Books read recently by J. Zimmerman. [Inspired in part by Catarina.net's book blog.]


Reader's Bill of Rights - after Daniel Pennac in Better than Life as quoted in the November 2003 Utne Magazine - includes the rights to:


{ December (diciembre (see also books on Spanish)) 2005 }

(12.31.2005) HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE

Buy 'Hogfather'

It was so great to hear this book last year that I listened to it all over again. And holds up even better than before as the funniest and most creative of the many books by Terry Pratchett.

On Hogwatch Night, the plump Hogfather in his red suit and white beard climbs into his sleigh pulled by four pigs (Gouger, Tusker, Rooter, and Snouter), and delivers gifts to the cargo-cult worshipping (i.e., Capitalist consumer) boys and girls.

This year the Hogfather is missing, and his stand-in is everybody's straight man, DEATH.

The Assassin's Guild is responsible for the disappearance of the Hogfather, and they have been hired by the humorless Auditors of the Universe. The Auditors, being literal-minded accountants, want people to stop believing in things that aren't real and thus causing cosmic disorder.

It's up to Death's adopted granddaughter Susan (the 'gothic governess') to save chaos, and she is aided by a raven (addicted to eating eyeballs), the small-scythe carrying Death of Rats ('the Grim Squeaker'), and Bilious, the God (actually the Oh-God) of Hangovers.

The textbook sociopath in Hogfather is Teatime:

Teatime put a comforting arm around his shoulders. "Don't worry," he said. "I'm on your side. A violent death is the last thing that'll happen to you."

Various help and hindrance is unleashed by Archchancellor Ridcully and fellow wizards at UU (Unseen University) of not only a practical but also a philosophical nature like:

The UU Professor of Anthropics had developed the Special and Inevitable Anthropic Principle, which was that the entire reason for the existence of the universe was the eventual evolution of the UU Professor of Anthropics. But this was only a formal statement of the theory which absolutely everyone, with only some minor details of a 'Fill in name here' nature, secretly believes to be true.

and Ridcully's:

"That statement is either so deep it would take a lifetime to fully comprehend every particle of its meaning, or it is a load of absolute tosh. Which is it, I wonder?"

and:

Ridcully: "I'm just saying man is naturally a mythopoeic creature."
Senior Wrangler: "What's that mean?"
Dean: "Means we make things up as we go along."

Also recommended: Jingo and Thief of Time. (12.30.2005)

(12.29.2005) (12.28.2005) (12.26.2005) (12.24.2005) (12.23.2005) (12.22.2005) (12.21.2005) (12.20.2005) (12.18.2005) (12.16.2005) (12.15.2005) (12.14.2005) (12.13.2005) (12.12.2005) (12.11.2005) (12.10.2005)


{ November (noviembre (see also books on Spanish)) 2005 }

(11.30.2005)

The light, the light! ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Yeow! Official NaNoWriMo 2005 Winner See nanowrimo.

(11.1.2005)

November 2005 is National Novel Writing Month Poet Lorna Dee Cervantes is there ... what about you?

I, also, am trying this Mental Marathon: check status of novel. Book Blog will be very quiet in November.


{ October (octubre (see also books on Spanish)) 2005 }

(10.30.2005)

(10.29.2005)

(10.28.2005)

(10.26.2005)

(10.25.2005)

(10.24.2005) (10.20.2005) (10.18.2005)

While this scheme of transient art had been well planned and advertised, it was still a surprise to many, a delighted to most, and a target of attack to an affronted few.

The body of the book is a series of text and photographs. The text is mostly journal entries by Goldsworthy, who describing his own making of the snowballs in Scottish mountains during the winter of 1999, their transportation and storage, and then their presentation in London. After each section (a few pages) of text, many photographs show the work (including passersby reactions) just discussed, illustrating the points made without interrupting the text.

The biggest mystery to passersby was how had the snowballs arrived.

Then time began to work on the snow sculpture: sunlight came and went, as did wind, people's caresses and kicks, and that strongest enemy of snow: rain.

The snowballs commenced to weather and melt, and began to show there was more: Goldsworthy had placed a different type of object in each ball:

Goldsworthy's earlier works, such as his 1989 Snowballs in Summer exhibit, add context. The latter was indoors in Glasgow, with snowballs two or three feet tall, also each holding a variety of objects. It would have been interesting if the pictures (four shown for each of 18 snowballs) were taken in the same four time slots. But in five (of 72) pictures, one can see another snowball in the background, which does not match the condition of its personal portrait in its own row:

(10.17.2005) (10.16.2005) (10.15.2005) (10.14.2005) (10.12.2005)

(10.10.2005)

(10.08.2005)

November 2005 is National Novel Writing Month ... Coming in November ...

Guidelines at 2005_national_NoWriMo.jpg I notice on the blog of Lorna Dee Cervantes that her hat is in the NaNoWriMo ring: Lorna Dee Cervantes to Write a Novel In November. Yes folks, 30 days and 50,000 words: that's the goal of hundreds - and perhaps thousands - of authors around the world in National Novel Writing Month.

(10.07.2005) (10.05.2005) (10.03.2005)