en-US Thu, 08 May 2025 02:35:56 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7552480350 Thu, 08 May 2025 02:35:56 -0700 /review/show/7552480350 Richard gave 3 stars to Utopia Avenue (Hardcover) by David Mitchell
Fake Band Concoction

David Mitchell's foray into 1960's pop music is a cannily constructed but ultimately empty tale of a made up band becoming stars and embracing tragedy. It is very long, written in a lively, readable style but never quite feels authentic, like the band. The characters seem fake, the situations over-egged and the hype and exaggeration of every momentary plucked from real headlines (drug busts, psychosis, etc). Over the top descriptions of every event overwhelm the readers. It all seems too good to be true until it isn't - and if you don't see it coming, you've never read a book. Namedropping everywhere, Mitchell tries hard to convince you of the reality of the group by vamping on the era's heroes.

That said it is very readable and fun. ]]> Review7446824106 Sun, 30 Mar 2025 01:38:25 -0700 /review/show/7446824106 Richard gave 4 stars to All or Nothing: How Trump Recaptured America (Hardcover) by Michael Wolff
I Vote Nothing

Michael Wolff, America's top sleaze journalist, has produced his 4th Dracula volume charting the return of the vampire to feast on the blood of the American republic. Once again, Wolff characterises Trump as dumb, stupid, maniacally narcissistic, stumbling from day to day, and yet, phenomenally lucky. He even goes so far to praise Trump as the most consequential president since FDR.

Once again, he discounts intentionality - that is Trump is too stupid to plan anything, so he merely steps in pots of gold while others step in piles of shit. He argued in his previous book Landslide, that Trump was too dumb to plan January 6th, but as the truth emerged since, he was the evil 'genius' behind all events. Trump denied Project 2025, but is implementing as we speak, plus wrecking international relations with allies while courting Putin (gee, I wonder why?) and introduced Musk as his primary wrecking ball. So once again, Wolff, obsessed with tree bark, has missed the massive impact of forest clearance so obvious to any objective observer.

That deep criticism aside, the book is hilarious, full of trenchant observation, revealing characters and a fresh interpretation of events that merit the effort of reading. It fascinates like a huge NASCAR pile-up - you can't take your eyes off it. Wolff actually believes that Trump was wounded in the assassination attempt in July - despite their being NO WOUND. He is entirely dismissive of Biden and fully accepts the idea that Biden was a zombie - despite admitting that his State of the Union in March was solid, even impressive. He acknowledges that Harris was a very impressive candidate despite being dismissed by the media and insiders as inept and wildly disliked.

As American democracy sails into the sunset, we wait for the good citizens to wake up, get out on the street and town halls, and unseat the cowardly Republicans gleefully leading the country into the authoritarian abyss. Unless and until that happens, we can only pray that the Van Helsing character rises up and puts a stake through Dracula's black heart. ]]> Review7419646284 Thu, 20 Mar 2025 09:14:03 -0700 /review/show/7419646284 Richard gave 3 stars to Cimarron Rose (Billy Bob Holland, #1) by James Lee Burke
Tangled Up in Rose

JL Burke is a seasoned writer of thrillers and stumbles slightly with this one. Billy Bob Holland (yet another Holland!) is a guilt ridden former Texas Ranger turned small town lawyer. This debut novel is a complex tale of murder, revenge and paternity.

I found it astonishingly complex - needlessly so - and hard to follow. But you knew while reading that the good would win, the bad guys killed or punished - sometimes both - and that reduced the involvement in the story. JL is a Baptist writer - you know who is going to hell from the get go. He tries to disguise this with one of the characters, but any experienced reader will see what's coming. Still Burke is a capable writer and Billy Bob is a good character, smarter and tougher than you think. The resolution was satisfying and well done. ]]> Review7411067964 Mon, 17 Mar 2025 09:20:01 -0700 /review/show/7411067964 Richard gave 4 stars to Johnson at 10: The Inside Story (Hardcover) by Anthony Seldon
Bojo the Clown

Tory toff historian destroys Bojo and praises him at the same time. This charlatan, a mini Britain Trump (swopping slumlord gangster felon for Eton/Oxford bulls**ter) helped push his country into the abyss of Brexit, bungle the Covid outbreak and nearly dying in the process, pissing all over his party and country with his lying and lack of fibre, AND YET is considered a great talent by Seldon who thinks he was his own worst enemy. If only he was an upright, moral Tory- he would have made it onto Seldon's list of great Prime Ministers (the only Labour one was Atlee). If you believe that after reading this, good luck to you.

Johnson is an amoral, lying, publicity hound, narcissistic like Trump with no core except his ego. He had no idea what he wanted to do in power except to have it. He put trust in Dominic Cummings (who Seldon praises!) the only British public figure with lower morals than Johnson (brilliant, he trills). While recognising his every flaw, Seldon can't see Bojo as the Eton windbag he was and is. The book is, however, a delightful read, despite the complete lack of judgement on the part of the author(s).

If you think Bojo had charisma, you might agree with Seldon. I saw him like I see Trump, a dangerous clown, a lying windbag and and a moral vacuum. ]]> Review7396709557 Wed, 12 Mar 2025 01:25:42 -0700 /review/show/7396709557 Richard gave 3 stars to Lay Down My Sword And Shield (Hackberry Holland, #1) by James Lee Burke
The Early Burke

James Lee Burke wrote this florid novel in 1971. Though it shows early promise, the messy plot and poorly developed characters (everyone except the hero, who is 3 dimensional) drag it down. It is a redemption story as Korean War captive Hack Holland, aspiring politician, becomes a real live man through the love of a union organiser.

JLB writes well. He makes his sentences sing and involves you in his story. The strongest parts are, of course, the torturous memories of traumatised Hack in a Korean War flashback. This is vibrant and coherent, especially compared to the Texan setting, which is like a drunken rampage. You see enough of the later JLB to anticipate the heights he hit twenty years later.

Worth a read or listen (it's free on Audible.) ]]> Review7382885576 Fri, 07 Mar 2025 02:50:47 -0800 /review/show/7382885576 Richard gave 4 stars to How the World Made the West: A 4,000 Year History (Hardcover) by Josephine Quinn
Vice Versa History

Josephine Quinn asserts, correctly, that civilisational thinking is bunk, and that there was enormous global sharing for millennia. Personally, I never believed in this idea, maybe this is dogma at Oxford, where Quinn teaches. Her grasp of history is vast and detailed, and it spills out effortlessly in this deliberately popular book. It is full of facts, characters, some you know and others much more obscure, to build her thesis. By the end of the book, she firmly kills civilisational thinking dead, but ignores one central proof which shatters it in one blow.

She ignores monotheism mostly til she gets to Islam. The central role of the Jews does not get a mention. The role of Christianity in bringing monotheism to the Roman and then greater world, is only introduced in any detail when Rome falls. It struck me as very odd when reading the book and it does now. She skates over a few key events and people but provides details on more obscure ones that make her point.

Nevertheless, this is a very useful meta history, a product of vast scholarship and is written fluently for the intelligent general reader. ]]> Review7322374626 Sat, 15 Feb 2025 02:51:23 -0800 /review/show/7322374626 Richard gave 4 stars to Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis (Hardcover) by Jared Diamond
Historical Upheaval

Jared Diamond applies his unusual way of presenting history with Upheaval. He identifies how people deal with upheavals in their personal lives and translates this into how nations deal with crisis that causes upheavals in historical events. He chooses 6 examples, applies the model and observes how well or badly their reactions dealt with the crisis. Countries presented are Finland, Japan, Germany, Indonesia, Chile and Australia. He presents potted histories of each country, identifies a crisis, and examines how each deals with the upheaval.

Lacking the originality or cohesion of Guns, Germs and Steel, this is still a fascinating read. I learned at lot about these countries and found the analysis stimulating if not totally convincing. Some of the comments included here take issue with his analysis, especially leftists convinced that Diamond is a Zionist lackey (he is not). I think the flaws in this book are the way the analysis presents a scattergun of conclusions without a unifying idea.

Nevertheless, I like the way Diamond approaches history. He provides original perspectives on conventional history, a more scientific bent, and writes well. Not to everyone's tastes but well worth a read. ]]> Comment287159274 Sat, 15 Feb 2025 02:50:10 -0800 /review/show/2822359106 Randall's review of Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis
by Jared Diamond

Comedian ]]> Review7289244525 Tue, 04 Feb 2025 04:00:33 -0800 /review/show/7289244525 Richard gave 5 stars to Patriot: A Memoir (Hardcover) by Alexei Navalny
Hero of Our Time

The late Alexi Navalny had moral clarity and an unflappable optimism that remained undimmed till the end. This memoir starts with his life story, goes deeply into his political activism and ends in a prison diary. It is written with a sparkling tone throughout and only drags slightly with the mundane details of his persecution by Putin. It is impossible not to admire Navalny his great strength in adversity, his sense of humour and deep humanity. He remained grounded and realistic till the end, certain that his return to Russia, his homeland would end in his persecution and likely death. Such moral courage is unusual.

All he wanted was for Russia to be free, free of despotism, free so that its citizens would benefit from the countries natural resources, to live a rich and happy life. Instead he died in the middle of the War in Ukraine which, in characteristic accuracy, he described as a war of aggression and so that the Putin regime could clamp down further on the population..

It is a hard book to enjoy, yet it is written joyfully with the author's good nature and wit shining through. In this time of spineless opposition to Trump, it is a remarkable memoir of a hero of our time (apologies to Lermontov). ]]> Review7255337112 Sat, 25 Jan 2025 09:38:09 -0800 /review/show/7255337112 Richard gave 5 stars to The Border (Power of the Dog, #3) by Don Winslow
Crossing the Line from Genre

Don Winslow's triumphant conclusion to his 'Power of the Dog' trilogy - comparable in scope and complexity to Ellroy's LA Quartet - is crime writing at its best. It is the most multi-faced series I have ever read, and I enjoyed the last entry most.

Winslow's hammers Trump in disguise, replacing the Mueller investigation with his own drug lead investigation of cartel funding of Jared Kushner's buildings. It is impossible to summarise the many threads of this series, so I won't try. This final instalment is the most emotionally engaging and hypnotising of the three. It is all tied together in the end, somehow, when Art Keller, DEA leader, pulls down the web of lies that lead to taking down of Adan Berrera. With his efforts and those who work for him, more cartels are overthrown. But Keller knows where the problem really lies - without willing buyers, you can't sell poison. America is full of willing buyers and until that changes, the war on drugs will NEVER be won. ]]>