I never read William Gibson until his previous book, Pattern Recognition. That book was Gibson's first foray into writing about modern times. I became a fan instantly. It was a brilliantly written book, and Spook Country is no different.
The two books remind me a lot of another favorite author of mine, Don Delillo. Their writing styles are different, but the stories they're telling of humanity and its struggle with and for modernity are similar.
In Spook Country Gibson weaves together the stories of a rather large cast in brilliant manner. Their inevitable encounters in no way seems contrived, or forced. Furthermore each of them are complete persons, not mere filler in order to advance plot points.
This book is part techno-thriller, part spy adventure, with bits of martial artistry, art, media and rock and roll thrown in for good measure.
Spook Country is exciting from beginning to end, and proves there really is no more an exciting time than the present.
The two books remind me a lot of another favorite author of mine, Don Delillo. Their writing styles are different, but the stories they're telling of humanity and its struggle with and for modernity are similar.
In Spook Country Gibson weaves together the stories of a rather large cast in brilliant manner. Their inevitable encounters in no way seems contrived, or forced. Furthermore each of them are complete persons, not mere filler in order to advance plot points.
This book is part techno-thriller, part spy adventure, with bits of martial artistry, art, media and rock and roll thrown in for good measure.
Spook Country is exciting from beginning to end, and proves there really is no more an exciting time than the present.
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?
Chris Rose is a columnist for the Times-Picayune. His book 1 Dead in Attic is a collection of his post-Katrina columns.
The city he describes in this book is a battered, broken city, but we all knew that. What Rose wants his readers to know is that the city is getting better, but it still hurts. The destruction wasn't just in the Lower Ninth Ward as it appears in the media, but everywhere. Some parts of the city fared better than others, but nothing went unharmed. That includes its people.
Chief among those scarred by Katrina is Rose himself. While this book is a chronicle of a ruined city crawling back to life it is also the story of one man's descent into depression.
The book begins bleakly--The title is taken from graffiti scrawled on the wall of a house Rose drove past nearly everyday for a year--and never really lets up. There are bright moments, and Rose definitely wants his reader to experience these moments, but he also wishes that what happened (is happening) not be forgotten.
I do know what it means to miss New Orleans. I never lived there, but I grew up in South Louisiana, and visited the city fairly often. I do miss it, even more so after reading this powerful book.
Chris Rose is a columnist for the Times-Picayune. His book 1 Dead in Attic is a collection of his post-Katrina columns.
The city he describes in this book is a battered, broken city, but we all knew that. What Rose wants his readers to know is that the city is getting better, but it still hurts. The destruction wasn't just in the Lower Ninth Ward as it appears in the media, but everywhere. Some parts of the city fared better than others, but nothing went unharmed. That includes its people.
Chief among those scarred by Katrina is Rose himself. While this book is a chronicle of a ruined city crawling back to life it is also the story of one man's descent into depression.
The book begins bleakly--The title is taken from graffiti scrawled on the wall of a house Rose drove past nearly everyday for a year--and never really lets up. There are bright moments, and Rose definitely wants his reader to experience these moments, but he also wishes that what happened (is happening) not be forgotten.
I do know what it means to miss New Orleans. I never lived there, but I grew up in South Louisiana, and visited the city fairly often. I do miss it, even more so after reading this powerful book.
