Seth Faison is a writer, an avid reader, and a book reviewer. He likes fiction, history and current affairs.

He works as a crisis communications advisor in New York for Sitrick And Company.




What to Read - 2010

KOKORO by Natsume Soseki (1914)
I’m a fan of Haruki Murakami, so his recommendation of this novel caught my attention. Soseki was an unfamiliar name to me, though he is considered the father of modern Japanese literature, and this is his most popular book. Written 100 years ago, it holds up well. It’s a simple story, of a friendship between a younger and an older man. It's really about a generational shift from traditional to modern society, the kind of transition many of us puzzle over, in different contexts. The effort to express feelings can veer from ultra-repressed to silly, in a way that maybe Japanophiles alone can know. But the themes are universal. Easy and accessible.


GAME CHANGE by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin (2010)
Engrossing. Politically savvy. Enjoyable, start to finish. I looked at a copy in my local bookstore, wondering whether to buy it, and then saw this quotation atop the inside jacket cover, from Barack Obama in September, 2008: "This shit would be really interesting if we weren't in the middle of it." SOLD. And it was a good decision. The book teems with quotations like that, as well as anecdotes and political context that ring true. These are sophisticated political reporters, who covered the campaign every day, and yet were able to boil it down to the essentials, writing in clear if upsparkling prose. The sourcing is weak, so we have to take a leap of faith to trust their details. My take: Leap away. The portraits of the candidates and their spouses are more than plausible. After all, it was a truly remarkable campaign, and even for those of us who followed it closely, this colorful re-enactment is well worth it.


HALF BROKE HORSES by Jeannette Walls (2009)
Lyrical. Feels like a memoir, and is decribed by Walls as a "true-life novel." It's a creative approach to telling Walls's family history, which many of us are curious about, after her previous book. In this one, Grandma sure had some tales, and Walls uses her own imagination to give them a voice. It works.


THE REPUBLIC by Plato (400 b.c.)
The classic. Quite readable. Socrates is worth spending time with.


LESSONS OF THE MASTERS by George Steiner (2003)
Essays on teaching, and learning, from a master himself. Old-school. Thoughtful. Erudite, if somewhat stiff. His focus on Socrates encouraged me to go back to the source.


THE LACUNA by Barbara Kingsolver (2009)
A mature, subtle, demanding novel. Her best yet. Starts gradually, and it actually took me more than 200 pages before I felt pulled in, and understood why Kingsolver was writing about the main character, Harrison Shepherd. The mixed format of diary entries, letters and editor notes did not initially appeal to me. But the writing is so rich and free of gimmick, and it induced curiosity where she was going with it. As I suspected, the payoff is tremendous. Kingsolver's musings on the way lives and personalities can synchronize or clash, on what art means in our lives, on the tragic force of political passions of the day, on writing, on being a well-known writer, on friendship -- they give this novel an enjoyable depth and sophistication.