Review: The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power

The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power by Deirdre Mask
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

We never stop to think about the importance addresses have in our everyday lives. Without addresses we cannot receive (or apply for) official documents, benefits, jobs, etc. Even if we're not homeless, we need an address. And yet addresses aren't as ubiquitous as we'd think. West Virginia barely had any outside cities prior to 1991. 

Also, did you know you can buy any old address in New York for 11,000 dollars? Which is why Trump was able to open a building on "1, Central Park West" (he had the address changed from 15, Columbus Circle), and then he got mad when Time Warner also got the address "1, Central Park" (rather than 25, Columbus Circle). 

And What3Words seems like a fascinating idea. 

I have to say, however, that the idea brought up for creating an address for homeless people using houses that aren't in use at the moment seems a tad flawed. In theory it sounds good, but I could see these rich people with empty real estate protesting that they plan on moving back any time now, so the address can't be used. or something. 

However, I do think someone enterprising could come up with a solution. At first I thought just providing PO Boxes, like some coworking spaces do, would work. But I could see places of employment figuring that out and discriminating against these. Otherwise maybe something like choosing a place that shows up on Google maps, but with a different number. For example, my building has 7 floors, but there would be floors 8 through 12, say, which are addresses used for homeless people. They don't really exist, which is ok, since house calls aren't needed. But the post office will have an automatic trigger whenever any one of these addresses is used, to hold onto them in a PO box, which the homeless person can check. 

I'm sure I'm missing something in the details. Still, a very interesting and seemingly surmountable problem, which gets you thinking. 

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Review: The Student

The Student by Anton Chekhov
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This seemed incredibly short, but it's one of my favorite of his short stories (along with 'The Black Monk'). A chance conversation sparks a connection that fills a student with joy, while showing a complete lack of empathy. Although I'm sure I'm missing something. Still, I enjoyed it. 

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Review: Betrothed

Betrothed by Anton Chekhov
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Chekhov seems better at conveying the human thought process, inner feelings and general condition in his short stories than many modern authors are with much longer books. This story was no exception. This might have been my favorite story of his so far. 

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Review: The Black Monk

The Black Monk by Anton Chekhov
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quite a haunting story. I couldn't help wondering if his being smart and happy, but then convinced to turn unintelligent and sad is an allegory for growing into adulthood. But maybe I'm projecting. 

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Review: The Membranes

The Membranes by Chi Ta-wei
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think this is the first piece of Taiwanese queer literature I've read, which seems odd since I try to read any Taiwanese book I can get my hands on, and I'm sure there's plenty of it. 

Regardless, this is intense Scifi from the mid-nineties and, although it has a slow start, once it gets going it's quite original, especially considering this was pre-AI, pre Matrix and pretty much pre-internet. 

As someone who barely reads any queer literature and generally doesn't enjoy Scifi, I did enjoy this. Although I think I've had enough scifi for now. 

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Review: How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain

How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For some reason I thought this would be some book about raising your EQ, but it turned out to be quite interesting. It sounds like it could be quite revolutionary in psychology/neuroscientific circles, but I'm not really in a position to comment one way or the other. Still, very interesting to see how what we see as very basic emotions might be culturally learned, rather than innate. 

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Review: I'm Waiting for You and Other Stories

I'm Waiting for You and Other Stories by Bo-Young Kim
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Definitely read the afterwords to these stories. But only after the stories. Well, at least after the first and last story. I confess I absolutely, positively definitively did NOT follow the second story(ies). At one point one of the characters comments how their situation is more complicated than a 3-body problem, and I think that might be the upper limit of complication I can deal with. At least when it comes to sci-fi. 

However, the first and last story were excellent, and end up tying with each other. And in the afterword you find out that (spoiler?) the first story was written for a friend of the author's who was about to propose to his fiancée. 

I loved how the afterwords also included letters by the translators, as well as letters by the couple for whom the 1st and last stories were written. 

Regardless, I usually don't enjoy Sci-fi that much, but these (2) stories were a lot of fun. The middle one, not so much, but it probably is more my fault than the story's. 

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Review: Troy

Troy by Stephen Fry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Every time I read another book about Troy or the Illiad I'm always struck by how Diomedes got a raw deal. He features throughout the tale, is one of the most fierce warriors, is sent with Odysseus on two other trips, survives until the end with honor, and yet he's never remembered. 

It's probably because he doesn't have a schtick, like Odysseus's craftiness, Helen's looks, or Achilles's heel. 

Basically, his lack of an Achilles heel is his Achilles heel. 

Anyway, having gotten that off my chest, this book was truly excellent. And the Audiobook is read by Stephen Fry, so it's definitely worth the listen. It brings the story and characters alive, and shows how they are intertwined in ways you don't get from just reading the Illiad and Odyssey. 

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Review: Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand: A Novel of Adam and Eve

Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand: A Novel of Adam and Eve by Gioconda Belli
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A retelling of the Adam and Eve story, but from Adam and Eve's point of view. From the decision to eat the forbidden fruit (I was very happy the author didn't make it an apple). It covers the whole "Why create this Chekhov's gun of a tree in the first place if you don't want anyone to partake of its fruit?" issue, but takes it further. As in, God actually wanted humanity to have consciousness, but couldn't do it himself, so he had to create humans with the need for knowledge. 

Regardless, it is interesting to see how they react to animals being hostile, different seasons, whether to kill animals in order to eat, pregnancy, etc., as well as the memory of the Garden of Eden while dealing with real life. 

As for children, it seems to follow a version similar to the Quran (I think), where they have two sets of twins, Cain, Abel, and their sisters (Luluwa and Aklia). There also seems to be a tie into naming Cain after Adam's beloved pet dog. It's difficult to tell in translation, but I'm guessing it's a play on the Latin Canis.

I can't say I liked the ending. There was no mention of Seth. And I didn't really understand what happened to Aklia. Still, definitely an original and pleasurable read. 

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Review: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

#books #bookreview

These fantasy books are always a waste of time. The authors can just make up any new law of physics/miracle/world/alien being to suit their needs, which is why the genre never really attracted me. 

So I have no idea why I had this in my wishlist, and then proceeded to buy it, and then decided to read it. Then I stuck with it (over 1,000 pages) for some reason. 

Anyway, I probably still won't admit it to my friends, but I really enjoyed this. I actually opted for the audiobook, which probably helped with all the footnotes. I imagine turning pages every time there was a new footnote would've been a huge pain (the footnotes are pretty intrinsical to the story). 

It is by no means a quick read. But if you feel like diving into a slightly-fantastical Britain (and Europe) during the Napoleonic Wars, then this is probably the book for you. 

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Review: Honeymoon to Nowhere

Honeymoon to Nowhere by Akimitsu Takagi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

#books #bookreview

For the first 90 pages or so I thought I had bought a romance novel by mistake. But it was still intriguing. It definitely isn't a fast-paced Harlan Coben style mystery, but this was a good thing. It seemed more like what it is: a classic Japanese noir. 

This is the third novel I read by this author, and unfortunately I think it is the last one in English translation. It's too bad because I really enjoyed all his books. 

I highly recommend reading any of his books if you come across them. 

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