St. Francis, by Nikos Kazantzakis

Beautifully written account of the life of Francis of Assisi, sometimes known as God's Little Pauper (Poverello di Dio), God's Fool, God's Bufoon, etc. The book is a novel, not exactly a biography, but a lot of what it relates is indeed fact. Perhaps it's greatest "sin" is the fact that the reader not well versed in the saint's biography will see a blurred line dividing art and fiction and have a tough time reconciling with reality. Although some might argue that's a negative point, I wouldn't agree: this book may instigate the reader to pursue the facts of Francis' life and that stimulus in itself may be a good thing (personally, I think there's much to learn from this man's experiences). If I may suggest two great companions for further research on this topic, I can recommend G. K. Chesterton's "Saint Francis of Assisi" and Julian Green's "God's Fool".

This was the first novel on Francis' life I've ever read and I enjoyed it very much despite one little snag that sometimes tugged at the edge of my consciousness. At certain points in this story, the reader is lead to question Francis' sanity, in more clinical terms. So, yes, the man was unbelievably determined in his quest for embracing simplicity and poverty so as to transform flesh into spirit and to go back to the roots of Christendom. To us who wouldn't think of inflicting the smallest discomfort on your pampered bodies, or even, to us who have a healthy sense of self-preservation, many of his actions in this novel will seem insane. Actually, you don't even have to take this direction in order to make your point: a man who stands up, starts dancing and clapping his hands and praising the Lord at any moment whatsoever, regardless of the formality of the situation, must have at least one loose screw in his brains, right?

I'm not sure that's right. I'm fascinated with this man who embraced the almost impossible mission to restore the Church of his times to the mission of it's humble beginnings without ever setting out to do so. He turns his life 180 degrees around to reinforce the foundations of a faltering institution with simplicity and innocence, with a profound love for all things. He fights the good fight, a fight for a greater cause that's unquestionable, but he also fights against himself in way that we only wish each and everyone of us could also do. He battles against the base human desires, against cynicism, against selfishness, against arrogance, turning himself into a source of light, an example for mankind. If he seems crazy, maybe that's what it takes to arrive at the point where he got. His biographers show respect enough not to paint him as a looney, although some definitely hint at it, but it Kazantzakis has no fear to make you consider that possibility.

All in all, like in "The Last Temptation of Christ" but to a much smaller extent, this novel by Kazantazakis may offend the faithful at certain points. I would say, though, that's it's well worth it to face different possibilities with an open mind and then sift through them with your own convictions and beliefs. I found this book extremely beautiful and moving and were it not so expensive because it's out of print, I would love to have it permanently on my bookshelf or perhaps on my bedside table. Thank goodness for good libraries!

The Day of the Jackal, by Frederick Forsyth

Incredibly convincing and exciting tale of an international, political assassin commissioned to rid France of its president, Charles de Gaulle. This is not your typical thriller in the sense that it works well within the realm of believability and reaches a level of cohesiveness those airport paperback authors could never hope to achieve. It does a great job building up a historical context for the proposed assassination and carefully weaves together all the plot elements. When you finish this book, you get the sense that nothing was left out, that you were much teased, but you were also generously rewarded in the end.

I also found a lot of enjoyment in all the traveling around Europe that happens in this story. Forsyth enables you to see the landscape where he paints his story and I really loved that.

If you want to laugh after reading this book, try to watch Hollywood's rendition of the story, that sorry movie called "The Jackal". The suave, intelligent and skilled Chacal gets turned into Mr. Big Gun merciless serial killer who shoots with remote controlled cannons and engages in crazy chase scenes. The original Zimmerman movie with Edward Fox is a lot better and closer to the book, but a screening in modern day is not going to be as overwhelmingly powerful as it was for me 25 years ago.

The Last Time They Met, by Anita Shreve

This is a book that will delight anyone who can appreciate a story about love. I was careful enough not to say this is a book about a love story because bad books about romance are a dime a dozen, if not cheaper. This Anita Shreve can write beautifully, there's no doubt. She's intelligent, and also expects her reader to be intelligent, but more than anything, she writes with feeling. She writes fiction with the weight of emotions that many who have lived a real life situation cannot commit to words. This is a really talented writer.

The story is this book is told in a very non-linear way. To begin with, it flows backwards in time, but even then, it doesn't go straight, with a rhythm that give space to memories, daydreams, reveries. The book is divided into three parts, according to three moments in the life of the main characters, going from most to least recent. Many reviews of this book will tell you to expect an unbelievable twist at the end that will have you wanting to go straight back to the beginning. I think this 'twist' is interesting and inspiring, all right, but I dare say that the strength of the book lies in its beautiful whole, in the range of its explorations of human emotions, rather than in a bit of surprise in the last paragraph. If it were only for this, the book would haven't had much value for me. After hearing people tell me so many times to expect to be shocked, I wasn't really surprised because I had already explored many possibilities for the end, including the actual one. Nevertheless, when the end came, this ending that I already had considered possible, I was shocked. I was upset. All these feelings came rushing in and lingered long after I had turned the last page.

Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

This is a very silly books and silly books usually appeal to silly people. I turn out to be one of them (not that I'm calling myself a silly book, I hope you understand what I mean) and so I enjoyed Good Omens immensely. The cover in the paperback edition displays a statement that fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy will probably find it enjoyable, which is probably true. The setting of the story is, spatially, Britain, and temporally, when the end of the world has come.

The story starts out mocking the classic birth-of-the-anti-christ (am I screwing up capitalization here?) "The Omen" and will get you laughing out loud from the get-go. That is, if you're silly enough to appreciate it. Throughout the story, you'll be introduced to a whole bunch of characters, some of them minor (which could be a bit distracting if you let yourself go), but two major ones are Crowley, a fallen angel who acts as Satan's agent on Earth, and Aziraphale, a not-fallen-by-the-leastest-bit angel, who acts as God's agent. They're not so much enemies, but sort of pawns in the cosmic battle of good vs. evil and understand that their actions must bring Armageddon, when all diferences will be finally resolved and some kind of winner will be appointed. The problem is, they have come to like humanity and don't really want to bring about the end of the world. Other interesting characters are the 11-year old anti-Christ, the descendent of a prophetess who has foreseen pretty much everything that's happens as the end approaches, and the head of a dwindling witch-hunting army.

Readers of other Neil Gaiman books will find that the intangible familiar quality they are used to is also in this book. The language is perhaps not quite like that of other Gaiman's books and the lighter, more outrageous humour probably comes from Pratchett. Something in the book, though, is definitely Gaiman's. Maybe it's the way the universe is set up, the way it feels like reality with subtle dark distortions. In any case, the book is great and I really didn't want it to end, but as all books do, it did and, eventually, I had to move on to read something else.

The Cuckoo's Egg, by Cliff Stoll

This was one of the most fun nerdy book I've ever read. It spent a long time in the NY Times' bestsellers list, I know, but I can't tell you how much someone non-initiated in computer (network) technology can really enjoy it. What I know is that for one who works with and understand these diabolic machines, it was a blast.

In a nutshell, this tells the true story of how an astronomer converted into system administrator finds that a 75 c discrepancy in the system accounting logs leads to a thrilling tale of international espionage. Much of the book is about tracking hackers, system security holes, and how law enforcement was unprepared to deal with computer crime in 1987. It's a really interesting read punctuated by technical and legal factoids (which may very well be outdated by now) cleverly intermingled with the author's personal experiences in the time period. Stoll uses some of his innermost thoughts and beliefs to humanize what would otherwise have been a story too technical and factual to be enjoyed by the average person.

Stardust, by Neil Gaiman

A truly lovely fairy tale, which deserved to be read and reread. Fans of Neverwhere would probably also enjoy this one. Gaiman is a great storyteller, who, perhaps thanks to his extensive involvement with graphic novels, can easily conjure the visual components of his fantastic stories in the readers' mind's eye. Again, this story mixes the real world with the fantastic, and sets one character from our reality out on an epic journey in fairieland. A great book to read aloud to your kids - ahem, provided you don't call much attention to a few understated adult passages.

Hannibal, by Thomas Harris

An all right read, but only barely. It would have been a lot better if Mr. Harris hadn't indulged so much in the graphical gruesome as he did. The characters are much more interesting than the literally gory details of their actions and the author missed a chance of making this a memorable book. I truly enjoyed the part of the story that is set in Florence thanks to the more romantic tone of the writing. Towards the end, when the focus shifts towards scalpels, knives, and human body parts, I found that the line dividing horror and idiocy was crossed. Hannibal Lecter's characterization was well done, up to a certain part of the story when Mr. Harris took the intellect of his creation well beyond the believable. It became hard to conceive that Hannibal The Cannibal was a gourmet, a psychiatrist, a surgeon, a history and literature expert, an astrophysicist and cosmologist of the caliber of Stephen Hawking. Too bad that in order to create his monster, the author made him so terribly intellectually superior to anyone possibly imaginable and ended up with a pastiche.