Is this a non fiction book that reads like fiction? Yes and no. There was plenty of history, but it could have been presented with a little more panache. If you have read my reviews, you know that this style of writing is my favorite genre...but don’t do it half way. I liked this book, however it could have been written in a way that would have resulted in many nail-biting chapter endings. Monte Reel, you were so close to perfection! You have a 5’ 3’’ unknown explorer who had the guts to stand up to a furious gorilla charge as your main character. According to your own research, the first white man to encounter this highly debatable relative of man is Paul Du Chaillu. You wrote an interesting tale, but you had the wherewithal at your fingertips to tell it in a more intoxicating style. This explorer, Paul Du Chaillu, in 2013 is practically incognito. Nobody in the mid to late 1800s understood who he was, just imagine what today’s students know about Du Chaillu. Nothing! I see a book that could have been written with more flare and page turning capabilities. Okay, enough said, it was still a reasonable success.
This is the story of Paul Du Chaillu of dubious parentage being brought up by the missionaries' John and Jane Wilson in Gabon, West Africa. Eventually, Wilson gets Du Chaillu a job as a French teacher in Carmel, NY. Once in America, Du Chaillu’s African stories get to John Cassin, head of Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences. Paul earns a paid expedition back to Africa to find and send back specimens of unknown animals and birds. He sends back many stuffed specimens over the next three years, but becomes famous for being the first white man to encounter a gorilla. Once back in America, Paul finds that there is little interest in his findings, and The Academy of Natural Sciences refuses to reimburse his expedition expenses. When Paul tries to display his gorilla skins in NYC, he is out maneuvered by P.T. Barnum’s Broadway museum. Monte Reel’s prose had this reviewer rooting hard for this would be explorer with no credentials.
During this time period, Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species is published in England, sparking debates pro and con. Suddenly Paul’s encounter with gorillas becomes meaningful. Richard Owen, superintendent of all the natural history collections at the British Museum, invites Paul to England to " show and tell " his African expedition experiences. Guess what? England loves him! Since Paul isn’t a “educated” explorer, he has his backers and attackers. Stories are written about him by the great Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray in their respective magazines. All is good! Not. Here comes the attack on his story and qualifications by England’s zoological society’s head, John Gray, and a jealous retired explorer, Charles Waterton. Ladies and gentleman, let the gorilla wars begin! This is where the novel gets intriguing and the ensuing chapters magnetic.
I haven’t read Reel’s first book, The Last of the Tribe
, but I have to say that Monte Reel has the knack for writing novels about uncommon subjects that are irreproachably researched. My only criticism is his occasional lack of verve. If you don’t know what I mean, read Robert Klara’s FDR's Funeral Train
, Candice Millard’s Destiny of the Republic , or Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City . Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and profoundly endorse Monte Reel’s latest book.
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
Comment: It has been said that the 1933 film King Kong
, created by Merian C. Cooper was inspired by Paul Chaillu’s adventures in Africa. According to Wikipedia: “ Cooper's fascination with gorillas began with his boyhood reading of Paul Du Chaillu's Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa (1861) and was furthered in 1929 by studying a tribe of baboons in Africa while filming The Four Feathers. Paul’s influence in books and movies is quite incredible. Darwin’s theories seem to be alive in this movie also: “Merian C. Cooper wanted King Kong to be more of an ape, but Willis O'Brien wanted King Kong to be more of a human being. A compromise was met with King Kong being made into an apeman.”
In 1949, the movie Mighty Joe Young also had the flavor of Paul Du Chaillu’s adventures: “In Africa, the girl Jill Young trades a baby gorilla with two natives and raises the animal. Twelve years later, the talkative and persuasive promoter Max O'Hara organizes a safari to Africa with the Oklahoma cowboy Gregg to bring attractions to his new night-club in Hollywood.” The oddity here is that the actor, Robert Armstrong, plays a similar showman in both movies: Carl Denham in King Kong and Max O’hara in Mighty Joe Young. Armstrong played a similar part for a third time in Son of Kong ( 1933 )
White Pongo ( a 1945 film ) relates to some of Monte Reel’s storyline: “Hunters and scientists venture into the jungle to track down a savage albino gorilla, which they believe could be the missing link between man and ape." Sounds like the title of Reel’s book, doesn’t it? This 1856 expedition to Africa has had a lasting impression on Hollywood, even though the average human has never heard of Paul Du Chaillu.
Finally, as a sidebar to Monte’s book, here is what some tribes in Africa thought about America’s slave trade: “One of them confessed to Paul that his tribe had heard stories about the fiercely cannibalistic ways of white men. Paul's first instinct was to laugh him off as a simple minded fool. But the legend hadn't been conjured from thin air. When Paul tried to assure him that white men didn't eat black men, the man confronted him with a direct challenge: explain why they bought and sold Africans as if they were cattle, not human beings."Why do you come from nobody knows where, and carry off our men, and women, and children?" the man asked Paul. "Do you not fatten them in your far country and eat them?”
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Saturday, June 1, 2013
THE GENEVA DECISION
The author sent me an autographed copy of this novel to review:
Seeley James has created a dazzling crime-stopper, and she is Pia Sabel of Sabel Security! She’s Daddy’s super rich daughter, who just happens to be a world class soccer player and a hand to hand fighter of extraordinary skill. Daddy has just turned the operations of Sabel Security over to his daughter, Pia. Untested, Pia has to win the trust of all the agents before she can lead this billion dollar company. She is surrounded by battle hardened agents, who need to be assured that the pretty rich girl can become a leader. She is assisted by some of her staunch agents, such as; Major Jonelle Jackson; Tania, a cantankerous and loveable agent; agent Marty, a ex-marine; and agent Miguel. Mr. James does a good job in the empathy department, since I felt myself caring for quite a few of these gnarly gumshoes. This novel is the first in a series of Pia Sabel mysteries that Mr. James states he will write. If this is true, I’ll have a few suggestions on how he can improve the series later in this review.
Pia’s first client, Clement Marot, a Swiss banker, is assassinated in front of her eyes. This incident triggers a stirring thriller that includes money laundering, piracy, murder, and betrayal. Why was the banker murdered in broad daylight in a park in Geneva, Switzerland? Pia captures the assassin, and turns the criminal over to Capitaine Villeneuve and Lt. Alphonse Lamartine, who are on loan to Geneva from the French police. The killer escapes while in custody. Four more bankers turn up dead! Pia’s first case is not drawing any confidence out of her employees. Pia, with the help of Major Jackson, plunges into this brainteaser of many suspects and motives, including the assassin Al Jabal, the arcane Elgin Thomas, Marot’s son Philippe, Calixthe Ebokea ( is that really her name? ), Conor Wigan, and the unknown kingpin, Le Directeur. The clues take Pia and her agents to Cameroon where they are momentarily sidetracked into rescuing captured slaves, or is this a ambush? It seems that everywhere they go, assassins are waiting for them. Who is the mole tipping off the agents whereabouts? The amazing concept of this novel is how Pia and her agents fight the bad guy’s Sig Sauer pistols and AK47 rifles with Glocks armed with darts! What? No, I’m not kidding. Anyway, the story does get confusing from time to time, but the reader manages to follow the storyline. Near the end, Pia remembers someone saying “chain of custody”. Can this be the clue to put the final piece of the puzzle together? I’m going to recommend this first time novel by Seeley James, because I think this series has great promise and longevity. By the way, the prose is also pretty good.
Now, how to improve this series? First of all, the “thank you for saving my life” and “jabs to the throat” lines are repeated too often. Repetitive lines are irritating to the reader. Next, scrap the darts! It’s not believable that you can fight hardened criminals armed to the T using sleeper darts to thwart them. What would Indiana Jones be without his bullwhip? What would Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer be without “Betsy”, his Colt .45? Would Ian Fleming’s James Bond be James Bond without his Walther PPK 7.65mm? No! No! Mr. James, Pia needs to come up with a respectable weapon. A harpoon would be better than a sleeper dart. Lastly, Pia needs a esoteric lover who could appear in a novel once in awhile. I thought Alphonse was that man, but no, you know what you did to him. I liked this novel, otherwise I wouldn’t make any propositions.
RATING: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Comment: Lets talk about some of the authors that have made a success with one character. I loved Mickey Spillane, who wrote 13 Mike Hammer Novels, and six more completed by Max Allan Collins after Spillane’s death. Mickey Spillane said that it only took him 19 days to write his first novel, I, the Jury . Some of Spillane’s famous quotes according to Brainy Quotes include: “Hemingway hated me. I sold 200 million books, and he didn’t. Of course most of mine sold for 25 cents, but still...you look at all this stuff with a grain of salt.” He also said: “I’m a commercial writer, not an author. Margaret Mitchell was an author. She wrote one book.” And finally, Mickey talking about Mike Hammer said: “Imagine this guy hits Mike Hammer over the head with a wooden coat hanger and knocks him out. You hit Mike Hammer with a wooden coat hanger, he beats the crap out of you.
Clive Cussler is a prolific writer of adventure stories. My favorite hero from Clive’s lineup of characters is Dirk Pitt. The first Dirk Pitt novel was Pacific Vortex , but it wasn’t published until 1983. So far, there are 22 Dirk Pitt novels, some have been made into movies. Some of Clive’s quotes according to Brainy Quotes are: “When I first started writing, I was in advertising at the time, I was doing most of my writing on weekends. I had studied most of the other series heroes and I figured it would be fun for mine to be different and put him in and around water. So I dreamed up Dirk Pitt.” Clive is not too fond of some actors: “As far as talent goes, Marilyn Monroe was so minimally gifted as to be almost unemployable, and anyone who holds to the opinion that she was a great natural comic identifies himself immediately as a dunce”. Way to go Clive! And what does Clive think of himself? “I don’t think I’m really a rude person, but now I see myself on television, I think ‘Oh, God, that is a bit strong.’ And I wonder if I’ve always been like that and I haven’t been aware of it.
Ian Fleming wrote 14 novels and short stories about the famous 007 British Secret Service agent, James Bond. After Fleming’s death in 1964, a number of authors have continued the novels. In Casino Royale Fleming writes how Bond orders a martini: “A dry martini, he said. ‘One. In a deep champagne goblet’...Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel. Got it?” Why am I thirsty? Nobody can accuse Ian Fleming of being a coward. When he first met Sean Connery, he said to Sean: “I’m looking for Commander James Bond, Not an overgrown stunt man.” Wow! His two famous quotes about life and death are: “You only live twice. Once when you are born and once when you look death in the face.” And: “I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.”
Seeley James has created a dazzling crime-stopper, and she is Pia Sabel of Sabel Security! She’s Daddy’s super rich daughter, who just happens to be a world class soccer player and a hand to hand fighter of extraordinary skill. Daddy has just turned the operations of Sabel Security over to his daughter, Pia. Untested, Pia has to win the trust of all the agents before she can lead this billion dollar company. She is surrounded by battle hardened agents, who need to be assured that the pretty rich girl can become a leader. She is assisted by some of her staunch agents, such as; Major Jonelle Jackson; Tania, a cantankerous and loveable agent; agent Marty, a ex-marine; and agent Miguel. Mr. James does a good job in the empathy department, since I felt myself caring for quite a few of these gnarly gumshoes. This novel is the first in a series of Pia Sabel mysteries that Mr. James states he will write. If this is true, I’ll have a few suggestions on how he can improve the series later in this review.
Pia’s first client, Clement Marot, a Swiss banker, is assassinated in front of her eyes. This incident triggers a stirring thriller that includes money laundering, piracy, murder, and betrayal. Why was the banker murdered in broad daylight in a park in Geneva, Switzerland? Pia captures the assassin, and turns the criminal over to Capitaine Villeneuve and Lt. Alphonse Lamartine, who are on loan to Geneva from the French police. The killer escapes while in custody. Four more bankers turn up dead! Pia’s first case is not drawing any confidence out of her employees. Pia, with the help of Major Jackson, plunges into this brainteaser of many suspects and motives, including the assassin Al Jabal, the arcane Elgin Thomas, Marot’s son Philippe, Calixthe Ebokea ( is that really her name? ), Conor Wigan, and the unknown kingpin, Le Directeur. The clues take Pia and her agents to Cameroon where they are momentarily sidetracked into rescuing captured slaves, or is this a ambush? It seems that everywhere they go, assassins are waiting for them. Who is the mole tipping off the agents whereabouts? The amazing concept of this novel is how Pia and her agents fight the bad guy’s Sig Sauer pistols and AK47 rifles with Glocks armed with darts! What? No, I’m not kidding. Anyway, the story does get confusing from time to time, but the reader manages to follow the storyline. Near the end, Pia remembers someone saying “chain of custody”. Can this be the clue to put the final piece of the puzzle together? I’m going to recommend this first time novel by Seeley James, because I think this series has great promise and longevity. By the way, the prose is also pretty good.
Now, how to improve this series? First of all, the “thank you for saving my life” and “jabs to the throat” lines are repeated too often. Repetitive lines are irritating to the reader. Next, scrap the darts! It’s not believable that you can fight hardened criminals armed to the T using sleeper darts to thwart them. What would Indiana Jones be without his bullwhip? What would Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer be without “Betsy”, his Colt .45? Would Ian Fleming’s James Bond be James Bond without his Walther PPK 7.65mm? No! No! Mr. James, Pia needs to come up with a respectable weapon. A harpoon would be better than a sleeper dart. Lastly, Pia needs a esoteric lover who could appear in a novel once in awhile. I thought Alphonse was that man, but no, you know what you did to him. I liked this novel, otherwise I wouldn’t make any propositions.
RATING: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Comment: Lets talk about some of the authors that have made a success with one character. I loved Mickey Spillane, who wrote 13 Mike Hammer Novels, and six more completed by Max Allan Collins after Spillane’s death. Mickey Spillane said that it only took him 19 days to write his first novel, I, the Jury . Some of Spillane’s famous quotes according to Brainy Quotes include: “Hemingway hated me. I sold 200 million books, and he didn’t. Of course most of mine sold for 25 cents, but still...you look at all this stuff with a grain of salt.” He also said: “I’m a commercial writer, not an author. Margaret Mitchell was an author. She wrote one book.” And finally, Mickey talking about Mike Hammer said: “Imagine this guy hits Mike Hammer over the head with a wooden coat hanger and knocks him out. You hit Mike Hammer with a wooden coat hanger, he beats the crap out of you.
Clive Cussler is a prolific writer of adventure stories. My favorite hero from Clive’s lineup of characters is Dirk Pitt. The first Dirk Pitt novel was Pacific Vortex , but it wasn’t published until 1983. So far, there are 22 Dirk Pitt novels, some have been made into movies. Some of Clive’s quotes according to Brainy Quotes are: “When I first started writing, I was in advertising at the time, I was doing most of my writing on weekends. I had studied most of the other series heroes and I figured it would be fun for mine to be different and put him in and around water. So I dreamed up Dirk Pitt.” Clive is not too fond of some actors: “As far as talent goes, Marilyn Monroe was so minimally gifted as to be almost unemployable, and anyone who holds to the opinion that she was a great natural comic identifies himself immediately as a dunce”. Way to go Clive! And what does Clive think of himself? “I don’t think I’m really a rude person, but now I see myself on television, I think ‘Oh, God, that is a bit strong.’ And I wonder if I’ve always been like that and I haven’t been aware of it.
Ian Fleming wrote 14 novels and short stories about the famous 007 British Secret Service agent, James Bond. After Fleming’s death in 1964, a number of authors have continued the novels. In Casino Royale Fleming writes how Bond orders a martini: “A dry martini, he said. ‘One. In a deep champagne goblet’...Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel. Got it?” Why am I thirsty? Nobody can accuse Ian Fleming of being a coward. When he first met Sean Connery, he said to Sean: “I’m looking for Commander James Bond, Not an overgrown stunt man.” Wow! His two famous quotes about life and death are: “You only live twice. Once when you are born and once when you look death in the face.” And: “I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.”
Sunday, May 26, 2013
WARRIOR GIRL
The publisher sent me an autographed copy of this novel to review:
Whereas young-adult (YA) fiction might not be my cup of tea, I do recognize a well structured novel when I read one. And I think this novel by Matt Lazar and Amanda Thomas is a good example of that rationalization. It’s a simple story about a young Korean girl coming to Oxford on a scholarship. Her eastern ways are misunderstood by some western people, and inadvertently mistaken as standoffish. However there is one person at Oxford who hates her merely because of a long- standing belligerence between Korea and Japan. This is the setting for a somewhat exciting novel, although fairly predictable. The fact that our heroine, Sun Hi Kim, plays the popular video game, World of Warcraft, to ease her tensions in this new and strange western world results in the book’s title Warrior Girl. Notwithstanding, I found that title hard to swallow based on how many times Sun Hi faints when faced with adversity. The authors paint Sun Hi as a beautiful fragile vase with a concerned distrust for western men and their motives. The writers did such a commendable job that a learned person ostensibly falls in love with Sun Hi. The reader finds himself endorsing her every move. Great job in the empathy category by the writing duo.As Sun Hi enters her Freshman year, she encounters Marina, a loudmouth spoiled roommate; Miles, the Oxford rowing captain; Adam, a infatuated rower; and our anti-hero, Kaito Suzuki of the famous family from Japan. As the economics Professor Ellison announces that one student in the class will win a scholarship to Harvard in a student exchange, the drama unfolds. At the same time, Miles and Adam are vying for the attention of the beauty from Korea. In one way or the other, Miles gets Sun Hi to accept the job of cox on the rowing team. This is the second point that’s hard to accept, since I know how important the job of a coxswain is to rowing. Would they take a Korean girl that has just arrived to lead them in the famous race against Cambridge? Oh well, it makes for good story, besides Miles is in love, or is he? I want you to know that I enjoyed this story, but there were some elements that irritated me, such as how many times we read that Sun Hi was “smoothing down her skirt”. Okay, enough said ( for awhile ).
Meanwhile, the vile Kaito, full of animosity for Sun Hi, schemes to win that Harvard scholarship, and to derail any chance Sun Hi has to win the coveted prize. This is another concept that troubles me. The Japanese are known honorable people, and Kato’s perverse hatred for Sun Hi didn’t make any sense to me. Even though it seems like I’m criticising this novel, I'm pointing out changes that would have made this novel stronger. I think that the character of Kaito should have had an alternate reason for hating Sun Hi. Anyway, the drama explodes to a expressive conclusion as the Cambridge race; Miles and Adam’s obsession with Sun Hi; and Kaito’s chicanery meet head on. The impact is worthy of your reading this highly recommended YA novel.
Now, the only problem I have with the rating of this book as young- adult fiction is the attempted rape scene. According to Wikipedia...” The American Library Association defines a young-adult as someone between the ages of twelve and eighteen”. If that’s true, twelve is too young to read and understand that scene. On the other hand, I know that some publishers rate YA literature as low as ten years old and as high as twenty five years old. So the age is unclear, but the scene is real, and the novel should be in the hands of someone eighteen, or older.That being said, I do recommend this captivating novel by Lazar and Thomas.
RATING: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Comment: Author Sherman Alexie on why he writes YA literature: “As a child, I read because books–violent and not, blasphemous and not, terrifying and not–were the most loving and trustworthy things in my life. I read widely, and loved plenty of the classics so, yes, I recognized the domestic terrors faced by Louisa May Alcott’s March sisters. But I became the kid chased by werewolves, vampires, and evil clowns in Stephen King’s books. I read books about monsters and monstrous things, often written with monstrous language, because they taught me how to battle the real monsters in my life.
And now I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don’t write to protect them. It’s far too late for that. I write to give them weapons–in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.”
According to complexmedia, some of the top YA novels of all time include:
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry , by Mildred D. Taylor: “This powerful novel, winner of the 1977 Newbery Medal, sheds light on the horrors of racism through the experiences of the Logan family, who are living in Mississippi during the height of the Great Depression.”
Watership Down , by Richard Adams. A personal favorite of this reviewer: “If you get into this book expecting a story about cute bunnies, you're going to have a rough time. Richard Adams' classic rabbit novel is a lot more violent than your last outing with Beatrix Potter.”
Matilda , by Roald Dahl: “Though many of us know Matilda because of the film adaptation, lucky readers first encountered this supernatural tale as a novel by Roald Dahl, one of the most treasured authors of children's literature.”
Hatchet , by Gary Paulsen: “Think back to when you were 13. Now, imagine that you're on a plane headed to your father when the pilot suffers a heart attack. The plane crashes, but you survive. You're stranded with nothing but the gift your mother gave you for your birthday: a hatchet. Because, what else would you give a 13-year-old? Call of Duty? No.”
Dune , by Frank Herbert: “With a massive cult following, Dune is easily one of the most popular science fiction novels ever published. But it's also a great novel for teens, thanks to its teenage protagonist.”
Outsiders , By S.E. Hinton: “S.E. Hinton began writing this novel when she was just 15; Outsiders was published by the time she was 18. Yes, when she was concerned with writing one of the greatest young adult novels ever, you were worrying about passing your driver's test.”
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian , by Sherman Alexie: “This bestseller covers issues that, unfortunately, don't see enough discussion in pop culture: the racism that Native Americans regularly face; the tenuous relationships between reservations and white communities; and the alcoholism and poverty that too often afflicts the Native American community.”
Thursday, May 23, 2013
FREAKSOME TALES
The author sent me a copy of this novel to review:
No sophomore jinx for William Rosencrans! When I reviewed Willie's first novel, The Epiphanist, I said it was a cross between fantasy and weird fiction. What do I compare this work to? How about a balance of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein and Mel Brooks 1974 movie Young Frankenstein? Some of the ten tales are scary; some are funny. The supposed writer is V.V. Swigferd Gloume, but really, it's Willie Rosencrans in his H.P. Lovecraft costume writing these macabre short horror stories. Even the picture on the front cover is a revised Lovecraft. Reshape Lovecraft's head, change the stoic look to a scowl, and what do you get? That's right, Gloume! I'm not surprised that Willie’s tales seem to spoof Lovecraft's style because good ole H.P. is the grandfather of weird fiction and gothic horror. Since most of the tales deal with the psychology of man, or pure mental fear, I am also reminded of Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Fall of the House of Usher. Okay, one last comparison: Both H.P. Lovecraft and the fictional Gloume are known racist. Gloume, talking about the foreigner's invasion of England said, ”For their number, disgorged daily from the same ships Liverpool prospered by, grew even greater.” He hated what he called "the others".
The first tale, Hysteria horrificans, is of the scary variety. How would you like a mons veneris (I’m not going to tell you what that is!) crawling after you in a hot and steamy room filled with thorny roses! The second tale,The Veil Betwixt, is also scary and deals with a man, a pentagram, and nine goblins that come a knocking. Do I have your interest yet? The third tale, Metempsychosis, is very funny and deals with a 37 year old seismologist hit by a horse bus, and later thinks to himself, ”Somehow the process of reincarnation had got bungled.” By the way, all of these tales are written by Gloume under a pseudonym with each publisher going out of business soon after publishing his tainted tale. The fourth tale, The Hundred Doors of Kanhaksha the Mazdakite, deals with the adventures of Knoal Heftmonks looking for a sacred baresman, and frankly, I didn’t connect with this tale. The fifth tale Vile Sickness of This World Born Not is Gloume at his racist best. He pits Rodgebert Croagmire against the "others". So in my estimation, the first half of the novel produced three excellent tales and two "take it, or leave it" tales.
The sixth tale, A Haunting at the House of Quaddock, is a enjoyable story. A man goes to the House of Quaddock for a haircut. As Mr. Quaddock starts the haircut, ”the door opened, and, accompanied by the jingling of bells, an unremarkable gentleman entered the shop.” The seventh tale, Flesh of My Flesh, features a tall, blind, and powerful woman living with her son in an ancient stone keep. This is one of the scary tales, and my advice to visitors of the keep is to stay away! The eighth tale, And Softly Wailed the Child, is of the horror variety, and it is one of the best tales. It involves a Board of Health inspector named Clockpayne inspecting the uncleanliness of Chinatown in England. Did you ever hear of a breadfruit called a durian? Neither did I, but it exists. The ninth tale, Manuscript (Found beneath a Service Pipe), is a solid five star horror tale! We have the mad Dr. Donjonierre practising vivisection (ouch!) while looking for revenge. The last tale, The Hideous Dereliction of Mrs. Blaughducks, is absolutely hilarious. Did you know that when you die your sphincter muscle opens and lets your soul out. Ha. But if it doesn’t close, other wandering souls can enter. This is the premise of Mr. Gloume’s final tale. The second half of the book produced five tales that I have appraised as winners.
As I typed this review, every other word seemed to be underlined in red, telling me it was misspelled. Charles Dickens couldn’t come up with more colorful or unusual character names. In my opinion, Mr. Rosencrans has written a very clever and imaginative novel. Lets hope that rousing sales of this novel wake up the sleeping giant publishers. Once again, I highly recommend a William Rosencrans novel.
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
Comment: Since Rosencrans style seems to be similar to H. P. Lovecraft’s, let’s talk about H.P. He was an American horror writer (8/20/1890-3/15/1937), who may be the grandfather of Weird fiction. His writing style was different from most authors of his time. Wikipedia says: “Often in Lovecraft's works the protagonist is not in control of his own actions, or finds it impossible to change course. Many of his characters would be free from danger if they simply managed to run away; however, this possibility either never arises or is somehow curtailed by some outside force...” See what I mean.
The following are some famous quotes by H.P. Lovecraft: “Throw a stick, and the servile dog wheezes and pants and stumbles to bring it to you. Do the same before a cat, and he will eye you with coolly polite and somewhat bored amusement. And just as inferior people prefer the inferior animal which scampers excitedly because someone else wants something, so do superior people respect the superior animal which lives its own life and knows that the puerile stick-throwings of alien bipeds are none of its business and beneath its notice. The dog barks and begs and tumbles to amuse you when you crack the whip. That pleases a meekness-loving peasant who relishes a stimulus to his self importance. The cat, on the other hand, charms you into playing for its benefit when it wishes to be amused; making you rush about the room with a paper on a string when it feels like exercise, but refusing all your attempts to make it play when it is not in the humour. That is personality and individuality and self-respect -- the calm mastery of a being whose life is its own and not yours -- and the superior person recognises and appreciates this because he too is a free soul whose position is assured, and whose only law is his own heritage and aesthetic sense.”
About his youth he said: “I have dwelt ever in realms apart from the visible world; spending my youth and adolescence in ancient and little-known books, and in roaming the fields and groves of the region near my ancestral home. I do not think that what I read in these books or saw in these fields and groves was exactly what other boys read and saw there; but of this I must say little, since detailed speech would but confirm those cruel slanders upon my intellect which I sometimes overhear from the whispers of the stealthy attendants around me.”
And finally, H.P. on horror: “The appeal of the spectrally macabre is generally narrow because it demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for detachment from everyday life. Relatively few are free enough from the spell of the daily routine to respond to tappings from outside, and tales of ordinary feelings and events, or of common sentimental distortions of such feelings and events, will always take first place in the taste of the majority; rightly, perhaps, since of course these ordinary matters make up the greater part of human experience.” If you have read these quotes, you have to admit that this man was very complicated.
No sophomore jinx for William Rosencrans! When I reviewed Willie's first novel, The Epiphanist, I said it was a cross between fantasy and weird fiction. What do I compare this work to? How about a balance of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein and Mel Brooks 1974 movie Young Frankenstein? Some of the ten tales are scary; some are funny. The supposed writer is V.V. Swigferd Gloume, but really, it's Willie Rosencrans in his H.P. Lovecraft costume writing these macabre short horror stories. Even the picture on the front cover is a revised Lovecraft. Reshape Lovecraft's head, change the stoic look to a scowl, and what do you get? That's right, Gloume! I'm not surprised that Willie’s tales seem to spoof Lovecraft's style because good ole H.P. is the grandfather of weird fiction and gothic horror. Since most of the tales deal with the psychology of man, or pure mental fear, I am also reminded of Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Fall of the House of Usher. Okay, one last comparison: Both H.P. Lovecraft and the fictional Gloume are known racist. Gloume, talking about the foreigner's invasion of England said, ”For their number, disgorged daily from the same ships Liverpool prospered by, grew even greater.” He hated what he called "the others".
The first tale, Hysteria horrificans, is of the scary variety. How would you like a mons veneris (I’m not going to tell you what that is!) crawling after you in a hot and steamy room filled with thorny roses! The second tale,The Veil Betwixt, is also scary and deals with a man, a pentagram, and nine goblins that come a knocking. Do I have your interest yet? The third tale, Metempsychosis, is very funny and deals with a 37 year old seismologist hit by a horse bus, and later thinks to himself, ”Somehow the process of reincarnation had got bungled.” By the way, all of these tales are written by Gloume under a pseudonym with each publisher going out of business soon after publishing his tainted tale. The fourth tale, The Hundred Doors of Kanhaksha the Mazdakite, deals with the adventures of Knoal Heftmonks looking for a sacred baresman, and frankly, I didn’t connect with this tale. The fifth tale Vile Sickness of This World Born Not is Gloume at his racist best. He pits Rodgebert Croagmire against the "others". So in my estimation, the first half of the novel produced three excellent tales and two "take it, or leave it" tales.
The sixth tale, A Haunting at the House of Quaddock, is a enjoyable story. A man goes to the House of Quaddock for a haircut. As Mr. Quaddock starts the haircut, ”the door opened, and, accompanied by the jingling of bells, an unremarkable gentleman entered the shop.” The seventh tale, Flesh of My Flesh, features a tall, blind, and powerful woman living with her son in an ancient stone keep. This is one of the scary tales, and my advice to visitors of the keep is to stay away! The eighth tale, And Softly Wailed the Child, is of the horror variety, and it is one of the best tales. It involves a Board of Health inspector named Clockpayne inspecting the uncleanliness of Chinatown in England. Did you ever hear of a breadfruit called a durian? Neither did I, but it exists. The ninth tale, Manuscript (Found beneath a Service Pipe), is a solid five star horror tale! We have the mad Dr. Donjonierre practising vivisection (ouch!) while looking for revenge. The last tale, The Hideous Dereliction of Mrs. Blaughducks, is absolutely hilarious. Did you know that when you die your sphincter muscle opens and lets your soul out. Ha. But if it doesn’t close, other wandering souls can enter. This is the premise of Mr. Gloume’s final tale. The second half of the book produced five tales that I have appraised as winners.
As I typed this review, every other word seemed to be underlined in red, telling me it was misspelled. Charles Dickens couldn’t come up with more colorful or unusual character names. In my opinion, Mr. Rosencrans has written a very clever and imaginative novel. Lets hope that rousing sales of this novel wake up the sleeping giant publishers. Once again, I highly recommend a William Rosencrans novel.
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
Comment: Since Rosencrans style seems to be similar to H. P. Lovecraft’s, let’s talk about H.P. He was an American horror writer (8/20/1890-3/15/1937), who may be the grandfather of Weird fiction. His writing style was different from most authors of his time. Wikipedia says: “Often in Lovecraft's works the protagonist is not in control of his own actions, or finds it impossible to change course. Many of his characters would be free from danger if they simply managed to run away; however, this possibility either never arises or is somehow curtailed by some outside force...” See what I mean.
The following are some famous quotes by H.P. Lovecraft: “Throw a stick, and the servile dog wheezes and pants and stumbles to bring it to you. Do the same before a cat, and he will eye you with coolly polite and somewhat bored amusement. And just as inferior people prefer the inferior animal which scampers excitedly because someone else wants something, so do superior people respect the superior animal which lives its own life and knows that the puerile stick-throwings of alien bipeds are none of its business and beneath its notice. The dog barks and begs and tumbles to amuse you when you crack the whip. That pleases a meekness-loving peasant who relishes a stimulus to his self importance. The cat, on the other hand, charms you into playing for its benefit when it wishes to be amused; making you rush about the room with a paper on a string when it feels like exercise, but refusing all your attempts to make it play when it is not in the humour. That is personality and individuality and self-respect -- the calm mastery of a being whose life is its own and not yours -- and the superior person recognises and appreciates this because he too is a free soul whose position is assured, and whose only law is his own heritage and aesthetic sense.”
About his youth he said: “I have dwelt ever in realms apart from the visible world; spending my youth and adolescence in ancient and little-known books, and in roaming the fields and groves of the region near my ancestral home. I do not think that what I read in these books or saw in these fields and groves was exactly what other boys read and saw there; but of this I must say little, since detailed speech would but confirm those cruel slanders upon my intellect which I sometimes overhear from the whispers of the stealthy attendants around me.”
And finally, H.P. on horror: “The appeal of the spectrally macabre is generally narrow because it demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for detachment from everyday life. Relatively few are free enough from the spell of the daily routine to respond to tappings from outside, and tales of ordinary feelings and events, or of common sentimental distortions of such feelings and events, will always take first place in the taste of the majority; rightly, perhaps, since of course these ordinary matters make up the greater part of human experience.” If you have read these quotes, you have to admit that this man was very complicated.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Rambling Comments #3
Recently, I did a review on The Pecan Man by Cassie Dandridge Selleck, and gave the novel a neutral rating. I was surprised to hear from this very gracious and talented author. The following is our conversation, which can also be seen in the comment section of my review of her novel on Amazon:
C. Selleck says:
All valid points and I do appreciate your taking the time to write such a detailed review. I would never compare myself to Harper Lee or her writing, but readers have made frequent comparisons in reviews, which will always delight me. Little aside...my middle name is Lee, too, and many of my name choices are nods to people or places that are special to me. None of it was ever intended to inspire comparison to or borrow from Lee's famous novel. The most common critical review has been my choice to end the novel as I did, and I can't even say that I disagree. I spent a great deal of time in rewrites over a ten year period of raising children and working full-time. But every time I started to add more to the book, it felt awkward. I believed that the protagonist Ora Lee told the story she wanted to tell. She was an old woman who set out to clear a man's name. Once that was done, her story was told. Would this have been a different novel if it had been edited by professionals and published by a big name house? No doubt. But it was a first novel by a self-published writer, and I am happy that it is doing so well in sales. And I cannot help but be pleased that it inspires some emotional and spirited critiques, whether negative, positive OR neutral. Thanks again for putting thought and time into your review...and thank you for reading my "little novel" as I so often call it.
Rick O says:
Thank you for your comments. I never like to
write a one, or two line "yea", or "nay" review. I am always appreciative when
an author contacts me. Since you read my review, you know that I think you have
a budding talent. I guess that I'm a little disappointed that you missed a
opportunity to write an epic type story by cutting it so short. However, your
reasons for not prolonging the story are more than valid and highly honorable. I
find the southern gothic genre interesting and on the rise. Please see my review
of your book on my blog: ricksreviews.blogspot.com, I talk about three of the
greatest southern gothic novels ever written. I'll look forward to reviewing
your future works.
C. Selleck says:
C. Selleck says:
Another aside...I read Tobacco Road about three months
ago. I have always been a fan of Southern Fiction. I guess that comes under the
"duh" category. :-)
Rick O says:
Thanks for visiting my blog! The boy reading 'The Hobbit' is my nine year old grandson, Kai. He has already written a guest review on my blog: The Lightning Thief ' by Rick Riordan. I'm molding him into a reader and reviewer- just kidding. I am so happy that your book proceeds will pay for your degree. I did notice that your sales on Amazon were very high for a self published book ( I bought one ). Well done! By the way in my Southern Gothic comment section, I didn't even mention the great William Faulkner and his ' The Sound and the Fury.' I wish you success in your creative Writing course and in your future novels ( longer than 142 pages & with numbered pages! )
Thanks for visiting my blog! The boy reading 'The Hobbit' is my nine year old grandson, Kai. He has already written a guest review on my blog: The Lightning Thief ' by Rick Riordan. I'm molding him into a reader and reviewer- just kidding. I am so happy that your book proceeds will pay for your degree. I did notice that your sales on Amazon were very high for a self published book ( I bought one ). Well done! By the way in my Southern Gothic comment section, I didn't even mention the great William Faulkner and his ' The Sound and the Fury.' I wish you success in your creative Writing course and in your future novels ( longer than 142 pages & with numbered pages! )
C. Selleck says:
I am in the process of having the novel paginated. That
was the one thing that I just couldn't get formatted right using the tools
provided by Amazon. I have finally hired a "professional" to tweak it to address
this issue. BTW, this was one of the main complaints from one book club's
readers. A book club in Roanoke chose to read The Pecan Man alongside To Kill a
Mockingbird for their March meeting. Wish I'd been a fly on THAT wall...or maybe
not. :-) Best to you and your grandson! Keep 'im reading!
Rick O says:
I honestly thought you left out the page numbers on purpose. The ergodic style of literature goes against the rules of prose. If you go to my blog and type in 'House of Leaves' in the box on the upper left corner- the review and comments will come up. It's fairly interesting. It's really surprising to me that these reviewers and book clubs have gravitated to Harper Lee's novel and yours. I think it would be great if one of these clubs published their views. It really doesn't matter what anybody thinks about your book, because all this publicity is great for your book sales. Also, I didn't mean that you write in the ergodic style, just bringing out a point to a southern gothic writer.
I honestly thought you left out the page numbers on purpose. The ergodic style of literature goes against the rules of prose. If you go to my blog and type in 'House of Leaves' in the box on the upper left corner- the review and comments will come up. It's fairly interesting. It's really surprising to me that these reviewers and book clubs have gravitated to Harper Lee's novel and yours. I think it would be great if one of these clubs published their views. It really doesn't matter what anybody thinks about your book, because all this publicity is great for your book sales. Also, I didn't mean that you write in the ergodic style, just bringing out a point to a southern gothic writer.
C. Selleck says:
Had to go look up ergodic style. I had never heard of it.
So, no...it was just lack of technical aptitude, not by design. I was personally
okay without pagination, but it has come up more than once. A Gainesville, FL
book club invited me to sit in on their meeting featuring The Pecan Man. It was
amazing to listen to a group of highly intelligent people discussing the
characters and their motivations. I had to sit silently for the first hour and
then answered questions afterwards. It was an amazing experience and largely
positive, though some had the same issues as you pointed out in your review.
When asked if I would change anything now that I have put the novel out there
and had additional feedback, I still said "no". Again, maybe it would have been
different if I had the benefit of an editor, agent or publisher. I might not
have had much choice in the matter. I write very organically, creating
characters first and paying little attention to plot. It has its drawbacks and I
think they are obvious in this work. I do hope my next novel is an improvement,
even though I have to stick to my guns about telling the story Ora wanted to
tell. I was curious, also, how you came to purchase the book? Just in case I
didn't say this before, I was encouraged by much of what you said. It took a bit
to get past the parts that stung, but Nelle Harper Lee was asked once what she
thought was important to know about being a novelist and she said, paraphrased,
"you have to develop a thick skin." I agree. Of course I want everyone to love
The Pecan Man, but that is simply unrealistic. I absolutely loathe Hemingway,
and I am most likely in the minority. There is an audience for everyone and mine
has been incredibly encouraging so far. I have to go check out your reference
regarding ergodic. Learn something new every day.
Rick O says:
To answer your question on how I heard about your novel, I read another first time author's novel called 'The Snow Child' by Eowyn Ivey and on Amazon your book was listed under the section...Customers who bought this item also bought... And I clicked on your novel and the story sounded interesting, so I bought it. I did a review on her book on my blog- it was a good effort. As far as self publishing goes, you must know that it's been happening to new writers forever. The following best sellers had to be self published: Mark Twain's 'Huckleberry Finn', L. Ron Hubbard's 'Dianetics', and Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass', to name a few. I recently did a review on a wonderful novel called 'The Plum Tree' by Ellen Marie Wiseman, and she told me her novel was rejected 72 times. By the way, that had to be some experience sitting in on a 'book club' review. You had to be proud. I try to do reviews on all genres, but recently I've had so many authors sending me their books for a 'read and review' that I find it hard to read what I want for pleasure.
To answer your question on how I heard about your novel, I read another first time author's novel called 'The Snow Child' by Eowyn Ivey and on Amazon your book was listed under the section...Customers who bought this item also bought... And I clicked on your novel and the story sounded interesting, so I bought it. I did a review on her book on my blog- it was a good effort. As far as self publishing goes, you must know that it's been happening to new writers forever. The following best sellers had to be self published: Mark Twain's 'Huckleberry Finn', L. Ron Hubbard's 'Dianetics', and Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass', to name a few. I recently did a review on a wonderful novel called 'The Plum Tree' by Ellen Marie Wiseman, and she told me her novel was rejected 72 times. By the way, that had to be some experience sitting in on a 'book club' review. You had to be proud. I try to do reviews on all genres, but recently I've had so many authors sending me their books for a 'read and review' that I find it hard to read what I want for pleasure.
C. Selleck says:
Sitting in on the book club review was nothing less than
exhilarating. And they really didn't pull any punches that I could tell. I had
workshopped the novel for a year, so I had pretty much heard everything at one
point or another. Being in a writers' group is helpful for accepting critique.
You learn to "consider the source." If a writer you respect gives you a note,
you pay attention. And you learn that you can't please everyone. You have to
remain true to your characters and to your own intent. I think the first time I
really believed I might have talent as a writer was when this particular
writers' group had an "argument" during critique about what my character would
or would not do. They simply NEVER did that. It is orderly and thoughtful and
one person speaks at a time. So that was a thrill for me prior to publishing.But
when this book club discussed the characters with great insight and passion, it
was just a total high for me. Like I said, whether positive, negative or
neutral, when your work is discussed with great animation, it is exciting. I
think it is important for me to start believing that I can be a writer of
significance. As you said, I need to get my act together. :-)
Rick O says:
Absolutely! You do have talent and that's what I said in
my review's last paragraph. I meant it when I said you missed an opportunity to
write a significant novel. These one, or two liner reviews that you are getting
do nothing for you. They say "Oh, it's wonderful, then I check their past
history and they did one, or two reviews. I think that's why we are having this
talk, because you know that I somewhat understand literature. To have made your
novel great, you would have had to write 350-500 pages. Second of all, I would
have drawn out the confrontation between Marcus, Skipper, and the Pecan Man into
more depth and pages. Marcus died too quickly, he should have been allowed to
reach base safely. This way the situation would have been allowed to fester, and
boil over to a stunning result. Do you see what I'm trying to tell you? By the
way, thanks for reading my review and comments on 'House of Leaves', I try to
read as many genres as possible.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE
Mais oui! Our small man with large moustaches and an egg shaped head is back. Does he live in England, speak French, and come from Belgium? Eh bien. It must be Agatha Christie’s famous flatfoot - Hercule Poirot. This is my fifth Poirot mystery, and as customary, I didn’t solve the murder. (I did solve Death on the Nile, so a twenty percent average isn't bad.) In this investigation, even the great Hercule was stumped for awhile as he thought to himself, “Is it possible that I am growing old?” But he must have been doing his job since one of the suspects, Jane Olivera, said to him, “I loathe the sight of you - you bloody little bourgeois detective!” That’s the Hercule that I know and love. Agatha wrote 37 Hercule Poirot mysteries; the final one was Curtain: Poirot's Last Case. She wrote the novel during World War II but didn’t publish it till 1975, a year before her own death. Agatha was a master at writing main plots, creating subplots, and plot twists. Her books usually had around ten suspects, yet Agatha was able to inject "reader’s sympathy" into most of the characters, so the reader was freely empowered to root for the innocence of their favorite hypothetical felon. She certainly achieved that in this novel.
So it’s time for Hercule’s six month oral checkup, and he has the same fears as you and I. The superior Hercule was not himself. On page nine, ”His morale was down to zero. He was just that ordinary, craven figure, a man afraid of the dentist’s chair.” While in the waiting room, our sleuth observes the other patients. There was a military looking man and a seemingly angry young man flipping pages of magazines. Hercule has his appointment with Doctor Henry Morley and prepares to leave after some minor filling work. Hercule learns that the Doc’s assistant, Gladys Neville, is missing, and an important banker, Alistair Blunt, is on his way for his dental appointment. On Poirot's way out, he observes a fierce looking man in the waiting room and outside, a lady leaving a taxi who has torn her buckle off her shoe as she exited. Later that day, Hercule is informed by Chief Inspector Japp (you remember him from previous novels) of Scotland Yard that Doctor Morley has shot himself. How can that be? The Doc seemed normal and trouble free. Hercule Poirot suspects murder and gathers a list of suspects.
The possible perpetrators are: Doctor Reilly, Morley’s partner; Mr. Amberiotis, the last patient; Miss Sainsbury Seale, the taxi lady; Howard Raikes, the American; Alistair Blunt, the banker; Frank Carter, the angry young man; Gladys Neville, the missing assistant; Jane Olivera, Blunt’s niece; and Alfred Biggs, the murdered Doc’s page boy. Then the unthinkable happens - Mr. Amberiotis turns up dead at his hotel from an overdose of adrenaline and novocaine. Was he poisoned by Doctor Morley before the Doc committed suicide, or was he murdered?
Hercule Poirot is stumped. Later in the novel, he is in church with Alistair Blunt, Jane Olivera, her mom, and Howard Raikes, while listening to the morning sermon, the light bulb goes off: “It was like a kaleidoscope-shoe buckles, 10-inch stockings, a damaged face, the low tastes in literature of Alfred the page boy, the activities of Mr. Amberiotis, and the part played by the late Mr. Morley, all rose up and whirled and settled themselves down into a coherent pattern.” Okay, Mr. Poirot’s noggin is working again. Now is the time that you should grab your own copy of this highly recommended mystery.
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
Comment: What advice did Agatha give to writers? According to Gypsyscarlett’s Weblog: “When you begin to write, you are usually in the throes of admiration for some writer, and, whether you will or no, you cannot help copying their style. Often it is not a style that suits you, and so you write badly. But as time goes on you are less influenced by admiration. You will admire certain writers, you may even wish you could write like them, but you know quite well that you can’t. If I could write like Elizabeth Bowen, Muriel Sparks, or Grahame Greene, I should jump to high heaven with delight, but I know that I can’t, and it would never occur to me to attempt to copy them. I have learned that I am me, that I can do the things that, as one might put it, me can do, but I cannot do the things that me would like to do.”
Agatha on confidence: “You start into it, inflamed by an idea, full of hope, full indeed of confidence. If you are properly modest, you will never write at all, so there has to be one delicious moment when you have thought of something, know just how you are going to write it, rush for a pencil, and start in exercise book buoyed up with exaltation. You then get into difficulties, don’t see your way out, and finally manage to accomplish more or less what you first meant to accomplish, though losing confidence all the time. Having finished it, you know it is absolutely rotten. A couple of months later you wonder if it may not be all right after all.”
And finally, Agatha explains why a writer shouldn’t critique another author’s work: ”An early story of mine was shown to a well-known authoress by a kindly friend. She reported on it sadly but adversely, saying that the author would never make a writer. What she really meant, though she did not know it herself at the time because she was an author and not a critic, was that the person who was writing was still an immature and inadequate writer who could not yet produce anything worth publishing. A critic or an editor might have been more perceptive, because it is their profession to notice the germs of what may be. So I don’t like criticizing and I think it can easily do harm.”
So it’s time for Hercule’s six month oral checkup, and he has the same fears as you and I. The superior Hercule was not himself. On page nine, ”His morale was down to zero. He was just that ordinary, craven figure, a man afraid of the dentist’s chair.” While in the waiting room, our sleuth observes the other patients. There was a military looking man and a seemingly angry young man flipping pages of magazines. Hercule has his appointment with Doctor Henry Morley and prepares to leave after some minor filling work. Hercule learns that the Doc’s assistant, Gladys Neville, is missing, and an important banker, Alistair Blunt, is on his way for his dental appointment. On Poirot's way out, he observes a fierce looking man in the waiting room and outside, a lady leaving a taxi who has torn her buckle off her shoe as she exited. Later that day, Hercule is informed by Chief Inspector Japp (you remember him from previous novels) of Scotland Yard that Doctor Morley has shot himself. How can that be? The Doc seemed normal and trouble free. Hercule Poirot suspects murder and gathers a list of suspects.
The possible perpetrators are: Doctor Reilly, Morley’s partner; Mr. Amberiotis, the last patient; Miss Sainsbury Seale, the taxi lady; Howard Raikes, the American; Alistair Blunt, the banker; Frank Carter, the angry young man; Gladys Neville, the missing assistant; Jane Olivera, Blunt’s niece; and Alfred Biggs, the murdered Doc’s page boy. Then the unthinkable happens - Mr. Amberiotis turns up dead at his hotel from an overdose of adrenaline and novocaine. Was he poisoned by Doctor Morley before the Doc committed suicide, or was he murdered?
Hercule Poirot is stumped. Later in the novel, he is in church with Alistair Blunt, Jane Olivera, her mom, and Howard Raikes, while listening to the morning sermon, the light bulb goes off: “It was like a kaleidoscope-shoe buckles, 10-inch stockings, a damaged face, the low tastes in literature of Alfred the page boy, the activities of Mr. Amberiotis, and the part played by the late Mr. Morley, all rose up and whirled and settled themselves down into a coherent pattern.” Okay, Mr. Poirot’s noggin is working again. Now is the time that you should grab your own copy of this highly recommended mystery.
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
Comment: What advice did Agatha give to writers? According to Gypsyscarlett’s Weblog: “When you begin to write, you are usually in the throes of admiration for some writer, and, whether you will or no, you cannot help copying their style. Often it is not a style that suits you, and so you write badly. But as time goes on you are less influenced by admiration. You will admire certain writers, you may even wish you could write like them, but you know quite well that you can’t. If I could write like Elizabeth Bowen, Muriel Sparks, or Grahame Greene, I should jump to high heaven with delight, but I know that I can’t, and it would never occur to me to attempt to copy them. I have learned that I am me, that I can do the things that, as one might put it, me can do, but I cannot do the things that me would like to do.”
Agatha on confidence: “You start into it, inflamed by an idea, full of hope, full indeed of confidence. If you are properly modest, you will never write at all, so there has to be one delicious moment when you have thought of something, know just how you are going to write it, rush for a pencil, and start in exercise book buoyed up with exaltation. You then get into difficulties, don’t see your way out, and finally manage to accomplish more or less what you first meant to accomplish, though losing confidence all the time. Having finished it, you know it is absolutely rotten. A couple of months later you wonder if it may not be all right after all.”
And finally, Agatha explains why a writer shouldn’t critique another author’s work: ”An early story of mine was shown to a well-known authoress by a kindly friend. She reported on it sadly but adversely, saying that the author would never make a writer. What she really meant, though she did not know it herself at the time because she was an author and not a critic, was that the person who was writing was still an immature and inadequate writer who could not yet produce anything worth publishing. A critic or an editor might have been more perceptive, because it is their profession to notice the germs of what may be. So I don’t like criticizing and I think it can easily do harm.”
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