Book Review: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

I finished reading this today & posted the following review on GoodReads:


This is a love story: the love story of Steve Jobs and Apple. 

I say that because that really is the primary thread of this biography. If you don't like reading about technology, you will struggle in parts. If you do, then it is a fascinating, albeit long, read. Indeed, for the last few nights I would end up dreaming about some of Jobs & co.'s creative processes -- no small feat since I'm not an engineer :) 

Love him or hate him, Steve Jobs was a compelling personality and the primary reason why there is, I think, a sort of romanticism to Apple -- because he loved it. This book is receiving, rightly so, a lot of buzz and it really must be read by those who have spent any time in Silicon Valley as well as those who love Apple (or, for that matter, Pixar). 

A few standouts (of many): 1) The Woz is a sweetheart (which we already knew), 2) The perspective from one of Jobs' colleagues that his temper tantrums (to put it nicely) are expressions of passion. I think that helped the reader see where that kind of behavior came from. And truly, passion was both Jobs' strength and his weakness. 

Isaacson did a lovely job drawing the themes together, putting harsh light on Jobs while still letting him shine. Well done.

Wall-E

I loved this movie!!!!

David Copperfield (1999)

My parents bought the BBC production of David Copperfield a few years ago, and it has become a family favorite. It features Maggie Smith, Bob Hoskins, Daniel Radcliffe, and Ian McKellen. (Many of the actors/actresses are also in the Harry Potter movies.)

The movie inspired me to read the book, which thus far is my favorite Dickens novel.

It's 185 minutes total (2 episodes).

Stranger than Fiction

I have already seen it twice, and while it's not the finest movie I have seen, neither it is it the most pretentious. It is a simple, dear story. I highly recommend it.

Although it is a comedy, Will Ferrell is not in his normal comedic role.

Also, check out the soundtrack featuring Spoon and my new favorite "Whole Wide World" by Wreckless Eric.

Books Part 2

1. One book that changed your life

Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz

2. One book that you have read more than once

Middlemarch by George Eliot

3. One book you would want on a desert island

The Book of Mormon

4. One book that made you laugh out loud

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

5. One book that made you cry

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

6. One book you wish had been written

anything more from JD Salinger

7. One book you wish had never been written

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

8. One book you are currently reading

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

9. One book you have been meaning to read

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Life Aquatic

My immediate family and I recently bought almost the entire inventory from Cleanflicks' liquidation sale and so my brother Gordon and I watched The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou on Saturday.

I love Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic retains the same terse colors and dry dialogue. It is raw and roughly poignant, and it had some interesting cultural tributes that I particularly appreciated.

My brother pointed out the Moby Dick / Captain Ahab references, but the one that kept coming to mind was the truly great Jacques Cousteau.

I have vivid memories of the oceanography unit we did in my ELP class in elementary school. (I wrote a report on starfish. One of our projects entailed landscaping an ocean in a shoe box and then mapping its depths. We rode a bus to San Diego to go to Sea World.)

While the movie doesn't directly remind me of these events, it's still a compelling sketch - told with all of the odd quirks of personality that make the viewer connect to the characters.

You can listen to a clip of my favorite song from the movie here and you can check out the full recording sessions of the David Bowie tributes here.