The Last Theorem, by Arthur C. Clarke and Frederik Pohl

Summary: This book follows the life of Ranjit Subramanian from being a 16 year old college student to the parent of a teenager. And along the way he is a genius and has various experiences and people build incredible technology that we can't imagine existing in our everyday life. Oh, and there's aliens.

Comments: For the first part of the book, I was thinking my summary would be "Some guy wrestles with trying to prove Fermat's Last Theorem: a history. Oh, and there's aliens." It isn't until way later that the way the aliens fit into the story becomes clear. I think the compelling factor for this book isn't its action so much as its message/moral. It isn't the fastest paced, or at least it seemed that way at the beginning, but it definitely makes you think. And there's aliens. If the aliens are a little distracting in this summary, let me explain it by saying that at the end of each chapter, there's a segment on what one group or another of the aliens is up to at that point. Hence it's in keeping with the book itself to randomly refer to aliens. It's one of those books that has multiple disjointed plotlines that come together at some point. Except in this case, one of those plot lines seems almost like an afterthought.

The Novel, by James Michener

Summary: Don't bother reading the back of the book on this one. It references events in the last 75 pages or so (of a ~400 page book). Not cool. It's basically relevant life history for three random people (ok, not so random. It's an author, his editor, and a critic) and then an incident that might have comprised the entire book if this was any other author.

Comments: I don't think this was up to his usual standards. If you read my summary you can probably understand my reason. On the other hand, it could be that the back of the book biased me into thinking the four sections of the book were connected beyond having some of the same characters. Then again, this book seemed to be trying to be a connected whole as opposed to the others which are more a series of short stories that share a location and some characters/families. It's like he was trying to get into a new style buy wasn't willing to abandon his old style completely. Not sure if his fictional author was doing some of that. Also, I have to wonder what the fictional critic would have to say about Michener. Probably nothing good.

Texas, by James Michener

Summary: Generic summary of any of Michener's books: the history of [somewhere or something] as told by the stories of various fictional people who lived through it. In this case, the subject is Texas, as you might have guessed from the title. This starts with explorations coming from Spanish Mexico and continues through about the time the book was written. Sprinkled throughout is the story of a task force chosen to make recommendations about a Texas history curriculum for the schools and the public meetings said task force conducts to learn about various aspects of the history.

Comments: First the generic comment about my not believing these people would be quite so interrelated if we were following real people instead. Although, I guess just because I was reading about the parents of both of these characters in a previous chapter doesn't mean there had been any prior interaction between the two families. So maybe I should be surprised that the various threads I was following come together at various points. That's why that particular cotton-grower was chosen: because his descendants would later interact with other characters in the story. And the fact that multiple generations of the various families were worth following, there's the saying "Like father, like son". The son of the rich oil guy is also rich. Another character follows in the footsteps of his grandfather and great-grandfather and is a Texas Rangers. One family has several generations of cotton-growers. Maybe next book I read I should pay more attention to how often the different threads of the story come together versus what is just based on the fact that I'd already met the character who comes into this person's life.

Next generic comment is that it was very informative and I learned a lot. I don't think I would pick up a book of Texas history for the fun of it, but apparently I would read the history of fictional, plausible families living in Texas throughout the years. Which is almost the same thing but with stories rather than facts. But I still learned something doing it.

I'm not sure I have too much to say about Texas specifically except for not being so thrilled about the hunting, the football, and the anti-Democrat sentiment. I definitely have a far different world view than some of the characters, that's for sure. The talk of illegal immigration was interesting because I don't think it's any less of a problem now than it was when the book was written ~15 years ago.

Poland, by James Michener

Summary: a history of Poland from the time of Genghis Khan through 1981, as exemplified by the experiences of three main families of different ranks in society.

Comments: I think it would be interesting to know how the book would be different if written now that the Soviet Union has broken up. The book begins and ends with Polish farmers angry at the Communists because it's so hard to get necessary good. What current event, if any, would be used in place of it? And how would it treat the Communist era now that it's over? (It is over, isn't it?)

Through various parts of the book I kept wondering why everyone was so intent on hating Poland so much. Then again, I think that was probably the reaction the author wanted me to have. Especially given that at other times I was very much wondering why they couldn't set their self interests aside and work towards the benefit of the nation. Although I guess self-interest is part of what makes us alive. And the people in question had a fairly strong belief that what was good for them was good for Poland as a whole. Regardless of whether or not that was actually true, that was what they thought, and that was what colored their actions.

My overall impression of the book was that it was very informative (at least for someone who knows basically nothing about Poland) while still keeping my attention. Which I guess is what Michener is good at: long stories of the history of illustrated by the stories of fictional people who experienced historical events.

Also, Polish pronunciation is frickin' crazy. Przemsyl is pronounced "Shemish" (the P and the l are not really voiced). Lancut is pronounced "Winesooth". Those are the two examples I can think of that were specifically mentioned in the book. I resorted to finding a Polish pronunciation guide in an effort to figure out how to pronounce a language that seems to have far fewer vowels than I would deem necessary (Przemsyl is an example of that). Or none at all, except for maybe a y or two. Not sure if I'm exaggerating on that point. Actually, I know that there were words that were just y's and consonants. I just don't remember what any of them were. That's my main rant about the book. Other than the fact that concentration camp stories should not be read 10 minutes at a time during breaks in class.

Sphere, by Michael Crichton

Summary: Norman Johnson suddenly finds himself in the middle of some kind of top-secret Navy activity in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Turns out they've found a spaceship in the middle of the ocean floor. But where did it come from? And why? And will he and the others be able to survive the encounter?

Comments: Remind me to never read a action/thriller kind of book during class ever again. (And by class I mean during breaks. But still.) It's rather hard to return to learning about ...anything, really, when my mind is in the middle of a terrifying encounter that the protagonists are having. It may have been messing with my head.

Other than that, I must say, well done. Excellent adventure and all that. But I'm not sure I could handle another book like that in the near future. At least not with these kinds of reading habits.

Chesapeake, by James A. Michener

Summary: A history of a fictional small town on one of the rivers of the Chesapeake, as illustrated through the stories of several of it's longest lasting families. Basically, Michener follows several fictional families through the centuries since the area was first settled by white people. Plus looking at the Native Americans who were in the area before that. The impression I get is that while none of these people ever actually lived (well, none of them except a few famous politicians who happened to come visit), chances are that someone like them did live somewhere in the area.

Comments: Again, another long book. That much was probably obvious when you saw the name Michener. But I don't think the book would have been near as good or as effective if it was half it's length. I seem to recall that writing has an adage of "Don't tell; show", and I think that's especially relevant to Michener. I feel like I learned a lot from reading his books, but at the same time, it's really just a series of stories about various fictional people. This book might not be as good of an example of my learning stuff as some of his other books, but the point remains. There is always the aspect of having to try to understand opposing points of view: slaveholders and Nixon-era Republicans.

Next, by Michael Chrichton

Summary: This book follows the important events in the lives of various individuals connected with genetic research and transgenic species.

Comments: I spent much of the book wondering if there was any plot to speak of, or if it was just the lives of various people connected to a common topic. I think some of them wound up being kinda connected, but that's pretty much it.

Also, I noticed that probably at least two thirds of the characters were having affairs. Maybe not quite that many now that I think about it, but after a little more thinking about it, I'm starting to doubt my doubts.

Beyond that, I might call it thought-provoking and exposure to a subject I'm not really familiar with. But I think I ran into it somewhere in real life recently.

The Source, by James A. Michener

Summary: The book opens with an archaeological dig in Israel, during which the team makes a number of finds. It then tells various stories of the people associated with each of those finds, with occasional interludes where the team is discussing various related ideas.

Comments: As with many of Michener's books (or at least all of the ones I've read), the books is incredibly long, and has made me want to learn more about its main subject, in this case Judaism and the Talmud. Which is now on my to-read list. Never mind that I'm not going to start attacking that list until I read all the books on my floor. I feel like I might also have some understanding of the modern state of Israel and some of the views that were driving forces behind it. It's kinda like the saying "Don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes", only in this case, it's more that you understand a group a little better when you've observed 10,000 years of their history. (Note that I'm not claiming to actually understand anything, just that I'm close than I was when I started)