The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett

Set against a backdrop of factions warring over the English throne after the death of Henry I, this novel tells the sprawling story of a fictional Kingsbridge cathedral. On the surface this is an simple adventure with heavy doses of political intrigue, but the surprisingly accurate historical backdrop anchors the story. The actors are fairly one-dimensional (villains have no redeeming qualities and heroes are steadfast and well-meaning) but having them interact with real figures such as King Stephen and Thomas Becket gives the impression of depth and character development. The plot is straightforward and predictable, with the loose ends being resolved in a satisfying manner. With thin characterization and a linear plot this sounds like a boring read, but somehow Follett manages to turn this into an excellent page turner.

The book is obviously meticulously researched, with long passages dedicated to describing how builders in the twelfth century were able to construct massive buildings or how the Catholic Church was becoming an active part of politics and everyday life. “Increasingly, people were expected to be Christians every day, not just on Sundays. They needed more than just rituals, according to the modern view: they wanted explanations, rulings, encouragement, exhortation.” Sometimes this research is used to the books detriment; for instance at one point Follett spends several pages describing a bear baiting for no seemingly other reason than to show off his hard work. More than once I found my self glossing over long passages of exposition like this, but it didn’t affect my overall opinion of the novel. For a nearly 1000 page novel Pillars of the Earth was a very fast read, and I am looking forward to reading the sequel, World Without End.

First Sentence:

In a broad valley, at the foot of a sloping hillside, beside a clear bubbling stream, Tom was building a house.

hackoff.com, by Tom Evslin

With stock charts, email threads, chat transcripts, and police interviews mixed in with traditional storytelling techniques, the format of this novel was just as interesting as the story itself. The stories I should say; there are two main threads that weave through the book: one tells the tale of the rise and fall of a .com startup during the internet bubble and the other of the murder of the CEO of said company. The .com story was fascinating; having lived through the 90’s myself working at a variety of software startups much of this rang true. Arrogant executives, selfish salesmen, primary and secondary offerings, bitter rivals (“The [buyout] price sucks. And it is in antihack stock, which sucks. And it is from antihack, which sucks.”), and the ignorance of message boards (“Your an idiot or just getting reddy to dump your stock.”)—Evslin is clearly well acquainted with the tech craziness at the millennium. In the murder mystery, none of the characters were obvious heroes or villains, so we are kept guessing right up to the end. The conclusion is a bit of a stretch, but doesn’t distract from an otherwise enjoyable read. Truly a unique book.

First Sentence:

New York, NY—April 1, 2003—(BUSINESS WIRE) hackoff.com (NASDAQ:HOFC) announced today that the company’s Chairman and CEO, Larry Lazard, was found dead in his corporate office of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Choke, by Chuck Palahniuk

The opening pages of this book discuss how banal the book is. “If you are going to read this, don’t bother. ... There has to be something better on television. ... What you’re getting here is a stupid story about a stupid little boy.” I thought it amusing at the time, but as the tale progressed I wish I’d taken the advice: this was a surprisingly bad book.

The main character, Victor Mancini, is a reprobate sexual addict that fakes choking in restaurants and then scams his “saviors” for money. His best friend is a simpleton that can’t hold down the simplest job; his mother has Alzheimer’s and thinks Victor is a collection of people from her past, but never Victor himself. While certainly a unique group of oddball personas, there isn’t much of a plot to speak of. Various threads loosely strung together; while this itself isn’t an issue, the problem lies in the fact that the episodes aren’t anywhere near as interesting as the characters. Palahniuk seems to be going for thought-provoking and edgy, but ended up with just plain weird. Fight Club was an excellent movie; Choke is by the same author and I had high expectations. A good friend liked it as well; clearly I’ll need to more thoroughly vet his recommendations in the future.

First Sentence:

If you are going to read this, don’t bother.

Friday Night Lights, by H. G. Bissinger

Considering I love both football and reading, it is surprising I hadn’t gotten around to Friday Night Lights. I’ve never watched the TV show, but I liked the movie, so when I saw the book in the bargain bin I picked it up. Friday Night Lights follows the Odessa Permian high school football team through their 1988 season. Interspersed with the history of a racist-leaning Odessa we meet the coach and all the major players of the team. Boobie Miles is a highly recruited fullback that is star of the team until he blows out his knee; after that he is ostracized by the universities and vanishes into a depression. Brian Chavez is the Harvard-bound valedictorian; Don Billingsley is a troublemaker trying to live up to his father’s legend. Ivory Christian is a linebacker that doesn’t much care for football, and yet is the only player to receive a Division I football scholarship. Gary Gaines is the coach and by far the most interesting persona detailed: the pressure to win in this football-obsessed town is amazingly intense, and Bissinger does an excellent job at portraying the strain Gaines was constantly experiencing.

As interesting as the individual and team stories are, the emotion of small-town Texas is what makes the book stand out. “As the black wave of the Permian players moved out into the middle of the field, eight thousand other souls who had filled the home side rose to give a standing ovation. This moment, and not January first, was New Year’s day.” This passage more than any other captures the essence of how football is loved by Texans, including me. Great book; I’m sorry I waited so long to read it.

First Sentence:

In the beginning, on a dog-day Monday in the middle of August when the West Texas heat congealed in the sky, there were only the stirrings of dreams.

Crystal Clear, by Alistair Cockburn

Crystal Clear is another one of the many agile management styles out there today. It is geared specifically for small collocated teams not working on life-critical systems. The wildly different chapter formats I found odd, but Cockburn explains it well: “It is not my ambition that every reader should like every chapter and format. Rather, my hope is that through the use of different perspectives, each reader, coming from his particular background, can find some chapter format that conveys what is needed in order to understand Crystal Clear’s main ideas.” A lot of the methodology doesn’t apply to my current situation (Crystal Clear demands collocation but my team is scattered all over North America) but I still found some interesting ideas here. One I particularly liked was that Crystal allows for teams to choose less-than-optional ways of working; as long as the team is delivering software successfully all is well. This is much more forgiving than many methodologies which seem to require striving for perfection. Another concept I like is the approach to risk: “A safe methodology is one that increases the likelihood of the project succeeding.” Most risk discussions revolve around what can go wrong; this spin of increasing success factors rather than reducing avenues of failure I find to be much more positive. Because of the focus on small teams this isn’t directly applicable to all groups, but everyone should be able to glean something useful from this book.

First Sentence:

I distilled Crystal Clear by asking successful small teams what they would keep or change in the ways they worked.

The Zombie Survival Guide, by Max Brooks

Written with a deadly serious tone, this parody of a survival guide tells us both the history of zombies and how to protect ourselves against them. Zombie myths, attack and defense strategies, and how to make a life in a world overrun by the undead are all covered in humorous detail: “Unfortunately for our society but fortunately for a zombie siege, inner-city schools have taken on a fortress-like atmosphere.” Good stuff. The first two-thirds are a bit plodding at times, but it closes with a bang, giving a list of recorded zombie attacks through history; from 60,000 B.C. to current times, over 50 different incidents are detailed. A couple of my favorites show Hadrian’s Wall was created to prevent the spread of zombies from Scotland and Sir Walter Raleigh’s missing Roanoke Colony was actually eradicated by the living dead. Clearly this is a 250+ page advertisement for Brooks’ novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War but I still found it enjoyable.

First Sentence:

What is a zombie?

The Somnambulist, by Jonathan Barnes

The Somnambulist of the title is a giant, milk-chugging mute who is the partner of Edward Moon, a self-described conjurer. Together they embark on a murder investigation and encounter one strange person after another, including a genius asylum inmate and a man who experiences life backwards. The inventive plot matches the imaginative characters, and the setting of Victorian England only enhances the oddness. Entirely unpredictable, Barnes springs one surprise after another, culminating in the identity of the narrator. Rich with backstory, there are hints of many other stories to tell and I hope to meet these characters again in other books.

First Sentence:

Be warned.