Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First, the disclaimer: I love J.G. Ballard’s work. That said, this is a novel that deserves love. This semi-autobiographical saga opens in Shanghai at the beginning of World War Two. An invasion by the Army of Japan is imminent. The wealthy foreign traders who live in the Shanghai International Settlement are scrambling to safety. The stage is set. This is familiar ground for Ballard. He was born in Shanghai in 1930. He and his family were interned by the Japanese occupation forces, spending more than two years in captivity.

The Japanese sweep into Shanghai. Everything is in chaos. The young protagonist, Jamie Graham (The initials in Ballard’s name stand for: James Graham,) is separated from his parents and lost in the chaos. This is the set-up to the story: a young boy lost on the floods of war. So, you may ask, what makes this novel different from the many stories featuring children adrift on the tides of war?

What makes this novel different is Ballard’s unique style, coupled with his treatment of the main character. Ballard employs a writing style that ignores the sentimental, focusing instead on the bleak environment of life in the internement camp. There is a sense of careless callousness that dogs the heels of the characters. Then enter the child, Jamie Graham. He is not really a very likable little boy. This is not some plucky Dickensian Orphan that we are all rooting for, heartstrings all a-flutter. Jamie has an uncanny ability to see through the smoke screen of adult behaviors, sifting out the clues for a pathway to survival. Along the way, he is not the nicest boy in the world, but then neither are the adults.

To go further into the story would be to write a spoiler. So here is the hook, the reason I think you will love this book: An odd child, adrift in a suddenly deconstructed world, must learn to survive where the adults fail to. You might not want Jamie Graham to play with your children, but I am certain that you will care, very deeply, what happens to him in the course of this magnificent tale. “Empire of the Sun” can be dark, there is no doubt, but it is not bleak: and it is not without redemption. This novel is very near the top of my “Most Highly Recommended Novels” list.

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Dune by Frank Herbert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What can one say about Frank Herbert’s “Dune,” a pillar in the pantheon of Science Fiction? I have read this book several times in my life, beginning as a young man. Last week, I found myself thinking of some passage from the book, and so another reading began.

To read “Dune” is read several books, books within books. One of the reoccurring themes in the novel is the concept of feints within feints, motives underlying motives. I suppose it should come as not surprise, then, that there are many levels to this novel. On the surface, there is a tale of wild adventure, set in a complex feudal system flung far into the future. The inventions of our era have, in the distant past of this tale, wrought havoc, bringing about a new structure. Computers, ‘Thinking Machines,’ have been replaced by special beings trained in these functions. ‘Atomics’ are heirlooms of the great feudal families, not to be used on pain of planetary obliteration. The warfare of this era has become personal, a warfare of edged weapons and poison-wielding assassins.

This story of adventure is the first tale, the presenting story. Young Paul Atreides, heir to a Ducal fief, is cast into a whirling storm of intrigue, feudal struggle, and blood vendetta. This tale is enough to satisfy the reader, a story full of adventure, danger, and struggle. There are heroes and villains, the valiant and the cowardly, the good and the despicable. It is a rollicking saga.

The basic plot-line of the novel carries with it many deeper stories, stories that will reward the thoughtful reader. There are far greater forces at work in Paul Atreides life, forces that are outside of his control, forces put into play long before his birth. Frank Herbert explores the ideas of destiny, predetermination, and the struggles of a young man coming to terms with his destiny. Will he accept the mantel that has been crafted for him, crafted without his consent? Will he fling the mantel away, forging his own destiny? As the story progresses, the layers of destiny and treachery become ever deeper, entwining themselves into the myth of a hostile planet.

An arid and frightening world, the planet Arrakis becomes yet another layer to the novel, an ecological treatise on the nature of human beings and their environment. Using the interplay between characters and the harsh landscape they inhabit, the author weaves a story of the land altering the people, and the people altering the land. Is the environment a product of human action, or is the environment shaping the human action? Could it be both?

Beyond all of this lies the mystery of the nature of myth and religion, human engineering of myth, and the impact of that engineering on the future. The building wave of religion and myth carry the story to a crescendo, standing on the knife-edge of cataclysmic warfare.

Rereading Frank Herbert’s “Dune” was a pleasure. The novel contains everything a reader could want: sweeping adventure, love, parental bonds, loyalty, treachery, suspense, betrayal and revenge. The hero’s journey is clearly mapped, convincing, and captivating. For the thoughtful reader, there is much more, a deeper examination of the nature of society, destiny, and religion. Never far from the thread of the tale is how human beings interact with the ecosystems they inhabit, changing them and being changed by them.

I highly recommend this novel. At the very least, the reader will be rewarded with an adventurous romp. Beneath the adventure lies a deeper examination of what forges destiny and purpose, religion and myth. I believe that many readers will be drawn back to this book, rereading it and treasuring it, as I have done.

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The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises,” published in 1926, has been continuously in print for over nine decades. That, in itself, is a strong testament to any novel. I cannot say exactly how many times I have read this work, but I am going to guess at five readings. My lovely wife brought the book home from the library and, as it was just sitting there, I picked it up and read it. Why?

It has become fashionable, in the years following his death by suicide, to malign Hemingway’s work. There are many reasons for this, most of which do not have much to do with his writing. A cult of personality has grown up around Hemingway’s life, a cult of machismo, that of the hunter, the fighter, the fisherman, the man of many wives. Having read a good bit about his life, I believe that this cult of personality played a part in his undoing. He was a complicated public figure, a famous American novelist, a man of braggadocio and bluster. Infantilized by his mother, he overcompensating for that upbringing by embracing a facade of manliness that he would become famous for. But that is the writer, not the writing. Let us set that aside.

Hemingway subscribed to the “Iceberg Theory” of composing a novel. Using spare, simple prose, he told the tip of the tale, leaving the reader to plumb the depths of what lay beneath his stark words. It may not seem like a huge revelation now, but compare Hemingway’s work to some of his contemporaries: Theodore Dreiser, Ford Madox Ford, John Dos Passos, all great writers who wrote deeply complex novels. “The Sun Also Rises,” seems almost a novella by comparison. Yet below the deceptively simple descriptions, and direct dialogue, lies the bulk of the story. Hemingway’s writing style has had a significant impact on modern novels. Because of that impact, as well as his impressive body of work, he remains an important literary figure.

The novel was written in late 1925 and early 1926, following Hemingway’s third trip to Pamplona, Spain. If the reader knows about the ‘Running of the Bulls’ in Pamplona, the chances are it is because of Hemingway. The characters in the novel are based on real persons, those that made up the party of that third journey. The novel consists of three books: Paris, traveling in Spain and the Festival of San Fermin, and a short third book that is the aftermath and conclusion.

On the surface, this is a novel of flawed characters, desperate friendships, and misplaced longing for love. Only look a bit deeper, and there is so much more. Jake Barnes, the narrator, has been wounded in World War One. The reader is never told the exact nature of his wounds, but he has been rendered impotent. Barnes’ wound becomes an exploration of masculinity, and an example of the Iceberg Theory. Much later in the novel, there are some very subtle (and masterful) hints at what may have happened to Barnes. It is there, sketched as a simple line drawing, yet an integral part of the story.

The beautiful and feckless Lady Ashley, Brett, represents not only the love interest of several characters, but the emerging modern image of female sexuality in the 20th Century. She does not come off well in the process, but none of the characters do. And so it goes, from Robert Cohen to Mike Campbell, both besotted with Brett, both towed along in the building madness of the fiesta.

The novel spills through the streets and cafés of Paris, giving the reader a view of a bygone era. The journey continues into the Basque country of Spain, a quiet fishing trip in a land untouched by the civil war looming in the next decade. Then all of the ill-fated characters come together for the fiesta, a group of disparate expatriates standing out against a backdrop of traditional Spanish culture. The backdrop is portrayed as pure and good, the characters certainly not. As the Fiesta ends, the world comes crashing in, leading to the aftermath.

“The Sun Also Rises” is a deceptively simple novel. The characters haunt cafés and bars, talk, argue, drink an extraordinary amount of alcohol, and then move on. Read through quickly, it is an enjoyable story, a succinct slice of a time and a culture. Taken slowly, however, and a much larger set of themes emerge, just visible beneath the surface. It is well worth the reader’s time to take the novel slowly. Sexuality, masculinity, honor, love and loss, values and friendship, these are the themes that are waiting to be discovered.

I would add a note of caution. The novel is a product of the time in which it was written. There are derogatory terms used to describe one of the characters, who is Jewish. There are also racial terms used to refer to one of the minor characters. Some readers may find them offensive. In no way do I endorse any racial labels, or defend Hemingway’s use of them. I simple point out that they exist in the novel.

In conclusion, if you have read Hemingway, but not “The Sun Also Rises,” I highly recommend the novel. If you have managed to live your life without reading Hemingway, then this is a good place to start. If you like what you read, I would suggest “For Whom the Bell Tolls” as Hemingway’s other excellent early novel, along with some of his short stories, particularly the Nick Drake stories. As always, Happy Reading!

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Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Funny, poignant, and heart-breaking by turns, Trevor Noah’s memoir “Born a Crime” is an enlightening journey into coming of age in South Africa. The fabric of his memories include the towering strength of his mother, the insanity of Apartheid, and being a downright naughty child.

By means of full disclosure, I have to say that I am a big Trevor Noah fan. I love the Daily Show, and I laugh myself silly watching Trevor Noah’s comedy bits. Great stuff. Having said that, this memoir is cut from a different cloth. Funny, yes, but it is also powerful and deeply moving.

An added benefit of this memoir is an inside view of what Apartheid was, and how it impacted the lives of those living under those heinous government-imposed racial barriers. We are living in a time when, tragically, racial divides seem to be growing. “Born a Crime” serves as a milepost, and a reminder, of what racial injustice can to to a people, a family, and a childhood.

“Born a Crime” is well-written, funny, and poignant. What else can you ask of a memoir? Highly recommended.

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