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rkaufman13's reviews
501 reviews
The Civility Solution: What to Do When People Are Rude by P.M. Forni
2.0
While some of the solutions in this book (which is comprised half of a treatise on what rudeness is and half of real-world solutions for dealing with specific situations) are useful, many of them sound patronizing.
"Excuse me, we are all here to enjoy the concert, but your conversation makes it very difficult for me to do so. Would you please keep that in mind for the rest of the show?"
"Ma'am, there is a fifteen-item limit in this lane. Would you please choose another?"
"Boss, all of us in the company respect your competence and experience. However, your department would respect you even more if you did a few simple things to build morale. I know they would appreciate your saying hello to everyone in the morning. It's a simple sign of acknowledgment, but it's important. Give the occasional pat on the back. Make your workers feel that they can do a good job, and when they do, show them you noticed. That will make all the difference." (It should be noted that this is a script suggested as an unsolicited piece of advice, not a response to the "Why do my employees hate me?" question.)
Or, and best, when interrupted in a business meeting: "Arnold, I am not finished. Do you understand? It is not your turn to speak yet. It is mine and I am using it. I will be glad to know when I'm done if you have trouble with that."
I don't know who can say this kind of stuff and get away with it--much of it is not actually that civil.
"Excuse me, we are all here to enjoy the concert, but your conversation makes it very difficult for me to do so. Would you please keep that in mind for the rest of the show?"
"Ma'am, there is a fifteen-item limit in this lane. Would you please choose another?"
"Boss, all of us in the company respect your competence and experience. However, your department would respect you even more if you did a few simple things to build morale. I know they would appreciate your saying hello to everyone in the morning. It's a simple sign of acknowledgment, but it's important. Give the occasional pat on the back. Make your workers feel that they can do a good job, and when they do, show them you noticed. That will make all the difference." (It should be noted that this is a script suggested as an unsolicited piece of advice, not a response to the "Why do my employees hate me?" question.)
Or, and best, when interrupted in a business meeting: "Arnold, I am not finished. Do you understand? It is not your turn to speak yet. It is mine and I am using it. I will be glad to know when I'm done if you have trouble with that."
I don't know who can say this kind of stuff and get away with it--much of it is not actually that civil.
The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud
4.0
This modern-day novel of manners (I wouldn't go so far to call it a "comedy" as the book jacket does) follows three friends in the greatest city on earth. Messud's character insights are spot-on, absolutely pitch-perfect. The one thing that rings odd to me is that the three main characters, supposedly in their 30s, don't seem like 30-somethings to me. Granted, I have no idea what it's like to be 30-something, but unless it's much the same as being 20-something, this part of the book needs a little work.
Beyond that I was interested in the way Messud gives her secondary characters much more physical description than the three main characters: I can picture Ludovic, Bootie, and Murray perfectly, whereas Julius, Danielle, and Marina are indistinct. But I think this is part of Messud's plan. The three protagonists, while distinct characters, don't have to look like distinct people. They could be anyone. They could be us.
I especially enjoyed how the sense of foreboding just builds--I don't think she ever mentions that it's 2001, but early on you know it's the height of the dot-com era and as the summer progresses it becomes clear that a lot of important things are taking place right around Labor Day, or right after. To be specific, a Tuesday in September...
But the Towers comprise perhaps a tenth of the book, if not less. What's really wonderful here are the interactions between characters--and of course that fantastic, ominous buildup..
Beyond that I was interested in the way Messud gives her secondary characters much more physical description than the three main characters: I can picture Ludovic, Bootie, and Murray perfectly, whereas Julius, Danielle, and Marina are indistinct. But I think this is part of Messud's plan. The three protagonists, while distinct characters, don't have to look like distinct people. They could be anyone. They could be us.
I especially enjoyed how the sense of foreboding just builds--I don't think she ever mentions that it's 2001, but early on you know it's the height of the dot-com era and as the summer progresses it becomes clear that a lot of important things are taking place right around Labor Day, or right after. To be specific, a Tuesday in September...
But the Towers comprise perhaps a tenth of the book, if not less. What's really wonderful here are the interactions between characters--and of course that fantastic, ominous buildup..
Rex Libris, Volume I: I, Librarian by James Turner
2.0
Great concept, terrible execution.
Rex Libris is a gun-toting, four-thousand-year-old librarian charged with protecting the universe from evil, recovering overdue library books from space warlords, and shushing kids in the stacks. The idea here is that he is just one of many in the secret Ordo Bibliotheca, and that *all* librarians are secretly ass-kicking crimefighters.
While I love anything that tears down the librarian's bad rap, this comic is terribly overwritten--too many words, too many bad jokes. And the art is computer-generated and stiff. Give it a pass.
Rex Libris is a gun-toting, four-thousand-year-old librarian charged with protecting the universe from evil, recovering overdue library books from space warlords, and shushing kids in the stacks. The idea here is that he is just one of many in the secret Ordo Bibliotheca, and that *all* librarians are secretly ass-kicking crimefighters.
While I love anything that tears down the librarian's bad rap, this comic is terribly overwritten--too many words, too many bad jokes. And the art is computer-generated and stiff. Give it a pass.
Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge
5.0
Oh yes, this is good.
A "kid's" book, but a kid's book in the vein of Phillip Pullman, or Garth Nix even (who is quoted on the back of my edition as saying he's quite the fan of Hardinge). Heroine Mosca Mye drinks beer and smokes a pipe, not in some juvenile, Francesca Lia Block teenage rebellion way, but because this book is set very loosely in Ye Aulde 18th-Century England, and a 12-year-old girl probably would have drunk beer at that time. I love books that don't spare kids the realities of life.
The twisty plot doesn't quite manage J.K. Rowling-esque surprises (remember the first time you realized it was Quirrell all along?) but isn't completely predictable, either. Besides, you'll love Hardinge's wry turns of phrase and invented curses no matter what the plot is. ("I want my chirfuggin' goose back!")
Read it. Just read it.
A "kid's" book, but a kid's book in the vein of Phillip Pullman, or Garth Nix even (who is quoted on the back of my edition as saying he's quite the fan of Hardinge). Heroine Mosca Mye drinks beer and smokes a pipe, not in some juvenile, Francesca Lia Block teenage rebellion way, but because this book is set very loosely in Ye Aulde 18th-Century England, and a 12-year-old girl probably would have drunk beer at that time. I love books that don't spare kids the realities of life.
The twisty plot doesn't quite manage J.K. Rowling-esque surprises (remember the first time you realized it was Quirrell all along?) but isn't completely predictable, either. Besides, you'll love Hardinge's wry turns of phrase and invented curses no matter what the plot is. ("I want my chirfuggin' goose back!")
Read it. Just read it.