The Swoop, P.G. Wodehouse

The Swoop:  Or, How Clarence Saved England by P. G. Wodehouse is a comedic novel about how a single boy scout is forced to save England when having disbanded the military, England is simultaneously invaded by 9 nations.

Started:  8/15/2011
Completed:  9/14/2011
Recommendation:  Fun story, rather dated, but a good laugh and the audio from libravox is simply fantastic.
Recommended By:  Nobody, I'd always wanted to read a book by Wodehouse.
Review:


This book is largely silly.  The discussions of the diplomats, however are excellent as they embody the ridiculous obtuseness of language used by diplomats in a truly hyperbolic manner.  While the book seems stilted by today's standards, it was a fun book to hear and the time investment is trivial.

The Thirteen Gun Salute, Patrick O'Brian

The Thirteen Gun Salute by Patrick O'Brian is another (#13) in the stories of Captain Jack Aubrey a fictitious British sea captain.  I picked this audio book up from the library to listen to during trips to and from the office

Started:  8/15/2011

Completed: 10/12/2011

Recommendation: Beach book

Recommended By:  Nobody, but I did enjoy one other of O'Brian's novels.

Review:

This book is largely an action novel with a little bit of spice in the characters of the Captain and the Doctor.  Their relationship is explored but as this is such a small part of a much larger series, it is only incrementally addressed.  It was OK as a listen on a trip or something like that, but I wouldn't put the time in for reading, I don't think.  There are lots of "lulls" between the "storms" and so the action is clearly segmented into regular routines. Lots of ropes are left in an untidy mess at the end of the book as the next book is clearly in the offing.

Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri is a lauded collection of short stories.

Started:  9/17/2011
Completed: 9/30/2011
Recommendation: Not even for the bathroom
Recommended by:  The quotation from the back of the book by Amy Tan convinced me to give it a try.
Review: 


So, I had no trouble putting this book down.  Amy Tan and I disagree.  I plugged away at it diligently, though, eschewing most other reading because I was convinced that if I let it sit too long, I would not continue to read it.  The writing was excellent.  Some of the descriptions were outstanding.  The plots pretty much sucked.  There was a lot of character study, but it seemed to me that each story was busy expanding upon the basic character with which the story began.  Some new and interesting details were presented, but, by the end of the story, I didn't feel as though I knew the nature of the person any better, just some more details in a made-up life.  The plots of the stories didn't seem to go anywhere (and they probably weren't supposed to go anywhere) and that is a difficult thing for me to enjoy.

"A Real Darwhan" was a decent social commentary, but it completely lacked punch and was oddly juxtaposed with "The Treatment of Bibi Haldar."  "Sexy" left me wondering if this was just one of many very similar stories about to happen to the same character.  "Interpreter of Maladies" seemed, at best, to be a rueful look at some silly people.  "Mrs. Sen's" was the most interesting story to me but the abrupt ending made the story feel uncompleted to me.  I don't long for happy endings where everything is all tied up, but the character development in this story seemed to move the story along (it felt like a movie instead of a portrait if that analogy makes sense) and just as the story started to gather speed it raced off into a fog.  I felt like the richness of "Mrs. Sen's" was a story that yearned to become a book and was foiled when the author's attention drifted.