Kiln People

“...where were answers to the truly deep questions? Religion promised those, though always in vague terms, while retreating from one line in the sand to the next. Don't look past this boundary, they told Galileo, then Hutton, Darwin, Von Neumann, and Crick, always retreating with great dignity before the latest scientific advance, then drawing the next holy perimeter at the shadowy rim of knowledge.” 

 The first Sci Fi book I ever read was by David Brin.  I was hooked instantly and quickly became immersed in the the Uplift Trilogy, and a love affair with Sci Fi was born.

So picking up a Brin Sci Fi novel is a big deal for me.  I have been holding on to this one for a while and looking forward to savouring every page. 

I didn't. Savor ever page that is.  It was over all a little disappointing.  Still a great read and I did enjoy it but it certainly didn't engross me the way some of his other novels have.  I often get to the end of a good Sci Fi book or trilogy and wish there was more.  However by the end of Kiln People I felt like 20% could have been cut and it would have been a better book. 

I am still glad I read the book.  It was good entertainment and was thought provoking in places.  In particular I enjoyed his exploration of the nature of identity.

South of the Border, West of the Sun

"The photograph brought a pain to my chest.  It made me realize what an awful amount of time I had lost.  Precious years that could never be recovered, no matter how much I struggled to bring them back.  Time that existed only then, only in that place.  I gazed at the photo for a very long time."

“The sad truth is that certain types of things can't go backward. Once they start going forward, no matter what you do, they can't go back the way they were. If even one little thing goes awry, then that's how it will stay forever.” 

A sweet little book that brought tears to my eyes in a few places.  The air of wistfulness, regret and opportunities missed kind of reminded me or reading Persuasion.  However Murakami's version of "everything working out in the end" is quite different to Austen's.

Spoiler alert.......

So does most of it take place in his imagination????

The envelope "disappears".  She "takes" the record that she had just given him.  There is no material evidence that he ever encountered Shimamoto in his adult life.  Was it all just the out working of his mid-life crisis?  A psychological projection to help him recognize, respond to and finally put to rest the feeling that something was missing in his life?

I had a feeling of foreboding through the latter part of the book so I was surprised when it all worked out so smoothly in the end and he was able to continue his life as a loving father and husband.