Place of Refuge: A History of the Jews in Cyprus

#684

Title: Place of Refuge: A History of the Jews in Cyprus
Author: Stavros Panteli
Publisher: Elliott & Thompson
Year: 2003
192 pages

Cyprus.

If read in conjunction with other sources, a reasonably good introduction to the history of Jews on Cyprus. On the positive side, this was not a topic I knew much about from ancient history up to the halutzim. On the other hand, the author assumes that referencing some events without explaining them is sufficient, and compounds this problem by stating what happened but often not suggesting why it happened. There is some repetitive material that is verbatim or nearly so, particularly in the biographical appendix. 

I Curse the River of Time

#683

Title: I Curse the River of Time
Author: Per Petterson
Publisher: Graywolf Press
Year: 2008/2010
233 pages

Read as hardback/audiobook.

Not at all happy, and no resolution, but quite a poignant portrait of a young Norwegian man who is too wrapped up in shame and anxiety to connect with others. 

Down and Out in Paris and London

#682

Title: Down and Out in Paris and London
Author: George Orwell
Publisher: Harvest
Year: 1933/1972
213 pages

Audiobook.

Orwell's first publication, one in which he has yet to find his voice. Since this is exaggerated/fake autobiography, the anti-Semitism, presumably Orwell's though articulated by other characters, is wearisome. The argument that the sentiments in this book aren't anti-Semitic because Orwell later wrote an essay about anti-Semitism is not convincing.

Here is Orwell as world-wise young punk, telling older people about the world he knows about but they don't. It's intended, I think, as expose, but doesn't manage to pull this off. Part of the problem is that though it has a moral theme, the action is picaresque, and since parts are fictionalized, it's reasonable for the reader to ask what the point was and why, if fictionalized, the ;point couldn't have been made through more compellingly structured action.

Read with anything by Anthony Bourdain to compare the life of a plongeur to  that of contemporary urban restaurant workers.

A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire #4)

#681

Title: A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire #4)
Author: George R. R. Martin
Publisher: Bantam
Year: 2005/2011
1060 pages

Mistaken identities, misperceptions, and incorrect assumptions drawn from partial facts form the thematic core of this volume. There is some action, and some characters arrive at something like a destination. There is a sense of Martin shuffling his pieces into place. Violence, sex, and violent sex seem more frequent and offer less insight into characters. There is much here to invoke the classic exchange from Monty Python and the Holy Grail:

Large Man with Dead Body: Who's that then?
The Dead Collector: I dunno, must be a king.
Large Man with Dead Body: Why?
The Dead Collector: He hasn't got shit all over him.

A Taste of Guam

#680

Title: A Taste of Guam
Author: Paula A. Lujan Quinene
Publisher: Infinity Publishing.com
Year: 2006
122 pages

Guam.

A cookbook of Chamorro and other Guamanian recipes, plus a handful of the author's favorites. Some look distinctly appealing, some include too many canned items for me to be very enthusiastic, and some are inexplicable because one or more ingredients are not adequately identified. The volume would benefit from photos or even line drawings of some cooking techniques that are more local than universal.

As with many self-published books, I wish the author had had this proofread better.

For an interesting look at the cultural context, see Oliver Sacks's The Island of the Colorblind. 


The author's blog, with helpful photos, is here: http://www.paulaq.com/atasteofguam.html

How to Cure a Fanatic

#679
Title: How to Cure a Fanatic
Author: Amos Oz
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Year: 2002/2010
104 pages

Two essays on fanaticism, defined more or less as holding a rigid point of view. Though I don't agree with all of Oz's points, his perspective is interesting and his position at times refreshingly moderate.

I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59

#678
Title: I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59
Author: Douglas Edwards
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Year: 2011
432 pages
Audiobook

Fine so far as it goes. Edwards chronicles (often thematically rather than chronologically) his adventures as an early employee in Google's start-up phase. I found it interesting to read about Google, and interesting for a while to read about Edwards's interactions with company personnel and culture. However, the latter topic can be summed up more often than not as, "I suggested something, it was/wasn't adopted, I turned out to be wrong." The moral of the story might be "Grit your teeth, don't see your family for years, go on mandated recreational trips with bosses who act like adolescents, and hang on until the IPO, when you can cash out."