Non-Fictional Fiction About An Old Guy's Crazy Sex Life

Title: Women
Author: Charles Bukowski
Length: 304 pages
Year Written: 1978
Why I chose this book: This was a contender for my book club a few years back, and I'd always been curious about it.

Charles Bukowski's Women follows a specific recipe: introduce a woman, describe her affair with the main character Henry Chinaski, then get rid of her before the next woman comes along. There are really many, many women in Women.

Chinaski is 50 years old, having recently left his job at the post office to become an author. He reaches a decent level of fame with his fiction and poetry, most notably in the number of women who shamelessly throw themselves at him, through rotary phone calls and snail mail, mostly. It is an autobiographical tale with a the label "fiction" loosely veiling it. The entire premise of Women is that Chinaski is fucking a slew of women as research for his writing. This is not without moments of self-reflection, mild epiphanies, and varied human emotion, but for the most part, it is about fucking. His sexual escapades with women, who are generally half his age, are usually ridiculous and often unsavory. But they are realistic, they are entertaining.

After watching a show about Bukowski on Netflix, and seeing him scream at his wife that she's a whore for going out to dance every night, I wanted to read his fiction and compare it to my shallowly-built perception of him. It all checks out. He is tall, fat, drunk, and charmingly chauvinistic, if there is such a thing. As a writer, he is honest if nothing else. His style of fiction writing is in some ways inspirational and other ways directionless. Personally, I prefer his poetry—I bought his collection of poems Love Is A Dog From Hell at the same time as this book and found it more enjoyable overall.

Rating: 7.7/10

A Scientifically Sound, Emotionally Disconnected Guide To Surviving On Mars Alone

Title: The Martian
Author: Andy Weir
Length: 369 pages
Year Written: 2011
Why I chose this book: The Martian was adapted into a film and released last Thursday. My friend Marianna highly recommended the book and I decided to read it before going to see the movie.

The Martian is the novel you would expect from a longtime programmer/space nerd/first-time author. Andy Weir writes about astronaut Mark Watney, who is stranded on Mars after an accident that his crewmates assumed killed him. He survives mostly on the strength of his ingenuity and background as a skilled botanist. This book is interesting, very well-researched and actually quite brilliant in regards to the space travel scenarios it illustrates. That said, it has all the elements of a great movie, but in a literary respect, is lacking certain depths.

The plot itself was interesting: it involves a lot of creative science, and innovative solutions to problems astronauts have yet to face. My problem was that I could never form a genuine connection with Watney. After learning his background and interests (which I could naturally have assumed, anyway), I realized Andy Weir is Mark Watney. This is all I could really think while reading: “shut up, you’re not funny, you’re stuck on Mars” or “Oh, Andy. You WISH you were Mark Watney (or Matt Damon).” In fact, at the end of the book there is an interview with Weir, and this was one of the questions:

"Do you have anything in common with your wisecracking hero Mark Watney?
I'm the same level of smart-ass that he is. It was a really easy book to write; I just had him say what I would say. However, he's smarter than I am and considerably more brave. I guess he's who I wish I were."

This tidbit is evident throughout the entire novel.

Watney is a quintessential wise-ass, often unrealistically flippant in response to life-threatening situations. I don't buy the fact that he was so lighthearted and sarcastic during an experience that was marked by painstaking work, putrid smells, and pure isolation. As a reader, I want more focus on his mental state, especially considering a large portion of the book is formatted as journal entries from Watney. The idea of being stranded alone on a planet for more than a year has so many more possible avenues than this story decided to embark upon (think the movies I Am Legend or Gravity). The story line of The Martian could go much deeper but instead ends up being a surficial semi-sci-fi novel that just happens to be jam packed with legitimate science that Weir actually worked out himself.

This is not to take away from the pure brilliance that seeps through the pages of The Martian. It’s just very clear he wrote it as a way to flex his science smarts and perhaps as a creative resume for a job at NASA.

Rating: 7.5/10

Seriously, The Most Practical And Uplifting Book I've Ever Read

Title: The Power of Now

Author: Eckhart Tolle

Length: 229 pages

Year Written: 1999

Why I chose this book: My friend Buddha introduced me to the concept of the 'pain body,' and through intensive Googling, I came across this book that I'd already heard of before in passing.

The first thing I will say is that everyone should read this book. The second thing I will say is that this is one of very few non-fiction books I have read for pleasure in several years. The third thing I will say is that this book is deeply powerful and highly practical. I'll stop counting the things I'm saying now. I can't believe it existed for 16 years without my having read it, but I’m glad I read it at this particular point in my life. I can admit that the very essence of me is skeptical of and resistant to terms like "spiritual enlightenment." Even the title, The Power of Now, initially strikes me as corny and barf-able. I immediately conjure mental images of preachers that wear pop star mics. As soon as I started reading, though, all my preconceived notions were shattered into a trillion pieces.

There are several chapters, all relevant to one another and the larger theme of being fully present in the moment without basking in the illusions of the past or worrying about the future. My favorite chapter was ‘Enlightened Relationships,’ which had genuine gems I was able to put into practice immediately. One of the biggest pieces that I identified with very closely was about our past pain and the way we lay back in it, unconsciously perpetuating more of the same for our lives. Tolle spells it out this way: “As long as you make an identity for yourself out of the pain, you cannot become free of it.” Having been single for the better part of the year, after being in a five-year relationship, this chapter reaffirmed my peace in my solitude. I realized that most “love” relationships are addictions, a vain search for wholeness in a secondary source, and largely and unknowingly operated by the ego. 

While I was reading, I checked hashtags on Instagram to see who was also reading this book. And then I talked to them about it. Surprisingly, a few people mentioned that the concepts in the book were difficult to grasp at first, and that they needed to reread multiple times. For me, it was more of a natural absorption, like the muted voice in my subconscious had gained confidence and volume. Overall, this is an excellent book—one that isn’t guaranteed to help you (at least not immediately), but it sure won’t hurt you.  

Rating: 9.8/10

A Brief, Unmoving Response to the Problems of Contemporary Feminism

Title: One Dimensional Woman
Author: Nina Power
Length: 69 pages
Year Written: 2009
Why I chose this book: It was short, on my shelf, and seemed subversive and intriguing.

In college, my minor was Women's Studies. During that time, I passively absorbed many perspectives regarding gender equality and the trajectory of women's social status. This small book was essentially a regurgitation of the ideas we'd swap in class. Some of the topics addressed include "the working woman," pornography as liberation, and the intersection of feminism with consumerism. All in all, it was slightly boring and triggered very little emotional or political reaction from me.

Since the book is only 69 pages, ideas are introduced and just barely expounded upon before the next thought is spit out. This book primarily presents critical flaws in the popular ideals and patterns of feminism today, but does little to facilitate plausible alternatives. For example, author Nina Power offers a small tirade against the prototypical nuclear family, but hardly offers the other side of the argument, or a sensible suggestion of how we might eventually shift that paradigm.

Of course, this might be like an eighth grader reading a Clifford book—One Dimensional Woman may be a helpful primer for those with very little familiarity with the basic concepts of contemporary feminism. At 69 pages, it's certainly worth a read, regardless of its low-impact "wow" factor.

Note:  Yes, this is only the third book I've finished in 2015. Yes, it was only 69 pages, and yes, it is the first book I've finished since March 10. Yes, it is now July. Do as I say, and not as I do: make time to read, read, read. Keep your brain active lest it melt into mediocrity. Thank you.

Rating: 5/10

A Vacation You Would Probably Never Take IRL

Title: The Sly Company of People Who Care
Author: Rahul Bhattacharya
Length: 278 pages
Year Written: 2011
Why I chose this book: I found this book in the Kinokuniya bookstore in Los Angeles, and was intrigued by the cover and title.

This book officially has broken the record for longest time it's taken me to read anything (relatively short in length) from beginning to end. I started reading in October and didn't finish until a few days ago. That's five months, a time period in which a lot has transpired in my personal life. By the time the plot switched gears a little more than halfway through, it was easy to identify parallels between the book and my life, and all in all it was a strangely rewarding experience. (Side note: This is also only the second book I've finished in 2015—suffice it to say it's been a lazy year for reading.)

The main character of The Sly Company of People Who Care is a 26-year-old journalist from Bombay who leaves everything in India behind for a rudimentary life in Guyana. One a one-year visa, he navigates the poverty-stricken but awe-inspiring terrain of a new country populated by a smattering of different cultures and customs. He eventually meets a woman that captures his attention and they embark on an adventurous and volatile relationship that eventually lands them in a lot of trouble.

Language and the way Bhattacharya employs it was the most important part of this reading experience for me. The book is chock-full of regional dialect and though that sometimes slowed down my reading, it also paid off well in many moments. Another important part of this reading experience was the vacation that it takes you on. Unless you're Guyanese, you probably weren't thinking of traveling to Guyana. Bhattacharya's main character takes an unlikely vacation that people often question him about, incredulously. The book's ability to transport you to an entirely different place that you probably have zero prior reference for, so acutely, speaks to the layered, complex nature of the writing. Overall, it was an interesting read that took way too long to finish.

Rating: 7/10

A Great Novel for the Elderly and the Basic

Title: The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Author: Mitch Albom
Length: 196 pages
Year Written: 2003
Why I chose this book: I picked this up when I was working at Barnes and Noble (roughly 6 years ago). It's earmarked in a bunch of different places, but I didn't recall much (or any) of the story. It seemed like a nice, wholesome choice to start off my reading in 2015.

From the title alone, you can assume a few things about The Five People You Meet in Heaven. You can assume it has religious undertones, likely a tad cheesy. You can assume it is a feel-good story with a happy ending. You can also assume that Mitch Albom, who also wrote Tuesdays with Morrie, will, from time to time, tug at your heart strings and tear ducts. Ultimately, it was a cute story, but nothing groundbreaking or deeply profound. It might be a nice book to read if I was anticipating an imminent death. Or if I was a religious type who made a New Year's resolution to read more books. This would be the perfect choice.

TFPYMIH (horrible acronym) is the story of Eddie, an old maintenance guy at a beach pier amusement park. He dies, and then meets five people from his life, in their respective heavens, who then explain to him the meaning of his life's events. It is cute, and it is short. Some parts, mainly a section involving Eddie as a soldier in battle in the Philippines, are quite gruesome, but Albom's writing is more on the side of fable than truly convincing fiction. I didn't cry, and I cry at a lot of things, so there's that. At best, I probably smiled, and might have let out a small gasp at one or two moments.

Rating: 7.7/10