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Casino by Nicholas Pileggi - The book that provided the basis for the Scorsese film of the same name. It focuses on professional handicapper Lefty Rosenthal's rise and fall as the behind-the-scenes manager of the Stardust Casino in Vegas and how the mob's involvement in Vegas was virtually shut down as a result. The movie is fairly close to the book (Pileggi co-wrote the script with Scorsese) though all the names were changed and a lot of backstory/certain events were dramatized for the movie, so the book fills in a lot of the details like how the mob got involved in the Stardust to begin with. Much of the book is told through first-hand accounts from Rosenthal himself as well as accounts from other figures who were either intimately involved in the events or close to people who were, so you really get a good picture of what was going on from all angles. Good read and one of the better books about the mob I've read. The Gate House by Nelson DeMille. A sequel to his earlier book The Gold Coast. Haven't really followed DeMille for a while but I was at the library and grabbed it on impulse. While it's not a bad read by any means (DeMille's got a good sarcastic sense of humor and some pretty good insights), he could have left the story as it ended with The Gold Coast. It doesn't really feel like there's that much conflict and the way it all wraps up was way too convenient.
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Oct 26, 2009 15:46
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I've just finished Rund um das Große Tribunal by Peter Handke. I don't think there's an English translation available so I think some background is needed: The rather short book (just over 60 pages) is about Handke's observations at the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia) trial against Slobodan Milosevic. It is in line with Handke's other works on the former Yugoslavia (from "Abschied vom neunten Land" to "Unter Tränen fragend") that spured some controversy in Europe, especially his article "Gerechtigkeit für Serbien" ("Justice for Serbia", available in English.) The consensus in much of Europe's intelligentia and media during the 90's was that the Serbs were the only group to blame for the break-up of Yugoslavia and the following wars. Handke, in an ultimately mis-understood effort to balance this view, took the Serb side (or so it was perceived) going as far as attending Milosevic's funeral and giving a short speech there. For this he has been and continuous to be ridiculed and attacked. However it is also well known that Handke is one of the most accomplished German-language authors of our time. The way he works with words, plays with them in a very poetic way, constantly challenges the use of certain words or parts of words by others, is what makes Rund um das Große Tribunal a great read even if you don't agree with his view of politics (provided you have a good grasp of the German language.)
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Oct 26, 2009 15:54
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O Rapture posted:I just finished the fourth and final book of The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe . The Urth of the New Sun is a very good coda to the series, I really recommend you check it out. It's a bit more direct with the sci-fi "what's going on in this universe" aspects which may or may not please you. Most of all, it wraps up Severian's story nicely, since you could argue that the first four books are preparation for him fulfilling a prophecy, but end just as he embarks on doing so.
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Oct 27, 2009 17:11
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Finished the Gormenghast Trilogy. It can be quite a trudge in parts but also alot of the time I didn't want to put it down. It is beautiful in its grotesqueness and it's a shame that Peake died before he could continue on with Titus in his old age.
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Oct 29, 2009 07:41
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Rome and Italy, the second volume of Livy's History of Rome, which focuses on the period of the Samnite Wars (50 years or so). As much as I enjoy Livy and ancient histories like this I could totally understand anyone who was put to sleep; I'd say this is definitely the volume Szymborska had read when she wrote Voices (If only they weren't always in the way, the Auruncians, the Marsians / but they always do get in the way, dear Spurius Manlius / Tarquinians where you would least expect them, Etruscans on all sides / If that weren't enough, Volsinians and Veientians / The Aulertians, beyond all reason. And, of course, / the endlessly vexatious Sapinians, my dear Sextus Oppius. / Little nations do have little minds / The circle of thick skulls expands around us / Reprehensible customs. Backwards laws. / Ineffectual gods, my dear Titus Vilius. / Heaps of Hernicians. Swarms of Murricinians. / Antlike multitudes of Vestians and Samnites. / The farther you go, the more there are, dear Servius Follius.). On top of the slaughter of countless tribes, occasionally seeming like more corpses than could have physically fit into the Italian peninsula, Livy doesn't let a single detail he knows slip by unrecounted. He'll even note the names, social rank and family line of consuls who were elected and then admit they did absolutely nothing worth remembering. That said, it's immensely readable and well worth the odd slog through a dead patch here and there. Also Everyday Life by Lydie Salvayre, a novella confronting a middle aged woman with her natural enemy: another middle-aged woman. It's the interior monologue of a senior secretary who, after working alone for the last 30 years, goes into meltdown when a new younger secretary is hired alongside her. It's strangely entertaining and, thanks to some excellent characterisation, works better than you might expect. For all that, though, it never really rises beyond a kind of bread-and-butter level - there's nothing really unique about it and, as expertly put together as it is, and as much as I liked it, the world won't be set on fire. If you're in the market for a Solid Modern French Novella in the tradition of someone like Toussaint though, why not? Last was Carl Schorske's Fin-de-Siecle Vienna, collecting six more or less independent essays on the culture of the period. Wouldn't necessarily recommend this as an intro to the subject as it presupposes a certain amount of knowledge going in; if you're looking for something entry-level I'd try A Nervous Splendor instead. Essays on the development of the Ringstrasse and on the figureheads of the post-liberal and largely nationalist political groundswell are the real meat of the book, much of the other material having been well-covered elsewhere (another essay on Freud, anyone? No?) or just offering a second take on points already made (like Klimt's struggle to break out of the same aesthetic fantasyland responsible for ridiculous grandeur of Ringstrasse architecture).
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Oct 29, 2009 09:26
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American Gods wonderful, look forward to reading other works but Neil Gaiman. What other books by him are as good as this? Suggestions appreciated.
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Oct 29, 2009 23:53
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I just finished two books in a series, Dirty Secrets Club and The Memory Collector by Meg Gardiner. Murder mysteries, basically. Jo Beckett is a forensic psychiatrist who gets into incredible situations. Good fluff read.
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Oct 30, 2009 01:58
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Just finished Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Pretty good coming of age story with a little Japanese Sci-Fi added in. I love Murakami's books. I just picked up Norwegian Wood by Murakami and The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger by Stephen King. Probably going to read King first, as I have never read any of his books.
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Oct 30, 2009 13:56
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God is dead by Ron Currie, Jr. It's a short story collection about the death of god and the ramifications on the rest of the world. Some of the short stories are amazing (the suicide party and the priest's suicide), while others just leave you wanting more. It's a great book though, and I love his takes on the alternate (interviewing the dog that ate god, post-modern psychology taking on evolution psychology.
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Oct 30, 2009 13:56
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Skin Tight, by Carl Hiaasen. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Oct 30, 2009 18:53
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Just finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which I put off for the longest time. Now I'm about halfway through The Prophet by Khalil Gibran. I also went through two short story collections by Andre Dubus not long ago. Stay the gently caress away from that guy.
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Oct 31, 2009 01:34
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Biaga posted:American Gods wonderful, look forward to reading other works but Neil Gaiman. What other books by him are as good as this? Suggestions appreciated. Neverwhere and Stardust are both good but significantly shorter than American Gods. You might want to hold off on Anansi Boys as its basically American Gods Redux. For short stories I liked Smoke and Mirrors best.
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Oct 31, 2009 02:58
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the books I've been reading are by the titles of A critique of reason and Being and Time and of the Yakuza the Japan's organized crime syndicate and four times larger than the Italian mafia. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Oct 31, 2009 05:52
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muscles like this? posted:Neverwhere and Stardust are both good but significantly shorter than American Gods. You might want to hold off on Anansi Boys as its basically American Gods Redux. For short stories I liked Smoke and Mirrors best. Seconded. Neverwhere feels much richer in its mythos than American Gods. Smoke and Mirrors and Delicate things, his collections of short stories are both great. The first has probably the friendliest story I've ever read (about the Holy Grail) but both have their moments. Murder Mysteries is probably one of my favourite stories of recent times. Rapulum_Dei fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Oct 31, 2009 |
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Oct 31, 2009 21:50
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I just finished Unseen Acedemicals the latest Discworld novel. It was fine, there were really sharp moments but ever since I saw the 2 part documentary about Pratchett's Alzheimers I can't shake the feeling that his gift is slipping away from him, which breaks my heart.
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Oct 31, 2009 21:53
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Wolfgang Pauli posted:Just finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which I put off for the longest time. I put it off so long I just deleted it during an audiobook purge. Was it worth the time? I just finished O is for Outlaw by Sue Grafton. It's filled with way too many details (I turned right on East Street, then three blocks later, past a little bodega, I made another right onto Furhman Avenue, finally making my way into.... BLAH). The story itself is pointless and I got the characters confused because frankly my mind kept drifting. She only gets involved to help out her ex-husband, whom she did not part on good terms with and has not spoken to in 14 years. FOURTEEN. YEARS. Who gives a crap who shot him!? However, it was very cute to hear details of the 80s in the book, like having to use pay phones, and ordering at McDonalds individual items instead of Value Meals. I actually laughed when she mentioned people smoking on her flight... Oh, and she just walks into a high school in another state and uses the school library without a strange glance or comment. We didn't have metal detectors yet when I was in HS, but we sure did have security guards. GOSH how times have changed. I also wrapped up Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. I absolutely LOVE the Jeeves series. They're amazing with their own period-piece quirks but they're hysterically funny and the slang is almost current again. Definitely some lighter stuff in between my audio failures. And finally, I think I'm not going to finish The Unwanted by John Saul because it's only disc 2 and not only am I very depressed by the story, I pretty much have the rest of the book figured out. I'm not even sure the book isn't YA instead of regular fiction. Can anyone rec' any well-written, decently scary John Saul for me? He only has 2 million books to try... I need a direction.
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Nov 1, 2009 03:30
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Biaga posted:American Gods wonderful, look forward to reading other works but Neil Gaiman. What other books by him are as good as this? Suggestions appreciated. I've come to the conclusion that the first Gaiman book you read will always be the best, and everything else that comes after, no matter what order, will never live up to your expectations. I was shocked to learn that Mirrormask (movie) was his work. I was slightly entranced by it (as an adult, no less). If I would suggest, I'd have to go with Good Omens with Terry Pratchett. It's actually funny in spots, although it's really long (IMO). Gaiman, like Koontz and possibly King, is best read every five years. Enough time to get their method cleaned from your brain so you can tackle them fresh.
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Nov 1, 2009 03:39
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Endymion and The Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons - The second half of the story that began with Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion. Pretty mixed feelings about this in general. The Hyperion books were pretty good (especially Hyperion), the shoehorned-in John Keats stuff aside, but the Endymion books seem like the story could have been collapsed into one book without losing much Seemed like most of Endymion and Rise consisted of "end up on new planet and narrowly avoid getting killed". At least Simmons wrapped it up well enough and resolved the mysteries from the Hyperion books (the Shrike, etc.), though I must have completely missed how Aenea "died" but somehow managed to come back to life and live happily ever after at the end. Not one of Simmons' better efforts IMHO, which is a shame since the universe he created is intriguing.
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Nov 1, 2009 04:47
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That70sHeidi posted:I put it off so long I just deleted it during an audiobook purge. Was it worth the time? Well, it's written for children who are convinced that they are special. You probably made the right choice. It's also written like a book that deserved to be published by MTV. I finished The Real Life of Sebastian Knight yesterday and I was very impressed. It's not really on the same level that the better Nabokov (as I've said many times, Lolita, Despair, Laughter in the Dark, Mary) is, but for a first novel in English I can forgive a lot of things. His command of the language isn't all there yet, but there are still great passages. I'd put this towards the middle of his work.
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Nov 1, 2009 05:09
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The Rabbi of Lud by Stanley Elkin. The prose is dense and the humor is black, so this is not literature for pussies. The book is funny as hell at times, and funny as a punch in the face at others. Irony is arguably a primary archetype of humor, and if the character of a rabbi whose congregation are all in their graves can't drip irony, then no one can. This book is not for everyone, but if it matters to you that Elkin has been an influence on other (postmodernist) writers, you should check him out. I can see how some notable writers riffed off of him in nitpickingly detailed human content, textual sophistication, and simple cleverness. But Elkin himself never gained much popularity despite a few awards ... maybe because from what I've seen he's too bleak for popular consumption. Elkin is an author I meant to look into after reading John Barth's essay “The Literature of Replenishment” in The Atlantic Monthly long ago. If anyone knows where I can get a copy of this essay online (or his earlier one, “The Literature of Exhaustion”) please post links. Or if they're collected in a book somewhere, I'd like to know where. Wrojin fucked around with this message at 11:40 on Nov 1, 2009 |
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Nov 1, 2009 10:56
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I just finished God Emperor of Dune after taking a lengthy break from the series for no real reason. I loved it. I was totally caught up in the book and finished it over the weekend and it really seemed to break me down.I can't get it out of my head and I really liked the philosophical plot. It's not surprising to me that I couldn't finish it back when I was in high school and read the first three, there's a lot more here to think about. I can't claim it to be any sort of great philosophical work, I have nothing to compare it to, but I've always been a nerd for sci-fi so to tie some real thought into something like that really turned me onto it. I'd say the high point was taking a break about 3/4 of the way through and savoring that time before I finally finished it. I know people have said that after they finish a powerful movie, they are in a mood for the next few days where they can't think of much else; I never understood that. Now I think I understand what they mean, the only other book to make me really sit down and think a lot about it was Blood Meridian. Probably an abomination of a parallel to some, but it's about the only scale I have to measure how good of a read a book has been(in my eyes).
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Nov 2, 2009 06:08
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39. Fritz Leiber - Swords Against Wizardry 40. Bram Stoker - Dracula 41. Fritz Leiber - The Swords of Lankhmar 42. Isaac Asimov - Foundation 43. Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy 44. Fritz Leiber - Swords & Ice Magic 45. Douglas Adams - The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe 46. L. Frank Baum - The Patchwork Girl of Oz 47. Robert Mayer - Superfolks 48. L. Frank Baum - Tik-tok of Oz 49. Douglas Adams - Live, The Universe, & Everything 50. L. Frank Baum - The Scarecrow of Oz Finished up the last three book of the Lankhmar series. The Swords of Lankhmar was interesting for being a proper novel and not a collection of short stories and novellas like the rest of the books. The final installment, Swords & Ice Magic had a very funny section where the gods decide to just mess with our heroes by trotting out all their old girlfriends to reject them again. Also re-read the first three Hitchhiker's books. Not much to say that hasn't been said but they weren't as constantly laugh out loud funny as I remember. Continuing on with the Oz books. I never knew there were so many, the series is pretty epic though of course the subject matter isn't. They're terribly happy, in the way reality is not. Not much danger, no real conflict, everyone group hugging at the end, etc. Dracula was Dracula. I'm going to cheat and just link to the book club thread Foundation: Also covered by the book club. Superfolks: The whole time I was watching Watchmen I was reminded of this book. The story of the last superhero to give up the fight, an unnamed costumed crusader is called back into action by a sinister plot for the purpose of destroying him once and for all. As far as I know, this is the first serious look at the comic book superhero myth. It's very funny, and peppered with pop culture references of the time. If you can find a copy, it's well worth reading.
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Nov 2, 2009 14:30
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Wrojin posted:The Rabbi of Lud by Stanley Elkin. The prose is dense and the humor is black, so this is not literature for pussies. The book is funny as hell at times, and funny as a punch in the face at others.
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Nov 2, 2009 16:26
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Just finished Asylums by Erving Goffman. Interesting read if you're wondering what daily life is like inside institutions like prisons and (particularly) psychiatric hospitals. It was originally written about half a century ago, though, so I don't know how dated some of the descriptions are. Still, a very solid analysis of the social/organizational structures you find on the inside.
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Nov 3, 2009 02:54
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Just finished The Man in the High Castle. I've read A Scanner Darkly, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and a few of his short stories, and I must say, High Castle blows them all out of the water. The writing is much more stylistic, the plot much more delicately constructed. He describes little details, like the facial expressions of the characters as they're thinking about something, that create images for me that I've rarely experienced in a book. I read the other two of his novels because of their movies, and was satisfied, but a bit underwhelmed. Ironically, I read High Castle purely on recommendation, and it was my favorite of his. It seems like his most movie-able book yet, but oddly enough, it doesn't have one. In any case, that was a great read, and I highly recommend it.
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Nov 3, 2009 09:05
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Trader by Charles de Lint. Just looking at his name and the covers of his books (which are absolutely wonderful) I thought he would have a pretty, poetic way of writing. Well, that will teach me to judge a book by its cover! The story was kinda fun and it was really fast to read, but the characters felt a bit wooden, or like it was some kid writing about them, or something? It's hard to explain. A little bit like how Stephen King writes, but worse. (On the cover it said like stephen king, but better, hahaha!) Anyways, didn't really like it. Won't read him again. I think I've been spoiled with all the other stuff I've read and now normal fiction is awful to me. Black Silk by something Ivory. I wanted to read a romance novel, so I went in search of suggestion and this was one. It was shelved as Erotica in my book store, as opposed to the other suggestions I got, so I decided to go all out and go with this one. It wasn't erotica. At all. It was so painfully Jane Austen-ian that it hurt. You get the SCANDALOUS (but really very nice) gorgeous young nobility dude and the more plain, low class born but now kind of sort of nobility girl and blah blah blah cliche cliche blah. I kept expecting hot sexin' and it kept not happening. Did I say how goddamn cliche it was? Because it was. I started The Prince of Nothing but it was so painfully heavy to read that I put it aside for now and will come back to it in a little bit. Right now I'm reading John Dies at the End and while it's no masterpiece of modern literature, it's fun, quick, and made me laugh out loud more than once. I can't see that there's much of a huge moral or point or anything to learn from it, and the prose is not super beautiful or anything, but it's so drat fun! It's got monsters, fart jokes, dick jokes, a guy that comes up with the worst puns ever, etc etc. It's super quick to read so pick it up if you like monsters or monster hunting and stuff. Hopefully Good Omens is going to arrive at the store this week, because I really want to read that next.
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Nov 3, 2009 23:35
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I just finished Something Missing by Matthew Dicks. It's his first novel, and it's classed Literary Fiction (which I hadn't noticed when I picked it up). I generally avoid LitFic due to absence of certain things such as, oh, plot. This did drag quite a bit in the middle, but I was compelled to finish it just to see how it turned out (so, really, it does have a tiny skeleton-ette of a plot. Sort of). It gets much better the closer you get to the end. It's generally about an OCD house burglar who gets more involved in his 'clients' than he really should. I'm ambivalent about his next novel (should there be one). I'll probably read it. Maybe.
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Nov 3, 2009 23:40
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Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein: a very interesting book by two University of Chicago professors on choice architecture and how to improve it to make people make better decisions. Thought-provoking (as we are constently subject to choice architectures in every-day life and might be choice architects ourselves) and an enjoyable read (thanks to many examples.) Belgrade - A Cultural and Literary History by David Norris: Finally a good book about the history of Serbia's capital! Norris traces the history of Belgrade along the most important places and roads, citing literature on the way. Wish I'd found this a few months earlier before I last went to Belgrade. A must-read if you plan to travel there and are interested in a more detailed and profound history of the city.
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Nov 4, 2009 15:03
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Finished Chuck Klosterman's new book of essays, Eating the Dinosaur. I really enjoyed it, moreso than any of his other stuff since Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. In fact it reminded me a lot of SD&CP but with a bit more maturity and a touch more ennui (and updated pop culture references). If you generally like his essays, I'd highly recommend the new book.
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Nov 4, 2009 15:59
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Just read Crete by Anthony Beevor. I enjoyed it, Beevor has several military/WW2 books and they are always well written and documented. First half of the book is about the German airborne invasion of the island, and the second half is about the exploits of the resistance fighters and SOE operatives after the island was captured.
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Nov 5, 2009 05:44
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Umberto Eco's The Name Of The Rose. I read Foucault's Pendulum last year, and much like that Rose has a lot of almost-skippable vaguely-essential passages dealing with heady subjects (with Foucault's it was cults and cabals, Rose it was religion and its relationship with philosophy). In both cases I think all of this is worth reading if you really really really want the full experience, but if you're in it for a mystery book about monks dying then skip away. The book works on at least two levels in that way. Eco has a superb way of presenting mysteries and then providing really satisfying answers. When we finally find out what's in the library, who's killing the monks, etc., it's like eating a really juicy fabulous steak that we've been smelling as it cooked. It's a rare talent.
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Nov 5, 2009 07:22
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Just wrapped up The Black Company Returns, containing Bleak Seasons and She is the Darkness. I enjoyed them more than the Books of the South (still no match for the first three books,) but they cut off at a rather colossal cliffhanger. I'm really hoping the final two books get rereleased. While I wait for that though, I'm looking into Steve Erickson.
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Nov 5, 2009 16:45
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Ratatozsk posted:Just wrapped up The Black Company Returns, containing Bleak Seasons and She is the Darkness. I enjoyed them more than the Books of the South (still no match for the first three books,) but they cut off at a rather colossal cliffhanger. I'm really hoping the final two books get rereleased. While I wait for that though, I'm looking into Steve Erickson. The Malazan books are spotty as hell but well worth reading if you like the hard stuff. Have fun.
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Nov 5, 2009 17:04
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Just finished The Gates by John Connolly. Very funny thriller about opening the gates of Hell. More funny than terrifying, but it does have its squishy moments. He writes like the bastard love child of Douglas Adams and Clive Barker. Must read!
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Nov 5, 2009 23:34
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I just finished Wonderful Life by Stephen Jay Gould and boy was it great! It is a delightful romp through basic concepts of non-incremental evolutionary theory and the application of contingency to a Darwinist worldview, with lots of pictures of funny extinct animals and a juicy middle full of anatomical detail. It is highly recommended for anyone who, like myself, enjoys Gould's short pieces but doesn't have the patience to sit through his Structure of Evolutionary Theory. 4.5/5 Stars RIP Steve
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Nov 6, 2009 03:38
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Magic Hate Ball posted:Umberto Eco's The Name Of The Rose. I read Foucault's Pendulum last year, and much like that Rose has a lot of almost-skippable vaguely-essential passages dealing with heady subjects (with Foucault's it was cults and cabals, Rose it was religion and its relationship with philosophy). In both cases I think all of this is worth reading if you really really really want the full experience, but if you're in it for a mystery book about monks dying then skip away. The book works on at least two levels in that way. Eco has a superb way of presenting mysteries and then providing really satisfying answers. When we finally find out what's in the library, who's killing the monks, etc., it's like eating a really juicy fabulous steak that we've been smelling as it cooked. It's a rare talent.
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Nov 6, 2009 06:25
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Listen, I didn't face ten long tours against the goddamn 'bots to come back home and lift baby weights.
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Carl Sagan's Cosmos. I've been reading Zorak's space colonization thread in Ask/Tell and borrowed back a copy that I gave to a buddy for Christmas some years back. Frankly, I feel like I'm 9 years old all over again. I'd forgotten just how much I love space. I'd watched parts of Sagan's TV series before, but I was super-psyched by just how deep he gets into the history of science. Knowing well beforehand that it happened, I still cried at the fate of Hypatia, the last bastion of reason before the dark ages finally enveloped the West. the same Hypatia who was also claimed to have been a hottie, though part of me wonders if she just fell under the Douglas Adams definition of "attractive female engineers". Sagan's Pale Blue Dot is next, and is referred to as the sequel to Cosmos. Even if its only half as good as Cosmos, it'll be awesome. I'm pumped.
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Nov 6, 2009 10:31
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thuly posted:Carl Sagan The Dragons of Eden is also great! Carl Sagan is the bomb.
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Nov 6, 2009 20:54
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"The Island at the End of the World" by Sam Taylor What the gently caress? I mean it wasn't awful, it was a fun read to kick out in one sitting (it's pretty short) and even though I saw the twist coming it still makes no loving sense to me. I mean maybe I missed it because I was tired as poo poo when I read it but how the hell does one make a moat that looks as though you're on an island? I mean to extend it as far as the horizon makes no goddamn sense to me. I think I need to look this over again because I had to have missed something.
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Nov 7, 2009 16:03
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thuly posted:Carl Sagan's Cosmos. I've been reading Zorak's space colonization thread in Ask/Tell and borrowed back a copy that I gave to a buddy for Christmas some years back. You need to read The High Frontier when you're done ok  ---- I just finished reading "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman; it was entertaining conceptually, but some of the structure was... finnicky at times, and the protagonist was rather just utterly boring and generic and completely oblivious and dumb. It was annoying in a lot of places. I don't regret reading it, but it's not one of his best works.
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