A Flag For Canada by Rick Archbold - Book Report #252

Having lived under the maple leaf flag my entire life I found this book to be fascinating.

Creating a flag independent from Britain stirred up a lot of emotions in the Canadian public at the time. 

Understanding how complex it was to boil a country down into such a simple design made me thankful for the people who dedicated so much energy into the task. 

The photography was lush and the historical significance of each iteration of our flag could not have been conveyed without them. 

I originally purchased the book in a fit of patriotism during the Canada 150 celebration year. 

I am glad I finally read it. 

Here are some real contenders:

The Canadain Red Ensign

The Pearson Pennant

13 pointed maple leaf

There is also a group who is suggesting our current flag be modified to better reflect the English and French duality that was Canada.  I use the word "was" because Canada is more about pluralism than ever before.  The English - French duality is fast becoming blurred.  That said I find the modified version quite attractive.  However, if it came to a vote, I would rather keep our current flag.

Proposed Canadain Unity Flag

Rick Archbold

Driving a Bargain by Robert J Sawyer

You know, I kept thinking this felt like a movie Steven Spielberg would direct.  In that it was a very American suburban story.

A young man worked hard all summer so he could buy himself a car before the start of the school year.  All he wants is to turn heads and impress the girl he has a crush on.

But there is something odd about the person he bought the car from and there is something odd about the car itself too.

There was a paranormal story.  I instantly liked the protagonist.

Well done.

Originally published here.

Ineluctable by Robert J Sawyer

First Contact!

Earth receives its first intelligent signals from space.

A series of multiple choice questions are sent to humanity. As the questions get more difficult the answers begin to take on mere meaning.

I’ve always found First Contact stories a bit suspect; why do we always assume we will be able to speak to each other?  And why do we believe that our logic paths will be similar?

Sawyer takes on these very assumptions here.

I liked it very much. It had just a hint of dark humour to it.

Well done.

First Published in the November 2002 issue.

Shed Skin by Robert J Sawer

Oh.  Wow!

This story did not go where I thought it would.  How surprising.  Perfect.  Dark.

It's the old trope -  human consciousness uploaded to a robot body.  As always the question arises as to what to do with the original?

In this story the consciousness is copied, not transferred, once done there are essentially two of the same person, one machine the other biological.

This brings up the idea of legality - who is the "person" under the law?  What must it be like to be the one with no rights, no future, other than existence.

This was a tremendous story no wonder it was under consideration for many prizes.

A spectacular read.

Highly, highly recommended.

The original book this story was published in.

Bill Bryson's African Diary by Bill Bryson - Book Report #194

This is a lovely little 50-page book where all the proceeds go to support the Care charity.

CARE invited Bill Bryson to visit Kenya to see what life is like there and how the charity is working to help the people.

I was expecting that it would be dominated by the gloom of deep poverty and it was certainly described.  But then there is the effervescent personality of Bryson himself that can't help but see the quirks of humanity and the good that is all around.

I was happy that he wrote the book in the manner that has won him his dedicated audience.  It is a charming thing to follow a middle-aged and bewildered white guy into a wholly alien situation.

His intelligence, compassion and eye for the humanity of a given situation make this a book to search for and buy.

Recommended.

Bill Bryson's Wiki page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Bryson

CARE website - http://care.ca/

Bill Bryson

Sahara by Michael Palin - Book Report #162

13/15/2016

What a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a book by the likes of Michael Palin and to have it read by to you by the man himself.

His voice lends itself to narration so well that I was sad when it was all over.

As in most of these kinds of journeys the trips seldom come about without a hitch, detours are encountered, weather, borders, conflicts, bureaucracy, breakdowns and scheduling all come to play in this circumnavigation of the great Sahara desert.

After listening to parts of the audio book I would spend time with the large format coffee table book and peruse the pictures to actually see whet Palin described.

But it is the people that join him along the way that makes this story so special.  The generosity of strangers to the traveler has shown itself in his and many other travel writers to be consistent through the world.

People are generally open and inviting and even eager to share their way of life.  It just goes to show that governments do not necessarily represent the people of a particular region.

We are more alike than we are led to believe.

That is the power of these kinds of travels: to show us that we are all human.

Recommended.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol 1 by Alan Moore (writer) and Kevin O'Neill (artist)

019/150/2016

I don't normally post about graphic novels but this one stood out so much that I felt it deserved mention.

Having never read the classics of adventure novels and knowing this was once made into a movie, I thought it would be a fun romp.  And it was.  Mixing Allan Quartermain, Captain Nemo, the Invisible Man, Jekyll & Hyde and others from the period the reader is treated to a fantastic, Victorian tale of derring-do.

It was a charming story piquing my interest in H. Rider Haggard's stories of Quartermain's adventures.

There was also a treat at back the of the volume.  In keeping with the way these stories would have originally been published, Moore wrote a serialized, six-part adventure that explained how Quartermain found his way to opium den in Cairo.  It is there where he is introduced to the adventure of the graphic novel itself.  Moore's wonderfully ornate purple prose gave it the feel that it was lifted directly from a penny dreadful.  This made for a nice bookend to the whole thing.

Since the six-part story was prose I am counting it towards my short story reading challenge.

Alan Moore - writer.

Kevin O'Neill - artist.