but I know I enjoyed it. It shows the juxtaposition between a "starving artist" writer and a financially (very) successful businessman. It is written almost as stream of thought, and in it the author seems to attempt to bridge the gap between her and her brother. How does he have so much money? How can she do the same in order to earn money? Should she?


Enjoyable and original



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Review: Jakob von Gunten

Jakob von Gunten by Robert Walser
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is almost unclassifiable. It could be biographical, a love story, about the rise of nazism, a psychological thriller, or maybe none of the above.

Regardless, it is unique and sticks with you. I'm not sure that's necessarily good, but there you go.

Also, to everyone calling this a German author or German literature. The author is Swiss!


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Review: The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans, As Told by Themselves

The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans, As Told by Themselves by Hamilton Holt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What an interesting insight into lives of Americans, from immigrants to former slaves to native Americans to an Igorrote chief (the only non-American). These are memoirs that would have otherwise been lost to time, but were shared by millions of people in similar situations. Well worth a read by anyone who can get access to the book.


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Review: Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters

Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Extremely interesting premise and a fun follow-through, although it could have been shortened a bit. I would probably classify this as YA, and I think I would have loved it in high school.


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Review: The Instructions of Shuruppak

The Instructions of Shuruppak by Shuruppak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The world's oldest known text is a list of to-do's by a father to his son. And it certainly reads as such. It's a short, enlightening read, and it has some decent advice (mixed in with the weird and outdated).


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Review: A Child's Christmas in Wales

A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Extremely nostalgic for Christmas, even for us non-Welsh. I see many reviewers read it aloud with the entire family every Christmas. I think I may start doing the same.



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Review: Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages

Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages by Gaston Dorren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Chances are, no matter how much or little you enjoy languages, you will learn a lot from this book.

Having said that, the choice of the most popular languages leaves a feeling of inadequacy, in that too many languages are left by the wayside. Granted, the discussions on why these languages become widespread is interesting (ie the difference between Dutch and Portuguese), although more could have been said on that as well, and how the less widespread languages differ, etc.

My favorite quote: "The German Case System is in annoyingly good health"



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Review: Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution

Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution by Mike Duncan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lafayette is probably the only person who was so heavily involved in the American Revolution and then sailed back to France to be very heavily involved in the French Revolution. Needless to say, this is an interesting man, which makes for a very interesting biography.

Through Lafayette, you can also trace the zeal for liberty in America, and how that spread to Europe, and more specifically France, but the unfortunate iteration it ended up taking there. All the while, it reads like an adventure novel.

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Review: The Navidad Incident: The Downfall of Matias Guili

The Navidad Incident: The Downfall of Matias Guili by Natsuki Ikezawa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a fascinating tale! I discovered this author in the issue of "Monkey", which had one of his short stories, and this made me curious about his novels. I'm really glad I followed up on this.

A tad of magical realism, and a lot of "island culture" and some history and, yes, a disappearing bus.



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Review: The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior Is Almost Always Good Politics

The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior Is Almost Always Good Politics by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fascinating journey. Basically a modern version of Macchiavelli's "The Prince" or Hobbes's "Leviathan", but of course, now we have so many more data points and so much more history to learn from. This book also applies to democracies, and how the rulers can gain more power in these settings as well.

Ultimately, the authors are optimistic about the US and other democracies. We'll see how that pans out...


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Review: Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio

Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A very enjoyable collection of (very) short stories, dealing with the paranormal, ghosts, fox spirits and things of that nature.

I actually had a lot of fun reading them and finished it much more quickly than I thought I would.


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Review: One Spoon on This Earth

One Spoon on This Earth by Ki-young Hyun
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is described as a Bildungsroman, which is it, although it comes across as a stream of consciousness set of recollections from childhood.

It is also haunting, dealing with the Jeju uprising, as well as the Korean war and its aftermath.


All in all very eye-opening. I kind of wish a map were provided so I could find more of the spots mentioned, although I'm sure nothing is the same these days.



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Review: Comanches: The History of a People

Comanches: The History of a People by T.R. Fehrenbach
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An extremely in-depth look into the Comanches and related "Amerindians". Rather than objective, I would call this subjective but from every point of view.

I obviously don't know enough to corroborate or disprove anything in the book, but the impression is that a lot of the facts are taken at face value (no sources seem to be listed). However, this means that, while the frontiersmen and "Tejanos" come across in an often unfavorable light, the Comanches certainly do too.

The advantage of this approach, however, is that it allows to view the world from what is much more akin to the Comanche point of view (in addition to the settler point of view), and we see why they could not adapt to the inevitable encroachment of white people.

Despite having been written over 50 years ago, this is probably the definitive book on this subject.



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