the WRIGHT BROTHERS

It doesn’t get any better than the genre of narrative nonfiction. Award winning author David McCullough provides many cliffhanging chapters, while just telling the facts about the Wright brothers. That takes immense talent and now I know why one of my favorite writers, Erik Larson, said, “I stumbled across McCullough’s The Johnstown Flood at a bookstore. I loved it. It had suspense, drama, class conflict, dire goings-on-all the things the history books I’d read in high school and college lacked.” That’s what I’m talking about...nonfiction that reads like fiction. Erik Larson is the best-selling author of The Devil in the White City (see my review of 01/26/2012) and many other best-sellers. Okay, so how do we make history more exciting for our kids? I suggest that the U.S. Department of Education appoint a literary panel to find the books that that will tell history in a way that the students will enjoy and retain. The books are out there...find them! The lack of excitement in history books has gnawed at me for years. Jon Meacham’s American Lion about President Andrew Jackson’s life put me to sleep many nights. I’m not trying to be cruel, but Meacham’s writing, while accurate, was boring. I want history to be exciting and rousing. Believe me...it’s possible, just read McCullough’s or Larson’s books.

Wilbur and Orville Wright were born the sons of a preacher man (wasn’t that a 1969 Dusty Springfield hit song?). The Bishop Wright and his wife Susan (She died early from tuberculosis at the age of 58) brought up three other children (Katharine, Reuchlin and Lorin), besides the soon to be famous brothers. All were remarkable human beings in their own right. The Bishop moved the family often, depending on where his preaching was needed, until he settled the family in Dayton, Ohio. Wilbur (a genius) and his brother Orville (a mechanical genius) were enterprising from the get go. They started a Dayton newspaper and then moved on to their own bicycle shop selling their own indigenous brand. In 1899, inspired by the works of European's Lilienthal and Mouillard, Wilbur wrote a letter to the Smithsonian Institution requesting all the information that they had on human flight. Then they asked the U.S. Weather Bureau in Washington, D.C - Was there a location in the U.S.A. that had constant winds of about 15 MPH? The answer…Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. They built a glider and brought it to Kitty Hawk. Once there, the brothers studied the flight of the local birds. The glider had flights as far as 400 feet at 30 MPH. Once November came, the brothers left the glider there and went back to Dayton and their bicycle business. 
  
The world’s leading Authority on aviation Octave Chanute comes a calling after the boys built their first experimental flyer the next year. The brothers continue their trials during 1901 and 1902. Then they go home to perfect their flyer and build an engine. Eureka! On 12/17/1903, they had four successful flights at Kitty Hawk...the longest flight goes a half mile at a height of 852 feet in 59 seconds. They did it. Later that day, while the flyer was on the ground, a gust of wind destroyed the flyer as it rolled over again and again. It will never be flown again. They go back to Dayton in order to build a new and improved flyer and engine. Instead of going back to Kitty Hawk, the brothers rent 84 acres of a pasture from the President of the Fourth National Bank in the Dayton area. They make 50 test flights on the field with no local interest (most of the population thought flying was for birds only). After many failures with the new flyer, Wilbur soars a 1,000 feet. Surprisingly, a rich beekeeper, Amos Ives Root, takes an interest in the Wright brothers and writes an inspiring story about them in his publication, Gleaning in Bee Culture. The Wright brothers contact the U.S. government to see if they have any interest in their flyer. They don’t (they just wasted a ton of money on someone else’s failure). But Britain’s War Department is interested! And so are the French. And so are the Germans. Wilbur contacts the U.S. again and they say that they still have no interest in their flyer.

On May 22nd 1906, a U.S. patent for the flyer’s design is issued to the Wright brothers. Wilbur goes to Paris to negotiate the sale of their flyer to the French. Orville ships the flyer to France. This is where I stop my review, so you can buy your own copy of this wonderful book and find out for yourself what happens next. It’s certainly a matter of history, but do you remember what happens next? Of course not, neither did I. It was a significant eye-opener for me. This kind of writing not only educates the reader, but makes the reader think that he is reading a fabrication. It doesn’t get any better than this. David McCullough has received the Pulitzer Prize for Truman and John Adams (see my guest reviewer, Deron O’s assessment of 12/05/2015). I guess that if I had to be critical of anything pertaining to this book, it would be the profuse amount of pages spent on the laudation of the Wright brothers near the end of the book. The author backs up his facts with 40 pages of source notes.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: There were a lot of sidebar stories in David McCullough’s book, such as, President Teddy Roosevelt wanting to be the Wright brothers first passenger. Luckily for him, Lt. Thomas Selfridge (a member of Alexander Graham Bell’s Aerial Experiment Association and probably a spy for Bell’s group) got the first ride as a passenger. During his flight with Orville, a piece of the prop broke off Orville’s flyer causing a horrific crash. Selfridge was killed. “His was the first fatality in the history of powered flight.” Orville was badly hurt but survived the accident.

Since his career was similar to the Wright brothers, I also enjoyed the pages about Glenn Curtiss. While comparable to the Wright brothers as a bicycle builder, he was also a racer and builder of motorcycles. He later built aeroplanes for the U.S. Army and Navy. His Curtiss Jenny biplane is featured on the first U.S. Airmail Stamp. He won the first international air meet in France (the Wright brothers didn’t register for the race).

 
 

The Nth Day

The author sent me an autographed copy of his novel to review:

Wow, what a story! Can anybody write a darker story than this Jonathan Huls’ novel? This is the most arcane and harrowing novel that I’ve ever read. I am in no way disparaging the great works of the dark master, Cormac McCarthy, but it surely challenges his best depraved novels, such as Outer Dark (see my review of 03/01/2013). Huls even (like Cormac) rebuffs the general rules of English grammar (so do I somewhat). Are Huls’ paragraphs too long? Of course they are, but I think that that (I love using "that" back to back) is an editing problem that can be fixed in the future. What I fancy is that Mr. Huls is a storyteller. And what is the most important component of literature?...were you entertained? And yes, I was entertained. So to the reviewers that attacked this novel...lighten up and get real. Literature isn’t all about iambic pentameter, is it? No, did you really like those Shakespearean plays that were forced on you in high school? I didn’t. When I read and review a book or novel, the most important task an author must provide to me is "a good story", don’t put me to sleep...and I was wide awake during all 321 pages of this novel. A note to Mr. Huls: Your paragraphs should be no longer than twenty lines (that’s my sometimes rule for my reviews). But, I wouldn’t worry about that because you can hire an editor to take care of those problems, just write like the wicked storyteller you are. Anyway, what’s this enigmatic novel about?   

On the 8th day God was reborn (actually August 20th) in history’s suggested second immaculate conception via the couple of Dave and Julie. Although they were high school sweethearts, Dave figured she must have cheated on him. The baby was named Justin, and he was silent when he came out of the womb. Justin rarely cooed or showed any affection to his parents. He only needed to eat once a day and never cried. But, he had an unmistakable calming effect on anybody that was around him. As Justin reached one year old, his parents decided to throw a birthday party...they invited 50 people. Somehow, 100 people showed up. Julie told Nick that he would have to go to the store for more food, beer, and soda. But when they checked their supplies...It seemed like they had an abundance of food and drinks. How is that possible? Later that day, a baby girl named Cassie was dying after she ate some rat poison that Dave forgot he laid out on his property. As people gathered (including Cassie’s mom), Dave tried to give CPR to no avail. The girl was not responding. Her mom knew that she was dead until Justin crawls to Cassie and sits down next to her. Miraculously, Cassie starts to breath and is back to normal almost immediately. Did Dave’s CPR finally kick-in or did Justin perform a miracle? On the way to the hospital, Cassie’s mom freaks out. She says her daughter is dead and now is a zombie. As she attacks Cassie, she causes the ambulance to crash. Once they are in the hospital, mom tries to kill Cassie again. By the way, the next day, the majority of the world’s population changed eye color to emerald green. What?

The novel moves to our third main character, Theodore Silt, a homeless man, or is he a billionaire? He lives in the streets of Atlanta. He often goes to a soup kitchen where he meets a retired Beth, who works at the kitchen. They become friendly and semi-date at a diner over peach cobbler for about four years. One day, Beth follows Theodore many blocks until he arrives at the airport. She sees a man (Simon, his aide) hand him something as he boards a private jet. He takes off. What is going on? Simon tells Theodore that he has to meet a bogie (someone who is on his case) in NYC. He meets the bogie (reporter Susan Barr), and she doesn’t believe that this bum is the billionaire Silt. He convinces her that he is and gives her ten million dollars. By the way, I‘m not giving the story away...It’s only page 56. I must tell you that I hated Susan Barr.

Meanwhile the scene shifts to Cassie. Her mom is now a dope addict. Once again mom tries to kill Cassie but instead dies when she falls on a knife that Cassie had in her possession to protect herself. This causes Cassie to be orphaned and shuffled around because of the murder/accident of her mom. Did she kill her mom? She finally gets a foster home, but the foster father, Darrell, is a pedophile. After Darrell pounces on Cassie, she thwarts his attack and gets out through the front door. Where does she go?

The scene shifts to Justin, who, at two years old, changes his temperament after he gets mad and kicks over a board game that he was playing with his father. The pressure is on to punish the boy. Justin goes to his room and stares at the ceiling. Everything is getting dark. His father, urged on by the wife, goes to Justin’s room (he hears a siren). The wife comes in and says that the siren they are hearing is a signal that they should take cover. Is a tornado coming? Did the boy summon it? The boy walks out the front door nonplussed. He walks to a orchard and sits down and eats an apple. The parents, who were following him, panic and head back into the house. The tornado hits the house, and Justin’s parents are never seen again. Justin heads east (walking).

Now I’m going to stop my elucidation of Huls’ novel because the story gets big time juicy from here to the exciting end. What will happen when Justin meets a disgusting villain named Nick (I hated him) from Quicky Mart? What will happen when Cassie meets a now drunken Theodore Silt? What will happen when Justin turns money into blank pieces of paper? And finally, what will happen when Justin, Theodore, and Cassie unite? Wow, this was some page turner. This is the kind of novel that makes me wonder why a major publisher didn’t pick it up. If this novel had their editorial help...I believe this novel would be a bestseller. Did I like this novel? Are the Irish lucky?

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: I do like to read novels involving God. I think that as one gets older, one starts to think more about the possibility of God existing. If not, it’s going to be a long sleep.

I sometimes think that I want to read John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost . But then I remember that I hate poetry, and this poem was originally ten books and 10,000 lines of verse when published in 1667. Don’t I already know the story of Eve and Adam and the fall of the angle Satan (by the way, I recently watched a hockey game and one of the player’s name was Satan). So... as many times that I have had that book in my hands, I have always returned it to the shelf of the book store.

Even the great astronomer, Carl Sagan touched on the subject in his 1995 book, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.

REDSHIRTS

Did you ever notice that on the TV show Star Trek that an Ensign or lower ranked person wearing a redshirt got killed in every episode? In that show... Kirk, Spock, Bones, Chekov and Scotty normally wore yellow or blue shirts (although I remember an occasional show where one of them wore red). This is the hypothesis of John Scalzi’s Hugo and Locust award winning novel. Suppose that same thing was happening in real life to a starship named Intrepid (an Enterprise look-alike). How could a redshirt always get killed on an away mission while the five main officers never suffered a death? Oh, they might get hurt badly, but they soon miraculously recover. What could cause this phenomenon? Scalzi came up with a heretofore somewhat brilliant maiden plot, but I don’t think that this novel was his best. And I’m a big fan, having read at least six of his novels. Redshirts became a little confusing at times, especially when the five lab Ensigns decided on how they would solve the redshirt death problem. It was still an enjoyable perusal (I shudder when a reviewer says...an enjoyable read). Anyway, let’s talk about the characters and the plot.
 
We are far into the future and aboard the starship Intrepid (isn’t that a Vietnam era carrier?) led by the officers: Captain Lucius Abernathy, Science Officer Commander Q’eeng, Chief Engineer Paul West, Medical Chief Hartnell and Astrogator Lt. Kerensky (the one that always gets hurt). Enter our protagonist, Ensign Andrew Dahl (I’ll call him A.D. for the rest of the review). He is assigned to the Intrepid’s science lab with Hester, Finn, Hanson and Duvall. Sounds like too many characters, right? But somehow Scalzi makes it work. On A.D.’s first assignment on an away mission, the ship encounters a plague on the planet Merovia. A landing team led by Lt. Kerensky is trying to find a vaccine for the plague when they are infected. A redshirt is liquefied (of course) and Lt. Kerensky is dying. Commander Q’eeng gives A.D. the job to find a cure for Lt. Kerensky (the hell with the rest of the planet). A.D. is given six hours to find a cure. What? Q’eeng tells A.D. to put the info in this mysterious box that the Universal Union has acquired from an extinct race of warrior engineers. After six hours, A.D. brings the results to the bridge (it’s just gibberish). But the science officer finds the  answer and Lt. Kerensky is cured. What? 

After some more close calls for the officers and subsequent deaths of the redshirts on away missions, A.D. runs into a redshirt (in self-hiding) named Jenkins. He says that he has done his research, and there is only one starship that has the same statistical patterns for away missions as this ship. Duvall says, “Who are they?”. On page 103, Jenkins says, “They don’t exist and neither does this. This is the starship Enterprise. It’s fictional. It was on a science fictional drama series. And so are we.” Wow, tell me about it. Jenkins says, “It’s fictional, You’re real. But a fictional television show intrudes on our reality and warps it.” Jenkins further says, “You’re all extras, but you’re glorified extras. Your average extra exists just to get killed off, so he or she doesn’t have a backstory. But each of you do.” A.D. says, “If this is a television show, then it was made by people. Whatever and however they’re doing this to us, they are just like us. And that means we can stop them. We just have to figure out how. You have to figure it out, Jenkins.” On page 140, Jenkins sends a note to A.D. and the lab people, “It says he thinks he’s come up with something that might work, he wants to talk to us about it. All of us.”

This is where I stop my review and you buy your own recommended copy of this novel. I did like this novel...it’s just that I’ve read better from this Tor.com writer. Okay, I know that it won all the awards, but I still have my opinion that many authors respect. Normally Scalzi’s novels are easy to understand (I don’t need or want the scientific facts to enjoy a sci-fi novel), but this novel was a tad fuzzy on the remedying of the resolution. I think this novel would have been better-off if the author would have thought the ending through for a better resolve. I guess I didn’t buy into the fact that a writer of a TV series of the past (The Chronicles of the Intrepid) could control or influence the life and death of characters that are in the far future.  

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comment: The idea that you may die in combat is in the head of anybody that has been in any of the services of the military. I was a U.S. Marine from 1963-1967 and did think lightly about it, but when you are 18 years old and cocky, one thinks that that (I love using those words back to back) is unlikely. I’m sure many dead marines thought the same thing. Anyway, as I said, I did like the novel including the three semi strange codas at the novel’s end.

Incidentally, The Star Trek TV series debuted on NBC in 1966 and ran for three seasons (79 episodes). I don’t know if you saw it, but SNL did a parody of the show, The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise starring John Belushi as Kirk; Chevy Chase as Spock and Dan Aykroyd as McCoy. It was hilarious!

Oh no! Two of the stars of Star Trek are wearing red!

CATHARSIS

The author sent me a copy of her novel to read and review:

Is Aurora Fox the female equivalent of Dirty Harry? Maybe. Okay, I know Harry was constantly under pressure from his superiors for his illegal police actions and Aurora isn’t, but who cares? Not all novels have to be sensible or clear-sighted, do they? Do you think Marvel Comic characters, such as Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man, or Wolverine are realistic? Of course not. Didn’t Mickey Spillane’s hero, Mike Hammer (see my review of I, the Jury on 9/18/2013) kill without any police interference? Doesn’t this novel (the way it is written) remind you a little bit of the movie Dick Tracy? So, what I’m trying to say is just enjoy the story. Yes, the writing is somewhat choppy (and with editing problems) but so what...just be entertained. Not all books are vying for the Pulitzer Prize. I think the author has some crumbs on her plate but to her credit didn’t write a rubber stamped novel. I don’t know if the author intended her novel to be of my persuasion or not, but this is how I see it, period. Enough already! What’s the story about?   

Noorilhuda has written a psychological thriller that some of the other reviewers don’t seem to like. Instead they are concerned that Detective Aurora didn’t go to counselling after shooting one of the kidnappers, or the author’s prose is bad, or her characters are not realistic. Does anybody know what’s really in the mind of a pedophile or serial killer? Whatever. Anyway the novel is cleverly broken down into four days...and a few days later. And what about the characters? We have Maxwell Caine, a wacko who is both the father and son, Detective Aurora Fox who is every bit as nasty as Dirty Harry and just as focused, DA John Smith who has severe hangups, and Daniel Logan’s parents, Josh and Helena, who have a very severe love-hatred relationship (heavy on the hate). I got carried away again and forgot to tell you what the story is about. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I thought the novel wasn’t treated fairly by a some of the reviewers. Okay, once again, what’s the story about?

Daniel Logan has been kidnapped and missing for over a week. Puppet maker, sixty-seven year old Maxwell Caine, tells Detective Aurora Fox that he knows who the kidnappers are. Based on his information, she burst into the home of Will Rogers and has a shootout with a Mr. Gonzalez (aka Charlie Coco) and Juno Babosa (a local waiter at a Chinese restaurant). Gonzalez is shot dead, Detective Fox is wounded. The boy, Daniel Logan (ten years old), has been sexually abused. It turns out that Gonzalez worked for Helena Logan (Daniel’s mom) and had an affair with her (so did most of the characters in this novel). The main perpetrator of the kidnapping is still at large...he who had the boy locked up and blindfolded while he did his thing with Daniel. Has this pedophile done this before? Detective Fox thinks so. The mysterious Maxwell Caine also thinks so (does he have a multiple personality disorder, or is he just a crazy person?). The story gets even more discombobulated.

Josh and Helena have a hateful argument over what happened to their son Daniel. Later, a car is pulled out of a canal and...it’s Helena. She is still alive and rushed to a hospital, Josh is picked up by the police and questioned about his wife’s accident. The boy is temporarily turned over to friends of the Logans, DA John Smith and his wife. The DA wants the case closed quickly (why?) and objects to Detective Fox and Maxwell Caine (why is he involved?) pursuing the case. Detective Fox says to the DA that she thinks the suspect is still seeking Daniel because of the letters the pedophile has sent to her. Is he sending a message that he still wants Daniel? The DA on page 135 says, “The message being?” Detective Fox says, “That it isn’t over. That the boy is precious to them, him, whoever he is...and that the pedophile, the one who abused him, has old-fashioned taste.”

This is where I’m going to stop the review so you can buy your own copy of this brainteaser. I liked Noorilhuda’s novel and dismissed most of the flaws, but the only one that bothered me was in the chapter named Friday. Clearly Josh Logan was talking with Maxwell Caine, yet the character quoted was Ethan Maxwell (I know that they are the same person but throughout the book the two people were separated in their individual dialogues). But with all the twists and turns in this novel, maybe I'm getting confused (not!)...go figure. This has to be the first novel that I ever read where every character had some sort of emotional disorder or schizophrenia. Do I recommend this novel? Does a bear poop in the woods?

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

Comment: I’m sure that my review will be heavily attacked on Amazon because I recommended the novel for what it was...a good story. Not every book has to be on the Bestseller List, does it? There were some items to criticize in Noorilhuda’s novel which I brought up, but overall I thought she was a good storyteller. And that is my main concern when reading and reviewing a novel. The prose and edit parts take a backseat to good old storytelling.

I’m only bringing this up because when I gave A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin’s last review five stars for A Dance with Dragons (see my review of 8/01/2011) and loved it...well the Amazon reviewers destroyed my review because they generally hated the novel. Even the idiots that gave one liner reviews like, “Great read” chimed in. Oh well.

By the way, the dictionary defines Catharsis as the process of releasing strong or repressed emotions. Touche Noorilhuda!

WOOL

This is the definitive dystopian novel that all challengers will be compared to. Hugh Howey has written the ultimate novel for this genre. Originally published in nine novellas through Amazon’s direct publishing system, it is now available in three novels...Wool, Shift and Dust by Simon & Schuster. It’s not my style to read a trilogy, but I’m tempted. I think the last time I read all the books of a series (other than A Game of Thrones, which isn’t over yet) was Arthur C. Clarke’s four novels of a Space Odyssey (the last one published in 1997). It’s been awhile. So, The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins), Divergent (Veronica Roth/see my review of 11/18/2013), and Delirium (Lauren Oliver) move over...there’s a new Sheriff in town (literally). There are other post-apocalyptic novels that deal with living underground, such as Jeanne Duprau’s The City of Ember (see Kai’s review of 11/9/2014), but not quite as exciting or elaborate as Wool. It’s not that the above mentioned novels are not great theme driven stories because they are, but Wool is uncommonly special. I guess that it’s the uniqueness of a society living in an underground silo with 144 floors in a caste system run by a mayor and a sheriff with the individual fear of being sent outside in a highly toxic atmosphere to clean the silo’s sensors and lenses as a death sentence. Wow, was that a long-winded Ernest Hemingway type sentence, or what? Okay, let’s talk about the story without divulging the exciting finish.

Since Hugh Howey kills off main characters as fast as A Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin does, I must tread carefully with this review. This novel is set in the future with a unknown post-apocalyptic happening. People live underground in a 144 floor silo (are there other silos?) ruled by a mayor and sheriff. The air outside is highly toxic and unbreathable. How this catastrophe happened is not divulged in this first book (supposedly Dust, the third book answers all questions). The story opens with Sheriff Holston suddenly requesting of Mayor Jahns (a good lady) that he wants to go outside and become a cleaner. Wow, that’s a death sentence, self imposed. His wife, Allison, had requested three years ago to clean...you are put in a space type suit made by the silo's IT department and sent outside to clean the lenses that the people inside the silo use to see the outside world. Allison had discovered files missing from IT’s servers that led her to believe that the air outside was not toxic and was a hoax to keep the people in the silo. She cleaned and walked towards the crumbling city and fell down to die, overcome by the fumes (or was it IT’s faulty suit that caused her death?). Sheriff Holston goes outside three years later, hopefully to find his wife living a normal life (by the way if you don’t leave the chamber to the outside quick enough, you are burned to death in the chamber...ouch) He decides to clean the lenses before heading up the hill to seek his wife. He finds his wife up the hill...dead. And he dies alongside her.   

Does this novel sound exciting? I want to tell you everything, but I can’t. Mayor Jahns and Deputy Marnes must now find a new sheriff. The two main endorsements are Peter Billings, a judge’s clerk, and Juliette from mechanical (the mechanical department occupies the lowest levels and keeps the electricity working). Juliette was instrumental in helping Sheriff Holston solve a previous case, so the mayor thought that she was a likely candidate for the job. The mayor and deputy (do they have a passion for each other?), although getting on in years, decide to make the trek down the 144 floors to meet the applicants. This is an exhausting trip, especially when they have to climb the 144 floors back up. On the way down the mayor stops at the nursery to find out why Juliette’s father hasn’t seen her in twenty years. The mayor finds out nothing. They continue down and stop at IT. The head of IT is Bernard (not a nice man) who wants Peter Billings as the next sheriff. According to the pact (undefined in this first novel), they are to agree on who the sheriff should be. Bernard is not pleased with the mayor’s choice but may reluctantly agree for the time being (is he scheming?). The mayor and deputy proceed downward toward the garden, farming, and bazaar floors till they reach mechanical. Juliette agrees to be sheriff as long as the mayor can declare a Power Holiday so they can refurbish the machines. Done deal. The threesome head upstairs to IT to get Bernard to sign off on the proposal. He refuses and has a co-worker sign the agreement. He also has the mayor’s and the deputy’s canteens refiled (with what?).

Okay, I can’t tell you anymore. It’s still very early in this 509 page novel. By page 148...the reader is stunned by what has happened. Hugh Howey knows how to get the reader’s attention. From what I’ve read, book three will reveal all the unanswered questions. What questions? Well, I think that I know the answers, but I would like to hear it from the author. For instance what is a chit? (money earned to be spent on something?), the pact? (the original laws of the silo when they went underground?), a shadow? ( an apprentice?) and the lottery? (the right to have a baby during a brief time frame?). This novel is a big time trip down to hell or a dreamland revived. You, the reader, will have to decide. Does it sound that I liked this novel? Is there a mustache in Mexico? Okay, I think you know that I highly recommend this novel. Buy it and enjoy!

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: It’s hard for me to avoid dystopian novels. I find authors continually sending me their novels coupled with my own desire to read the contemporary dystopian classic novels. When I was much younger, I didn’t even know what a dystopian novel was. What did I read? Well what about George Orwell’s 1984, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, or Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange. Did we know the that they were dystopian? By the way, I just dropped my pen...did you ever notice how hard it is to find it? Where does it go? Never mind.

THE GIRL WITH THE TURTLE TATTOO

The author sent me a copy of his novel to review:

Daniel Basil Lyle’s novel, while somewhat of a stimulating story, was sometimes a patchwork of confusing chapters. I know Mr. Lyle wasn’t trying to emulate the late Stieg Larsson (Stieg never saw any of his novels published before he passed...so sad) by using a book title similar to Larsson’s, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium Series). The prose was fair enough, but the story was sometimes a little herky-jerky. And, the plot was puzzling and muddled at times. I almost lost interest when two of the main characters (the old oriental man and the girl with the turtle tattoo) kept getting killed and reappearing in the ensuing chapters. Lyle’s novel wasn’t second-rate per se (I know I am being critical) because he did have a unique storyline, and it started to grow on me as I got half way through the novel. Learning how to write a novel is a very difficult task (as is reviewing), and I applaud Mr. Lyle’s effort. Okay, what’s the story about?  

Our protagonist is David King, a middle aged research scientist, trying to produce a field of condensed matter known as cold fusion (part time in his garage). King is a professor of physics at a junior college in Edmond, Oklahoma, where he is under fire from the Dean of Science. One day, he is at the grocery store and gets a c-note for change instead of a dollar from a cashier with a turtle tattoo on her wrist. Once he realizes that he got the wrong change, he goes back to the store only to find out from the manager that no such girl works there. What’s going on? And the manager tells King that his hundred dollar bill is play money. King takes his mom to her cancer treatment, and mom tells him that one of the patients said that her daughter has a turtle tattoo on her wrist, but mom can’t remember her name. Dave goes home and dozes off. At 7:45 pm, King gets a call from a unknown who says, “Your life is in danger. Get out of the house. Do it now! “ Once outside, an explosion blows up his garage and bedroom.

David King goes to the college to give his lecture. His class erupts into a fight and King is called into Dean Kelly’s office and is fired. As he is packing his office keepsakes, his friend, Prof. Johnson, tells King that the hundred dollar bill he gave him earlier to examine...is real except for the pictures on the bill! What is going on? FBI agents are waiting for King when he goes home. It seems that Homeland Security checks out all home explosions (was he building a bomb in his garage?). Mom calls and tells King what the girl’s name is and where she works. David King summarizes his day for his mom after she asks him what happened on page 60, “Nothing much, Mom,” he said as he got up from his seat. “Don’t be concerned! My garage burned down, my research is destroyed, I almost got killed, I started a race-riot at work, I got fired from my teaching job, and the FBI almost arrested me-but that’s it! Everything’s fine now! Love you! ‘Bye!” I thought that this particular chapter was well written and funny.

This novel is the first of a series yet to be completely released. By the way, kudos to Daniel Lyle’s mom for painting the picture used on the book’s cover. I loved it! The author’s credentials in life are outstanding, but I have to give the readers my opinion as I review a book. Whereas I stated my problems with the novel in the first paragraph, I, in no way, think that this novel is inferior. Anybody that has written 30 books (as Lyle has) deserves his proper respect. Yes, I would recommend this novel.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

Comment: Sometimes I think that I’m a little too rough on a novel. But all my life it seems to me that my “gut feeling” has always been right. Writing a honest review is what I try to do. You will never see me review a novel with the infamous one line, “Great read”, or :)...yes I have seen that symbol for a review many times. My job is to let the author know what I think he/she did right and wrong and at the same time entertain the reader of my reviews.
 
Is this the girl’s wrist?

ROBINSON CRUSOE

This is a guest review from my 12 year old grandson Kai O:

Originally titled The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, the newly titled Robinson Crusoe is a piece of historical fiction. For a book that was written about 300 years ago, it has a uncommon goal...Defoe writes a book purely for entertainment, while most of the writers of those times wanted to educate the reader while telling their story. The book had an interesting format in some places. Defoe created graphs or lists within the story then changed at one point to a journal.  

The story starts with a young Robinson Crusoe asking his parents for their blessings to become a sailor. Although his parents deny him their blessings, he becomes a sailor anyway. On his first journey, nearly sinking, Robinson Crusoe is convinced that he will not be sailing again, although later in his life he decides on a second journey. His second journey was also a disaster. His ship was taken by pirates and sailed to Sicily. In Sicily, he was enslaved by a resident Moor. Later he escapes on a fishing boat with a slave named Xury. He escaped by sailing off when the slave master wasn’t looking. Soon they are rescued by a Portuguese ship captain, and Robinson Crusoe sells Xury to him.

When the ship gets to Brazil, Robinson Crusoe decides to stop sailing and start a plantation. Despite his plantation becoming quite successful, he soon joins an expedition to smuggle slaves from Africa. Unfortunately for Robinson Crusoe, but to no surprise to the reader, his journey goes horribly wrong. His journey is ended early when his ship is sunk in a storm, but he survives by clinging on to rocks. When the storm subdues, Robinson Crusoe makes it to a nearby island. Now this is where the story ignites.

Overall, I liked this book. Daniel Defoe is a top-notch writer who has the ability to make his readers care for his characters. The story started slow, but it was still an attention grabber. In conclusion, I think this book demonstrated strong resilience from Robinson Crusoe while he faced some fearsome challenges. Unlike most books that I’ve read, I wouldn’t recommend this book to the general audience because of the complicated beginning. I would recommend this book to the advanced readers.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: Kudos to my grandson for writing another fine review on a classic novel. I can only imagine how good his book reports will be when he gets to high school in a couple of years from now.