This is an interesting take on the post-apocalyptic genre. After 20 years stuck in bunkers, the last survivors of a world war emerge into a bleak landThis is an interesting take on the post-apocalyptic genre. After 20 years stuck in bunkers, the last survivors of a world war emerge into a bleak landscape. Soon strange events start to overtake them. Paranormal events and bodily changes go unexplained, although everyone has their theories. There are some familiar elements here: mutant zombie-like creatures, nice descriptions of ruined cities, fast-paced action scenes, and a pack of survivors who are worse than the mutants. There is also a thread of religious introspection that is not commonly found in this type of book. It works without getting preachy. Indeed, the reader is left unsure who is right--the faithful or the atheists. I did find the story was a bit loose in places. The prose could have been tightened up here and there by getting rid of some of the repetitive internal monologue. Also, I don't know why some bunkers would have men and women separated by gender and some bunkers housing them together but neutered in order to keep the bunker population stable while they're still stuck underground. If you want to repopulate the Earth, why not have all the bunkers segregated by gender and not neuter anybody? Finally, there's a shortwave radio that functions even though it's underground and not attached to an antenna. As a radio geek I must object. But these are minor issues. After the Sky is a great read for those who like a dash of religion and philosophy in their science fiction. Or is it fantasy? Paranormal horror? I'm not quite sure, and that's a good thing. (I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review)...more
A standard reference work for the educated lay reader. It's beautifully illustrated and has short but detailed descriptions of all the major deities. A standard reference work for the educated lay reader. It's beautifully illustrated and has short but detailed descriptions of all the major deities. It's not "complete" because that would be impossible to do in a single volume. The introduction reveals that almost 1,500 gods and goddesses are known by name. For some, we don't know anything more than that. So this is a complete reference work to all the gods and goddesses that we know a lot about, and as such it works very well. Each deity is given good coverage and there are long sections on the place of religion in Egypt, the development of religion, etc. Well worth buying for anyone interested in ancient Egypt or religion....more
Mohammed Mrabet is a Moroccan writer and artist who has lived most of his life in Tangier. This is his memoir of the days when it was an internationalMohammed Mrabet is a Moroccan writer and artist who has lived most of his life in Tangier. This is his memoir of the days when it was an international haven for writers, artists, thieves, con men, homosexuals, pederasts, and the idle rich. Like For Bread Alone by Mohamed Choukri, it shows the flip side of this foreigner's paradise, the life of poor Moroccans struggling to survive and often having to serve the newcomers in various unpleasant ways. Mrabet didn't escape this. At the age of sixteen, he got taken up by an American couple who vied with each other for his sexual favors. They take him to the U.S., where he has more fun with the local Puerto Ricans and blacks than he does with the staid middle class whites. There are some hilarious scenes of culture clashes in these passages. Later he meets Paul and Jane Bowles, who launch his career as a writer. They, too, take him to the States with similarly numerous results. We also get to follow Mrabet's adventures with European swingers, falling into matrimony, and his rather Zen philosophy of life. While I found this slim volume fascinating because I've spent a lot of time in Tangier and read a great deal about its history, someone who isn't a fan of the place will miss a lot of the references. For example, Marguerite McBey is mentioned but nothing is said about her important place in Tangier society. I hope this work is republished with a long introduction to explain the context to those readers who have not learned about it from other sources....more
This is the first of the Hard Case Crime series I've read. The series has made a name for itself by republishing lots of great but nearly forgotten noThis is the first of the Hard Case Crime series I've read. The series has made a name for itself by republishing lots of great but nearly forgotten noir gems. In this book, Peter Mallory, our antihero, has left the mob behind to start a new law-abiding life. He's got it all--a shop by the beach in California, a house, a rich and beautiful fiancee. But then the mob pulls him back, as the mob always does in these books, and he has to help his old boss solve a series of murders--someone is picking off the mob boss's subordinates ones by one and he's convinced the list will end with him. Because the boss is Peter's father figure, he reluctantly agrees to help. At this point the narrative slows. Much time is spent in the mob headquarters, a beachside bungalow filled with a variety of lost souls. They all have their hangups and madness and they all drink way too much. They also don't seem to do much of anything else. Everyone knows the boss is losing his grip on the territory and is terrified of the mysterious murderer, giving the place a sort of Hitler's bunker feel. While this is effective, there's such a large cast of misfits we don't get to know any of them terribly well, and entire chapters go by without Peter doing anything to solve the murders. The final third of the novel speeds up considerably as Peter gets out into the world more. He writes about he seamy side of the 1950s brilliantly, showing the poverty, ignorance, and brutality that Hollywood films of the era tended to ignore. There's also an epic fight scene that's handled very effectively. While I enjoyed this novel and will definitely pick up more from Hard Case Crime, the pacing on this one was too uneven to give it four stars....more
This short work only took me two good sittings to get through but I enjoyed it. Paul Bowles spent much of his life in Tangier, and near the end of hisThis short work only took me two good sittings to get through but I enjoyed it. Paul Bowles spent much of his life in Tangier, and near the end of his sojourn wrote this journal. It contains some interesting observations of Arab life and the lives of the various oddballs who passed through Tangier, all written in the author's inimitable style. You need to be well-versed in Bowles and Tangier history to catch all the references, however, so this is a book more for enthusiasts rather than the general reader. Someone exploring Bowles beyond The Sheltering Sky would be better off checking out his other novels and short stories....more
A rather superficial visitor's look at Morocco in 1902. The author meets some important people and describes the land well, but never gets beyond the A rather superficial visitor's look at Morocco in 1902. The author meets some important people and describes the land well, but never gets beyond the surface. One interesting aspect of this book is that the author was a suffragette, and has some strong opinions about how women are treated in Morocco....more
This is a classic and much-reprinted primer on the highlights of Islamic art. I got the 1975 revised Thames & Hudson edition for free at a library givThis is a classic and much-reprinted primer on the highlights of Islamic art. I got the 1975 revised Thames & Hudson edition for free at a library giveaway (yippee!) so this is the edition I'm reviewing. I found the text clear and wide ranging. While it didn't go into as much detail as I would have liked, this is meant as a short introduction to a huge subject and does that quite well. I've studied Islamic art in a casual way for 25 years now and I still learned a lot from the text. My main complaint is that the illustrations aren't up to par. Most are in somewhat grainy black and white and don't do these magnificent works of art justice. Even some of the images of illustrated manuscripts are in black and white. There are several color plates in this book but they are not of terribly good quality. I recommend this book for anyone looking to learn more about one of the world's great art traditions, but suggest that you look for a later, better illustrated edition. ...more
During the 1970s and 80s, the United Kingdom saw a large rise in neo-Nazi groups. One of the main figures in this was a tough street brawler named NicDuring the 1970s and 80s, the United Kingdom saw a large rise in neo-Nazi groups. One of the main figures in this was a tough street brawler named Nicky Crane. What many of his fellow skinheads didn't know, or chose to ignore, was that Crane was gay. In fact, there was a whole lot of gays in a movement that denounced gays as perverts and often participated in gay bashing. That odd bit of history is the basis for this novel, which follows the adventures of a young gay skinhead growing up in those times, and also a gay researcher from the modern day looking into Britain's fascist past. The researcher is, one presumes, trying to figure out why so many gays ended up being neo-Nazis. Some other reviews of this book complain that this question is never answered. I suspect that's because the question is unanswerable. I don't blame the author for this because I certainly don't have an explanation for it! I do, however, have some problems with this book, which gave me one of the most uneven reading experiences I've ever had. The story of Tony, a teenager growing up in the neo-Nazi movement of the 1970s, is riveting. We get an inside look at how groups like the National Front operated, and we get a feeling for Tony's split identity, fueled by his infatuation/hero worship of Nicky Crane. I had no sympathy, however, for James, a modern day trust fund baby researching the movement by looking at old fanzines and leaflets in the British Library. James is obviously a stand in for the author, and we get pages upon pages of chattering class pretension about fine dinners, expensive French cider, and an unearned sense of superiority. Why is it that British writers of a certain social class can never stray far from their comfort zones? As my wife pointed out, the author was playing to the interests of his publisher's audience: "Granta readers need this reassurance." I suppose they do. It comes off as the literary equivalent of a "safe space" for rich people. So I found myself increasingly annoyed by James, who had nothing to add to the story other than his own self-obsession. Still, the writing is excellent, and the book is illustrated with reproductions of old National Front literature that make for fascinating reading. If the author had the guts to cut out James entirely, and only keep Tony's story, this would have been a five-star book....more
Full disclosure: I have written seven books for Osprey Publishing so I can't really be called an unbiased reviewer. On the other hand, I don't know thFull disclosure: I have written seven books for Osprey Publishing so I can't really be called an unbiased reviewer. On the other hand, I don't know the author or artist and WW2 is a bit out of my specialty. I read this as research for a novel I'm writing. This is a look at a little-covered aspect of the war, Germany's desperate formation of a militia to supplement the exhausted and depleted Wehrmacht. These teenagers, old men, and men taken from essential services were given little training, insufficient weapons, and were sent against the full force of the Allied assaults in late 1944 and early 1945. No prizes for figuring out what happened. The author goes through the formation of the Volkssturm, and how individuals were recruited and trained, using a fictional character in a real unit as an example. Other reviewers have criticized using a fictional character, but given the paucity of sources for the Volkssturm I didn't see this as a problem. One limitation, however, is that it only covers the Western Front. The author notes that the Volkssturm on the Eastern Front were better armed and motivated, and I was hoping that a second book would be written about their story. Since it's been 10 years since this book's publication I guess that's not going to happen. Another missed opportunity is that the Volksgewehr, a series of cheap gun designs introduced late in the war, are not really described. There isn't much written on these guns and it would have been appropriate to add something here. Despite these shortcomings, I found this book a gripping read. It goes into detail about the civilian experience and the terror these half-soldiers must have felt when a helmet was plunked on their head, a rifle thrust into their hands, and they were sent against thundering columns of tanks. A large section is dedicated to the process of surrendering, internment, and repatriation. That was the main war experience for a lot of these guys! All in all, a good overview of a little-known aspect of the war....more
Full disclosure: I have written seven books for Osprey Publishing so I can't really be called an unbiased reviewer. On the other hand, I don't know thFull disclosure: I have written seven books for Osprey Publishing so I can't really be called an unbiased reviewer. On the other hand, I don't know the author or artist and WW2 is a bit out of my specialty. I read this as research for a novel I'm ghostwriting for a client. This is part of Osprey's Combat series, a grunt's eye view of the fight between two opposing sides. Each book looks at the training, equipment, and motivation of a regular soldier on both sides of the battle, with three small-scale fights to illustrate what their experience was like. I found the detail in this book quite good, and especially appreciated the information on radio communications, something that many authors overlook. The text gives the reader a brief but detailed look at how units were trained, organized, and deployed. The three combat situations were well chosen and clearly illustrate the German army's deteriorating situation in the last half of 1944, as well as the US Army's steep learning curve. The art is up to Osprey's usual high standard and the maps were clear and easy to read. My only quibbles were that the text was a bit dry at times and that we never get a good description of a pole charge, even though it is mentioned as an important weapon for taking out German bunkers. Of course I can imagine what a pole charge was, but a photo and some specs would seem appropriate here, especially considering the detailed coverage other weapons get. All in all, a solid addition to the Combat series....more
Loading...
