Notes on Books — MARCH 2017
I take a lot of notes when I read books. It makes me feel like I’m part of the experience almost like a dialogue of sorts. I write in the margins, on post-it notes and in the app, Evernote. I figured there would be no harm in sharing some of these notes/thoughts on books I’ve read with the internet. This is the first post of, hopefully, a long running monthly journal of these notes for others to read.
I don’t think these notes will add anymore validation or street cred than already exists. Many of these books are already considered works of literary genius and nothing I can say will take that away. So take all thoughts, like everything else, with a grain of salt.
The fact of the matter is I enjoyed, in most cases, reading these books and so I thought I would share what I liked with others. If you’re looking for books critiques, this isn’t the place. I am not, nor do I want to be a literary critic. I read these books in the hope I can learn and enjoy them with as much joy as others have previously. That’s my pursuit when I start the first page and I think that should be the goal for everyone else. You read a book with the greatest of intentions to enjoy it and be better for reading it, not to pick out its faults.
Here are the books I read last month and my thoughts.
“Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won”, Tobias J. Moskowitz, L. Jon Wertheim (2011)
Great for any casual fan looking to go deeper in the statistical analysis of their favourite sport. A series of essays mostly covering home field advantage, hot/cold streaks and team strategies. Each of the articles come at you and your preconceived notion on a particular item we’ve come to know as fact in sports without sufficient evidence to prove otherwise. For example, pass it to the guy with the “hot hand”, icing the kicker, and defence is more important in the pursuit of championships than offence.
“The Great Movies”, Roger Ebert (2002)
I haven’t watched many of the 100 movies included in this book, but now in a way I feel like I have. Though I don’t agree with all of his critiques, his love and admiration for film shows in these pages and it is darn infectious. My favourite of these essays is addressed not to the reader, but these grandkids. Signed by Grandpa Roger, he allows us to see how film fits into his film as a critic and grandpa. We pass on the movies that mean the most to us in the hopes others will enjoy them as much as did. Rogers does that so sweetly in this letter. Here’s a digital copy of that letter.
“The Executioner’s Song”, Norman Mailer (1979)
Wow. There’s so much to say about this book. Coming in at over a thousand pages, there is no shortage of things so I’ll try to keep it brief. This was my first Norman Mailer novel and it certainly won’t be my last. Documenting the life of Gary Gilmore, and everyone who has crossed paths with him is an exhaustive task. This book helped define a genre of literary nonfiction and made Gary Gilmore into a character for the ages. You feel uncomfortably sympathetic for a man convicted of robbing and murdering two people in back-to-back nights in 1976. It’s a story of existentialism, reincarnation, and trying to understand a man and his motives.
“This Book Loves You”, PewDiePie a.k.a Felix Kjellberg (2015)
Admittedly, this doesn’t feel like a book I’d normally read. His controversy with the WSJ made me curious though. It’s a self-help book through the use of humour and photoshopped images. It’s everything one could hope for, if you’re a fan of his youtube channel. In a weird way, I found it somewhat inspirational. PewDiePie took many of the lessons we’ve learned through other sources and adds his own spin to them like: “Don’t be yourself. Be a pizza. Everyone loves pizza.”
“The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made”
Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell (2013)
This is one of the few books I’ve ever listened to. Man, was it ever worth it. To hear Greg Sestero narrate the book and do his Tommy Wiseau impression was all too perfect. Easily one of the funniest things I have ever had the pleasure of listening to.
The book follows a young Greg Sestero as he attempts to conquer Hollywood. Along the way, he meets another aspiring actor named Tommy Wiseau and the two of them make their movie. Tommy Wiseau spent six million of his own money in order to finance the film he wrote, directs, produces, and stars in. Yes, this is non-fiction. The movie they made, The Room (2003) is widely considered “the citizen kane of bad movies”.
