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articles prompted by prose books

These articles are all at least a month old.  Newer articles are on the main Calendar page.  Click the boxed dates to read the articles.

Ratings are on a scale of 0 to 24.  The scale used to be 0 to 10, so books written about before 2012 may have only had their ratings adjusted by formula and not by hand (hence all the 2s, 5s, 8s, etc.)  The scale works as follows:

PRO
24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16
pro
15 14 13 12 11 10
mixed
9 8 7 6 5 4
con
3 2 1
CON
0

An asymmetrical 0 to 24 scale may not be intuitive, I realize.  But as a rule of thumb: a double-digit score means I liked it, while a single-digit score… less so.  Also, as you might expect, scores from many years ago may not be very reliable, so do check the dates.

(These articles are also linked from my Goodreads page.)

sort by post date       sort by rating       sort by name

2024.0724
4  The Trumpet of the Swan
2024.0711
9  Wolf Hall
2024.0628
4  The Picture of Dorian Gray
2024.0130
14  To Kill a Mockingbird
2023.1231
4  A Stranger in Olondria
2023.0903
12  The Underground Railroad
2023.0614
8  The Boundless Sea
2023.0614
5  Orlando
2023.0518
7  There There
2023.0422
4  In a Free State
2023.0322
3  The Alchemist
2023.0310
6  No Longer at Ease
2023.0128
8  The Body Keeps the Score
2022.1010
8  A Visit from the Goon Squad
2022.0909
11  The War Nerd Iliad
2022.0923
4  If on a winter’s night a traveler
2022.0923
3  The Man Who Was Thursday
2022.0706
9  Milkman
2022.0512
7  The Visible Man
2022.0512
2  Nazi Literature in the Americas
2022.0501
6  Two Years Before the Mast
2022.0428
5  The New Me
2022.0428
11  Kindred
2022.0309
7  Alex & Me
2022.0309
5  Someone
2022.0221
13  Sapiens
2022.0201
9  Exit West
2022.0101
5  1177 B.C.
2022.0101
6  The Information
2021.1205
4  Wolf in White Van
2021.1205
5  This Census-Taker
2021.1111
8  When You Reach Me
2021.1111
11  Ghost Wall
2021.1104
11  Explorers of the New Century
2021.1104
6  Multiple Choice
2021.1104
5  Conquistadores
2021.1104
6  Babylon
2021.1104
4  California’s Utopian Colonies
2021.1104
6  The Great Sea
2021.0905
14  The Feminine Mystique
2021.0817
10  The Man in the High Castle
2021.0728
10  Command and Control
2020.1223
7  Severance
2020.0709
7  The Plague
2020.0620
8  Things Fall Apart
2020.0330
9  And Then There Were None
2019.0806
9  An Anthropologist on Mars
2019.0625
12  A Short History of Nearly Everything
2018.1231
9  Cat's Eye
2018.1024
11  Capital in the Twenty-First Century
2018.0911
9  The Kite Runner
2018.0827
8  The Sea Wolves
2018.0826
9  Blitzed
2018.0430
6  Atomic Accidents
2018.0430
8  Atomic Awakening
2018.0412
1  Coin Locker Babies
2018.0411
13  The Fate of Africa
2018.0331
14  The Left Hand of Darkness
2018.0321
12  The Prestige
2018.0315
7  The Fall of the Roman Empire
2018.0314
1  The Last Samurai
2018.0226
14  Centennial
2018.0211
9  Never Let Me Go
2018.0120
7  Jane Eyre
2018.0114
8  The Sea, The Sea
2017.1204
10  In the Night Garden
2017.1130
11  The Grapes of Wrath
2017.0831
9  Cyteen
2017.0729
4  The Fifth Head of Cerberus
2017.0612
14  Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
2017.0306
8  The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
2016.1205
6  When Gravity Fails
2016.1108
10  The Big Money
2016.1028
8  Permutation City
2016.0916
10  1919
2016.0908
9  The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
2016.0629
10  The 42nd Parallel
2016.0602
8  This Is Not a Game
2016.0518
14  A Naked Singularity
2016.0415
7  The Postmortal
2016.0224
19  The Great Gatsby
2016.0130
5  The Master and Margarita
2015.1201
4  Accelerando
2015.1002
7  Consider Phlebas
2015.0816
9  Babbitt
2015.0605
13  Racing the Beam
2015.0601
8  The World Today
2014.1023
17  Cloud Atlas
2014.0803
0  Geek Love
2014.0802
6  Immortal
2014.0612
3  Good Omens
2014.0529
6  The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
2013.0826
19  Freaky Friday
2013.0826
7  Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
2013.0826
8  The Cement Garden
2013.0821
16  One Hundred Years of Solitude
2013.0810
5  Brave New World
2013.0526
10  Goldbugs and Greenbacks
2013.0221
6  Super-Cannes
2013.0121
6  Life of Pi
2012.1016
12  The Catcher in the Rye
2012.1009
3  Love and Longing in Bombay
2012.0911
16  The City & The City
2012.0812
4  Counting Heads
2012.0703
3  Last Exit to Brooklyn
2012.0523
9  The Lazarus Project
2012.0420
5  The Aleph and Other Stories
2012.0227
11  The Easter Parade
2012.0213
3  The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
2012.0206
10  The Quiet American
2012.0113
7  Ender's Game
2011.1206
6  The Haunting of Hill House
2011.1125
7  Grendel
2011.1112
15  A New World
2011.0926
2  Soul Mountain
2011.0903
6  The Guns of the South
2011.0829
13  The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
2011.0529
2  Mason & Dixon
2011.0529
14  Moo
2011.0502
5  The System of the World
2010.1219
2  Wuthering Heights
2010.1219
2  Nicholas Nickleby
2010.0821
5  The Book of Basketball
2010.0524
5  The Ice Storm
2009.1020
11  The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861
2009.0612
8  What Hath God Wrought
2009.0601
8  The Time Traveler's Wife
2009.0523
2  The Sound and the Fury
2009.0523
16  The Remains of the Day
2009.0430
18  The Greenlanders
2009.0102
2  Herland
2008.1228
2  World Made by Hand
2008.1218
14  The Political Culture of the American Whigs
2008.1025
11  The Jewish Century
2008.1012
11  City of Glass
2008.0905
5  Burr
2008.0905
2  Arc d'X
2008.0710
2  Argall
2008.0617
2  Civilizations
2008.0530
5  Lust
2008.0524
5  The World Without Us
2008.0513
2  Jealousy
2008.0510
5  The Confusion
2008.0407
2  We
2008.0324
19  Nineteen Eighty-Four
2008.0322
2  Unconquered Countries
2008.0313
5  The Disappearance
2008.0305
14  Koba the Dread
2008.0224
14  Animal Farm
2008.0218
5  Coming Up for Air
2008.0213
5  Homage to Catalonia
2008.0127
14  A Pattern Language: "Towns"
2007.1218
14  A Wrinkle in Time
2007.1209
5  Salt
2007.1201
5  The Road to Wigan Pier
2007.1118
8  Keep the Aspidistra Flying
2007.1103
8  Jennifer Government
2007.1015
8  The Dispossessed
2007.0831
2  A Clergyman's Daughter
2007.0820
0  The Fermata
2007.0802
2  Dr. Bloodmoney
2007.0801
14  The Mezzanine
2007.0718
5  Burmese Days
2007.0711
8  Down and Out in Paris and London
2007.0623
11  Stories of Your Life and Others
2007.0617
0  The Girl Who Owned a City
2007.0612
2  Stranger in a Strange Land
2007.0503
5  The Road (addendum)
2007.0424
16  Time's Arrow
2007.0404
5  The Road
2007.0331
11  1491
2007.0209
8  Berkeley 1900
2007.0127
14  Lanark
2007.0110
8  Native Son
2007.0104
5  Julian
2006.1219
2  A History of the World in 10½ Chapters
2006.1206
11  Air
2006.1106
2  Haroun and the Sea of Stories
2006.1029
2  The God of Small Things
2006.1023
5  The Code of the Woosters
2006.1018
14  Guns, Germs, and Steel
2006.0929
2  The Driver's Seat
2006.0908
2  V.
2006.0831
0  Malone Dies
2006.0831
14  A Canticle for Leibowitz
2006.0830
16  Memoirs of an Invisible Man
2006.0810
14  Level 7
2012.0822
28 books by William Sleator
2006.0618
0  Ape and Essence
2006.0618
2  Riddley Walker
2006.0618
8  Warday
2006.0608
2  The Promise of Joy
2006.0608
2  Come Nineveh, Come Tyre
2006.0521
5  Triumph
2006.0514
8  Tomorrow!
2006.0506
5  Parable of the Talents
2006.0421
14  White Noise
2006.0318
8  On the Beach
2006.0301
8  Alas, Babylon
2006.0214
8  Earth Abides
2006.0202
8  Parable of the Sower
2006.0125
14  Collapse
2005.1224
11  The Rivals
2005.1201
0  Watch Your Mouth
2005.1119
14  Oryx and Crake
2005.0906
23  Cosmos
2005.0824
8  Quicksilver
2005.0708
11  The Plot Against America
2005.0610
14  Freakonomics
2005.0608
22  Was
2005.0429
2  First Kyu
2005.0420
8  The Years of Rice and Salt
2005.0325
8  Pacific Edge
2005.0303
16  The Gold Coast
2005.0214
8  The Wild Shore
2004.1112
5  Speeches
2004.1021
5  Extract from Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven
2004.1008
8  1601, and Is Shakespeare Dead?
2004.1008
11  Chapters from My Autobiography
2004.0903
2  Christian Science
2004.0826
5  The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories
2004.0820
5  What Is Man?
2004.0820
17  The Diaries of Adam and Eve
2004.0818
5  The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg and Other Stories and Essays
2004.0814
14  Following the Equator and Anti-Imperialist Essays
2004.0717
5  How to Tell a Story and Other Essays
2004.0712
8  The Stolen White Elephant and Other Detective Stories
2004.0703
8  Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc
2004.0517
11  The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson and the Comedy Those Extraordinary Twins
2004.0504
8  Tom Sawyer Abroad
2004.0425
5  The £1,000,000 Bank-Note and Other Stories
2004.0420
8  The American Claimant
2004.0410
5  Merry Tales
2004.0408
14  A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
2004.0326
14  Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
2004.0306
18  Life on the Mississippi
2004.0129
8  The Prince and the Pauper
2004.0102
16  A Tramp Abroad
2003.1216
14  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
2003.1213
Twisty Little Passages
2003.1202
11  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
2003.1117
8  Sketches, New and Old
2003.1019
8  The Gilded Age
2003.1003
Freaky Friday (first article)
2003.0826
14  Roughing It
2003.0729
11  The Innocents Abroad
2003.0530
8  The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Stories
2002.1220
5  Godbody
2002.1124
5  The Mind of a Mnemonist
2002.0830
5  An Army of Angels
2002.0610
8  Field of Schemes
2002.0509
5  The Pleasures of Counting
2001.1215
11  What It Takes
2001.1130
5  The Discourses
2001.1130
8  Lord of the Flies
2001.1130
18  Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
2001.1018
16  Perfume
2001.1018
11  A Confederacy of Dunces
2001.1003
8  Cheaper by the Dozen
2001.1003
8  Belles on Their Toes
2001.1003
14  A Voyage to Arcturus
2001.0917
11  McTeague
2001.0915
5  Faster
2001.0825
5  The Victorian Internet
2001.0825
5  Longitude
2001.0804
5  Undaunted Courage
2001.0728
11  Mostly Harmless
2001.0724
11  The Ancient Engineers
2001.0707
5  How the Irish Saved Civilization
2001.0707
14  Pale Fire
2001.0630
2  Dream Children
2001.0625
11  How Far Can You Go?
2001.0527
8  The Demolished Man
2001.0415
5  This Star Shall Abide
2001.0313
5  Mathematics for the Nonmathematician
2001.0123
5  Tom's Midnight Garden


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