Book Review

Hey,

In an attempt to clean out my amazon wish list, I'm getting a few items through interlibrary loan. Acton has a great library that's part of the Minuteman network so I've got a good chance at tracking down stuff. this is great for books that look interesting, but that I'm not quite sure I actually want to buy.

My first experiment has turned out to be a great success in that regard. I finished up The Maze by Panos Karnezis. I'm rather glad I borrowed rather than bought. Which is not to say that this is an awful book, but it does capture its subjects well...if only the subjects weren't so desperate.

In brief: at the end of the Greco-Turkish War the remnants of a Greek brigade is retreating across the Anatolian deserts towards the sea. Unlike Xenophon's Ten Thousand, the soldiers here are only harried by scortching heat and their own personal demons. Eventually, they arrive in a little town which has so far escaped the war. But the army's defeat hangs about them like an albatross and eventually even the town succumbs to its own personal demons.

It's a sad, melancholy story that wanders about for 300-odd pages and then sputters out. It's a bit like Mieville except the elements of the fantastic are replaced with mile after mile of fruitless marching.

So it's a failure? Well...does "Of Mice and Men" fail? It's definately a "serious" novel and frankly, it makes you feel like you're part of a worn-out, defeated army marching in circles. It makes sharp points about the fantasy of exciting wartme action and the reality of wartime boredom and disillusionment and about the fantasy of heroism and the reality of successful venality. So the writing definately does the job it sets out to do. But unless you really like that sort of thing, the book probably won't turn your crank.

So score one for interlibrary loan
Tom

Book Review

Hey,

In an attempt to clean out my amazon wish list, I'm getting a few items through interlibrary loan. Acton has a great library that's part of the Minuteman network so I've got a good chance at tracking down stuff. this is great for books that look interesting, but that I'm not quite sure I actually want to buy.

My first experiment has turned out to be a great success in that regard. I finished up The Maze by Panos Karnezis. I'm rather glad I borrowed rather than bought. Which is not to say that this is an awful book, but it does capture its subjects well...if only the subjects weren't so desperate.

In brief: at the end of the Greco-Turkish War the remnants of a Greek brigade is retreating across the Anatolian deserts towards the sea. Unlike Xenophon's Ten Thousand, the soldiers here are only harried by scortching heat and their own personal demons. Eventually, they arrive in a little town which has so far escaped the war. But the army's defeat hangs about them like an albatross and eventually even the town succumbs to its own personal demons.

It's a sad, melancholy story that wanders about for 300-odd pages and then sputters out. It's a bit like Mieville except the elements of the fantastic are replaced with mile after mile of fruitless marching.

So it's a failure? Well...does "Of Mice and Men" fail? It's definately a "serious" novel and frankly, it makes you feel like you're part of a worn-out, defeated army marching in circles. It makes sharp points about the fantasy of exciting wartme action and the reality of wartime boredom and disillusionment and about the fantasy of heroism and the reality of successful venality. So the writing definately does the job it sets out to do. But unless you really like that sort of thing, the book probably won't turn your crank.

So score one for interlibrary loan
Tom