Brian's Reading List - 2015

[Brian.]

I'm behind by 3 reviews, I'll have to pull my finger out and do them some time this week.

[bobblybear]

I'm behind by around 6, maybe more.

[Brian.]

Flash Boys by Michael Lewis



Synopsis
If you thought Wall Street was about alpha males standing in trading pits hollering at each other, think again. That world is dead.

Now, the world's money is traded by computer code, inside black boxes in heavily guarded buildings. Even the experts entrusted with your cash don't know what's happening to it. And the very few who do aren't about to tell - because they're making a killing.

This is a market that's rigged, out of control and out of sight; a market in which the chief need is for speed; and in which traders would sell their grandmothers for a microsecond. Blink, and you'll miss it.

In Flash Boys, Michael Lewis tells the explosive story of how one group of ingenious oddballs and misfits set out to expose what was going on. It's the story of what it's like to declare war on some of the richest and most powerful people in the world. It's about taking on an entire system. And it's about the madness that has taken hold of the financial markets today.

You won't believe it until you've read it.
(taken from Goodreads)


My Thoughts

I picked this book up at my local library and it's one I have been wanting to read for a little while. I have read some of Michael Lewis' other books, specifically, Boomerang, The Blind Side and The Big Short. I found every book to be very well written and I have enjoyed his work immensely. I particularly liked the way that he mades seemingly tricky financial concepts easy to understand in The Big Short and I think that he has a particular talent when it comes to financial exposes. The subject matter was relatively new to me because although I understood the basics behind HFT (high frequency trading) I didn't understand the technology behind it or the fact that it has been going on unchecked and abused for a long time now.

 

Lewis has a knack of basing his books around one or two important, but fringe characters behind the subject at hand and then bringing the whole story together. In this case he starts off with the infrastructure that is required in HFT, namely fibre optic cables and the paths they follow. It turns out that the person who has the shortest cable run to the exchange has an advantage over everyone else in the zero-sum game that is the stock market. When speed is of the essence, the weak point in the chain is the slowest, and that weak point is the human. So take the human out of the equation and have machines do all the trading as they can react faster than any man. This leads the stock market floor traders to be replaced with the latest computer programmers and mathematicians who write extremely complex algorithms which lay down the rules of how and when to trade. This hidden world opens up a whole avenue of abuse open to those who want to take advantage of it and the pigs are face deep in the trough.

 

The book also goes on to detail how the market could be made fair and how one group of people set out to do just that. They created an exchange in which no one had a speed advantage and no one was given extra or early information hidden to everyone else. Although the uptake in this exchange was initially quite slow, over time, more and more banks started to use it which results in more protection and less risk for both them and their investment customers. Lewis also talks about other shady practices such as the use of dark pools and how unscrupulous traders are not getting the best price available for their clients, a clear breach of regulations.

 

This was another very well written and entertaining book from Michael Lewis.

 

4/5 (I really liked it).

[Brian.]

Berlin Game by Len Deighton



Synopsis
When a valuable agent behind the Iron Curtain signals he wants out, it's up to Bernard Samson, once active in the field but now anchored to a London desk, to undertake the crucial rescue. But soon, Samson is confronted with evidence that there is a traitor among his colleagues. And to find out who it is, he must sift through layers of lies and follow a web of treachery from London to Berlin until hero and traitor collide.
(taken from Goodreads)


My Thoughts

Len Deighton comes up a lot in discussions about the best spy writing and during a recent Kindle purchasing binge I bought the Bernard Samson trilogy. I have to admit that I wasn't really aware of Deighton but became interested in his work due reading about John Le Carre and his writing and seeing his name mentioned as well. I have a very good knowledge of Berlin during the Cold War and I find that period of history very interesting. Although I have read a lot of non-fiction about the Cold War as a whole, this was my first delve in some fiction based during the time.

 

The story focuses around the character of Bernard Samson, a British spy who has become somewhat jaded with working for M16. It's obvious that he is starting to consider whether he wants to continue in this line of work and his wife is also making it clear that she thinks he should stop working in Berlin and take an office job. They have children, and his wife is also a high flier in the intelligence service so there are few reasons for him to continue in his current role. However, one of M16's best sources in Berlin, 'Brahms Four' wants to go to the west and this sends M16 into a bit of a panic. This is further exacerbated by the fact that he says he will only deal with Samson and no one else. This effectively forces Samson's hand as he owes Brahms Four as he saved Samson early on in his career.

 

It's a little tricky to say much more without spoiling the book for others so what I say will be brief and avoid any information which isn't in the synopsis. Along with the main crux of the story, it emerges that there is a leak in MI6 and Sansom must help Brahms Four while working out who the leak is. There are a number of possible candidates but I worked out who it was a while before the big reveal. The writing is pretty good and although I enjoyed the book, I didn't love it. I found the story a little slow going in places and wondered where we were heading. Despite this reservation I would not hesitate to read the next one in the trilogy and I intend to get to it soon.

 

3/5 (I liked it).

[Brian.]

Pattaya Girls by Johnny Thai



Synopsis
Gogos. Bar Girls. Strippers. Prostitutes. Discos. Ladyboys. Pattaya. Thailand.
This is what I had waiting for me on my first trip.
When I stepped off the tarmac in Bangkok I was oblivious to it all.
9 days later, I had changed forever.
In this book I recount every bizarre, sordid and unbelievable day of my first trip and everything I learned along the way.
(taken from Goodreads)


My Thoughts

This was an impulse buy from the Kindle store after watching a heart breaking documentary on Youtube called Bangkok Girl. The documentary is pretty much about the sex trade in Thailand and ends in a really shocking way. The documentary is filmed by one guy and centres around his friendship with a bar girl. Although it is fairly informative I was curious to know more about the ins and outs of the business and the people who make use of it. I had forgot about this until I recent bought some books about traveling and this one popped up in the suggestions. I have to say from the outset I was a little uncomfortable buying a book written by a sex tourist. Knowing that the writer will financially benefit from writing about his experiences in something I find dis-tasteful isn't a good feeling. However, I have also read books by drug dealers, drug addicts, mafia hit men, serial killers etc and in some ways I guess this is no different. If I wanted to know how this all works and the attitudes behind sex tourism this seemed like a good book.

 

Being a self published book I expected some spelling and grammatical errors and I wasn't disappointed in this regard. There weren't a huge amount of errors, but there are some, and they stand out quite a bit. The formatting of the book is also a bit of an issue. Throughout the book there are small images with a witty line underneath poking fun at was has happened in the text. Due to the page breaks these sometimes appear as they should and some times you get the image on one page and the witty line on the next page. I don't know how common this is in Kindle books but I found it a bit annoying. Another thing that bugged me is that the chapters are not clearly defined. A new chapter is marked out by a bold title and then the text with no space in between. When a chapter ends there isn't a blank page or a clear page break, again, this is a minor thing but I did find it a little annoying.

 

I expected the writer to be a British, larger lout with a disregard for the human story behind the sex trade. Parts of this are true, Johnny Thai is a Brit and his nights in Thailand are spent in a haze of drinking in various gogo bars. However, because this was his first time as a sex tourist with his more experienced cousin he talks about the emotions he went through during his trip. I found the writing to be surprisingly engaging and there is some good humour throughout. Once I got past the subject matter I actually quite enjoyed the book and got through it in no time at all.

 

 

3/5 (I liked it).

[Brian.]

Finally up to date with my reviews. If anyone wants me to remove the book cover from the above book let me know and I'll take it down.

[Brian.]

Miami Blues by Charles Willeford



Synopsis
Ex-con Freddy 'Junior' Frenger lands in Miami with three stolen wallets and plans for a new life of crime, and leaves the airport with a snatched suitcase and the corpse of a Hare Krishna behind him. Homicide detective Hoke Moseley is soon on his case, chasing the utterly immoral Junior and his hooker girlfriend through the Cuban ghettoes, luxury hotels and seedy suburban sprawl of Miami in a game of hide and seek that will leave Hoke beaten, robbed - but determined to get his man.

A brutal, thrilling ride, Miami Blues is a classic of Florida crime fiction, revealing the sordid side of the Sunshine State.
(taken from Goodreads)


My Thoughts

I picked this book up the last time I bought some used paperbacks from a Salvation Army bookshop in my town. I hadn't heard of Charles Willeford or realised that this was the first book in the Hoke Moseley series so I got lucky there. I was drawn to the book for one reason only, the cover. It immediately stood out from the rest of the generally bland looking covers and it perfectly sums up when and where the book is set, Miami in the 1980's. The synopsis seems a bit mad and the sort of thing that I would find entertaining so I decided it was worth a shot.

 

The story starts by introducing us to Freddy Frenger (Junior) who has recently been released from a stint in prison. He decides to head to Miami with nothing to his name except some stolen credit cards and his criminal skills. Due to his time inside he also owns a strong body, built over many hours spent in the prison gym. As soon as he steps off the plane he commits his first two crimes, a theft and the unintentional murder of a Hare Krishna. It's fair to say that Junior is a pretty insane character who doesn't really care about the repercussions of his actions. Hoke Moseley is the policeman landed with the responsibility of solving the killing and this sets him on a collision course with Junior. 

 

Added into this mix is Susan, the sister of the dead Hare Krishna and a part time hooker. Junior and Susan form a very strange and unlikely partnership, with Junior being the dominant member of the partnership. Throughout the book Susan comes across as more than a bit dim-witted but towards the end of the book I felt that she wasn't as much of an airhead as we first assume. Hoke is a pretty down-trodden police detective who is living the life of a pauper due to medical bills and alimony. He is a fairly typical hard-boiled cop although he certainly isn't a tough man and as a result we see no heroics from him at all.

 

I quite enjoyed this book but I did find some of the asides in the story a bit off-putting. I found it easy to read and it didn't take me long to read. It was nice to read a noir type police book set somewhere other than L.A. The climate in Miami gives the book quite a different feel to a lot of noir and it was something that took me by surprise. I will keep an eye out for the next book in the series and other works by Willeford as I found his writing entertaining.

 

3/5 (I liked it).

[Brian.]

The Following Story by Cees Nooteboom



Synopsis
Socrates is a former Classics teacher at a Dutch lycee; Dr Strabon is a renowned travel writer, revered by many a Dutch tourist as the ultimate authority on the world outside Holland; Alfred Mussert is a misanthrope, but he is also the man behind the masks of these other incongruous alter egos. Waking one morning to find himself in a seedy hotel room in Portugal and with the feeling that he is perhaps dead, Mussert wonders what has happened to bring him here when he is certain that he went to bed the night before in Amsterdam. Checking his reflection in the bathroom mirror, Socrates stares back at him and Mussart consequently looks back into his past questioning the whys and wherefores of his former lives and his one love.
(taken from Goodreads)


My Thoughts

This book has been on my TBR longer than I care to remember. It's been so long that I can't remember when or where I got it, or in fact why. The only thing that I can think of is that it was on a list of recommended novellas that I found on the internet a few years ago. I knew nothing of Nooteboom prior to reading this book so I did a bit of a search and it turns out he's Dutch and a well regarded writer and poet.

 

There isn't a huge amount for me to say about this book for two reasons. One, the book is really short, only about 110 pages, and two, I fear a lot of it is over my head. The story starts with our narrator waking up in a hotel room in Lisbon, this would be a bland observation except for one fact, he went to sleep in his home in Amsterdam. From there on in the story develops into a mish-mash of imagery focused on recalling the earlier years of his life. A life in which he seems to occupy a dreamlike place between fantasy and reality.

 

I felt that the book is too overdone in places and some of it was way over my head. Some of the prose however is fantastic, something that Nooteboom must carry across from him being a poet. The final act of the book was a nice touch but I just couldn't get the rest of it to resonate for me. For this reason I have to say that I found it ok and nothing more.

 

2/5 (It was ok).

[Athena]

I haven't read anything by Nooteboom nor do I own anything by him, so unfortunately I can't comment on the contents of the book, but it's a shame your past two reads weren't that great (particularly since one of them was by a Dutch author). Your reviews were nice to read though! I hope your next read will be more enjoyable .

[Brian.]

Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo



Synopsis
Harry is on a special mission.

Detective Harry Hole arrives in a steaming hot Bangkok. The Norwegian ambassador has been found dead in a seedy motel room, and Harry has been sent to investigate. It's clear that the Ambassador's family are hiding some secrets of their own, but few people are willing to talk.

He needs to solve a crime and avoid a scandal.

When Harry lays hands on some incriminating CCTV footage, things only get more complicated. The man who gave him the tape goes missing, and Harry realises that failing to solve a murder case is by no means the only danger that faces the unwary.

But in an unfamiliar city, who can you trust?
(taken from Goodreads)


My Thoughts

Being a big fan of the Harry Hole series of books by Jo Nesbo I have been looking forward to reading the earlier books in the series since they were published in English. I have been warned by a few people that the first book, The Bat, isn't particularly good but that Cockroaches is a decent read. I always keep an eye out for any books in the series when I am searching second hand book shops and I was delighted to find a copy of Cockroaches for a very reasonable price of £1. It has been sitting on my bookshelf for a while and being set in Thailand it felt like a good time to read it.

 

The book starts with the discovery of a murdered Norwegian ambassador who is linked to the infamous sex trade in Thailand. Both the Norwegian and Thai authorities want to sort out the mess in the quietest way possible while at the same time being seen to be taking the matter seriously. To that end they decide to send a detective with experience working in a foreign country, Harry Hole. Harry isn't a in great place on a personal level, he is drinking too much and generally a pain in the ass to be around. Due to this, his superiors think that he will go to Thailand, enjoy the nightlife, and after a brief but ineffective investigation come home with the whole thing forgotten about.

 

Of course, this isn't how things work out and the case ends up being a very complex one with quite a few twists and turns. I thought that there were a few too many characters and on occasion I had to double check who was who to follow the story properly. Despite this, I really enjoyed the book and while it isn't quite up to the standard of some of the later books it is an enjoyable good read for sure.

 

 

4/5 (I really liked it).

[Brian.]

The Sixteen by John Urwin



Synopsis
As an 18-year-old, John Urwin was posted to Cyprus, where he was recruited into a top-secret unit called the Sixteen, whose task was to assassinate key figures throughout the Middle East. Now he breaks his silence to tell their story. Their training was said to have surpassed that of the SAS in unarmed combat and weaponry. His description of their four key missions is explosive and a riveting account of the turbulent 1950s in the Middle East. The Cold War was approaching its height and when there was a mission to be undertaken that no government could be seen to endorse, the Sixteen would do the job. No previous depiction of a military group, in book or movie, has remotely compared to the secrecy, skills, and sheer professionalism of the Sixteen.
(taken from Goodreads)


My Thoughts

My reading mojo has been suffering from a bit of a lull in recent weeks and I have found myself starting several books only to put them aside after 50 or so pages. I am convinced that these are not bad books, it's just that they don't really grab my attention at the moment. In an attempt to kick start my mojo I decided to indulge in some book shopping and I bought 6 non-fiction books covering a variety of subjects. Two of these books are of the action military memoir type which are fun to read but usually don't do much more than that. One of these books was The Sixteen by John Urwin. I was drawn to this because the blurb sounded interesting and I hadn't heard of anything like it in the past.

 

I really wish I had sat down and read the first few pages of the book before buying it, this book is absolutely hilarious and not in a good way. The author is a complete fantasist and offers no proof of any kind that his claims are true in anyway. I am frankly disgusted that the publisher is happy producing this supposed work of non-fiction with no evidence to back up its claims.  Urwin claims that he was talent spotted at the age of 18 during his national service in the 1950's. He was an unremarkable soldier who had received no military training and spent a lot of his time being made to repair roads and dig latrines. His lack of training was such that he wasn't even instructed in how to use a rifle. Despite this he managed to impress members of some shadowy organisation, it would seem primarily based on the fact that he was quite fit and he didn't drink or smoke. During his first meeting with his team he underwent what he thought was a day of hard mental training but it ended up being a 4 day hypnosis/mind control session where he was turned into some kind of ninja. During this session he lost all his fear and ended up being taught 'the machine' an unarmed combat system. Ohh and to top it all of he became adept at using some esoteric weaponry which is never really described. One of these weapons comes up repeatedly and is a belt of sorts which when the buckle is hit flies through the air and kills an enemies in the vicinity.

 

So what is the purpose of The Sixteen? They are there to carry out the dirty work of either the government or to battle the Illuminati (who control the government, talk about confusing) depending on what part of the book you are reading. It doesn't stop there though. One of the missions is to assassinate Gamal Abdal Nasser, the then president of Eygpt who is extremely well protected. As it turns out, the day they go to get him, he isn't in but as luck would have it there is someone else there who they are told is also a high value target. None of the missions are to be carried out using guns, everything has to be done silently using their unarmed combat skills. They kill this other target and make it look as though he has shot himself. How does Urwin  make it look like suicide? Easy, he has an ingenious idea to use 5 very light fishing lines from outside the closed door to 1) move a chair across the room 2) wedge this chair under the handle of the door 3) turn the key in the lock, 4) manoeuvre the keys into the pocket of the dead man 5) slide the deadbolts across the door, double locking it.

 

This isn't the end of the insane claims though. There is also an incident where one of his colleagues repairs the outside of a helicopter during flight, UFO's and alien technology. In short, Urwin is a genius version of Neo from The Matrix, Jason Bourne and Batman all rolled into one. Yeah right. Avoid this book at all costs, it's a shocker.

 

1/5 (I did not like it).

[Athena]

The Harry Hole book sounds good, I've got a couple of them but I haven't seen this one for sale here (yet at least). I'm glad you liked it. Such a shame about The Sixteen, I hope your next read will be a bit better!

[Brian.]

Thanks Gaia, I expect to read the odd dud now and then, not all books can be great sadly.

 

My next read is Burmese Days by George Orwell and I'm hoping that this will continue with the resurgence of my mojo.

[bobblybear]

Yikes, The Sixteen sounds dire, which is a shame because when I first read the synopsis, I thought it would be my kind of book.

[ian]

Strangely enough, your review of Sixteen actually makes me want to read it! Like you, if I had read it thinking it was going to be a serious, credible expose of clandestine operations during the cold war, and found it to be instead the ramblings of a fantasist, I would be pretty peeved. But now you've given us the low-down, I want to read it just for a good laugh!

[Brian.]

Strangely enough, your review of Sixteen actually makes me want to read it! Like you, if I had read it thinking it was going to be a serious, credible expose of clandestine operations during the cold war, and found it to be instead the ramblings of a fantasist, I would be pretty peeved. But now you've given us the low-down, I want to read it just for a good laugh!

 

That is pretty much the reason why I finished it, I wanted to see how ridiculous it could get.

[Brian.]

Burmese Days by George Orwell



Synopsis
George Orwell's first novel, inspired by his experiences in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, Burmese Days includes a new introduction by Emma Larkin in Penguin Modern Classics. Based on his experiences as a policeman in Burma, George Orwell's first novel presents a devastating picture of British colonial rule. It describes corruption and imperial bigotry in a society where, 'after all, natives were natives - interesting, no doubt, but finally ... an inferior people'. When Flory, a white timber merchant, befriends Indian Dr Veraswami, he defies this orthodoxy. The doctor is in danger: U Po Kyin, a corrupt magistrate, is plotting his downfall. The only thing that can save him is membership of the all-white Club, and Flory can help. Flory's life is changed further by the arrival of beautiful Elizabeth Lackersteen from Paris, who offers an escape from loneliness and the 'lie' of colonial life.
(taken from Goodreads)


My Thoughts

Before starting this book I had read 3 others by George Orwell and enjoyed all of them. I'm fairly sure this was a recent purchase as the book was in a stack of relatively recent books. I've drifted away a little from the TBR jar and gone back to picking the next read on a whim and it felt like the right time to give this one a go.

 

The edition I read included a forward by some intellectual which I skipped over as I often do. It also contains a sketch of the location which was done by Orwell at some point. I found the addition of this to be a bit pointless as it is a really basic sketch but I guess some readers will find it useful.

 

The story is based in the Burmese village of Kyautada and revolves around the club set up and patronised by the English people who have settled there and run the place as occupiers. This collection of people are a pretty unlikeable bunch who are vapid and very racist. I'm confident that this was how it was at the time as history has proved this to be the case. We also have the benefit of the fact that Orwell actually served in Burma as a policeman at the time the book was set. We have an antihero of sorts, John Flory who likes a lot of the locals and wants to try and help get Dr Veraswami membership of the club. The trouble is that he won't stand up in front of the other members of the club to vouch for him because he is too scared. He is a positive character in regards to his attitude towards race and the locals. Despite this I found him unlikeable because he had no backbone and is isn't all good. He has kept a hooker or sorts on retainers for a while and that comes back to bite him in the ass.

 

Although the people are pretty horrible I really enjoyed the book because I find Orwell's writing to be descriptive without being over the top. He was clearly a very forward thinking and interesting man in his time. I really want to read Down and Out in London and Paris soon so I will have to keep an eye out for it on my book hunting jaunts.

 

4/5 (I really liked it).

[Brian.]

My Autobiography by Guy Martin



Synopsis
     Guy Martin, international road-racing legend, maverick star of the Isle of Man TT, truck mechanic and TV presenter, lives on the edge, addicted to speed, thoroughly exhilarated by danger. 
     In this book we'll get inside his head as he stares death in the face, and risks his life in search of the next high, even as he agonises over the loss of close friends in horrific accidents. We'll discover what it feels like to survive a 170mph fireball at the TT in 2010, and comeback to do it all again. He'll sweep us up in a gritty sort of glory as he slogs it out for a place on the podium, but we'll also see him struggle with the flipside of fame. We'll meet his friends and foes, his family, his teammates and bosses and we'll discover what motivates him, and where his strengths and weaknesses lie. 
     For the first time, here is the full story in Guy's own words. From the boy who learned to prep bikes with his dad, to the spirited team mechanic, paying his way by collecting glasses, to the young racer at the start of his first race and the buzz he's been chasing ever since. This thrilling autobiography is an intense and dramatic ride.
(taken from Goodreads)


My Thoughts

I bought this last week because I needed a book to complete a special offer on a bunch of books I was buying. I have watched some of the Guy Martin stuff on TV and I also watched TT-3D when it came out which features him quite heavily. He comes across as a likeable chap in the mold of Fred Dibnah and it helps that I tend to watch the Isle of Man TT every year. A few people at work have read this book and they all said that I should read it at some point as they really enjoyed it.

 

The book follows are a pretty formulaic autobiography approach, starting with Martin's younger days and then progressing on to the modern day. The stuff about his younger days is actually quite interesting because he had a bit of an unusual upbringing. He spent a lot of his time fixing up and working on engines that people in the village no longer wanted. This, coupled with his fathers truck maintenance business evolved into Martin having a lifelong interest in all things mechanical. His father was also a bike racer but it took a long while for Martin to get into racing despite his love of motorbikes.

 

As I expected, there is a pretty comprehensive record of his races, particularly the road races that he has competed in. Here I found my first issue with Guy Martin, pretty much everything is someone else's fault. He is very quick to blame team mechanics and managers for not giving him the equipment he wants in the way he wants. He is also very keen to point out that he hates doing PR work and pretty much refuses to do it. To me, if you are working for a race team who are providing you with a bike costing up to £200k then there has to be some give and take. Not everyone can have the best bike and things do go wrong in racing, it is the nature of the sport. If I'm perfectly honest, Martin comes across as a bit of a prat in the book. He was also allowed to keep his driving licence after amassing 21 points (12 is an instant ban in most cases) which particularly irked me. When he talks about this he effectively refuses to accept that it's his fault and shows little remorse.

 

In the end, I won't rate the book on the likeability or otherwise of Guy Martin but on the quality of the book as a whole. It doesn't stand up well here either. The writing is ok but nothing more than that and I found some parts of it pretty poor and slow going. I didn't hate it, it was ok, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they are a huge fan.

 

2/5 (It was ok).

[bookmonkey]

I've added the George Orwell to my list.  I've read three of his in the last year and really enjoyed them. Which others have you read?

[Brian.]

I've added the George Orwell to my list.  I've read three of his in the last year and really enjoyed them. Which others have you read?

 

Animal Farm, 1984, Homage to Catalonia and now Burmese Days.

[Brian.]

I donated another pile of books to my local charity bookshop, my bookcases are starting to look a bit sparse which I am delighted with. I decided to see if my library has a copy of Down and Out in Paris and London  but I was out of luck. Instead I had a look around and came away with

 

• Sunset Park - Paul Auster
• The Map and the Territory - Michel Houellebecq
• Crash - J.G. Ballard

All three were on my wishlist so that's my reading for the next week or two sorted.

[Athena]

Nice reviews! I hope you enjoy the new loans ! And I hope they have Down and Out in Paris and London some time soon for you.

[bookmonkey]

I've read Animal Farm and 1984 (reread) and Down and Out in Paris and London.  They were all good.  I'd like to read all his books eventually.

[Brian.]

A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami



Synopsis
His life was like a recurring nightmare: a train to nowhere. But an ordinary life has a way of taking an extraordinary turn. Add a girl whose ears are so exquisite that, when uncovered, they improve sex a thousand-fold, a runaway friend, a right-wing politico, an ovine-obsessed professor and a manic-depressive in a sheep outfit, implicate them in a hunt for a sheep, that may or may not be running the world, and the upshot is another singular masterpiece from Japan's finest novelist.
(taken from Goodreads)


My Thoughts

My reading has been a bit all over the place recently and my mojo is up and down more than I care for. I go through days where I read hundreds of pages and then seem to hit a period where I just can't get into whatever I am reading at the time. In an attempt to solve this problem I decided to fall back on an author whose books I have always enjoyed, Haruki Murakami. I have two of his books on my bookcase at the moment, A Wild Sheep Chase and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. I went for A Wild Sheep Chase because it is a shorter read and I didn't want to tempt fate with my mojo.

 

I seem to be gradually moving towards some of Murakami's more surreal work and this certainly fits that description. It wasn't until after I had finished it that I found out that is was the third book in the 'Rat' trilogy, this may, or may not explain why it took me some time to get into the book. We start with our protagonist wondering where his life is heading after the breakdown of his marriage. He ends up meeting a quirky girl who has the most amazing ears in the world. He works with a good friend of his in a joint business in which he uses a photograph of a flock of sheep that has been sitting in an office drawer for ages. This leads of a series of events which includes a run in with a shadowy crime organisation, a sheep professor and a whole manner of trippy things. Yes, this sounds odd and it is, but with Murakami I feel that you have to suspend disbelief and just go with it and see what happens.

 

There isn't really a particular plot to latch on to but as usual its Murakami's writing which I enjoyed. He creates dream like imagery like no one else that I have read and there is just something about his writing which moves me. It's very hard to describe and I struggle to put my finger on what exactly is it that makes it work, but for me it just does. Although it took me a long time getting into this book I am glad I stuck with it because once I had settled into the rhythm of the book it was a great read.

 

I wouldn't recommend this as a place to start with Murakami but it is a good book none the less.

 

4/5 (I really liked it).

[Brian.]

Relentless Forward Progress by Bryon Powell



Synopsis
Marathons have become too easy for some runners. What was once the pinnacle of achievement in a runner’s life is now a stepping stone for extraordinary adventure in ultramarathoning. The number of ultrarunners—those running distances of 50k (31miles), 50 miles, 100k (62 miles), or 100 miles—is growing astronomically each year.

Dean Karnazes’ Ultramarathon Man and Chris McDougall’s Born to Run have inspired tens of thousands to try these seemingly superhuman distances. But to date, there has been no practical guide to ultramarathoning. Now, Bryon Powell has written Relentless Forward Progress, the first how-to manual for aspiring ultrarunners. Powell covers every aspect of training for and racing ultra distances. This encyclopedic volume prepares runners for going farther than they have ever gone before and, in the process, shows them that they are capable of the “impossible.”
(taken from Goodreads)


My Thoughts

I won't be running an ultra-marathon any time soon, in fact, unless I manage to be lucky with my entry for the London Marathon next year I can't see myself running much further than about 10 miles any time soon. Despite this. every time I start running regularly again I find myself drawn to reading about those who run ultra-marathons. I noticed that I had this book on my bookshelf the other day and as luck would have it, I have been running more recently and this piqued my interest in the book.

 

I haven't heard of the author Bryon Powell but to be fair I only know a handful of ultra runners, after a bit of research it appears that he runs probably the biggest ultra running website, irunfar.com. This is pretty much the go to website for anyone interested in ultra running so the author clearly knows his stuff. This book covers pretty much everything you might need or want to know about ultra running, including why people seem to be drawn to it. There is one very important message in the early chapters, you need to have a good running base before thinking about doing an ultra-marathon and this means having marathon running experience. There are a range of training programs to suit various types of people depending on how much time you have available to train each week. This is a nice departure from a lot of running books which tend to be very rigid in their training structure. Another thing that I really liked about the book was that Powell presents different opinions on many subjects. One such example is barefoot or minimalist running shoes. He has an article from a someone who is a minimalist and someone who isn't and what they feel are the pro's and con's of both options. I really like this non dogmatic approach and this seems to be a theme throughout ultra running.

 

I have the feeling that a lot of the information presented in this book can be found on the website but the book presents it really well and all in one place.

 

4/5 (I really liked it).