Books

In My Time of Dying

Sebastian Junger comes within spitting distance of death, and writes a book about it. 

It’s especially fun to read it in the context of his other books. All the uncertainty about meaning and purpose that came through in Tribe and Freedom evaporates in the face of death. 

He spends more time talking about his family in this book than in the rest combined, which I suspect is not a coincidence. He’s always had a knack for making readers sympathetically feel things deeply, and clearly the near death experience shook him to his core. 

He gets a bit squirrelly about theories of supernatural experience, but as always, his storytelling, writing, and research are amazing. Even the opening anecdote about cold water surfing sticks in my mind. 

If you like SJ or books about death, this is essential reading. If not, I recommend it nonetheless. 

Four stars by SJ standards.

Good Omens 

Two work colleagues from competing firms collude against management to produce better services for their customers. 

Or, said differently, an angel and a demon fight to stave off the prophesied apocalypse. 

Funny, irreverent, dynamic, magical, and sincere. A mixup at the hospital puts the antichrist in suburban England and a normal child receives the tutelage intended for the Antichrist. A real witch and a bumbling witch hunter team up to grapple with the titular prophecies. Everyone’s paths intertwine in comical and gratifying ways. The goddam tapes in the glove box all keep turning into Queen’s greatest hits. 

It parodies religious literature in the same way that Hitchhiker’s Guide parodies hard sci-fi. If you like Douglas Adams, either of its authors, or books about the supernatural, add it to your list. 

Five stars for its class.

i loved this read, it was my introduction to Neil Gaiman