Review: Robert B. Parker's Buzz Kill: Sunny Randall, Book 12

Robert B. Parker's Buzz Kill: Sunny Randall, Book 12 by Alison Gaylin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This picks up a few months after Robert B. Parker's Bad Influence , Gaylin's first in the Sunny series. It has some of the same characters and uses some of the elements from that book, but the story is a more classic murder mystery. The plot got a bit convoluted at points, but the 'big twist' was fairly predictable. I enjoyed it but thought Robert B. Parker's Bad Influence was better.

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Review: Robert B. Parker's Bad Influence: Sunny Randall, Book 11

Robert B. Parker's Bad Influence: Sunny Randall, Book 11 by Alison Gaylin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lupica's Sunny was always a good enough imitation of Parker. It was enjoyable to read and revisit that world. But it was incomplete; only as good as an impression. Alison Gaylin is not doing an impression of Parker. There are noticeable differences in style. The dialogue is not that pithy and punchy dialogue that Parker excelled at; I think there was only one "oh-ho!" The pacing and scene descriptions were also different (though not radically so). But Gaylin captures Sunny in a way Lupica just never did. She doesn't, as Lupica too often did, rely on stock characters from the Spenser-verse. This as original a 'Parker' story I've read in a long time: it takes the character of Sunny and the world Parker created and tells a Sunny story in Gaylin's way. The Sunny Themes are there: the never-ending struggle with the challenges of independence and autonomy; the finding one's own authentic footing in a world often dominated by men; the toughness and willingness to do what needs to be done. But Gaylin uses her own style and approach to bring Sunny to life. It is welcome and exciting.

Kate Burton's performance is top notch. She doesn't over do it on the accents, but just enough to give you the shape of the characters.

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Review: Jerusalem: The Biography

Jerusalem: The Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Starting in the ancient world of Canaanite and Israelite settlements up through early 2000s, Montefiore tells us an epic, sweeping story of the history of Jerusalem. I was curious why the subtitle "The Biography" was used; but it seems to work better than the most likely other candidate: 'The History'. First, there is something of the city, its past, and present that is alive. In our imaginations but also the streets themselves. I recall from my visits, Jerusalem felt different. I've been to other cities, ancient and filled with ruins, but the ancient stones of Jerusalem are still alive: they are still part of the everyday living of the city in a way the Roman Forum is not. Second, Montefiore uses a lot of personal antidotes and individual biographies of figures through Jerusalem's history to tell his story. While there is plenty of what one might expect in a history book: battles, empires conquering, dates, and archeology, much of the focus is individuals, great and small, who have played some part in Jerusalem's story. This makes it more of a biography than simply a history.

Montefiore walks a fine line between Jewish, Christian, and Muslim views of the city and their respective relationships to it. His point is not to adjudicate between disputes but to layout these views, using their own voices. There is nothing of a polemic here.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the book and learned a lot(and John Lee's narration is quite good), there were points where it gets a little bogged down in minutiae or too focused on tangential details of some of the life-stories he uses to tell the history.

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Review: Retrieving the Ancients: An Introduction to Greek Philosophy

Retrieving the Ancients: An Introduction to Greek Philosophy by David Roochnik
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a fantastic introduction to ancient Greek philosophy. It is surprisingly in-depth for its length (278 pages), avoids jargon, and is never overly technical. Roochnik’s writing is clear and concise, he keeps the exposition grounded and readable throughout.

Roochnik makes Aristotle the hero of the story. Roochnik sees Aristotle as bringing together positive elements from the pre-Socratics and Plato to craft a philosophical approach that provides a moderate approach that can a ground a life-well lived in an understandable world. To tell this story, Roochnik starts with the Pre-Socratics and how these first Greek philosophers start asking new kinds of questions and providing new kinds of answers. He then turns to Plato and the Socratic shift to a focus on human excellence and the Socratic question of “What is it?” He then closes with Aristotle, showing how he brings these threads to an apotheosis. Roochnik acknowledges that a lot of Aristotle’s approach won’t or can’t work in a modern context but pleads his case that studying Aristotle and his predecessors is something essential for a modern person to better understand themselves and their place.

There is an epilogue that briefly discusses various Hellenistic or Post-Aristotelian thinkers, covering quickly the Stoics, Cynics, and Epicureans.

Highly recommend for anyone interested in philosophy, particularly the ancients.


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