The One with Ender's Game

186. Title & Author: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (324 pages)

Genre: Fiction—Science Fiction

Completed: 17 May 2011

Summary & Review:

At just the tender age of 6, Ender Wiggins is drafted by the international military force to attend the elite battle school to train him to command the intergalactic armies against alien invaders. Ender is far and away the best solider the school has ever seen, but his trainers continually push him to his breaking point to get even more out of him. As he progresses through the school spending virtually of his time in battle simulators, he learns that the international community has pinned all their hopes of survival on Ender and if he fails, humanity will not survive.

I couldn't go into the plot too deeply in the summary because this book has a great twist and I didn't want to ruin it for anyone that hasn't had the chance to read it yet. I had heard from friends that such a twist existed, and even though I was expecting it I was still surprised at what it was.

It was an extremely readable book and I flew through the pages every chance I had to pick it up. While Card was a talented writer overall, I was most impressed with his ability to convey to the reader the trials and pressure Ender was under. I really began to sympathize with the character even though these experiences were so unlike anything in my life. How often, for example, is the weight the entire human race on your shoulders? Card was able to help you at least partially understand what that weight might feel like on the feeble back of a child.

Ender’s Game has a pretty devoted fan base and I can see why.

Rating: 7.5

The One with Lights Out

185. Title & Author: Lights Out: Islam, Free Speech, and the Twilight of the West by Mark Steyn (322 pages)

Genre: Nonfiction—Politics & Current Affairs

Completed: 12 May 2011

Summary & Review:

In 2007, the Canadian Islamic Congress brought complaints against author Mark Steyn and the Canadian news weekly Maclean’s in three different “Human Rights” Commissions in Canada. In this book, Steyn unflinchingly takes on the smear of “Islamophobia” that has been leveled against him. In the first portion of the book, Steyn addresses the suits taken against him by presenting the “offending” articles followed by the itemized complaints against those articles, and finally his rebuttals to those complaints. Along with presenting his case in a such a format and documenting the circus of being brought before those kangaroo courts, the remainder of the book contains essays of Steyn’s dealing with such critical issues as Islam and the West, free speech, multiculturalism, and individual liberty.

First of all, a reader is hard pressed to find a political commentator more erudite, witty, and humorous than Steyn. He has quickly become one of my favorite pundits and this book is full of his essays that show why I, and so many others, find Steyn so readable. Rather than droning on about the existential philosophy behind free speech, Steyn uses powerful examples from his experiences with various Canadian “Human Rights” Commissions to show the dangers of soft tyranny and the problems that arise when the state tries to regulate speech, expression, private enterprise, and even thought.

I’ll put up an “Arguments Summed Up” post in a couple of weeks with more details of Steyn’s arguments included in this excellent collection of his writings.

Rating: 9.0

The One with Don'ts for Husbands

184. Title & Author: Don’ts for Husbands by Blanche Ebbutt (73 pages)

Genre: Nonfiction—Marriage & Relationships

Completed: 10 May 2011

Summary & Review:

It was recently our fourth wedding anniversary, and my wife gave me this little book as a cheeky present. It was written in 1913 and is part of a pair, the other book being Don’ts for Wives (I know what she is getting for our anniversary next year!). It is filled with little maxims of advice for husbands, all of which start with the stern, unyielding command of “Don’t.”

Many of the tidbits were quite funny, like: “Don’t be conceited about your good looks. It is more than probable that no one but yourself is aware of them.” Or, “Don’t inflict your company on your wife during every minute of every day.”

Others were slightly outdated and just didn’t apply due to the passage of time and changes in customs, and others didn’t apply because I know my wife would disagree with the advice. For example: “Don’t hesitate to talk politics with your wife.” Nothing is able to put my wife into a comatose state more quickly than when I begin to wax political.

What surprised me about this little book was the amount of advice that was still very valuable, even though it has been almost a century since this book was published. Some examples of these wise words were, “Don’t hesitate to mention the fact when your wife looks especially nice. Your thinking so can give her no pleasure unless you tell your thought.” “Don’t think you can live your lives apart under the same roof and still be happy. Marriage is a joint affair, and cannot comfortably be worked along separate lines.” And finally, “Don’t forget to be your wife’s best friend as well as her husband. True friendship in marriage does away with all sorts of trouble.”

Rating: 7.0

The One with The Story of Art

183. Title & Author: The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich (967 pages)

Genre: Nonfiction—Art History

Completed: 30 April 2011

Summary & Review:

Art historian E.H. Gombrich deftly weaves the disparate millennia of art into a single, cohesive narrative. He follows the advances, changes, and discoveries made by painters, sculptors, and architects from the caves of France to galleries of New York with a clear and concise hand. Accompanying Gombrich’s lucid text are over four hundred images, nearly all of which are in color.

The Story of Art is a legendary introductory art history text, and for good reason. Gombrich is able to distill countless artists, works, styles, and movements into a unified, digestible tale. Even without any sort of background into the history of art, the average reader could pick up this text and follow the artistic advancements from antiquity to post-modernism.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I often found myself wishing that Gombrich delved a little deeper into certain artists or periods. For the most part, Gombrich would touch on one piece per artist and only focus on a handful of artists for each period. When he got to some of my personal favorites, such as Caravaggio (and the whole Baroque period), his insightful analysis was much too short. I would have loved to read a full chapter of his views on Caravaggio. But, Gombrich was clear in the introduction that the purpose of this book was as only an introduction to the history of art and that he carefully selected artists and pieces to craft his narrative.

Perhaps my favorite aspect of this book was the format. The Story of Art has been published in seventeen editions, the last of which is this superb Pocket Edition. The nearly thousand page text is only the size of a paperback novel which allowed me to easily take it on vacation. I would love to read other art history texts more frequently, but there is no chance I am going to lug a huge text book on a plane trip.

(I also just finished listening to Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Mantel is obviously a talented writer, but I am fairly tired of the recent deluge of stories, movies, tv shows, etc., revolving around Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.)

Rating: 8.0