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jazzfishMario Puzo, The Last Don
It's no Godfather. The main thrust of the plot is set up in the first chapter, and everything else is watching that plot resolve. Except that it gets complex enough that I forgot what that plot is, and spent some time wondering "Why do I care about this?" The characters are interesting enough but not sufficiently compelling. If this is what the rest of Puzo's books are like I'll stick with Godfather, thanks.
Garth Ennis and Killian Plunkett, Unknown Soldier
Every so often I reread something and recognise where it shaped some of my attitudes. Unknown Soldier, to choose an example not at all at random, pretty clearly laid the foundation for my present-day distrust of and distaste for real-world covert government operations. That said, it's a fantastic story with pretty good art and some disturbingly good character work.
Charles Schulz, Peanuts: A Golden Celebration
Yep, more Peanuts. A collection of strips with Schulz's commentary on some, and other people's notes on others. Amusing but (for me) not worth a purchase.
McSweeney's editors, Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans
A humor anthology, the best of McSweeney's web humor articles. About a third of these I'd seen before but were still worth revisiting. Especially Noam Chomsky's commentary on Fellowship of the Ring and "On the implausibility of the Death Star's trash compactor." A good gift book, I think.
J. Michael Straczynski et al, Supreme Power: Contact
Supreme Power: Powers & Principalities
What if Marvel wrote the DC universe in the twenty-first century? Excellent stuff, some of the best superhero comics I've read. I particularly liked the black Batman, though Superman's naivete is rather charming as well . . ."I though I could wear a disguise, maybe these glasses." Worth reading, possibly worth buying.
It's no Godfather. The main thrust of the plot is set up in the first chapter, and everything else is watching that plot resolve. Except that it gets complex enough that I forgot what that plot is, and spent some time wondering "Why do I care about this?" The characters are interesting enough but not sufficiently compelling. If this is what the rest of Puzo's books are like I'll stick with Godfather, thanks.
Garth Ennis and Killian Plunkett, Unknown Soldier
Every so often I reread something and recognise where it shaped some of my attitudes. Unknown Soldier, to choose an example not at all at random, pretty clearly laid the foundation for my present-day distrust of and distaste for real-world covert government operations. That said, it's a fantastic story with pretty good art and some disturbingly good character work.
Charles Schulz, Peanuts: A Golden Celebration
Yep, more Peanuts. A collection of strips with Schulz's commentary on some, and other people's notes on others. Amusing but (for me) not worth a purchase.
McSweeney's editors, Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans
A humor anthology, the best of McSweeney's web humor articles. About a third of these I'd seen before but were still worth revisiting. Especially Noam Chomsky's commentary on Fellowship of the Ring and "On the implausibility of the Death Star's trash compactor." A good gift book, I think.
J. Michael Straczynski et al, Supreme Power: Contact
Supreme Power: Powers & Principalities
What if Marvel wrote the DC universe in the twenty-first century? Excellent stuff, some of the best superhero comics I've read. I particularly liked the black Batman, though Superman's naivete is rather charming as well . . ."I though I could wear a disguise, maybe these glasses." Worth reading, possibly worth buying.