The Ark

Overall, The Ark by Haruo Yuki is both fun and successful as a murder mystery. Set in an underground "ark" apparently used by a cult (with some nefarious purpose possibly predating this), the novel features a group of ten trapped underground after an earthquake. Someone then proceeds to kill three members of the group. In terms of the actual mystery behind the murders, there is a great twist at the end which truly changes the meaning of some of the earlier chapters. Nonetheless, we were able to guess the identity of the killer after the third victim's discovery. The novel's genius lies in its clever twist and reminding readers of the importance of understanding motive to solve a mystery. This novel's wannabe sleuth, Shotaro, the cousin of the narrator, builds a consistent logical chain of reasoning to identify the killer, but falls short on establishing a fully convincing motive for all three killings. Unsurprisingly, this will have terrible consequences by the conclusion of the novel. But along the way, the reader is treated by a suspenseful tale of murder and disaster as a group of university friends and the family that joins them turn on each other before the "ark" is completely flooded. One only wishes the novel explored more fully the background of the structure, only hinted at here or there with the appearance of torture instruments and cults. The old friends from their university days are also not fully developed here, but enough exists to establish the air of hostility between one character and the the narrator. 

Favorite Reads of 2025

Although we are rather late to the game, we wanted to briefly write about our favorite books of 2025. Although we did not read as much fiction as we would've liked, we did rekindle our love of of mysteries. We also read some intriguing histories about different parts of the world. Hopefully in 2026 we will catch up on science fiction novels and other genres.

1. The Decagon House by Yukito Ayatsuji. As part of our renewed interest in whodunits and mystery novels, The Decagon House was the perfect combination of an ingenious (and macabre!) whodunit involving a mystery club at a Japanese university. The book reads like an homage to all the classic British and American detective fiction of yesteryears while still being fresh.

2. The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada was another favorite read of 2025. This mystery contains a great combination of occult themes involving astrology and alchemy while our sleuth, an astrologist, solves a crime committed several years ago. We were less fond of the other work of Soji Shimada translated recently, but this one is a classic.

3. Basil II and the Governance of Empire by Catherine Holmes was one of our favorite historical studies of 2025. Since we are always interested in that apogee that precedes the inevitable decline or fall, Basil II's reign in Byzantium was of great importance for the medieval Roman Empire. However, our sources for this seminal reign are disappointingly few compared to other periods in the annals of the Byzantium. Holmes does a great job analyzing Basil II's reign nonetheless.

4. Anacaona’s Gift: Cotton and the woven arts of the 11th to 17th century Caribbean by Joanna Ostapkowicz was another great read of the year. We have been interested in this topic for a few years now, ever since reading a study by Sued-Badillo on indigenous women in the Antilles that referenced a study by a Puerto Rican graduate student on textiles. Unfortunately, it looks like that earlier study was never published or completed, so Ostapkowicz's work is filling a large gap in the study of Taino material culture. 

5. Angkor and the Khmer Civilization by Michael Coe. The most recent edition of this lovely book is richly illustrated and provides an excellent overview to the history of Angkorian Cambodia. This part of Southeast Asia has quickly become one of the most interesting to us.

6. Les racines du sous-développement en Haïti by Benoit Joachim is one of those classic texts in the study of Haiti we skimmed in the past, but only read in toto in 2025. It raises a number of interesting questions whilst seeking to elucidate the roots of Haiti's underdevelopment. Sadly, some of the questions raised by the author have not been pursued or explored further. But the growth in the interest of the imposed debt and Haiti's ongoing current crises have made Joachim's study very relevant.

Late June Ramblings

Since we at the blog have not contributed a new post in 2 weeks, we decided to give an update about the various projects and readings we have conducted privately or in the comfort of our own space. So, while still juggling some additional Asimov and science fiction readings, we have mostly engaged in reading various texts pertinent to Puerto Rico and the Spanish Caribbean. Specifically, we are trying to find sources on "indios" and "mestizos" in Puerto Rico from 1600 to  1800, a period in which direct sources seem quite thing or inaccessible. 

We thought it might be an interesting project to conduct some research and form some theories about the reappearance of "indios" in and near San German in the late 1700s and their disappearance again in the 19th century. The Taino revivalist movement has made much of La Indiera and enumerated "indios" of 18th century Puerto Rico, so it would make for an intriguing historical project to endeavor some analysis of "indios" within Puerto Rico after their alleged disappearance in the second half of the 16th century.

For instance, were the "indios" of San German really direct descendants of the native population of the island? Was Abbad correct about their gradual intermarriage with peoples of European and African descent in the 1700s causing their final disappearance as a distinct group? What caused the sex ratio imbalance around San German in the late 1700s? Male outmigration to other parts of the island? Redefinitions of caste and "race" that made it far easier to lump together the small "indio" population into the free people of color population?

Some of the few sources we have perused and contain useful nuggets of information are Catholic Church records. Sometimes, "indios" and "mestizos" appear in baptismal, marriage, or death records from San Juan, Caguas and, presumably, the undigitized San German and Añasco church records.Scholars like Haslip-Viera are definitely correct when pointing to the foreign provenance of many of the 18th century "indios" who appear in some of these records, but clearly there was a something of the native population that survived and manifested in a socially recognized distinct population in the hills of San German. 

So, in order to pursue this fanciful project, we have perused various general histories of Puerto Rico, studies of the aboriginal population in the first century, analyses of the socio-economic conditions of the island in the 1500s, demographic analysis of the population from 1765-1815, and, to the extent they are scholarly or with scholarly pretenses, publications by Taino revivalists. Clearly, if the average genetic profile of the Puerto Rican population is reliable, they seem to have more of a direct link with the inhabitants of the Greater Antilles than other modern populations in the region. How does that narrative fit with the claims of Taino revivalism and its alternative triracial construct for Puerto Rican identity? We hope to return to these questions soon.

Back to Basics

The last few weeks have been difficult. And to make matters worse, I haven't been reading nearly enough. Reading is one of the few comforts, particularly at this moment of uncertainty and pandemic-related chaos. I'm hoping to delve into Sei Shonagon's famous collection of anecdotes and musings soon, while also having time to enjoy a French sci-fi comic book series. Augustine's Confessions was not quite working for me, possibly due to it being more of a spiritual conversion narrative rather than an autobiography. I still have to consider tackling classics like Moby Dick and the complete translation of Tale of Genji, as well as a plethora of other novels. Indeed, Delany's Empire Star has been on the list as I need to continue reading science fiction. So, in our solitude, let us try to find solace in the company of literature. Less screen time, fewer obsessive "research" pursuits, and more reading.

A Wasted Week...?

Le Philanthrope and the 171 liberated captives

A lack of focus will really take its toll on your life. The last week has mostly been wasted on various little projects while attempting to deal with health problems. Instead of reading at least 2 or 3 books, I was obsessively pursuing genealogical "research" and some "historical" topics of interest. So, instead of the usual rant one would expect from this blog, this post is a short update on what has transpired over the course of the last 7 days. 

The first project, the genealogical one, is long-term and requires more documents and interviews with older relatives before anything can be confirmed. Nonetheless, it was a learning experience to comb through digitized Haitian marriage and birth records, endeavoring to decipher one name or letter in the ornate cursive of the past. Without consulting some of the older cousins of my grandparents, I cannot narrow down exactly who my great-great-grandparents were from the legible marriage and birth records. Nonetheless, I have learned exactly what part of the province we hail from and more details about Bainet's colonial and post-independence history. Talking with older relatives revealed even more surprises, such as my god-mother being present at my great-grandmother's funeral. We really take our elders for granted, even though they are a treasure trove of information, details, and stories of the past. 

As for the other project, it is a long-term one that will require travel and research funding through a variety of archives. I doubt I will ever finish it. In short, I am interested in the forms of Haitian anti-slavery after 1804. Sure, some scholars have written about the impact of the Haitian Revolution and its possible influence on slave revolts and black uprisings. But what about the role of the Haitian state in direct anti-slavery activity? Haitian abolitionism? Haitian interception of slave ships in the Caribbean? And what happened to "liberated" Africans and fugitive slaves who found a refuge in Haiti? Going through the usual secondary sources and some of the digitized Haitian newspapers revealed some new surprises, like the existence of an abolitionist society in Port-au-Prince during the 1830s. But so much digging through newspapers and the archives would be required to even begin to do justice to this topic.

So, a week has been "wasted" on obsessively pursuing these aforementioned topics and themes. Why do I do it? No one knows. Perhaps the pandemic and ill health have pushed me into the brink of madness. Regardless of my possible insanity, this short update will perhaps elucidate my silence over the last week. After all, my legions of readers must have wondered what happened to the short book posts  and usual chatter in these parts. Rest assured, the next post will cover some other random topic or book to keep you entertained. 

This Week's Crop of Readings...

So, this week I read two books. Atkins on Japanese colonialism in Korea and the role of culture and ambivalence on modernity was fascinating for adding some interesting nuance to Japanese imperialism in East Asia. Although I could be speaking out of ignorance here, but it would have been interesting if the book had expanded Japanese colonialism's ambivalence on modernity and claims to protect Asia (pan-Asianism) in other parts of the empire, such as Taiwan, or other parts of the continent during World War II. Nonetheless, an interesting look at how colonialism and anthropology went hand in hand and actually helped pave the way for Korean nationalism (in spite of Japanese imperialism). In other news, Cisneros's The House on Mango Street was pure delight. Short, sweet, endearing, and set in Chicago, the perspective of a child in a series of vignettes about her neighborhood brought to mind works of numerous other writers yet something unique and original can be found here. I'm ashamed I waited so long to read it. 

Favorite Reads of 2016

1. Howards End
Sometimes the classics are required reading for a reason. Although I only knew Forster for his science fiction short story before tackling this novel, I highly recommend it for its sophisticated portrait of English social relations.

2. A Morning at the Office (Mittelholzer)
Mittelholzer's realist novel accomplishes for Trinidad's social system what Forster did for England.

3. The End of the Affair
Graham Greene resonates with me like few writers. Greene's tale of love and loss is profoundly moving and drew on the author's own affair with a married woman.

4. Neuromancer
Science fiction with literary ambition by one of the genre's great writers. Although the Rastafarians used in the novel's heist were criticized by some, Gibson's vision of the future is horrifyingly accurate in some ways.

5. Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth
A serious book on Billie Holiday by one of the greats in jazz writing. Although more of a musical biography rather than a narrative of her life, Szwed takes Holiday's singing seriously as music and art. Published in honor of the centennial of her birth, too.

6. 4 Lives in the Bebop Business (Spellman)
A classic in jazz. Spellman's chapters on Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman should be required for anyone wishing to learn more about the social milieu in which avant-garde jazz developed in the 1960s.

7. Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said (PKD)
A totalitarian society envisioned by Philip K. Dick in the 1970s. Hints of his later Christian and religious themes are present, but it's also perhaps his best novel of the 1970s.

8. The Heart of the Matter
Perhaps my favorite Graham Greene novel, this World War II tale of love and guilt takes place in Sierra Leone.

9. The Left Hand of Darkness
Science fiction classic for anyone interested in gender.  You can tell LeGuin’s father was an anthropologist...

10. The Quiet American
The one in which Graham Greene predicted the Vietnam War.

11. The Power and the Glory
Possibly Graham Greene's most beautiful work, this tale of a fallen priest in Mexico almost made me want to return to the Catholic Church. Almost...

12. Camp Concentration
Disch was one of the more literary practitioners of science fiction and this classic tale is both harrowing and suspenseful.

13. The Transmigration of Timothy Archer
In terms of its prose, this is by far Philip K. Dick's best novel and his only work with a fully developed woman protagonist.

14. Middle Passage (VS Naipaul)
Although much of Naipaul's rants and screeds about the 'Third World' are misleading or dishonest, I find his first travel book, commissioned by Eric Williams, to be his best since it describes his 'native' region, the West Indies.

15. The Lathe of Heaven
LeGuin's most phildickian novel. Highly recommend the first film adaptation, too.

16. Black No More (George Schuyler)
For fans of satire and the Harlem Renaissance. Schuyler is a personal hero of mine.

17. An Island Is A World (Selvon)
An early masterpiece from Sam Selvon. Very autobiographical and true to its title.

18. My Bones and My Flute (Mittelholzer)
Ghost story that is suspenseful, engaging, and frightening by one of the best writers to ever come out of Guyana.

19. Letters Between a Father and Son (Naipaul)
Intensely personal correspondence between Naipaul and his father and Naipaul and his sister, Kamla. Reading these letters will soften any criticism of Naipaul as a writer or person.

20. Dr. Futurity (PKD)
Time travel, colonialism, mixed-race people, and more from this adventurous and fun PKD novel. 

Top Reads of 2015: An Overdue List

2015 has turned out to be a wondrous year of reading for me. I even challenged myself by reading literary forms I usually ignore, such as poetry (Langston Hughes, Lorca) and plays (Lorca’s Spanish tragedies, Wole Soyinka’s thoughtful work, Walcott’s Haiti-inspired Caribbean dramas). Of course, my bias in favor of the novel determined most of my reading habits this year. Naipaul, both Shiva and Vidia, provided more than enough novels to provoke my rage. Sam Selvon, the humorous Trinidadian storyteller and, of course, the ‘Trini gladiator” himself, C.L.R. James, have reaffirmed my interest in Trinidad & Tobago and leftist humanism, of course.   In other news, Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick, Octavia Butler (“Kindred” should be a movie, by the way), and other speculative fiction writers have fueled my growing interesting in science fiction, a genre I have neglected since my youth. In the spirit of the “Best of 2015” lists that are ubiquitous this time of year, here are my top “reads” of 2015:

1. Adolph Reed’s Class Notes and Stirrings in the Jug: For anyone interested in the state of black politics and race/class in the US context.

2. Barbara and Karen Fields wrote an enlightening book on race, racism, and inequality in the US, the excellent Racecraft.

3. Cedric Johnson has written a definitive account of the limitations of Black Power politics, against the prevailing trend of vindicationist scholarship one encounters. Highly recommended for all those willing to take a glance at a work of political science which does not cower in fear of criticizing some of the prominent Black Power ideologues and proponents. Revolutionaries to Race Leaders: Black Power and the Making of African American Politics is for you, if that interests you.

4. Shiva Naipaul’s Fireflies is a great tragicomedy that meets or perhaps excels his big brother’s “A House for Mr. Biswas.” With far greater attention to the plight of women, Shiva Naipaul’s humorous but depressing novel is one of the greatest depictions of the search for meaning in a seemingly small place, Trinidad. Highly recommended for all fans of Naipaul, those interested in Indo-Caribbean Trinidad, and anyone searching for a “great” novel that redeems the spirit. And, may I add, Romesh runs off to New York and marries a Puerto Rican Negro! 

5. VS Naipaul’s The Enigma of Arrival for those interested in autobiographical fiction. Describing in excruciating detail his time living in the English countryside, the true highlight for those interested in the Caribbean is VS Naipaul’s description of his 1950 trip from Trinidad to England, with layovers in Puerto Rico and New York. Fascinating and introspective reflection on movement and death, decay and rebirth. Powerful ending as Naipaul describes the funeral rites of his sister, back in Trinidad. 

6. VS Naipaul’s In A Free State, the first Caribbean novel to win the Booker Prize. Disturbing stories of freedom, lack of moorings, postcolonial revolution in Africa, the migrant experience, and, surprisingly even racism against Indo-Caribbeans in London. Recommended for those fans of Naipaul’s later, dark style ruminations on postcolonial countries without the sentimental deceptions we place before our eyes. 

7. Naipaul’s Mimic Men, for all those interested in a scathing critique of postcolonial politics in a Caribbean nation which bears an uncanny resemblance to Trinidad. 8. Andrea Levy, a British writer of Jamaican ancestry, writes the novel which so realistically depicts the world the Windrush generation of West Indians faced upon arrival in England. World War II, interracial marriage, colonialism, British racism, India, Jamaica, and the “smallness” of both islands figure prominently in this powerful novel. Highly recommended for all interested in Black Britain, Jamaica, class in English society, etc.

9. Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. I think I’ll skip the Amazon TV adaptation, and stick to this fascinating alternative history in which Nazi Germany and Japan win WWII. Recommended for all fans of “phildickian” creativity, metaphysics, and science fiction.

10. Lorca’s Yerma, a disturbing look at the life of a woman in Spanish society and the “proper” place for women, fertility, and pagan themes. Highly recommended, as well as “Blood Wedding,” translated from the Spanish by the inimitable Langston Hughes. 

11. The Military and Society in Haiti by Michel Laguerre is essential reading for all interested in Haitian society, history, the disproportionate role of its military in its political history and why for such a small country which rarely used its military on external enemies, how its function in politics led to its problems with local populations.

12. Vonnegut’s God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater is pertinent to the issues of class in American society, a topic we usually ignore or pretend we’re all “middle-class.” 

13. The Black Jacobins by CLR James is a classic in the black radical tradition. I recently re-read it for the third time, and, as always, learned something new. 

14. Octavia Butler’s Kindred is only my second foray in SF by writers of color, but initiated a process I hope to continue on! I firmly believe this should be adapted into a film or miniseries. 

15. Dany Laferriere’s An Aroma of Coffee, for all readers who enjoy writers’ attempts at recapturing their youth and a child-like sense of wonder. Dany Laferriere’s grandmother, Da, will make you cry. As Futurama once said, a grandmother is both honored and subjugated....

16. The Beast of the Haitian Hills (Bete du Musseau) by Philippe-Thoby Marcelin and Pierre Marcelin, two Haitian writers, surprisingly took a hold on me. Not exactly sure if its a horror story, a fable, or something else, this 1940s Haitian novel succeeds in taking one to the world(view) of the Haitian countryside while satirizing class relations.

17. Jamaican-American Claude McKay’s Home to Harlem is a classic in Harlem Renaissance literature. Lots of radical Harlem political viewpoints expressed here, such as opposition to US Occupation in Haiti, post-WWI black militancy, and precious 1920s Harlem slang and language. Once you remember McKay wrote “If We Must Die,” this novel makes more sense.

18. Death and the King’s Horseman, by Wole Soyinka. For anyone and everyone interested in Nigeria, Africa, Yoruba culture and traditions, colonialism, and human nature. This short play moved me.

19. Esmeralda Santiago’s When I Was Puerto Rican is rightfully a classic in Puerto Rican, Hispanic, Latin@ literature and circles. Santiago’s “loss” of life in Puerto Rican countryside and then the slums of the capital will leave tears in your eyes, particularly when she’s ‘uprooted’ a second time to New York. I will have to read the read of the trilogy soon.

20. Boyhood: Scenes from Provincial Life by Coetzee offers a fictionalized account of Coetzee’s childhood in the South African countryside and the eventual move to Cape Town. Lots of insightful commentary on the countryside, race relations, politics as the Nationalist Party hovers in the shadows, and a South Africa that no longer exists. 

21. Earl Lovelace’s The Wine of Astonishment, required Caribbean literature. I knew nothing of the Spiritual Baptists or this Trinidadian world in which Lovelace depicts so well. 

22. The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon brings to life the Windrush generation! London, that’s the place for me! Humorous, written in ‘dialect,’ experimental, and not only about West Indian migrants in 1950s London (there’s a humorous West African who hangs out with the West Indians, bedding prostitutes and living off various women, including a funny encounter with a transgender woman), Selvon has quickly become one of the more enduring writers to me in his deep identification with Trinidad, transcending the racial barriers the Naipaul brothers never seemed able to cross in their West Indian fiction.

23. Naipaul’s Suffrage of Elvira is class Naipaul: Trinidad setting, satirical, comical, lampooning local society and politics. Naipaul biographer Patrick French is right: if Naipaul had only written his early Trinidad comic fiction, his reputation as a writer of the Caribbean and the English language would still be firmly entrenched. Anywho, I’ll say one thing about the people of Elvira: you don’t have to bribe them twice! 

24. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. As a creative soul who wrote for multiple decades, his poetry encompassed many styles and political ideas. I personally love his proletarian, left-wing verse, but there’s more than enough for everyone to laugh, from comedy, blues, jazz, black internationalist rhymes, etc.

25. A Way in the World by Naipaul. Not really a novel, though marketed as such in the US, this suite of interconnected stories takes one to Amerindian Guyana, anti-colonial 1950s politics in Trinidad, and a semi-autobiographical narrator who describes an attempt at being courted by the Caribbean leftists and black nationalists. In typical Naipaul fashion, our narrator refers to the notion of a racial movement forward too sentimental! I love it, even though I profoundly disagree with Naipaul and his condescending description of we people who are darker than blue. Nonetheless, his fictionalized CLR James, Lebrun, is granted respect in this tale stretching from South America’s Guyana and Venezuela to Trinidad and beyond. 

Many other books were read or perused, but these 25 have left a mark for 2015. 

Ishmael Reed Reading from Japanese By Spring

One of my favorite satirists reading from his novel, Japanese By Spring, and answering questions at the Cambridge Public Library. After recently reading George Schuyler, my interest in black satire has been rekindled. I have also blogged about this novel, accessible here.