Date
Title
Comments
by Patricia D. Cornwell
The house we stayed in for New Years had a ton of books on its shelves and since it was raining a lot we had plenty of time to read. I picked up this book New Years Eve and finished it New Year's Day. I chose it for a couple of reasons, first off I had just finished a historical book and it was time for something light (per rule #3 above) and I had recently seen a 20/20 episode where Patricia Cornwell claimed to have solved the identity of Jack the Ripper. So I was intrigued. I like mystery and thrillers and I knew she had written a lot of books in the genre and my wife had read several of hers and liked them. First off I must say that Patricia was stretching the word per page ratio with this book. I was reading the hard cover edition and the margins were very wide and each paged ended like 3 inches from the bottom with some silly footer taking up a lot of space. Secondly and partially as a consequence it was a very fast read. Finally I would not recommend this book, but it was entertaining in some regards. I don't know about any of her other novel's (I think I will check out one more of her's as a fair shake, in particular there was one book that won a bunch of awards one year that looks promising) but I found this to be a weak example of the genre. Lets face it, in any genre there are real works of literature that are the top of that particular genre, say Tolkien in fantasy, I am not sure what is the supreme literary example of mystery genre but whatever it may be this was a bland consume. I didn't really care for it much. It is basically your typical psycho serial killer vs. the "law enforcement" individual. In this case Cornwell's hero is a heroine, Kay Scarpetta and Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia, for which I think she has earned a lot of interest. However for a thriller of this type I enjoy James Patterson's Alex Cross series much better.
by Robert Stone
This one took me quite a while. There were a couple of factors at play.
1) I found this to be a arduous read, it required lots of concentration
and stick-to-itedness. 2) I worked way too much during the time when I
was reading this book, there was a stretch of at least six weeks were
I did not read from the book at all and spent many a night up till 2 am
working. I suppose if #1 had not been true I would have read more during
#2.
(more coming soon)
The
Skull Mantra
by Eliot Patterson
3/22 began a week long vacation in Hawaii, which explains me knocking out three books in a week. I hadn't really read that much of The Skull Mantra prior to the plane ride. This was a fascinating mystery novel. a) It was set in
It combines the zen attitude of Tibetan Bhuddism with the irrational
insanity of the Communist world view. An underlying theme is revealing
a common binding of humanity regardless of your belief system.
(more coming soon)
3/24/2002 - 3/27/2002
The
Blue Nowhere
by Jeffery Deaver
I found this I book a bit of a bore. I have read 4 of Deaver's other
books, the three Lincoln Rhme novels, The
Bone Collector, The
Empty Chair and The
Coffin Dancer as well as the The
Devils Teardrop where Lincoln makes a guest appearance. I really like
his Rhyme novels, I find them a rare twist on the forensic investigator
genre, and I think Lincoln is a really unique and interesting character,
but maybe if I was a forensic scientist myself I would react to those
novel's as I did to The Blue Nowhere. This novel is about comupters, hacking,
the Internet and is set in Silicon Valley and the greater Bay area. All
of which I know more about than the average reader. a) I live in the Bay
area. b) I work for a software company that builds software used to build
applications many of which are internet based. c) While not a hacker by
any stretch of the imagination I am a programmer by profession.
Deaver took great literary license in his terminology, description, and attitude towards computers. To the laymen I suppose this would all be accepted, however it grated against me as exaggerated untruth. I couldn't get past the ever present phony context to even appreciate the story of the mystery. I plowed through it with not much anticipation or excitement. The big revelation at the end was very disappointing, so I quickly finished and got on to the next novel.
Tell
No One
by Harlan Coben
Well although I started this novel on Poipu Beach, I really only read about 2 chapters that afternoon. The rest I finished on the 29th. Needless to say this is a page turner. What I liked about this book, was the mystery. I never knew all the way up to the last page, where the next twist was going to be. Not predictable at all. I was satisfied by the stories motivation and the way the events all hung together. They were believable in the context of that realm of the suspense novel where things go wrong on that scale that the normal individual never faces. I also enjoyed the character development and the love story, to the degree you believe in that "love" stuff, I felt the story was very believable. You could feel the loss. Despite the book's fast read, there was real substance to the book, its style and the story. Recommended reading.
Kauai:
The Separate Kingdom
by Edward Joesting
Work in progress. Still going. I have definitely stalled on this one. The amount of vowels and K's is overwhelming.
The
Bottoms
by Joe R. Lansdale
Quick thoughts. A great mystery. A finely told tale, with great characters. Illustrative, a window if you will, on the southern culture and outlook on life. Brought back memories of growing up in Missouri, walking creek beds for miles barefoot, catching bull head tadpoles and crawdads. The one aspect I didn't like was the attempt to include foresenic science as a concept in the deep south during the early 1900's, it just wasn't plausible.
The
Essential Guide to Wireless Communications Applications
by Andrew Dornan
I really got tired of not understanding wireless tech talk: G3 networks etc. I also wanted to understand why my cell phone kept fading in and out and dropping calls as I drove certain routes. So I bought this book and read it. The book does a good job of explaining in easy to understand terms the technology. The big revelation or understanding point to me was that EVERYTHING wireless is analogous to the radio, with broadcast points (cell towers) and receivers (cell phones). The difference is one of frequency. I finally got the analog vs. digital concept that eluded me for so long for some reason. While attempting to do justice to all major wireless regions of the world, US, Asia (Japan) and Europe I found the British author biased to his home turf. Which is expected and fine but I wanted something slightly more balanced. Towards the end I became a very selective skimmer and did not really finish the book, but I got out of it what I wanted.
by Charles Frazier
Everyone I talked to told me that Cold Mountain was a must read. My wife had followed the recommendation of her brother, "In the top five of my favorite books" and started reading. Somewhere towards the end she never finished. I had put it on my list of to be reads, but some other book always came up first. What prompted my initiative is one of my wife's cleaning spurts on our books. (I will probably die by one of my over crowded bookshelves toppling over on me. I have books under the bed, on the floor, in front of books on the shelf, and on top of the bookshelf). One of the books she set aside to get rid of was Cold Mountain. Since my Kauai reading was at a lull of interest, I jumped in and started reading.
(More coming soon)
6/05/02 - 6/23/02
Power
of One
by Bryce Courtenay
I came up on this book at the recommendation of a colleague, she mentioned
it was one of her favorite books. I bought a copy from Amazon and it sat
on my shelf for sometime. After Cold Mountain it became my next
book. I was reminded while reading of a book that I might have been required
to read in high school, a tale of high moral lesson. The story also reminded
me very much of the Speilberg movie Empire
of the Sun, not for the content as much for common factors. A young
boy in perilous times, a journey of self discovery and ultimately hope
along a lonely trail. Boxing occupies a central theme as the boy, Peekay's
means for discipline and character development. It was truly an inspiring
read.
I recently saw the movie version, and the book is so much better.
I found the acting pretty bad, the characters looked like characters in
whom you could never see as more than an actor in a role, and the whole
love story was silly and unnecessary. Don't watch the movie, read the
book.
To
Engineer Is Human:
The Role of Failure in Successful Design
by Henry Petroski
I am not really sure how I came across this book. I think it was by following
relevant links on Amazon. Anyway I bought this as well as The
Evolution of Useful Things at the same time. I found this a very insightful
reading in light of my occupation as a software engineer. Several of my
coworkers recently had an email conversation regarding the quailty of
software engineered products vs. "real" engineer's and their
feats of construction, bridges, airplanes and buildings all things that
Petroski covers in details.
Some additional thoughts on how structural engineering is different from
Enterprise Application Software Engineering:
1. --In general software is unlimited, where as Structural Engineering
has natural laws. Higher level Patterns are pretty constant, where as
within the created construct of software they are reinvited (Object Patterns,
EJB Patterns)
2. --structures have the added requirement of no death, where as Enterprise
Software only has revenue associated with it, not as powerful a motivator
as death.
3. --software is interactive with behavior, where as a bridge is a bridge
Cadillac
Desert:
The American West and Its Disappearing Water
by Marc Reisner
I got started on this one as a result of a conversation at work with
a co-worker (Steve Fanshier), who has recently educated me on the martini
as well, even though I don't drink. We were talking about water in California,
a topic of interest that has been brewing for some time. Steve and I were
discussing the canal that runs parallel to I5 from San Francisco to Los
Angeles (I was going to be making the drive soon which is how the subject
came up). A couple of years ago I had read a collection essay's by Wallace
Stegner (Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs), one of
them covered the issue of water in the West. My converstaion with Steve
prompted me to look into the subject more closely. I ended up choosing
this book after reading reviews on Amazon.
A side diatribe, I hate Las Vegas. Everything that place produces is fake,
and if you cut off its water the place would dry up and blow away in a
matter of months. This book completely bears this out, although he never
really touches on Los Vegas per se, that point kinda disappointed me.
The story of LA and water was told very well, the real story behind the
movie China Town, a fascinating story of power and intrigue. However the
California Water Project, the California Aqueduct was not as clearly laid
out as I would like it to have been. The fact that the Sacramento river
and San Joaqin river are diverted hundreds of miles (444) reverse
through the Central Valley, and then ostensibly pumped over the Tahachipi
ridge to LA. Whoa!Check
out this picture of water projects, its not real clear but the lines
that are not the color blue are man made waterways. As you drive down
Highway 5 from to LA you drive by the main canal for over 250 miles. There
is even a pumping
station at Tracey to raise the water in the canal. Since the water
naturally flows down towards the ocean from the Siera's to the San Francisco
Bay, geographically speaking you have to lift the water to reverse the
flow. For example the State of California's water project (not counting
the Federal California Valley Plan), is described as:
"The State Water Project is one of the largest water and power systems
in the world. The system includes 17 pumping plants, 32 storage facilities
(mainly reservoirs and lakes), 5 hydroelectric power plants, 3 pumping-generating
plants, and more than 660 miles of canals, tunnels, and pipelines."
How these dam's came to be built and the characters involved make for readings of lust, drive, greed and power. Water clearly is a fundamental of existence, especially in the West.
The tales of the Bureau of Reclamation, an agency that I did not even know existed, but one that wields enormous power, or did at least during the water boom years. As well as less detailed stories of the Army Corps of Engineers, (only because ACE is more about flood control and the Bureau is more about irrigated water, hence ACE having done more to water ways in the Midwest and east coast). The battles these two agencies fought over control over water resources seemed to boil down in the most fundamental case to the same reason both agencies existed in the end, to build dams. Not because they were necessary for flood or irrigated water but because the river was there and dams are fun to build.
I could go on and on, but needless to say this was a fascinating book, more so because in the conclusion we see that the doom and gloom originally predicted by the author in the mid 80s gave away to a softer kinder water management system, although this is probably more due to no more dams to build and the upswing of the environmental movement that began in the 70's. Water aquifer's continue to be pumped and drained well beyond thier capacity to replenish. Salinity of the soil increases, especially the further down stream you get for example in the San Juaqin valley. This is because as you spread water over akaline soil, salt density increases until at the end of the irrigation the salt content of the water and hence that which is dumped on the land is way beyond the ability of most common crops to cope.
Anyway there are tons of amazing facts, and insightful observations in this book and the fact that the author has good style only adds to the boon.
Priam's
Lens
by Jack L. Chalker
This is the switch to a fluffy book after the long but very interesting Cadiallc Desert. Most science fiction I read falls into this category, although by no means do I mean to suggest that all SF is without content and void of plot or examples of great writing and classic novels.
I have ready many many of Jack Chalker's books. I orginally picked up his books at around 12 or 13 at the Logan Library, when I would check out 7 books at a time. This is the age when most boys start reading SF, if they start at all. The first series I read by him was four part series called The Four Lords of the Diamond, I then picked up and read The Well of Souls series. I highly reccomend these two series. From there I pretty much read everything he put out. There are several general themes he has (I guess good original ideas are hard to come up with), tintillation (most SF follows this rule, that is one reason why 13 year old boys pick up the books in the first place), all-powerful computers that can remake matter and morphing of human characters in terms of changing bodies, or switching minds. He hits on these themes in various forms pretty consistently in all his major works. Some of his stuff lately seemed to turn a corner on the amount of sexually laden content, which I found gratuitous and uncessary.
This book was an exception to any of those themes and while not overwhelmingly outstanding or stellar, it satisfied the fluffy, keep you intrigued about the SF adventure. What it is about is not really that important. ;)
I should write up some more general stuff on my thoughts about SF and examples of the great SF works that I have read. Speaker of the Dead, The Mote in God's Eye, The Giant's Novel....
Primal
Shadows Lens
by Alan Dean Foster
Alan is another author that I read as a teenager. I distinctly remember reading all the Pip and Flinx novels.
Alan does not however just write science fiction, this was a more standard adventure story, along the lines of Clive Cussler. Your usual moral tale, obsession, lust, priorities, betrayal, death, murder and most of all gold. All set in PNG, Papua New Guinea. Foster as usual turns a fine tale that is entertaining and educational.
One striking thing about this book is the visceral sense of detail that Foster paints of PNG. I have read several books on polar exploration and as harsh and stark as the artic environment, PNG seems so in the opposite direction. Where the land of ice and snow are a dearth of life and variety, New Guinea is an overwhelming explosion of life. Where the environment threatens to kill you just as quickly.
8/31/2002 - 10/04/02
Worst
Journey in the World
by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
At the turn of the 20th century, as the British Empire had reached its apex, and most countries had been "discovered" and conquered, the polar regions and specifically the poles became prizes to claim. This is the story of the Antarctic expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott from 1911-1914.
The book is written by Apsley Cherry-Garrad, the youngest member of the party, and draws from excerpts of his own journal as well as other expedition members. The title pays homage to a specific journey that Cherry and three others undertook in the middle of the Arctic Winter, at temperatures of -71 F, across 700 miles of snow and ice, in the dark, hauling a 700 LB sledge to gather embryonic eggs from the never before seen breeding grounds of the Emperor Penguin. Rounding out the entire story is the tale of journey south as well as three winters and Scott's fatal shot at the pole, in which the Norwegian Amundsen beat him by a month and Scott's polar party all perished due to lack of fuel and inclement weather (a 9 day blizzard kept them from reaching the next depot only 11 miles away).
Cherry begins his tale with: "Polar Exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time which has been devised." The book gives one a real feel for the sailing journey south on the Terra Nova, which was stuffed to the gills with provisions. Upon leaving New Zealand she housed 33 dogs, 19 Manchurian ponies, three motor sledges and 30 tons of coal and this was just on the deck of the ship. Topping it off the ship leaked and manning the pumps was a daily ritual and in one gale, in the roaring 40s, they nearly sank.
The book also provides insight into the world view an English explorer at the century, their motivation's and attitudes. In previous centuries expeditions and conquests were carried out in the name of God, these explorers noted "none of us minds the struggle ... It is all for the good of science." Not only this but when compared with the Norwegian approach the British appear quite stubborn and foolhardy. (see Huntford's book The Last Place on Earth)
The English primary method of Antarctic travel was man-hauling, four men with harness all pulling a single sledge across the ice and snow. Dogs and horses were taken only as a means to laying depot's along the trail to support the traveling party, but there is a strong sense in the English glory of man unaided hauling his own sledge across the ice. Past experience got them here, in Scott's 1902 expedition, when trekking south the dogs were all dead within 10 days and they were manhauling. Shackelton's 1908 journey utilized horses. These all contributed with how the British ended up using man-hualing but the attitude cames through loud and clear that noble acts were those done alone without aid or complaint.
Sadly these contributed to Cherry's worst journey and Scott's death.
10/04/02 - 10/09/02
Deep
Fathom
by James Rollins
Well, This book is pretty farfetched. It is on the one one hand why I read it, following my pattern of "serious" and "fun". On the otherhand it had so many unbelievable plot lines and so much license was taken that the usual suspension of belief that accompanies pulp fiction was not even possible. I have read Rollin's two other books and like them both, but I think he strained himself on this one, couldnt come up with appropriate plot lines and hence cheated in writing this book. I can't say I would really reccomend this book, but if you enjoy summer thriller read's check out his other two.
Crossing
to Safety
by Wallace Stegner
A colleague of mine recently finished Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner and encouraged me to read it. I thought we had a copy laying around but instead found that we only had Crossing to Safety so I picked it up and started to read.
This book was perfect for the fall season, I suppose it may be that I only feel that way since I read it in the fall, and if I had read it during the summer I would have felt the same then, but something in the tone and meter just felt so fallish to me.
Self-referentially the author asks in dialogue "How do you make a book that anyone will read out of lives as quiet as these?" The first chapter starts in the twilight of the character's life and then invests the rest of the story setting the stage for the setting sun.
The book was a joy to read, due to the rich and beautiful writing. There are times when reading books you skim the sentences, with this book I found my self savoring every word and truly encompassed by the writing. The first half is so lyrical in content, I could in many ways identify with the poor married couple starting life out with nothing to eke by on. As the story progresses the idealism of youth is tempered by the reality of life. Each Eden has its serpent, and life has a way of providing crosses to bear. I wont spoil any of the tale by telling.
This has to be one of the best books I have ever read, a wonderful journey that I did not regret and was sad to see end.
By Andy Rooney
Reading this book is like having the last 5 minute segment of 60 minutes go on for hours. You can hear Andy Rooney with every page you read. The phrasing, the sarcasm. The wry sardonic observations, which after you read them seem obvious. I found this book an enjoyable read of a first hand account of the air war in London, the land war, taking of Paris and Germany and final observations from India and China. The book is more Andy's narrative of what he saw over there, versus a history. He does little to fill in the story around his experience. I suspect that I enjoyed it more having read several other history books on the subject.
As always Andy is opinionated, however to his credit he largely acknowledges when they border on prejudice. This is balanced by a lot more opportunity than 5 of the 60 minutes to round out his overall view. On 60 minutes all you get is his sarcasm in this book you have much well rounded view.
by Wallace Stegner
After reading Crossing to Safety I was hungry for another Stegner novel. It was for this novel he won the Pulitzer prize. While at Zion's this year Jen Nuttal proclaimed the best thing about the book was the title. While I found a lot more to like than just the title, I did find this book harder to become engrossed with than Crossing to Safety This book was not as tight a novel as the former. And a couple of things bothered me as I began reading. First was his literary device of a "modern" (1970's) grandson telling writing the history of his grandmother, where the grandson often uses letters of the grandmother directly, and other times the grandson fictionalizes or dramatizes dialogue to to tell the story. Often in the course of the dialogue the grandson breaks from dialogue and interposes his own modern voice and cuts the story short. Another thing that bothered me was how he often broke the story in what I thought awkward ways at the romantically intimate points of the story. Finally I understood Stegner needing a device to tell his story, but the modern aspects of the story initially seemed at times contrived. Interestingly Stegner addressed and resolved each concern in the course of the novel, just not when he introduces the wrinkles but much later in the story.
Despite these irritations and pacing somewhat slower than Crossing, I really came to love the story and about midway through became thoroughly entranced. Some of the highlights for me were: The richness of the relationships that Stegner writes about. The fact that 90% of the book is written in the first hand voice of a 19th century Victorian woman, quite an accomplishment for a writer. The vivid descriptions of the early west. The insight into the Victorian world view, that had never really been as approachable for me as through the eyes of Susan. Finally was the concept of the settling of a life into the Angle of Repose. This as well as Crossing really got me thinking about the winding down of life and where your at and what your doing, versus how I have lived so much of my life up till now. The innocent days of youth, the troubled turbulent teenage years, and the twenties and now thirties pushing pushing pushing up the hill so fast that I sometimes don't stop to ask where I am going. There is such a sense throughout Angle of Repose of striving for the break, waiting to arrive, wanting to prove, holding out for hope and in then end settling to an angle that while reposed was not more a compromise of two lives uneasily leaning against each other rather than comfortably living together.
DoomsDay
Book
by Connie Willis
I am always searching for new science fiction, I figured that books that won acclaim and awards came highly recommended and this book had won two of them the Hugoand the Nebula awards. I don't know that I would concur with the awards. I did enjoy many aspects of the book, however I had several gripes. First of all, I thought because of the way she wrote the book it was too long, comprising of over 500 pages. I am not opposed to long books, as long as they are able to justify their length, which due to my other critiques I did not feel she accomplished.
The premise of the book was intriguing: Time travel (a Sci Fi standard) where historian's in modern age (2050's) travel back in time to previous ages for study and observation. This book is about a young college girl Kirvin's journey to a medieval Christmas in 1320 England, to a small village just out side of Oxford.
Willis does a great job of leading up to Kirvin's "drop", but from there, rather than focusing on the medieval story she alternates each chapter, back and forth between modern day. I found myself with really little care for the modern story line and was quite annoyed at how long she drug on certain points of the tale. For well over half of the book she beats to death the mysterious cause of a modern plague (which seemed rather anachronistic to me) and created unendingly tedious intrigue over what possibly had gone wrong with the drop. This got in the way of what I thought was Wilis's real power, rich detailed story telling regarding medieval life. This storyline was fascinating and insightful, largely due to Willis's extensive background research. The last fourth of the book was good read, where Willis finally wraps up the mysteries of the book and gets on with the anchor of the story. I won't spoil the ending, and you'll have to decide if the book sounds intriguing enough to read.
Prey
by Michael Crichton
Michael Cricton's story telling pattern is pretty predictable. His story line is rooted in modern research, (how many other fictional thriller novel's do you know that end with an appendix of cited sources), where the outcome is carried to a plausible fictional extreme and wrapped up in a tightly told tale of adventure and mystery. Not that this is bad thing, this pattern offers plenty of room to write original story lines, and in the end Crichton knows how to spin a great yarn. This book brings together nano-technology, computer software and gnome technology. I didn't find this book as good as TimeLine, which was a great book, quite similar to DoomsDay in many regards, but much tighter to read. Nonetheless I enjoyed this book as a quick read, a brief past-time pause, like a cool lemonade on a hot day, refreshing even though it doesn't last that long.
A
Wrinke in Time
by Madeline L'Engle
I read this book many years ago in elementary school, some of the recent young adult fiction I have found to be quite good even as an adult (Harry Potter anyone?). I decided to go back and reread this story. Perspective, experience and all, allow us to view the same event with completely different opinions. I was amazed at the imagery and allegory that L'Engle weaves into her tale. For example the book begins "It was a dark and stormy night", something I am sure I didn't pickup on at the age of 11. Besides being a great mystery that draws upon a child's deepest fears, loss of a parent, the book deals with minor subjects such as individuation, free agency and the eternal struggle of good vs. evil, light vs. dark, love vs. hate.
Everyone finds their own meaning, I was struck by the many layers of this simple yet powerful allegorical story.
by Bill Bryson
My wife and I read A Walk in the Woods and both of us would lay in bed laughing, so I looked forward to reading another Bill Bryson book. This one was not laugh your butt off funny, although I did laugh out loud several times, even on BART amidst the crowds. This was more sprinkled with humor amid Bryson's wry observations about life in Australia. What made the book enjoyable though was that the book had lots of interesting facts and anecdotes about Australia. One thing I did notice in this book is that Bryson sets off to walk to a great many of his destinations, something I am pretty sure is the result of his experience hiking the Appalachian Trail. So if you haven't read Bill Bryson, read A Walk in the Woods, and if you have I recommend this if your interested in a humorous look at Australia, but without the same high expectations.
Half
in Love
by Maile Meloy
This is a collection of short stories, by Montana born author Maile Meloy. I knew nothing about the book, and it was recommended by a colleague at work, who graduated in English from Princeton.
I don't believe I have read a short story since High School (To Build a Fire), even then I read them discretely, so reading an entire book of short stories was a shock to my reading sensibilities. One of the reasons I read is to become lost in the story and with short stories, well they are short, so the experience is something entirely different. I think with short stories (at least ones this short), the sensation was for me more visceral. After reading them since their breadth was narrow I could stop and ponder them, their meaning and the feeling they invoked. However since there were so many stories, it was difficult to just sit down and read one right after another. Each new story was an entirely different set of characters, different context and setting; it was difficult to be able to shift gears between stories. I had to often pause and allow time for settling before reading the next story.
There were several themes that I observed acros the stories, first was a sense of life in Montana, the general attitude of its inhabitants towards life, nature and new comers. There was also as the title suggests a great deal said and unsaid about love. Every relationship was poignantly troubled in some regard, "half in love" is not half way there, but a relationship that never made it and never will or one that was and is half way gone. I don't believe there was any tale where the couple was truly happy. Even in the moving story of Kite Whistler Aquamarine where a man desperately struggles to save a filly born in the dead of winter and frost bitten, his wife has no admiration for his love and dedication to the horses, more she seems annoyed and disdainfully judgmental. Having said that I did not find the book depressing, and I enjoyed so much diversity, variety and interest across so many stories in such a short book.
One thing that did bother me about the physical layout of the book was that the left page title had the authors name and the right page title had the book's name. This made it difficult to know what was the name of the short story you were reading, and it made a particular short story hard to find.
New
York: An Illustrated History
by Ric Burns, James Sanders, Lisa Ades (Editor)
I started reading this after seeing Gangs of New York. This is the text companion to the 7-part documentary series by Ric Burns. The history of New York is covered from the cities founding by the Dutch in 1609 to the present. (Doesn't include 9/11). Not only this but it has hundreds of pictures that illustrate and bring to life the story it tells. One thing that I did find lacking were good maps. I found the book so deficient in this regard I ended up purchasing The Historical Atlas of New York City.
However despite this minor nit the book was fascinating. Several factors contributed to this. First of all Ric Burn's is a master story teller. He mixes straight historical narrative with the anecdotal sidebars that really engross you in the history. (Similar in format to The Civil War: An Illustrated History a work that Ric collaborated with his brother Ken Burns).
I did feel a little let down when the last 25 years were covered by a 3 page essay at the end. But by the time you cover almost 400 years, I can imagine you wnat to just finish.
I have been to New York three times, all were business trips. The last time a had a chance one evening to go into NYC for dinner in the are of Columbia University. However I have never really been able to spend that much time seeing the sights or getting to know the city. I definitely have a better feel for the place after finishing the book though.
Some things that stuck out. The original name of the island was Manhatta, or translated small hill. The geography of the rivers and the natural harbor and port. New York has had propensity from the beginning for rebuilding, tearing down the old to make way for the new, nothing from the original colony even exists or almost even the 1800s. The expansion of the city through out the five boroughs. The mayor LaGuardia, the builder Robert Moses. Truly an amazing city.