Nov 2023 Random Book Roundup

When I had Covid I reached for Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, which was not on my to-read list, but sort of fell into my life by way of the library book exchange corner. It was easy to read and it was about working class life - what's not to love? Except I have already read Down and Out in Paris and London and The Road to Wigan Pier, and I am not sure anything else comes close.

Mostly, I felt sorry for Bourdain - and his neglected wife. Maybe I would have thrilled to the glamour of fast-paced restaurant life when I was younger, but now, it seems a waste of a life, to put so much of yourself into the machinery of consumerism. Bourdain himself wrote that his restaurants' bread-and-butter clientele were the tasteless "rubes" that formed the weekend crowds - can you imagine a worse use of culinary talent than pandering to those?

My next random read courtesy of The Bookshelf was Rick Steves' 1980 classic guidebook, Europe Through the Back Door. It's not so much a Europe guidebook as a collection of travel philosophy and tips such as travelling only with a backpack and assembling picnic meals out of cheap European supermarket finds. I marvelled that, in the 3 decades since he wrote this, these "travel skills" have become - if not quite mainstream, then at least they're not completely unheard-of. 

The second half of the book is a whirlwind tour through major destinations in Europe, through Rick Steves' eyes. We differ in taste, so I'll be taking his recommendations with a big heap of salt, but I appreciate his willingness to dish out opinions rather than stick to bland nothings.

After this break my library reservation for The Dispossessed arrived and I read it. Full post here.

Then I read my much-anticipated The Curse of Chalion. I learnt about this author from a Reddit thread about what to read after you've read all the Robin Hobb books and the Chalion series - which has 4 novels and 10 novellas, so quite nice and meaty. Per expectations, The Curse of Chalion is a book to live in, full of courtly intrigue, not unlike Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy.

But although I finished the book, no problem, I wasn't hooked like I was by the Farseer characters. The good characters in Chalion felt like Mary Sues - nothing really morally ambiguous about them. Had the same issue with Bujold's The Sharing Knife - great writing, but her goody-two-shoes characters irritate me.

I thought the religion aspect - the characters worship five gods: Father, Mother, Son, Daughter, Bastard - was the most interesting bit but the book didn't go much into the Quintarian vs Quadricene (?) religious conflict. Alas, I won't be continuing with the series. 

Finally, I read Ian Fleming's travelogue Thrilling Cities. I was totally sold by the premise: The Sunday Times pays Ian Fleming to travel around the world visiting a bunch of exciting cities like Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Las Vegas. Plot twist: Ian Fleming doesn't like sightseeing. So what he does is check out the casinos, nightclubs, and crime rings at each of these places.

I enjoy travel writing with a reluctant traveller who is annoyed at everything. It's kind of my go-to for when I'm in a funk, cheers me right up. I don't think I'd read any of the James Bond books though, sorry Mr Fleming!