The Getz Files

Well, it's been so long that I've been neglecting blogging duties that you are in for a treat - an omnibus version of recent books. Some damn fine ones as well.

Some time ago, I saw Jarhead, which I thoroughly enjoyed. (I'll be reviewing that later.) Inspired by that, I bought the book. I like good war books and this is a good one, well-written and savvy. It has all the fun details about military training that some of us find most interesting (partly inspired by the all-but-certain knowledge that I've escaped that and will never have to undergo it). There's lots of humour and I felt it captured the reality of being a soldier very well. It's also a bit disjointed, and (like the movie) leaves you thinking, what's the point? But I say that not as a criticism - a book about Gulf War I that has a strong narrative arc, or clear moral/message/conclusion would be more than a little false. Strongly recommended for those interested in war/fighting/soldiers, and for aficionados of the memoir. In that last respect, it reminded me of Wiseguy, a great book made into one of the best movies of all time -- Goodfellas (and don't argue with me about that).

Also, a weird coincidence - Jarhead is written by Anthony Swofford; Toni Morrison's real name is Chloe Anthony Wofford. How weird is that?

So, after reading and enthusing about Jarhead, Jonny gave me a book about Gulf War II (as a present to me on his birthday) - My War by Colby Buzzell. Jonny said it was interesting, but not great. I respectfully disagree - I think it's awesome. This guy, of course, has been involved in a lot of real fighting, and the way he describes it is pretty frightening. He captures the incredibly confusing and shocking nature of a firefight extremely well, along with all the other stupid shit soldiers do. It's extremely cynical, which again strikes me as honest and spot-on. A little connection to what I'm doing -- in one episode, the US soldiers are being fired at from the minaret of a mosque, so they fire back. I'm thinking, "Aha! Geneva Conventions say religious buildings are protected, but lose their protected character if used for hostile actions, which shooting certainly is - so it's all fine." Then Buzzell, to his credit, says, "Hang on - isn't there a Geneva Convention that covers this." Also read something which quite impressed me - in the US army base cinema in Mosul, one of the movies they played was Fahrenheit 9/11.

An interesting aspect of the book is that Buzzell was blogging in Iraq (this is his blog) and he writes about the issues the military hierarchy had with it, which, all things considered, weren't that bad. All in all, an excellent, gripping book.

Read a couple new books by recommended pulpish authors, one much better than the other. Last Car to Elysian Fields by James Lee Burke, a celebrated author of New Orleans detective fiction was OK, nothing more. All the expected ambiguity, detective wisecracking, convoluted plot. A couple interesting subplots, but overall I found the writing and the plot somewhat overwrought. If the only two books in the house are a Burke and a Sidney Sheldon, read the Burke, but that's about as far as I'll recommend it.

Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane, is another story altogether. Lehane, who wrote Mystic River (the link is to the movie), has been getting a lot more acclaim recently, which I think is well-deserved, at least on the basis of this book. A thriller set on an island with a psychiatric prison in the 1950s, it's terrific. Fantastic pace, great hard-boiled style, extremely tightly written, riveting - and with a very good twist, which I didn't see coming until a page or two before it was revealed. (Though I'm not very perceptive - I can never figure out who did it in Agatha Christies.) I'm looking forward to reading more of him.

Another writer new to me is Haruni Marukami, whom Rich has been touting for years. I finally succumbed, and read Norwegian Wood, and am very glad I did. It is a very quiet, still novel, which took me some time, but left me with a great feeling of both sadness and warmth. Apparently, this book is quite unlike his others (supposedly weird and very complex), and made him a star in Japan, which he isn't quite comfortable with - he left Japan for 8 years. One of the best love stories I've ever read. I'll be reading more Marukami.

Sticking with fiction, but on more familiar ground, I read William Boyd's latest collection of short stories, Fascination. Boyd is an interesting writer. Some of his books have been magnificent -- Brazzaville Beach is one of the best books about animals (primates, to be more precise) I've read; The New Confessions is a real tour de force and beats the socks off Augustine and Rousseau (interestingly, a lot of people hated this book) -- some really haven't -- Blue Afternoon was totally forgettable and I have come to the conclusion that Any Human Heart was largely tosh. These short stories are similar - some are excellent, but some just don't cut it. They tend to be quite experimental as all are very short, which is difficult to do, so gimmicks sometimes overshadow everything else. But there is some stuff of real interest here. I would advise going to a bookshop and reading these: Adult Video, The Woman on a Beach with a Dog, Lunch, Incandescence, The Ghost of a Bird, The Mind/Body Problem.

I also tried China Mieville's Iron Council, but regrettably admit that I had to give it up after about 300 pages (setting a new record for me). It was too disjointed and hard to follow, and I thought the plot moved along too slowly. The same criticisms can be made of the previous book of his I read, Perdido Street Station, but that one rewarded the effort. Perhaps I preferred it because it was my first introduction to the fantasy world he's created; perhaps he was more energetic with it, I'm not sure. Both are very political, which I'd say is a good thing in fantasy, but Iron Council never engaged me - maybe it was just too sophisticated and complex. It's won great plaudits, though. I would definitely recommend Perdido Street, but if your temperament is like mine, give Iron Council a miss. (One reviewer said he admired it more than he liked it - I think that's fair.)

Incidentally, while I was ploughing through the start of the book, it occurred to me how difficult beginnings of novels frequently are for the reader, particularly so in fantasy and science fiction, where one is being taken into a new world. Perhaps that is why the most successful fantasy books start off in a very recognisable world, so things aren't too forbidding for the reader - think Harry Potter, Narnia, His Dark Materials (if you haven't read that trilogy, drop what you're doing and go read it now!), even The Hobbit - apart from the fact that hobbits are short and have hairy feet, the start of the book could easily be in an English village.

The final piece of fiction was Judge Savage by Tim Parks, which I read because I enjoyed A Season in Verona so much. The book is enjoyable, not brilliant, but quite readable and thoughtful, though a touch implausible in places, and it just fizzles out at the end. Still, I'll probably read more of Parks.

Finally, some non-fiction quick bites. Why Not Me? by Al Franken, about his (oh how I wish it were real) campaign to become President in 2000, is very funny, as is everything by him. Always good for a laugh is Franken, and he's a good liberal too (which is why a site by some of his despicable political opponents have a site excoriating him which they call "the Official website of Al Franken" - and I ain't providing a link).

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Toby Young is also great fun - his story of how he was a total wastrel and tosser while at Vanity Fair in New York and eventually got fired. I really enjoyed it and recommend it to everyone. (I laughed a lot while reading it, and we could all do with laughing more.) Young seems a total prick, but very funny and self-aware as well - he claims to have negative charisma.

Finally, a real surprise - Cally once recommended John McPhee to me, but he seemed a bit dry and worthy. Then I read a great New Yorker piece by him about coal trains, so decided to get the next one I saw, which was The Survival of the Bark Canoe. How dry is that, eh? Well, it's actually fantastic. It's about the history of bark canoes, the very few people who make them, and a canoe trip with one of them. It's very weird and goes in all kinds of unexpected directions. Totally different way of looking at the world - I loved it, and will read more.

So, that's not bad - three new writers to enjoy, even a candidate or two for my best personal non-fiction list. I'm exhausted now; I bet if you read all of this, you are too. Well, as soon as you've recovered, why not try some of the above?