Beren and Lúthien by J.R.R Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien ed.

3.5 Stars

A labor of love. Not just Beren's feats to win Lúthien, but also Christopher Tolkien for his father and his apparently enormous oeuvre. This is an archivist's weaving of the fragments of the tale of Beren and Lúthien from a selection of separate works to relay the most complete, yet, not rewritten telling of this love story.

The verse in the various cantos and Quenta is lyrical, mesmerizing, and beautiful. While the publisher pushed Tolkien for prose and the result, The Lord of the Rings, is wonderful, the verse and Tolkien's love of heroic poetry is resplendent.

'Be he friend or foe, or demon wild
of Morgoth, Elf, or mortal child,
or any that here on earth may dwell,
no law, nor love, nor league of hell,
no might of Gods, no binding spell,
shall him defend from hatred fell
of Feanor's sons, whoso take or steal
or finding keep a Simaril.
These we alone do claim by right,
our thrice enchanted jewels bright.'

Or:

From wall to wall she turned and wheeled
in dance such as never Elf nor fay
before devised, nor since that day;
than swallow swifter, than flittermouse
in dying light round darkened house
more silken-soft, more strange and fair
than sylphine maidens of the Air
whose wings in Varda's heavenly hall
in rhythmic movement beat and fall.

While this is a self-contained telling of the story of Beren and Lúthien pulled from various works and unpublished pieces, the largest being "The Lay of Leithian". I still feel like I might have been better off if I had read The Silmarillion, first. It's not that Christopher Tolkien does a bad job, if anything I think the work and dedication clearly evident in pulling the fragments together into a coherent whole is admirable, but there is context that I'm missing. Nonetheless, watching the story change as the years progress is very interesting.

Tolkien's love of language is at the forefront and there are so many things which tickled my brain as I read. Various references to Norse mythology, Rapunzel theme with Tinúviel, and an interesting interplay between Chinese and Japanese, which in a post-WWI context would be fun to explore further. I do like to see the hints of history that pepper through his work.

Huan, Hound of Valinor means "change" in Chinese, a great wolfhound that is pictured on the cover. He is a critical character in the story. Beren's trial include being thrall to the evil Prince of Cats, Tevildo which in one variant is referred to as Ainu, name of the indigenous peoples of Japan. So, there are definitely political themes relevant to Tolkien referenced. Frankly, I'm curious if the added storyline of Kili/Tauriel in the Hobbit movie was influenced by Beren and Lúthien.

There are some lovely image plates accompanying the story. I recommend this for Tolkien fans only.

Global Discontents: Conversations on the Rising Threats to Democracy by Noam Chomsky

4 Stars

Understanding global politics is like string art; it's not complete until you can see all the threads intersect.

Chomsky lambasts nearly every nation state that makes the news in this book, both U.S. political parties, and if you can't comprehend the United States as an imperialist power then this book is going to be a huge miss for you.

Chomsky's the person that stands up and says, "The Emperor is Naked".

You've written about a "democracy deficit"

"Deficit" is an understatement. Iran just had an election, and people criticized it, rightly, because you can't even enter Iranian political system unless you're vetted by clerics. That's terrible, of course. But what happens here [US]? You can't enter the political system unless you're vetted by concentrations of private capital. If you can't raise millions of dollars, you're out. Is that better?

This exemplifies the discourse within the book. Questions or thoughts are posed for Chomsky to extrapolate on. The sections include: State Spying and Democracy; A Tour of the Middle East; Power Systems Do Not Give Gifts; ISIS, the Kurds, and Turkey; Living Memory; Fearmongering; Alliances and Control; The Roots of Conflicts; Toward a Better Society; Elections and Voting; Crises and Organizing; The Trump Presidency.

Rocker wrote, "Political rights do not originate in parliaments, they are, rather, forced upon parliaments from without."

From below, in fact. I think that's an accurate comment. Power systems do not give gifts willingly. In history, you will occasionally find a benevolent dictator or a slave owner who decides to free his slaves, but these are basically statistical errors. Typically, systems of power will try to consolidate, sustain, and expand their power. That's true of parliaments, too. It's popular activism that compels change.

You said in a recent interview that U.S. policies have "succeeded in spreading jihadi terror from a small tribal area in Afghanistan to virtually the whole world, from West Africa to Levant to Southeast Asia. How did they do that?"

When the only method you have is to use your comparative advantage in violence, you will always make the situation worse. The military analyst Andrew Cockburn points out that every time you kill a leader, you think it's a big triumph. But what you're doing, almost invariably, is replacing him with a younger, more competent, more violent leader. It happens over and over.

So, when people say these actions are free recruitment advertising; they're serious. The question that Chomsky keeps coming back around to is what is your objective? Sometimes solving a problem isn't the fun or palatable option and the money game makes everything worse.

"When you're an activist, you have to think about the people you're trying to protect, and not just make yourself feel good."

I recommend this book if you're still working out a comprehensive worldview because Chomsky does a good job highlighting cause and effect in essentialist terms. Short, sweet, and to the point.


Favorite quote:

The efforts that go into trying to ensure the end of humanity are impressive. If there were somebody from outer space watching this, they could only conclude that humans are an absolutely unviable species, an evolutionary error tending toward self-destruction.

No Time to Spare by Ursula Le Guin

4 Stars

Insightful and incisive series of essays on everything from cats to the Sartre Refusal Prize.

"If we insist in the real world the ultimate victor must be the good guy, we've sacrificed right to might."

I had to read this quote several times to recognize the truth in the statement. Le Guin brings it up in an essay about Homer and how neither The Illiad nor The Odyssey employ wishful thinking; therefore, not fantasy. But, that quote is counter to almost everything we want to believe--wish to believe. If it were true, better technology would always win over large corporations, the best ideals would always prevail, and the morally corrupt would always fail. Which we know is simply false.

"Art is not a horse race."

This is a thoughtful rumination about book prizes and PR, and how one drives the other.

"The creative adult is the child who survived."

Rather amusing, and since I actually have that "Liked" somewhere in my Goodreads' quotes I found it more than a bit embarrassing/funny/ridiculous that she categorically did not write it, ever. The misattribution and how it came about is humorous.

"I want to say clearly that I do not believe any animal is capable of being cruel. Cruelty implies consciousness of another's pain and the intent to cause it. Cruelty is a human speciality, which human beings continue to practice, and perfect, and institutionalize, though we seldom boast about it. We prefer to disown it, calling it "inhumanity", ascribing it to animals. We don't want to admit the innocence of the animals, which reveals our guilt."

It comes in one of many cat related essays--not a cat fan, at all. Nonetheless, Le Guin uses her relationship with Pard to relay a few thoughts. I like the hard truths in this book, the ripping away of the veil.

It never ceases to amaze me how much synchronicity envelopes my life. I should be immune to it because it happens all the time, nonetheless, in the foreword Le Guin mentions Saramago, and I smiled thinking to myself, 'I have met this writer and I understand'. Literally, not a couple months ago. And again, I find myself starting with a writer at the end. First, Gunter Grass and now Le Guin. That isn't the bizarre synchronicity it might seem at first blush because 2018 is the anniversary of a death--I have been planning to reopen it again, just to make sure everything is in place and to remember. Hence, all the morbidity in the books I've been selecting.

I didn't mean to start here. Le Guin has been on my To-Be-Read for more years than I will admit and now it's time for me to read her stories.

Favorite quote:

"Anger points powerfully to the denial of rights, but the exercise of rights can't live and thrive on anger. It lives and thrives on the dogged pursuit of justice."

Entropy in Bloom by Jeremy Robert Johnson

4 Stars

His carefully crafted suit had gone cannibalistic.

Weird books for jaded readers.

Huh...absolutely nailed it, Chris. Chris provides me with all the internet wandering I need. Granted, I'm not a big internet wanderer. So, when she had a link to a bunch of recommendations for weird books for jaded readers I was like, "That's me."

Skullcrack City was the one I wanted, but when I got to my library website they only had one Jeremy Robert Johnson book available to lend, now. And I wanted it--NOW. Plus, the cover is so pretty and the title seductive that I couldn't resist. Couldn't. Inconceivable.

This is a collection of short stories that appeared in various places over the years and well, you know that when the introduction says this:

The kind of readers who are willing to stand on the side of the literary highway and thumb down whatever vehicle comes by, who are willing to take more chances than the average reader.

Every reader thinks that's them, 'I'm a rebel', so I wasn't totally drinking the Kool-Aid until I read the next line and I knew that this is where I wanted to be:

It'll be a wild ride, but after a little shaking you'll get to your destination, and be able to get out unharmed, mostly, and it'll still be you. Or at least someone who looks and acts like you.Well, someone who will be able to pass for you in most circumstances. Honestly, the real you probably won't even be missed.

How right you are, Mr. Brian Evenson.

This is the sell. I don't want to go into to many details and spoil the fun of discovery and the delightful twists that just make you go O_O and then O_o

So the guiding themes of these stories are invasion, loss of control, and spectacle. Shuffled and dealt in bizarre ways that highlight the visceral. There's a definite sense of betrayal running through it and it is very male perspective focused. Frankly, there were a few that I read that really made me think there are a bunch of unresolved issues with women and I struggled with the rating. It wasn't misogyny, but frustration, resentment, and a rather depressing surrendered acceptance--beyond resignation.

Sometimes he felt as if he was training towards a gold medal in the Dumbfuck Olympics.

"League of Zeros" was one of my favorites. Take the concept of celebrity and go, go far. Beyond reality tv, YouTube, keep going--This is one place you end up. Freaky and the business of spectacle. The Oarsman, Cathedral Mother, Persistence Hunting, and Swimming in the House of the Sea, all right up there too. I loved the stretch in these stories. They're out there, but rather glittering in all their squalid splendor.

"How hard do I have to deny this entire day to make it disappear?"

The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer

3 Stars

Dangerous Liaisons made light with absurdity.

There I was in the middle of reading some dreadfully bleak and twisted books when I realized that a bit of fluff would clear the palette. Voila! Enter Heyer. And it worked, I just had to bite my tongue and read past Horatia's propensity to be an absolute rube. She had all the moxy I like in a heroine, but her leap before looking and then going, 'Oh, dear!' was grating. I suppose it's better than not realize her idiocy at all, but nevertheless, eye-rolling and made me want to smack her upside the head. I know, I know... she's young; it's allowed. *eye-roll* Let's just say that unprepared and arrogant are not two qualities I enjoy in tandem. 

And Rule. *deep sigh* Woefully under-explored. As the master tactician he loses some shine with his choice. I get it. He's jaded and Horry's the breath of fresh air that will reinvigorate his life. 

Frankly, the secondary characters had all the good lines and saved it.

When he had seen the Viscount stalking towards him at Almack's he had been quite aghast, and would have been perfectly willing to eat the rash words that had caused all the bother had not the Viscount committed that shocking rape upon his hat and wig. [...] this brutal action had roused him to a really heroic rage.

The hat is beyond and really needs to be read properly in context to be enjoyed. 

It was a good fight -- I don't remember a better. Hatred lends a spice, doesn't it?

Nothing more endearing than a good loser.

You can't go around the club asking a lot of queer-looking strangers to come to Vauxhall with you. Besides, what should we do with them when we got 'em there?

Utterly unhinged at times, but surprisingly insightful when taking a moment for reflection. 

So, the main characters were meh, but the absurd romp and especially the last sixty pages left me feeling much fonder. 

Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay

3 Stars

Doakes is back! And Chutsky! Even a couple new speed bumps in Dexter's road.

Still liking the series and Dexter's increasingly complicated quandary of human performance, but this one had a lot more rabbit runs, going up down, all around, but without Dark Passenger for company. I miss that interplay. So, this seemed slower even though Dex was all over the map, literally.

On the other hand, I love the aesthetics of this one. The spectacle shows dedication to detail, which I appreciate. The commentary about art makes for a delightful amuse-bouche.

Rita takes the backseat, but Cody and Astor are making progress. But it's a slow road.

All fake, all the time with only the short and far-too-rare intervals of razor-sharp reality to look forward to--and I was passing all this on to Cody, that small and damaged creature who stood up there so stiffly, watching with such intense focus for a hint of belonging that would never come.

Definitely finishing this series off this year. Hope the next one has more frolicking.

The Un-Discovered Islands by Malachy Tallack

3 Stars

Map says it's there; where did it go?

There are several sections to this book breaking down the islands into categories: Islands of Life and Death (mythic representations of eden/heaven), Setting Out, The Age of Exploration--before we solved the problem of an accurate timepiece accurate latitude measurements were impossible and historical maps are littered with islands that have never been seen again. In 1875, the British Royal Navy removed 123 islands from its admiralty maps after an extensive remapping endeavor. Sunken Lands addresses the obvious, lands that were reclaimed by the ocean from real ones off Iceland and Greenland to the fictional Atlantis created by Plato which amazingly transcended its purpose. Fraudulent Islands were great and made me smile. A whole slew of imaginary islands named after investors or rich men that explorers were hoping would funds future ventures. But I guess the most surprising section was Recent Undiscoveries. You'd think with all the technology we have that there wouldn't be any left to disprove-au contraire. I somehow managed to miss the post Y2K brouhaha between Mexico and the US over the mysterious island Bermeja in the Gulf of Mexico and the implications in treaties and oil drilling. 

This isn't as in-depth as I hoped, but realistically, the lack of material is what made these islands exist for so long. Tallack did a good job either outright debunking the island or presenting enough circumstantial information to create a reasonable cogent argument for what might have been responsible for its inclusion on maps. A fun reference for the curious and filled with some nice illustrations throughout, reflected of those presented on the cover.