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Birds Without Wings

Well, it's not entirely depressing. The plot centers around the people of a small village in the pre-World War I Ottoman Empire. The population of the town is made up of a mix of Christians and Muslims, and while officially there's some animosity between the two groups, on a practical level friendships, and even marriages, cross the religious lines all the time.

When the war starts, the Muslim men are rounded up to fight. One boy, Karatavuk, lies about his age to that he can enlist in his father's place; his best friend, Mehmetcik, a Christian, tries to enlist as well but is turned away, only to end up as a laborer.

Another Muslim boy is deeply affected by his military service, and it has tragic consequences on his engagement to a beautiful Christian girl.

Stories of the town and the war are interspersed with historical tellings of the life of Mustafa Kemal, the man who would eventually be known as Attaturk.

I definitely liked some chapters more than others. I don't mind first-person storytelling at all (the book jumps between first and third person), but when the narrator is a small child and the storytelling, as a result, is ungrammatical and unpunctuated, it gets old fastt.

Overall, it's not a bad book; it's even compelling at times. It's not light and happy, though, so it'll probably appeal more if you're either itnerested in the subject, or would like to learn more about it.

Rating

Skip it unless...

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Sideways
2004, on DVD, from the library

You should know
I enjoy wine, Paul Giamatti, and Sandra Oh.

So?
I’m glad there’s at least a slight ray of hope in this film. While it was entertaining, it seemed to have the message that life sucks, and we are incapable of doing anything about that. Not the stuff of escapism, certainly.

Jack is getting married, and to celebrate, his college roommate, Miles, is taking him on a weeklong tour of California wine country. Miles is still recovering from a painful divorce and awaiting word on the publication of his novel, so Jack has resolved to get Miles some action on their trip. They meet up with Maya, a graduate student Miles knows from previous wine-and-writing trips, and her friend, Stephanie, who hits it off with Jack. Of course, Jack is getting married. Hijinks ensue, as hijinks tend to do, but with a ton of angst and depression mixed in.

It was an interesting movie. I actually learned a bit about the proper way to taste wine (if it’s actually not the proper way, don’t tell me!), and I laughed out loud at certain points.

Rating
Check it out
It wasn’t the most fun movie I’ve ever seen, and it’s really not one for the kids, but overall there really wasn’t anything wrong with it. It told a story, used characters that you can care about even as you realize you’d never be able to stand them in real life, and it entertains. That’s the most important thing.

The rest of the Internet
Beware of spoilers...
The IMDbpage.
The Wikipedia page.
Great reviews at Rotten Tomatoes.
Slate's wine columnist weighs in on the movie and its wines.
The Sideways Wine Club.
A reviewer at Salon disliked the movie, and comes very close to insulting those who like it.
An article on Santa Barbara, where the film is set.
Maurice at Antihelden reflects on Sideways and road trips.

Going Postal

by Terry Prachett, 2004
Paperback, from the library

You should know

Again I reveal my lack of geek cred: Before this, I had never read any Discworld books.

So?

Oh, I very much enjoyed it. I think I need to read more of Pratchett’s work so that I can get a better sense of how Discworld works. For instance, I was about two-thirds of the way through before I realized that the society had eight-day weeks. I know; I’m a terrible nerd.

Even so, I liked it a lot. I do wonder how it fits into the continuity – does the protagonist ever show up in any of the previous books? Can we expect him to show up again? Is the fact that his name is Moist relevant, or is it more of a throwaway joke?

Rating

Check it out
Longtime fans have probably already read this one, and newcomers probably won’t listen to me. Even so, I thought it was a very pleasant introduction to Discworld, and it sparked my interest in the series as a whole. I recommend you read it and see if the same happens for you.

The rest of the internet

The Wikipedia entry (spoiler warning!).
A positive review at Boing Boing.
Microreviews of every Discworld books over at Randomworks.
Nat-wu at Nathan's Book Blog agrees with me as a newcomer to Pratchett.

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