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Siberian Lizard siberianlizard — "The War of the Worlds" wasn't the only masterpiece that H.G. Wells wrote with the words "The War" in the title. "The War in the Air," which came out 10 years later, in 1908, is surely a lesser-known title by this great author, but most certainly, in my humble opinion, a masterpiece nonetheless. In this prophetic book, Wells not only predicts World War I--which wouldn't start for another six years--but also prophesies how the advent of navigable balloons and heavier-than-air flying craft would make that war inevitable. Mind you, this book was written in 1907, only four years after the Wright Brothers' historic flights at Kitty Hawk, and two years BEFORE their airplane design was sold to the U.S. Army for military purposes. In "The War in the Air," Wells also foresees air battles, as well as engagements between naval and aerial armadas. His gift of peering into the future is at times uncanny. We see this worldwide war through the eyes of Bert Smallways, a not terribly bright Cockney Everyman who is accidentally whisked away in a balloon and lands in Germany right on the eve of that country's departure for war. Bert is brought on board one of the German airships, and so personally witnesses a titanic battle in the North Atlantic; the Battle of New York (in which the length of Broadway is destroyed and many buildings near downtown City Hall Park are levelled, looooong before 9/11); and the huge fight between the German and Asiatic forces over Niagara Falls. And these are just the start of Smallways' adventures. Wells throws quite a bit into this wonderful tale, and the detail, pace and characterizations are all marvelous. But this isn't just an entertaining piece of futuristic fiction; it's a highly moral one as well. The author, in several beautifully written passages, tells us of the terrible waste of war, and the horrors that it always entails. In this aspect, it would seem to be a more important work of fiction than even "The War of the Worlds." While that earlier work might be more seminal, this latter tale certainly raises more pressing issues. And those issues are just as worrisome today as they were nearly a century ago. In his preface to the 1941 edition of this book, Wells wrote: "I told you so. You damned fools..." As well he might! And it would seem that we STILL haven't learned the lessons that Wells tried to teach us so many years ago. Perhaps, at this point, I should mention that readers of this novel will be faced with many geographical, historical and vocabulary/slang terms that they may not be familiar with. If those readers are like me, they will take the time to research all those obscure terms; it will make for a richer reading experience, as always. I said before that this novel is a masterpiece, and yet, at the same time, it is not perfect. Wells does make some small booboos in prediction, for example. Zeppelins were not more important than airplanes in war; civilization did not collapse after World War I. He tells us that the distance from Union Square to City Hall Park is under a mile, whereas any New Yorker could tell you that it's more like two. Wells mentions that the Biddle Stairs (which were built in 1827, led from Goat Island to the base of Niagara Falls, and were demolished in 1927) were made of wood, while in fact they were made of metal and encased in a wooden shaft. But these are quibbles, and in no way detract from the quality of the work. Indeed, this is a novel that should be mandatory reading for all politicians, not to mention all thinking adults.

Daniele Pompetti quintap — Short Short Stories Etgar Keret was born in Tel Aviv in 1967. This is the third book of his short stories that I’ve read and I’ve loved them all. To give you one idea of why I like them, there are 46 stories in this collection, and the whole thing is only 171 pages long. Most stories come in at 1½ to four pages, which means you can read two while you’re waiting for your bread to toast, or your partner to warm your side of the bed for you, or your children to finish in the bathroom (well, maybe I'm fibbing about that last one). “Brevity is the Soul of Wit” Polonius said this in “Hamlet”. He was right then and he is equally right now. He is also right to suggest that any attempt to paraphrase or explain his expression would only require more than his six words, unless you strip it down to something like “shorter is better” (which might be right, but it doesn’t convey the meaning of humour or insight that “wit” does, unless you think that all short things are funny). The whole idea of a short story is to do as much with as little as possible. Yet, I find that Etgar Keret has a skill much greater than most of his peers. He has an ability to pare words and sentences down so far that they teeter (and titter) on the absence of meaning. Any more cuts and you wouldn’t know what he was talking about. Instead, he stops at a point where what remains is the bare minimum required to convey meaning. Nevertheless, he invites us to infer what might have been omitted or cut. In other words, he expects readers to supply some of the meaning. It’s a collaborative effort. To this extent, he is like Beckett, in the way he walks right up and stares into the face of the absurd, only he is absurdly funny as well. We laugh while we wait for Godot. Take These Words I suppose every writer does it, but another thing I love about Etgar Keret is that he takes the same words that we have all been given and weaves some amazing tales with them. How come he can take our vocabulary and do so much better than the rest of us with exactly the same words? Some of his characters are children, and you can sense that they have acquired their words and mannerisms from the adults around them. The children take their parents’ words and use them, or perhaps the parents’ words use the children to convey them. What is going on here? What magic dust does he have that we don’t have? Remove Everything but the Magic I don’t mean to imply that he is unique, however. He reminds me of how I have responded in the past to Kurt Vonnegut or Richard Brautigan or Tom Robbins or John Irving. Only just as I used to think that Tom Robbins and John Irving were long-winded versions of Richard Brautigan, Etgar Keret is like an abbreviated version of Brautigan. The brevity has been abbreviated, but the magic is still there. Perhaps there is something happening here beyond words. Not just something that words can’t describe, but something that words aren’t trying to describe. Something is happening between the words. These words are playing with each other before our very eyes, dancing, flirting, kissing, falling in love, even fornicating. Making Something from Nothing So far, I’ve focused on Keret’s ability to strip away verbiage, but he’s also able to make something from nothing. In the story “Nothing”, a woman loves a man who is made of nothing. That’s more or less the first sentence, yet by the time you read it (two-thirds of the way into the book), you’re totally accepting of the possibility that this might be true: "Nothing in the world would have made her happier than to make love with him all night long, tasting his non-lips once again, feeling the uncontrollable quiver run through him, the emptiness spread through her body…She hadn’t the slightest doubt or apprehension. She knew that his love would never betray her. What could possibly let her down when she opened the door? An empty apartment? A numbing silence? An absence between the sheets of the rumpled bed?" This writer who works with less asks the question, “What is enough?” Can we make do with less? Can we make do with nothing? Is nothing less enough? (Sorry, I think I was only joking with that last one.) What Do We Still Have When You Take Everything Away from Us? Etgar Keret writes in Hebrew, although perhaps paradoxically even in translation his stories come across with both the richness of Jewish tradition and the independence of 21st century modernity: " ‘Is because you and me, we both terminal sick,’ Hans explained. I loved his fractured Hebrew, especially when he called me ‘terminal sick’, like I am waiting at some busy airport about to take off for an exciting, different place." Keret the modernist comes across as cheeky, sharp and fun. Yet he seems to appreciate and embrace the positives of Jewish culture. Despite (but perhaps because of) the Holocaust, Jewish culture continues and enriches all those who have access to it. Even in the darkest of times, Jews cannot have nothing, they cannot have “no compass, no map, no guide”. They have their culture and their traditions and their perception and their ways of seeing. To quote the terminally sick Hans again: "Then I see him on wall…mein Schatten, how you say, aah...shadow. I look at him and I know, my shadow he always with me. I know always what he is going to do, and him even the Germans they cannot take...Zauber (magic)." It’s our privilege and good fortune that Etgar Keret conveys some of this Zauber to us in his short short stories.

Tim Lin timlinhattded9 — Have you ever read a book where you just never wanted it to end? Or you felt that you couldn’t get enough? Where no matter how fast you read it, no matter what you did, You. Just. Couldn’t. Get. Enough. For me, Shatter Me is that book. Shatter Me lived up to its hype and way way more. It has surpassed my expectations with flying colors. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that I don’t love about Shatter Me. It’s one of the best books I have ever read, ever. Tahereh Mafi’s writing is so completely incredible. I have never read anything like it. Shatter Me is like a 338 page poem. It magically flows into this novel made of perfection. Tahereh made every word intoxicatingly addictive, allowing me to turn the pages until I reached the very last one. I loved the crossed out words and sentences. It was like reading deep into the mind of the main character. It added more depth to the writing and the story overall. The world in Shatter Me is fascinating and a breath of fresh air. Everything I learned about the Reestablishment was interesting and really different. I loved how both sides were different and yet the same, both fighting for what they believe is right. I hope to learn more about the Reestablishment and the outside world. What I love most about Shatter Me is Juliette. She is introduced as this character who has been trapped in this cell with little hope left. She just tried to make the best of it to live. At first, she was lonely and it felt like she was just getting by. As the story went on, she started to become someone else. She realized that she wasn’t a monster, but someone powerful. Juliette learned that she’s able to make her own choices in her life. She can do anything that she wants. Her strength and courage to survive was unbelievable. Her transformation from the first page to the last is downright extraordinary. She grew as a girl and as a person. She became better than the girl imprisoned. Juliette’s voice in Shatter Me was intense, clear and explosive. Her thoughts and feelings were so palpable. Of all the books I read, Juliette has to be the one MC where her growth was most notable, most phenomenal. The romance in this book was wonderful. Adam and Juliette gave me chills. I love them together so much. My heart couldn’t help but skip a beat whenever they were together. Their connection was so remarkable and so perfect. I couldn’t help but be attached to them. The way their relationship progressed was just mind blowing. Tahereh Mafi had me gasping for breath with several scenes between Juliette and Adam. When they’re together, they could light up even the darkest of places. I have to say that I adore Adam so so much. He was just the sweetest. Adam was brave, tough, devoted and kindhearted. Who wouldn’t fall for him? I I loved how he would do anything for Juliette. I loved how he stuck by her all the way. I loved how he made a better man out of himself despite the circumstances. What surprised me, but I also enjoyed was the fact that I had the hardest time hating Warner. I couldn't find it in my heart to hate him or think of him as a monster. I feel as if he was misunderstood. I feel as if someone needed to open his eyes to the world. I sympathized with him. I could tell that he was lonely and was just looking for something, someone to fill a void. He was broken and needed someone to make him feel loved. He needed someone to love. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s freakishly hot. :] I just thought the way Tahereh created Warner was astounding. I never thought an antagonist could be so damn likable. All in all, diving into this book head first was the best thing I have ever done. I love how intense everything was. Shatter Me surely kept me on the tip of my toes in excitement and action. The pace of it all was like a dream. It was unpredictably exhilarating. There’s not enough words in this universe and not enough lives in my lifetime for me to describe how exceptional this book really is. Tahereh Mafi is a genius. She made one heck of a story that is crazy crazy good. I highly recommend this book to everyone. It’s a must-read and will definitely make your Top Favorite Lists for sure. 5 out of 5 stars! More Reviews on my blog: Words, Pages, and Books