Recent Books -- The Road, The Chatham School Affair, Air, Consider Phlebas

OK somehow I have managed to jam a few books into the last month despite all the other things going on.  I will say this, time pressure makes me a little more selective.

* “The Road”:amazon by Cormac McCarthy. Boy I’m late to this one. Brutal, spartan tale. Touching but deeply sad. Going to be the feelgood movie of the holiday season! Viggo is the right guy for this role.

* “The Chatham School Affair”:amazon by Thomas H. Cook. A nice little tale of small town adultery and how it rips apart the lives around it. Depths of darkness here, and some unexpected twists. An Edgar Award winner tho certainly not structured like a typical mystery, probably will appeal to more types of readers. Amazon says 4 stars, I’d say 4.5, this one will stick with me for a while. Surprisingly hard to find – this is why the retail bookstores are in trouble, too much crap on the racks, not enough of this kind of book.

* “Air”:amazon by Geoff Ryman. A small town in Central Asia is brought forcefully into the information age. Highly recommended, award-winning but blah, just doesn’t click for me. Not terrible but just uninteresting. Maybe deeper in the story ramps up but I gave up after 50 pages. Amazon gives 4 stars but I can’t give it more than one.

* “Consider Phlebas”:amazon by Iain M. Banks. His first? Culture novel about a far distant future. Seemingly a space opera but actually a thoughtful book about humanity, the futility of war. Better than I first thought. The epilog to the tale really ties it together. Amazon says 4 stars, this seems right.