REVIEW: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid (1-star or less)

I made it about 13% into Malibu Rising before deciding to put it down. This one just isn’t for me.

The writing is clunky and, at times, just plain bad. Phrases like “naked except for a pair of bikini underwear” and “went and did” (a thing) feel lazy and grammatically off. The prose lacks rhythm or depth, and the dialogue feels like it’s trying too hard to be cinematic — probably because it’s angling for a screen adaptation (which, yes, Hulu picked up).

Character development is paper-thin. The women are described in terms of their “lean, taut, suntanned” bodies — like a casting call for Baywatch — and there’s a constant undercurrent of objectification that feels dated and shallow. Once again, Taylor Jenkins Reid seems more interested in glamorizing the wealthy and beautiful than in exploring anything emotionally real or grounded.

The plot (if there is one) barely moves, and the sex scenes are as dull as the characters. It reads like a glossy soap opera without the fun or the stakes.

What really sealed it for me was the stilted scenes and internal monologues around surfing and the ocean. I looked into the author’s research process and found that she had no prior knowledge of surfing — she reportedly prepared by watching surf movies. And it shows. There’s no real sense of connection to the ocean or surf culture — just a reliance on clichés and stereotypes. It’s hard to take a story seriously when the setting feels like a backdrop borrowed from a postcard.

After struggling through Forever Interrupted, I hoped this would be a step up. Instead, it’s more of the same — just with more bikinis and beachfront property.

REVIEW: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid 

RATING: 1-star or less

© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.

REVIEW: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari (1-star)

 This book is one of those "big history" books where the author attempts to explain all of human history -- anthropology, sociology, pop psychology and pop economics -- through the objective lens of his own narrow perspective.  Frankly, I'm not sure why I kept listening in the hopes that he would uncover something novel or interesting.  I had intended to borrow the e-book to do a re-read but there are plenty of critical reviews out there of this book.

An excellent critical review here: SAPIENS BY YUVAL NOAH HARARI: A BRIEF JUSTIFICATION FOR CHAUVINISM

There's nothing new or groundbreaking in this book except that the author could manage to slide in so many sly, sexist references.  His treatment is hardly objective -- he repeatedly inserts sexist, racist and biological deterministic comments that had me laughing out loud. This book gets such rave reviews - why?  (See also: The Dangerous Populist Science of Yuval Noah Harari)

He's a good story teller - but he does drone on and on --  sneaking in many biased statements and utter nonsense as "factual."  He even weaves in his own Western appropriation of Eastern spirituality in ways that seem to justify and excuse injustice throughout human history.  For example: 

"suffering is not caused by ill fortune, social injustice or divine whims. Rather, suffering is caused by the behavior patterns of one's own mind." 

I did a bit of research and he's practices meditation -- but it's really the racism and chauvinism that get me:

"In 1880, the Chinese empire did not operate a single railroad."  Why?  "they lacked the values, myths, judicial apparatus, and sociopolitical structures that took centuries to form and mature in the West and which could not be copied and internalized rapidly. France and the United States quickly followed in Britain's footsteps because the French and Americans already shared the most important British myths and social structures.  The Chinese and Persians could not catch up as quickly because they thought and organized their societies differently."

He claims that  "This explanation sheds new light" on the mid-to-late 19th century because there were no tangible advantages in the West or other explanations for their increased rate of industrialization.  Huh, ya don't say? 

He repeatedly talks about "feminism" as an ideology and in several repeated rants about the woes of individualism, he implies the negative consequences of women being able to vote, have checking accounts, divorce abusive husbands or choose not to marry at all.  

In more than one way - he makes it clear that he identifies with the successful, monied classes. This line was so laughable I bookmarked it:  "A government may impose heavy taxation on industrialists and use the money to give lavish unemployment benefits which are popular with voters."  Clearly, he doesn't understand how unemployment benefits work (ie, workers pay toward this fund) and his definition of "lavish" may need some examination.  Here in California, the maximum unemployment benefit is $450/week which is hardly a cause for celebration much less paying one's rent. 

Finally, he wraps up his conclusion with a dystopian prediction of a future occupied by cyborgs who have their feelings managed, and yea, even experience feelings we cannot imagine.  It's all a very "Gattaca" + "Blade Runner" + "The Fifth Element" kind of future and I had to rewind through the conclusions because it had me hooting and giggling so much.   YMMV.

Stick with Thomas Piketty's "Brief History of Inequality."

REVIEW: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari 

RATING: 1-star

© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.

REVIEW: Don't Run Out of Money in Retirement: How to Increase Income, Avoid Taxes, and Keep More of What Is Yours by Allen P. Harris (1-star)

This book was not written for people like myself.  The tone is casual and cordial, but full of lots of padding and humble bragging about all the wealthy people used as case studies.   I don't have a portfolio, I don't own property, I don't have "wealth" or investments.  This book mostly sounds like a sales pitch for why it's such a great idea to go to a money manager like Berkshire Hathaway but there's not much practical advice.  "Come from a working class family and support your mother by paying her utility bills?  You should probably pay her rent in advance and kill yourself."  

It's a puff piece without any real advice or guidance.  Won't recommend to friends/family. 

REVIEW: Don't Run Out of Money in Retirement: How to Increase Income, Avoid Taxes, and Keep More of What Is Yours  by Allen P. Harris 

RATING: 1-star

© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.

REVIEW: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (1 star or less)

So many people recommended this book to me - and even in the "Silent Meditation" pools at Harbin, a random woman could not contain her enthusiasm as I sat silently reading and felt compelled to interrupt me with "That is the MOST PROFOUND book I have ever read."

Aside:  I did not engage with that woman because a) "silent" means no talking; b) if I am reading a book in public, it is not merely a prop to encourage random strangers to strike up conversation; c) perhaps she feels that I am not clever enough to experience the book for myself and she needs to provide guidance (if yes, then piss off); d) if this is the most profound book you've ever read - you clearly aren't reading enough (Start with "Possessive Investment in Whiteness" and piss off).

First - I want to acknowledge that the author's writing style is enjoyable, descriptive and flows nicely.  It was a very quick read.  Lovely descriptions -- but frankly, it got to a point where I felt like this was just a vehicle for his love of writing such descriptions.

Second - his characters are weak and abused, and lacking agency.  

Let's talk about Marie-Laure -- she's the extreme "Angel in a Glass Box."  Oh, poor little thing - she's BLIND!  She can't be expected to do anything, not dress, not pack to flee Paris, not even wash her own hair when she's a flipping teenage girl (no, her father does it while she is, presumably, naked in the bath tub).  

Did the author actually do any research into blindness (causes and correction)?  Did he actually talk to any blind people?  And, how about whether blind people actually count storm drains, make their own breakfast, get dressed and go outside on their own?  I am curious, frankly, to know what she did with most of her time when she wasn't reading from the same two books between age 6 and 16 -- and how did her father find the time to survey and carve intricate wood model puzzle box houses of the French Quarter in Paris and St Malo while also doing all of the things needed to care for his daughter and himself (oh, and work when they were in Paris). 

The orphan Werner and his sister Jutta -- whose parent(s) were killed in the mines (no explanation on the mother) -- find a broken radio and fix it, launching Werner on a quest to learn all about engineering.  He can fix things just by thinking it through -- SHOCKING! Wait - that's what the rest of us do.  We think about things, try a thing and test it out. What's really shocking is that he can be part of a marginal class in a coal mining town and then spend time in a Nazi school and not have any idea that the Nazis were sending trainloads of people off to die. In fact, the German characters seem so protected from the extent of the war that it's laughable.

We can't just let the evil Germans off the hook for ignorance and passive complicity - let's throw in a few random scenes of gratuitous cruelty involving a (possibly Jewish) prisoner, a student who is beaten into a traumatic brain injury because of poor eyesight, rape three women by a group of Russian soldiers (in one sneaky little paragraph) and kill off our German soldier, Werner, on a land mine after he saves the poor blind Marie Laure.

Frankly, I think the more interesting characters are the agoraphobic uncle Etienne whose illegal radio broadcasts reach England and Germany and the housekeeper (60 years of service!) who knows and feeds everyone in the town (where they get the money and food is still a mystery).

So, let's return to Marie Laurent.  She survives the war, doesn't get raped, nary a scratch on her precious little head and... the author doesn't see fit for her to ever have cataract surgery? Not even an attempt to restore some of her vision?  Cataracts are the most curable cause of blindness -- so she goes through a PhD program, works at the museum, collects sea animals (blind) and writes books but hasn't ever bothered to get the cataracts out? Why does the author see fit to punish her this way?  

Oh, wait - because her blindness is merely a trope to allow him to go off on descriptive tangents of sensual exploration.  Used.

Do I have to even get into the ridiculous sub plot of the priceless blue diamond and all it's mythology?  The cancer-ridden Nazi treasure hunter, keen on tracking down the precious gem that will let him LIVE FOR EVER!  YOU WILL NEVER HAVE THE ARK, INDIANA JONES!!!

Why did this get any prizes?  Seriously. I am calling BS. Did Doerr just get the Pulitzer because it was his turn?  Congratulations, white man.

REVIEW: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

RATING: 1 STAR (or less!)

© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.

REVIEW: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1) by Stieg Larsson (1-star)

It took me nearly 400 page to start to care about what was going on in this book - since I was a languages major, I always read through and confess to having read the last 40 pages or so when I was around page 250. 

 First, I have to say that this book could stand some real editing down. I agree with folks that it's hard to understand what the monetary values are - it would have been nice to have a little appendix with some of the figures - at the date this is set Kronor = X pounds = X dollars or whatever. 

 I didn't find the names of the characters all that confusing as some of the other reviewers did - names are just names, people! But why didn't they translate "Ms" - unless "Froken" has some hidden meaning - perhaps they should have explained the cultural context and the reason for not translating that in an appendix. 

 Yes - it was irritating to continually read gratuitous references of Mac hardware and applications (a URL in the book to a freeware app, REALLY???). I agree with Anne's review of the movie - why did they change the name? "Men Who Hate Women" is much more appropriate. The parallel character development - Martin and Lisbeth - was just not that well done. I have to admit when the book described how handsome he is - I was a bit amazed at the frumpy plain looking middle aged guy they picked to play Martin in the movie! 

 Despite the gore and violence depicted in the book - in the end, it felt like a lukewarm and overly long setup to create a super smart female hacker protagonist who embezzles money from a criminal to live happily ever after spending freely and traveling wherever she wants. 

 *yawn* 

 Another Cinderella story. Next, please!

REVIEW: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1) by Stieg Larsson 

RATING: 1-star