Review: A Canticle for Leibowitz

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a beautifully done book about what fools we human beings are. Our folly defies and defines both faith and reason. The climax of the book, which is melancholy but not without a glimmer of hope, is heartbreaking.

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Review: Wait Till Next Year

Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A deftly done, clearly written memoir of growing up in an America that seemed idyllic, but was on the crest of change. It's nice to be reminded that memoirs needn't be sopping with narcissism, and the lurid fascinations of shipwrecked lives.

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Review: Nothing On Earth

Nothing On Earth by Conor O'Callaghan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Written with a sure touch, it never gives much away, or spells anything out for you. It leaves you wanting to know more, but feeling that there is no more that can be known. Spooky, creepy, lovely.

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Review: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I was a kid, the Burton-Taylor movie of this play always ran on tv in the middle of the night, split into two parts shown on two nights. There's a reason for that. The play is so scalding that it's hard to endure all at once. Amazing. Unpleasant. Brilliant.

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Review: Ender's Game

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Aside from a nice twist right near the end, this book wasn't very interesting. Almost all the main characters are young children, which is fine, but they are implausible as such, and the author does little or nothing to make them plausible. The prose is sturdily unremarkable.

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