Ern's Monthly Page Turners (October 2009)

*本にかんするネタ日本語は書き込みません。

It's nearing the end of the month which means its time for my monthly book reviews. As there were no travels for me during this month, I managed to read a few more titles than last month. I've even managed to beat my deadline that always set for myself (being the end of the month, or at least the first week of the following month). I've been neglecting reading books in Japanese though, even though I bought a novel written by one of my favorite Japanese artists and am still in the middle of another. Don't let me bore you with details and check out what I read this month:


BELCHING OUT THE DEVIL: GLOBAL ADVENTURES WITH COCA-COLA by Mark Thomas – Do you remember the ‘90s in which multi-national corporations like Nike opened factories in Mexico and other third world nations in which their subsidiaries would hire cheap labor. So much for the freeness of NAFTA. Anyway, multinationals never learn their the lesson. Taking America’s favorite drink and world known brand – Coca-Cola. Now here’s a company that spends a lot of money on advertising and presents itself as a world-leading and fair-playing company. Yet, when an investigative reporter like Thomas is on the job, they cannot seem to answer any of his questions related to labor disputes in third world countries. Thomas starts his book with a trip to Atlanta, Georgia – home of Coca-Cola (although the company is registered in Rhode Island). Even I enjoy a coke every now and then but after reading this book, you may have second thoughts about how good a company Coca-Cola really is. I suppose its true for any multi-national corporation, who “couldn’t see past their bill-fold” (a little Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes reference). It’s all about profits. Take for instance, the opening of a bottling factory in a rain-scarce environment in India. Water being the main ingredient for coca-cola. And somehow they managed to not have to pay for the water where as the locals who used to get their water for free now have to pay for it. Also with the opening of the plant, the water levels have dropped drastically forcing the locals to walk even further from their homes just to find un-contaminated water. Or how about the bottle companies hiring para-militaries in Columbia who have killed employees who were part of a union (even though Coca-Cola says their employees are free to join them). When questioned on this, the Coca-Cola PR machine says, “It’s not us, it’s the bottlers”. Come on. It’s their product the bottlers are selling. You will read about more labor disputes in India, Turkey, and even Ireland or how the company uses child labor in El Salvador. And how the company was running a monopoly in Mexico – however they lost a court case to one stubborn woman who refused to stock their products. Then again, I suppose you can love the product and not really like the company. Just think of chocolate and the child laborers in Ghana who gather ingredients for one of our favorite snacks.


THE GOLLYWHOPPER GAMES by Jody Feldman – After reading something serious, I fall back on young adult novels to relax. This particular book is similar to Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. However, instead of candy factory, the setting is a toy factory. Gil Goodson is hoping to win the games the company sponsors so he and his family can move out of town, away from the gossip and such ever since the “incident”. It appears Gil’s father was accused of embezzling. Even though his dad was acquitted in the trial, the people of Orchard Heights still look upon the Goodson’s with suspicion. Even the owner who first accused Gil’s father can’t believe the Gil has the nerve to participate in the games and tries his hardest to bribe Gil out of doing so to prevent negative press. Will Gil give into pressure? Will the people of Orchard Heights ever forget the “incident”? You will have to read this book to find out.


HECK: WHERE THE BAD KIDS GO by Dale E. Bayse – Sometimes I just get hooked on reading one young adult novel after another. This has an interesting concept as the two main characters die in the first chapter and find themselves in that place between – called “Heck”. To give you an idea of how twisted this book is, just take a gander at what’s written on the back cover: [When Milton and Marlo Fauster die in a marshmallow bear explosion, they get sent straight to Heck, an otherworldly reform school. Milton can understand why his kleptomaniac sister is here, but Milton is – or was – a model citizen. Has a mistake been made? Not according to Bea “Elsa” Bubb, the Principal of Darkness. She doesn’t make mistakes or tolerate them.] Little did I know that this was going to be a series. The second book, “Rapacia: The Second Circle of Heck” is available now and will be a book I will have to read as well.


THE BEST AMERICAN TRAVEL WRITING 2009 edited by Simon Winchester – It’s that time of year again when Mariner Books publishes their “Best American” series and I never miss out on purchasing “The Best American Travel Writing” as it features one of my life’s passions – travel. For those of you who are not familiar with this series, the book collects the best travel articles from a variety of periodicals, newspapers, and online magazines. This year’s collection feature articles from Outside Magazine, Harper’s Magazine, The Oxford American, Slate.com, the Virginia Quarterly Review, just to name a few. And the places this book will take you to. You will read about the incompetency of the military junta in Myanmar as it failed to deal with Cyclone Nargis in any effective way and refused or hampered any humanitarian aid into the country. Be fascinated by the magical penis loss in Nigeria. Take a trip down the river that the movie “Deliverance” made famous which was written by the son of the author. Float down the Mississippi River on a homemade raft with a homeless man and some other free spirits as they head towards New Orleans. Check out the cholitas of Bolivia. The frustration of building a cabin in the countryside of Argentina. Visit the mountain gorillas in the once dreaded land of genocide – Rwanda. Swim the seas of Greenland and the Arctic with the woman who once swam across the English Channel. Check out the best barbecue in Texas. And much, much more. I can’t recommend this series enough for the armchair traveler or others who suffer from wanderlust.


THE FRACTURE ZONE: MY RETURN TO THE BALKANS by Simon Winchester – Having just read the collection of travel essays picked by this year’s guest editor, Simon Winchester, I decided to read one of this books as well. Some of you may be familiar with his other books such as “The Professor and the Madman” or “The Map That Changed the World”, but I picked this one out because I find that crimes against humanity are too fascinating although a bit macabre to ignore. It seems there was no lessons learned from the Rwandan genocide of 1994 in which the Western world turned their backs and ignored the Tutsis who were being hacked to death with machetes by extremists Hutus who also incited other Hutus to “chop down the tall trees” and “rid ourselves of the cockroaches!”. With the fall of communism and ending of the Cold War, it seems the world was headed for peace. But then there was Rwanda. And less than five years down the road, the former Yugoslavia became the focus of world attention. Starting with an ultra-nationalist named Slobodan Milosovic. The White House once again shirked their responsibility by not insisting on using the term “genocide”. As a signatory nation to the Genocide Convention of 1948, it means our country would be required to help. But no – a term was coined. Bosnian Serbs were not committing genocide – they were committing acts of ethnic cleansing. Tell me what the difference is? But this being Europe, did the world ignore this blight like Rwanda? No, of course not. This is a nation of White Europeans – God know we gotta help them. The US played down their role as well insisting that the operations in the Balkans would be headed by NATO forces. And where was Simon Winchester when this was happening? He was right in the thick of things. Wondering why the area is so volatile he looks back on the history of the Hapsburgs and the Ottomons. He starts his journey from Vienna, Austria and travels to the trouble spots by going through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, and to the tragic land of Kosovo. When he wrote this, Milosovic was still in power and not imprisoned at the Hague. Although the area is somewhat stabilized, the future of Kosovo is uncertain. And damn that Milosovic – although he was caught and was being tried for crimes against humanity, he, like Pol Pot before managed to die without having to deal with a long trial (heart attack as I recall). Why isn’t the evilest of men get away with the evil they spread and yet not suffer as they made others suffer. It’s just not right. And there are still those war criminals who are leading pleasant lives while being protected by the government of Serbia. A very intense book. I may have to read Robert Kaplan’s “Balkan Ghosts” as well.


FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury – A classic. First published as a novel in 1953. It started out as a short story called “The Fireman” which appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction in 1950. This book was also made into a film in 1966 and directed by Francois Truffaut. A lot of you may have read in this in school. So why now? I don’t know. I just felt compelled to read it. If you remember what the title refers to, it’s the temperature at which books burn. In the near future, reading books or even owning them is against the law. Anything which may cause an individual to have original thoughts is suspect. And so the firemen of the future do not put out fires. They start them. But one fireman who meets a teenage girl who questions the status quo. Which gets the fireman Montag, to re-thing his current life. And speaking of a future, where people no longer read or are allowed to write, I had just read my friend’s blog and learned about the uncertain plight of a Seattle institution – The Elliot Bay Book Company. It seems there are plans about to either close or move the place. I know in this age of the internet, buying books is only a keypunch away. But there’s nothing I like more than actually taking a book in my hand and reading the back cover or thumbing through a potential purchase. So let’s not let the Elliot Bay Book Company end up as a tragic outcome such as Bradbury’s tale.


I hope you enjoyed my choices for this month. Right now I'm between books (if I don't include that Japanese title) and am not sure what I want to read next. The Dan Brown is enticing. The companion volume to the Bon Jovi documentary film "When We Were Beautiful" (of course I will buy it), my friend's suggestion of "Three Cups of Tea" sounds good as well. Until I decide, I guess I will go back to reading the Japanese title I'm in the middle of.