Falling Man - Tom DeLillo

She talked about the tower, going over it again, claustrophobically, the smoke, the fold of bodies, and he understood that they could talk about these things only with each other, in minute and dullest detail, but it would never be dull or too detailed because it was inside them now and because he needed to hear what he'd lost in the tracings of memory. This was their pitch of delirium, the dazed reality they'd shared in the stairwells, the deep shafts of spiraling men and women.

I wasn't sure that I wanted to read a book about 9/11, even after many years have passed. I am very glad I did. DeLillo has created a superb book. It is the type of book you want start all over again after finishing it. It begins with a man struggling out of the ashes of the Twin Towers. He is in a daze as is the rest of the city. The novel moves through a surreal time with life and death and the meaning of it all confronting us like a bucket of cold water thrown in our face.

The writing in this book is masterful. It is a pleasure just to see how DeLillo constructs a paragraph. This book places the reader in the minds of those who suffered after 9/11 as well as the minds of the hijackers. It didn't make me relive the terror, but reconnected me with the psychological impact that is so easy and tempting to block out. Highly recommended!

The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments - George Johnson

These experiments were designed and conducted with such straightforward elegance that they deserve to be called beautiful. This is beauty in the classical sense-- the logical simplicity of the apparatus, like the logical simplicity of the analysis, seems as pure and inevitable as the lines of a Greek statue. Confusion and abiguity are momentarily swept aside and something new about nature leaps into view.

Perhaps I should first confess that I love science, especially the history of science. That being said, this is a great little book. One that can be easily read in a sitting or two. The author avoids the failings of many science writers and knows how to tell a story. If you have any interest in science you will enjoy this book.

The ten experiments, admittedly chosen by the author as his personal favorites, all show the creativity and inquisitiveness of the famous scientists. As simple as some experiments appear, such as Galileo's ramp for measuring the speed of rolling balls, Mr. Johns delves into the complexities of thought behind each experiment. He also lets us know a little about the personal lives of these men (he apologizes for not including any women). It is fascinating to learn about the mistress of some famous scientists who called herself the "Bride of Science".

Regeneration - Pat Barker

I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority, because I believe the war is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it.

I am a solder, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers. I believe that this war, upon which I entered as a war of defence and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest. I believe that this war, upon which I entered as a war of defence and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest. I believe that the purposes for which I and my fellow soldiers entered upon this war should have been so clearly stated as to have made it impossible to change them, and that, had this been done, the objects which actuated us would now be attainable by negotiation.

I have seen and endured the suffering of the troops, and I can no longer be a party to prolong these sufferings for ends which I believe to be evil and unjust.

I am not protesting against the conduct of the war, but against the political errors and insincerities for which the fighting men are being sacrificed.

On behalf of those who are suffering now I make this protest against the deception which is being practised on them; also I believe that I may help to destroy the callous complacence with which the majority of those at home regard the continuance of agonies which they do not share, and which they have not sufficient imagination to realize.

S. Sassoon

July 1917

Pat Barker has written a moving and thought-provoking historical novel. The main characters, including the soldier who wrote the above letter, were real people caught in the nightmare of World War I. The book does not cover the war itself, but how it has affected the people involved. The primary focus is on the psychological effects of horrific events. A wonderful interplay between a psychiatrist, a protesting soldier, and a battle injured poet is introduced in this first of Barker's trilogy on the insanity of WWI. It is an anti-war novel developed through the experiences of a few individuals. Their experiences, sometimes described in gruesome details, show that any mind would be greatly challenged by the temporary insanity of war.

Barker has included interactions with town folk outside of the mental institution central to the book. These present the reader with other challenging issues such as class and sexism which were part of life in 1917. The book constantly challenges the reader. Barker never takes the easy or expected twist of events to make a point. She packs a lot into this great novel.

Wings of Madness - Paul Hoffman

He was a tortured genius, a free spirit who strove to escapes the confines of gravity, the peer pressure of his aeronautical confreres, the isolation of his rural upbringing, the small-mindedness of science's ruling elders, the conformity of married life, the stereotypes of gender, and even the fate of his own cherished invention.

This book is a very entertaining biography of one of the pioneers of aviation. Well-written and nicely paced throughout. It doesn't bog down in details as like some biographies on scientists and inventors. Santos-Dumont is an intriguing and idiosyncratic character whose quirks help keep the story interesting.

What a sight is must have been to see Santos-Dumont pilot the world's first powered flying machine down the camps d' Elysee in 1900. He even parked his one man helium filled airship while eating dinner at Paris bistros. A wealthy Brazilian fascinated by air travel, he was the toast of Paris, and much of the world, at one time. He is a largely forgotten, but important figure in the history of manned flight. The author has used his character and the times to create a fascinating book that is a pleasure to read.