just some of our ramblings:

this last year i’ve played a game i call book roulette – it has 2 rules:

1: judge a book by it’s cover

2: read the book.

here’s my review of one of the lot (there were 10 in all):

the jonah kit

by ian watson

published: 1976 / by bantam books

promo line: “even more dazzling than the embedding”

tagline: “A child and a dead cosmonaut — joined in the brain of a giant whale!”

synopsis: … not totally sure, actually… it seemed to be built on fear around the cold war.  somehow an autistic child was linked to a russian space hero and they were both communicating with whales.  there was also a lot of chatter with some scientists in japan, and some sort of space listening devise set up in mexico where there were riots, helicopters, and a wee bit of infidelity.

honestly, the story didn’t really make any sense to me.  i read it – reread pages – thought about it – tried not to think about it – read some more – scratched my head.

during college, my uncle and i were discussing a particular dylan song.  i made the comment, “it just seems crazy—” to which he replied “but,it makes sense to him though, and that’s what matters, it’s only left to us to enjoy it, if we want.”

i did not enjoy this book.  but, i now have an answer if someone ever asks me for my opinion on the worst book in circulation.  but, i’m sure there are people that do like it.  and cheers to them!

in ben hubbard’s defense, he advised me not to buy it, saying it would be the worst $2 ever spent.  but, in my defense, he’s never tried the gourmet twinkles on the overnight train from bangkok to chaing mai.