More ecember-ish Book Reviews
Dec. 28th, 2014 01:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23Divergent- by Veronica Roth-
Because dystopia trilogies are the thing. Of course, “The Hunger Games” looms large, and fans of this book will tell you that this has some of the world-building that THG misses. This edition throws in a lot of supplemental material to (as you would in math) show your work. The basis of the story essentially is that the World has broken down and people have grouped up by defining traits. There is (they have cooler names but are essentially) Selflessness, Fearlessness, intellect, honesty, and peacemaking. I actually don’t have trouble with this set-up. If you read the book and then read some of the one-star reviews on Goodreads, you’ll have some good laughs. I don’t have a problem with the set up though.
It’s an easy read and generally works in drawing you into the action. It’s a beach read or the literary equivalent of the Summer Blockbuster Popcorn movie. I don’t have any major issues with the book. My biggest issue is (as Bill Clinton might say) there’s not much ‘there’ there. At least not for me. For all the supposed detail given to the outline of the factions, I don’t know that it matters. I would probably think differently if I was a young adult (the intended audience), but there really isn’t much depth. In fact, it is hard to believe the book is big as it is (almost 500 pages, though certainly large printish) when it doesn’t feel like it covers the material of a book half the size. The book ends with a twist which most readers whose reviews I have read liked, though I don’t know that it created much excitement me. It is a quick read, and I do intend to finish the trilogy off, but it was hyped up to me as something more.
I Feel So Good: The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy- by Bill Reisman-
Broonzy is maybe not as heralded as other bluesmen, but he is a big influence, so I was excited to see this offered as a free e-book selection from The University of Chicago Press. Those who have spoke of his influence include Clapton, Townsend (who writes the into here), Elvis, the Kinks, Rory Gallagher, Steve Howe and many more. Phil and Dave Alvin just released an album of Broonzy covers earlier this year. I am going to butcher the quote, but it’s something like Clapton said he loved Broonzy for his precision, while Ray Davies says it was his ability to go off script. It seems contradictory, but it shows what Broonzy meant to so many.
The most interesting thing to me is the span of Broonzy’s career. He was born and raised in the Arkansas Delta, starting to play the blues after returning home from World War 1, making him a contemporary of Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton and Son House. He moved to Chicago in the 1930s and was a mentor and godfather for that city’s famous blues scene, playing with Sonny Boy Williamson I and paving the way for the likes of Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. Post-WW2, he found fans within the folk movement, and also comradery with the jazz and gospel scenes. This brought him into working with the likes of Pete Seeger, Lead belly, Studs Turkel and performing with Mahalia Jackson. In the 1950s, he toured the UK extensively, and his public figure ended up being a huge influence on all of those great British rock bands that emerged from the blues influence.
I tend to like music biographies, but this one tends to be a bit too academic for my liking. It’s a pretty dry read, though it certainly would be worthwhile for some. It provides Broonzy’s insight of growing up in the South in the post-Reconstruction era. Reisman does a good job covering the music business (specifically what they call ‘race music’) as it was in the 30s and 40s. I also found it interesting that Broonzy spent a couple years in Ames, Iowa, which is a town I have spent some time in. If you are already well-acquainted with Broonzy, I am sure this will be valuable, but is a bit of a slog otherwise
Because dystopia trilogies are the thing. Of course, “The Hunger Games” looms large, and fans of this book will tell you that this has some of the world-building that THG misses. This edition throws in a lot of supplemental material to (as you would in math) show your work. The basis of the story essentially is that the World has broken down and people have grouped up by defining traits. There is (they have cooler names but are essentially) Selflessness, Fearlessness, intellect, honesty, and peacemaking. I actually don’t have trouble with this set-up. If you read the book and then read some of the one-star reviews on Goodreads, you’ll have some good laughs. I don’t have a problem with the set up though.
It’s an easy read and generally works in drawing you into the action. It’s a beach read or the literary equivalent of the Summer Blockbuster Popcorn movie. I don’t have any major issues with the book. My biggest issue is (as Bill Clinton might say) there’s not much ‘there’ there. At least not for me. For all the supposed detail given to the outline of the factions, I don’t know that it matters. I would probably think differently if I was a young adult (the intended audience), but there really isn’t much depth. In fact, it is hard to believe the book is big as it is (almost 500 pages, though certainly large printish) when it doesn’t feel like it covers the material of a book half the size. The book ends with a twist which most readers whose reviews I have read liked, though I don’t know that it created much excitement me. It is a quick read, and I do intend to finish the trilogy off, but it was hyped up to me as something more.
I Feel So Good: The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy- by Bill Reisman-
Broonzy is maybe not as heralded as other bluesmen, but he is a big influence, so I was excited to see this offered as a free e-book selection from The University of Chicago Press. Those who have spoke of his influence include Clapton, Townsend (who writes the into here), Elvis, the Kinks, Rory Gallagher, Steve Howe and many more. Phil and Dave Alvin just released an album of Broonzy covers earlier this year. I am going to butcher the quote, but it’s something like Clapton said he loved Broonzy for his precision, while Ray Davies says it was his ability to go off script. It seems contradictory, but it shows what Broonzy meant to so many.
The most interesting thing to me is the span of Broonzy’s career. He was born and raised in the Arkansas Delta, starting to play the blues after returning home from World War 1, making him a contemporary of Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton and Son House. He moved to Chicago in the 1930s and was a mentor and godfather for that city’s famous blues scene, playing with Sonny Boy Williamson I and paving the way for the likes of Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. Post-WW2, he found fans within the folk movement, and also comradery with the jazz and gospel scenes. This brought him into working with the likes of Pete Seeger, Lead belly, Studs Turkel and performing with Mahalia Jackson. In the 1950s, he toured the UK extensively, and his public figure ended up being a huge influence on all of those great British rock bands that emerged from the blues influence.
I tend to like music biographies, but this one tends to be a bit too academic for my liking. It’s a pretty dry read, though it certainly would be worthwhile for some. It provides Broonzy’s insight of growing up in the South in the post-Reconstruction era. Reisman does a good job covering the music business (specifically what they call ‘race music’) as it was in the 30s and 40s. I also found it interesting that Broonzy spent a couple years in Ames, Iowa, which is a town I have spent some time in. If you are already well-acquainted with Broonzy, I am sure this will be valuable, but is a bit of a slog otherwise
