James Pak witnesses his father's suicide and then travels throughout Europe to discover why his father did it. Melnyczuk shifts time periods and narrators throughout so you have to really concentrate on the text in order to determine if the chapter in question is set in 1989, 1949, 1969, 2004, or 1936 (and let's not get into whether you are in New England, Oxford, Austria, or near Chernobyl or which narrator it is). While hard to get into at first, the book grows on you, but the main narrator, James, is rather uninteresting. When the book switches back to him for the final few chapters, it gets boring, and the ending is a disappointment. Intersting, but not satisfying.
Genre: Fiction
Subgenre: Historical fiction/Family Trauma Fiction
Location: New England, Oxford, Austria, Russia
Cliches: Son with troubled relationship with father, who became depressed alcoholic after mysterious tragedy, Heathcliff Syndrome, One Night Stand = Love of Lifetime
Good Plane and/or waiting in line Reading: No, you really need to concentrate on text to be able to keep up--and some sections require rereading
Good Enough Reading to Keep You Distracted From Plane Movie: Yes, as long as there are no kids or jerks distracting you.
Good Enough Plane Reading to Distract You From Kids or Jerks on Plane: No
Can read when depressed and/or when winter: No
Monday, April 28, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Farm Sanctuary, By Gene Baur--286 pages
It has been way to long...Here's to hoping I can be better about posting!
Baur details his career as a animal rights advocate--specifically as an advocate for farm animals. His stories of downed animals (animals in stockyards who are so ill they cannot stand, but are carted off to be slaughtered for food anyways) are particularly heartbreaking, and the book definitely puts one off eating meat. Baur's writing style leaves a little to be desired, as the book is informative, but boring. Some sections just read as a list of "I did this, then I did that, oh, and I met this celebrity." The best part of the work are the several profiles of rescued animals which are incorporated throughout the book.
Genre: Nonfiction
Subgenre: Advocacy, agriculture.
Location: Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Watkins Glen, New York, and Orland California.
Good Plane and/or waiting in line Reading: Yes--chapters are short and can easily pick up where left off.
Good Enough Reading to Keep You Distracted From Plane Movie: Sadly, no.
Good Enough Plane Reading to Distract You From Kids or Jerks on Plane: no.
Can read when depressed and/or when winter: No. Although it would be a good book to read when getting ready to start a diet, as it puts you off meat and dairy.
If you like, try this better book: Fat Land by Greg Crister. While Crister's book is more about the food industry as a whole, both books deal with the issue of mass production of food, and Crister's writing style is much more inviting and engaging.
Baur details his career as a animal rights advocate--specifically as an advocate for farm animals. His stories of downed animals (animals in stockyards who are so ill they cannot stand, but are carted off to be slaughtered for food anyways) are particularly heartbreaking, and the book definitely puts one off eating meat. Baur's writing style leaves a little to be desired, as the book is informative, but boring. Some sections just read as a list of "I did this, then I did that, oh, and I met this celebrity." The best part of the work are the several profiles of rescued animals which are incorporated throughout the book.
Genre: Nonfiction
Subgenre: Advocacy, agriculture.
Location: Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Watkins Glen, New York, and Orland California.
Good Plane and/or waiting in line Reading: Yes--chapters are short and can easily pick up where left off.
Good Enough Reading to Keep You Distracted From Plane Movie: Sadly, no.
Good Enough Plane Reading to Distract You From Kids or Jerks on Plane: no.
Can read when depressed and/or when winter: No. Although it would be a good book to read when getting ready to start a diet, as it puts you off meat and dairy.
If you like, try this better book: Fat Land by Greg Crister. While Crister's book is more about the food industry as a whole, both books deal with the issue of mass production of food, and Crister's writing style is much more inviting and engaging.
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