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Monday July 31, 2017
Books in July
- Waxwings by Jonathan Raban
My sister lent me this book and I also found it interesting, although
the underlying themes she understood from it were somewhat different
to my view; however there was a lot there to ponder on. I did find it
slightly depressing - but for all the wrong reasons! It wasn't the desperate
nature of the lives of the individuals that upset me, but rather, once
again, merely the description of architectural vandalism.
Waxwings themselves (birds) are never mentioned until the last page of the book. The author says: "...it seemed perfect as an analogy for what people were doing with Seattle during the dot-com movement: these birds, as it were, migrating from gold rush to gold rush, getting high, falling out of the tree, waving their feet around, getting up, moving on." - Empire of Sand by Robert Ryan [read by Clive Mantle]
Yet another really interesting Robert Ryan adventure story. It's all
about T E Lawrence "before". I always felt that, however wonderful
the 1962 film with Peter O'Toole, (and it was wonderful), it made it
seem as though Lawrence ended up leading a fighting force of Arabs on
to an amazing victory by sheer chance. This book - to whatever degree
it might be fiction - provides excellent insight into why and how he
went on to such legendary exploits. It also provided me with a lot more
understanding of the politics of the time in the more easily digestible
form of a Boys Own adventure story.
Posted by Christina at 10:07 PM. Category: Books of the Month
