Synopsis: An American law grad, a New York Secretary and a Kiwi doctor sign up for field work with the UN that takes them to conflicts in Cambodia, Haiti, Somalia, Rwanda and the Balkans. Stress, love and disillusionment follow. My Take: Oh dear. I’m sure everyone has a book like this on their bookshelves. A […]
Entries from May 31st, 2009
"Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures)", Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait and Andrew Thomson
May 31st, 2009 · Comments Off on "Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures)", Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait and Andrew Thomson · Politics
Tags:Heidi Postlewait. Andrew Thomson·Kenneth Cain
"The Crazed", Ha Jin
May 30th, 2009 · Comments Off on "The Crazed", Ha Jin · Asian, China, Chinese, Literature
Synopsis: Set against the backdrop of the Tianamen Square uprising, a Chinese literature professor suffers a stroke and relives his suffering in the Cultural Revolution through his dementia. His star pupil and future son in law is tasked with caring for him but is disturbed at what he learns from the old man’s ravings. My […]
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Tags:China·Ha Jin
"On the Wealth of Nations", P.J. O'Rourke
May 29th, 2009 · Comments Off on "On the Wealth of Nations", P.J. O'Rourke · Economics, History, Policy
Synopsis: Libertarian polemicist digests Adam Smith’s ‘Theory of Moral Sentiments’ and ‘The Wealth of Nations’ and then regurgitates them along with satirical commentary. My Take: I love the concept of this book – the first in a series on “Books That Changed the World” read and paraphrased by prominent authors “so you don’t have to.” Just […]
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Tags:P.J. O'Rourke
"Everything is Illuminated", Jonathan Safran Foer
May 27th, 2009 · 2 Comments · History
Synopsis: Eponymous Jewish American author/protagonist travels to the Ukraine in search of the woman who saved his grandfather’s life during the Holocaust. The Journey is aided by a ‘premium’ local translator/narrator Alex, his blind grandfather and their ‘seeing eye bitch’, Sammy Davis Jnr, Jnr. My Take: Truly a bizarre book. Half mythical/surrealist history of the […]
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Tags:Jonathan Safran Foer
"Confessions of a Mask", Yukio Mishima
May 26th, 2009 · Comments Off on "Confessions of a Mask", Yukio Mishima · Asian, Japanese, Literature
Synopsis: The (presumably auto-biographical) story of a young gay boy trying to fit into Japanese society. My Take: Mishima is one of those authors (like Solzenitzen or Hemmingway) whose work is made even richer by their his extraordinary personal life. A militant Japanese ultra-conservative (fascist really) martial arts aficionado, Mishima isn’t your usual suspect for […]
Tags:Yukio Mishima
"The Watchmen", Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
May 25th, 2009 · Comments Off on "The Watchmen", Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons · Sci-Fi, Trash
Synopsis: Set in a dystopian 1980s cold war alternative reality in which superheros help America win the Vietnam war and Richard Nixon stay in the White House well beyond constitutional term limits, a group of out of favour and long retired superheros investigate a series of attacks on ‘masked adventurers’. My Take: I can’t say […]
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Tags:Alan Moore·Dave Gibbons
"The Year of Living Dangerously", Christopher Koch
May 24th, 2009 · Comments Off on "The Year of Living Dangerously", Christopher Koch · Asian, Australian, History, Literature, Politics
Synopsis: A dashing ABC foreign correspondent based in Indonesia, an earnest Chinese-Australian dwarf cameraman and a beautiful British embassy staffer become entangled in a Communist insurrection against President Sukarno. Ambiguous loyalties – romantic and political – proliferate. My Take: This book deserves to be a classic of Australian literature. Tense plotting, an exotic setting and […]
Tags:Christopher Koch
"Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72", Hunter S Thompson
May 23rd, 2009 · Comments Off on "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72", Hunter S Thompson · Politics
Synopsis: Hunter S Thompson brings his gonzo eye and poison pen to the 1972 Presidential Election. The future of America is feared and Nixon is loathed. My Take: Whatever the reliability of his reportage (and like any good gonzo piece, the boundaries between fact and fiction are very hard to discern in this book) Hunter […]
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Tags:Hunter S Thompson
Welcome!
May 23rd, 2009 · Comments Off on Welcome! · Admin
Welcome to Blogging the Bookshelf! The premise of this site is fairly self-explanatory; I’m going to blog my way through my entire bookshelf. Why? Well at the most prosaic level, I’ve recently returned to Australia from a period in the UK. Given that this was always going to be a temporary move, my books have […]
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