The Tin Drum / Gunter Grass

The Tin Drum

category: fiction / fantasy / "magic realism", author:
book 1 of Danzig Trilogy

Gunter Grass

translated by Ralph Manheim
published by Everyman's Library, original copyright 1959, read in May 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

A couple of weeks ago I was discussing my PissWeakly rating system with a friend. "What do you do," he asked, "If public opinion is that the book is 'good' -- but you don't like it?" "No worries," I replied. "The rating is Agamedes' opinion. I rate it as I like it."

Here is a good test of the system...

The Tin Drum is, I suspect, a classic. You know, a book that everyone has heard of but no-one has read. There is also an expectation that a classic has survived because -- in general literary opinion -- it is "a good book". Perhaps the inside cover blurb explains why this book is a classic:

THE TIN DRUM presents Hitler's rise and fall through the eyes of the dwarfish narrator whose magic powers become symbolic of the dark forces dominating the German nation in that period."

Oh, so that's what it's about!

And there I was, thinking that Drum was about a weird little kid who became a weird little adult, without going through the standard phase of "growing up". The book is written by Oskar -- the weird kid -- as an adult. He tells of his birth, growing older, deciding(!) to not grow any larger. He's anti-social, extremely self-centred and very bad with relationships. When he refers to his current life -- as an adult, living in a lunatic asylum -- he is still anti-social, extremely self-centred and very bad with relationships.

Oskar does claim to suffer from guilt, from two incidents. He suffers guilt for killing his mother, though as I understand it, he didn't. He feels guilt for allowing his (Oskar's) self-centred demands to cause his father to be killed; he did. Oskar could have saved his father from death; he didn't. Oskar is an all-round nasty person who causes grief to everyone around him.

If that is "symbolic of the dark forces..." then it does not make for an enjoyable book.

If Oskar is indeed "symbolic of the dark forces" -- then perhaps the symbolism needs to be explained more clearly.

The Tin Drum is a book for readers who like to relive the past. For people who like to read a new view of incidents with which they are already familiar. I did read about Danzig -- where the story is set -- in Wikipedia. Which did make some sense of what was happening as a backdrop to Oskar's own story. But so what?!

The book just goes on and on... and on... and on... with mean-spirited and petty actions by a nasty person. If you're interested in the characters of peasants and shop-keepers of pre-WWII Danzig -- read this book. Actually -- I did find that quite interesting. But it was spoilt by the pointless nastiness of the narrator. And -- I must admit -- I have no great interest in events in Danzig, during Hitler's rise and fall.

Back to "Agamedes' opinion"

I originally rated this at "6: read to pass the time". Then I remembered how hard it was to read this book! So, no, do not pick up The Tin Drum with the idea of a passing a few hours with a readable book. It was readable enough at first, then just clagged up my mind. Too much of the same, too little of interest.

I managed to read as far as page 278 -- almost exactly half way -- before I gave up. "My wife said, "Are you just skipping to the end, to see what happens?" No... It's worse than that.

I read half the book, then stopped. And I have no interest whatsoever, in finding out how it ends... There is no character, no plot, no idea which is worth following. The book is a series of incidents leading forward -- but to no place that I am interested in reaching.

And finally: Did you notice that the narrator has "magic powers"? The blurb says so and it's true. Which makes it difficult for me to categorise.

Grass is, apparently, "an early advocate of 'magic realism'". Does that mean that this book is a really boring fantasy? I don't have a category for "historic fiction", just "fiction". This book is a bit more than just "fiction". So I categorise Drum as both fiction and fantasy. Just don't confuse this book with escapist fantasy...

This book is a classic. Read it, if you are interested in deep and dark symbolism. If you believe that you would rather enjoy reading an historic classic -- read any book by Dickens. If you would like to enjoy a book about a dwarf and translated from German -- try The Dwarves. Read Drum only if you are interested in a complex and long-winded...

Ah, forget it.

And for goodness sake, Stop humming Little Drummer Boy -- it has nothing at all to do with this book!

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Vicomte in the Kitchen: Brown Snaps

Brown Snaps aka Ginger Nuts

category: recipe, from The Vicomte in the Kitchen, a cookbook by:

Vicomte de Mauduit

published by James Clarke & Co, original copyright 1933

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10... simple & tasty

This cookbook is one of my favourites. Recipes with simple -- obscure -- directions. For meals which, quite often, I have never heard of. Some... I can't even imagine what the finished meal should look like!

Brown snaps, though... are ginger nuts. I know what the packet version looks like. I have successfully cooked the Vicomte's brown snaps. Here's what you need:

• 1 1/2 lb flour, 1/2 lb butter, 3/4 lb treacle, 3/4 lb sugar, 1 oz cinnamon, 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls ground ginger.

Some of the world has now converted to metric... I tried to do the conversions in my head. Then I realised, I only want to make a small number of these biscuits.

Did I mention, brown snaps are biscuits?

First, though, I spread butter over a baking tray and turned the oven on. 180 degrees C, fan forced.

I put a mixing bowl on the electronic scales and reset the display to zero. Added enough flour to look about right, for the quantity of biscuits I was after. Added a fraction more, up to 180 grams... Other ingredients would go in, in proportion to the flour. So:

• One and a half pounds of flour. That's three half pounds... Call that, "3" of flour. Plain flour or self-raising? I think it was plain, the label has fallen off our container. I had weighed out 180 grams.
  
• "1" of butter. That is, if flour is 3, butter is just 1, or one third the weight. 60 grams. Straight from the fridge, so I softened it in the microwave.
  
• Three quarters of a pound is half of one and a half pounds. "1.5" of treacle -- 90 grams -- surprisingly heavy for its volume. By the way, if you think that treacle is just like golden syrup -- you'll get a nasty surprise if you lick up the excess treacle!
  
• 3/4 lb sugar. "1.5", 90 grams of sugar. White sugar? Some ginger nut recipes use syrup and brown sugar -- which would probably average out to the same flavour as treacle and white sugar.
  
• 1 oz -- one ounce -- cinnamon? My proportion method failed, I added a scoop, plus a bit...
  
• ... and the same rough quantity, more or less, of ground ginger. All very inexact.
  

Cooking involves some science -- and a lot of art. If the quantities are wrong -- adjust for the next time!

I put everything in the one bowl -- and mixed.

After a while, I mixed by hand. So much more effective!

The instructions from the Vicomte read, "Bake lightly, and take out of the oven while still soft." That's it, that's all. No mix instructions, no shaping, no temperature, no time. Typical of the Vicomte!

I rolled up balls of biscuit mix, perhaps the size of a walnut. Possible lesson from another recipe: put the mix in the fridge to cool, before shaping into biscuits. I'll try that, next time. I may also try to make the biscuit mix balls into a more standard size...

Roll, flatten, place on greased tray. Roll, flatten, place. Roll, flatten... you get the idea...

Our oven has a light which is permanently on. I could see the biscuits. They did seem to be cooking.

After about twelve minutes -- after taking in some washing and picking some fruit -- I decided that the biscuits were cooked. Took them out, tasted, decided -- cooked.

A nice simple recipe. Quick and easy (if you already have the treacle and other ingredients!). The biscuits are nice. And I think they could be even nicer, with a bit of practice.

A successful recipe from The Vicomte in the Kitchen

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Warlord: The Hammer / SM Stirling & David Drake

Warlord: The Hammer

category: science fiction / military, author:

SM Stirling & David Drake

book 2 of The General
published by Baen, original copyright 1992, read in May 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

The Hammer is the second book of the five-book General series. Why is the heading above, Warlord: The Hammer? Because the first two books of General are published in one volume. And if you'd like me to explain that all again... see Warlord: The Forge.

In Hammer, Drake & Stirling continue the bloodthirsty, death and glory battles by tough fighting, hard drinking & hard wenching soldiers with loyalty and heroism bursting out of their bulging biceps. Does that sound a bit negative? Well -- I enjoyed this book but perhaps I should have waited a few months longer before reading.

How many dead bodies can you handle in a month? This book is absolutely drenched in blood and guts. Strangely enough, the good guys barely get scratched... In this book, the hero's battle tactics are unbelievably successful.

I guess that, where book one had the hero learning to win battles, book two has him get so popular that he could become political leader by acclamation. The first book's Pyrrhic victory demonstrated tactical skills but lost a lot of popular support... well, his supporters in the army are mostly killed. In the second book the hero, Raj, keeps his army largely intact... which gives him a good, solid... live... "voter base". So, okay, unbelievable but plotworthy.

In The Hammer we are also given a clearer picture of the long term goals of Raj and his computer mentor. Having a long-term view -- plus support from a computer which predicts the probable outcome of choices -- also provides a different view of the hero's choices...

Traditionally, a hero makes choices based on his objectives and his ethical stance. You know: good guy sacrifices self for greater good (or for the girl), tough guy is willing to sacrifice others, anti-hero acts for himself... and the reader can follow the choices but may or may not support them. Well, Raj is a good guy with a long-term view -- and a computer giving the odds. Whatever choices Raj makes, he "knows" the outcome. Or, at least, he knows the outcome of the alternatives.

So we, the readers, have an explanation of his reasoning. We know why Raj chooses certain actions. We can see what would happen if he chose another option. And we have no excuse for wondering why he made his choices... Which can be a bit boring, really.

The Hammer is non-stop military action, loads of blood and guts, some humour. That characters are ridiculously loyal -- or obviously disloyal. Bigger battles but less doubt of the outcome...

An enjoyable book -- I will definitely look for the follow-on books -- but perhaps I will wait a while. There's a limit to how much of this over the top military heroism I can take...

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Return of Tarzan / Edgar Rice Burroughs

The Return of Tarzan

category: action, author:

Edgar Rice Burroughs

book 2 of Tarzan
published by Penguin Group, original copyright 1913, read in May 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

Agamedes' opinion is an 8?! Okay... I admit that this is not great literature. It's totally unbelievable, both characters and plot. It's either sadly dated... or a great window on its time. But for my own opinion -- it's great!

Read this book for a bit of heroic fantasy, for escapism, for fun. It provides all of those. Plus a plot so unbelievable that it could go straight to a Hollywood movie... Oh, wait... it already has :-) The women are beautiful, the good men are handsome. The evil men are dark and swarthy, with a tendency to lurk. Rescue is always, just in the nick of time.

What category should this book be under?

I could say, "classic" but I have no category for classic. It's not really "fantasy", just an exaggerated view of the world of the author's time. Or maybe it is fantasy? There is a note with this edition, that "Readers may note some discrepancies in the text regarding [the shape and geography of Africa]." But who checks the atlas when writing a novel?! The library has identified it as "action", so I shall stay with that.

I have also placed Tarzan in the "space opera" category.

Burroughs first books were (I believe) in the John Carter of Mars series. Tarzan is, really, John Carter of Earth. Both Carter and Tarzan fight the good fight, defeat evil villains and rescue fair damsels. Enormously strong, but willing and able to use weapons. Exploring new areas and discovering new, usually degenerate, civilisations.

Okay, Tarzan is not in space. But his stories fit well, in my definition of "space opera".

Back with the book, there is an old-fashioned innocence, mixed with plenty of implied sex. Tarzan, for example, is an absolute gentleman, where women are concerned... a gentleman who strolls naked through the jungle. Other characters lose their clothes though they then fashion garments from animal skins. Jane, "of course", was not expected to forage through the thorny jungle. "Her apparel was, nevertheless, in a sad state of disrepair."

Then there's the Ouled-Nail...

Tarzan is helped by a girl -- an "Ouled-Nail" -- who works in an Arab cafe. (One look at Tarzan and this girl was willing to risk her life to save him.) The girl has been a captive, a slave, forced to work for two years in this sleazy cafe. She and the other girls have individual rooms out back... with a single candle for each girl, "the better to display her charms to those who might happen to traverse the dark inclosure." Hmmm... waitresses, perhaps?

Which chapter did lead me to an internet search for "Ouled-Nail". Turns out that they are a tribe from Algeria. Who have their own style of Ouled-Nail belly dance. Which led me to YouTube. Which was, really, quite an eye-opener! I now have a better appreciation of the seductive power of "belly dance" and the more overt styles of its modern derivatives.

Read Tarzan for the action and adventure and just a lot of good fun. Follow the less common references to learn more about the world.

And if you find that there really is a Rue Maule in Paris -- please let me know!
Buy the book from Amazon and earn me a commission... Or, search the web for one of the free copies of the text.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Hung Out / Margaret Weis & Don Perrin

Hung Out

category: science fiction, author:

Margaret Weis & Don Perrin

book 3 of Mag Force 7
published by Victor Gollancz, original copyright 1998, read in May 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

This is a bang-gotcha bunch of overdrawn stereotypes fighting evil and defending the weak, though they will also defend nice people who can pay well. That is, mercenaries with heart.

That all seems fairly ordinary. Trite, even. There are two aspects of Hung Out which take it from "readable" to "really quite good": likable characters, and good plot.

The members of Mag Force 7, the mercenaries, like each other. They are all loyal, tough, honest... with each other.

The hero is, of course, a troubled soul. In particular, he is a cyborg -- half machine -- and this has caused him to separate from his much-loved wife. Having taken three books to wipe out the last of the baddies, the final chapter of this book is where the couple reconcile. Wife admits that hero's best friend in the mercenary gang had contacted wife, to ask her to get back together with hero. Then it turns out... that every single member of the gang -- plus the mother of one of them -- had asked the wife to forgive and forget. Ah shucks! how sweet :-)

But that's just the last chapter.

The book has two main plot lines running through it. By the end, we have discovered that the two lines are closely connected. Better yet -- there are clues throughout the book. Not red herrings, just clues. The good guys are mislead, though they suspect that there is something odd going on... and the reader is given enough hints to connect the dots.

No false trails, no deus ex machina, no sudden revelations... We are following the good guys' logic but are given enough hints to work out what is happening. Well done, the authors!

Aside: I really dislike traditional whodunits. As far as I can tell, there are enough clues to convict any one of the characters. The whodunit author simply picks one and claims, that is the murderer... and very seldom provides evidence to clear the others.

Hung Out has likable characters. It has a solid and effective plot. Plus lots of action, some positive messages about love, hate, revenge and freedom. Plenty of humour, usually based on the eccentricities of the mercenaries.

Over the top. Unbelievable. Great fun.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Gypsy Morph / Terry Brooks

The Gypsy Morph

category: fantasy, author:

Terry Brooks

book 3 of Genesis of Shannara
published by Del Rey, original copyright 2008, read in May 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

This is the final novel of the link from The Word and the Void into the various Shannara series. I admire the way that Brooks has linked the books but that does not make this book any better than, readable.

The Word and the Void is generally depressing. No matter that each book ends with some sort of resolution -- bad guys stalled, good guys escaped -- the underlying theme is, that the world is moving inexorably to a miserable end. By linking to Shannara, Brooks is able to tell us that, eventually, the world will regenerate. So that's good.

Then there's this book, the final of the near-future novels. Finally, all the (chief) bad guys are exterminated. Most of the good guys are safe, for the foreseeable future. What else? Nothing much...

Everyone is following Hawk, the Gypsy Morph. His role is to lead them to a safe place. Where is it? When will we get there? He doesn't know... he just goes in the direction which feels right. Then there's Simralin, the elf. She is not able to use elven magic -- until her boyfriend is in mortal danger. How did she know what to do? She just... did.

The whole book is like that: people doing something but not knowing why. People able to save themselves with magic, magic which they just "knew" how to use, at the crucial instant. No-one actually plans to do something, no-one knows what they should do -- until they desperately need to do it. Brooks uses the ignorance of his protagonists as a substitute for suspense.

Yes, the previous book The Elves of Cintra was exactly the same. Morph is just a little weaker, in that the plot is really the last few chapters of a larger novel: wrapping up the loose ends.

Still, it's nice to see the loose ends wrapped up. Now I'll read The Sword of Shannara, just to see if this 2008 prequel does really run smoothly into Brooks' first novel, written back in 1977.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Sleeper Awakes / HG Wells

The Sleeper Awakes

category: science fiction, author:

HG Wells

(introduction by Patrick Parrinder, notes by Andy Sawyer)
published by Penguin, original copyright 1899, read in May 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

I can't help but compare Wells' The Sleeper Awakes with Heinlein's For Us, the Living. Wells takes a "modern" (1899) man, gets him to the future, throws him into excitement, wonder, action, discovery, conflict, etc, etc -- and allows us to discover Wells' view of where the world could be going. Heinlein takes a "modern" (1939) man, gets him to the future -- then bores us to tears as characters spend many pages stating Heinlein's views of where the world should be going.

Every science fiction aficionado knows that Heinlein was a key influence in science fiction writing. Every person who can read knows that Wells was a great science fiction author. Compare Sleeper to For Us and it's obvious why Wells is more widely known and admired.

So, the book:

Perhaps the majority of Wells' predictions are wrong. Rewrite the book to take advantage of today's science and engineering and many of the predictions stand up quite well. We may not have giant lakes of "Eadhamite" for road-building but we do have giant tanks of equally poisonous materials, stored, distributed and in daily use. We do have rich people using products and services with no regard for the effort and possible danger faced by the people who provide the products and services. Just watch the tv show Dirty Jobs to see what I mean.

One very accurate prediction was, that workers would be de-skilled: "some dexterous machine" would be used to replace the skill and muscle of production workers. If computers had existed in 1899, Wells could also have predicted the replacement of workers' minds.

Then there's the advertising of Wells' future age -- it's everywhere! Early in The Sleeper's sleep, perhaps by 1910, there are giant advertising posters covering the famous white cliffs of Dover. When he awakes, 200 years later, every available surface is used for ads. Picture the nurseries: mechanical wet nurses, just torso, breasts and arms. Plus a flat disc for a face, with the disc covered in advertisements which may appeal to the parents...

The social separation of workers from the idle rich, however, appears to be a poorer prediction. Wells himself, in a preface to a 1921 edition, sees the error of his earlier thoughts... with some interesting comments:

"I was young in those days [1899], I was thirty-two". Young?! By 32, a man of this century should have forged a career, become CEO of a major company, perhaps been bankrupt -- or be considered to be a failing and worthless cog in the machine of success.

Wells then goes on to say, that the total oppression of Workers by Capitalists was not, after all, a realistic threat. In 1899 he thought of "big businessmen" as being "wicked, able men." By 1921 he had met more businessmen and come to realise that they were, "for the most part, rather foolish plungers, fortunate and energetic rather than capable, vulgar rather than wicked, and quite incapable of worldwide constructive plans or generous combined action."

That was observation. Observation which is as true in 2010 as it was then, in 1921. So we are, as Wells realised, safe from the worst oppression that he foresaw while writing The Sleeper Awakes.

The Penguin Edition

The Sleeper Awakes is, I admit, a little hard to read. Its style, and assumptions, are dated. Nevertheless, it is an excellent book. Read it as an okay book for now and as an excellent book for its time. Read it for its insight into the interests and concerns of its famous author.

Do not read this 2005 edition for its chapter by chapter "Notes"!

Penguin have provided biography, introduction, various other items of interest. Okay, not that much interest: I simply skimmed a page here and there. There are also numbers in the main text which point to Notes at the end of the book. For example:

Monkshood and delphiniums are noted... they are flowers. Any dictionary or google could tell you that. Between the two, a character "struck a match in the virile way..." What? The virile way ... of striking a match!? I wonder what that means... The note writer may also have wondered, he gave no explanation.

The Notes are like that: the obvious is explained, the confusing is ignored. Some Notes are, I admit, interesting. Many are simply dictionary definitions. A few are explanations which become clear as you read further in the novel.

The actual book is excellent. The various extra sections are interesting. The Notes really, really need to be rewritten -- to help the modern reader with words and terms which may no longer be current. But please, don't tell me where Boulogne is. And don't distract me with the colour of delphiniums and monkshood.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.