The British luxury liner Lusitania’s last crossing (5/01/1915) of the Atlantic Ocean is documented by Erik Larson, but in his narrative nonfiction way. What I mean by that is Mr. Larson has turned a history book story into a tear-jerking, cliff-hanging saga that seems to read like fiction, but is not. How did he do that? I read Diana Preston’s Lusitania (see my review of 6/30/2012) previously, but her version, although an excellent book, contained so much factual information that I was never able to warm up to the individual victims she highlighted. By the way, the authors mostly focused on different passengers aboard the Lusitania (which I will call Lucy for the rest of the review).
What almost brought tears to my eyes was how the British Admiralty (headed by Winston Churchill) seemed to want a tragedy to happen involving Americans traveling on British luxury liners to England. On page 190, Churchill says, “For our part, we want the traffic-the more the better; and if some of it gets into trouble, better still.” And King George V said to Colonel House, acting as President Wilson’s emissary, “Suppose they (the Germans) should sink the Lusitania with American passengers aboard?” (implying that the USA would finally be forced to enter WWI).
Meanwhile President Wilson, a recent widower, was spending his time romancing Edith Galt. Is this outrageous behavior, or what? But the most puzzling fact of the European war against Germany was the supposed success of the British in establishing Room 40 in order to decode all German submarine chatter. And they did. So why didn’t they use this advantage to warn Lucy of the ship’s impending doom? Because, they couldn’t warn every ship of the German sub activity since the Germans would then know that the British had broken their code. What! Maybe they did warn Lucy, but the information was too late in getting there. And where was the promised British naval escort when Lucy got close to port?
Before Lucy started for England, the Germans put ads in NYC papers warning passengers of possible impending destruction of the ship. Basically the ads said, “Notice! TRAVELLERS intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles…” If you saw the ad (a lot of passengers did not), it would take a great deal of courage to board any ship heading to Great Britain. Larson’s early chapters set the tone for the intense chroniclization (is that a word?) of Lucy’s voyage yet to come.
Some of the passengers were famous, such as: Charles Frohman, a theater impresario; George Kessler, a wealthy wine importer; Alfred Vanderbilt, son of Cornelius; Elbert Hubbard, author; Charles Lauriat, a book dealer carrying Charles Dickens’s original A Christmas Carol and original drawings from William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair; and, Theodate Pope, a wealthy female architect and suffragist. The passengers and crew totaled 1,959, including a record number of children and infants. The American passengers were well into the multiple of hundreds. By the time Lucy left for England, Room 40 decoded German transmissions and knew that Unterseeboot-20, captained by Walther Schwieger was heading out to sea towards Liverpool looking to sink as much tonnage as possible (Lucy was their main objective), but Room 40 was focusing on another ship they thought was more valuable to Great Britain.
What kind of a man was Kapitanleutnant Schwieger? Well, once out to sea he spotted a Danish passenger liner out of Copenhagen, bound for Montreal. He couldn’t attack because the ship was too far away and moving fast. But in his log, he wrote, “An attack on this ship impossible.” But, “The entry revealed as well that he had no misgivings about torpedoing a liner full of civilians.” Germany’s Chancellor Bethmann wanted U-boat attacks on neutrals stopped before these attacks caused the neutrals to join the war against Germany. But he was overruled by Kaiser Wilhelm II (King George V’s cousin, believe it or not).
So what kind of man was the captain of Lucy, fifty eight year old Thomas Turner? He was a man determined to spend all his time running the ship. He was so focused on the management of the ship that the Cunard Line had to make Jack Anderson the Staff Captain (a new classification). The Staff Captain mingled amongst the high paying customers and had dinner with them at the Captain’s Table. Turner was a veteran sailor that worked his way up the ranks. He was highly capable of bringing the ship safely to England. He maneuvered the ship safely within 11-15 miles off the coast of Ireland while under the cover of heavy fog (a good thing).
Simultaneously, Walther Schwieger’s U-boat was running low on fuel and torpedoes so he decides to head home in the heavy fog. Luckily for him in the fog, a British armored cruiser passes directly over him undetected. Suddenly the fog lifted. “Schwieger trained his binoculars-his Zeiss ‘godseyes’-on a smudge at the horizon and was startled to see ‘a forest of masts and stacks.” This is trouble for Lucy. “Then I saw it was a great steamer coming over the horizon. It was coming our way. I dived at once, hoping to get a shot at it.” Okay, you know what’s coming next, but you will have to buy your own copy of this nonfiction thriller to find out exactly what happened, although it’s in the history books.
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
Comment: So what kind of man was Herr Schwieger? A woman in Germany, who said she was Schwieger’s fiancee, stated that he was devastated about the sinking of the liner. He was never to torpedo another ship...he was a shattered man over what he saw in the periscope. Right! As it turns out, he continued to sink ships of all kinds in record numbers. He was even awarded Germany’s highest award, the Blue Max. He was finally killed near the end of the war when his sub was chased into a British minefield.
And what about Lucy’s Captain Turner? He was ravaged by what happened but felt that he didn’t do anything wrong. In an attempt to deflect the blame, the British Admiralty accused the captain of wrongdoing, even though the captain stayed on the bridge and went down with the ship. Somehow, he popped up and was rescued by a lifeboat. The Admiralty took Turner to court, but a judge found him innocent of any misdoings. He continued to work for the Cunard Line as a captain (although mostly on minor ships). Captain Turner died at the age of 76 from colon cancer.
Madly in love with his new wife, President Wilson played golf almost every day after Lucy’s sinking (even in the winter snow, playing with his wife using red golf balls). He spent two years writing letters back and forth with Germany and Great Britain. With the pressure of the German subs going on the rampage, sinking every ship they could find, he finally asked Congress to declare a state of war against Germany. What took you so long Mr. President?
Cunard Lines gave the 764 (out of 1,959) souls that survived the sinking of the Lusitania...a lifetime 25% discount on future sailings. Wow, thanks a lot.
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Monday, September 14, 2015
GEORGE
This is a guest review from returning reviewer, Pat Koelmel:
Ever wonder what it would be like to be born transgender? A female in a male’s body? Or vice versa? Probably not. My guess is that it’s not the kind of stuff a typical eight-to-twelve-year-old (the target audience for George, a 2015 middle grade novel about a transgender boy, by Alex Gino) thinks about. Or perhaps it is, given the recent publicity surrounding Olympic gold medalist Bruce (now Cait) Jenner. In fact, one might even think the book’s release had been intentionally timed with Jenner’s debut as a woman, but it would have taken a prediction from the likes of Nostradamus to have pulled off something like that. The book was conceived twelve years prior with no such thing in mind other than: “There should be a book about a trans kid.”
Written in the third person, the author chose to use the feminine pronouns (she, her, herself) when referring to ten-year-old George. An excellent decision, by the way, as it never lets you forget who George is: a girl trapped in a boy’s body.
Unable to reveal her big secret to her divorced mom or best friend Kelly (the two most likely people in her life to understand), George finds solace in such simple things like applying ChapStick (she pretends it’s lipstick) and flipping through her hidden stash of magazine friends, a term she uses to describe the few girls’ magazines she’s managed to discreetly collect over time. When no one is watching, she gazes into the mirror, combs her hair forward into bangs, and calls herself Melissa. Phew, imagine trying to hide who you really are day in and day out … and from everyone you know.
At school, to avoid using the boy’s bathroom (it stinks of pee and bleach), George restricts her drinking throughout the day. And then there are the two bullies who thrive on tormenting George. Amazingly enough, it is their mean remarks (“He’s such a freaking girl …”) that come closest to getting who George really is.
A rare ray of good news enters George’s life when her fourth-grade class puts on the stage adaptation of the novel Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. She fantasizes herself in the girl’s role, the kind and wise spider Charlotte. George, however, is expected to audition for Wilbur the pig, like all the other boys. With Kelly’s support, George tries out for Charlotte anyway, but it goes over poorly with her teacher. She thinks George is joking around. As a result, George is inconsolable. “She [George] had genuinely started to believe that if people could see her onstage as Charlotte, maybe they would see that she was a girl offstage too.”
Even worse, Kelly gets the part. “It was bad enough that she [George] wouldn’t be Charlotte. Now she would have to listen to Kelly talk about it, and possibly nothing else, for the next three weeks.”
So what happens next? Is there a chance for a happy ending? Honestly, I wondered myself. Transgender stories, as a rule, do not end well. But rest assured that the author has treated this sensitive subject in an age appropriate way.
Last words: Read George. Just as the disfigured Auggie in R. J. Palacio’s bestselling middle grade novel Wonder (see Pat's review of 8/25/2014) tugged at the heart, so will Alex Gino’s trans kid George.
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
Comment: Once again, the creative Pat Koelmel reviews a book dealing with social awareness. What's your thought on this matter? I personally feel that...it is what it is. In another words, a person can't change what is innate, therefore he/she must be accepted into society as is.
For some reason this review reminded me of the pro tennis player, Renee Richards and the brouhaha that followed. Renee, who was Richard Raskind, underwent sex reassignment surgery in 1975. She was denied entry into the U.S. Open in 1976 because she was not born a women. The decision was later overturned in 1977. In the ensuing years, Renee did play competitively in the women's division, but I don't remember her ever winning a tournament.
In 1984, in order to tell her story, she wrote Second Serve.
Ever wonder what it would be like to be born transgender? A female in a male’s body? Or vice versa? Probably not. My guess is that it’s not the kind of stuff a typical eight-to-twelve-year-old (the target audience for George, a 2015 middle grade novel about a transgender boy, by Alex Gino) thinks about. Or perhaps it is, given the recent publicity surrounding Olympic gold medalist Bruce (now Cait) Jenner. In fact, one might even think the book’s release had been intentionally timed with Jenner’s debut as a woman, but it would have taken a prediction from the likes of Nostradamus to have pulled off something like that. The book was conceived twelve years prior with no such thing in mind other than: “There should be a book about a trans kid.”
Written in the third person, the author chose to use the feminine pronouns (she, her, herself) when referring to ten-year-old George. An excellent decision, by the way, as it never lets you forget who George is: a girl trapped in a boy’s body.
Unable to reveal her big secret to her divorced mom or best friend Kelly (the two most likely people in her life to understand), George finds solace in such simple things like applying ChapStick (she pretends it’s lipstick) and flipping through her hidden stash of magazine friends, a term she uses to describe the few girls’ magazines she’s managed to discreetly collect over time. When no one is watching, she gazes into the mirror, combs her hair forward into bangs, and calls herself Melissa. Phew, imagine trying to hide who you really are day in and day out … and from everyone you know.
At school, to avoid using the boy’s bathroom (it stinks of pee and bleach), George restricts her drinking throughout the day. And then there are the two bullies who thrive on tormenting George. Amazingly enough, it is their mean remarks (“He’s such a freaking girl …”) that come closest to getting who George really is.
A rare ray of good news enters George’s life when her fourth-grade class puts on the stage adaptation of the novel Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. She fantasizes herself in the girl’s role, the kind and wise spider Charlotte. George, however, is expected to audition for Wilbur the pig, like all the other boys. With Kelly’s support, George tries out for Charlotte anyway, but it goes over poorly with her teacher. She thinks George is joking around. As a result, George is inconsolable. “She [George] had genuinely started to believe that if people could see her onstage as Charlotte, maybe they would see that she was a girl offstage too.”
Even worse, Kelly gets the part. “It was bad enough that she [George] wouldn’t be Charlotte. Now she would have to listen to Kelly talk about it, and possibly nothing else, for the next three weeks.”
So what happens next? Is there a chance for a happy ending? Honestly, I wondered myself. Transgender stories, as a rule, do not end well. But rest assured that the author has treated this sensitive subject in an age appropriate way.
Last words: Read George. Just as the disfigured Auggie in R. J. Palacio’s bestselling middle grade novel Wonder (see Pat's review of 8/25/2014) tugged at the heart, so will Alex Gino’s trans kid George.
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
Comment: Once again, the creative Pat Koelmel reviews a book dealing with social awareness. What's your thought on this matter? I personally feel that...it is what it is. In another words, a person can't change what is innate, therefore he/she must be accepted into society as is.
For some reason this review reminded me of the pro tennis player, Renee Richards and the brouhaha that followed. Renee, who was Richard Raskind, underwent sex reassignment surgery in 1975. She was denied entry into the U.S. Open in 1976 because she was not born a women. The decision was later overturned in 1977. In the ensuing years, Renee did play competitively in the women's division, but I don't remember her ever winning a tournament.
In 1984, in order to tell her story, she wrote Second Serve.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
joe4
The author sent me an autographed copy of her book to review:
Salem, why do I feel like I’m playing a game of geocaching when I read one of your books? What would a Salem/China Mieville novel do to the literary world? The flapdoodle factor in your novels is tenfold a normal novel, but somehow I semi-understood whatever. The hoi polloi will not understand a word you wrote, but my gut feeling says that you don’t care, am I right? The dross don’t count. The salient factor in your novels is always blurred, only patently obvious to you. To juxtapose your novel with Mieville’s Kraken would put someone’s cognitive ability on ice. Am I speaking your language? Okay, you know that I’m just having some fun with you. I still don’t sorta understand your novels, although this one was a tad easier to comprehend. I’m still trying to figure out quantum. Is it a discrete quantity of energy proportional in magnitude to the frequency of the radiation it represents, or a wad of money? It seems to change depending on what novel of yours I’m reading. Okey-dokey, my drivel is done (my compos mentis has been damaged), so let’s get on with the detritus! Wow, that was fun...besides Salem, did anybody understand what I just said? So what’s the confusing story about?
joe4 works for Dr. Naranja (remember him?) in N.Y.C. as an “engineer who analyzed the effect of acoustical vibrations on sidewinder solar satellites.” Got it? But joe4 says that he is a pop musician. By the way, you will have to find out yourself how he got his name. Anyway, joe4 just got a quantum account of one million from DJU, a music company who wants him to make hit songs for them. joe4 goes to his regular job in order to resign from Naranja’s all powerful company. He could be executed for trying to quit. But they put him through the ringer, take his journal from him (to be examined rigorously by a chief censor) as he awaits their decision. joe4 wondered if Naranja or DJU knew “that he dreamed his music, that he heard it when falling asleep, then he simply harvested it.” It was alien. “joe4, Dr. Naranja decided, was no competitor’s spy. He was, somehow, a human tuning fork, and Dr. Naranja knew he needed to know why.” The good Dr. Naranja decides to let him go, but puts Chief Intelligence Officer A0333 on joe4's tail for ten years (apparently not uncommon). joe4 and his dog, Aiode, arrive at a desert in four Corners (in Arizona?) in order to work on his alien hits for DJU. Does his dog speak to him? And by the way, what are biozippers and squid cartilage envelopes?
joe4 lives in a Silverstream with his dog, pumping out musical hits from his alien dreams. Dr. Naranja listens to the music from N.Y.C. and he says, “perhaps our reality is being- very, very cleverly- abducted.” joe4’s music is delivered to DJU in the form of chewing gum...and listened to through your molars? Had enough yet? No, you want more, don’t you? Well, buy your own copy of this wacko book to find out how it ends. I’m still trying to figure out if Salem is insane or brilliant. Right now, it’s a coin flip. But in all sincerity, I felt the same way with China Mieville until I read his third book. I’ve only read two Salem novels, so school is still out! I had a lot of fun writing this review...I hope you enjoyed it.
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
Comment: By far the weirdest novel that I ever read was given to me by my son and guest reviewer, Deron O. It is Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves (see my review of 2/01/2013). The following is my first paragraph of the review:
This novel is not a sequel to Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass . In fact, it’s not like anything I’ve ever read before. Welcome to the world of ergodic literature. This was my first foray into this genre, and I liked it. This genre requires the reader to make a real effort to read and interpret the text. There are different ergodic levels, such as Charlton Mellick III’s bizarro Cuddly Holocaust or Ayn Rand’s play Night of January 16th, a murder trial where the jury is picked out of the audience, and their verdict decides the outcome of the play. I’m not sure where Mark Z. Danielewski’s novel fits in the world of ergodicity, but I’ll give the next reader an idea of what’s in store for you: hundreds of footnotes (some real, most not), one to four texts on the same page; some pages blank, some with one or two words; some pages upside down, some obliquely angled; and, different narrators on the same page. And why is the word ‘house’ always in blue and ‘minotaur’ in red? I have to say that some of the footnotes are pure genius. The reader does eventually understand what’s going on because the diverse narrators and variant footnotes are in distinctive fonts! Absolutely brilliant!
Salem, why do I feel like I’m playing a game of geocaching when I read one of your books? What would a Salem/China Mieville novel do to the literary world? The flapdoodle factor in your novels is tenfold a normal novel, but somehow I semi-understood whatever. The hoi polloi will not understand a word you wrote, but my gut feeling says that you don’t care, am I right? The dross don’t count. The salient factor in your novels is always blurred, only patently obvious to you. To juxtapose your novel with Mieville’s Kraken would put someone’s cognitive ability on ice. Am I speaking your language? Okay, you know that I’m just having some fun with you. I still don’t sorta understand your novels, although this one was a tad easier to comprehend. I’m still trying to figure out quantum. Is it a discrete quantity of energy proportional in magnitude to the frequency of the radiation it represents, or a wad of money? It seems to change depending on what novel of yours I’m reading. Okey-dokey, my drivel is done (my compos mentis has been damaged), so let’s get on with the detritus! Wow, that was fun...besides Salem, did anybody understand what I just said? So what’s the confusing story about?
joe4 works for Dr. Naranja (remember him?) in N.Y.C. as an “engineer who analyzed the effect of acoustical vibrations on sidewinder solar satellites.” Got it? But joe4 says that he is a pop musician. By the way, you will have to find out yourself how he got his name. Anyway, joe4 just got a quantum account of one million from DJU, a music company who wants him to make hit songs for them. joe4 goes to his regular job in order to resign from Naranja’s all powerful company. He could be executed for trying to quit. But they put him through the ringer, take his journal from him (to be examined rigorously by a chief censor) as he awaits their decision. joe4 wondered if Naranja or DJU knew “that he dreamed his music, that he heard it when falling asleep, then he simply harvested it.” It was alien. “joe4, Dr. Naranja decided, was no competitor’s spy. He was, somehow, a human tuning fork, and Dr. Naranja knew he needed to know why.” The good Dr. Naranja decides to let him go, but puts Chief Intelligence Officer A0333 on joe4's tail for ten years (apparently not uncommon). joe4 and his dog, Aiode, arrive at a desert in four Corners (in Arizona?) in order to work on his alien hits for DJU. Does his dog speak to him? And by the way, what are biozippers and squid cartilage envelopes?
joe4 lives in a Silverstream with his dog, pumping out musical hits from his alien dreams. Dr. Naranja listens to the music from N.Y.C. and he says, “perhaps our reality is being- very, very cleverly- abducted.” joe4’s music is delivered to DJU in the form of chewing gum...and listened to through your molars? Had enough yet? No, you want more, don’t you? Well, buy your own copy of this wacko book to find out how it ends. I’m still trying to figure out if Salem is insane or brilliant. Right now, it’s a coin flip. But in all sincerity, I felt the same way with China Mieville until I read his third book. I’ve only read two Salem novels, so school is still out! I had a lot of fun writing this review...I hope you enjoyed it.
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
Comment: By far the weirdest novel that I ever read was given to me by my son and guest reviewer, Deron O. It is Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves (see my review of 2/01/2013). The following is my first paragraph of the review:
This novel is not a sequel to Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass . In fact, it’s not like anything I’ve ever read before. Welcome to the world of ergodic literature. This was my first foray into this genre, and I liked it. This genre requires the reader to make a real effort to read and interpret the text. There are different ergodic levels, such as Charlton Mellick III’s bizarro Cuddly Holocaust or Ayn Rand’s play Night of January 16th, a murder trial where the jury is picked out of the audience, and their verdict decides the outcome of the play. I’m not sure where Mark Z. Danielewski’s novel fits in the world of ergodicity, but I’ll give the next reader an idea of what’s in store for you: hundreds of footnotes (some real, most not), one to four texts on the same page; some pages blank, some with one or two words; some pages upside down, some obliquely angled; and, different narrators on the same page. And why is the word ‘house’ always in blue and ‘minotaur’ in red? I have to say that some of the footnotes are pure genius. The reader does eventually understand what’s going on because the diverse narrators and variant footnotes are in distinctive fonts! Absolutely brilliant!
Sunday, August 30, 2015
WIND CATCHER
The authors sent me an autographed copy of their novel to review:
When I first started reading this father/daughter written novel, I was big time gung-ho. I love books involving Native American Indians. However the novel became somewhat mundane for me around page 180. Suddenly I wasn’t eager to know what “gift” Juliet had or what secret her grandfather Sicheii concealed from her. I think the problem is that the story took too long to develop. I’m not saying that this was an inferior novel, but this flaw stopped this tale from receiving my best accolades. The amount of main characters was in the acceptable range, but I felt some degree of apathy for most of them. This is not a good harbinger of things to come. Look, I know that it’s hard to write a popular novel, but one has to look at whether the story is dragging or accelerating before publication. The author obviously has outstanding credentials (just read the bio information on the back cover), but one still has to wonder why this novel had to be a duet. Is dad (Jeff Altabef) trying to get his daughter some literary credits, or did she (Erynn Altabef) contribute meaningful? Okay, enough! What is this story about?
Sixteen year old Juliet (half Indian) hears voices in her head but can’t grasp their meaning or the actual articulation. She has a small “star” scar on her right foot. Her grandfather, Sicheii, says that he gave her the mark when she was born so she could be blessed by “The Great Wind Spirit”. Really? Grandfather is a art gallery owner and a medicine man. Juliet’s mom pulled her from public school and put her into Bartens, a private school. Juliet is having problems adjusting to her privileged co-students. They seem to object to a half-bred (excuse my dashes, it’s not my normal style) in their school. Anyway she stays in touch with her former classmates, Troy, Ella, and Marlon along with her new friend Katie (at Bartens). Juliet’s mom (a tax lawyer) goes on a business trip and tells Juliet that Sicheii will be coming over to watch over her. Juliet decides to skip school and go to Slippery River Park with her friend Troy, a full blood Indian. On their way back from the park, Troy and Juliet see the police racing down the highway. They follow on Troy’s motorcycle to the Reservation where they see that another medicine man named Roundtree has been brutally murdered. Roundtree has a tattoo of twisted arrows on his chest. Juliet knows that her grandfather has the same tattoo.
Another murder occurs. Juliet learns of a newspaper article written 26 years ago with a photograph “of a group of men around a campfire” (including her grandfather). The writer, John Dent, hints of a possible “Secret Native American Society.” Juliet and her friends go to see Mr. Dent and find out that he died. They go to the graveyard and notice that he died one day after the article was written. And guess what’s carved on his tombstone? You guessed it...the two twisted arrows. What’s going on? Juliet seeks out another of the Indian men in the newspaper picture. He is Joe Hunter, and he is leaving town quickly. Before he leaves, Hunter tells Juliet, ”You’ve been chosen.” What mysteries lie ahead? What is she chosen for? This inaugurates the seeming exciting story into a modus operandi, which it does for awhile. Then it stalls. Why, I don’t know. Maybe it was because there wasn’t enough character development that made me feel less interested in what happened next. The novel just became sluggish. Then the story picked up the necessary steam and ran to the finish line. So basically this YA novel had me on a roller coaster ride...it started well, stalled in the middle and then came to a roaring conclusion. It was a little too choppy for me, but I do recommend this novel to all the YA readers out there.
RATING: 3 out of 5 stars
Comment: I think my main problem with the above mentioned novel is that I really don’t like most YA or dystopian novels. I think the Young Adult genre is somewhat foggy. Traditionally, I think the reader age is between 16 years old to 25 years old, however I’ve seen lower ranges and higher ranges from different sources. Of course the novel shouldn’t have profanity, sex or violence. But most YA books have violence, so I’m not sure if violence is an ingredient anymore. If you read some of the “Best YA Novels” lists, there are four books on all the lists that I wouldn’t consider YA.
The first novel is Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). An American classic for sure, but Harper Lee considered her book...A simple love story.
The second novel is Mark Twain’s, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). Some pundits consider the adventures of a boy in the Mississippi Valley... The great American novel. See my review of 12/17/2012.
The third book is J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye (1951). The classic story of sixteen year old Holden Caulfield’s venturesome few days traveling after being expelled from Prep School. See my review of 12/23/2012.
The fourth novel is J.R.R. Tolkien’s, The Hobbit (1937). The wonderful adventures of Bilbo Baggins in legendary Middle-Earth. See my review of 6/20/2013.
All the above novels are considered classic works, but don’t seem YA to me.
When I first started reading this father/daughter written novel, I was big time gung-ho. I love books involving Native American Indians. However the novel became somewhat mundane for me around page 180. Suddenly I wasn’t eager to know what “gift” Juliet had or what secret her grandfather Sicheii concealed from her. I think the problem is that the story took too long to develop. I’m not saying that this was an inferior novel, but this flaw stopped this tale from receiving my best accolades. The amount of main characters was in the acceptable range, but I felt some degree of apathy for most of them. This is not a good harbinger of things to come. Look, I know that it’s hard to write a popular novel, but one has to look at whether the story is dragging or accelerating before publication. The author obviously has outstanding credentials (just read the bio information on the back cover), but one still has to wonder why this novel had to be a duet. Is dad (Jeff Altabef) trying to get his daughter some literary credits, or did she (Erynn Altabef) contribute meaningful? Okay, enough! What is this story about?
Sixteen year old Juliet (half Indian) hears voices in her head but can’t grasp their meaning or the actual articulation. She has a small “star” scar on her right foot. Her grandfather, Sicheii, says that he gave her the mark when she was born so she could be blessed by “The Great Wind Spirit”. Really? Grandfather is a art gallery owner and a medicine man. Juliet’s mom pulled her from public school and put her into Bartens, a private school. Juliet is having problems adjusting to her privileged co-students. They seem to object to a half-bred (excuse my dashes, it’s not my normal style) in their school. Anyway she stays in touch with her former classmates, Troy, Ella, and Marlon along with her new friend Katie (at Bartens). Juliet’s mom (a tax lawyer) goes on a business trip and tells Juliet that Sicheii will be coming over to watch over her. Juliet decides to skip school and go to Slippery River Park with her friend Troy, a full blood Indian. On their way back from the park, Troy and Juliet see the police racing down the highway. They follow on Troy’s motorcycle to the Reservation where they see that another medicine man named Roundtree has been brutally murdered. Roundtree has a tattoo of twisted arrows on his chest. Juliet knows that her grandfather has the same tattoo.
Another murder occurs. Juliet learns of a newspaper article written 26 years ago with a photograph “of a group of men around a campfire” (including her grandfather). The writer, John Dent, hints of a possible “Secret Native American Society.” Juliet and her friends go to see Mr. Dent and find out that he died. They go to the graveyard and notice that he died one day after the article was written. And guess what’s carved on his tombstone? You guessed it...the two twisted arrows. What’s going on? Juliet seeks out another of the Indian men in the newspaper picture. He is Joe Hunter, and he is leaving town quickly. Before he leaves, Hunter tells Juliet, ”You’ve been chosen.” What mysteries lie ahead? What is she chosen for? This inaugurates the seeming exciting story into a modus operandi, which it does for awhile. Then it stalls. Why, I don’t know. Maybe it was because there wasn’t enough character development that made me feel less interested in what happened next. The novel just became sluggish. Then the story picked up the necessary steam and ran to the finish line. So basically this YA novel had me on a roller coaster ride...it started well, stalled in the middle and then came to a roaring conclusion. It was a little too choppy for me, but I do recommend this novel to all the YA readers out there.
RATING: 3 out of 5 stars
Comment: I think my main problem with the above mentioned novel is that I really don’t like most YA or dystopian novels. I think the Young Adult genre is somewhat foggy. Traditionally, I think the reader age is between 16 years old to 25 years old, however I’ve seen lower ranges and higher ranges from different sources. Of course the novel shouldn’t have profanity, sex or violence. But most YA books have violence, so I’m not sure if violence is an ingredient anymore. If you read some of the “Best YA Novels” lists, there are four books on all the lists that I wouldn’t consider YA.
The first novel is Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). An American classic for sure, but Harper Lee considered her book...A simple love story.
The second novel is Mark Twain’s, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). Some pundits consider the adventures of a boy in the Mississippi Valley... The great American novel. See my review of 12/17/2012.
The third book is J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye (1951). The classic story of sixteen year old Holden Caulfield’s venturesome few days traveling after being expelled from Prep School. See my review of 12/23/2012.
The fourth novel is J.R.R. Tolkien’s, The Hobbit (1937). The wonderful adventures of Bilbo Baggins in legendary Middle-Earth. See my review of 6/20/2013.
All the above novels are considered classic works, but don’t seem YA to me.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
AN OUROBOROS
The author sent me a copy of his novel to review:
This is not a serpent eating his tail at all. Well, what is it? It’s Paul Edward eating himself out of the literary world. It’s one of the most nonsensical novels that I've ever read. Period. Is the author trying to ape the rebellious Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (see my review of 12/23/2012)? If he is, he should go back to the drawing board. His character, Paul Edward (is he also the author?), is as shallow as a two-foot grave. What is he so angry about? Almost everything that comes out of Paul's mouth (of the novel) is pure prattle. Supposedly, he has this gorgeous college freshman named Grace to fixate on while he gives “the finger” to the world for no apparent reason. To sum up his opinion of Grace, he tells the reader (to semi paraphrase), “Grace is a incongruous Catholic girl from hackneyed.” By the way, get used to the words, Catholic and hackneyed, because he uses them on every page. He has an alternate female companion named Rose, who is a waitress that likes to smoke marijuana and drink whatever alcohol is available. What makes Paul, a pizza parlor worker, think that the establishment is wrong and he is right? And how many times does the reader have to read about his sexual escapades with Grace? It’s almost like it’s the focus of the novel.
It seems that Paul doesn’t know what normal is; on page 67, he says “I’m slugging down these roads like an escargot. I can do as I please. Why not travel these roads forever? Money? What does it matter if I have no intention of building a picket fence around green grass and a house?” Then on page 71, he says, “It sickens me how those matters have affected me. It has been the older generation forging the hate and disgust within me. They blather commands, casting away comments from the youth instead of shutting Their ( the ‘T’ in ‘Their’ is always capitalized when referring to the establishment) arrogant, egotistical, vainglorious traps to listen, as if Their old words are not only most genius but also pretty to look at drooling from Their insipid tongues.” This is okay to say, but the author offers no alternative other than mutinous rhetoric. And of course the reader continues to read about Grace’s beautiful genitalia (sometimes shaven). I don’t have a good handle on what Paul (I assumed that the character Paul and the writer Paul were the same person as I got deeper into the book) really feels is wrong with the older generation. At the book’s end, Paul says, “Today I have written what I needed to write. I’ve written history. Anything more would be untrue.” Well, Mr. Edward, I for one didn’t get it. But wait! I forgot that I am part of the older generation.
I guess you can tell that I didn’t like the novel. Correctomundo! But, there were some parts of the novel that displayed future prowess. There were even some parts that made me laugh. If the author cleaned up his act, his prose would be considered normal to good. I don’t know what is bugging the author (even after finishing the novel), but I’m not a big fan of J.D. Salinger’s book either. The biggest thing missing in Mr. Edward’s novel is a plot. His book is a long obscure dissertation (in the form of a diary) seemingly without a reasonable point to be made. My suggestion for the author is to wipe the slate clean and try again. There is some talent there but it is very raw.
RATING: 2 out of 5 stars
Why do you text? The phone is still an effective communication device. And when you are driving a car, you can have bluetooth and talk “hands free” which perhaps will save you from a accident versus texting in your car.
Why do you binge-watch a T.V.series? I have heard many tales of the younger ones binge-watching a particular series for the entire weekend.
Who thought up “casual Friday”? What’s wrong with looking like a businessman on Friday?
And why do some of the youngsters think that America owes them a living? Look at the other countries of the world, especially in the Mid-East. You can lose your head quickly (literally). You should have been around when you had to register for the draft.
But I’m not complaining, I think the younger folks are terrific. Just being around them makes a old man feel younger. I’m just having some fun, but I still don’t understand the motive behind Mr. Edward's novel.
This is not a serpent eating his tail at all. Well, what is it? It’s Paul Edward eating himself out of the literary world. It’s one of the most nonsensical novels that I've ever read. Period. Is the author trying to ape the rebellious Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (see my review of 12/23/2012)? If he is, he should go back to the drawing board. His character, Paul Edward (is he also the author?), is as shallow as a two-foot grave. What is he so angry about? Almost everything that comes out of Paul's mouth (of the novel) is pure prattle. Supposedly, he has this gorgeous college freshman named Grace to fixate on while he gives “the finger” to the world for no apparent reason. To sum up his opinion of Grace, he tells the reader (to semi paraphrase), “Grace is a incongruous Catholic girl from hackneyed.” By the way, get used to the words, Catholic and hackneyed, because he uses them on every page. He has an alternate female companion named Rose, who is a waitress that likes to smoke marijuana and drink whatever alcohol is available. What makes Paul, a pizza parlor worker, think that the establishment is wrong and he is right? And how many times does the reader have to read about his sexual escapades with Grace? It’s almost like it’s the focus of the novel.
It seems that Paul doesn’t know what normal is; on page 67, he says “I’m slugging down these roads like an escargot. I can do as I please. Why not travel these roads forever? Money? What does it matter if I have no intention of building a picket fence around green grass and a house?” Then on page 71, he says, “It sickens me how those matters have affected me. It has been the older generation forging the hate and disgust within me. They blather commands, casting away comments from the youth instead of shutting Their ( the ‘T’ in ‘Their’ is always capitalized when referring to the establishment) arrogant, egotistical, vainglorious traps to listen, as if Their old words are not only most genius but also pretty to look at drooling from Their insipid tongues.” This is okay to say, but the author offers no alternative other than mutinous rhetoric. And of course the reader continues to read about Grace’s beautiful genitalia (sometimes shaven). I don’t have a good handle on what Paul (I assumed that the character Paul and the writer Paul were the same person as I got deeper into the book) really feels is wrong with the older generation. At the book’s end, Paul says, “Today I have written what I needed to write. I’ve written history. Anything more would be untrue.” Well, Mr. Edward, I for one didn’t get it. But wait! I forgot that I am part of the older generation.
I guess you can tell that I didn’t like the novel. Correctomundo! But, there were some parts of the novel that displayed future prowess. There were even some parts that made me laugh. If the author cleaned up his act, his prose would be considered normal to good. I don’t know what is bugging the author (even after finishing the novel), but I’m not a big fan of J.D. Salinger’s book either. The biggest thing missing in Mr. Edward’s novel is a plot. His book is a long obscure dissertation (in the form of a diary) seemingly without a reasonable point to be made. My suggestion for the author is to wipe the slate clean and try again. There is some talent there but it is very raw.
RATING: 2 out of 5 stars
Comment: So what don’t I understand about the younger generation? Quite a few things come to mind. As you know, I didn’t “get” the aforementioned novel by Mr. Edward. So what are other things that bemuse a older generation man, such as I, about the younger generation? Well:
Why do you text? The phone is still an effective communication device. And when you are driving a car, you can have bluetooth and talk “hands free” which perhaps will save you from a accident versus texting in your car.
Why do you binge-watch a T.V.series? I have heard many tales of the younger ones binge-watching a particular series for the entire weekend.
Who thought up “casual Friday”? What’s wrong with looking like a businessman on Friday?
And why do some of the youngsters think that America owes them a living? Look at the other countries of the world, especially in the Mid-East. You can lose your head quickly (literally). You should have been around when you had to register for the draft.
But I’m not complaining, I think the younger folks are terrific. Just being around them makes a old man feel younger. I’m just having some fun, but I still don’t understand the motive behind Mr. Edward's novel.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
PREFACE
My bicentennial issue is finally finished. Two hundred reviews and four Rambling Comments (with Rick, of course). I believe that I and my four contributing reviewers have covered every genre of literature known to mankind. I want to acknowledge Deron O, Kai O, Patricia K, and Jennifer O for submitting their wonderful guest reviews. Thanks guys! I would also like to thank the numerous authors who e-mailed me regarding my review of their books. Every time that I was contacted by an author was memorable for me. Writers are truly "the salt of the earth." Followers of my reviews know that I love metaphors and idioms, and by the way, "the salt of the earth" was supposedly first used by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount. He said to the fishermen in attendance, “Ye are the salt of the earth.”
Anyway, I do enjoy writing reviews the protracted way. What I mean is that my reviews will not consist of one liners, such as "The book stinks" or "Great book." So what did these authors tell me about the reviews I wrote? Believe it or not they liked my constructive criticism. They enjoyed the way I compared their book with similar books and authors. And they absolutely loved my in-depth analysis of their story and characters. In other words, I gave them something to chew on (I told you that I like idioms). I also try to make my reviews entertaining besides being unbiased. I would love to leave some of the comments the authors e-mailed to me, but I don’t think it would be fair since I haven’t asked them for permission. I can tell you that one unnamed author said that my review made her “blush”. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Finally, I would like to enumerate the ten best books that I reviewed in order of attachment, or liking, if you will, and of course, with a brief comment:
1) Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (see my review of 12/09/2012), Perhaps America’s most significant novel ever.
2) Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (see my review of 3/12/2012), Hercule Poirot’s classic investigation.
3) The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (see my review of 7/29/2015), One of the first mystery thrillers.
4) Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (see my review of 1/26/2015), Classic work by a great descriptive writer.
5) The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (see my review of 1/26/2012), Murder and the 1893 World’s Columbian Expo in Chicago.
6) Black Hills by Dan Simmons (see my review of 12/23/2010), Who can forget the merging of Paha Sapa and Gen. George Armstrong Custer via ‘counting coup’.
7) Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (see my review of 6/07/ 2011), The magical novel.
8) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (see my review of 2/17/2013), This WWII comedy is a riot.
9) All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (see my review of 4/02/2013), The first novel in The Border Trilogy.
10) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain (see my review of 11/08/2012), A breath of fresh air from America’s greatest author.
I have five honorable mentions in no particular order:
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker; Zealot by Reza Aslan; I, the Jury by Mickey Spillane, Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, and Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey.
The writing of the reviews has been a blast, I hope I have enough of time left in life to publish my tricentenary edition. If not, I will save you a barstool upstairs (hopefully). Front cover picture of Rick O and Shirley O & back cover of Deron O and Jennifer O (lot's of O's) having breakfast along the Arkansas River on the Royal Gorge Train in Colorado.
Rick O
Anyway, I do enjoy writing reviews the protracted way. What I mean is that my reviews will not consist of one liners, such as "The book stinks" or "Great book." So what did these authors tell me about the reviews I wrote? Believe it or not they liked my constructive criticism. They enjoyed the way I compared their book with similar books and authors. And they absolutely loved my in-depth analysis of their story and characters. In other words, I gave them something to chew on (I told you that I like idioms). I also try to make my reviews entertaining besides being unbiased. I would love to leave some of the comments the authors e-mailed to me, but I don’t think it would be fair since I haven’t asked them for permission. I can tell you that one unnamed author said that my review made her “blush”. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Finally, I would like to enumerate the ten best books that I reviewed in order of attachment, or liking, if you will, and of course, with a brief comment:
1) Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (see my review of 12/09/2012), Perhaps America’s most significant novel ever.
2) Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (see my review of 3/12/2012), Hercule Poirot’s classic investigation.
3) The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (see my review of 7/29/2015), One of the first mystery thrillers.
4) Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (see my review of 1/26/2015), Classic work by a great descriptive writer.
5) The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (see my review of 1/26/2012), Murder and the 1893 World’s Columbian Expo in Chicago.
6) Black Hills by Dan Simmons (see my review of 12/23/2010), Who can forget the merging of Paha Sapa and Gen. George Armstrong Custer via ‘counting coup’.
7) Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (see my review of 6/07/ 2011), The magical novel.
8) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (see my review of 2/17/2013), This WWII comedy is a riot.
9) All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (see my review of 4/02/2013), The first novel in The Border Trilogy.
10) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain (see my review of 11/08/2012), A breath of fresh air from America’s greatest author.
I have five honorable mentions in no particular order:
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker; Zealot by Reza Aslan; I, the Jury by Mickey Spillane, Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, and Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey.
The writing of the reviews has been a blast, I hope I have enough of time left in life to publish my tricentenary edition. If not, I will save you a barstool upstairs (hopefully). Front cover picture of Rick O and Shirley O & back cover of Deron O and Jennifer O (lot's of O's) having breakfast along the Arkansas River on the Royal Gorge Train in Colorado.
Rick O
Sunday, August 16, 2015
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
It seems to me that reviewers either loved Paula Hawkins’s novel or hated it...well I liked it. It was an invigorating way to write a novel while limiting the characters to a "Cormac McCarthy" friendly five. And on top of that, Paula has three narrators telling her story with two being in the same time frame and the third lagging months behind (until the end). Absolutely brilliant. The way the story was written caused this reviewer to want to read more progressively. While I love short chapter books, this is the first one that I can remember that sectioned the short chapters into morning, evening and sometimes afternoons. It doesn’t get any better than that. Although Paula was cautiously descriptive about her five main characters, I had a handle on how I visualized each character. I did read that some readers thought that this novel echoed Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, I would agree but I would merge it with Strangers On A Train (1951). Nonetheless, there are some Hitchcockian (did I just make up a new word?) traits in Paula’s novel. Of course the novel isn’t all ‘peaches and cream’, I did notice some disjointed involvement whenever the red-haired man (near the end we learn that his name is Andy) appeared. I couldn’t figure out why he was in Paula’s novel, it was almost like he was a walk-on from another novel. And it is never defined (well enough for me) why Rachel needed to ride that train every day with no purpose, other than to fool her landlady, Cathy. Why would Cathy care that she was unemployed as long as Rachel was paying the rent? And what did that "little pile of clothes by the edge of the track" have to do with the novel? These are minor complaints, but very few novels escape my fault-finding.
Rachel Watson rides the 8:04 train each morning from Ashbury to London even though she doesn’t have her public relations job anymore. One day she turned up at work “blind drunk after a three-hour lunch with a client.” Rachel insulted the client and lost his business. Rachel was sacked. She also doesn’t have her husband Tom anymore. Since she couldn’t get pregnant, she turned to gin and tonics and forced her husband, Tom, into an affair with Anna Boyd. Rachel was divorced. She nows lives in a rented room in Cathy’s house. And drinking heavily. To make matters worse, the train stops momentarily most mornings by a faulty red signal and from her train seat she can see her old house. Tom still lives there with his new wife Anna and their first baby. But Rachel’s focal point is the house on the same street nearest to the tracks. There she daily observes a seemingly happy couple on their patio or having coffee in their garden. Rachel names them Jason and Jess although she will later learn that they are Scott and Megan. In Rachel’s mind...are they the ideal couple that Tom and her could have been? Is Rachel jealous of this unknown couple's life? She continues to find happiness observing them briefly each morning from her train seat. Then the unthinkable happens one morning. Rachel sees a tall dark stranger kissing Jess (Megan) on Jason (Scott) and Jess’s patio. Rachel thinks to herself, “Why would she do that? Jason loves her, I can see it, they’re happy. I can’t believe she would do that to him, he doesn’t deserve that. I feel a real sense of disappointment, I feel as though I have been cheated on.”
The Megan narrated chapters are always lagging behind Rachel and Anna’s chapters chronologically. The reader learns that Megan has also lost her job and is somewhat depressed. Scott suggests that she should get some therapy. Megan agrees and makes an appointment to see Dr. Kamal Abdic. Don’t think that I’m giving the story away because I’ve only covered about the first thirty pages. Paula Hawkins’s Hitchcockian mystery is ready to explode as Rachel comes home to her room at Cathy’s on a Saturday night. Rachel is beat up, vomiting, hungover and unable to remember what happened that night. She knows that she was in her old neighborhood because her ex-husband Tom has left messages on her phone. Rachel sees the news on the television and learns that Megan has been reported missing. After some time, Rachel goes to the police and tells them that she saw Megan kissing a stranger on the patio. They don’t consider her a reliable witness. The police show her a picture of Dr. Abdic and Rachel I.D’s him as the mystery kisser of Megan. Later Rachel meets Scott at his house and tells him that Dr. Abdic was having an affair with Megan. For some reason she lies and tells Scott that she knew Megan. Has Megan been murdered? Did the doctor do it? Did her husband do it, or whomever? Maybe she is alive. When will Rachel remember what happened on that Saturday night? This is the point where the novel becomes a page turner and where I stop recapping. I only touched on the beginning, all the juicy parts are still ahead. This was an exciting book with some minor flaws, but I highly recommend this maiden thriller by journalist Paula Hawkins.
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
Comment: Goodreads.com has a list named, Thrillers you must read! Lets talk about a few of the novels on that list:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2005) by Stieg Larsson. goodreads.com says, “Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch—and there's always a catch—is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo.”
Angels & Demons (2000) by Dan Brown. goodreads.com says, “When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol—seared into the chest of a murdered physicist—he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati ... the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati…”
The Silence of the Lambs (1988) by Thomas Harris. goodreads.com says, “There's a killer on the loose who knows that beauty is only skin deep, and a trainee investigator who's trying to save her own hide. The only man that can help is locked in an asylum. But he's willing to put a brave face on - if it will help him escape.”
Rachel Watson rides the 8:04 train each morning from Ashbury to London even though she doesn’t have her public relations job anymore. One day she turned up at work “blind drunk after a three-hour lunch with a client.” Rachel insulted the client and lost his business. Rachel was sacked. She also doesn’t have her husband Tom anymore. Since she couldn’t get pregnant, she turned to gin and tonics and forced her husband, Tom, into an affair with Anna Boyd. Rachel was divorced. She nows lives in a rented room in Cathy’s house. And drinking heavily. To make matters worse, the train stops momentarily most mornings by a faulty red signal and from her train seat she can see her old house. Tom still lives there with his new wife Anna and their first baby. But Rachel’s focal point is the house on the same street nearest to the tracks. There she daily observes a seemingly happy couple on their patio or having coffee in their garden. Rachel names them Jason and Jess although she will later learn that they are Scott and Megan. In Rachel’s mind...are they the ideal couple that Tom and her could have been? Is Rachel jealous of this unknown couple's life? She continues to find happiness observing them briefly each morning from her train seat. Then the unthinkable happens one morning. Rachel sees a tall dark stranger kissing Jess (Megan) on Jason (Scott) and Jess’s patio. Rachel thinks to herself, “Why would she do that? Jason loves her, I can see it, they’re happy. I can’t believe she would do that to him, he doesn’t deserve that. I feel a real sense of disappointment, I feel as though I have been cheated on.”
The Megan narrated chapters are always lagging behind Rachel and Anna’s chapters chronologically. The reader learns that Megan has also lost her job and is somewhat depressed. Scott suggests that she should get some therapy. Megan agrees and makes an appointment to see Dr. Kamal Abdic. Don’t think that I’m giving the story away because I’ve only covered about the first thirty pages. Paula Hawkins’s Hitchcockian mystery is ready to explode as Rachel comes home to her room at Cathy’s on a Saturday night. Rachel is beat up, vomiting, hungover and unable to remember what happened that night. She knows that she was in her old neighborhood because her ex-husband Tom has left messages on her phone. Rachel sees the news on the television and learns that Megan has been reported missing. After some time, Rachel goes to the police and tells them that she saw Megan kissing a stranger on the patio. They don’t consider her a reliable witness. The police show her a picture of Dr. Abdic and Rachel I.D’s him as the mystery kisser of Megan. Later Rachel meets Scott at his house and tells him that Dr. Abdic was having an affair with Megan. For some reason she lies and tells Scott that she knew Megan. Has Megan been murdered? Did the doctor do it? Did her husband do it, or whomever? Maybe she is alive. When will Rachel remember what happened on that Saturday night? This is the point where the novel becomes a page turner and where I stop recapping. I only touched on the beginning, all the juicy parts are still ahead. This was an exciting book with some minor flaws, but I highly recommend this maiden thriller by journalist Paula Hawkins.
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
Comment: Goodreads.com has a list named, Thrillers you must read! Lets talk about a few of the novels on that list:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2005) by Stieg Larsson. goodreads.com says, “Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch—and there's always a catch—is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo.”
Angels & Demons (2000) by Dan Brown. goodreads.com says, “When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol—seared into the chest of a murdered physicist—he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati ... the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati…”
The Silence of the Lambs (1988) by Thomas Harris. goodreads.com says, “There's a killer on the loose who knows that beauty is only skin deep, and a trainee investigator who's trying to save her own hide. The only man that can help is locked in an asylum. But he's willing to put a brave face on - if it will help him escape.”
Saturday, August 8, 2015
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
Why didn’t this great playwright write more than one novel? The leader of Great Britain’s (he was Irish) Aestheticism movement produced the definitive “giving pleasure through beauty” novel of all time. His character, Dorian Gray, was beautiful and wished to stay that way. Everybody adored him...even the men. Maybe Oscar lost his desire to write after being convicted of ‘gross indecency’ and sentenced with two years of hard labor. He died destitute at the age of 46. Why did writers like Wilde, Poe, and Stevenson have to die so young and so poor? Alive today, they would all be rich men...so sad. Wilde’s prose was fabulous but strangely not as descriptive as the writers of his time. Maybe Oscar Wilde is the missing link that I have been looking for: who started the new way of writing and ended the descriptive writing era? Can it be Oscar? Like all the novels of the era, it was first published by the way of installments in magazine form within Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine in 1890. Many Britains were outraged because they felt his novel violated public morality. He defended his story in a preface when it was published as a novel in 1891. Wouldn’t the Victorians be shocked if they lived in today’s world? So what’s this story about?
Artist Basil Hallward met Dorian Gray at a party in Lady Brandon’s mansion. The novel opens with Basil painting Dorian’s portrait with Lord Henry Wotton in attendance. The three become great friends as the novel progresses, often dining together at various posh clubs and restaurants. They are high society. Does Basil have a crush on Dorian? After the portrait is finished, Lord Henry tells Dorian, “Ah! realize your youth while you have it. Don’t squander the gold of your days, listening to the tedious, trying to improve the hopeless failure, or giving away your life to the ignorant, the common, and the vulgar. These are the sickly aims, the false ideals of our age. Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you!” On page 28 Dorian says, “How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day of June...If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that-for that-I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!” His wish came true.
Dorian falls in love with the beautiful but destitute actress Sibyl Vane. He asks her to marry him. Sibyl’s mom and her brother, James Vane, suspect Dorian’s motives. James tells Sibyl that he will kill “Prince Charming” (the only name they know Dorian as) if he hurts his sister in any way. James leaves for Australia the next day in an attempt to better his life. Dorian takes his friends Basil and Lord Henry to the theater to see Sibyl act in Romeo and Juliet . Since she now knows what true love is (with Dorian), her acting is horrible. Dorian is embarrassed and tells Sibyl that he never wants to see her again. Later, Dorian sees that his painting now has a sneer. He decides that he will make up with Sibyl. Too late, she commits suicide. He seems indifferent and goes to the opera with his friends. He decides to hide his painting from everyone and has it brought upstairs to his old playroom and covers it with a purple curtain. “No one could see it. He himself would not see it. Why should he watch the hideous corruption of his soul?” The portrait was getting nasty looking.
The reader never truly learns the time span, but it seems that Dorian was 18 when the novel begins and 38 when it ends. At the end, Dorian still looks 18 until the final page (ouch!). Wow, this novel was exciting, similar to the drama of Robert Louis Stevenson’s, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). There is so much to ask: Does James Vane come back from Australia and learn what happened to his sister? If so, what does he do? What happens to Dorian’s portrait painter and friend, Basil, when he sees the painting aging? Does Lord Henry remain friends with Dorian? And who is Alan Campbell and why does he commit suicide? Sometimes I wonder why I just don’t read the classics exclusively. I guess it is because I’m looking for the next Oscar Wilde, or whatever. Read this novel at your own risk. I did.
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
Comment: The 1945 movie directed by Albert Lewin was star-studded. The following were the cast:
The poster from the movie:
Artist Basil Hallward met Dorian Gray at a party in Lady Brandon’s mansion. The novel opens with Basil painting Dorian’s portrait with Lord Henry Wotton in attendance. The three become great friends as the novel progresses, often dining together at various posh clubs and restaurants. They are high society. Does Basil have a crush on Dorian? After the portrait is finished, Lord Henry tells Dorian, “Ah! realize your youth while you have it. Don’t squander the gold of your days, listening to the tedious, trying to improve the hopeless failure, or giving away your life to the ignorant, the common, and the vulgar. These are the sickly aims, the false ideals of our age. Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you!” On page 28 Dorian says, “How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day of June...If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that-for that-I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!” His wish came true.
Dorian falls in love with the beautiful but destitute actress Sibyl Vane. He asks her to marry him. Sibyl’s mom and her brother, James Vane, suspect Dorian’s motives. James tells Sibyl that he will kill “Prince Charming” (the only name they know Dorian as) if he hurts his sister in any way. James leaves for Australia the next day in an attempt to better his life. Dorian takes his friends Basil and Lord Henry to the theater to see Sibyl act in Romeo and Juliet . Since she now knows what true love is (with Dorian), her acting is horrible. Dorian is embarrassed and tells Sibyl that he never wants to see her again. Later, Dorian sees that his painting now has a sneer. He decides that he will make up with Sibyl. Too late, she commits suicide. He seems indifferent and goes to the opera with his friends. He decides to hide his painting from everyone and has it brought upstairs to his old playroom and covers it with a purple curtain. “No one could see it. He himself would not see it. Why should he watch the hideous corruption of his soul?” The portrait was getting nasty looking.
The reader never truly learns the time span, but it seems that Dorian was 18 when the novel begins and 38 when it ends. At the end, Dorian still looks 18 until the final page (ouch!). Wow, this novel was exciting, similar to the drama of Robert Louis Stevenson’s, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). There is so much to ask: Does James Vane come back from Australia and learn what happened to his sister? If so, what does he do? What happens to Dorian’s portrait painter and friend, Basil, when he sees the painting aging? Does Lord Henry remain friends with Dorian? And who is Alan Campbell and why does he commit suicide? Sometimes I wonder why I just don’t read the classics exclusively. I guess it is because I’m looking for the next Oscar Wilde, or whatever. Read this novel at your own risk. I did.
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
Comment: The 1945 movie directed by Albert Lewin was star-studded. The following were the cast:
George Sanders played Lord Henry
Hurd Hatfield played Dorian Gray
Donna Reed played Gladys Hallward (I don’t remember her in the novel)
Angela Lansbury played Sibyl Vane
Peter Lawford played David Stone (I don’t remember him in the novel)
Lowell Gilmore played Basil Hallward
Richard Fraser played James Vane
The great Cedric Hardwicke was the narrator
The poster from the movie:
Friday, July 31, 2015
Still Alice
This is the second guest review from artist and writer, Patricia Koelmel:
Still Alice is a 2007 New York Times bestselling novel by Lisa Genova. After seeing the critically acclaimed 2014 movie of the same name starring Julianne Moore as Alice, I couldn’t wait to read it.
The story follows Dr. Alice Howard-wife, mother, and professor of psychology at Harvard University and world-renowned linguistics expert-as she, her family, friends, and colleagues struggle to deal with her diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Cleverly told from Alice’s point of view, she initially believes her recent sudden fogs and memory loss are attributed to a brain tumor or menopause. She is fifty after all. But after extensive neurological testing, she learns the frightening truth. Even worse, due to the fact that she has a hereditary form of the disease, her three adult children are also at risk when they reach her age.
So, who passed this ill-fated disease on to Alice? She traces it back to her father, now deceased. Suddenly, she recalls his forgetfulness, which up until now she’d blamed on a lifetime of alcoholism.
As Alice ponders her incurable disease, she wishes she had cancer instead. “With cancer she’d have something she could fight. There was surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. There was a chance she could win."
If given a choice, which door would you choose? Cancer or Alzheimer’s? Thought-provoking to say the least, eh? As for Alice, she chooses Door no. 3: She devises a plan to commit suicide before her mind is so far gone she is in need of expensive institutional care.
Folks, while this book does not have the thrill of unexpected plot twists or chills that will have you on the edge of your seat, it is a page-turner nonetheless. With chapters dedicated to a singular month in time, the author skillfully allows the reader to observe Alice’s shockingly rapid decline. For instance, in April, she loses track of time and goes to work in the middle of the night in her nightclothes. In July, she forgets where the bathroom is located in her own home and wets herself before she is able to find it. In August, she fails to recognize one of her own children.
Still Alice will leave you hoping, even praying (if you are the praying kind), that neither you nor your loved ones will ever develop Alzheimer’s and face a future as alien as any dystopian society.
Lastly, I would be amiss if I did not bring to your attention, as evident in her acknowledgements, the in-depth research Ms. Genova did on the subject of Alzheimer’s and academic life at Harvard in order to tell this story.
Courtesy of that research, here are a few general facts about early onset Alzheimer’s as they appear in the book:
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
Comment: Rick’s Reviews thanks Patricia for her insightful review of a novel that deals with the sensitive plight of thousands of patients and their families. The first case of this disease was treated by German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer in 1901. He followed the symptoms of Auguste Deter until she died in 1906.
From the movie:
Still Alice is a 2007 New York Times bestselling novel by Lisa Genova. After seeing the critically acclaimed 2014 movie of the same name starring Julianne Moore as Alice, I couldn’t wait to read it.
The story follows Dr. Alice Howard-wife, mother, and professor of psychology at Harvard University and world-renowned linguistics expert-as she, her family, friends, and colleagues struggle to deal with her diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Cleverly told from Alice’s point of view, she initially believes her recent sudden fogs and memory loss are attributed to a brain tumor or menopause. She is fifty after all. But after extensive neurological testing, she learns the frightening truth. Even worse, due to the fact that she has a hereditary form of the disease, her three adult children are also at risk when they reach her age.
So, who passed this ill-fated disease on to Alice? She traces it back to her father, now deceased. Suddenly, she recalls his forgetfulness, which up until now she’d blamed on a lifetime of alcoholism.
As Alice ponders her incurable disease, she wishes she had cancer instead. “With cancer she’d have something she could fight. There was surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. There was a chance she could win."
If given a choice, which door would you choose? Cancer or Alzheimer’s? Thought-provoking to say the least, eh? As for Alice, she chooses Door no. 3: She devises a plan to commit suicide before her mind is so far gone she is in need of expensive institutional care.
Folks, while this book does not have the thrill of unexpected plot twists or chills that will have you on the edge of your seat, it is a page-turner nonetheless. With chapters dedicated to a singular month in time, the author skillfully allows the reader to observe Alice’s shockingly rapid decline. For instance, in April, she loses track of time and goes to work in the middle of the night in her nightclothes. In July, she forgets where the bathroom is located in her own home and wets herself before she is able to find it. In August, she fails to recognize one of her own children.
Still Alice will leave you hoping, even praying (if you are the praying kind), that neither you nor your loved ones will ever develop Alzheimer’s and face a future as alien as any dystopian society.
Lastly, I would be amiss if I did not bring to your attention, as evident in her acknowledgements, the in-depth research Ms. Genova did on the subject of Alzheimer’s and academic life at Harvard in order to tell this story.
Courtesy of that research, here are a few general facts about early onset Alzheimer’s as they appear in the book:
- There are an estimated five hundred thousand people in the United States with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
- Early-onset is defined as Alzheimer’s under the age of sixty-five.
- Symptoms can develop in the thirties and forties.
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
Comment: Rick’s Reviews thanks Patricia for her insightful review of a novel that deals with the sensitive plight of thousands of patients and their families. The first case of this disease was treated by German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer in 1901. He followed the symptoms of Auguste Deter until she died in 1906.
From the movie:
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