The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice

ISBN13: 9780345360007
Historical Romance/Horror, 436 pages
Published by Ballantine Books

FTC Disclosure: Borrowed (and returned)

This was a book highly recommended. It’s also the first Anne Rice I’ve ever read.

After finishing this novel, I’m don’t feel it’s representative of her best work.

Not that it’s that bad. The beginning popped for me and I was thoroughly engrossed in the story and characters. Bascially, this is a love story between a mummy brought to life and the daughter of the man who freed him from his tomb.

Sounds…unique. And it is. But to a point.

By the time Ramses and his modern love Julie return to Egypt, I was a little peeved at the way some of the characters and their storyline were being handled. Not to mention feeling that some of the subplots were more distracting than they should have been.

I had to remind myself I’m not reading a piece of literature that requires such scrutiny. In letting go of these prejudices, I did enjoy the read more, but not enough to post a rave review about it.

The last part of the book, just couldn’t keep me page turning like I did in the beginning.

I can see why she’s a popular writer and I look forward to reading the Mayfair witch series. I also cannot wait to finally read Interview With A Vampire.

So this wasn’t a bad introduction and I’m crossing my fingers I learn to like Anne Rice as much as her fans. I see the potential, but time will tell.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Science Fiction, 304 pages

FTC Disclosure: Library Book

Cross Posted over at Culinary Carnivale..

I read this book a while ago, but have been trying to formulate my thoughts about it.

Impacting this thought process has been recent articles regarding a growing phenomena in America regarding gender roles, specifically in regards to men.

• Men Are Over. Except At The Top by Irin Carmon
• The Media Is Way Behind On The Matter Of Men by Anna North
• Why We Need to Reimagine Masculinity by Andrew Romano and Tony Dokoupil

What really caught my eye, and made me think of the society portrayed in this book is the following from the article by Romano and Dokoupil:

It’s clear that we’ve arrived at another crossroads—only today the prevailing codes of manhood have yet to adjust to the changing demands on men. We’re not advocating a genderless society, a world in which men are “just like women.” . . . If today’s men want to be hunters, or metrosexuals, or metrosexuals dressed in hunting clothes, they should feel free.

So, in light of the above, what if there were a world or society where gender does not exist?

Le Guin’s protagonist is an outsider who comes to the world of Winter to establish contact and offer inclusion into The League of All Worlds. He’s been informed of the uniqueness of the population as they are ambisexual. Yet it still takes adjusting.

“It was one of the little jolts I was always getting. Cultural shock was nothing compared to the biological shock I suffered as a human male among human beings who were, five-sixths of the time, hermaphroditic neuters.”

There is no division based on a segment of society being strong or weak, dominant or submissive, active or passive.

The most beneficial aspect of this type of society is that there has never been a war. Interesting to consider the implications. No gender equals no conflict? Well, not exactly. It’s just that the conflicts never escalate to such an extreme.

How the evolution of a genderless society occurs along with the corresponding results are what make this a challenging read. It makes you constantly compare and evaluate our reality. On Winter, respect as well as prejudice is based on how you are and behave as a “human”, not a “sex”. Physically gender exists for a short time each month, but socially it does not.

Is the fact that there are no judgments made, no roles forced to play, no power plays other than political, a strong argument for a world or society being considered a utopia?

After reading this, I think not. Belief systems of any kind inherently possess flaws. Even if the duality of gender does not exist, duality does remain at the core of any society: there is good, and there is evil.

This is a great book for those who are intrigued and interested in this kind of subject matter. But it is not a light read by any stretch of the imagination. Besides vocabulary such as: obdurate, adventitious, obviate, perfidy, and pertinacious, the plot bogs down in places and I found myself skipping over several passages.

However the story and its protagonist always brought me back. I wanted to learn more about how this society worked and how they would deal with being asked to join a larger, universal community where many of its members are considered deviants because their gender was a permanent condition.

Ultimately, this is what I walked away with after reading this book: gender is just part of an overall problem. Having it, or not having it, makes little difference in the bigger picture.

I can’t say that this is a book for everyone. Would I read this again? I’m not sure I would. As a recommendation, it would be to those who are social science fiction fans.

If you’ve read this book, let me know what you thought in the comments.

Dracula Is Dead

FTC Disclosure: Book provided by publisher

This book is not what you think. In fact, it really should be pointed out what the full title is:

Dracula Is Dead: How Romanians Survived Communism, Ended It, and Emerged since 1989 as the New Italy.

Damn, that’s a mouthful. But a more accurate description as to what this book is all about.

There are many things Romania is known for, yet the most enduring is Vlad Tepes, otherwise knows as Vlad III – the man who inspired Romania’s most famous character: Dracula. (If you are wondering about other notable Romanians let’s not forget Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci, tennis player Ilie Nastase, or Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel)

But this amazing country has so much more to its history and culture. And this book describes the struggles to overcome this association while on its way to becoming the modern and culturally rich country it is today.

It’s unlikely Romania’s past issues and connection to Dracula will ever be forgotten. In many ways, it shouldn’t. As it is said, “Those that forget history are doomed to repeat it.” Considering what Romania has been through, this is a sentiment I hope is not only taken to heart, but never comes to pass.

Sheilah Kast and her husband Jim Rosapepe have a unique and knowledgeable perspective of the country. Jim was an ambassador to for three years. As they note, “We traveled all over Romania. Jim visited all forty counties, most of them more than once, and Sheilah went to some spots that Jim did not. We saw more of Romania and of Romanians – from the mines to the software labs, from the monasteries to the hospitals – than most foreigners and even many Romanians have.”

This book is more than a travel diary. It gives the reader a clearer perspective of a country that has many assumptions made of it, and how few of these are accurate.

In terms of detractions, there aren’t many.

The most irksome was the point-of-view technique used by the authors – as in plural, there are two. This is most evident when seeing “us” and “we” in the text. But whenever one party is relating something about the other or about something the other did, they use their names, as if talking about themselves in the third person.

If it’d been me, I would’ve changed the “we” and “us” into the third person plural to smooth out the transitions. Since they didn’t, I was initially confused about who was recounting their experiences. Afterward, I simply had to make a mental adjustment and not let it bother me.

However, one reader’s nitpicking may mean nothing to another. So take this observation accordingly. For me, it was something that wasn’t so detrimental that I couldn’t finish the book. It was  just an annoyance that popped up from time to time.

In terms of recommending Dracula Is Dead? 

If you are not much of a non-fiction reader, or a history buff, this may not be the book for you. But to those who are intrigued by modern history, political turmoil and change, the birth of a new democracy, and in increasing one’s knowledge of the world around them, I do recommend it.

I didn’t know much about Romania and am glad I was introduced to it through these two authors. I am intrigued and would consider traveling there if I ever had the means. I would love to see first hand this remarkable country.