Straight Edge Life

Every damn time I pick up one of Dean Koontz I feel like I’ve been kidnapped. Days are lost. Yes, I’m a slow reader. I like to savor things ok? And his stuff is just so damn fun to read. Two of my favorites are Fear Nothing and, now, The Face. Mostly because of the completeness of the main characters in both books. It’s nice when you actually start to care about the people as well as the story. And I give props to Dean for poking fun at Hollywood in The Face for failing to do exactly that, engage you.

The Face isn’t as scary as a lot of his stuff. It’s also not quite as predictable or formulaic. It’s just fun, and fresh. A great read. It’s out in paperback now, so it’s cheap. Pick it up at Target. Well worth the cover price.

This was a fun book. It’s a thriller about the head cryptographer at the NSA and a code that’s hijacked their super code-breaking computer TRANSLTR. Dan Brown is a good, if somewhat passionless, writer who’s definitely got the nack for developing a good story. His research is good and helps make things a bit more believable, but I often wish that his writing was a bit more colorful and a bit less academic in tone. It’s packed with enough pseudo-geeky stuff to keep my interest. I give it a 7 out of 10.

Here’s one of my favorite passages from chapter 44: “…the NSA’s senior Sys-Sec officer, the short-fused, 400-pound comptuer guru who built the Gauntlet. His nickname was Jabba. He was a demigod at the NSA — roaming the halls, putting out virtual fires, and cursing the feeblemindedness of the inept and the ignorant.”

Reminds me of a few folks I used to work with. You can pick up Digital Fortress in paperback for $15 or less.

Dan Brown - Digital Fortress

A great story. I recommend this book to just about anyone with an interest in Da Vinci, art history, or good thrilling stories. Without giving too much away, the story starts in Paris with the murder of a famous curator at the Louvre and ends very close to one of the biggest secrets that history will never reveal. Along the way it takes you through a fact and fiction mix of secret societies, hidden symbols in art, murder and mystery. The book is loaded with interesting characters, grand plots and conspiracy, and is only occasionaly hijacked by college style lectures to fill in the historical background of the art that’s intertwined with the plot line. It’s a good read. I read it as an eBook on my laptop. Went quickly. I loved it.

It’s still in hardback, but it’s worth the dough. Well, if you don’t pay full price it’s worth it. Otherwise, I’d wait for the paperback or hit your local library. I rarely justify spending $25 on a book that I can read in two nights.

The Da Vinci Code

John Long has always been an entertaining writer. I don’t know how to seperate out what I connect with as a climber and what the normal people will connect with as non-climbers. I think it’s fair to assume that if you are going to pick up a book which walks through the author’s history of climbing in Yosemite, you have at least an interest in climbing. That said, this book is one of my favorites. It examines the majesty and futility that pulses through your life when you are in love with climbing. It looks at the beauty, the adventure and the pain of it all through light and philosophical filters in the same chapter. I was laughing, on edge, and signigicantly moved by the the last chapter in particular. I highly reccomend this book if you are or have ever been a climber. It will make it a lot harder to leave climbing, and it will make it a lot easier to come back. Despite the fact that it’s the hardest way of getting nowhere. This book helps you understand just how important that journey can be for a person. Regardless of where you end up in the end.

By the way, when I bought this book it had the ugliest cover in the history of books. Well, maybe there are a few exceptions when it comes to high school text book covers… Just don’t let that turn you off. It’s worth the cover price. Ha ha ha. No pun intended.

Rock Jocks, Wall Rats and Hang Dogs: Rock Climbing on the Edge of Reality

Changed my life. Helped make me who I am today. The Monkey Wrench gang captures the spirit of the American West, where pride for the USA stems from a love for the land rather than for the nation itself. Edward Abbey is essentially the father of radical environmental movements around the globe. The Monkeywrench Gang and other books like Green Rage by Christopher Manes, are virtual bibles of inspiration for eco activists and folks with radical environmental ethics everywhere.

Book by Edward Abbey. Hero.

The Monkey Wrench Gang

A fascinating history of codes, encryption and their influence on war, culture and history. Sounds boring but if you were like me when you were younger, you spent half your time making up new “languages”, encoding secret notes to your siblings, and hiding things around the house. For people like me this sort of stuff is just way cool.

The stories in this book are diverse, ranging from ancient egyptians (I think) to quantum cryptography. It’s fun and really kind of cool once you start seeing the larger picture; that for every code there is someone who is trying to break it. That and a number of other underlying things could be taken seriously and contemplated for hours. But really the book is just a good read. The writing is smooth and entertaining. I bought the hardcover at Emeral City Books in Eugene and basically didn’t put it down until I was done.

Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

It’s just cool when someone’s personality shines through in their writing. Kevin Mitnick is the kind of guy who, I imagine, never gave a rat’s ass about anyone or anything before he got caught, and didn’t really change that much after he spent time in prison. I think he’s grown and become perhaps a bit more tactful about the way he uses his mighty power and influence, but at the core he’s a punk. Pissed off, arrogant, and powerful. Which is that’s why I relate to him and seriously connected with this book. When you are aware of how easy it is to obtain power over someone simply by misguiding their understanding of who you are, you are in a position of relative power. And what’s to say how you will use it or for what purpose. And if you are lucky (cursed?) enough to discover it at a young age, what’s going to keep you from abusing it? You know, before your sensibilities are tempered a bit by the consequences of your actions… Anyway, this book lit me up. I was pissed, worried, empowered, and thrilled to read it.

Sorry to go into so much commentary without a description of the book itself. The Art of Deception is a series of “case studies” which are used to illustrate the massive vulnerability in our security systems that has nothing to do with the technology involved. Human gullibility and deceptive criminals. The studies are real (they have to be), frightening, sobering and really fun to read.

The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security

I’m only about 1/3 of the way through this book and already I’m giving it a thumbs up. Need I say more?

A very detailed examination of the evolution of radical environmentalism in global communities. It examines the history, ethics, and fit (for lack of a better word) of radical environmentalism in society. More importantly it examines the need for activism using well documented cases. It feels a bit academic so far, but fascinating nonetheless

Green Rage: Radical Environmentalism and the Unmaking of Civilization

A completely hilarious 5 book trilogy (don’t ask) about the misadventures of Arthur Dent, earthling, simpleton, Trillian, Ford Prefect, Marvin the android, and Zaphod Beeblebrox, as they travel the universe before and after the planet Earth is destroyed to make way for a hyperspace bypass.

The last book, Mostly Harmless, will have you crying with laughter. I read this set of books at least twice a year. Douglas Adams has crammed each of these books with enough insight and humor to last a lifetime.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker’s Guide Series #1)