The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more

Book Review: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Book #90 of 2016:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I liked this book, but I had rather a difficult time keeping the various characters straight in my head. (I think this problem was exacerbated by listening to the novel as an audiobook, with a reader who didn’t do much to distinguish voices, but Austen’s habit of only mentioning character names at the beginning of a conversation – or of referring to “Miss Bennet” when there are several of the sisters present – certainly didn’t help.) But I did enjoy the story, and I’m glad to have finally read it.

★★★☆☆

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TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, season 3

TV #44 of 2016:

Brooklyn Nine-Nine, season 3

My wife was still catching up on this show, so I’ve been rewatching it while she does. And now we’re both ready for the new episodes – including that New Girl crossover – starting soon!

My reaction to the season this time is that it continues to bring the funny (in addition to the diverse cast, the positive gender ideologies, and the great character work). I also liked how Holt and Gina were off on their own for the beginning of the season, which reminded me of some of the stronger arcs on The Office (US). Of course, the show did eventually return to its status quo, which is my main worry about the supposed cliffhanger in the finale. Jake going deep undercover at the end of season 1 was undone immediately at the start of season 2, and it’s hard to imagine the ending of season 3 won’t be similarly unraveled as soon as we pick back up. But oh well. This is a really great show; I just wish the writers trusted it more without having to inject this sort of artificial drama.

Original review, posted 4/21/16:

One of the reasons I like to both consume and review TV shows in season-length portions is that that’s by and large how they are planned out, with the whole year’s character and plot arcs determined by the writers over the break. That’s not always so important for a sitcom as it is for a dramatic series, but Brooklyn Nine-Nine continues to raise the bar of its genre. Looking back on this year, I was surprised to realize how much had happened. Of course we had the excellent Pimento and Figgis storylines at the tail end, but let’s not forget that we started season three with Holt out as captain and him and Gina stationed away from the Nine-Nine. Not to mention Jake and Amy’s relationship, which feels so lived-in and natural at this point, only got started when they kissed in the season 2 finale! The jokes have always been there, and the humor has only deepened as we’ve gotten to know these characters better. But this season truly reached new heights with how much plot it managed to cover for a workplace procedural.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

Book #89 of 2016:

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

A lovely coming-of-age story, set in a world where the earth’s rotation has suddenly slowed, leading to all sorts of natural and sociological problems. Although unsettling, I particularly liked the gradual way that the characters come to discriminate against anyone still trying to live and sleep according to the sun’s position in the sky (as opposed to the government-endorsed practice of maintaining regular 24-hour days that no longer sync up with the solar day and night). There’s not a lot of plot in this book, but the tight focus on a family weathering the continued aftereffects of a natural disaster reminded me strongly of Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Last Survivors series, which I adore.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: Joyland by Stephen King

Book #88 of 2016:

Joyland by Stephen King

Stephen King captures the particular aimlessness of a college student currently in between life dreams, but the plot of Joyland doesn’t have any real flashes of brilliance like the best of his work. It’s a perfectly adequate summer read, but so much of it – the psychic child, the regular walks along a beach, the grisly unsolved murders – feels lifted from his earlier hits. None of it is bad writing, but it definitely feels like something I’ve already read.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Book #87 of 2016:

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This book is justifiably a classic, and I’m glad that I finally got around to reading it — but wow, what a miserable bunch of characters. As much as I love a good take-down of the American Dream, I just couldn’t wait to be done with Gatsby, Daisy, and all the rest.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: The Devil You Know by K. J. Parker

Book #86 of 2016:

The Devil You Know by K. J. Parker (Saloninus #2)

I think I like the idea behind this novella — the ongoing dialogue between a philosopher and the demon he’s sold his soul to who’s suspicious the man is trying to trick his way out of their contract — a lot better than the execution. Both the story and the main character feel like they think they’re a lot smarter than they actually are, and the major plot points aren’t given enough context ahead of time to really satisfy. It’s possible that some of these issues would be alleviated if I had read the previous book — I didn’t realize it was a sequel when I picked it up — but I don’t think I would have kept reading if this had been a full-length novel.

★★☆☆☆

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TV Review: Star Trek: The Animated Series, season 2

TV #43 of 2016:

Star Trek: The Animated Series, season 2

I really liked Star Trek: The Animated Series, even in this abbreviated second season. I think it’s for the same reason I’ve been enjoying finally getting into the Big Finish Doctor Who audio dramas: the cast brings the same energy and joy they do to their live-action adventures, and the different format allows for some creative storytelling that would be a lot harder to pull off on the parent series. I’m looking forward to watching the TOS films and then starting TNG, but it’s kind of a shame that there’s nothing like Big Finish (to my knowledge) still keeping these original series adventures going with the surviving cast members today.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: Orange Is the New Black by Piper Kerman

Book #85 of 2016:

Orange Is the New Black by Piper Kerman

This memoir is far less dramatic and action-packed than its fictionalized Netflix adaptation. (And the real Piper frankly comes off as a lot less awful than her TV counterpart.) But fans of the show will still recognize much of its source material here, and even taken in its own right, Piper Kerman’s book is an emotional and insightful first-hand look into the US prison system.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Book #84 of 2016:

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

A short but powerful read. Lennie is so clearly doomed from the start – I have to imagine Stephen King had the big man in mind when he created the character of John Coffey for The Green Mile – but Steinbeck unfolds the story masterfully. It would have been nice to hear more from Lennie’s perspective, but even with the narrative framed around George, it’s easy to see why this book is a classic.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones

Book #83 of 2016:

The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones

For a comedy of manners, The Uninvited Guests wasn’t really all that entertaining. It had some bright spots here and there – mostly to do with the younger daughter, who is absent for most of the text – but as a whole this was just an evening spent with with some very boring company. Many of the characters are mean or rude, but they aren’t really very witty about it. If this story really needed to be told, it would have been better as a stage play at a fraction of the length.

★★☆☆☆

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