The Tango Briefing. Adam Hall.

The Tango Briefing.
Adam Hall

Pretty bad adventure/spy novel. This has two appealing aspects. First, Hall is not obsessed with either technology or violence, so one does not become bored or aggrieved. Second, the main character, Quiller, is funny: he has an addicts' attitude toward his job & a very weird attitude towards himself in that his body is always referred to as "the organism" and his mind (he thinks) is totally separate from it.

English Country. E.L. Grant Watson

English Country
E. L. Grant Watson
Jonathan Cape: 1924.

Brief essays and journal entries that Grant Watson made throughout one year. He claims they were not meant for publication, but can one believe this? Perhaps. The writings are of such astonishing depths at times, that when reading, you are aware of being in the presence of genius. This guy is just amazing and some of the things he thinks about on a daily basis are wonderful. It seems that much of this comes from his having time to contemplate nature for hours or days on end. No talk of work, family or friends to muddle his thoughts with daily existence--he concentrates on nature immediately before him, the significance of life, of thought, of the source & nature of spirituality. Great stuff, made greater by his honest searchings, and his belief in the explanations he develops, even knowing that they are partial at best and mysterious for certain. Grant Watson's writing is both poetic and scientific; his grasp of language is beautiful to read.

Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Caged Whale Sings. Christopher Moore.

Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Caged Whale Sings Christopher Moore.
William Morrow: 2003

A big disappointment after Lamb, this is still a good book. Whale scientist Nate Quinn discovers the ultimate conspiracy: at first you think it's local scientists, then the government, then aliens, the . . . it's the original organism that evolved on Earth. This thing--Goo--can create and control life via DNA (or something like that. It kind of makes sense when you are reading it, but only kind of.)

Moor is off on his humor on this one. Yes, there are some funny parts, but nothing hilarious, and there are no consistently funny characters. Moore seems a bit too concerned about making the far-fetched storyline work than becoming engaged with any of his characters or developing any themes beyond a preachy save-the-whales moral. Still entertaining, but not up to his others.