August 3, 2012, Tai Po, Hong Kong.
Paperback 2012, 192 pages.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Caught by Harlan Coben
June 29, 2012, South Amboy, NJ.
Paperback 2011, 438 pages.
I am writing this blog about a week after I finished the book, so the plots are a bit fuzzy, especially since I read most of it inside a plane (Hong Kong to Chicago), in that state of neither being awake nor asleep.
There are several different plot lines that somehow intersect with one another. The main one, probably, is this group at Princeton University students whose prank resulted in the disfiguring of a woman. The one who volunteered to take the blame eventually tried to get even, one result of which was framing Dan Mercer as a pedophile. This resulted in Mercer being killed by Ed Grayson, a victim's father. Turns out the one who committed the crime was Grayson's brother-in-law. And, it turns out, Mercer was indeed guilty of murdering a young girl.
All the twists and resolution are in the final pages of the book. It felt as if the author was trying frantically to tie up all the loose ends and did only a so-so job of it. On top of that, he has a habit of taking the reader through a character's thinking process, resulting in a page of words where a sentence would do. And in most cases the reader probably doesn't care about how the characters think.
Overall, the book is an easy read, and I would rate it average, even though I find the plot a bit convoluted, and the ending unsatisfactory.
Paperback 2011, 438 pages.
I am writing this blog about a week after I finished the book, so the plots are a bit fuzzy, especially since I read most of it inside a plane (Hong Kong to Chicago), in that state of neither being awake nor asleep.
There are several different plot lines that somehow intersect with one another. The main one, probably, is this group at Princeton University students whose prank resulted in the disfiguring of a woman. The one who volunteered to take the blame eventually tried to get even, one result of which was framing Dan Mercer as a pedophile. This resulted in Mercer being killed by Ed Grayson, a victim's father. Turns out the one who committed the crime was Grayson's brother-in-law. And, it turns out, Mercer was indeed guilty of murdering a young girl.
All the twists and resolution are in the final pages of the book. It felt as if the author was trying frantically to tie up all the loose ends and did only a so-so job of it. On top of that, he has a habit of taking the reader through a character's thinking process, resulting in a page of words where a sentence would do. And in most cases the reader probably doesn't care about how the characters think.
Overall, the book is an easy read, and I would rate it average, even though I find the plot a bit convoluted, and the ending unsatisfactory.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Blasphemy by Douglas Preston
June 16, 2012, Hong Kong
Paperback 2007, 526 pages.
After the death of his wife, the brilliant scientist Hazelius goes about inventing a religion by getting the government to build a $40-billion particular collider to replicate the conditions of the big bang. He has it rigged so that a program claiming to be God appears as the energy level is increased to the maximum.
Meanwhile, politicians, tele-evangelists, and native Americans get involved, and the end result is that Hazelius is branded the Anti-Christ, and the collider exploded. Hazelius is burned at the stake by a mob, but the new religion ends up being established.
The author in his "Note on the Paperback Edition" claims he is not trying to put down religion, and I basically agree with him. It is equally obvious to me, however, that he thinks science is the answer.
As a thriller, this is not a bad book. As an argument for why science is better than religion, or an explanation of some of the metaphysical concepts associated with cosmology, the book falls short, at least for me. One big hole I see is how the AI program passes the Turing Test if it is indeed planted by Hazelius? The author meekly tries to explain it away by having Hazelius wonder if the program ends up being more sophisticated than he intended; and by doing so also admits there are elements outside science at work here.
Paperback 2007, 526 pages.
After the death of his wife, the brilliant scientist Hazelius goes about inventing a religion by getting the government to build a $40-billion particular collider to replicate the conditions of the big bang. He has it rigged so that a program claiming to be God appears as the energy level is increased to the maximum.
Meanwhile, politicians, tele-evangelists, and native Americans get involved, and the end result is that Hazelius is branded the Anti-Christ, and the collider exploded. Hazelius is burned at the stake by a mob, but the new religion ends up being established.
The author in his "Note on the Paperback Edition" claims he is not trying to put down religion, and I basically agree with him. It is equally obvious to me, however, that he thinks science is the answer.
As a thriller, this is not a bad book. As an argument for why science is better than religion, or an explanation of some of the metaphysical concepts associated with cosmology, the book falls short, at least for me. One big hole I see is how the AI program passes the Turing Test if it is indeed planted by Hazelius? The author meekly tries to explain it away by having Hazelius wonder if the program ends up being more sophisticated than he intended; and by doing so also admits there are elements outside science at work here.
Monday, May 14, 2012
The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel
May 14, 2012, South Amboy
Paperback 2000, 409 pages.
Bought this book in Hong Kong. Author addresses eight principal objections to faith by interviewing various scholars on the issues. Also contains a brief summary of his earlier book The Case for Christ.
Paperback 2000, 409 pages.
Bought this book in Hong Kong. Author addresses eight principal objections to faith by interviewing various scholars on the issues. Also contains a brief summary of his earlier book The Case for Christ.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The Sixth Man by David Baldacci
September 29, 2011, South Amboy
Paperback 2011, 416 pages.
This book is about how two agents-turned-Private Investigators got involved in an attempt, by the Head of Homeland Security and a certain defense contractor, to destroy a competitor defense contractor. It involves some (to me) far-fetched technology involving one single Analyst doing his job with all available information given to him. Nonetheless, the plot is quite well thought out, and the action, especially towards the end, quite gripping.
One complaint is the book started a bit slowly, and the attempts at humor were a bit contrived.
Overall a good book.
Paperback 2011, 416 pages.
This book is about how two agents-turned-Private Investigators got involved in an attempt, by the Head of Homeland Security and a certain defense contractor, to destroy a competitor defense contractor. It involves some (to me) far-fetched technology involving one single Analyst doing his job with all available information given to him. Nonetheless, the plot is quite well thought out, and the action, especially towards the end, quite gripping.
One complaint is the book started a bit slowly, and the attempts at humor were a bit contrived.
Overall a good book.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
The Confession by John Grisham
September 24, 2011, Tai Po, Hong Kong.
Paperback 2010, 515 pages.
This is a rather straightforward accounting of how an innocent person was executed and how the attempt to save him during the last few days failed. The only suspense, so to speak, is whether Donte Drumm would be executed. Thus this is an undramatic book by the usual Grisham standards.
One wonders whether the author had an anti-death penalty philosophy and thus used the story to illustrate his point. Since I don't need much convincing on this point, I am okay with that. My other observation is the last part of the novel basically was simply a straightforward accounting of what happens to the various characters in the novel. As Grisham tends to have trouble finishing his novels anyway, this is to be expected, and is perhaps a technique he should use more often.
Overall an average, easy-to-read novel.
Paperback 2010, 515 pages.
This is a rather straightforward accounting of how an innocent person was executed and how the attempt to save him during the last few days failed. The only suspense, so to speak, is whether Donte Drumm would be executed. Thus this is an undramatic book by the usual Grisham standards.
One wonders whether the author had an anti-death penalty philosophy and thus used the story to illustrate his point. Since I don't need much convincing on this point, I am okay with that. My other observation is the last part of the novel basically was simply a straightforward accounting of what happens to the various characters in the novel. As Grisham tends to have trouble finishing his novels anyway, this is to be expected, and is perhaps a technique he should use more often.
Overall an average, easy-to-read novel.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
God and Stephen Hawking by John C. Lennox
September 8, 2011, South Amboy, NJ.
Paperback 2010, 96 pages.
An easy-to-read rebuttal of some of Hawking's arguments in the book "Grand Design."
Paperback 2010, 96 pages.
An easy-to-read rebuttal of some of Hawking's arguments in the book "Grand Design."
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