Vegetables For Vitality

Publisher: Reader’s Digest

Date Published: 2007

Pages: 320

My mum and I were trying to find a way to eat more vegetables, as well as a couple of vegetarian dinners a week. We were originally going to buy a vegetarian cookbook, but we found that while the vegetarian books had a lot meat imitation recipes (like meat imitation burgers and sausages etc) that would be useless to us. Being an omnivore, if I want a burger I’ll choose the meat kind. (I also don’t like to eat food that have a lot of interference. Have you ever read the ingredients lists on some of those meat imitation products? If I were a vegetarian I wouldn’t bother with them). I inevitably came across ‘Vegetables for Vitality’ and it was exactly what I was looking for, as if it had been beamed down by my mental request.

‘Vegetables For Vitality’ has an easy to read lay out, with each recipe having numbered steps and the ingrediants listed clearly. The presentation is quite colourful, though white is used behind the instructions for clarity. Servings, prep and cooking times are also displayed along with little ‘did you know?’ factoids. It includes more than 200 recipes divided into the following sections:

Metamorphosis

Publisher: beinArt Publishing

Editor: Robyn Flemming

Date Published: 2007

50 Contemporary Surreal, Fantastic and Visionary Artists

‘Metamorphosis’ presents the work of 50 contemporary international artists within the surrealism, fantasy, visionary and symbolic art movements.  A series of essays by the contributors - L Caruana, Robert Venosa, Philip Rubinov, Brigid Marlin and (the cover artist) Ernst Fuchs – explains the nature of the published works. An excerpt from ’The Manifesto of Visionary Art’ gives a sophisticated history of symbolism in art, which should be appreciated by its followers and illustrative to newcomers.

In the tradition of Gustave Dore, William Blake and H R Giger, the art of ‘Metamorphosis’ is presented as being in an ongoing artistic discussion with the foundations of art history. One of its goals is not to be radically different as its defining feature (or merely for the sake of being different), rather to join in with the age old symbolic methods used to express the human condition. Philip Rubinov is quite clear in his dislike of some modern art movements, stating that ”these artists…throw light on the wilderness of the contemporary art scene, which seems to have lost its way’.

True Loves 1 and 2

Author: Manien Botma

Penciller: Jason Turner

Publisher: New Reliable Press

Date Published: Volume 1 – May 2006, Volume 2 – June 2009

Volumes: Both are single volume

A modern romance, True Loves follows a young vintage clothing store owner falling into a new relationship, while she struggles to break off her current one. The story is set in Vancouver and is full of the look and feel of the city.

‘True Love’ and ‘True Love 2: Trouble In Paradise’ is a independent collaboration between Manien Botma and Jason Turner, a writer and penciller couple who have been together for ten years (and recently got married after the completion of ‘True Love 2′). Unlike the vast majority of western comics ‘True Loves’ is set in none other than Vancouver, Canada, rather than America. The small series follows True, a twenty something boutique clothes shop owner, and Zander, a fruit and vegetable grocer with eccentric hair.

Our main character True is a morally ambiguous person, quite normal and acts almost like an avatar for the reader. She is simultaneously undistinguished and also not quite like anyone else. The routines of her daily life, her divorced parents and even her feelings of ambivalence towards her boyfriend Dirk will seem familiar to the reader. The writing is very honest and sympathetic to the characters; whether or not the audience will be is another question.

Speak, Memory

Author: Vladimir Nabokov

Publisher: Penguin

Date Published: Originally published under the title ‘Conclusive Evidence’ in America and ’Speak, Memory’ in England in 1951. This Penguin addition with additional ‘Chapter 16′ was published 2000.

Pages: 272

An Autobiography Revisited

‘Speak, memory’ said Vladimir Nabokov. And immediately a host of enchanting recollections came flooding back to him; of his comfortable childhood and adolescence, of his rich, liberal-minded father, his beautiful mother, an army of relations and family hangers-on and of grand old houses in St Petersburg and the surrounding countryside in pre-revolutionary Russia. Young love, butterflies, tutors and a multitude of other themes thread together to weave an autobiography which is itself a work of art.

‘Speak, Memory’ is the autobiographical memoir of Vladimir Nabokov, author of the infamous Lolita, and is set during the twilight era of the Russian Tsars and the uprising of the Bolshevists. His privileged childhood, the world of Russia in the early 1900’s and the often fantastical histories and legends of his extremely extended family are lovingly described (family photos and a crude map are included). The memoir follows him after his exile from Russia to Europe and eventually to the boat that will carry him to America. In classic Nabokov tradition the lines between fact and fiction, truthful memory and exaggeration, are elusive and fanatically distorted. 

Nabokov is a magician and he captivates his audience with unparalleled sensory descriptions. He describes with stunning accuracy things we have all seen and are nestled in our memories, yet paid little attention to at the time or in our every day life – for instance ‘the discreet, pleasantly cool, rhythmically undulating caress  of a caterpillar ascending ones bare skin’. ‘Speak, Memory’ lavishes in details – smells, textures, the play of light - and in the constant merging and unmerging of the conscious and subconscious sides of our brain.

I Don’t Believe In Atheists

Author: Chris Hedges

Publisher: Free Press

Date Published: 2008

Pages: 212

The battle between new atheists and the religious fundamentalists engages two bizarre subsets of American culture. One distorts the scientific theory of evolution, applying it to complex social, economic and political systems it was never designed to explain. The other insists that the six day story of creation in Genesis is fact and Jesus will descend from the sky to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. Neither God nor science, however, will protect us from the destructive forces within human history and human nature.

The battle underway in the United States is not between religion and science. It is a battle between two utopian forms of faith. These antagonists trade absurdity for absurdity. They show that the danger is not religion or science. The danger is the fundamentalist mindset itself.

Chris Hedges began writing ‘I Don’t Believe In Atheists’ following a debate with Sam Harris, author of ‘The End of Faith’ and ‘Letter To A Christian Nation’. The debate*, titled ‘Religion, Politics and the End of the World’, was hosted by Truthdig. Hedges has also written his fair share of books (including ‘American Fascists’ and ‘War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning’), as well as covering an epic amount of international conflict for around twenty years, but hadn’t paid close attention to the atheist movement before the debate.

I have read Richard Dawkins’ ‘The God Delusion’, which I found to be quite vomit inducingly stupid (with an occassional good point). I have also read Harris’s ‘Letter To A Christian Nation’, which came across as a simplistic affair of pseudo-intellectualism. These books made me feel alienated from my fellow atheists, though I couldn’t quite put a finger on why they bothered me so much. I was already intrigued by Hedges, who writes against Dominionist Christians and atheists, but he drew me in mainly because I hadn’t seen anyone without a fundamentalist agenda responding to the claims of Harris, Dawkins and Hitchens.

American Fascists

Author: Chris Hedges

Publisher: Vintage

Date Published: 2007

Pages: 254

The Christian Right and the War on America

They disseminate their ideas on the alternative broadcasts networks and through their own publishers and schools. Their intellectual leaders demand the complete dismantling of the secular state; their followers have been roused to a fever pitch of resentment and despair. Describing themselves as true patriots, they wrap themselves in the flag – but all it might take is one more September 11 for the Christian Right to seize power and reveal themselves for what they really are: The American heir of Fascism.

I initially came across Chris Hedges at Truthdig,  in ‘Celebrating Slaughter: War and Collective Amnesia‘, an article about war memorials sanitizing the true nature of war, causing them to be an effective form of  propoganda for future conflict. I was skeptical and prepared to read a disenfranchised university student’s attempt at being controversial, however it turned out to be a very interesting piece. It was this article that caused me to research Hedges publications and purchase ‘American Fascists’ (it sealed the deal when I saw that he had written a book called ‘I Don’t Believe In Atheists’. Personally, I’m intrigued by an author who is willing to make enemies with everyone.)

Chris Hedges is a journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner, a senior fellow at the National Institute and authored ‘War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning’ and ‘What Every Person Should Know About War’ amongst other books. He was a foreign correspondent for nearly two decades and has covered conflicts in Latin America, Africa, The Middle East, The Balkans and The Gaza Strip. Hedges is also a Christian and he speaks of his upbringing in detail. His Father is a Presbyterian Minister and Hedges attended Harvard Divinity School (he graduated, but was not ordained).

Fusion Junction 3

Publisher: ABDOTC Publishing

Date Published: 2008

Pages: 103

Size: 10.9″ by 7.4″ (Hardcover)

A collection of contemporary character art

‘Fusion Junction 3′, the third installment of the ‘Fusion Junction’ series, continues the anthology of character design for modern gaming, comic, film and advertising, a seemingly inexhaustible subject given the continually expanding appetite of consumers. The ‘Fusion Junction’ series is a product of the growing use of digital art as a mainstream medium, its popularity in the younger generations of artists and art lovers and its growing presence in media imagery (due to its use for concept art in film, games and recently advertising). Technology and the internet are revolutionising art, not only in its form and function, but its capability to be spread over the world with a click of a button.

‘Fusion Junction 3′ continues the format of four artists and features the artworks of Artgerm, MHK, Noah and Noho. (Please click the following links for my reviews on the predecessors  ‘Fusion Junction 1′ and ‘Fusion Junction 2′).

The Autobiography Of Malcolm X

Authors: Malcolm X and Alex Haley

Publisher: Penguin

Date Published: 1965

Pages: 512

Malcolm X’s blazing, legendary autobiography, completed shortly before his assassination in 1965, depicts a remarkable life: a child born into rage and despair, who turned to street-hustling and cocaine in the Harlem ghetto, followed by prison, where he converted to the Black Muslims and honed the energy and brilliance that made him one of the most important political figures of his time - and an icon in ours. It also charts the spiritual journey that took him beyond militancy, and led to his murder, in a powerful story of transformation, redemption and betrayal.

My impression of Malcolm X before reading his autobiography was that he represented the extremist side of the black civil rights movement in 1960’s America – like a ‘dark’ Dr Martin Luther King. Some would see this appraisal as correct; I see it as having elements of truth, but also being  a far too simplistic portrait of a man whose life was anything but.

I get nervous when writing a review about an autobiography – this was a real person after all, who would have been far more complex than any book can describe. However, I think that there is merit in discussing the presentation, historical precedence and opinions expressed in ’The Autobiography’. After all, if not for discussion, then for what purpose would a memoir serve?

I, Robot

 

Author: Isaac Asimov

Publisher: Spectra

Date Published: 1950

Pages: 224

Firstly, if you have watched the ‘I, Robot’ movie please forget about it when approaching the book. The two texts are not at all alike; except they both feature robots and a character called Susan Calvin (it’s expected that Hollywood will butcher movie adaptions of books, but I’m a little dissapointed because the source material was relatively straight forward).

‘I, Robot’, considered the grandaddy of science fiction literature, is actually a series of nine short stories revolving around the famous ‘Three Laws of Robotics’:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

These nine stories are recounted to an anonymous journalist by the protagonist Dr Susan Calvin. Although Dr Calvin does not personally narrate all the stories, she acts as an introductory bridge to each tale.

30 Minute Meals: A Commonsense Guide

Publisher: Murdoch Books

Date Published: 2009

Pages: 383

‘30 Minute Meals’ is the newest in the Commonsense Guide cookery line from Murdoch Books. I was a little surprised to see it on the shelf, given that they have already covered the basics of cookery and baking. However, the choice to create a book that specialises in fast meals seems obvious now. It reflects the modern need for quick nutritious meals following working hours. Obviously, even food lovers may have extremely busy lives.

The book is an interesting reflection of the increasingly multinational diet of Australia, and indeed most western countries such as England and America. The average household tends to eat a mixed bag of cherry picked favorites of the major cuisines. Pasta and stir fries in particular have become a staple of the weekday meal. Previously unheard of ingrediants and spice blends are becoming easy to purchase and part of the Australian cooking vocabulary.