- A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka
Borrowed? Courtesy of Brian.
Recommended? Highly. This is a first novel by the author, and a very good first novel it is, recommended by your friendly neighbourhood Cat to anyone in search of good writing about troubling issues. For the record, it's not *really* about tractors, except peripherally. It's about how to cope with your elderly Dad having an affair with some tart less than half his age with big bosoms and dyed hair.
Reread? Probably not. Too many books, too little time. - A Will For Freedom - Romen Bose
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? This is a book about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army) in Singapore during WW II. A fascinating glimpse at a fascinating character. Highly recommended for anyone interested in history of India, British colonies, imperialism, WW II, Singapore, Japan, Southeast Asia.
Reread? Probably not. - Apache Sunrise - Jerome Boyle
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? The author wrote this chronicle of his experiences in VietNam as a helicopter pilot with the Army's 1/9 Air Cavalry. It's not great prose, but it is a sharp and sometimes painful reminder of what the military life does to people, and what makes them who they end up being. Written in a chatty, easy style that would put the author in there with the good guys, those pawns of a government intent on feeding the MIC with a "military conflict," not a "war." Recommended. Especially in light of Iraq, Afghanistan, and future elections. Especially for Americans.
Reread? Maybe. - Asian Labour In The Japanese Wartime Empire - Paul Kratoska, Ed.
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? This is a highly technical analysis of the various Southeast Asian nations and the effect on them (especially on labour) of the Japanese occupation and WW II. Although couched in dry academic language, it is painfully revealing. Recommended for those interested in the history of labour, S.E. Asia, WW II, war crimes, Japan.
Reread? Probably not. - Bizarre Books - Russell Ash & Brian Lake
Borrowed? A certain book-dealer is responsible for this outrage.
Recommended? It's a funny little collection of book titles. Actual books published in earlier years. Even a PoliticalCat needs a little humour now and then, so if you do too, enjoy this little book.
Reread? No. - Deeper - John Seabrook
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? Very dated. I mean, read it if you're the kind of geeky geeky geek who finds Teh History of Teh InnerTubes totally fascinating.
Reread? No. - From Pacific War to Merdeka - James Wong Wing On
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? This short book is a series of interviews with MPAJA fighters in the Malayan Resistance against Japanese occupation in WW II. Although it's not a shining example of ebullient prose, it's a useful look at a largely neglected group of people who gave up everything for their dream of a liberated homeland.
Reread? Probably, as needed. - How To Avoid Huge Ships - Joel Rickett, Ed.
Borrowed? A certain book-dealer is responsible for this outrage.
Recommended? Another collection of unintentional hilarity in the form of actual book titles.
Reread? No. - In The Grip of A Crisis - Rudy Mosbergen
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? Rudy Mosbergen was a child in Singapore when World War II broke out. This is his memoir of what it was like growing up under the Japanese occupation. The book could have used a good editor, but it's well worth reading if you're interested in history of Singapore, Southeast Asia, war, WW II in the Pacific Theater, colonialism.
Reread? Probably not. - Kinabalu Guerrillas - Maxwell Hall
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? An interesting little book on the resistance in Malayan Borneo against the Japanese during WW II.
Reread? No. - King Rat - James Clavell
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? Clavell needs no introduction as a writer. I'm surprised at how good he still is, having read this book originally in the 1960s. Of course, he's writing about his own experiences, which gives the narration a certain power not otherwise easy to manifest. Highly recommended for a good (not-entirely) fictional look at the lives of British/American PoWs in Changi Gaol, Singapore, during the Japanese occupation.
Reread? Probably. - Labour Unrest in Malaya - Tai Yuen
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? An excellent, if academic, look at labour history in the British colony of Malaya, with some eye-opening information about the "liberal" British government's treatment of anyone fighting for their rights as working people.
Reread? As needed, only. - Life As The River Flows - Agnes Khoo
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? This is an excellent book about women in the MPAJA and the CPM ranks who fought for the liberation of their homeland from the Japanese occupiers and the British colonizers. The stories of these women are poignant, heart-rending, yet inspiring. They sacrificed everything to ensure that their descendants, their people, would have the freedoms they themselves lacked. Highly readable, fascinating, and recommended to anyone interested in the history of Malaya, the CPM, the MPAJA, Southeast Asia, the Communist Party, liberation struggles, women's history, war, WW II, Japanese role in Southeast Asia.
Reread? Someday. - Living Hell - Goh Chor Boon
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? This book describes the experiences of one of the survivors of the Japanese-engineered and built "Death Railway" featured in the film Bridge on the River Kwai. The author, a young Singaporean, was, like many other Southeast Asians, taken away by Japanese military authorities to labour on the bridge. Fortunately for him, he had medical training, which saved him from the terrible, indeed, criminal conditions under which much of Japanese slave labour perished. This is a chronicle of his horrendous experiences on the Death Railway. He's not kidding when he calls it Hell. Highly recommended for readers interested in the history of war, WW II, war crimes, Japan, Singapore, Southeast Asia.
Reread? Probably not. - Malaya and Singapore During the Japanese Occupation - Paul H. Kratoska, Ed.
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? Dr. Kratoska is a veritable fount of information, of the academic variety, on the Japanese occupation of British colonial Malaya. This is actually a highly readable book for those interested in such subjects, and is highly recommended by the proprietors of this fine blog.
Reread? Someday, if needed. - Microserfs - Douglas Coupland
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? Dated. Also, just not that interesting. The characters are too cardboardy. It's hard to feel any empathy for them and their travails. And it's not a literary masterpiece, either.
Reread? No. - Mountains Beyond Mountains - Tracy Kidder
Borrowed? Brian's vast and fascinating library donates once again to TehPoliticalCat.
Recommended? Highly. This is the story of Dr. Paul Farmer who has pretty much changed the way health care is delivered in Haiti - perhaps he hasn't healed the entire population yet, but he certainly is an admirable person with a genuine love for his fellow humans but not too blinded by rose-tinted glasses to understand that health care delivery must be different in Haiti and other such underdeveloped countries than it is in the developed. Dr. Farmer's love and concern for his patients (and the whole world qualifies, apparently, in his eyes) comes through with every word. Tracy Kidder has done a fine job of chronicling Farmer and his colleagues and their self-sacrificing journey to care for the forgotten. Please read this book. It will change your life.
Reread? Probably. - Odd Man Out: The Story of the Singapore Traitor - Peter Elphick & Michael Smith
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? Peter Elphick is the author of the highly impressive book Singapore, The Pregnable Fortress. Although military historians have enjoyed taking potshots at that particular work, this Cat was nevertheless impressed by its readability and well-written record of the events leading up to the fall of the supposed Fortress. This book, however, is the chronicle of one Patrick Heenan, who apparently served as a fifth columnist for the invading Japanese during WW II. Heenan was never accorded a fair trial, and much of the evidence of his betrayal seems to have disappeared from the archives, but Elphick manages to lay out an interesting case for this interesting, if little-known, man. Highly recommended to those interested in the history of British colonies, war, WW II, Malaya, Japan, espionage, and the like.
Reread? Probably not. - Phantoms in the Brain - V.S. Ramachandran
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? A fascinating book by one of the leading neurologists in the world on the nature of the human brain and its function. Read it, if for nothing else, then for the chapter on religion and the brain. Amazing, fascinating, mind-blowing. Highly recommended.
Reread? Probably. Science R teh hot. - Raffles - Maurice Collis
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? A hagiography of Sir Stamford Raffles. Interesting, if somewhat cloying. I believe this book has been recommended by everyone but God to those interested in the history of British colonialism, with especial focus on Raffles. He was an interesting man, to be sure, although not as unalloyedly virtuous as Collis makes him out to be, like as not.
Reread? No. - Red Star Over Malaya - Cheah Boon Kheng
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? A very interesting, if academic, study of the role of the CPM in the resistance and politics of the Malay peninsula. Recommended for those interested in the history of the region, the CPM, resistance movements, labour, colonies, British colonialism.
Reread? As needed. - Rethinking Raffles - Syed Muhd. Khairudin Aljunied
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? An interesting look at a very different side of Raffles. Aljunied is to be commended for a serious yet interesting, readable work that shows British colonial policy and history at its ... most realistic. A decidedly required antidote to Collis' hagiography, see previous.
Reread? Probably. - Sabah Under The Rising Sun Government - Stephen R. Evans
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? Not very well written, and very similar to a previously read work on the anti-Japanese resistance in (then) British Borneo. Interesting for those with an interest in the subject.
Reread? Probably not. - Scouts in Bondage - Michael Bell
Borrowed? A certain book-dealer is responsible for this outrage.
Recommended? Ahahahahaha. More of teh funny.
Reread? Probably not. Too many books, too little time. - Sea of Poppies - Amitav Ghosh
Borrowed? A loan from the library of Ms. Manitoba, that ever-helpful little elf.
Recommended? This is supposed to be Mr. Ghosh's opus, the first book in a trilogy that spans the Opium War and ranges from India to China to Britain and the Americas, taking in the islands of the Indian diaspora en route. A heavy read, but good. Although one really needs to know a little history of various different cultures to derive maximum satisfaction from this book, it's a rich source of information. It wouldn't hurt to have one's Hobson-Jobson close to hand, either.
Reread? Probably not. Too many books, too little time. - Silicon Snake Oil - Clifford Stoll
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? I read this years ago and decided to reread it to see how dated it was. The answer is, very. I really liked this book years ago, but couldn't in all honesty recommend it now. Cliff Stoll was wrong about a lot of things.
Reread? No. - The Dictionary of the Khazars - Milorad Pavic
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? Highly. This is a poetic masterpiece, and my only regret is I waited so long to read this book. Like Ghosh's book, it helps to know a little of the history of Russia, Serbia, and the Khazars, but it isn't necessary. Enjoy it for the incredible beauty of the writing. Kudos to the translator, who did a terrific job.
Reread? When? - The Diving Pool - Ogawa Yoko
Borrowed? From a certain Chan.
Recommended? This is an eerily beautiful book. I'm amazed that I've never heard of this writer. I highly recommend the writer and her works. One of the few pieces of fiction that I will consider adding to my considerably overburdened bookshelves.
Reread? Yes, but when, dammit. - The End of the War - Romen Bose
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? Bose writes about the aftermath of WW II in Singapore, and does a good job. For those interested in the history of that era and locale, this is a useful book.
Reread? Probably not. - The Feckin' Book of Irish Insults - Murphy and O'Dea
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? Well, this was highly amusing.
Reread? Maybe. - The Inmates Are Running The Asylum - Alan Cooper
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? Although anyone who's ever used software will agree with much of this book, parts of it read like Alan Cooper wants you to use HIS firm to analyze YOUR software! Annoyingly preachy and could have benefited from being about a third shorter.
Reread? No. - The Malayan Union Controversy - Albert Lau
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? Academic treatise on a certain period in British Malaya's colonial history. An excellent book, but not of general interest.
Reread? Probably not. - The Old Wine Shades - Martha Grimes
Borrowed? Ms. Manitoba's vast collection of murder mysteries is responsible for this outrage.
Recommended? Martha Grimes is an excellent writer, though not, in this Cat's opinion, a likely successor to Dorothy Sayers as the many reviewers cited in the book insist. This is an entertaining and readable book.
Reread? No. - The Price of Peace - Foong Choon Hon, Ed.
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? A rather painful series of accounts, by people who lived through WW II in Malaya and Singapore, about their experiences of the Japanese occupation. Highly recommended but with reservations. War is ugly, and this book explains very well why.
Reread? Probably not. - The Housekeeper and The Professor - Ogawa Yoko
Borrowed? From a certain Chan.
Recommended? Brilliant writer. This is an amazingly interesting book about ... mathematics. Srsly. It's hard to imagine a novelist capturing the imagination with a subject that has so often been decried as dry, impenetrable, abstruse, but capture Ms. Ogawa does, and not just one's imagination but one's fevered eyeballs as well. I couldn't put it down. No kidding.
Reread? Definitely. - Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Borrowed? From a certain Chan.
Recommended? Another must-read. This is the chronicle of Greg Mortenson's adventures in that part of the world where we are now sending even more troops to fight some ludicrous, undefined "war" that will benefit no one. Meanwhile, Mr. Mortenson is probably winning more friends and influencing more people from Pakistan to Afghanistan by the simple expedient of ... building schools. Relin captures Mortenson's naivete, frustrations, simplicity and most of all, his goodness. Read this book. It's another life-changing document and worth your money.
Reread? YES. - Unit 731 - Peter Williams & David Wallace
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? Oh god. This book documents the doings of Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army. The doctors and scientists tasked with developing bacteriological and chemical weapons for the Japanese, that were tested on Chinese and Manchurian political prisoners and PoWs (including many European and American PoWs — I say this not because American and European lives are in any way more valuable than Chinese and Manchurian lives, but because of the denouement, the fate of the Japanese who ran Unit 731. After all, we tried the criminal Germans who experimented on the inmates of the concentration camps, right? Right. But we didn't try the Japanese who committed similar crimes. We let them go in return for their data, their live human experiments on women and babies and men who were members of an ethnic group that didn't deserve our consideration, I suppose. We told the American and European — oh, let's be honest — the white soldiers to shut the fuck up and denied them any compensation for their suffering or even a day in court, as is their right. And we took these secrets and turned these people loose to win high academic and professional awards from their grateful, if defeated, government and country. These war criminals continued to work in their various professions and were showered with accolades, and never held accountable for their crimes. Then we used their secret weapons, their tainted research, against the North Koreans and the Chinese in that bitter war. And we're surprised at how "paranoid" the North Koreans are. Jesus fucking Christ. This book is only for the strong of stomach. It was a bitter, depressing ordeal reading it. I'm glad I did, but be warned and keep your happy pills close to hand.
Reread? Are you fucking kidding me? There aren't enough happy pills in the fucking universe to make me. - Vietnam Moment - Brenda Paik Sunoo and Ton Thi Thu Nguyet
Borrowed? Ms. Manitoba to the rescue (??) yet again
Recommended? A beautiful collection of poems/sayings of Vietnamese culture married to some beautiful photographs of VietNam, its colourful people and beautiful countryside.
Reread? Probably. Someday. - War & Memory in Malaysia & Singapore - P. Lim Pui Huen, Diana Wong, Eds.
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? For those interested in the history of WW II, Malaysia and Singapore, Japan, war crimes, and the like. Grim subject.
Reread? Only as needed. - You'll Die in Singapore - Charles McCormac
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? The author's account of his life as a PoW in Singapore.
Reread? As needed. - You'll Never Get Off This Island - Keith Wilson
Borrowed? No.
Recommended? The author's account of his life as a PoW in Singapore.
Reread? As needed.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Book Review November 2009
OK. This represents the books read between August 16th and November 16th of this year. I'll publish the updated (and very much added to, dammit!) book list soon. For the original book list (at the start of the year), go here. For previous book reviews, go here, and here.
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