Books

[dsrtao]

_Red Seas Under Red Skies_, Scott Lynch
_The Making of a Chef_, Michael Ruhlman

Red Seas.. is a successor to _The Lies of Locke Lamora_; apparently several others are planned. The new multilayered scams are set in a city a little more like Paris, or perhaps Monaco, than the fully-fleshed fantasy-Venice of the prior volume. We just get into the meat of the action when a sudden sea-voyage becomes unavoidable and the scene shifts to piracy around fantasy-Jamaica. While interesting, it really didn't involve me the way that the scam/counter-scam/hidden-scam plot did. Mostly, this feels like a competent middle volume of a trilogy.

Michael Ruhlman spent a year at the Culinary Institute of America and all he got was this book and a lot of insight into the profession of cooking. It seems that I like to read about people making food, even when it's not something I want to eat. Anyone have suggestions?

Comments

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

The problem I had with the second Lynch was the author's reluctance to have pirates be, well, criminals who rob and kill people (or worse) to make money.

[dsrtao]

It goes along with the softer, kinder Mafia in the first book...

Perhaps he was ordered to cut down on the gore? I'm not sure why, though.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the film A High Wind in Jamaica? It has an interesting band of pirates who, while they are definitely criminals and robbers, try very hard to avoid killing people, on the grounds that the potential legal penalty if caught is much worse in that case (i.e. execution). Much of the plot concerns their attempts to maintain this "not going to be executed" stance after their ship is accidentally invaded by a significant number of unchaperoned children. I should point out that this is *not* what most modern parents would regard as a "kid's movie", despite the large number of children who feature in the plot. It's serious, and quite moving and/or disturbing at times. Anthony Quinn as the pirate captain, an a very young James Coburn as his first mate. Recommended.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Food books.

Two off the top of my head (besides Ruhlman's other books): "The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry" (as much about relationships as becoming a chef, yet all to the good.

And, without doubt, Jack Pepin's autobiography. Who knew he had such culinary influence, as well as deep food knowledge, and a brilliant ability to write simply? He is as good with words as with food: high praise indeed.

We own both, if you would like to borrow them.