Books 7 and 8 of 2018

Volume 2 is just as satisfying as Volume 1--of course this fantasy/sci-fi series fits the mold of all the fantasy sci-fi series I've read. Essun has powers she half-understands (think Thomas Covenant or Frodo or Paul Atreides) and must take what she can from teachers who either want to control her her kill her or mislead or manipulate her. She is a member of a mutant class of humans who are despised despite having skills necessary to humanity's survival.

The Earth suffers continuous geological upheavals because its moon has been cast into a long elliptical orbit. Earth is pissed about this loss, and tries repeatedly to destroy humans as a result--apparently in the distant past the moon was cast away by the reckless use of magic/science, and Essun and her allies are trying to figure it out.

But her daughter Nassun might be the kwisatz hederach of Earth...will she become the God Empress of Dune (I mean Earth) and restore the moon, or will the Earth succeed in wiping out all humans except for the monstrous stone eaters?

I look forward to finding out in volume 3.




Clever, funny, and charming short stories in intermediate French. They follow a classic Twilight Zone model, with surprise twists sometimes involving supernatural elements. Would be useful for a French 3 class or above if you are a teacher, or a good way to rebuild long lost French literacy skills. About 13 years ago I was reading de Beauvoir and Sartre and Leiris in the original French...now I'm back to rebuilding again, and this was an engaging place to start!

Kudos

Receiving good customer service is always a pleasure, but after Prostatis Tax and Comcast treated me shabbily the effect was multiplied. I must relate that there are still organizations where customers ae treated reasonably and sympathetically.

I ordered a package from Amazon two weeks ago, and it was shipped shortly thereafter. I used a Gift Certificate to pay, and bought enough to qualify for free shipping. The book was marked as "delivered" via Amazon's package tracking capabilities last week, but I had not received it. I waited a couple days to see if the carrier had left it with a neighbor, but that turned out to be a false hope.

I emailed Amazon telling them that my order was marked "delivered" but I'd not received it. No less than four hours later a replacement shipment was in the mail at no cost to me, and I didn't have to fill in forms or complain to the USPS. And the email notifying me contained an APOLOGY and a PROMISE TO DO BETTER.

This wasn't even Amazon's fault. The mail carrier either lost it, mis-delivered it, or left it to be stolen off my stoop. And yet Amazon assumed full responsibilty. On a gift certificate reward order, for the delivery of which they'd paid shipping.

At Prostatis, greed trumps competence and accountability, and at Comcast the customer is immediately assumed to be either mentally deficient or lying.

Amazon didn't even ask me questions. They didn't suspect me of shenanigans or subject me to abuse or never-ending phone queues. At Amazon they do things right.

#9

Rabbit Redux is, to quote James Marshall Hendrix, "a frustratin' mess." Instead of running at the end of book one Rabbit returns to Janice and makes a go of the American Dream: bland suburban house, bland alienation from labor in a factory, an increasingly narrow-minded small-town PA conservatism. He grows fat and impotent, his wife ditches him for a Greek car salesman, and Rabbit is off to the races. Silly Rabbit, such tricks are for kids! Drugs, loose teenagers, radical blacks, pimps--what doesn't Rabbit do in a mere 350 pages? There are men on the moon, York PA suffers racial violence, Ted Kennedy drives his car off a bridge, Viet Nam and Nixon. Sometimes the novel's so current it's scary, as characters debate fighting the Viet Cong over there so we don't have to fight them over here, etc.* And yet many of the characters are embarrassing stereotypes and the action often left me incredulous.

Though "a frustratin' mess," Rabbit Redux is also magnificent. Like the country and time period it documents, Updike's book at once exceeds one's wildest dreams and seems to fall far short of an even greater potential. The perfect note, I'd say.

* "We have all been here before," to quote CSN&Y