Lost in Space

Now, normally I wouldn't bother you with a post about a book I haven't finished.  I don't think it's fair to judge a book without reading it all the way through and I want this to be a positive project full of useful reviews and book-ish ideas.  But I think you deserve an explanation as to why I've given up on 'The Martian' by Andy Weir, a recent international bestseller.

'The Martian' is the story of NASA astronaut, engineer and botanist Mark Watney (MSc. etc).  Injured and unintentionally abandoned during an emergency evacuation from Mars, he's caught in a desperate struggle to stay alive.  He believes he knows when the next Ares mission landing is due, so he's working hard to source, create or ration every resource he needs.  The odds seem stacked against him, but he's intelligent, focussed and determined to stay alive.  But will the next expedition arrive on time?  Can he stay alive until then?  Will he make it back to Earth?

In all honesty, I don't really care.

I should have loved this book.  It's a fantastic idea that offers lots of opportunities not only for brilliantly tense narrative, but also the sort of practical application of science and mathematics that could get people interested in these subjects.  But I just couldn't connect with the narrator at all.  I got to page 40, a little bit into chapter five, his 38th day on Mars, but there had been no mention of the people he'd left behind on Earth.  I had absolutely no sense of the emotional ties that made him want to get back there, only that it was what he wanted to do.  The nearest he came was slagging off the music and entertainment tastes of his former colleagues.  Wouldn't it strike you as a bit strange for someone not to talk about the people they loved and hated if never seeing them again became a real possibility?  Yes, he's focussed on surviving, but such thoughts would be motivation for him, surely.  And he's not working ALL of the time.  He's on his own, so surely he'll get reflective and introspective?  There can't possibly be that many episodes of 'Three's Company' to drown out his inner monologue.

This was the biggest of a number of factors which made it difficult for me to suspend my disbelief and want to remain with this character.  He's a trained Mechanical Engineer and Botanist, qualified at least to post-graduate level.  Seriously?  Not only do I find it hard to believe that anyone could successfully combine study of these areas to such a high level, plus the exceptional physical fitness required for space travel, he talks like he's not left high school.  Not only does he swear a lot (understandable I suppose in his desperate situation), he uses words and phrases which would suit a teenage boy better than a highly qualified scientist. Not awesome.  Really not.

So, unfortunately, I was so disappointed by what I read of the book that I gave up on it.  Fortunately, I have one or two others to read first.  So hopefully this is just a blip and I'll have something much more interesting to tell you about soon.

Now, what next..?

Short, Sharp, Choc...

As some of you may have noticed, I rather like chocolate and cocoa.  Well, the people at Bluffer's Guides certainly have, because they very kindly send me a copy of their latest book, the 'Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate', a mouthwatering prospect if ever there was one!

'The Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate'
by Neil Davey
(Thomas Drewry, 2014)

The 'Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate' is a pocket sized volume, densely packed with everything the ambitious upstart needs to show off about the finer points of chocolate.  In just over 100 pages, Neil Davey covers chocolate from bean to bar, including a brief history, tasting tips, quipable quotes and the brand names to drop into conversation with elite confectionery experts.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but sadly, like too much of a good thing, it left me feeling a bit bloated.  I know that the idea of these books is to provide pocket-sized expertise, but far too much text was crammed into these few pages and I had to reach for some chocolate to cope with the stress of trying to take at least some of the information in.

There was a lot of really interesting stuff in 'The Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate', but it would've been a whole lot easier to digest if the content was less text heavy and made into bite sized chunks.  Simple things like using diagrams to show the chocolate making process or pictures of the different types of machines used to make chocolate or maps showing where the main producers are.  If you learn easily through words alone, that's great, but my imagination could only take me so far and images would've really helped me understand some of the things described much more easily.

I still can't decide on what I thought of the humour used.  There's some sort of vague attempt at being tongue-in-cheek about the fact it's a 'bluffer's' guide, but it's a bit nervous.  On the one hand, I think the book was better with it, but on the other hand I'm not sure whether I'd want more humour in it.  I did enjoy the puns though.

On the whole, this book was alright and I might glance through it again, but I can't really see who it was aimed at.  It's not easy going enough for the casual chocolate lover nor funny enough for a stocking filler.  The humour suggests it's not really designed for an out-and-out social climber determined to break into the upper echelons of foodie society.  At least I don't think it was.  Overall, I'm not really sure what to make of it.

I have learnt a few things by reading this book though and you can be sure that I'll be showing my favourite sweet treat a bit more respect in the future.  Knowing how complicated it is to grow and make has left me amazed that such a luxurious foodstuff is so affordable.So the 'Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate' has achieved something.  So thank you Bluffer's Guides.  May your beans never be smoky and your chocolate never bloom.