leo burghaus

A month with less time to read, mainly because of all the days that February doesn’t have.

Corazón Tan Blanco – Javier Marías

I liked the premise of the book: someone who prefers not to know. Sadly, it was boring. Nothing happens except a lot of internal dialogue, unnecessarily long phrases, and some opinions. At times, parts and sentences are interesting, thought-provoking, and entertaining, but all in all it is an uneventful story.

More annoyingly, there are promising build-ups that never get resolved. They seem to be forgotten not by the protagonist, but by the author. Especially frustrating because all the open ends seem to work towards a very interesting resolution, just to end with a very anti-climactic finish to the story.

I understand that the book is about the exploration of the protagonist’s brain instead of things that happen, and I have liked books like that in the past. But here, at no point do these inner workings bring about any action or changes of view.

I have read a lot of positive reviews of this book, and I can see how parts of it are very smart. But on a personal level, I didn’t get much out of the book. Maybe I wasn’t intelligent enough, or I needed to sit with it more.

The Selfish Gene – Richard Dawkins

I am not sure how I can review a book about science. I will say that it was a very digestible book about an interesting topic. Dawkins explores our genes and how they correlate with evolution.

There is one major shift in thinking that he proposes: mainly, that we should view evolution as the struggle of any individual gene to survive and reproduce. We humans (or any animal or plant) are just vehicles by which genes are able to do this.

A lot of the book talks about how this view helps explain the many unknowns and differences in animals and ourselves. I’m taking away a lot of interesting things about us, and nature in general. I found it a good foundational read.

Death On The Nile – Agatha Christie

My grandma has always loved Agatha Christie books, and we watched a lot of Miss Marple. This is the first book I read of hers, and it won’t be my last. I can really see why my grandma likes her so much. I love the constant misdirection. Agatha Christie knows how to write an immersive story that keeps one engaged, guessing, and on ones toes.

I don’t know if this book is a masterpiece, but it is a piece by a Master. She builds up to a moment that may seem to be expected, but delivers it in a way and at a time that makes something predictable very surprising. The book is quick-paced, entertaining, and enjoyable.

Since I was a child, I have loved detective stories, and I believe I found a new author to keep me reading them.