Books I read in 2014

Maybe mark this one as TL;DR. A belated post of the books I read in 2014. A fairly short list as I spend so much time watching movies (I also dabble in a little bit of work and family time when I can). I'm usually listening to a book during commutes and reading actual books in fits and starts. Let me know what you've read and what you've thought. An asterisk (*) by the title denotes those I've read before.

• Stranger In a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
• A crazy read. I've never read Robert Heinlein before and this is not what I was expecting. It's not really a literary experience, which is what I was hoping for, but instead is an exploration, using a sci-fi scenario, to see what a human being without any human acculturation would do in human society thrown in cold turkey. Michael Smith, the man from mars as he becomes known in the book, was born on Mars and raised by martians - a wholly different species of beings with an advanced culture that see the world completely differently. I didn't really enjoy the structure of the book, per se, but I did find it extremely interesting to think about what sort of truth comes out when you accept cultural differences and open your mind to completely different formats for traditional cultural institutions.
• Through this situation Heinlein turns the understood concepts of religion, love, sex, marriage, and money, among others (even cannibalism - what?!?), on their head. Much of it can seem really jarring, especially because the way it's portrayed and explained in detail (that is, the philosophy of each of those things - no graphic sex, etc.) convinces me that Heinlein legitimately wants people to consider these things - he's not just trying to entertain or make the reader feel an emotion. A quick perusal of his wikipedia page will confirm he believed and may have lived some of the interesting things he is putting out there. I found a few things interestingly in line with my own faith. Mormonism (along with many, many other -isms) is mentioned several times and certain structures of the story match the Mormon origin story - but most of them only in agreement with certain theoretical concepts. Michael Smith, by the end of the story, takes a viewpoint of religion very much like Pi from Life of Pi (ie, the truth in all religions and thought, the desire to want to live all religions) except with a more definite standpoint supported by evidence within the story.
• It was written in the 60's and it feels like the 60's. It's a futuristic story and there are some interesting predictions that are actually relatively true, although many that just seem corny based on the rate that different technologies and sociological functions have evolved (commercial advertisements, for one). A pretty long book.
• Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden
• I listened to this as an audiobook read by the author. A pretty amazing read. The escape is really not the most exciting part of the book, though it is astounding how truly lucky he was. Like a drop through a leak he just happened to make it out of both the prison camp and then out of the country with very little planning or street smarts. His story shines a light, through an individual example, of the worst of what is happening in North Korea. It seems shameful that the rest of the world hasn't done more after decades and decades of Nazi-level treatment of hundreds and thousands (now numbering millions through the years).
• It also provides an insight in to what a truly alien experience is like. He was someone with no knowledge of the outsides world. He hadn't been taught that the world was flat and had barely even heard of life outside the camp within North Korea, let alone the rest of the planet. It compares to Stranger in a Strange Land in that regard but that sci-fi story pales in its ability to movingly relate that experience compared to this. 
• Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
• There are a lot of great things about this book. I like the general premise and the way Vonnegut writes himself into the story- it's obviously an autobiographical reflection. It's similar in style to the Spike Jonze/Charlie Kaufman film Adaptation. He does what he says he's going to at the start: get out all the garbage characters and plot lines he has banging around his head in one book. There is an overabundance of characters and the standard Vonnegut style is there, but it doesn't deliver as much humorous or emotional impact as he has proven he can do in other stories.
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• A worthy classic. Definitely read it. It didn't leave me floored but I really appreciate how she sticks to her guns no matter what. Check out the 2011 film adaptation starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender, which was what inspired me to read the book.

• The Descendents by Kaui Hart Hemmings
• Another book I read after watching the movie. A Hawaiian-born lawyer's wife is in a coma when he finds out she was cheating on him. He has to work through his feelings while dealing with his two daughters and surrounding friends and family whilst in the middle of making a big decision on his family's heritage: a huge parcel of land for which he is the sole decider on whether or not to sell to corporate developers or keep it pristinely untouched. Needless to say, the different challenges inform each other. I love a story where a character has to work towards forgiveness.
• American Gods by Neil Gaiman
• Read my full review. This book is all about Gaiman's interpretation of America as a conglomeration of belief. The best representation of this comes in a speech by one of the book's best characters, Samantha Black Crow. Known by fans of the book as the "I believe" speech, it reflects a culture that can paradoxically believe in many hypocritical maxims with sincerity. Read the speech here.
• The Giver* by Lois Lowry
• I wanted to revisit this before the movie came out. I never ended up watching the movie because the trailer looked terrible and reviews confirmed that it is a huge departure from the story. The book was as good as ever. What? You haven't read it?! Get to work!
• Call of the Wild by Jack London, and...
• White Fang by Jack London
• Read my review of both Call of the Wild and White Fang. These might be my favorite reads from last year. They really inspire me to want to live in the moment and find the things that gets me into my "flow," as I've heard it called.
• Ender's Game: Alive by Orson Scott Card
• I listened to this and it was enjoyable. It doesn't count as reading the book, so don't listen to this unless you've read the book. As a huge Ender's Game fan that is my recommendation to you. This is an Audioplay - a play in audio form. There is no narrator and there is music and sound effects (i.e. foley artists making the sound of feet walking, lasers firing, etc., in order to take care of some of the setting and exposition).
• As a fan of the book, it is fun to listen to, but just not as good as the book. It adds things that are not in the book. It expands on some of the teacher conversations. It has whole new scenes. It has explanations on things that didn't have explanations before, and that might be different from what you would have assumed or expected, based on the book. It is really Orson Scott Card's interpretation, today, of his own story. On his website (hatrack.com) you can find a video introduction explaining the existence of this audioplay. In it he says he thinks it's the most definitive, truest version of the story - or something along those lines. It's not. It misses the mark, mostly because without the narrator and without getting inside Ender's head, you just miss some of greatest parts of Ender's Game (like the mediocre movie adaptation). Also, certain sequences are reduced, like the entire section from Ender's first army assignment in Battle School and especially his rising up the ranks as commander of Dragon Army. Don't get me wrong, many of the best bits from those parts are necessary and included, but you don't delve into that part of the book as deeply.
• The best new addition, however, is Major Jayadi. She is a psychologist and often takes the place of Major Anderson (although he still has mostly his full role) in the one-on-one conversations with Col. Graff, discussing Ender. Maybe its just her British accent, but she provides an expanded opportunity for Col. Graff to expound on why he's doing what he's doing with Ender. Another reason not to listen to this if you haven't read the book is that the ending is revealed in a different way and doesn't have as much of an impact as the book. Read below if you don't mind spoilers.
• **SPOILER ALERT** Of course, the emotional climax comes for Ender at the end when he realizes all of the battles at Command School with his Jeesh were real. Leading up to that, in the book, you have no idea. Not so in this version. You may not exactly get the whole concept, because I don't think its ever explicitly stated, but you would know they weren't fighting in our solar system and that the "simulations" are real. It's interesting in that you get some more of the conversations between Mazer Rackham and Col. Graff, but you also miss out on the reveal.
• The Old Man and the Sea* by Ernest Hemingway
• A top 5 all-time book for me. Similarly to the Jack London books, it's very visceral and symbolic and grounded in nature. It's a very short read and is his best so don't hesitate to pick it up.

• Harry Potter 1-7* by JK Rowling
• We were doing a long road trip and for those I often prefer familiar books that I know I'll want to keep listening to. We got through 3.5 books on the trip and I just kept listening. Jim Dale as reader is truly the definitive voice of the Harry Potter series.
• Master & Commander by Patrick O'Brian
• Just the best historical fiction you can find. If there is any chance you enjoy British naval battles, are interested in life as a sailor, want to learn about being a physician during the late 1700's-early 1800's, like the idea of starting a long series, or enjoyed the Master and Commander movie (starring Russell Crowe) you should give this a try. It's a bit of a hurdle to overcome the sailing lingo, which is very heavy (get the book A Sea of Words to help with this), but once you do you feel like you can speak a whole new language.
• A Sea of Words by Dean King
• This book is basically a glossary of terms relating to ships, sailing, and the navy as per the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. If you are interested in the English Navy during the Napoleonic Wars it might be of interest to you, otherwise I recommend it only as a pre-read and continuing reference book while you read the O'Brian books.
• I started the first book in the series years ago after watching the great film Master and Commander: Far Side of the World (dir. Peter Weir) which is now one of my favorite movies. I quickly was overwhelmed with the terminology to the point that I couldn't go on without getting more info. I got a recommendation for this book and finally ordered it for $4 on amazon - it was money well spent! 
• There are about 75 pages at the front of the book that give an overview of the structure of the navy and its fleet, the history of the Napoleonic Wars from about 1785-1815, as well as the basics of naval medicine and illustrations of sails, rigging, and a variety of boats/ships mentioned in the series. That gave me a great foundation to start the book and as I go through the first installment in the series I refer often (sometimes every paragraph) to the glossary. You could potentially skip over many terms if constantly referring to this book becomes annoying, but I figure that by looking at everything I can now I will more easily shed the need to look up all these terms as I progress through the series - which I am really enjoying! Beyond just ship/sailing terminology, it is a reference for all the colloquial and cultural terms and I would say try looking up even words you think you know because you'll find that at the time they may have had different meanings.
• Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
• I was first introduced to Neil Gaiman through The Graveyard Book and have been reading through his bibliography hoping to find the magic of that book but I never quite seem to reach it. Neverwhere was a good book. It is a modern-day fantasy set in London that takes us, through the eyes of Richard Mayhew - an every-man character - to London Below, a fantastical underworld to the more ho-hum reality of London Above. I think fantasy lovers will really get into it, and I did, but there were so many obvious plot points that I got a little bored at times. There are plenty of great moments as well and some fantasy elements that are great ideas, like the main character Door, who has the power to open or create doors that normally aren't easily opened. I listened to this and so enjoyed Neil Gaiman's perfect narration performance, which ameliorated the experience.

• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
• A great and lengthy summation of a whole lot of fallacies in our common thinking, laid out with moderation and understanding as well as a good explanation as to the two main types of thinking our brain does and how to notice them.
• Farewell, My Subaru by Doug Fine
• I'm not a staunch environmentalist by any means but sustainability seems like a no-brainer. What do I do about it personally? Mandated recycling. I try to use just one paper towel. I recently bought some long-lasting lightbulbs because of the government-mandated retiring of traditional incandescents. What else? Well Doug Fine went the whole way and tells the story of how he did it. The writing is easy, engaging, and funny and it made me want to do more. Great read. 

Film: The Wind Rises

It may end up being remembered that Hayo Miyazaki was the last powerful force in hand-drawn animated films. While there is certainly some great stuff happening around the world uniquely using and creating new or hybrid forms of classic animation -- see Tom Moore from Ireland (The Secret of Kells and his latest Song of the Sea, recently nominated for an Oscar) or Sylvain Chomet in France (The Triplets of Belleville, The Illusionist) or Ari Folman from Israel (Waltz with Bashir, The Congress) -- Miyazaki and his beloved Studio Ghibli, rumored to be closing shop or at least shifting gears from feature films, has been the most consistent in continuing to make great, classically animated movies in an era of 3D-animation dominance. The reason sounds to be the same that causes even legendary, blockbuster filmmakers like Steven Speilberg and George Lucas to have said it is hard to make profitable anything other than a studio-based tentpole movie in today's climate: money.

But my point is not to decry what's happening on a larger scale in movies today (something I have only borrowed opinions on anyway). Rather, it is to draw your attention to a great movie by Miyazaki that, even it it doesn't end up being his last film, serves as a bittersweet culmination of a master's body of work and could be the swan song signifying the end of an era. The Wind Rises, Hayao Miyazaki's final feature (or so he says), is that film. It tells the story of Jiro Horikoshi, an aircraft engineer well-known for designing the WWII era Zero Fighter for Japan. Miyazaki makes up most of the details of Horikoshi's life but says he feels like it represents his character and his mindset. One of these fabricated details is Jiro's wife, Naoko. Making such a sweet, fully-formed love story serve as part of the core of a movie is another departure for Miyazaki, but not one I would've ever doubted he could do so well. The Wind Rises is a devastatingly beautiful film reflection on dreams and love and flying. On many levels, this is lofty stuff indeed.

Naoko and Jiro - a fated meeting

For those that know Miyazaki's work, the subject matter is a first sign that this might be a different sort of movie for him. Known for creating visually and conceptually stunning fantasy worlds featuring youthful heroines in films like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Howl's Moving Castle; this is the first time he bases a film on real characters, with an adult male protagonist, no less. The distinction becomes more pronounced through the watching. Jiro is a man drawn with focused passion towards both his life's work and love. Rather than a more short-term film focused on a compacted series of events, it looks at a larger span of life. The emotional climax is less forced by time and situation than by relationships and reflection. As I mentioned, there is a beautiful love story tied to the movie's core. The themes of the film are more mature than I've seen from him and seem like they are very much coming from the mind of a man pondering on time spent and a life lived. In a press conference announcing the completion of the film, the man playing the voice of Jiro, Hideaki Anno, a director mentee of Miyazaki and non-actor doing his first major voice-acting role, said that he sees his mentor as never having really grown up, that this movie is his first mature, more (only slightly more) adult-oriented story. Kudos to Miyazaki for holding on to his youth for 72 years.

While all this is true, it is most certainly still a Miyazaki film. The heart of the story involves drawing on courage and determination to reach one's dream. The dreams of Jiro serve as the fantasy world in this film, and that is where he meets with his own imagined mentor, Caproni, based on a real-life Italian aeronautical engineer. Often lost in his imagination while designing aircraft, Jiro uses the dream space to test out his designs and work towards his goal of creating his masterpiece. As the narration switches from plot development to Jiro's imagination we often see an aircraft flying fantastically, only to end in it's destruction as a design's weakness becomes apparent in the imagined test flight in his mind. It makes a good case for the role of visualization in the creative process. Jiro is introduced first as a boy and Caproni, never aging in the imagination sequences, continues to call Jiro "Japanese boy" as he grows into manhood. So in reality, it is just another film film about the dreams of a youthful character.

Beyond the thematic consistencies with his other movies, The Wind Rises is most certainly a Miyazaki film in so many other aspects. Visually, aurally, musically, it is a continuation of the development of his style as well as the team of great people at Studio Ghibli. The earthquake sequence is unique and impressive. Moving landscapes seen from trains and planes are stunning. Simple shots of someone looking out a window are so often more interesting than a simple straight shot. In a brilliant touch, the sound effects often employ a chorus of human voices to characterize non-human things--like the earthquake or engines and other mechanics--rather than finding a more realistic sound. And as always in Miyazaki's films, the music, including the final song, provide the emotional heart of the story. I'm so easily manipulated by great music. Joe Hisaishi, a regular for Studio Ghibli, holds that credit for this movie.

Designers Honjo and Jiro at work

There are so many points of symbolism and themes that can be explored here: creativity, age, love, death, war. Some great questions to think about while watching include, "What does the wind represent?, "At what points in the story does Jiro turn to his spiritual mentor Caproni for guidance?", and "Why are their mouths so big when they talk?." I know I can get overly earnest thinking about how things "poignantly reflect the transient nature of life." But I would like to delve into one of the points made fairly explicitly, and that is the question of limited capacity for artists to be creative.

In the film, Jiro's best friend and fellow-engineer Honjo makes ironic reflections saying things like, "You need a family at home to motivate you to work harder at the office," as a reason for his getting married, or that even though Japan is a poor country they are spending so much money to make airplanes. He calls them hypocrisies. Caproni, Jiro's spiritual guide, is also pointing out these ironies but his attitude is different, more tolerant and serendipitously flippant about these observations, accepting and then forgetting them as a part of life. In these scenes between Jiro and Caproni Miyazaki appears to be having a conversation between two different versions of himself: young and old, up-and-comer and retiring-legend. Caproni proclaims to Jiro that the young have 10 years of artistic creativity before the well runs dry; he urges Jiro to use his to the fullest. Caproni then takes Jiro on a joy ride on a new plane he's designed and points out it is his last flight. One can't but help to think this is Miyazaki's pre-emptory announcement following this film's completion that it would be his last. Although he's said this and come back before - this time it seems like he means it. At 74 and with such a breadth of work under his belt you can't deny he deserves it.

Jiro shows Caproni his as-yet-unrealized master design

But I can't help but find fault with Miyazaki for his thesis on the capacity for creativity, especially the time limit and the focus on youth. I've said it before: the best artists do (and any artist can) improve with age and experience. This film of Miyazaki's is a clear case study of the principle. Perhaps his earlier works do reflect more daring and drastic innovation, so that Nausicaa and the Valley of the Winds sets up a world that makes Howl's Moving Castle less surprising (although no less vibrant and mesmerizing). But the fine-tuned, nuanced, and deeply-moving nature of his later work speaks for itself. If Miyazaki took his own 10-year thesis seriously, neither myself nor many other fans of his work here in the US would be enjoying his films today, nor would they ever have.

The cross-cultural success of Miyazaki's films is undisputed, but it was Princess Mononoke in 1997, and then especially Spirited Away in 2001 (which took home the first Oscar for Best Animated Film) that sparked the raving adoration of his work seen today in the US, including the developing of the distribution deal with Disney which delivers his work to US audiences in a very thoughtful and respectful manner. These films were well into his third decade of work. While youth certainly is an artistic force with power to burst through the seams of the past, breaking molds, rebelling, and presenting raw innovation, it is a myth to think that all artists' ability to create truly great work is limited to a small frame of time in the earlier eras of a person's life. Holding on to this idea is the only real limiting fact that exists.

Still, the "10 years" idea does make me think. After watching the press conference with Miyazaki this idea is clarified a little bit. Miyazaki says that for many people there is a period of intense trial, productivity, and focus that can be life-defining. Thoughts like that really scare me. It makes me question whether I've had my ten years, whether they are yet to come, whether I'll realize it, and whether I'll take advantage of the opportunity they present. This a real fear for me, but one I'm glad The Wind Rises has brought to mind again.

In checking out other reviews of The Wind Rises I was surprised to learn its reception was much cooler than many of Miyazaki's other recent films. It is not full of fantastical beings created from an amalgam of cultural reference points and autobiographical anecdotes, all wrapped up in a fantasy, as with some of Miyazaki's other works. It doesn't deliver the story in as similar a way as his other movies. But what The Wind Rises does provide is an atmosphere as equally effective, if not more so, than any of his other films, and using a story, combined with imaginative characters easy to empathize with, that get at the heart of what it means to fly, to dream, to love, and to live. Despite the infinite possibilities for innovation that the medium of film offers, this is really it's most desired and most important result.

"The wind rises. We must try to live."

Film: We Are The Best

When I was in high school I bought a used electric guitar at my local music store. It was this beautiful homemade instrument shaped a little like a Les Paul with a striped neck made from two different types of wood that ran from the head through to the end of the body. The case was lined with deep red velvet and when you opened it the overwhelming scent of wood varnish seemed to add to it's authenticity. A professional musician passing through town had sold it - I imagined it might have a rich, mysterious history.

An interest in music was definitely the common denominator for my group of friends but I never really had the confidence or initiative to organize like they did. I played my guitar with my dinky amplifier turned down very low during jazz band at school. A few of my friends made a Ben Folds Five-esque trio and did a great job playing a school function. I remember sheepishly hauling my guitar over to my friend Tyler's house for a jam session - he played the bass. Although I knew how to play, turning it into something individual, unguided, and self-expressive was much harder than playing the notes of a sheet of music. I dinked around and gave up after a half hour. Music was definitely a gateway to my teenage community, though, a knowledge base that had been introduced to me by others, expanded on my own in my bedroom with headphones, and then turned into a means of relating with my peers. For the girls of We Are The Best it serves the same function, allowing a pair of punk-loving 13-year-olds in a post-punk world to define themselves and distinguish an identity that helps them grown up and learn about the same stuff the rest of us have to deal with at some point too: friendship, family, love & politics, In other words, life.

Set in Stockholm in 1982, We Are The Best opens with 13-year-old Bobo at her mother's birthday, sitting sulkingly while everyone goes about the celebration. Then the worst happens and she is noticed by her mother on the way to her room and she becomes the center of attention. She complains on the phone to her best-friend Klara the same martyr's cry of preteens the world over: "My mom is the worst. She's so embarrassing." Klara disagrees. "My parents are the worst. Just listen to them" and then she holds to the phone out the door to hear an argument about laundry. Both girls are punk rock in a disco pop age. Klara gets grief about her mohawk and impassioned pleas about the perils of nuclear power from the other girls at school. Both are called ugly and despised by others. One night on a whim at their local youth center they decide to make their own punk band. Mostly they just bang on the drums and bass available in the common rehearsal space. They enlist their overtly Christian classmate Hedvig to help them because she actually knows how to play music, albeit only classical guitar. She's also an outcast and they bond over their first song about how much gym class sucks called "Hate the Sport."

The whole thing is joyously fun and as the trailer says, it for anyone who is 13 years old, will be 13 years old, or was 13 years old. The director, Lukas Moodysson, hits every beat just right balancing the touching moments as you watch these girls form and strengthen their friendships, deal with boys getting in the way, and fight a riotous audience at their coming out concert. There are plenty of laugh out loud moments. I really loved Hedvig's character and how she provided an opportunity for Bobo and Klara to realize the merit of compassion. Hedvig is more mature than the other two but also benefits in the relationship by learning to have fun and let her hair down (or actually, to cut it off). Even though Bobo and Klara are anti-God and anti-religion they get a taste of how Christianity has punk rock roots as they see the courage Hedvig has to be herself even when it's not popular.

One token of a great movie is that it helps you expand your circle of humanity. I've never found MMA cage fighting to be enjoyable, and yet while watching Warrior I was on the edge of my seat. You might never have associated punk music with the fragile yet hilarious stage of life of coming-of-age of preteens but through these girls' characters you come to love punk music for the opportunity it provides them to grow up and accept new people. Although they might resist the notion, the love these girls develop for each other is just the same that a group of cheerleaders might. We Are The Best reiterates the fact that you already knew that life for punk rockers is pretty much the same as it is for the rest of us. Roger Ebert said, "The movies are like a machine that generates empathy." This is something I'm always looking for and We Are The Best takes you into the space of being a 13 year old. From a goofy dad that wants to embarrass you by bringing a clarinet to your punk band rehearsal to the joy of serendipitous friendships turning into lifelong relationships, this movie reminds you of yourself - whether you've had the same experiences or not - in a fresh way.

We Are The Best is currently streaming on Netflix.