Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers  4Stars

All right, I can probably guess what you're thinking. "Ew, cadavers? But that means dead people! Who really cares what happens to the dead?" Or it could be something more like this: "Wait, you're doing what with a deceased person? That is not respectful to the departed."

Well, to each their own I suppose, but I found this fascinating! Mary Roach, a journalist by trade, wanted to know what really happens to those that donate their bodies to science or are left unclaimed in the county morgue. They happen to have an interesting life after death.

Medical students are taught surgical procedures that they would otherwise have to learn on the job. I don't know about you, but I want a surgeon that knows what s/he's doing. Ever think about how car manufacturers manage to ensure that a car is indeed safe enough to drive? You guessed it! Long before a crash test dummy is placed in the driver seat, John Doe takes a ride to make sure that you will survive. Included in this book are also some experiments done upon the deceased for the furtherment of science, if not simple human curiosity.

You'd think that such a book is gross and not worth reading. You may be right, but I found it stimulating. Ms Roach approaches the topic with gallows humor and no small dose of wit. Its possible to be respectful of the dead while still keeping a sense of humor.Personally, I have a whole new respect for those that decide to donate their bodies to science, or if their families choose to do so. Thank you, anonymous people, for providing the means to further science. And Mary Roach... thanks for such an entertaining book, even if the topic may have been a bit icky.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

On the Road - 4 stars

Let's first be very clear and state that I am a huge fan of the late great Jack Kerouac, prince of the Beat Generation. His words linger with me long after the story is through and the novel placed upon the shelf once more.This is the most famous and first published book in his Dulouz Legend, a fictionalize biography. Kerouac would change the places and names of people to serve his story. While the events are true, they may or may not have taken place when and exactly where he said they did.

On the Road is the tale of Sal Paradise (Jack Kerouac) as he traverses this country twice and then heads off to Mexico with his pal, Dean Moriarty (Neal Cassady). Dean is a crazed man, high on the fact that he is alive and able to experience the world. He takes things as they are and "digs" the music, the women, the drugs, the real of the late fifties and early sixties. When the world was close to tearing itself apart from war, Dean and Sal see the beauty in the most mundane of life. Picking strawberries in California, hitching in Iowa, digging the jazz in New Orleans. Every experience was new and exciting and they were determined to live their lives to the full. Even if it killed them.

Kerouac and Cassady were pals from the moment they met, there was a fondness that was closer than brothers and certainly more long suffering. Though their friendship was short lived, Cassady dying young, the memory of their shared experiences are forever locked in the page by Kerouac. Poetry and prose bring the world as they saw it into our lives and let us glimpse a world that we will never see again. The innocence of travel will never be as simple as hitching from New York to San Fransisco ever again. Kerouac, in a feverish spree of writing, left us the quintessential book of youth and adventure, of young love and hard life lessons.

Never does Kerouac disappoint me, never do I regret allowing his words and thoughts, his jazz to fill my mind with a world of music and travel, of feverish frenzied conversations and wild parties. I leave my novel a little worn and much appreciated. 

Reading Challenge for 2014

All right, so I know that I haven't been keeping this up very well the last few months. Things came up, life... you know how it is. There just hasn't been enough time to read and that has upset me. More accurately, its annoyed me. I just haven't been able to keep my attention on a book for too terribly long.

This up coming year, I have decided to read at least thirty books. Ambitious, but not too difficult. My GoodReads account says that I have fallen short of my goal for the 2013 year. They do not count re-reads and I do. "Doesn't matter that you've read Girl, Interrupted ten times before, it still only counts the one time". I say its a legitimate read!

Anyway, here is my list of books for 2014. I'm also indicating which (if any) reading challenge they pertain to, as well as which shelf they're from.

The Soloist by Steven Lopez   -- non-fiction

The Postman by David Brin -- fantasy

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell -- fantasy -- 1001 Books To Read Before You Die

Eragon by Christopher Paolini -- teen/fantasy

The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit by Sloan Wilson --mystery

The Third Rail  by Michael Harvey --mystery

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach -- non fiction- Gilmore Girls Challenge

Frozen Heat by Richard Castle --mystery

A Drop of the Hard Stuff by Lawrence Block -- mystery

Haunt Me Still by Jennifer Lee Carrell --mystery

Candide by Voltaire --classics - 1001 and Gilmore Challenges

 Un Lun Dun by China Mieville  -teen/fantasy

ALTERNATES:

The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone --classics

Dog Gone It! by Spencer Quinn --mystery


So here we go, half way through December and the next year's reading list is all ready. Let's enjoy the ride!

Blindness by Jose Saramago

Blindness -1 Star

I hereby declare this the year of the dud! I swear, I have had more disappointing novels this year then any other in recent memory. Blindness has been sitting on my shelf for years and I  was rather looking forward to it, but sadly it did not reach my elevated expectations.

A mysterious illness is effecting various people, they go completely blind for no known reason. Instead of darkness, they see only white. The blindness comes upon every victim suddenly, even between the changing of a traffic light.

I was intrigued by the story, it sounded rather interesting. Yet, I could not get into the book, mostly because the author had a complete lack of punctuation. It was nearly impossible to keep track of the dialog. Eventually, I just gave up because the frustration wasn't worth the "reward".  Oh well, everyone has to deal with a lousy book from time to time.

Current Reads

Oh my... Its been a while since I posted a review. You'd think that loosing a job would mean that I'd have more time to read, but I've been so busy lately. No excuse! Read more, do "whatever" less.

Currently, I'm reading four books. All right, that means the books are in various stages of reading and are all sitting on my nightstand. I'm about one hundred pages into Blindness by Jose Saramago. Not a fan of it, to be honest. The author's lack of punctuation is testing my patience. Next, is One the Road by Jack Kerouac. I love his writing, but am having a hard time getting into this one. Maybe I'll sit still long enough to get a few chapters into the story. Then there's the dirty little secret, Inferno by Dan Brown. I read about half of it in one day. Brown isn't really a literary genius, but its my dirty little secret, my little indulgence, like a vegetarian that can't pass up the odd burger now and then. Finally, I'm a chapter into The Scandal in Bohemia by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I love a good mystery and Sherlock Holmes is one of my favourite detectives. Between he and Hercule Poirot, I've been a hard core murder fan most of my life. 

I blame both my book addiction and my detectives on my mother, she's the one that introduced me to both Holmes and Poirot.

I promise I'll have something posted by way of a review soon. Until then... happy reading!

Angels and Demons Special Illustrated Edition by Dan Brown

Angels and Demons- Special Illustrated Edition -5stars

I've read this once before and enjoyed the intrigue. Its a whirlwind run throughout Rome as Robert Langdon tries to find the Church of Illumination and save not only the four favoured cardinals but also all the ones gathered at St. Peter's Square during Conclave, the vote for a new pope.

I have always had a soft spot for novels that use art and history as clues to the end game. Brown is a master at this style. The joy, though, of the illustrated edition is that you can see photographs of the very clues that Langdon is using to stop a Hassassin. It brings the story to life, it makes you want to take the same path and see if you could have figured it out on your own.

Yes, I know its a work of fiction, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be fun to see Bernini's sculptures in the churches throughout Rome and the Vatican. The questions are intriguing: Was Bernini really an Illuminatus? Was there really a Path of Illumination? Did the early members of the Illuminati have a Church of Illumination? It could be... but then it could also have been just a figment of Brown's imagination. That's part of the fun, we may never know. 

Beat The Reaper by Josh Bazell

Beat the Reaper --3 Stars

This was an average novel because I got rather annoyed rather quickly with the constant f*** this or f*** that. Tedious and distracting from the better parts of the novel.

We meet Dr Peter Brown on his rounds at a hospital that every one hates severely, but he doesn't mind because no one has heard of Bearclaw Brnwa either. In another life, he was a hitman with a heart of gold for the mafia. He had rules, only taking out the kind of guys that no one would miss, that would actually make the world better for their not breathing the same air as decent people.

One day he has to run for it and right into the Witness Protection Programme. All is well, for a while. He's become a doctor, of all things, and is doing his best to set the scales straight. Its all find and dandy until some one recognizes him and then its all bets off.

Now I like a good redemption tale, a guy who wants to pay back his due of good to the world before the Reaper catches up to him. Who doesn't? There is a fair amount of gallows humour in this novel, something I'm also a sucker for. However the shear amount of poor language takes away from the greatness of this book.

I don't regret reading it, I just regret the fact that writers feel the need to add such vernacular to the lexicon.