e a tr e a ds e e

This is the first novel by DeLillo I have read, which is a shame I will rectify in the coming years. He has long been on my list of to-reads.

I enjoyed Cosmopolis in several ways, but most notably the language which struck me as similar in tone to Cormac McCarthy. For much of the novel I felt I was reading an urban McCarthy. This language fit the context of the story perfectly, to my mind, by which I mean, the NYC setting and the slow wander to oblivion. The story itself is secondary, episodic and wholly unbelievable. Not that it should be believable. It appears more as a parable.

So in short, a hyper-modern parable, in tone like a post-modern western.

However, the story lacks, and that lack is telling. Throughout the novel I felt the story was leading to something, that the characters' deliberations were building together with the action of the story a broader and more complete narrative. Perhaps I simply missed something, but the end I found dissatisfying. The threads that appeared to be coalescing stopped, and then there was an ending. I don't want to say it seemed contrived - as I have said, it is a parable. It just seemed unrelated.

Nevertheless, it was beautifully executed.

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This was, for me, a riveting read. Steve Jobs is a polarizing figure, and his story is a remarkable one. It was also one I was fairly familiar with. But Isaacson has achieved a feat here, creating a balanced portrait of a man with multiple character flaws and yet so many extraordinary achievements. Many commentators have expressed shock at how unpleasant a person Steve Jobs could be, but it is the great achievement of this biography that it is so successfully "warts-and-all" and yet, in the end, the reader can still be full of admiration for this man.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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This is a difficult review to do, because so many of Neal Stephenson's novels are among my favourites of all time, with Cryptonomicon somewhere near the very top. Reamde is an enjoyable read but suffers by way of comparison to the outstanding work preceding it (from The Diamond Age to Anathem, by way of Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle). Expectation can be a difficult burden, and my expectation of a new Stephenson novel is very high indeed.

In all the previous novels of his I have read, there were several key features that define the experience as characteristically "Stephenson-ian", a definitive style and deeply observant humour for instance, the most critical of which is the seeming effortless juxtaposition of major philosophical or conceptual themes with action sequences directly derived from those themes. This is entirely lacking in Reamde, which appears to be a series of ungrounded action sequences, lacking the usual humorous flourishes and most critically, lacking the overarching thematic thread that gave meaning to his previous works. I kept waiting for the narrator to snap into Stephenson's usual witty observations of the world around him, but for such humour to work, Stephenson typically overlays a character's particular view of the world onto events, such as Lawrence Waterhouse observing the mathematical distribution of sheep in the fields by the rail line he travels on. The characters in Reamde lack either the characterisation or the philosophical framework to operate at that level. This is a surprising lack. I assume the game-world of T'Rain was to fulfil this overarching role, but in the end it is all but forgotten, with a somewhat clumsy reference to the parallel actions of both Richard and his online character.

It is true that there were moments of some excitement, and as action thrillers go, I'm sure it's far better than most, but as a Stephenson, Reamde is lacking.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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Hilary Mantel's style is distinct, and as such can be jarring. Which is the reason I like reading her novels, of course.

In the outstanding Wolf Hall this idiosyncratic style has reached a level of maturity perhaps missing in A Place of Greater Safety, published as it was some 17 years earlier. Perhaps this wandering, jumping, diffuse style works better when applied to a single subject, as it is in the former, and risks losing the reader when applied to a broader cast of characters as is the case in A Place of Greater Safety.

Nevertheless, this is a fascinating story, told by a great writer in truly epic style. At times longer than necessary, at others engrossing and always extraordinary.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

- Steve Jobs

I think Franzen's Freedom is poorly served by the rapturous response of some mainstream U.S. media. It is difficult to approach this novel without expecting a masterpiece. Reading it, I found a good book, but by no means a masterpiece.

Many reviewers point to his reference to War and Peace, that Franzen is explicitly placing his novel in a literary context, he is articulating the novel's ambition as epic social realist novel in the great tradition. In 2666, Roberto Bolano suggests that the novelist must struggle to attain the epic, and in so doing explicitly positions his novel. And he emphatically succeeds in his ambition. Franzen does not.

This is not to say that he doesn't succeed in some measure. This novel has many worthy features: an interesting story and a largely well constructed, multi-layered storyline; engaging characters; and most crucial I believe to the unbalanced media response to this novel, a story that is immediate and contemporary, confronting American identity today and the complex underpinnings and conflicts that national identity entails. It is also often very funny, lending the narrative a happy flow, from the opening moments, that is sustained throughout.

It is not, however, a particularly well written novel. The language is for the most part pedestrian and often clunky or cliched, and occasionally just poor. In the end, it is as though Franzen is not equipped with the language or the writerly skills to achieve the vision he has set himself in the novel. What is strange is that so many reviewers appear to have assumed he had achieved the vision merely by setting out its framework, but a great literary novel must be more than a topical story, it must be a sustained work of brilliant writing. Freedom is not.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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Pinot the pig at Holm Oak vineyard in the Tamar Valley, north western Tasmania. Truly lovely Cabernet Sauvignon (2008). I'm yet to try the Pinot Noir, but I expect it will be excellent.

As I get more familiar with baking sourdough loaves, I am getting a better feel for the dough. I baked this loaf a few minutes ago, but I mixed it about 26 hours ago.

The dough has formed a great shape, and is quite firm. In lieu of a couche or banneton I rested it overnight in the fridge, wrapped in a teatowel in this quickly constructed mold.

You can see from the cuts that the dough is quite airy

After thirty-odd minutes at 245c, the finished product...

I have been feeding my sourdough starter, which I am thinking of calling Marlinspike after Thomas Cromwell's cat in Wolf Hall, for some months now, and it is behaving beautifully: bubbly, pleasant bready smell, and best of all, it is making beautiful bread. The baking process is somewhat more involved than in baker's yeast bread baking, so it really is a Sunday-at-home sort of operation, but the results are so much better than either baker's yeast bread or bought bread that it is a real pleasure. The crumb has lovely air pockets, the crust is blistered and crisp. This loaf came out of the oven about an hour prior to these photographs, and had all but cooled. The perfect time to eat bread, in this case with Crottin de Chavignol.