The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Book Thief is an uncomfortable book.

The setting is Germany in World War 2, certainly an uncomfortable place. The central character, Liesel, loses her brother, is taken from her mother, and placed with a foster family. Nearly everyone they know is poor, struggling to survive, even before the war comes to their doors.

The writing is uncomfortable, at least for me. The style is simple and easy to follow, but I found it uninteresting and was often bored. Very little happens in this book, it seemed to me. There are few major events and those are described quickly, with the majority of the book taken up with the slow, steady grind of difficult daily life.

Death is quite literally present throughout the entire book, because he is the narrator. Taking an interest in Liesel's story after she is present at his duty several times early in life, he tracks the minutia of her life for several years. This sounded intriguing to me at first, but interesting observations from the point of view of Death were few and far between.

I can see why The Book Thief is an important story. It describes a difficult but important time and place. But the style is emphatically not for me.

Deepak Chopra's Enlightenment series

Deepak Chopra's Enlightenment series tells semi-historical fictional tales of several key religious figures: Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad.

Let me say right up front that I have no interest in Chopra except as a storyteller. He's got some really strange ideas about "quantum healing" that can be dangerous when people abandon real medical treatments to pursue them. He puts way too much stock in the ability of the mind to influence the body and the world around you. His views on spirituality and religion are centered on the human mind, not the divine (although he might argue they're the same). I have zero interest in any of that.

So why read these books? I like to think that I'm open-minded enough to consider a story (or any other work of art) on its own merits, not pre-judge based on the person on the dust jacket. Historical fiction based on key religious figures is an interesting concept, and I'd been looking for books that fit into the time periods of the lives of those figures. In a way, this is another form of my love of alternate history...just slightly different subject matter than the usual wars and political intrigue.

Buddha is a story in three parts: the birth and early life of prince Siddhartha, his abandonment of wealth and status to live as the ascetic monk Gautama, and finally his enlightenment as Buddha. The book ends just as his teaching years were beginning, which made sense to me - as I understand it, he taught for nearly 45 more years and that could be an entire other book. It's a personal story, following Siddhartha/Gautama/Buddha on his journey to enlightenment, with little focus on Buddhism as a religion (other than an explanatory epilogue). Chopra kept the story moving throughout, and the Indian cultural and religious references were fascinating.

Jesus is set during his early life, before the ministry set forth in the gospels. Jesus falls in with zealots plotting rebellion against the Romans, Gentiles searching for God, even a holy ascetic. Rather than the perfect faith of Jesus in the Bible, this Jesus is unsure much of the time, but finds his way by learning acceptance of God in all things. I thought the story really captured the feel of the times; the average Jew just trying to stay alive and fed, the Romans trying to keep the lid on a rebellious province, the zealots pushing so hard for freedom that they'd pay any price.

Muhammad uses the perspective of many different people who were close to Muhammad at various points in his life to tell his story, from close relatives to family servants to business partners. The picture that emerges is a serious and kind man, but certainly not a great leader or orator. Until an angel comes to Muhammad, and changes his life by giving him the command to recite. It's not easy to go against his nature, first as a speaker, then a leader, and in the end becoming a warrior and ruler. This portrayal was a more difficult one to accept than that of Buddha or Jesus, in my opinion; Muhammad's direct involvement in holy wars makes the picture of an enlightened leader much less believable.

I think that a reader's reaction to these books is going to depend entirely on mindset. I approached them as stories that happened to feature some familiar characters and settings, and in that I was not disappointed. Chopra is a fine storyteller, whatever you may think about his beliefs. But if you expect adherence to the orthodox portrayal of these religious figures, or deep spiritual insights into their stories, you're looking in the wrong place.

The History of the Future by Blake J. Harris

The History of the Future: Oculus, Facebook, and the Revolution That Swept Virtual Reality by Blake J. Harris
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The History of the Future tells the story behind the virtual reality (VR) company Oculus. The first three quarters of the book is largely about the people behind the building of the company, and the often harrowing process of getting it off the ground. The last part is much the opposite, about dissolution rather than building - specifically the exit of co-founder Palmer Luckey.

Starting up any company is a challenge, and focusing on virtual reality had extra hurdles since it had been tried before...and failed. From a present-day perspective, it's easy to forget that less than a decade ago, VR was considered to be either impossible or so expensive as to be useless to consumers. There is a ton of detail in this book about the difficulty that the Oculus founders faced in convincing anyone that they could actually make VR work, as well as some of the technical aspects that had caused that skepticism in the first place. In almost every case, the disbelief was overcome by getting someone to actually try their prototype, which from all accounts was good enough to make a believer of practically anyone who tried it.

Of course, simply having a good prototype isn't enough, so The History of the Future dedicates plenty of pages to the process of figuring out the logistics behind production of a product. Both in terms of the actual physical production process, and building a company that can make it happen. As with many start-ups, the question of how to pay for the whole process was a major struggle. Until Facebook came into the picture and bought Oculus, which more or less solved the money issues but brought along a whole different set of problems.

The last 25% or so of the book feels quite a bit different than what comes before, largely because it's about things coming apart. Luckey gets into trouble when he supports a pro-Trump political organization and it goes public in the media. Oculus and its founders are sued for infringement of intellectual property. Eventually, Luckey is let go from Oculus. This section is presented as Luckey being railroaded for his political beliefs, the company losing big money in court to a baseless lawsuit (though much of that was overturned on appeal), and Facebook using the situation as an excuse to get rid of Luckey and avoid paying him a large chunk of money due to him as an Oculus founder. It's hard to tell how accurate this depiction is, since it's basically just one side of the story. Whether it's the absolute truth or not, I have to say I wasn't particularly surprised. It's a cutthroat business world out there, and it doesn't take much of a misstep...real or overblown...to lead to a fall from grace.

Harris has gathered a ton of information from the individuals involved in this whole process. Not only about the facts of what happened and when, but the way those people were feeling at the time. I found the whole thing fascinating, because I'm interested in pretty much every aspect of the story: VR itself, the tech start-up culture, dealing with corporate acquisition, and the various interpersonal dynamics along the way. But it does make for a very long and detailed account that may be difficult to get through for someone who doesn't share all those interests. If you do, it's worth taking the time it takes to read through The History of the Future.

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When an author's first novel is as good as The Hate U Give , it begs the question: was that success just a flash in the pan, a case of catching lightning in a bottle? For Angie Thomas, the answer is an emphatic No. On The Come Up is every bit as good as its predecessor.

On The Come Up follows Bri, a teenage girl in the poor and largely black Garden Heights neighborhood of Baltimore, as she tries to start off a rap career. She's got a whole lot of obstacles in her way, from her family's dire financial straits to racial tensions to breaking into a male-dominated rap culture. And she doesn't help her own case when she plays right into many of the stereotypes, both in her lyrics and her actions, while trying to point out the inherent biases.

If that sounds awfully familiar to The Hate U Give, that's because at the level of themes and social commentary, it is. The two books are set in the same world, share much of the same Garden Heights territory, and On The Come Up even references a few of the events in the first book. But the characters are very different, with their own problems, strengths, weaknesses, and motivations. The setting and themes may be similar, but this book tells its own story.

I hope Angie Thomas is planning to write a whole lot more. That's a bit selfish, of course, because I've enjoyed her first two books so much. But more importantly, I think her writing is providing a perspective that isn't shared nearly enough in popular writing. The wider she can share that perspective, the better.

The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I picked up The Fifth Risk thinking it would be about the Trump administration's hollowing-out of the administrative state by failing to fill key positions. There's some of that, but the book is much more about what the government does and some of the consequences should it stop.

Lewis splits the book into three main sections, each covering a major federal department: Energy, Agriculture, and Commerce. In each case, he goes out to talk to people about what those agencies actually do. Which is what you'd have expected the Trump administration's transition team to have done once the election was won, but was not the case.

I found the descriptions of the various departments fascinating. The mass of data collected by Commerce, the waste cleanup run by Energy, the nutrition programs in Agriculture: I'd sort of heard about those things but never in this kind of detail. And presented in an entertaining manner - Lewis knows his stuff and finds ways to make it all relatable and pulls in the personal touch with the various folks that provided the information.

The bottom line in The Fifth Risk is that these federal government programs (and presumably many others not covered here) are a key underpinning of our society, whether we realize it or not. And when the country's executive leadership is ignorant or uncaring, those programs are in danger of being taken over by oligarchs, cut down by budget cuts, or simply mismanaged into failure.

Captain Marvel (2019 movie)

Captain Marvel is a fun watch, like most of the MCU movies before it. Not the best, not the worst, but well executed. Certainly not worthy of the hate coming from the more misogynistic corners of the Internet.

If you've seen any of the promotional material for the movie, you already know pretty much what Captain Marvel is about. Just in this trailer alone you see that there's a woman with military background who somehow gets superpowers and hooks up with Nick Fury (beloved from lots of previous MCU movies) in the 1990s to do some kind of superheroing. And that's what happens - you will not be surprised by anything important in this movie. No "Infinity War" style twists in this one.

I'm a DC comics nerd at the detail level, but for Marvel I'm more at the "general knowledge" nerd level. She was one of my favorite characters in the Marvel Heroes MMO action RPG (may it rest in peace). So I know who Captain Marvel is, and some general stuff about her origin, but not chapter and verse of every little detail. Between that general knowledge and promo material like the trailer, I found the movie to move somewhat slowly as it went through lots of setup about the character. Par for the course with an origin movie, so I was prepared, but still a little boring.

The good news is that even knowing what's coming, Captain Marvel is still entertaining. I liked Brie Larson's performance, they did a good job cutting 25 years off Samuel L. Jackson's look, and the supporting cast does a fine job. (Particularly Ben Mendelsohn as the Skrull leader.) I loved the costume they came up with for her, except that silly mohawk helmet thing, but I suppose you have to give something to the traditionalist comics people. Lots of special effects eye candy, especially near the end. Which is only what I've come to expect from the MCU.

You're not going to miss the big themes of this movie. A determined woman overcoming "a girl can't do that" prejudice: not only do we see tons of this from the main character, you've also got her best friend, honorary niece, and even one of the top enemy fighters pounding that theme home. The fact that the timeframe is 20 years ago: if Blockbuster and Radio Shack isn't enough, there's all kinds of music and culture references scattered about. People aren't what they may first seem - spoiler territory, but it's everywhere. I have no problem with any of it, but be warned, don't expect subtlety.

There was a lot of hate for this movie across the Internet before it even came out, and that continued through the opening weekend. I'm happy to say those idiots were wrong; a female lead is just fine for a superhero movie (not that anyone who's seen Wonder Woman is surprised by that). I kinda wish the creators had gone further - imagine if they'd swapped roles for Larson and Lashana Lynch (who plays her black best friend). I bet the movie would be just as good, and would have caused even more coronaries among the kind of morons who hate on movies for who they feature.

I'd put Captain Marvel firmly in the middle of the MCU movie universe...solid effort that's better than some and worse than others. For an origin movie, it's hard to complain. And I really look forward to seeing Carol Danvers kicking some serious tail in future films.

Through Darkest Europe by Harry Turtledove

Through Darkest Europe by Harry Turtledove
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Harry Turtledove always writes a good story. Sometimes, there's an interesting message underneath as well. Through Darkest Europe is definitely one of those times.

Through Darkest Europe is an imagining of what might have happened if the tenets of modern Western civilization took root in the Middle East rather than Europe. The rise of science over superstition, industrialization, the Enlightenment...move all that to places like Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Turkey. Meanwhile Europe becomes a backwater that breeds unrest and discontent.

The book has plenty of references to different history and culture in this alternate world. North America is known as "The Sunset Lands" and makes "Pontiak" vehicles from "Arkansistan." Hitler had no place on the world stage, but there was an equivalently horrific Indian leader who slaughtered the Tamil people. Rather than feet or meters, measurements are made in cubits. Turtledove always spins an intriguing world, and this is no exception. However, the most notable thing about this alternate world is not the differences from reality, but the similarities.

Turtledove could have created a very different world with those assumptions, but instead he chose to make it very nearly a mirror image of our own. Islam and Christianity switch places, with terrorist followers of Thomas Aquinas taking the place of Muslim extremists. Italy is largely a mirror of our Afghanistan, with a weak central government holding onto Rome but little else. Christian extremists from all over Europe pour into Italy, bringing rebellion and assassination with them.

I like the switching of religious and cultural affiliation between the forces of order and terror. It makes the reader think more about the underlying causes of unrest. Turtledove makes it clear that the religion itself isn't to blame, in either case. You can use words from the holy books to support peace or war, order or chaos, love for your fellow man or hatred. It's the character of the people using those words, and the societal influences that shape those people, that makes the difference.

Through Darkest Europe isn't as epic as some of Turtledove's work (see Worldwar), but it doesn't need to be to accomplish its purpose: give the reader an opportunity to consider how unrest and extremism can rise from any culture or religion, given the wrong conditions. An important message, and I encourage others to read it for themselves.