Sunday, November 16, 2008

 
The Omnivore's Dilemma The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan


My review


rating: 3 of 5 stars
I really loved this book, until I hit the last three chapters, which is where an editor needed to have stepped in to say "Enough with the mystical properties of wild mushrooms already."



Still, this was an incredibly well-written, thoughtful citique of modern American eating habits, and the political, social and economic forces that have shaped them.


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The Shining The Shining by Stephen King


My review


rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is one of those books that I'm glad I read after seeing the film adaptation. I wouldn't have enjoyed Stanley Kubrick's movie version nearly as much had I read the book first.



Stephen King, you may know, was not too pleased with Kubrick's adaptation. For one, he thought Jack Nicholson's interpretation of the character of Jack Torrance left little doubt that he would go insane and try to murder his family. When we meet him, he seems halfway there already.



Indeed, Jack Torrance was a far more complex character in the novel, and the film by necessity dispensed with much of his backstory. Jack Torrance of the film was clearly ill-suited for domestic life, and barely cared to conceal it. The Torrance of the novel, however, was a loving father who wanted to be a good husband. Nonetheless, he was beset by demons that cost him his job, and it was out of desperation that he agreed to become the caretaker for the Overlook Hotel.



In the book, Jack Torrance struggled against insanity, but was overcome by the hotel's malignant power. This was a tragedy in the novel; in the film, it was the subject of black comedy. Torrance was merely a horror film monster that had to be evaded and destroyed. I do give the film credit, however, for providing a more chilling ending than the book. At the end of the novel, the hotel was destroyed, its evil laid to rest. But in the film, it lived to fight another day, and Jack Torrance had become part of its dark history.


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A Drink Before the War A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane


My review


rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is the first book in the Kenzie-Genarro series, but I actually read it after I read Gone Baby Gone, which I enjoyed much more than this one. Perhaps because Lehane had already introduced his characters, he wasted much less time in exposition and backstory. I found the background about Kenzie's father tiresome, and it lacked the emotional resonance that Lehane no doubt intended. The book also seemed preachy.



Nonetheless, Lehane knows how to tell a story, and this one zipped right along.


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