December 6, by Martin Cruz Smith

Harry Niles is an American by birth, brought to Japan by his missionary parents somewhere around 1920, perhaps a little before. His father's zeal left him largely unsupervised, living with his alcoholic Uncle Orin in Tokyo, and Harry, running in the streets with Japanese boys,  became more Japanese than gaijin.

In this book, we read of Harry's adventures on the title date. Niles, a self-professed con man, owner of a night club, successful gambler, has come into possession of information about the Japanese military's plans, and a peculiar point of view as regards them.

Harry's luck is legendary, and propels him through the amazing plot in the day and hours leading up to the invasion of Pearl Harbor. I'm sure that historians could argue over the accuracy of the time and place, but however fantastic the story might be, I read this from cover to cover in a short time. It is suspenseful and fascinating.

LA Times book review

A Quiet Life, by Kenzaburo Oe

I'm having a rough time with this one. I read A Personal Matter,  and was impressed. Now, wading through this novel, I find it hard to keep going.

No doubt this is a personal failing, but I couldn't finish this book.

Recent readings

Oh, I have been bad. I've lost track of several things, and some of them were really good. Here's what I can remember:


Distress, by Greg Egan. Delicious science fiction, a journalist in the near future, deals with modifying DNA, bionics, open-source, much more. I definitely want to read more from this guy.

A Death in the Family, by James Agee. Remarkable. Deeply felt and emotional without being in the least sentimental. American. Set in Knoxville, TN, early 20th century. Vivid character development, excellent POV renderings -- many of children. The author's skill is formidable.

A Personal Matter, by Kenzaburo Oe. (1969) Bird is a young married man who suddenly finds himself the father of a child born with its brain outside its skull. All three of these authors are new to me. All of them make me want to read more of their work.