Ridding is Fan!

I haven’t been posting any entries for awhile because, well, I’ve been busy with some other passions in my life like midget tossing, aircraft maintenance and design, paleontology, and harberdashery. Oh, and let me add reading. I’ve started reading books again big time. I’ve been lucky so far that all the books I’ve invested in to read have all turned out great. In one trip to Powerbooks a month ago, I bought the following:

Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian – This is supposed to be this year’s The Da Vinci Code but don’t let that left-handed endorsement fool you – Kostova has authored a far more entertaining and thrilling book than Dan Brown and the billions he's made from idiots can ever aspire to write. Just like Code, this book is heavy with historical allusion (well, the title says it all) but this time the central figure is this charismatic guy who was killed by his enemies centuries ago but by some supernatural force was resurrected soon after. Oh, and this historical figure’s name’s Vlad the Impaler or better known as Dracula. Don’t worry though, Elizabeth Kostova is not Anne Rice. Dracula’s not some sort of faggot rock star having a existential crisis of sorts. He’s a bloodsucking animal worthy of your fright and fear. I also love this book because the main characters are peripatetic and went to places where I’ve been to myself: the Mediterranean town of Coullioure, and Perpignan and the Languedoc Roussillon region of France where the setting of the book’s finale, the monastery of St. Martin de Canigou, can be found. Kostova was wise to change the monastery’s name to the similar sounding St. Mathieu in the book because, personally, I didn’t find any vampires running around in prom tuxedos when I was there last year.

Ian Caldwell’s and Dustin Thomason’s The Rule of Four – This was supposed to be last year’s The Da Vinci Code but a lot of people must have thought that it was too highbrow to succeed in the way Code did. I thought it was a great read until I got to the last few chapters where it just stumbled to a boring ending. Unlike Code and Historian, the main characters don’t go anywhere outside Princeton University. Rule’s central figure is a book published in 1499 called Hypnerotomachia Polophili. It is actually a real book purported to contain riddles and secret maps for the scholar who can decipher it, leading to a location somewhere in Italy where a treasure has been kept hidden for over 500 years.

Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife – Ah, the book I’m currently reading in brief intervals because I don’t want the experience to end. This novel is a masterpiece – made even more amazing by the fact that this is Niffenegger’s first book. Nevermind that it’s a love story but with a really clever twist though: the guy’s got Chrono Displacement disorder which causes him to, um, time travel when he’s under stress. And so the girl first meets him when she’s six and he’s forty. No, there’s no pedophilia involved. The girl grows up but has these encounters with the guy and he’s at a different age every time - until they do meet in the present where the guy doesn't know her but she's already in love with him because of their previous meetings. Or something like that. I can go on and on about how inventive and marvelous this novel is but I know I’m just preaching to potential converts. Google this book and find out how everyone loves it.