Book Roundup

I’ve written a lot about books recently, so please bear with me for one last book mega-post, and then we’ll move on to other topics.

During our recent cruise to the Panama Canal (more on that in a later post), I was perusing the ship’s library and came across the cool-sounding Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Tales by Algernon Blackwood.  The summary on the back cover included lots of quotes by H.P. Lovecraft praising the author, so I figured it must be good.  I flipped to the table of contents and noticed a story named “Wendigo”.  I was hooked.

You will of course remember the book I recently read about Wendigos.  It occurred to me that I never explained what a Wendigo is; I hadn’t heard the term until recently.  Basically it’s a Native American myth about an evil spirit often associated with wind, severe cold, and starving to death.  The exact details vary quite a bit, and what appears in fiction usually doesn’t match the historical descriptions, but in a nutshell, that’s it.

Algernon Blackwood’s short story was the first instance of Wendigos in fiction.  It, along with the other short stories in the book, was excellent.  Most of them can best be described as creepy nature stories.  His work is now in the public domain, so you can find a lot of his stories online, in the Kindle store, etc, for free.  “The Willows” and “Wendigo” are both really good.

However, the inspiration for this blog post was not the Algernon Blackwood book, but the other book I read while on the cruise:  “Zodiac” by Neal Stephenson.

Several years ago, at a company book sale, I came across a book called “Snow Crash”.  I half-remembered hearing of it before and having some kind of positive association with it, but that was all I could recall at the time.  So I bought it and read it.  And it turned out to be absolutely insane, crazy, over-the-top cyberpunk fun.  As soon as I finished it I turned to Wendy and said “Best.  Book.  Ever!”

That started me reading other Neal Stephenson books.  A couple of books later I read “Cryptonomicon”, which blew my mind.  I’d forgotten how a book, when it completely captivates you, causes your entire reality to shift into two modes:  Reading-Your-Book and Not-Reading-Your-Book.  When you’re Not-Reading-Your-Book all you can think about is getting back to Reading-Your-Book.  So you do whatever you can to get back there.  That was me during Cryptonomicon.  (I remember Wendy going through those modes when she read the staggeringly-long “Lymond Chronicles” by Dorothy Dunnett.)  After I finished Cryptonomicon, I turned to Wendy and said “I have to modify my earlier statement about Snow Crash.  Snow Crash is the Most Entertaining Book ever.  Cryptonomicon is the Best Book Ever.”  Even better than the Count of Monte Cristo, which I read way back here.

Since then I’ve plowed through the remaining Stephenson books.  From The Baroque Cycle, to Anathem, his most recent, which I inhaled more than read because it was so fascinating.  Zodiac, then, was one of his earliest books, and the final book of his I had yet to read.  The cruise gave me plenty of time to finish it.  And when I was done, I had really enjoyed it.

Much of why I enjoy his books so much is they often involve and hinge upon complex, technical subjects he’s able to easily explain. So not only do you get an entertaining story, but it’s almost like you’ve gotten an introductory college course on a particular topic by the time you’ve finished one of his books.  At the very least, you’ve gotten a glimpse into a complex subject you may never have learned about otherwise.

Here’s a breakdown of his books and a few of the broad topics each covers.

Zodiac
* Toxic chemicals

Snow Crash
* 3-D virtual worlds, Hacking, Ancient Sumerian mythology

The Diamond Age: or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer
* Nanotechnology

Cryptonomicon
* Math, Cryptography, Hacking, Information Theory

Quicksilver (Baroque Cycle, Part 1)
The Confusion (Part 2)
The System of the World (Part 3)
* Money, Finance, The Royal Society, Isaac Newton

Anathem
* Consciousness, Quantum Physics, Cosmology

If you’re interested in any of these, be warned that several of his later works are incredibly long (1000+ pages).  But, that’s part of the fun!

Merry Christmas!

OU vs Nebraska

A few days ago Wendy and I were talking college football, and I was telling her about one my favorite OU vs Nebraska plays, when I remembered another favorite, and then another favorite, and I thought “Hey, I should blog this”.

So here they are, in chronological order:

OU vs Nebraska, 2000

Probably my favorite, because I was at this game. Nebraska jumps out to a quick 14-0 lead, OU trims it to 14-7, and then on 3rd and 14, Heupel throws a long, arcing pass right as he's knocked to the ground. I looked downfield, there were no receivers anywhere, and I thought “Man, incomplete. 4th down.”. Out of nowhere, though, Curtis Fagan breaks free, sprints underneath the ball, catches and scores. Tie game! OU goes on to win 31-14.

OU vs Nebraska, 2001

This was a defensive battle between the top 2 teams in the country, and what I remember most are the trick plays. OU ran a reverse to Mark Clayton, who stopped and threw back to a wide open Nate Hybl. Hybl, unfortunately, stumbled and fell while the ball was in the air. Incomplete pass. Later in the game, Nebraska ran the same trick play, but Eric Crouch did not stumble; he made the catch and scored a TD. Unbelievable. Both teams had been practicing the same trick play during the week. One worked, one didn’t. Nebraska won, 20-10.

OU vs Nebraska, 2006 (Big 12 Championship game)

Up 14-7 in the 3rd, OU had the ball at their own 1-yard line on 3rd and 10. Nebraska had momentum, and with a stop would get the ball with great field position. Instead, Paul Thompson hits Jermaine Gresham for a 35-yard completion and a 1st down. That kickstarts a 99-yard touchdown drive(!!), putting OU comfortably in the lead. Nebraska never recovers; OU wins 21-7.

And now I can add this to the list...

OU vs Nebraska, 2010 (Big 12 Championship game)

It’s too early to say what the most memorable play will be, but here are some nominees:

• OU falling behind 17-0, but rallying to tie the game in the 2nd quarter.
• Travis Lewis’ game-changing interception in the end zone, the first of 3 turnovers he recovered.
• In the 4th quarter, OU had 3rd and 24 when Cameron Kenney catches a 20-yard pass and fights, fights, fights for 3 more yards. That brought up 4th and 1, making it an easy decision to go for it. OU converts, throwing to Kenney again, for an 11-yard gain, which sets up the game-winning field goal by Jimmy Stevens. Go Jimmy!
• Late in the game, Nebraska attempts a fake punt on 4th and 4, but just as they start the fake, the play is whistled dead. Stoops realized it was a fake at the last second, and called timeout just before the ball was snapped. With the element of surprise gone, Nebraska is forced to punt.

Final score: OU 23, Nebraska 20.

Monsters Reloaded

I finished reading The Curse of the Wendigo (the sequel to The Monstrumologist), and it’s fantastic. It doesn’t have as much gore and viscera as the first book, but makes up for it in other ways. I won’t give anything away.

Both of these books are really top-notch, and deal with some impressively adult themes. For instance, Dr. Pellinore Warthrop is a so-called monster-hunter, but despises the term, preferring instead to be labeled a philosopher of “aberrant biology”. After all, what is a monster? Is a lion a monster for attacking and eating the antelope? Then what of the creature whose sole means of survival is attacking and eating humans? Is it a monster for trying to live, for trying to provide food for its young?

And speaking of young, how do these “monsters” propagate their species? At what rate? What is their natural habitat? Are they nocturnal? How do they capture their prey? These are the questions that drive Dr. Warthrop.

Similarly, as the Doctor’s young assistant, Will Henry, points out, “monsters” aren’t always giant, man-eating creatures. Sometimes they’re microscopic parasites living in your blood, inflicting... well, I won’t give anything away.

Coming back to reality, all of this talk reminds me of an article I read in New Scientist last year, about the closest thing Earth has to the alien from the Alien movies starring Sigourney Weaver. The best the author could find was a long, stringy, parasitic worm; I don’t remember the exact details, thankfully, but I do remember feeling sick to my stomach afterwards, and thinking “I wish I had never read that.” Trust me, it was gross.

To finish on a less gruesome note, the Monstrumologist books remind me of one of my favorite authors growing up, John Bellairs. He wrote creepy, gothic horror children’s books full of crypts, tombs, evil spirits, magic artifacts, and haunted dwellings. Almost as good as the stories were the illustrations, drawn by the macabre Edward Gorey. (Unfortunately, the more recent printings of Bellairs’ books no longer have Gorey illustrations. If you’re interested in reading Bellairs, try finding some older printings.)

Among the various characters Bellairs created, Johnny and Professor Childermass were by far my favorite. Will Henry and Dr. Warthrop remind me a lot of Johnny and the Professor: Johnny and Will Henry are both the same age; and while the Professor has a love of chocolate cake, Dr. Warthrop loves raspberry scones. But the similarities are only superficial, I must say. Johnny and the Professor are short, creepy stories for middle school kids; Will Henry and Dr. Warthrop are lengthy, gruesome books for young adults.