Red Harvest

 Red Harvest - Dashiell Hammett- Five Stars ☆☆☆☆☆

The Continental Op drops into Poisonville "Hard BoiIed" incarnate. He's angry because they try to kill him and he's disgusted by the lying, backstabbing, double-dealing leaders of the city. His solution: everyone sufferers.

This is Hammett's first novel (1929) and his angriest look at the world. It's worth your time. 

George W. Parker

Levon: From Down in the Delta to the Birth of The Band and Beyond

 Levon: From Down in the Delta to the Birth of The Band and Beyond - Sandra Tooze - ☆☆

I have been a fan of Levon Helm and The Band most of my life. There was a lot of material new to me in this book, from Levon's early childhood, his drug usage, and his post-cancer career. Robbie Robertson still doesn't come out very well. I enjoyed the book but I don't think I would re-read it which is why it is only two stars for me.

George W. Parker

A Legacy of Spies

A Legacy of Spies - John le Carré - Four Stars ☆☆☆☆

Four Stars - I will reread it.

This last book from Carré has a fresh feel to it with a different approach (kind of) to its storytelling.  I enjoyed the new perspective on the Alec Leamas story and immediately reread The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, which is a five-star book.

George W. Parker 

Cathedral - Raymond Carver

 Cathedral - Raymond Carver - One Star ☆ 

I did not finish this collection of Carver short stories. The protagonist in the short story Cathedral is an asshole. "Ah, but he changes," everyone will say. I believe the protagonist does not have a "Road to Damascus" moment. He just has a moment. In the morning when he rolls out of bed he will still be an asshole.

In Chef's House Edna leaves a budding relationship to return to a former failed relationship. She seems to have forgotten there was a reason it had failed. What is that saying about repeating something over and over and expecting a different outcome? Edna is a fool. 

If I want to spend time with assholes and fools I can go for a drive on the freeway and sidestep the Raymond Carver.

George W. Parker

Love and Let Die

Love and Let Die - John Higgs -Two Stars ☆☆ 

I have been a fan of The Beatles and Bond movies since 1964. But I was never one to run out into the weeds looking for "facts." (Unless you count playing a record backward a couple of times.) This book is filled with trivia like the bird sounds on "Tomorrow Never Knows" is Paul's laughter speeded up. And then there are Higgs' psychological interpretations. And psychological interpretations are like opinions, everyone has one.

 Not a book I would reread, hence the two stars. 

George W. Parker

 

Ike’s Spies

 

Ike’s Spies - Stephen E. Ambrose -Two Stars ☆☆ 

I don't foresee myself rereading this book.

The book has a lot of interesting facts about Ike's nurturing of the CIA and his leadership style. You can see why other countries distrust us when you read about our blithely organizing, backing, and forcing governmental changes around the globe often creating the problems we were trying to solve.

It's not a history I am proud of as an American.

George W. Parker

The Pirates of Shan

 The Pirates of Shan - John Blaine - Five Stars ☆☆☆☆☆

I have read it several times and I will read it again.

This is my favorite Rick Brant Science-Adventure story. It's a middle school-level adventure story where Rick, Scotty, and Chahda travel through the Philippine archipelago fending off pirates as they search for their missing friends.

I first read this when I was in middle school. Now my youngest grandson is in middle school. When I recently reread the book I followed the boys' trip using Google Maps and Wikipedia which added another layer of entertainment to the reading.

George W. Parker