Midnight's Children

Here's my review of Midnight’s Children, next will be Robots and Empire, Up from Slavery, and Lonesome Dove.

Midnight's Children, published in 1981, looks at India's transition from British colonialism to independence through the lens of historical fiction.  It also has heavy elements of magical realism.  The book focuses on the events leading up to and comprising the life of Saleem Sinai, who was born at the very moment that India became an independent state.  Saleem finds himself a member of a group of children possessing powers.  These were the children born in the first hour of India's independence; the closer to the stroke of midnight, the greater the gift.  The book has received a fair amount of acclaim.  Personally, I could take it or leave it.  I say that understanding that my ignorance of Indian culture and history probably made it so that a good amount of of the book's content went right over my head.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Here's my review of The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, next will be Midnight’s Children, Robots and Empire, and Up from Slavery.

This was an interesting but fairly short read.  Unfortunately, the work was far from complete.  The first part is a letter about his childhood that he wrote to his son when he found a free week at the age of 65.  The later parts were were written in his mid-70s and later.    His work was slower and less detailed as he got older.  He ultimately only recounted his life up to 1757, missing the last 30 years of his life and the American Revolution.  It certainly would have been fascinating to read his perspective of those years, but the Autobiography remains a worthwhile read.  It is, in fact, often considered to be one of the best and most influential autobiographies every written.

The Robots of Dawn

Here's my review of The Robots of Dawn, next will be The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Midnight’s Children, and Robots and Empire.

Much like the Dune series, I don't have a lot to say about books in this series that I haven't already said about earlier books.  Unlike the Dune series, I don't view these books as having an enormous drop off in qualify after the first one.  I enjoyed Caves of Steel more than the two books I've read that followed it, but they were still good.  Once again, Elijah Bailey is given the task of solving an impossible mystery on a world he knows nothing about assisted by his robot friend.

Anna Karenina

Here's my review of Anna Karenina, next will be Robots of Dawn, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, and Midnight’s Children.

Anna Karenina is considered by a good number of critics and writers to be the best novel ever written.   I wouldn't go that far.  In fact, I didn't like it as much as the first Tolstoy book I read, War and Peace, but I did generally enjoy it.  I do have a major gripe with the edition of Anna Karenina that I read (it's the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition).  In the introduction, without any warning and completely casually, it drops a major spoiler.  There is no single fact about the story that would be more inappropriate to tell someone about to read it than the one disclosed in the introduction and I honestly can't comprehend why anyone would decide it was a good idea to mention it.

A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918

My latest book was A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918.  I'm currently reading Anna Karenina and next up is The Robots of Dawn.  After that, I'd really like to read a book that provides a good overview of World War II like A World Undone does for first world war.  Very brief research seems to indicate that A World at Arms will be my best bet, but I'm very open to thoughts on that book or other options.

I'll be honest: I could probably count the number of things I knew about WWI prior to reading this book on one hand.  World history has never been my strong suit, but I don't feel that this is an event that receives the attention it might deserve in history classes, particularly in the United States.  One of the most obvious reasons is that it was so quickly eclipsed.  Only two decades later WWII dwarfed WWI in pretty much every respect.  It certainly did so with regard to duration, geographic scope, and casualties.  More specifically to the US, we entered the war late, so our participation and its impact on us were fairly minimal, at least relative to the major participants.  Reading through this book, which I would highly recommend, I found the history fascinating and a number of lessons available to those who would care to learn them.