Jodi Picoult: Songs of the Humpback Whale

This is absolutely appalling; how on earth can this author be "best selling" anywhere.
This would give story-tellers and authors a bad name.
Avoid like the plague.
♥

C.J. Date: Database Design and Relational Theory

Or to give its full title : "Database Design and Relational Theory: Normals Forms and All That Jazz"

Recently I found it necessary to re-examine a rather complex database I built over 7 years ago. The database had travelled through MySQL to Postgres with dalliances with ZODB and looked - with much benefit of hindsight - pretty crufty. If I was going to use the dataset, I would be using Django and probably its ORM, for convenience. To do this would require some reconstruction of the table definitions to suit the ORM and well if I had to do that, perhaps I should also spend some time evaluating the schema design and doing it right the nest time DIRTNT (rather than DIRTFOOT).

It has been a seriously long time since I earnestly poked at database theory so I reckoned it was about time I caught up. Hunting the web threw up a bewildering choice of possible guide books but none really seemed to pitch their content at an appropriate level for me; by now I don't need a guide to managing a database nor instruction in SQL. But I did feel the need for some real, man-sized theory.

This little volume was on the money and for once I opted for a dead-tree version even though it took a few days to arrive (instant gratification is not everything when it comes to reading textbooks on a Kindle). This is now sharing my bookshelf along with Donald Knuth and the Gang of Four; I hope they don't mind rubbing shoulders with C.J.Date instead of Dr. Codd.

Mind you, I seem to have forgotten how to learn from heavy-weight textbooks. Grinding through this one is quite demanding, something I only seem to be able to do in small chunks these days. And I am not even convinced the content is actually getting embedded in my grey cells. I am actually forcing myself to attempt and study even the exercises provided with each chapter - I never used to need to do this. There you are, that old tortoise age has almost caught up with me and I think the finish line might be in sight!

✔✔✔✔✔

Norman Davies: Europe: A History

We were heading off to France for a few weeks of touring and I realised I knew very little about European history. In fact, various sojourns through Ireland had demonstrated the huge gaps either in my education or my memory though probably both. Anyway I decided to remedy this by grabbing a few books from the library and other sources to read as we travelled. Most of them failed to survive past the first page; this one didn't. It was brilliant!

As I am writing this, I have not finished the book - it is quite long at almost 1400 regular pages - only up to chapter 4. Apart from the subject matter, which is all very interesting, there are quite a few features make this book stand out

• First off, the author's wonderful style. He writes as if telling you a favourite story with all the idiosyncracies that make a story personal to you and the teller - little tidbits of background details and colour 
• The book is written almost like a simple narrative. An ambitious task for a subject so broad, complex and interwoven with itself. It is very easy to read and for the parts I have read, the continuity from one protagonist to another makes the whole feel like a narrative
• There are quite a few out-takes. The subject is really complex and it must be impossible to deal with this complexity in a single book; easily solved, just create a brief (can be several pages long) out-take as an aside which you can choose to follow as the mood takes you.
• The book is structured in chapters which attempt to be self-contained usually covering a period dominated by a particular theme such as "The Romans" or "Greek culture"

With all these devices, the book is a pleasure to read. My copy was on a Kobo/Kindle which worked great for the text parts but the graphics and tables were dreadful, worse than useless on the Kobo. And it was very easy to lose context when reading through the lengthy. A hard-copy would be probably be a much better experience, but then it must be a weighty tome. Tough call - get both.

✔✔✔✔✔

Stieg Larson: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Well now, this caused some debate.

Yet another Swedish crime author. And yet more bloodshed to stain that calm Swedish landscape.

I really enjoyed this and most folk must agree given the recent release of the Hollywood film of the same name. But, there are those that disagree...

• Some folk reckon it is sexist and demeans the status of women with the characterisation of the "girl" with violent sex scenes being plain gratuitous
• In a World Book Club edition, Henning Mankell slated Stieg Larson as a dreadful writer and didn't consider him to be in the same league as the great and the good (such as himself, we presume). Sheesh, just as well Stieg ain't about to hear him. 

Still a good read!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

2600: The Hackers Quarterly

Another magazine I discovered while browsing the Kindle subscriptions listings was this fella. Its been published in hard-copy for quite a while but with limited distribution; being on the Kindle must have changed all that.

It makes no claims to be anything other than what it is: hackers from around the world sharing their experience with a few tips and heads-up for good measure.

You really do need to be a geek to appreciate this one though. Still what with

• the hackers collective known as Anonymous, 
• attempts by all sorts of "free world" democracies trying to cobble the masses with SOPA, PCIRA, ACTA and the likes,
• the hyperbole vented at Wikileaks and Pirate Bay  (if you are not blocked)
• leading to the creation of the Pirate Party

it is essential that we all raise our awareness of what is going on and not tolerate the powers that be infringing on our privacy and worse.

♥ ♥ ♥

Asimov's Science Fiction

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

This Thai film won the Palme d'Or at 2010 Cannes Film Festival and various folk have raved about it; but not everyone would agree.

If you do get a chance to see this, take it - but go prepared ... check out the Wikipedia review for some context perhaps. It is a very gentle and subtle film about the transition we will all make.

The film's story arose from a 1983 book written by a Buddhist abbot about a local (to Isan, Thailand) man who claimed he could clearly remember his own past lives. Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul uses the book as inspiration for the film's sensibility often featuring content in scenes or episodes as the eponymous Uncle Boonmee approaches his own death. Shot mostly on location in Isan, close to the border with Laos and scene of considerable violence in the late 20th century.

This is the superficial story-line and the film gently allows Boonmee to die after recalling his past, often in quite surreal episodes. The film's objective might be to examine this strange transition between life and death - this is articulated quite clearly in dialogue - but there are depths and chasm's waiting for the unwary. Some of this subtlety is lost to non-Thai audiences as references to old Thai TV shows misses us completely - such as the caricatured monkey ghosts whose shining red eyes apparently revealed TV monsters hidden to disguise the poor costumes. Other allusions might pass you by altogether too but there are plenty of clues remaining to point you in the right direction. But one or two remain stubbornly opaque, such as the .. um .. catfish - perhaps only understood by the real Boonmee.

Another layer to add yet more complexity, are the various technical tricks with sound editing, filming styles and even the film medium itself directly enhancing the whole experience. Multiple viewing will definitely be rewarded until this film becomes part of your own past life.

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

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