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Additional library books
Feb. 28th, 2010 07:11 pmMinus the one I've left at work, and the one I still haven't read - the rest have now gone back.
Jose Carlos Somoza, Zig Zag.
This is a quantum physics serial killer novel in which the murders are committed via string theory, and like the other two of Somoza’s novels in translation that I’ve read it deserves a significant amount of credit just for the sheer audacity of the idea. I liked it more than The Art of Murder and less than The Athenian Murders, and I think my preferences reflect what he ends up doing with the fascinating concepts that he comes up with. Zig Zag is atmospheric and vivid, to the extent that I actually stopped reading it at one point because it was late and I was by myself, and the science in it is intriguing; but the resolution didn’t go enough beyond the standards of the serial killer story to work for me.
( Jose Carlos Somoza, Zig Zag. )
Walter Tevis. The Hustler.
The Queen’s Gambit is one of my favourite books (admittedly this is a rather large category), and I’m also fond of pool, although without being particularly good at it. This is a beautifully constructed novel about Eddie Felson, a pool hustler who comes to Chicago to take on the legendary Minnesota Fats, and in the course of a night beats him – at first, and then throws it all away. And then he attempts to put himself back together, with the indifferent help of Sarah, an alcoholic and an Economics masters’ student, and Bert, a helpful man with connections and views about winners and losers.
( Walter Tevis, The Hustler. )
Hsu-Ming Teo, Love and Vertigo.
Grace Tay’s mother kills herself by jumping from her brother’s high-rise apartment in Singapore. Grace, who came to Sydney from her birth country of Malaysia with her family (originally Singapore Chinese) flies back to Singapore for the wake, and the unravelling of her own and her parents’ pasts.
( Hsu-Ming Teo, Love and Vertigo. )
Also, I am fiddling with entry format. Let me know if it bothers you.
Jose Carlos Somoza, Zig Zag.
This is a quantum physics serial killer novel in which the murders are committed via string theory, and like the other two of Somoza’s novels in translation that I’ve read it deserves a significant amount of credit just for the sheer audacity of the idea. I liked it more than The Art of Murder and less than The Athenian Murders, and I think my preferences reflect what he ends up doing with the fascinating concepts that he comes up with. Zig Zag is atmospheric and vivid, to the extent that I actually stopped reading it at one point because it was late and I was by myself, and the science in it is intriguing; but the resolution didn’t go enough beyond the standards of the serial killer story to work for me.
( Jose Carlos Somoza, Zig Zag. )
Walter Tevis. The Hustler.
The Queen’s Gambit is one of my favourite books (admittedly this is a rather large category), and I’m also fond of pool, although without being particularly good at it. This is a beautifully constructed novel about Eddie Felson, a pool hustler who comes to Chicago to take on the legendary Minnesota Fats, and in the course of a night beats him – at first, and then throws it all away. And then he attempts to put himself back together, with the indifferent help of Sarah, an alcoholic and an Economics masters’ student, and Bert, a helpful man with connections and views about winners and losers.
( Walter Tevis, The Hustler. )
Hsu-Ming Teo, Love and Vertigo.
Grace Tay’s mother kills herself by jumping from her brother’s high-rise apartment in Singapore. Grace, who came to Sydney from her birth country of Malaysia with her family (originally Singapore Chinese) flies back to Singapore for the wake, and the unravelling of her own and her parents’ pasts.
( Hsu-Ming Teo, Love and Vertigo. )
Also, I am fiddling with entry format. Let me know if it bothers you.
