Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino

It is difficult to describe this book. Nearly every word and line contains something profound, beautiful, or otherwise memorable. Invisible Cities consists of a series of carefully constructed descriptions of cities, which are divided into various categories, including - but not limited to - Thin Cities, Continuous cities, and Cities and Desire. Each is related by the famous Venetian merchant/explorer Marco Polo for the entertainment of the great Kublai Khan. Through their conversation and Polo's accounts, the Khan expects to gain a greater understanding of his kingdom, but he soon discovers that his guest is not necessarily describing real cities, or different cities. Calvino has created a complex and layered examination of human society, perception, symbols, architecture, and the many manifestations of fear and desire which generate the cities of the world.

Totally Awesome Must Read!
5 out of 5
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At War With Asia - Noam Chomsky

This highly academic collection of essays from the early 70s is not exactly light reading. Pick this up if you have a serious interest in American foreign policy and the patience to wade through the facts and undecorated analysis. Chomsky examines - in great detail - the military involvement of the United States in the Southeast Asian nations of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, drawing on extensive research and his own visits to the area. He is, of course, relentlessly critical of the American government and its policies - the general point seems to be that claims of good intentions and benevolence were/are all bullshit, and that US interventions there and throughout the world were/are really aimed at maintaining the dependence of developing countries on the United States (for the sake of expanding both military and markets). But he also looks home to America, contemplating the health (or existence) of a democracy that allows its government to wage wars against poor nations, especially when against public opinion. "Either the war will have to go," Chomsky says, "or the democracy." While these essays are mostly over thirty years old, they may offer more than just a critical look back in time, as the US has moved on to different regions but its motives remain essentially the same.

Worth Reading
3.5 out of 5
Buy this book: At War With Asia: Essays on Indochina

Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 - Hunter S. Thompson

The strangest thing about his rambling, angry, often incoherent collection of a year's worth of political writing is that there are actually moments of genuine, clear insight. Somehow, the late Dr. Thompson's unorthodox journalism manages to capture - or reflect - the true nature of the American political process - maddening, gruesome, something akin to a meat grinder that threatens to destroy the sanity and stability of everyone involved, so long as they have a sliver of humanity in them. Indeed, by the final pages, Thompson himself is unwell, and unable even to write - at times bare transcripts are given in place of his trademark narration. Through his suffering he appears to have gained something of an inside understanding of how our country works, and as a self-labeled power junkie, Thompson seems to intuit (and still deplore) what motivates the maneuvers of many politicians. Alternatively hilarious (as in his account of crashing a pro-Nixon youth rally), tedious (he throws out a lot of numbers), and incomprehensible, this is ultimately an entertaining and enlightening account of a bizarre aspect of America; and readers may notice some uncanny resemblances between the events of the '72 election and many of our recent ones.

Worth Reading
3 out of 5
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The Castle of Crossed Destinies - Italo Calvino

This slim piece of Calvino is something to chew on, a new lens, new direction. It contains a collection of intertwined stories told through the interpretation of Tarot cards by mute travelers at a mysterious crossroads. As each individual story is laid down, it is discovered that common cards are needed to accommodate them all. Calvino gives us the first stories, those that are universal; each crosses and meshes, compliments and mirrors. But the interconnectedness of the tales is more than the surface crossing of the recent trend of showing multiple tangential plots in popular books and films (e.g. Pulp Fiction, Babel, etc.), which only meet on a one-dimensional plane. The sharing of Tarots highlights the interpretive nature of storytelling, and of experience itself. Even the well-known stories that emerge (Faust, Macbeth, and others) are not rigid, but are shifting, open entities. Calvino leaves us with the sense that there is no limit to the gradient of interpretation, or complication, of life.

IMPORTANT!
4 out of 5
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Slapstick: Or Lonesome No More! - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Written like a series of jokes aimed at punchlines, this later Vonnegut novel never requires too much concentration. Even so, its short little bursts of thought contain wonderfully absurd anecdotes and plenty of the author's trademark sentiment-laced satire. His preoccupation with apocalyptic themes is present, along with his quixotic longing for a greater sense of community and belonging. Within these pages you will find many of the ideas that are expressed ad nauseum in his speeches, essays, and shorter works (see Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons), but a little more finalized and focused. Told from the perspective of a senile former president and half-genius, it outlines (the writing is very sparse) a very unusual childhood relationship, the demise of civilization, an experimental new social system, and a brilliant solution to China's population problems (although it only worsens the world's air quality). This quick read is not as fully conceived or cutting as The Sirens of Titan or Cat's Cradle, which likewise predict the fall of civilization (always with a bit of hope for recovery), but is highly amusing and a good example of his later style.

Worth Reading
3 out of 5
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In Patagonia - Bruce Chatwin

A travel adventure full of historical anecdotes, myths, and curious tangents. Chatwin traces his travels through Argentina and Chile loosely following stories of his swashbuckler uncle and slowly unravels the truth of legends, some local and others world famous. His path dots around foreign outposts where most strangers accept him with open arms. Within the stories of these characters he objectively reveals a history of violence and displacement of aboriginal peoples as well as the struggles of the first Westerners as they attempted to settle in this far southern corner of the world. A fascinating and fun ride that inspires the reader to go out on their own exploration.

IMPORTANT!
4 out of 5
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