Category: Book Reviews

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The Sea Wolf by Jack London

Sea_Wolf_1005London is probably best known for his book The Call of the Wild and possibly White Fang. London had a short but very prolific career. He was first published at 21 and had drunk himself to death by the time he was 40. The actual cause of his death was a morphine overdose. It remains unknown whether it was accidental or a suicide. He detailed his alcoholism in John Barleycorn or Alcoholic Memoirs. In some ways he had great insight into his alcoholism and at the same time practice great denial. He also wrote a very good book on the slums of London, The People of the Abyss.

I had not heard of The Sea Wolf which only points out my literary ignorance. After reading the book I wondered if they had ever made a movie of it. They have a few times. There is the 1941 version starring Edward G. Robinson. There is a 1993 made for TV movie starring Charles Bronson and Christopher Reeves. There is also a TV mini-series from 2009.

As I was researching the movies I came across a review of the book that stated more than a few critics have called it possibly The Great American Novel. I am not sure I would go quite that far, but I would definitely put it high company. Continue reading “The Sea Wolf by Jack London”

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The Call of the Wild / Wild Fang by Jack London

Avery Templates whitefang_1012I remember reading The Call of the Wild as a youngster. I remember mostly that I enjoyed it and that it dealt with a dog in Alaska or Canada.   I do not recall reading Wild Fang.  Probably because they are seen asanimal stories these books in our time have been pigeonholed as children’s book. While they work very well at this level for younger readers, they are by far from only for children. I recently read both these books as an adult and enjoyed them immensely.

The Call of the Wild is basically about a domesticated dog going back to nature. Wild Fang is about a wild animal, ¾ wolf and ¼ domestic dog, going from wild to domestication. Both books are adventure stories that grab you and keep you turning the page to see what happens next. In both, I felt like I was in the dog’s skin and somehow London knew exactly what the animal was experiencing. Continue reading “The Call of the Wild / Wild Fang by Jack London”

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One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina

OneDayIWillWriteAboutThisPlaceWhen I think about describing this book the phrase, “utterly delicious”, comes to mind. Initially I had a hard time getting into the book. Wainaina has a unique way with language. While the story is linear, the prose is borderline stream of consciousness. Once I gathered in the rhythm of the language, the harmony emerged. Certain passages were pure umami tantalizing the brain much like a morel does the tongue.

The Kenya described therein is an olio of languages.

“There are many understood ways to address someone: sometime you shift quickly into English; often you speak in a mock Kiswahili, in an ironical tone, simply to indicate that you are not dogmatic about language, that you are quite happy to shift around and find the bandwidth of the person to whom you are speaking.”  

The book is like this too. It weaves in little snippets of African languages that give you a feel of time and place. Many words seem to be a mash-up of English and a tribal language.

This is a memoir. It is a coming-of-age story. Continue reading “One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina”

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The Adventures of Alexander Selkirk by John Howell

life_adventures_alexander_selkirk_1301You say you do not know who Alexander Selkirk is. Well, fair enough, I did not know either. But if Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe comes to mind then you have hit a home run. Defoe based his most famous character on the Selkirk. This fact caused Defoe some grief as many people felt he had plagiarized or inappropriately borrowed Selkirk’s story.

Selkirk was born of Scottish working class parents. Not being enthralled with the family business of shoe making, he joined buccaneer expeditions into the South Seas. The expeditions were not particularly successful. Selkirk argued extensively with one of his superiors, and finally asked to depart from the ship. They dropped him off on Juan Fernández Island off the coast of Chile. He immediately regretted his decision. He spent the next 4 plus years living alone on the island. He survived mainly on goats left there by pirates. Continue reading “The Adventures of Alexander Selkirk by John Howell”

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Bacon by Richard William Church

Bacon_1210Again this was an individual from history whose name I knew, but did not know why I should remember him.   From the Librivox blurb about The Essays of Francis Bacon:  “Diderot and Voltaire considered him the father of modern science. Others consider him only the father of the scientific method.”  Mr. Church went back and forth on this at one pointing stating that he was mainly the individual who had a platform and broadcasted the fundamentals of experimental science to a larger audience.  Either way it was an important contribution.

Bacon was a collector of “facts” and searcher after a key to unlock the meaning of the collected facts.  He was a proponent of deductive reasoning over inductive reason to understand our world.   Deductive reasoning with the scientific method1 was the key he sought.

Generally, when they call someone complex or complicated it is an indication that the good and bad side of humanity comes out frequently in an individual.  Francis Bacon was a complicated individual.  His real passion Continue reading “Bacon by Richard William Church”

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James Watt by Andrew Carnegie

jameswatt_1206James Watt invented the steam engine.  This is a fact that I learned in grade school.  Such was my comprehension that I often mixed up James Watt and Robert Fulton, the inventor of the first commercially viable steamboat.

James Watt invented the steam engine.  This brings up an imagine of a man having a flash of inspiration, sitting down at his drafting table, sketchy a design in 30 minutes, and passing it on to mechanics to build.  The nature of such things is not so.  Like Edison and his light bulb, Watt ran a long, arduous race to bring his steam engine into fruition. He built upon the work Thomas Newcomen and the atmospheric steam engine.

Watt was home schooled and self-educated.  He inherited a natural genesis for things mechanic from his father.  Being somewhat impatient to begin his career he did not want to go through a 7 year apprenticeship in the mechanical arts.  He managed to learn what he needed to about the trade in about a year.  Unfortunately, the union/guild laws of the time Continue reading “James Watt by Andrew Carnegie”

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John Barleycorn or Alcoholic Memoirs by Jack London

John_Barleycorn_Alcoholic_Memoirs_1112Most people know Jack London from such books as Call of the Wild or White Fang.  London was also a Socialist and attempted to motivate public opinion to correct social ills, uplift the poor and champion the working class in such books as People of the Abyss. For the last book, London went undercover in the notorious East End of London, where the poorest of the poor lived.  If you can read this book and remained unmoved about the vileness of unfettered capitalism, you are a stronger person than I.

John Barleycorn or Alcoholic Memoirs is a very interesting book to read. For someone like myself who knows more than a few folks who have shipwrecked their lives on one or both of the conjoined reefs of depression and addiction, it is also a very hard book to read.   London’s goal in writing this book was as a warning to generations coming after him on the dangers of John Barleycorn aka alcohol.

There is some controversy over how Jack London died.  The immediate cause was an overdose of morphine.  Whether it was accidentally or purposeful is the controversy.  What is not at controversy was that he was in the late stages alcoholism.  He was also suffering from various diseases picked up in his travels.

Perhaps one of the most telling of passages in the book is the beginning of chapter one: Continue reading “John Barleycorn or Alcoholic Memoirs by Jack London”

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My Path to Atheism by Annie Besant

A more descriptive title for this book for today might be My Path from Christianity to a New Age Religion.pathatheism_1311

Ms. Besant had a well documented intellectual journey from evangelical Christianity to Victorian Atheism to Theosophy.  Quoting from Wikipedia defining theosophy:

“Theosophy refers to systems of esoteric philosophy concerning, or investigation seeking direct knowledge of, presumed mysteries of being and nature, particularly concerning the nature of divinity.

Theosophy is considered a part of the broader field of esotericism, referring to hidden knowledge or wisdom that offers the individual enlightenment and salvation. The theosophist seeks to understand the mysteries of the universe and the bonds that unite the universe, humanity, and the divine. The goal of theosophy is to explore the origin of divinity and humanity, and the world. From investigation of those topics, theosophists try to discover a coherent description of the purpose and origin of the universe.”

Reading her book I was never convinced she was an atheist in the modern sense of the word, a rejection of belief in deities.  What she was rejecting was Christianity, Continue reading “My Path to Atheism by Annie Besant”

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Annie Besant (her autobiography)

Annie_Besant_1301I had not heard of this woman before I stumbled across her autobiography on LibriVox.org.   I suppose that is a reflection of a lack of knowledge of the historical roots of the Labor movement and modern Atheism. The blurb associated with the book convinced me to try it.  I am glad I did.

While the book details her life, it is more a record of her intellectual journey from Christianity to Atheism to Theosophy.  The book ends as she is embracing Theosophy so the later part of life in India is not included.

To call Annie Besant complex is to but scratch the depth and passions of her nature. From an early education strong on Evangelical Christian principles she became one of the best know atheist of her era.

She fought for the poor and working classes in the end embracing Socialism.

She and Charles Bradlaugh published a pamphlet on birth control.  This was a hugely controversial thing to do in Victorian England.  She knew before they did it that it could have all sorts of implications to her life.  Continue reading “Annie Besant (her autobiography)”

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The French Disease

benvenutocellini_vol2_1210benvenuto-cellini-5-sizedI am currently listening to The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini. Benvenuto Cellini was an Italian man of many talents. If you doubted this you would just need to ask him to have it clarified for you.  He worked as a goldsmith, sculpture, a soldier and a musician.  He did much work for Pope Clement VII and the succeeding Pope.  He lived from 1500 to 1571.

Besides his many talents and egotism, he was very much the bon vivant and more than a little licentious.  By his own reports and court records he enjoyed the company of both men and women.  Throughout his book “The French Disease” was mentioned frequently.  From the context I assumed it was a sexual transmitted disease. However, wanting to know for sure I did a Google search and came across the following very interesting article.

In the early 1500s, the French Disease aka syphilis, came to Europe, probably from the New World. It was the AIDS of its day.  Not only does this article discuss the etiology of the disease, Continue reading “The French Disease”