Ian McEwan - two books

        Recently I read a couple of titles by Ian McEwan and I've had a few thoughts. McEwan was one of the writers to praise 'The moral landscape'. I'll admit I did not enjoy that book but I decided to find some of McEwan's works. I cannot yet get hold of 'Atonement', which has won him a bucket of awards so I tried a couple of other titles. First I took in 'The child in time', which looks at an English writer's life after he and his estranged wife lose their three year old daughter in a department story. McEwan weaves a great atmosphere but the story falls out in a disjointed boring mess. The B-plot held almost as much weight as the A-plot but it was just as disjointed.

        The only thing this book had going for it was the fact that it was less than 300 pages long. On the other hand, had it been longer, McEwan might have used the room to develop the characters better. I finished up by rating 'The child in time' 2 out of 5 stars. Meh on so many levels and not recommended unless you have several hours to kill. The next McEwan book I took up was 'On Chesil Beach'. It's even shorter than 'The child in time' and with fewer characters. Newlyweds in 1962 England looking to consummate their relationship. In my diary, I wrote that 'Consummation might be for him a source of celebration but it's a source of consternation and trepidation for her.' Yes, I write meaningless doggerel in my journal; what of it?

       The ending of the book cracked my cynical heart. You never know what you had until it's gone. 4.5 out of 5 stars. I thought that it should have been longer but the characters and development flow much better here. Anyway, that's what I've been reading of later. I also read a series of interviews with Noam Chomsky that flat out depressed me. Makes one want to embrace nihilism wholeheartedly. 'Optimism over despair' indeed! So July is coming to an end. I'm ready for September to start.

BYE.

Damn you, Kissinger

       And here I was thinking that the White House held the freaks and monsters these days! Believe it or not, Henry Kissinger is still alive. 97 years old according to Wikipedia. He's been the subject of hundreds - if not thousands - of historical accounts. Well, here comes Greg Grandin (history professor, writer, and looks decent in a cap) with 'Kissinger's shadow: the long reach of America's most controversial statesman' with skeletons to free and indignation to awaken. Before I took up this book, all I knew about Kissinger came from the lads of the Flying Circus (Nicer legs than Hitler and more endowed than Cher). Of course I was overdue to read summat about this guy.

        Kissinger was one of Nixon's main dudes and one of the few to escape the ravages of Watergate. I thought the current prez was desperate to make up his own reality. He's got nada on Kissinger and Nixon - not nearly as clever or as audacious as Kissinger, either. Then again, I have to wonder how Nixon and his crew of liars and con-men would have handled a pandemic. Hopefully, they would have stopped waging imaginary wars on Cambodia and Laos for a moment to do something good for a change. Imaginary war but with plenty of very real napalm - Kissinger has been called to account for this ever since he left the White House. He's never really, according to this book, acknowledged his mistake.

       Reading this book angered me. And this was the time before the Republican party worsened. Thanks to the madness that's going on down south, I've familiarized myself with 'American exceptionalism' and other such euphemisms. Oh, and Joe Biden gets a mention in this book too - well before Obama said 'You're with me' - back when he was a senator. Anyway, I'm enjoying this book despite the fact that it makes me angry. This book was published in 2015, by the way. I wonder what Kissinger thinks of the current situation - assuming politics is still important to a 97 year old devil like him.

       No sims pics today. Just a quick blurb about what I'm reading. It's wet outside and I can hear thunder in the distance. Mom is at the lake with the xtended relatives this weekend. I hope the weather's been all right out there.

BYE.