Notes on books, and Jack Bauer v. Jason Bourne

Well I've been meaning to do a post about books for a while now, and since I just finished one last night I figure no time like the present. In the last two, maybe three months I've read a few books I wish I knew someone else had read too, so I could talk about them. Does this make me the only guy in the world wishing he was in a book club? Maybe so, but I'm confident in my masculinity so it's not too big a deal. So my question for the readers of this blog is, what books are you reading? And just so you know, if you're in school I only want to hear about your required reading if it's actually interesting. I'm always looking for suggestions about things to read, so give me those too. Anyway, I figure I might as well tell some of what I've been reading in the last few months and maybe you've read some of these and have some insights, or maybe you're interested in the books and would like to hear a few of my impressions. I'll try not to put anything that would spoil the books as this is pet-peeve for me, don't tell me a books plot (especially the ending) in great detail then recommend I read it, I won't.

Here goes. Tess of the d'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy. This book was both good and bad... it was the consummate book for a literature class. Hardy's style is one of painstaking, and sometimes pain-causing detail. On the one hand he makes it easy to imagine yourself in a picturesque British meadow, but you really only want to be there so long, so at times the drawn out description grow tiresome. The book also incorporates lots of the things your high school English teacher always wanted to be on the lookout for, a strong theme to the story, commentary by the author on contemporary (for his time) issues (in this case gender roles/women's rights/double standard especially), foreshadowing, etc... over all not a bad read if like girly stories written by men in the late 1800's.

Next I read The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. This is a pretty famous short story (I think it was only like 60-70 pages), and probably the thing I've recently read I'd most like to have someone to talk to about it. I'd wanted to read Kafka for a while, and finally chose what's probably his most famous work. The story really (for me at least) got me thinking about psychology, relationships, and because my copy had an appendix that talked about different translations, controversies in some of the words and meanings, etc... it got me thinking about the weight of words and an author's true intent. I think this is a good read, and well worth the time with it being so short. I found it to be thought provoking and it easily kept me attention throughout.

In the past I've read the Bourne trilogy, you know Matt Damon-- Bourne Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum. Good books, Robert Ludlum fast reads... not what your literature professors had in mind to help expand your mind. Anyway, after Ludlum passed Eric Van Lustbader took over and has written three more Bourne books. So, I read two of the three The Bourne Legacy and The Bourne Betrayal. These are good because he does a nice job sticking to the style and story started in the original three books. He also updates them. Unlike in the movies with Matt Damon, in the books Bourne is older and his stories are from the 80's more than the 00's (on a side note the books are completely different than the movies, so if you've seen the movies the books are still really interesting, if you're into that sort of thing). If you've ever watched the show 24, well these are 24 in book form. I like 24 and Jack Bauer, but I have to say one difference between him and Jason Bourne is Bourne could probably kill Jack Bauer with one arm tied behind his back. I hate to dis Jack but I think it's true, if you've read the books you're welcome to take issue on that with me, but I'm just going to say Bourne is one tough dude, and works alone so no CTU cronies doing all the intelligence grunt work. Bourne goes through similar stuff though, torture, losing family and friends, broken bones, terrorists with nukes, betrayals by people he trusts, etc... and one other thing he has amnesia so some people play him straight to his face and he doesn't know. So yeah, if there was ever a Bourne v. Bauer showdown, I'm guessing Bauer would get gutted like a fish. That's why his picture is bigger.


















I like Bauer, but Bourne is a serious hombre. Bauer wouldn't stand a chance.

Finally, the book I finished last night. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. He's a Japanese born British author. This is one story that I won't say too much about because it would be easy to spoil this book, and I'm going to recommend this as a book worth reading. I picked it up not knowing anything about it or what to expect, and that's what I would recommend as the best way to approach it if you don't already know the plot. The story is a bit slow in parts but Ishiguro keeps an ace up his sleeve that keeps you interested. This is another of the books I'd really like to be able to discuss with someone who's read it. This is another book intended to get the reader thinking (and by thinking this time I don't mean thinking about which super spy hero guy would survive a death match against another spy guy), and it does a good job. It covers a lot of issues, and caused me to think about human (especially childhood/early adolescent) behavior/psychology.

So anyway, that's what I've been reading since the second half of the summer. Let me know if you've ready any of these, or if you have suggestions for future reads