Tuesday, June 26, 2012

A pretty good book...

Some days you just have to wonder if the folks at the top have a clue, some "post-truth politics", and thoughts on progress...

So, I've just finished "The Pulse" the new novel by Scott Williams and it's very much a worthwhile read.

For one, it is just plain refreshing for a change to read a novel that involves sailing and does not have glaring mistakes on the mechanics or language of sailing. For me, nothing screws around with the needful suspension of belief when stuff is just plain wrong whether it is "walking on the freeboard" or reading how the hero had to "pull on the jib rope"... Luckily Scott, who is both a boatbuilder and sailor, knows better so gets it right and it shows.

Of course, the book is not really about sailing and to tell you too much about it's subject would be counter-productive to your enjoyment but it is thought provoking in a way that Scott's previous non-fiction books ("Bug Out", "Getting Out Alive", and "Bug Out Vehicles and Shelters") were unable to do. Fiction does have a way of making stuff more real.

"Pulse" is not a perfect book, as the great author Elmore Leonard has said on more than one occasion "Endings are hard" and "Pulse", while mostly tying up things at the end leaves you hanging a bit to the extent that I felt my copy might have been missing the last couple of chapters, or, just possibly, that there is a sequel on the way to take the story further... Actually a sequel to this book would be very much welcomed because I wanted more and, when you think about it, wanting more is just about the best thing you can say about a book you just read.

Listening to Crooked Fingers

So it goes...