2013 50 Book Challenge - Page 46

And that is 60! Mission accomplished!

So what is the challenge for 2013? 

Pretty Damn Good!

50. With summaries.

The mark of a true intellectual!

I am in.

Like you would be out?

61. The Chemistry of Tears, by Peter Carey (2012)

I'm a fan of Peter Carey's and have read nearly all of his ouevre. I think he has been declining lately, and certainly feel he is much better when he avoids realism. Sadly, this book is one of his least impressive.

Catherine Gehrig is a horologist whose clandestine lover has just died. Unable to express her grief publicly, her employer tries to help by giving her a major restoration project - the recovery of a 19th century automaton.

In her research, Catherine reads the diaries of Henry Blanding, the 19th century Englishman who commissioned the automaton from a German artisan in the hope of creating someing that might alleviate the suffering of his ailing son. Carey develops the stories of Catherine and Henry in parallel, while gradually revealing more of the nature of the automaton.

The book is a study in grief and the mechanisms people adopt to deal with it. Unfortunately the two main characters are so self-absorbed and mean-spirited as they wallow in self-pity that you just want to tell them to get over themselves. Constructing a confusing and poorly-ended tale around a handful of unlikeable characters is not exactly the path to literary success. Hopefully Carey will be back on his game next time.

117 The Unlikely Spy Daniel Silva 1995 This was Silva's first book and it shows. A rather mundane spy thriller about WW II. Except it didn't thrill. At all. And at 734 pgs it may have knocked me off the Crazy Train.

734 boring pages. Cost me my 120th book.

Clockwise counting 51/50: Mo Yan - Big Breasts and Wide Hips (1996)

Possibly an even more fantastic literary achievement than Red Sorghum, this is another fabulous story of 20th century China seen through the eyes and experiences of an indestructible woman, her eight remarkable daughters and her one weak son. 

The first 2/3rds of this book is among the best literature I have ever read. Wonderful language and an incredibly engaging story! Unfortunately, Mo Yan fails to wrap up the story in a satisfying way and the final parts feel a bit hollow. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this novel - 2012's Nobel Prize winner tells a story like no one else.

Coincidentally, my wife is reading that right now.

Coincidentally, my wife has read it too.

118. The Mark of the Assassin 1998 Daniel Silva Another hero, Michael Osbourne, CIA. Foils a plot by a secret society to acquire a billion dollar STAR WARS type defense system. The igniter for all this is a Stinger missile blowing a 747 out of the skies. Those who are blamed for it are not the people who did it. Good read

Happy New Year guys! I had a great countdown party here in Bangkok. Earlier in the day I spent some time at Kinokunya, a brilliant Japanese bookstore with a huge selection of English language books. Came away with a lot of goodies.

Will you start a new thread Steve B or do you just change the thread name again? Hope we'll get more participants this year but it was great that we were 3 to make it in 2012, a 50 % collective intellectual improvement from 2011.

119. The Marching Season Daniel Silva 1999 Our hero, Michael Osbourne is called back into the service b the CIA (where have we heard this one before). He's sent to N. Ireland to deal with a new terrorist threat. He meets again with October, who nearly kills him before they join forces and put a serious dent into the Forces of Evil.

Last of Daniel Silva so I read all of Silva, Hawkins, and Child. And I'm jonesing for MORE.

I was kinda bummed that I didn't make 120, but 119 is a good year,

I got cable earlier this AM, so I'll probably be way down in 2013.

I'd prefer just to change the date on this thread, but let me know what you guys want to do.

Happy New Year!