Insect Dreams:The Half Life of Gregor Samsa

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The metamorphosis of Kafka's Gregor Samsa from fabric salesman to cockroach was surely one of the momentous transformations of the modern world. Now, in Marc Estrin's astounding debut, Gregor undergoes yet another metamorphosis-one that propels him across the rocky and often ridiculous landscape of the early twentieth century. In these continuously surprising pages, Estrin's Gregor-secretly sold to a Viennese sideshow by the Samsas' chambermaid-comes to sharpen his mind against those of Wittgenstein, Spengler and Einstein; dance to the crazy rhythm of American Prohibition; appear as a surprise witness at the Scopes trial; become intimately involved in Alice Paul's feminist movement (and with Alice Paul); encounter the KKK; and confer with FDR, and Robert Oppenheimer-and emerge from it all as the very essence of modern conscience.

Customer Reviews:

Great Concept, Disappointing Execution.......2007-07-19

Insect Dreams starts out well but after 50 pages or so Gregor Samsa travels to America. After that the book is a rehash of American history from the 1920s to 1945 with Samsa (like Zelig) meeting various celebrities and politicians. As I already knew how that history turned out, the plot held little interest for me.

Completely annoyed me.......2007-01-06

I am surprised by the praise heaped on the 'creativity' of this book. I don't know what is so creative about ripping off a character from one of the greatest books of all time. In any case, Samsa's meeting of famous people through history was nothing but an excuse for Marc Estrin to soap box his liberal agenda, culminating in a nuclear-war protest that I am sure Estrin himself has frequently been a part of.

If you don't share Estrin's political philosophy, once you break through the thin creative veneer, you will find yourself, like I did, very annoyed with this work. Estrin tried to cover his own smug viewpoint through the humility of his character (who is actually somewhat likeable), but it didn't work for me.

[Update April 18, 2007]: When I wrote this review, I knew nothing of Estrin, and drew my conclusions by reading between the lines in the book. I just recently happened accross an online interview of him, and sure enough, he's an anti-war activist. Obviously there is nothing wrong with that, but I think it serves to reinforce my postion on the book. If you share Estrins political viewpoint, you will likely enjoy the novel; if not, you will find it as bad as I did.

You should read this book!.......2005-08-05

The best book I've read in at least five years.

Well worth the $4.98 I paid for it........2004-08-29

From the start, I found this a most entertaining book. The author admirably managed to tie in the ideas of the time through such devices as the witty conversation with Wittgenstein and Gregor's Spenglerian seminars. Gregor's perspective throws a new light on such figures, particularly if you're already familiar with them.
The overall plot seemed to drag more than a bit at times, and especially during the third section I found myself less enthused by the prospect of continuing. For this, I give it four stars. The books does manage to pick up again in the fourth section, compressing a good deal of thought and plot in before book has ended.

An Imaginative Sequel.......2004-05-06

This is not the same Gregor Samsa that Kafka created in his groundbreaking work Metamorphosis. While he starts off being the same roach-person this Gregor Samsa speaks and intermingles with society (sometimes to the point where you forget that he is no longer human). But author Marc Estrin's unique departure from Kafka is refreshing. After flying away from a Viennese circus Gregor lands in America where he subsequently meets and interacts with some of the most notable figures of the early 20th century. Gregor's unique bug-like perspective endears him to those that he becomes close to. But it is also this unique bug-like perspective that focuses clarity into America's moral conscience during that turbulent period.

I wanted to give Insect Dreams 5-stars but I did find the book to be a little uneven in flow. Certain parts were drawn out to the point where the book lost momentum that had to be recaptured in later sections. Still, Insect Dreams is an imaginative endeavor that is well worth reading.

Average customer rating:

Wow.. I have to get all his books.

Is it over already?

Is it over already?

Is it over already?

Is it over already?
Eagle-Sage (The Lon Tobyn Chronicle, Book 3)
David B. Coe
Manufacturer: Tor Fantasy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Epic | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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The Outlanders (The Lon Tobyn Chronicle, Book 2)

Children of Amarid (The Lon Tobyn Chronicle, Book 1)

Rules of Ascension: Book One of Winds of the Forelands

Seeds of Betrayal (Winds of the Forelands, Book 2)

Shapers of Darkness: Book Four of Winds of the Forelands

ASIN: 0812566866

Book Description

The winds of war are blowing through the fast-changing land of Tobyn-Ser. This peaceful land of verdant forests is being ravaged by those who are destroying its natural beauty in the name of "progress". Jaryd, a young, powerfully gifted mage fulfills an ancient prophesy that heralds war when he binds to an eagle, becoming and Eagle-Sage. But which of the Mage-Craft's many enemies will they fight in the coming conflict?Across the water, unrest is growing in the Nals of Lon-Ser. Melyor, a street-smart woman with her own magic, who rose from nothing to become ruler, struggles to bring peace with Tobyn-Ser. But her efforts make her a pariah in a land with a long history of deadly coups.It will be up to Jaryd and Melyor to avert war. But can even these two young leaders keep their lands from falling into chaos as they seek to stave off the winds of war?

Customer Reviews:

Wow.. I have to get all his books........2003-11-06

this was a great grand last book in the series. Fantastic < I went out and got the Newest one Rules of Acension.. It looks to be another good one too.,

Is it over already?.......2003-03-08

There is one thing that you will not like about this book. It will have you wanting MORE at the end. I do not mean that the story is lacking by any means, though. I mean that you will want to know what happens next to the characters and hear more of their stories.

Is it over already?.......2003-03-08

This is actually two books in one. Half of it takes place in Tobyn Ser revolving around Jaryd and the other half in Lon Ser revolving around Meylor. I found it very amazing how Coe seemed to change the characters (there is a ten year period between the happenings in the first book and the third) while keeping them the same. Coe's ability to tell a story is one of the best. You will not get bored or recieve any filler all the while being on they edge of your seat. I had trouble putting this book down and though it is not so in depth as many other fantasy series, it is fun if nothing else. Definately read this series.

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Sage Dreams, Eagle Visions (Native American Series (East Lansing, Mich.).)
Danielle M. Hornett
Manufacturer: Michigan State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0870136607

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The Lon Tobyn Chronicles: Children of Amarid + The Outlanders + Eagle-Sage
David B. Coe
Manufacturer: Tor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000VWZMGO

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Eagle-Sage
David B. Coe
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000O2G8R8

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User's guide to PATREC for habitat evaluation: Including habitat evaluation models for six wildlife species in the northern Great Plains of southeastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming
Craig L Kling
Manufacturer: Colorado Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Natural History | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00073EMZY

Customer Reviews:

Good Collection of Drake's Early Hammer's Slammers Military SciFi........2006-02-17

The is a collection of related stories, about Colonel Hammer's Slammers, a group of mercenaries who ply their trade on other planets, in the far future. I'd previously read some of David Drake's more recent works, like the excellent THE REACHES series (Sir Francis Drake in Space); so, I'd been exposed to his ability to describe the horrors of war in great detail. While the descriptions of future tank and other military technology are superb, and there is plenty of action, I found most of these stories to be more battle-oriented than his later works, with simpler plots, and somewhat harder to follow dialog.

Here are brief reviews of each of the individual stories from THE TANK LORDS:

*** UNDER THE HAMMER (1979) - Short story. Details a newbie's first day among Hammer's Slammers - and he ends up having to learn fast.

*** 1/2 ROLLING HOT (1989) - Full-length story, which makes up the bulk of the book. Lots of detail of the horrors of war. A hodgepodge group of mercenaries (recruits, burnouts, maintenance techs) at a rear guard/maintenance site have to deal with an enemy ambush, and scrape together a force to launch a counterstrike. Mixed in with this are great descriptions of future military technologies, which still hold up well over 16 years later. I'm greatly impressed with his description of the tank commanders' display technology, the Unmanned Air Vehicles (which I'm very familiar with), and his description of battlefield digital communications (even today's 4th ID can't yet match his descriptions). When all the communications satellites are taken out, he even describes a way of getting long-range digital messages thru via meteor scatter.

*** NIGHT MARCH (1997) - Short story. A strange case of mistaken identity ensues when communications on a night march are fubar.

*** CODE-NAME FEIREFITZ (1985) - Short story. A Captain is assigned to dig out a horde of rebels from an underground bunker complex (eerily predictive of Tora Bora situation in Afghanistan, occurring 17 years later); but, he must also deal with his ex-Slammer born-again Christian brother, who has ties with the rebels.

***** THE TANK LORDS (1987) - Novellete, and the book's namesake. This story plays out on a despot lord's manor on an off-world Kingdom (imagine King John from Rocket Robin Hood, and you would be fairly close to the lord's persona); it is an excellent little tale about a young page, who worships the tanks and "the tank lords" who are visiting his lord's manor - and how he comes to transform himself into one of them. Much political and sexual intrigue, along with some decently exciting moments. Not the typical Drake tank lords story of mayhem and gore, although there is some at the end. This story almost single-handedly brings the whole book up to a 4 star rating.

The entire book is available in electronic format vie the Baen online free library.

"Rolling Hot" is Five Stars, all by itself..........2006-01-01

Baen Books has a very bad habit of repackaging previously-published material in different editions and not warning the reader of the fact. This is a Naughty.

On the other hand, this edition keeps "Rolling Hot", the single best of the "Hammer's Slammers" stories, in print, and for that alone it'd be almost worth its cover price. Add in "The Tank Lords", which i had not read before, and i bought it quite happily to replace a copy or "Rolling Hot" gone AWOL.

Since the most important part of this book (as far as i'm concerned) is "Rolling Hot", i'm reviewing mainly that story:

This is, in many ways, the best that David Drake has given us yet.

In a war not unlike the one in which Drake and i both found ourselves involved a while back, an ad-hoc unit of odds and sods finds itself rolling hot to try to relieve their employer's provincial capital.

While these are members of Hammer's Slammers, the deadliest mercenary unit going, they are hardly the Slammers' finest, ranging from maintenance personnel pressed into service as the crew of a patched-up tank to their CO, Capt. Peggie Ranson, who is just this side of a Section 8, and a civilian reporter, who accidentally winds up along for the ride, who furnishes a viewpoint for the reader.

It is this viewpoint (one of several from which Drake tells the story) that makes this book, in my opinion, about Drake's best -- by giving us someone a lot like ourselves, putting us inside his head then and putting him through an accelerated version of the hardening process that produces a professional soldier from a raw replacement, Drake shows us even more starkly than usual, that war is, indeed hell. And why.

Drake is not going to let us get away from war without rubbing our noses in it; he wants the reader to see soldiers as people, not fungibles, like bullets. (When Colonel Hammer gives Peggy Ranson the initial orders, he says that, in order to move fast, she is authorised to "combat loss" [abandon in place withouy survey] damaged vehicles. She replies sardonically [and presciently] that she's probably going to be combat lossing crews.) He wants to show people who haven't Seen The Elephant what war is, and to -- just maybe -- convince a few of us that War Is Not A Good Thing.

Reading this book can be harrowing, as you watch men and women who are at least recogniseable and often sympathetic characters kill and die. If you can read it and watch those characters fighting and dieing, and not find yourself in some sort of emotional state as you read Chapter 13, which is a slightly-less-formal version of a military arrival report of Task Force Ranson's arrival in the capital, listing the few remaining of the vehicles and personnel that they rolled with, then you have Not Been Listening or you Just Don't Get it.

"...still i wonder why -- the worst of men must fight and the best of men must die..." -- that was the question when Woodie wrote "Reuben James"; it's still the question.

One of the absolutely most revealing looks at the military mind and what the military actually DOES that i have ever read.

[For musical accompaniment to this book, may i suggest
"Drive On", by Johnny Cash, on his "American Recordings" CD, "Johnny Come Lately" by Steve Earle on "Copperhead Road", "Bad Moon Risin'" (and "Fortunate Son") by Creedence Clearwater and "Sam Stone", by John Prine...]

"The Tank Lords", the story of a misfit in a Rather Odd society who watches as the Slammer demonstrate why it is better to deal honestly with people like them, is also excellent.

Disturbing.......2004-10-20

The only reason I don't give it 5 is because it is a reprint in a different format, with all stories previously published.

Spoiler alert for the main story.

That said, Rolling Hot, the prime story, is one you simply must read if you want to grasp the military mindset. It ranks up with Heinlein's Starship Troopers (the novel, not the stupid movie with the same title) and Haldeman's The Forever War.

Drake always manages to impart wisdom under the horrific gore. It's actually incredibly subtle in its own perverse way. Drake loads on the blood as a cautionary tale. He served with the 11th Armored Cavalry in Vietnam, and it still shows in his writing and occasionally in his talk. This isn't gore to titillate, this is gore to revolt, just in case you start to develop the theory that violence is a neat thing. It's harsh enough it will probably override years of stupid shootemup computer games in the current generation. Yes, it's THAT grisly.

But the characters are where the story is. Along with a decrepit, burned out, wrung out bunch of leftovers from previous engagements, a civilian reporter rides along. His goal was to investigate the "Waste" of money on the mercenaries that could be spent on additional indigenous forces. All he sees at the beginning is the rough, crude exterior of the unit.

On post during an attack, he winds up dragging along during a hell for leather chase across the continent, a desperate attempt to relieve the capital with the only troops available--the Slammers' sick list. It's that or be left as fodder, and the enemy doesn't care that he's a "noncombatant." Violating the non-interference concept reporters try to embrace, he mans a gun and offers his best military skill--shooting a grenade launcher as he learned as a reservist years past. "That's it, Turtle! you flush 'em, we'll shoot 'em!" one of his squad mates advises through a burst of fire. Even more than the Slammers, this is the last place he wants to be, and there's simply no choice.

At the end of a brutal, casualty-ridden drive across a hostile wasteland of enemy action, bad roads, "friendly" fire and inadequate supplies, he has the answer to his question. Why spend money on professionals? Because they're the only ones who can accomplish the impossible. As Montesquieu said, "A rational army WOULD run away."

That's when the story took a twist. Upon relieving the town, the mercs are shunned and ridiculed for their "disgusting and unprofessional" appearance by the alleged professionals of the local army and government. Our reporter reacts with righteous indignation and murderous rage that troops brave enough and dedicated enough to pull off the impossible are regarded as trash by pretty boys with no trigger time...

...and is stopped by one of the gunners, who tells him, "It don't mean nothin'."

I was appalled by the ending. I was outraged. It seemed to not be an ending in any fashion. It was six months later, during a discussion where I was trying uselessly to explain the concept of military duty to a civilian who simply CANNOT understand what it means. Some can, some can't. Those who can't never will. That's when I understood. "It don't mean nothin'."

Nineteen years of service. A few hours to read. Six months for it to make sense. And a story I will never forget.

And sadly, most civilians will never get it. That's not an insult, it's a cultural observation.

Bravo, Dave.

What a waste of time.......2002-09-28

The author of this book seems to have made pretty sure that the word "cyan" appears at least three times on every page. If that is all that you require from your reading material, this book will satisfy you. Otherwise, it stinks. No plot, no characters, no conflict, no interest.

It's in the Hammers Slammers Series, what more do you need?.......2002-02-12

I love this seies, the only reason this book didn't get 5 stars is because some of the stories are repeated in other books in the series.

By Tank Into Normandy (Cassell Military Paperbacks)

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Remarkable Memoir
A good tanker's tale

By Tank Into Normandy (Cassell Military Paperbacks)
Stuart Hills
Manufacturer: Cassell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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If You Survive: From Normandy to the Battle of the Bulge to the End of World War II, One American Officer's Riveting True Story

ASIN: 0304366404

Book Description

A World War II tank commander gives a direct, harrowing, and exciting account of fighting at the invasion front. On June 4, 1944, 20-year old Stuart Hills, fresh from Officer Cadet Training, went to war. Two days later, his tank sunk. Then came the struggles through Normandy in a replacement tank and a constant round of close encounters with the enemy—which swiftly turned Hills into a master of tank warfare. A remarkable story of survival.

Customer Reviews:

Remarkable Memoir.......2007-01-31

This book was passed on to me by a friend -- a Scot. I doubt that as an American I would have come across it myself. Which is a pity for American readers, especially any with an interest in the European campaign from D-Day til Gemany's surrender. This was a book which grew on me as I continued to read it. I agree wth my fellow reviewer's comments about the lack of operating detail involved in Mr. Hill's memoir; but as I read I came to understand that Mr. Hills is describing not the detail of his or his fellow soldiers' day to day existence but how profoundly the war affected and changed what had been normal lives. And it shows how men like Mr. Hills made remarkable sacrifices that probably they could not have imagined themselves doing. In this sense the book is more like some great WW1 memoirs, like "Goodbye To All That".

Mr. Hills writes as well with admirable restraint and humility (he barely mentions his MC) and yes he is English so modesty is a virtue. But in my view this adds to the remarkableness of this book. On reflection you wonder how these men did it. One reason there are so few tanker memoirs is that not many front-line tankers survived. The tankers, like Mr Hills, knew this yet they got back into their tanks day after day.

At book's end Mr. Hills writes "When I am asked these days, especially by the younger generation, what it was like to fight a war, I get some odd looks when I deliberately understate that it was pretty stressful... I know that war is a distressing, ghastly harrowing, fearsome and deplorable business. How can its awfulness be described to anyone? I have done my best." He has, for our benefit. Put this on your list of WW2 memoirs that must be read.

A good tanker's tale.......2004-02-20

First off I should say this book probably deserves five stars just for its very existence. Tankers from WW2 do not seem to have written very much and any works are sorely needed. Perhaps the casualty rate for tankers was too high. Anyway, Mr Hills delivers a solid account of his time as a tank and scout platoon leader (Sherman and Stuart tanks) with the British Sherwood Rangers. Mr Hills saw considerable action from D-Day itself through to the end of war in Germany. Overall he does a fine job of describing his experiences.

What keeps the book form earning five stars is that, first of all, he skimps on the details of most of his actions as well as his equipment and day-to-day duties. Mr Hills had a real opportunity to inform the reader of what it was really like to be a tanker. Unfortunately he just does not go into enough detail. He doesn't even tell you what versions of the Sherman he was on (and every German gun is an 88mm). A couple of his battle accounts approach a fair level of detail but always end-up just shy of really letting you know what happened and he rarely makes you feel like you are reliving the action with him.

My second complaint is that Mr Hills is British and unfortunately, for readers not from the UK, writes like one. What I mean is that he uses lots of references to all things British that are simply lost on the non-British reader. Starting with his childhood school experiences right through to various pop-culture references he simply assumes the reader understands all things British. This is not a huge distraction from the book but does add to the somewhat distant feel too it (along with the semi-formal, British stiff-upper-lip thing). This tendency combined with the lack of overall detail makes for a less than stellar read and is certainly history's loss.

Overall Mr Hill does do a good job and the book is interesting and informative. The problem is simply that there are so few tankers' tales that it is a shame he did not take the book the extra mile.

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Brazen Chariots An account of tank warfare in the Western Desert, November-December 1941
Major Robert (F-M Lord Harding, Foreword) Crisp
Manufacturer: W.W. Norton & Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IKDOTG

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War History of the Sixth Tank Battalion
Lord Somers
Manufacturer: Naval & Military Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
World War I | Military | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1843426862

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By Tank into Normandy: A Memoir of the Campaign in North-West Europe from D-Day to Ve Day
Lord Deedes Stuart Hills
Manufacturer: Cassell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSRU1A

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HAMMER'S SLAMMERS: Hammer's Slammers; Cross the Stars; At Any Price; Counting the Cost; The Warrior; The Sharp End; The Voyage; The Tank Lords; Caught in the Crossfire; The Butcher's Bill; Through the Breach (related)
David Drake
Manufacturer: Ace Books; Tor Books; Baen Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NRVIQ0

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TANK LORDS (HAMMER'S SLAMMERS)

Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HQIVNA

Book Description

In ancient Jewish culture the ideas of purity and impurity defined the socio-cultural boundaries between Jews and Gentiles. Hayes argues that different views of the possibility of conversion, based on varying ideas about Gentile impurity, were the key factor in the formation of Jewish sects in the second temple period, and in the separation of the early Christian Church from what later became rabbinic Judaism.

Gentile Impurities and Jewish Identities: Intermarriage and Conversion from the Bible to the Talmud

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Gentile Impurities and Jewish Identities: Intermarriage and Conversion from the Bible to the Talmud
Christine Elizabeth Hayes
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKN7X8

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