A Paperless Month: August Book Review
6 Minute Read
A big month for digital. I did a considerable amount of hiking and travelling which also meant I had a couple of long car journeys that allowed me to chew through some audiobooks which brings a different style to this August Book Review.
As I mentioned in my July book review, the reason I was reading four books at once is because I was taking it slow reading segments of Faulkner whilst also occasionally reading a writer’s guide. Then when I went on my hike I wanted to listen to an audiobook in the car, and needed to read something on my kindle to use the backlight when in the tent at night. So just like that I was balancing 4 books at once!
However, 2 of those books are still on the go. Looking back I found this quite dizzying and I’m actually reading at a much slower pace than usual. So I think it’s time to switch back to reading one book at a time, like a normal person.
Anyway, enough introductions. Now on to my August book review:
- Norse Mythology – Neil Gaiman
- The Call of the Wild – Jack London
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck – Mark Manson
- Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope – Mark Manson
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1. Norse Mythology – Neil Gaiman
I’m slightly ashamed to say, this is the first Neil Gaiman book I’ve read; but judging by how good it was, this certainly won’t be the last. If you enjoyed Mythos by Stephen Fry, you’ll be pleased to know this is a similar historical retelling, this time of Norse rather than Greek mythology.
The tales are wonderfully spun with Gaiman striking a child-like, poetic tone that perfectly accompanies a fairytale or mythic story. His descriptions, both of character traits and features, are particularly magnificent. He weaves tale after tale together, building up a fantastical image of this Norse world.
I’d be very interested to find out what it is about this style that gives the writing a magical quality. If there are traits in structure or pacing that make a fairytale just so. A thought for another day perhaps.
Parts of the stories are similar to Greek myths and you can see a clear influence, which is understandable as Norse tales weren’t written until much later. In any case, Gaiman does great justice in retelling this lesser known stories in a way that’s every bit as fascinating as their more famous counterparts.
If you only know the names of Thor, Odin, and Loki from the Marvel Universe then you’re in for a treat. I relished the opportunity to explore each of these characters, and the rest of the Norse gods, as they triumphed, failed, challenged, fought, tricked, and outwitted one another. Each story was done so with parable-like plotting, where the outcomes are often instructive, but always entertaining.
This book is suitable for all ages, as myths should be, and people from all walks of life will be able to take something away from the stories. Whether it’s webs of deceit, titanic challenges proposed, or intriguing plots filled with all the usual traits and flaws that make characters become heroes, villains, and of course, gods.
At times, the stories do meander and it can be hard to trace where the characters have come from or what their task is in their current situation, but I found the way to overcome this was to not look too deeply into every aspect of the plot and instead to just enjoy the ride.
I listened to the audiobook and I thought that how Gaiman reads adds an extra layer of entertainment. If you’re going on a holiday with your family, this is exactly the sort of book to listen to in the car. He breaths life into his own words, and his sentence by sentence delivery is sublime.
2. The Call of the Wild – Jack London
If you want a book about adventure, look no further. I was hooked from the first few pages. The pacing was frantic and exciting from the get go. London drops you straight in the story and doesn’t waste any time hopping around the main plot.
We follow Buck, an enormous St. Bernard / Sheep dog cross who is stolen from his family and sent to the Yukon to drag sleighs for frontiersmen searching for gold. Buck’s interactions with the other dogs and the descriptions of the animals, their natures, and the surrounding wilderness is mesmerising.
Apparently, London was a fan of Darwin and so used the Origin of Species as inspiration for the brutal fight for survival that hangs on each page “the law of club and fang”. He continuously flexes his blistering imagination with the vivid descriptions of this frozen land. The world he builds teeters between brutal and awe-inspiring. It’s clear that London is retelling what he experienced during his time spent in the barren and wild Canadian north.
This is just such a great book, and one that is perfect for any explorers and adventurers at heart. The only downside is that the book should have been a bit longer. The ending was slightly rushed compared with how well paced the rest of the book was and I was a little unsatisfied with the conclusion.
3. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck – Mark Manson
The following review is written in the order I made my notes whilst reading it. I think it’s quite amusing to see how much my attitude to the author changes throughout the course of the book.
- This guy is so arrogant and pretentious, and what irritates me is that he’s come up with the most gimmicky idea of just not trying, claiming that will make you succeed at everything. Oh hey mental health? Oh try not giving a f*ck, then you’ll feel better. How has this sold so many books, honestly. What a joke.
- The bit about social media being bad for your mental health does make sense at least.
- When he stops the silly bragging and stupid analogies, he actually has some fairly good points to make which do carry some profundity. It’s just a shame you have to wade through so much tripe to get there.
- The occasional attempts to bring himself down to the reader’s level or criticise himself to add humility do not come off as genuine and only appear insincere. They strengthen the fact that he thinks he’s an alpha with the key to life.
- The less he talks about himself the better. I know he was a blogger and they’ve tried to publicise him as such by using it as a unique selling point, but when he applies his lessons to real life stories, it’s actually quite interesting.
- Honestly, when he just cuts the crap, the book’s pretty good. I hated the first quarter/third but after that I started enjoying it and wanted to listen to what he had to say.
As you can see, I went through a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions. One of the things that held me back from enjoying the book so much was the author’s attitude and writing style. It was very hard to get past how much I disliked that.
However, taking some of the concepts and ideas he discusses at face value, the book does have an interesting angle to offer. Just don’t take it too seriously.
4. Everything Is Fucked: A Book About Hope – Mark Manson
I thought I should give him the benefit of the doubt and read his newest book as well. Both books don’t take particularly long to read and I thought, why not, maybe I’ll change my mind about him.
It starts off well with a great introductory story; as with his first book, when he retells people’s life stories to drive his point home it’s enjoyable and engaging.
It’s clear from early on that he’s toned down a lot of his loutish petulance. Although, unfortunately, because of this the book isn’t as interesting. That seems like a bit of a paradox right? Because I said I hated his conversational tone in the first book.
A big problem with this second book is that I didn’t get on board with the concept. It’s a weird spin to take on everything, that all life boils down to hope, or the lack of it.
The book makes him seem more intelligent – emphasis on the word seem – but he also becomes strident and ranting. I believe he overestimates his abilities and merely citing famous philosophers and psychologists doesn’t shake me from that notion.
He attempts to write in the style of an actual scientist or author with a genuine background in philosophy, psychology, sociology (think Jordan Peterson, Richard Dawkins, Yuval Noah Harari), and he tries to write the book in reflection of this.
But I don’t buy it. He still sounds like a blogger. Sure he’s had success and he can drop some of the gimmicks from his first book as there’s less pressure from his agent or his publishing company to sell a cheap trick, but I don’t think he’s as smart as he thinks he is.
The narrative flits about between different subjects and I often forgot what the linking theme was. I had to keep reminding myself what the book was actually about to not lose focus. It seems like he’s written on multiple different subjects and then tried to force them into linking through “hope” but it merely comes off as contrived.
Although, to quote Franklin D. Roosevelt — “Never underestimate a man who overestimates himself.”
Before You Go
Thanks for reading my August book review. If reviews like this interest you, head over to my book review section to find more!
If you are new to Walk Wild check out the About Me page to learn more about who I am and what made me want to be a travel writer.
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