alanjporterwriter
Alan J. Porter
I make up stories and write about stuff. Mainly high-adventure fiction, pop-culture reference books, and comics - with the occasional business related Content Strategy stuff thrown in. This is just a place to post stuff that interests me.
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Books Read in 2024 #32 - “Agent Josephine” by Damien Lewis .
Josephine Baker was a remarkable woman with a fascinating story, unfortunately it isn’t told in this book.
After using her name to sell the book (the very reason we picked it up), she is shockingly ignored while the author focuses on the resistance activities of the men who recruited her and used her,and her fame as a shield for their activities.
Josephine is reduced to little more than a shadowey background presence in her own story.
Very disappointing.
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Books Read in 2024 #31 - “Breaking Bold & Brave” by Jim Beard.
Back when I seriously started to collect comics one of the things I enjoyed finding were the various Index type magazines. They were a great way to discover new titles and issues to look out for.
Many years later at the height of my Batman collection I had a full run of all the Caped Crusader’s team-up issues in the Brave & The Bold series. These eclectic off-beat stories with great artwork by the under appreciated Jim Aparo were among my favorites.
This new volume from my friend (and sometimes editor) Jim Beard combines both my appreciation of comics indexes and fond memories of a much-missed title.
While the factual information about each issue of Brave & The Bold is interesting as a comics historian, what makes this collection stand out are Jim’s comments on the stories, good and bad, plus his insightful interstitial essays.
If you enjoyed reading B&B back in the day, then I highly recommend you check out this volume.
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Books Read in 2024 #30 - “Henry V” by William Shakespeare
I needed to reread and make notes on Shakespeare’s Henry V for an upcoming project, and rather than mark-up our copy of The Complete Works, I picked this cheap study guide edition to work with instead.
Having rewatched a few movie adaptations recently (Kenneth Branagh’s 1989 remains my favorite) it was good to go back to the original text and revel in the flow and power of the Bard’s storytelling.
I was also fascinated by the Plain English ‘translation’ which overall did a pretty good job at making it more accessible to anyone coming to Shakespeare for the first time. However there were clearly points where the more modern version struggled to deliver the nuances of the original language, and I didn’t always agree with some of the sidebar contextual notes.
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Books Read in 2024 #29 - “The Best Stories of Arsene Lupin” by Maurice Leblanc
Arsène Lupin, gentleman thief, appeared in 17 novels and 39 short stories published between 1905 and 1939. His popularity in France was comparable to the popularity of Sherlock Holmes in the UK and the two were rivals in print (and between their respective creators). Lupin has been a source of inspiration for films, comics, manga, and TV including the recent Lupin series on Netflix.
This volume is clearly put together to reach those coming to the character through the show, and manages to fail spectacularly.
The 19 stories in this collection are fun and entertaining tales from various points in Lupin’s career, but it’s the collection itself that misses the mark.
There is no background information on Lupin for the new reader, nothing to put the stories in context, no publication information, and it reads as if different translations were used as character voices are inconsistent.
But the biggest error of all is the order in which the stories are presented. They jump around Lupin’s timeline, and worst of all a trilogy of connected tales are in reverse order!
It’s a real shame because a good editorial hand could have made this a perfect introduction to a classic character for a new audience. Instead it’s a jumbled mess.
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Books Read in 2024 #28 - “Mythos” by Stephen Fry
We felt that at 15 hours the audio version of Stephen Fry’s retelling of the Greek myths would be ideal for this long trip.
Consumed in chunks it started out as an entertaining and educational listen, but after the 10 hour mark not even Stephen Fry’s engaging narration could stop the stories starting to feel repetitive and confusing with too many similar stories of randy gods and identically named mortals doing various feats.
In general Fry’s asides on the lasting linguistic and cultural influences of the myths were more entertaining than the myths themselves.
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Books Read in 2024 #27 - “A Night To Remember” by Walter Lord
After visiting the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge TN earlier in our road trip we thought this classic tale of the ship's fateful encounter with an iceberg might make for an interesting listen.
The first part of the narrative from the sighting of the berg to the final fate of the ship is gripping. But then (if you'll pardon the pun) the author seems to veer off course as the story jumps around in both timeline and approach leaving the reader (or listener in this case) a little confused.
Written in 1955 it has been superseded in some areas by more recent research and evidence from the dives to the wreck. It also carries some viewpoints and statements that don't sit too well from today's perspective.
But that aside it is at heart a very human telling of a tragedy that still haunts and fascinates us.
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Books Read in 2024 #26 - “DC Showcase Superman Vol 2” by various
500 plus pages of goofy silver age stories in which Superman is less the hero and more the comic relief or the foil of innumerable frustrated romance stories.
The plots may be repetitive, the set-ups ridiculous, and the behavior of the main characters occasionally bordering on the intolerable - but there is still some indefinable charm to these tales of the Man of Steel from the early 60s that shines through the absurdity.
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Books Read in 2024 #25 - “Journey to the Center of the Earth” by Jules Verne.
After my recent relisten to the Rick Wakeman’s rock opera based on Verne’s classic tale of subterranean exploration, I felt drawn to reread the original, which I probably last read as a teenager.
With a couple of long freeway trips coming up I was delighted to find this version on Audible narrated by the incomparable Tim Curry. Making it a must listen.
I’d forgotten just how verbose Verne’s prose style is and how long it took to set up what little action there was. This is less a story of exploration than a scientific treatise on subjects such as mineralogy, botany, paleontology, and theoretical mathematics delivered by characters with incalculable levels of knowledge and superhuman endurance and stamina.
Except for the unfortunate narrator, Axel. I’d forgotten what a dramatic, whining, alarmist he was. If I was either the redoubtable Professor Lidenbrock, or their stoic Icelandic guide, Hans I think I’d have left Axel lost in a side tunnel somewhere beneath Scotland!
- #books #reviews #2024reads
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Books Read in 2024 #24 - “Never Again” by Peter Hennessy
A fascinating examination of the socio-economic history of the UK in the years immediately after World War 2. It was an era of stark contrast with continued rationing, austerity measures, and shortages on one hand, while the future looked full of hope with the foundation of the welfare state, high employment, and ambitious technical innovations in development.
In what turned out to a highly readable account Hennessy doesn’t pull any punches about where things worked, and where they failed. He discusses the impact of the end of Empire, the start of the Cold War, and the rise of conflict in Korea with equal emphasis as he does the impact of bread rationing or the nationalization of the coal industry.
His concluding view that the government of the time was too focused on fixing the ills of the 1930s to the detriment of planning for the 1950s and 1960s was an interesting take that informs the much repeated argument that the UK became a nation that was good at inventing things but didn’t know how to turn them into successful businesses.
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Books Read in 2024 #23 - “Ernie Pyle’s War” by James Tobin.
Ernie Pyle was the most widely read and recognized American war correspondent in World War 2. His daily columns from across the different theaters of war from North Africa, Britain during the blitz, to Italy, post invasion Normandy, and finally, and fatally, the Pacific brought the raw sights and feelings of those on the front line home to those wanting to know what their fathers, brothers, and sons were fighting for.
Pyle’s focus of spending time with the front line troops rather than just regurgitating press briefings gave the regular G.I.s a voice and cemented their role and struggles just to survive. As a result he was welcomed into their ranks as a comrade.
This excellent biography reveals Pyle was in many ways a broken insecure man who never really fully understood his place and impact. It also points out that while many of his columns were hard hitting and poignant he was well aware of what he left out or glossed over in support of the nebulous thing called “the war effort.”
As well as being an excellent biography of one particular war correspondent it also provides insight into the role and process of news gathering and reporting during a major conflict.
Originally written in 1997 this 2013 edition includes an extra chapter on how in some ways it would be impossible for an Ernie Pyle to operate in a modern conflict zone, while reiterating that there is also always the need for folks who can provide empathic support for front line troops.
The book ends with an Ernie Pyle primer collecting a sample of columns from throughout his career, both pre-war, and during his front line experiences.
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Books Read in 2024 #22 - “Old Dog: Redact One” by Declan Shalvey.
I’ve enjoyed Shalvey’s writing on other titles and appreciate his often innovative storytelling techniques in his art, so thought I’d try out his creator-owned spy series, but it didn’t really connect with me.
Mixing spy-fi, body horror, and multi-layered mystery together it doesn’t really work as any of those genres and came across a bit muddled. A situation not helped by the multiple timelines the narrative jumps around in either.
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Books Read in 2024 #21 - “Noir” by various.
The back cover to this “collection of crime comics” declares them to be “bleak tales of murder and deceit,” and that’s a spot on description of the contents. I wouldn’t really call them noir tales but they all have a dark twist.
As with anthology I found the stories to be of varying interest and quality from one I found incomprehensible to others that really drew me into the narrative. But I wouldn’t call any of them particularly outstanding or memorable.
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Books Read in 2024 #20 - “Emperor of Rome” by Mary Beard
I really enjoyed Mary Beard’s extensive history of Rome in SPQR, and was hoping for the same in this examination of the 3 centuries of Imperial Rome. Unfortunately it didn’t engage me the same way and I think that was due to the way the text was presented.
Rather than a chronological tale of the men who wore the laurel wreath, Beard presents more of an examination of what the role of Emperor entailed by doing a deep dive into various aspects of the job and the way it was perceived by other Romans of all classes.
It’s an interesting approach, but I found it a bit repetitive and the non-chronological aspect led to some confusion as to which Emperor was under discussion or where they fit in the overall timeline.
It also felt a bit uneven in what topics received a deep discussion and which were skimmed over.
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Books Read in 2024 #19 - “The Witches of World War II” by Paul Cornell & Valeria Borzo
At its heart this is a great premise for an alternate history tale - take five historical proponents of different aspects of the occult in the UK who were around in the 1940s and spin a tale of them getting together to undertake a special mission for British Intelligence.
Unfortunately it doesn’t quite work as it took me a while to really get a handle on the main players as individuals. Plus it felt a little uneven with the set up taking up two-thirds of the story leaving the special mission feeling rushed.
I will give props to the concluding essays which provided insights into the actual historical activities of these fascinating individuals.
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Books Read in 2024 #18 - “Murder - The Biography” by Kate Morgan
An interesting overview of how homicide has been viewed and treated under British law over the centuries.
More of a legal history than a true-crime book, it does include some reflections on cases that precipitated legal change, and there were quite a few “I don’t know that” moments from both Gill and I as we read it. But it also tended to be repetitive and on a few occasions lost focus.
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Books Read in 2024 #17 - “The Last Armada” by Des Ekin
I’m ashamed to say I was blissfully unaware of the story of how in December 1601 the Spanish landed a small force in the west coast of Ireland with the intention of establishing a foothold from which to launch an eventual invasion of England.
Things didn’t go to plan and the Spanish force found themselves besieged for 100 days waiting for reinforcements that never arrived and aid from Irish insurgents who were eventually out maneuvered by the English troops.
As a journalist rather than a historian, Ekin tells a compelling story while balancing the actions and aims of all three sides of the conflict. He also lays out the long term legacy of an event which literally changed the political and cultural landscape of a country for centuries to follow.
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Books Read in 2024 #16 - “More Collected Stories” by Lewis Shiner
This slim volume collects six of Shiners most recent short stories )a couple being very short), yet each carries a lasting impact as Shiner takes inspiration from everyday moments to make you confront thoughts about a variety of topics from aging, to discrimination, to art & legacy.
The best thing I can say about this collection was that it’s too short and I wanted to keep reading.
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