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Books on the Nightstand, Episode 35 (30:44)
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Are you able to read on vacation? In today’s episode, Michael is just back from a week on Cape Cod, and he reports on his reading activity. The two of us decide that having young children is a serious detriment to vacation reading. However, Michael and I are both lucky that we can claim “work-related reasons” to send the kids off with our wonderful spouses for a bit of time with our books.
Ann also announces that she has moved Books on the Nightstand headquarters to Lockeford, CA. Well, not really, but our new voicemail number is headquartered there. The new number is (209) 867-READ — which reminds Ann of the hit song from the 80s, 867-5309/Jenny. And thus, a contest was born. Call our number, sing the new number in the tune of the hit song, and maybe win a prize.
And then, things take a darker turn. Inspired by a reading of The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist, Ann has dystopic fiction on her mind. The Wikipedia page on dystopia provides a helpful definition (“the vision of a society in which conditions of life are miserable and characterized by poverty, oppression, war, violence, disease, pollution, and/or the abridgment of human rights, resulting in widespread unhappiness, suffering, and other kinds of pain”) and also a list of dystopic fiction. Ann talks about The Unit, the story of a society that demands some to sacrifice for the good of others. The Unit made Ann want to re-read Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, which is as powerful today as when it was first published. Michael talks about Rupert Thompson’s Divided Kingdom (more info on the Hippocratic Humors can be found here), and the graphic novel series Y, The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan.
In our “two books we can’t wait for you to read” segment, Michael raves over Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli, a graphic novel that Ann is currently reading and loving as well. And Ann talks about Something Missing by Matthew Dicks, a fun novel about a burglar who is charming, eccentric, and a little bit OCD.
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Something Missing by Matthew Dicks, Broadway trade paperback
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Can’t wait to listen since I see Ann gave The Unit the same rating I did on Goodreads and Michael is the only other person I “know” who’s read The Divided Kingdom.
Tim-
Glad to hear there are fans of Divided Kingdom out there! (I’m assuming you liked it, hope I’m not wrong!)
dystopia is my favourite kind of topia. can’t wait to listen.
also? the title of the show? very funny. shudder.
Hope, I thought for sure you’d want to fast forward through segment 2 — was thinking of you when we put in that warning. Oh, and the title — works on so many levels, not just the Cormac McCarthy reference. Did you get the Todd Rundgren reference or am I the only one old enough for that? I know it was kind of obscure (Michael didn’t know the song) but I figured it worked anyway.
I can also recommend Y: The Last Man. It’s very well done.
Chris
dude, I got it. colour me old. Also, I felt very loved when I heard your warning. I am actually immeasurably hard-hearted, generally. Just that when something gets me, it REALLY gets me!
Disappointing results trying to get any of the recommendations in an AU bookstore, I see a large box flying here from AMZ in my near future.
I’ve read The Unit and it was one of my earlier reviews last year. I found out about it from a few blogs so I actually thought it’s being widely read. Either way, I did love it and I thought it was quite an affecting story. I’m not big on dystopian fiction but this book really is about more than just the collapse of society. For me at least, the impact felt more personal than plain general. Not to sound cliche, but it does have that effect of making you think about life and how you look at and cherish it.
Another dystopian fiction I enjoyed last year was The Road by Cormac McCarthy, so far I consider it as one of the best books I’ve ever read (though I must admit that I started reading only a little over a year ago, hehe)
Mark, The Road is one of my top ten books of all time. (Someday I will have to count how many books are actually on that list — I think it’s currently at 8.) The dystopic books that most affect me are those that are just a hair’s breadth from a possible reality. I chalk my love of dystopia to a 7th grade English teacher that made Lord of the Flies the most exciting book I had ever read.
It really is so deserving of the Pulitzer, isn’t it?
You just can’t deny the good writing in its every page. I REALLY want to read Lord of the Flies! It’s on my current list of must-read-soon classics. Living in the Philippines, I didn’t have the chance to read it in school as a kid. Now I’d like to catch with all these timeless, and socially significant, classics.
sorry, let me rephrase… not “good” writing… but excellent, riveting, breathtaking, and (dare I say) fantastic writing
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