TREASURE ISLAND

“Shiver Me Timbers”, this novel was a treasure! Sorry for the pun, but I couldn’t help myself...I enjoyed myself immensely reading this 1883 adventure novel originally serialized in a children’s magazine, Young Folks (1881/1882). As dark as this novel is in some chapters, it’s hard to believe that children were allowed to read it. Oh well, the laws were much different in Great Britain during the 1800s. “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest-Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” That’s the drinking song of the bloodthirsty buccaneers of the times. Who are these fictitious pirates? They are some of the most well known characters in all of literature, such as, Billy Bones, Captain Flint (who has appeared in many novels and movies) and of course, the infamous, Long John Silver (he with the parrot on his shoulder). Wow what a lineup and I didn’t even mention their cutthroat crew. On the good guy side, I only need to mention the name of young Jim Hawkins, who along with Doctor Livesey narrate this story. Even though Robert Louis Stevenson died at the early age of 44 from consumption (now called tuberculosis) he was still able to write and publish such classics as The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Kidnapped. Now I’m going to tell you a little bit of the story up until the time they sail from from Bristol, England to Treasure Island in the Caribbean. Understand that I’m leaving out the juicy part, so don’t even think (for a moment) that I’m giving away the story. If you think I’m going to divulge too much...then STOP here, wuss! (just kidding). The following is my review of the first 53 pages. 

The novel is narrated by Jim Hawkins (in his early teens) except for a couple of chapters, which are narrated by Dr. Livesey. Jim works for his very ill father at the family owned Admiral Benbow Inn. One day a disagreeable seafaring man who calls himself Captain arrives at the inn. The Captain gives the innkeeper (Jim’s father) three or four gold pieces and announces, “You can tell me when I work through that...I’m a plain man; rum and bacon and eggs is what I want, and that head up there to watch the ships off.” He has a man with him who barrows a sea chest into the Captain’s room. During the day he hangs around the cove or the cliffs with his telescope (who is he looking for and what is his real name?). He stayed for months. Jim’s father was afraid to ask for more money. The Captain was drunk on rum every night and told the most dreadful stories to whomever was in the inn. Everybody was afraid of him and the inn’s customers couldn’t go home until he grew sleepy and went to bed. On a later day, Dr. Livesey shows up at the inn to check on the innkeeper’s health. After the doctor sees the innkeeper, he has words with the drunk Captain. Dr. Livesey doesn’t back down and says to the drunk seafaring man, “And now, sir, since I now know there’s such a fellow in my district, you may count I’ll have an eye upon you day and night. I’m not a doctor only; I’m a magistrate; and if I catch a breath of complaint against you, if it’s only for a piece of incivility like tonight’s, I’ll take effectual means to have you hunted down routed out of this. Let that suffice.” Winter comes and the Captain is still there. Jim’s dad is sicker.

One day while the Captain is out with his telescope, a sailor comes to the inn and asks Jim for his mate, Bill. Jim says, “Captain?” The sailor says, “the same.” The Captain comes back and sees the fellow he knows as Black Dog. They argue and draw cutlasses. Black dog is hurt and runs away. The Captain comes back in and asks for rum, but he reels and falls down. Just then the doctor enters the inn. The doctor realizes that the Captain just had a stroke. The doctor rips off the Captain’s sleeve and sees many tattoos, one saying that the Captain is really Billy Bones (He, a mate of Long John Silver and Captain Flint). The doctor draws blood (in the late 1700s, they were still bleeding patients as a treatment) and puts Billy to bed. Billy has the shakes, Jim gets him a glass of rum. Jim wants to know why the sailor was after him. Billy Bones says that they want his sea chest that was given to him when the notorious Captain Flint died. He tells Jim that he is the only one who knows where the place is. What place? During the night, Jim’s dad dies. On page 28 (yea, that’s all I’ve reviewed so far), Jim says, “I saw someone drawing slowly near along the road. He was plainly blind, for he tapped before him a stick and wore a great green shade over his eyes and nose.” The blind man says to Jim, “Will you give me your hand, my kind young friend, and lead me in.” Once in, the blind man turns nasty and has a vice grip on Jim’s arm and asks for the Captain. He puts something in the Captain’s palm and quickly leaves the inn. What did he give him? The Captain looks into his palm and says, “Ten o’clock! Six hours. We’ll do them yet.” As the Captain gets out of bed, he has a second stroke and drops dead.

Jim and his mom find a key around Billy Bones neck and take it off. They open the sea chest. Jim grabs an oilskin packet and a bag of coins and then runs out the back of the inn to get help as they hear the blind man and seven or eight pirate friends trying to break into the locked inn. The pirates get in and realize that Jim Hawkins took the packet. They hear horses coming, they run, but the blind man (who is the pirate known as Pew) runs in front of a horse and is killed. The horsemen were revenue officers coming to aide the inn. They take Jim to the doctor’s house, but he is not home...he is at Squire Trelawney’s house. Jim gets there and shows them the oilskin packet. They open it. It’s a map of Treasure Island showing where Captain Flint buried a vast treasure. They decide to go for it! On page 47 (I told you I was only going to give you a taste of the story), “Livesey,” said the squire, “you will give up this wretched practice at once. Tomorrow I start for Bristol. In three weeks’ time-three weeks!-two weeks-ten days- we’ll have the best ship, sir, and the choicest crew in England. Hawkins shall come as cabin-boy. You’ll make a famous cabin-boy, Hawkins. You, Livesey, are the ship’s doctor; I am admiral.” The doctor wanted to go with him because he knew the squire couldn't hold his tongue and the pirates also knew about the map, but the squire belayed that thought, by saying, “Livesey,” returned the squire, “you are always in the right of it. I’ll be silent as the grave.” Ha,ha, sure you will Mr. Trelawney (Was Stevenson using tree and lawn in the squire’s name to accentuate country squire? or country ignoramus?)

So Trelawney gets to Bristol and purchases a seaworthy ship named, The Hispaniola. Of course Mr. loose lips (they sink ships, don’t they?) lets the whole town know that he is going for treasure and needs a good crew (duh). Trelawney writes a letter to Livesay and Hawkins to tell them to get to Bristol immediately; he bought a ship and hired a crew. In his letter he says, “I wished a round score of men...till the most remarkable stroke of fortune brought me the very man I required. I was standing on the dock, when, by the merest accident, I fell in talk with him. I found he was an old sailor, kept a public house, knew all the seafaring men in Bristol, had lost his health ashore, and wanted a good berth as cook to get to sea again. He had hobbled down there that morning, he said, to get a smell of the salt. I was monstrously touched-so would you have been-and, out of pure pity, I engaged him on the spot to be ship’s cook. Long John Silver, he is called, and has lost a leg; but that I regarded as a recommendation, since he lost it in his country’s service (sure he did,ha-ha), under the immortal Hawke (a famous British Admiral)...between Silver and myself we got together in a few days a company of the toughest old salts imaginable-not pretty to look at, but fellows, by their faces, of the most indomitable spirit.” Can anybody be dumber? He just hired Captain Flint’s former dangerous quartermaster, Long John Silver and his ghastly crew. Okay, that’s it, I reviewed the first 53 pages. What happens after they leave Bristol and sail for Treasure Island is up to you to find out. This was a first rate novel that I highly recommend.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: If you want to read a fabulous historical novel about Robert Louis Stevenson and his romance with Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne read Nancy Horan’s Under the Wide and Starry Sky (see my review of 3/15/2014). It’s well worth the reading.

During Stevenson’s short life time, not only did he write the three classics that I mentioned in the review, but other writers also penned classic works during the years between 1850 (Stevenson is born) and 1894 (Stevenson dies). What were they? Okay, here is the ‘hall of fame’ list:

1859- Charles Darwin publishes, On the Origin of Species.

1859- Charles Dickens publishes, A Tale of Two Cities.

1865- Lewis Carroll publishes, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
1872- Lewis Carroll publishes, Through the Looking Glass.
1872- George Eliot publishes, Middlemarch.
1874- Thomas Hardy publishes, Far From the Madding Crowd. (see my review of 1/26/2015)
1891- Oscar Wilde publishes, The Picture of Dorian Gray (see my review of 8/8/2015)

How’s that for a magnificent seven (not the movie...the list of the above books).

This is the Long John Silver that I remember from the Disney movie:

A WAVE FROM MAMA

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

The second novel of A. Robert Allen’s The Slavery and Beyond Series is a straightforward historical fiction story encompassing the struggles of freed slaves in the Weeksville section of Brooklyn, NY. In Allen’s first novel, Failed Moments (see my review of 7/3/2015), the story was somewhat arcane and nebulous compared to his current work. Both novels are profound in their own way but seem totally unrelated. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing for a professed series, but I must say that I enjoyed Allen’s storytelling ability in both novels. The reader gets a history lesson along with disparate tales pertaining to the difficult plight of slaves before and after The Civil War. I think the author’s prose needs some polishing, and he could be more descriptive (a stickler for me), but overall, he did a admirable job. I must say that I’m curious what the third book in the series will disclose since the first two were so dissimilar...except for the inclusion of the NYC Draft Riots. The July 1863 protest turned into a race riot with the Irish immigrants attacking the freed slaves living in the city. History says that 119 people died on that day (mostly Blacks?). The mass departure of the freed slaves from Manhattan into the Weeksville part of Brooklyn is the premise for A Wave from Mama.

Since the Irish were certain that the Blacks would take their jobs for lower pay, the Blacks left NYC for Weeksville after the riots. The freed slaves owned most of the land in Weeksville (finally they had a place of their own). Dock workers Ezra and Moses find a light-skinned black woman dead in a tent alongside many boxes, one with a boy in it. The young boy appears to be about five years old, tiny, and very violent. He jumps out of the box shouting, “You killed Mama, and you’re all gonna pay!” Then, the boy runs away. Later, Moses catches the boy stealing food at the general store and brings him back to the store. Good-hearted Ester Washington takes the boy in. He says his name is Vent (really Venture Simmons) and that he is twelve, not five and keeps mumbling, “I’m gonna get everyone who killed Mama.” He has the unusual habit of reciting numbers, such as, 2,4,6,8. Vent finally calms down and stays with the Washingtons. He is very athletic, fast, and can climb trees like a monkey. Everybody in the family accepts Vent except Horace (Ester and Thomas’s son). Horace is very vain (always looking at himself in the mirror) and is the top student in school.

Inasmuch the Washingtons took him in, Vent feels obligated to protect the family. When Horace gets beat up over a girl, Vent gets revenge by thrashing the kid who attacked Horace. Strangely, Vent goes into the woods each night swinging in the trees like a monkey and trapping raccoons (what?). Meanwhile the African Civilization Society in Weeksville wants to move to Liberia in Africa because outside of their area...the Blacks have no rights. Some of the freed Blacks leave for Liberia. Moses (now a friend of Vent’s) saves enough of money to buy his own property in Weeksville (you need $250). Vent finally goes to school (he is brilliant at math), and tells the principal his rule, “Any animal that eats his own kind is the devil, and got to be killed.” Vent is referring to the raccoons he has trapped and to the men who killed his mother. The men that went to Liberia come back, “The local tribes didn’t accept the Americans.” I’m only on page sixty in my review. The rest of the novel pits the freed Blacks, the Irish Whiskey gangs and the mostly corrupt police force against each other during the construction of The Brooklyn Bridge. This is where Mr. Allen does his best writing and storytelling while developing some ensuing big-time twists.

This novel enlightens the reader to a piece of history that most Americans were never aware of. Why did the Irish hate the freed Blacks? On page 67, a retired police officer know as the Professor gives the answer to a rookie cop, “The Irish understand they are viewed as the shit of society and as much as this is distasteful, it provides a kind of guarantee for the lowest-paying jobs requiring manual labor. The Blacks, though, created the pinch of the game, and the Irish view freed Blacks as a threat because they’ll work for even less. I’m sure you remember the Draft Riots six years ago-even though you must’ve been a wee bit of a lad. Despite the fact the Germans, Italians, and Polish might be viewed in much the same way, the Irish consider the Blacks as the primary threat to their livelihood.” This excellent novel by Mr. Allen covers the turbulent years of 1863 through 1883 in Brooklyn, NY. I’m assuming the third novel will take the story into the early 1900s. As I’m writing this review, I realize that it’s a good thing that this novel is different from the first, because it now makes (you guessed it) two standalone-novels. I recommend this historical fiction novel.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comment: The turbulence of the first two years of the novel (1863/1865) is further explained in the author’s Historical Notes & Liberties: “The first section of the book takes place in the town of Weeksville, a section of Brooklyn dominated by free Black landowners, which was located where Crown Heights stands today. Male Blacks were able to vote in New York during the early 1860s if they owned land valued at $250 or more. Many Blacks from New York fled to Weeksville after the violent Draft Riots in 1863. These riots pitted the Irish against the Blacks and the rich. The Blacks were targeted because the Irish were infuriated at the prospect of being drafted in a war that would free the people (Blacks) who would likely steal their jobs. Blacks were beaten severely and a number were lynched by roving Irish mobs. Many homes of the rich were ransacked and some wealthy New Yorkers were physically attacked because the Irish were incensed that they were able to pay a fee to be exempted from the draft.”

My favorite movie about the Draft Riots was the 2002 film Gangs of New York directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Cameron Diaz. Another fitting book about the Civil War Riots is Barnet Schecter's The Devil's Own Work (although I haven't reviewed this book yet).

the FIREMAN

This novel was literally on fire for 747 pages. Well, at least it seemed that way with spontaneous human combustion running amok in the appearance of a new nationwide plague. Joe Hill writes a convincing account of an outbreak of Draco incendia trychophyton (simply known as Dragonscale) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. People are marked with a highly contagious spore that leaves black stripes and gold marks on the body of its host (some of the marks are very artistic)...before eventually causing them to burst into flames. Who could think of such a plague? How about Joe Hill, the son of the brilliant Stephen King, who wrote such horrors as It, Cujo, and Christine. Did his mom, Tabitha King (Caretakers and The Trap), also have an influence on Joe? I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree(s). Wow, what a novel. It’s the first contemporary novel (in a blue moon) that I had difficulty putting down before lights out. The plague has no antidote. It's spreading from city to city. NYC is among the many big cities burning down. How does one catch this deadly disease? No one knows. Cremation squads rove the streets at night ready to exterminate anyone they think is carrying the deadly spore. Hospitals have block long lines of patients awaiting treatment (to no avail). There are many significant characters in the novel, but somehow Joe Hill trims the commonalty down to a reader friendly core of five half way through the thriller. Great job! Let’s talk a little about the story.

Since New Hampshire had experienced only a few cases of dragonscale, schools were still open. Our principal character, school nurse Harper Grayson was in her office treating a child with a black eye. As she looked out the window, she saw a man staggering around the playground. He appeared to be drunk, but then she saw a fine white smoke coming out his sleeves. “The man who walked like a drunk began to sag. Then he arched his spine convulsively, throwing his head back, and flames licked up the front of his shirt. She had one brief glance at his gaunt, agonized face and then his head was a torch...school was suspended statewide that evening, with the assurances they would reopen when the crisis passed. As it happened, it never passed.” Is that an ominous start or what? The one distinct attribute of Joe Hill’s storytelling is his ability to grab your attention and hold on to it. It really is a hard novel to put down. Meanwhile, The NBA (National Basketball Association) cancels its season. “Come summer, most of the (Boston) Celtics would be dead by incineration or suicide.” Who is to blame? FOX News blamed ISIS; MSNBC blamed engineers at Halliburton (an oilfield service company); CNN blamed both. Then the unthinkable happened, “Glenn Beck burned to death on his internet program, right in front of his chalkboard, burned so hot his glasses fused to his face…” Harper goes home to her husband, Jakob. He forces her to agree to a suicide pact if they develop dragonscale. Can you believe all this happened during the first thirteen pages and the prologue? And you thought that I was giving the story away. That’s total flapdoodle!

So Nurse Harper volunteers her services at the local hospital. She is always in a full body rubber suit when handling dragonscale patients, dead or alive. One day a fireman (at least he is dressed as such) rushes into the emergency room carrying a sick boy. He demands immediate service even though he went in front of a line of dragonscale patients a block long. He says the boy has a stomach problem. The fireman doesn’t get to the end of the line when told so. Security is called and wrestle him to the ground. Before the fireman can cause a problem, Nurse Harper convinces the hospital to admit the boy because she says that he has an appendix emergency. The boy stayed three days in his room on the third floor and suddenly disappeared. How did he get out? Did the fireman use a ladder to reach the boy’s room? You just met main characters two and three: John, the fireman and the deaf boy, Nick. The first-floor cafeteria was converted into a dormitory for the healthiest of the dragonscale patients. The smolders were kept somewhere else. “Smolders smoked on and off, always ready to ignite. Smoke curled from their hair, from their nostrils, and their eyes streamed with water. The stripes on their bodies got so hot they could melt latex gloves.”(okay, I’m on page 27 of 747 pages). Later on the First-floor dormitory, we meet main character four, a lovely black patient named, Renee Gilmonton. “In a former life, she had been a professional do-gooder: organized a weekly pancake breakfast for a local orphanage, taught English to felons in the state prison and managed an independent bookstore that lost money…” She becomes friends with Nurse Harper.

One day Renee started to glow (lit up like a Christmas tree). She runs out of the hospital expecting to ignite. She wasn’t found. Later that day, the cafeteria dormitory patients ignited one after another. The hospital burns to the ground spewing ash high into the air. Harper got out in time but was showered by the ash. Her husband Jakob takes her home, washes her and then makes love to her. “A baby begins.” In the ensuing days Harper, in the shower, notices spots on her leg, “A dark, almost inky line, dusted with a few oddly mineral flecks of gold." Jakob is furious at her. Why did she have to play Florence Nightingale? Has she infected him? He leaves her for eight weeks (the incubation period) vowing that if he contracts dragonscale, he will demand her to endure the promised double suicide. While Jakob was gone, Harper finds out that, “She was pregnant and crawling with a flammable fungus.” Jakob calls and ask her if she is watching FOX TV…”She stared at the TV, jittery footage of a meadow somewhere. A few men in yellow slickers and elbow-high rubber gloves and gas masks, carrying Bushmaster assault rifles, were on the far side of the field...they were bringing people out of the woods. Kids, mostly, although there were some women with them...the first gun might’ve gone off by accident...the other guns went off, all together, firecrackers on a July night.” Then, “The newscaster was saying...illustrates the dangers of people who have been infected and who don’t seek…” I’m only on page 69, can you imagine what the next 678 pages holds for you?

Actor George Clooney was dead. He burned to death while on a humanitarian aid mission to NYC. Jakob calls Harper and tells her he has a mark on his foot, but he sandpapered it off. Jakob comes home and kicks the door open. He has a gun and tries to kill her. Harper looks at him and tells him that he doesn’t have dragonscale, but he doesn’t believe Harper’s diagnosis. Harper jumps out the window and breaks her ankle. She limps into the woods with Jakob following. The fireman is in the woods and gets the pregnant Harper into a tree house. Jakob fights the fireman and is winning until the fireman takes his glove off and ignites the hand that is wrapped around Jakob’s throat. Jakob runs away screaming (we haven’t heard the last of him). The fireman, also suffering from dragonscale, has somehow learned how to control the fire within him! Alright, I assume I've whetted your appetite and you want to finish the next 600 pages of this incredible novel. The rest of this story has more twists than Chubby Checker has. Yes, this review was long, but I didn’t even touch on the meat of this novel. Did I tell you about the fifth main character? No. Did I tell you the fireman has a British accent? Did I tell you about Bad Harold? No. Did I tell you about the pernicious Marlboro Man? No. The secret summer camp? Or Martha Quinn Island? NO & NO. You must read this novel...or you will come down with dragonscale.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: In Joe Hill’s acknowledgments section, he says,”My screen agent, Sean Daily, and his wife, Sarah, offered support and good advice, and then Sean turned around and sold the film rights to 21st Century Fox and Temple Hill.” This will be an amazing movie.

Hill’s agent and friend, Mickey Choate, died of lung cancer recently (he was 53, never smoked and ran every day). So much for following good health guidelines. Joe said, “Mickey represented me for almost a decade before I told him Hill wasn’t really my last name.” Not for nothing couldn’t Mickey see the resemblance to Stephen King?
 
It took three drafts and four years to complete The Fireman. Joe Hill also wrote New York Times bestsellers NOS4A2, Horns, Heart-Shaped Box and graphic novel, Locke & Key, Volumes 1-6.

Who does Joe Hill look like?

TAKING on WATER

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

What started out to be a somewhat typical hackneyed small town drug mystery turned out to be a wild and crazy ride in last 100 pages. The author, David Rawding, skillfully guided the reader into a typical scenario of a minor town (in this case, Newborough, New Hampshire) with a drug problem...then lowered the boom big time. About halfway through the novel, you will discover that the author has a little bit of George R.R. Martin in him (in what way?)...meet David Rawding, a newbie in the literary world. Could the novel had a better first half? Of course, but this is his maiden novel. The prose was okay, but I thought that it could have been more descriptive. But I did like his usage of italic type whenever a character was thinking something to him/herself, such as, “...but a dead man lay at her feet, his eyes still open. I’m good. She said the words over and over in her head.” So let me tell you briefly about the story.

There are four main characters (the ideal amount) consisting of James Morrow, a social worker, and the love of his life, his wife Maya, a police detective. The other two are Tucker Flynn, a down on his luck lobsterman and his wife Melanie, a housewife. The novel starts off with James getting the impression that Tucker’s son Kevin was abused by his dad; Tucker getting a hard time on the water with rotund lobsterman Tom Braxton and his cronies, and Maya getting into a shoot-out on a drug bust and kills a gang member. None of the assumed heroin was found on the site. Now that sounds like a lot happening, but it took quite a few chapters to develop. I just gave you the abridged version. After James goes lobstering with Tucker, he finds that his allegations of child abuse are wrong. The Tuckers and the Flynns become friends. Later James comes upon a jumper (Carl Mending) on the bridge over the Skog River. James tries to talk Carl down, but he jumps. Maya and the police arrive too late.

Meanwhile, James goes to the Monroe Recreational Center and finds a overdosed boy in a bathroom stall. The police show up, but once again, it’s too late...the boy dies. Maya takes it upon herself to find out how and who is supplying the town with heroin. In the meantime, psychiatrist Carol Wayneright gives a talk to the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing meeting to talk about the bridge suicide and the death of the overdosed boy. After the meeting, James makes an appointment with Carol to talk about his mental health since his father (now deceased) use to beat him and his mother. Does he now have violent tendencies? Is Maya on dangerous ground investigating the town’s problems on her own? Why did Carl jump off the bridge? After a nor’easter hits the town hard, 850 of Tucker’s 900 lobster traps are destroyed...and he also loses his second job as a security guard. Now what can he do for moolah since he is broke and way behind his mortgage?

I know that you are saying, “Why did you say the first half of the novel was hackneyed (lacking significance) when so much happened? It’s because the first half pales in comparison to the second half of the novel. And guess what? I’m not going to say a word about the second half. I will tell you only that it is full of surprises and revengeful violence. This was a good maiden novel for David Rawding. If you want to know how it ends...go out and buy a copy of this thriller. Obviously, I highly recommend.
 
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comment: There are many books that deal with hateful revenge like our protagonist, James Morrow displayed in Taking on Water. If you look at a series of novels, one would have to say that George R.R. Martin’s, A Game of Thrones (a Song of Ice and Fire) is the number one revengeful serial of all time. What about a single novel? Well, for me, the answer is simple.

The most revengeful novel that I ever read was Stephen King’s Carrie (1974). Goodreads.com says, “Carrie knew she should not use the terrifying power she possessed...but one night at her senior prom, Carrie was scorned and humiliated just one time too many, and in a fit of uncontrollable fury she turned her clandestine game into a weapon of horror and destruction…”

THE VOYAGE OUT

What does this novel have in common with the Seinfeld TV show? The show and the novel are about nothing. The novel and show are concerned with the trivialities of daily life. If you loved the Seinfeld show, you will love this novel. Virginia Woolf’s brilliant novel focuses on the upper middle class of Edwardian life in Great Britain. The voices for Woolf’s opinions are the passengers aboard a steamer heading to South America and the residents of the villa and hotel on the island of Santa Marina. They experience each other’s stances and persuasions in these three venues. They discuss art, politics, poetry, love, novels and education. Woolf’s novel has numerous characters, which is normally a no-no (so says Cormac McCarthy), but really has four main individuals (which is superb). If you read this novel carefully, you will learn how the Edwardians thought politically and socially. The novel was set in that period but not published until 1915 (The Edwardian period was between 1901-1910). Did I like this novel? Yes, but the reader must be attuned to dry prose and humor, similar to the British Public Television shows many people view with delight. Woolf’s work includes wonderful descriptive writing and long paragraphs (typical for the time frame). This was her first novel and only one written in a narrative fashion. She was influenced by the works of William Shakespeare, James Joyce and Marcel Proust. Wow, what a  threesome. Let’s talk about the story and plot (is there a plot?).
 
The novel opens with our protagonist, Rachel Vinrace, sailing on one of her father’s ten ships, The Euphrosyne (how do you pronounce that?) to South America. Rachel is 24 years old, but since her mother died when she was eleven, she has learned little about life and love (the birds and the bees included). She lives in Richmond, England with her aunts and ship owner dad, Willoughby. Her seldom seen aunt Helen Ambrose (2nd main character) and uncle Ridley (who spends his time editing the Greek poet Pindar) arrive on the ship. Aunt Helen’s brother owns a villa on Santa Marina island and Captain Vinrace will drop them off for an extended stay. When the Ambroses come aboard, they dine with Rachel, William Pepper (a Cambridge friend of Ridley Ambrose) and Willoughby Vinrace, Helen’s brother-in-law and Rachel’s father. What’s the beautiful Helen’s impression of the diners? “Pepper was a bore; Rachel was an unlicked girl, no doubt prolific of confidences, the very first of which would be: You see, I don’t get on with my father. Willoughby, as usual, loved his business and built his empire, and between them all she would be considerably bored.” Later on the trip, Willoughby picks up Mr. and Mrs. Dalloway stranded in Lisbon, Portugal. By the way, the Dalloways will be featured in several future Woolf novels including the the successful 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway.  On page 44, Clarissa Dalloway writes a letter after she says, “'Good-night-good-night! She said. 'Oh, I know my way - do pray for calm! Good-night!'”

Here is part of Mrs. Dalloway’s letter: “Picture us, my dear, afloat in the very oddest ship you can imagine. It’s not the ship, so much as the people...How long they’ve all been shut up in this ship I don’t know - years and years I should say...They talk about art, and think us such poops for dressing in the evening...then there’s a nice girl - poor thing - I wish one could rake her out before it’s too late...Oh, I’d forgotten, there’s a dreadful little thing called Pepper...It’s a pity, sometimes, one can’t treat people like dogs!” I only quote this passage so you can get the flavor of Virginia Woolf’s outstanding prose. Later, Mr. Dalloway kisses Rachel in her room and utters, “You tempt me, he said. The tone of his voice was terrifying. He seemed choked in fright. They were both trembling. Rachel stood up and went.” Was this Rachel’s first kiss? Most likely. The Dalloways get off the ship (we don’t see them again in this novel). Don’t panic, I’m only up to page 71 in a 363 page novel. Aunt Helen convinces Rachel to get off of the ship at Santa Marina island and stay at her seaside villa instead of going all the way to the Amazon with her father. At the villa, Helen offers to teach Rachel life experiences. Helen tries to enlighten Rachel about the birds and the bees. In the evening, Helen and Rachel take a walk to the hotel down the street. There (unobserved), they see the guests that will become central characters in this dry satire. The novel introduces the reader to the other two main characters: Terence Hewet, a London writer, and the extroverted St. John Hirst, a would be lawyer or Cambridge genius.

The ensuing pages merge the activities of the hotel guests with Helen Ambrose and Rachel of the villa. Many witty situations occur during the ensuing pages, such as getting mail from Great Britain…”Moreover, when the mail had been distributed half an hour ago there were no letters for either of the two young men (Hewet and Hirst). As every other person, practically, had received two or three plump letters from England, which they were now engaged in reading, this seemed hard, and prompted Hirst to make the caustic remark that the animals had been fed.”  Normally this would put me to sleep. But remember, this story is about nothing. Later two couples get engaged during the months to follow (I’m not telling who), six of the hotel/villa residents hire a steamer to go down the river to see the natives in their camps, but then, the novel takes a tragic turn. When they get back to the hotel/villa...someone will die. Who? I’m not telling. I think Woolf’s writing style will put some readers to sleep. I stayed wide awake since I enjoyed her panache. Why, I don’t know since similar novels have put me to sleep. It could be that I’m on a quest to read at least one novel from what I think are important novelist. Virginia Woolf definitely fits that category. I would highly recommend this life experience novel.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: Since Virginia Woolf’s story of a voyage occurred just before WWI, I was wondering if Katherine Anne Porter got the idea for her book from Woolf’s classic. Porter’s novel, Ship of Fools occurs just before WWII. Amazon.com says, “The story takes place in the summer of 1931, on board a cruise ship bound for Germany. Passengers include a Spanish noblewoman, a drunken German lawyer, an American divorcee, a pair of Mexican Catholic priest. This ship of fools is a crucible of intense experience, out of which everyone emerges forever changed. Rich in incident, passion, and treachery, the novel explores themes of nationalism, culture and ethnic pride, and basic human frailty that are as relevant today as they were when the book was first published in 1962.

Now for the sad news. Virginia Woolf suffered from a mental illness now known as bipolar disorder. The beginning of the Barnes and Noble Classic that I read gives year by year highlights of her life.

“1939 - On September 3, Britain and France declare war on Germany. Living mostly in Rodmell (England), Leonard (her husband) and Virginia make a plan to commit suicide in the event of an invasion.”

“1941 - On March 28, after writing a note to her husband, Virginia Woolf fills her pockets with stones and drowns herself in the River Ouse. Between the Acts is published posthumously.”
So sad.

PILLAR TO THE SKY

Having read William R. Forstchen’s One Second After (see my review of 4/15/2011), I expected to read an exciting adventure based on the novel’s title. Not so. I dozed off and on through the first 184 pages until something happened to wake me up. A woman astronaut, Selena Singh, has three of her toes sliced off when she had to unjam the tangled wire being dropped to Earth to start the building of the 23,000 mile high Space elevator. That’s right...A Pillar to the Sky. Who would even think of this project? Well, the author did. Sometimes I think that sci-fi writers come up with an idea that makes no sense at all then try to justify the story with farcical claims and details. This is one of those suppositions that makes little horse sense. I’m not saying that the story was all bad or boring but it was close to being a surreal probability at the very best. What one reads as monotonous sometimes becomes a smash hit in the movies; such as, the mind-numbing novel, The Martian (see my review of 4/15/2014) by Andy Weir. If you think potato farming is exciting then you will love this novel. If you are a reader who tends to count sheep when reading...then order an extra herd. Okay, what’s this novel about?

The novel begins with Dr.Gary Morgan, a PhD in astrophysics and engineering, sitting in front of the Senate committee headed by Senator Proxley who has the oversight of NASA’s budget. The senator reacting to Morgan’s request for money to build a 23,000 mile high elevator into space says, “In these times of economic stress, of towering deficits and public demand for budget cutbacks...pipe-dream schemes that are a waste of taxpayer’s money are utterly absurd and, frankly, a waste of my time as a senator who believes in fiscal responsibility.” As the process continues, Dr. Morgan and his wife, Dr. Eva Morgan, realize that they fighting a losing battle. Their bright daughter, Victoria, is fuming in the audience. Finally Gary Morgan makes his final statement, “Senator, ten years after its completion, this project has the potential of transforming the global economy...This project is not some ill-conceived flight of fantasy like those we see in far too many government proposals, which either deservedly get filed away and forgotten or become public embarrassments after they are attempted, when they fall flat…” The senator rejects their request for the funding of the Pillar to the Sky. As the senator leaves the room, he is verbally attacked by the Morgan’s daughter, sixteen year old Victoria, to no avail.

After the senate defeat, the Morgans are greeted by their long time mentor, Dr. Rothenberg, who consoles them at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies. From here we travel back 18 years to see how this project started and then back to the present. This flip-flopping continued for quite a few pages. I fought gamely to stay awake. Finally, the Morgans and Dr. Rothenberg found a benefactor. On page 63, Dr. Rothenberg tells the Morgans (the Morgans always seem to be together), “A friend of ours who has taken great interest in the events of today. He expected this debacle. The moment the hearing closed and it was clear that NASA would be forced to entirely drop this line of research, he was already in flight from Seattle.” Then suddenly, we zoom back to 18 years earlier. Once again, I’m counting sheep. Later, the reader finds out that the benefactor is Afro-american billionaire, Franklin Smith. On page 77, Smith says, “With your help we are going to build that.” Smith flies the Morgans to Kiribati (formerly the Gilbert Islands). This is where the Pillar to the Sky will be built or fail. Sometime later, a professor Garlin debates Franklin Smith about the project (I’m snoring) and says, “Are you familiar with the thesis of disruptive technologies?” “I am.” “You do realize if this tower-or, as you call it, this pillar-of yours actually works, it will put hundreds of thousands out of work...And to be blunt, sir, it would put into your hands, and your hands alone, access to space. I am uncomfortable with that.”

What happens next will require you to buy your own copy of this novel. Although the story was tedious for me, it might not be for you, especially if you think a space elevator can be built 23,000 miles high. I, for one, didn’t buy into the hypothesis. There was too much technical jargon versus sci-fi action. The best excitement for the first 185 pages is when Singh has her three toes severed. So I think you get my thoughts loud and clear. I must give this novel a neutral rating.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

Comment: Even though I’ve read and liked some of this author’s previous works, I will not read his novels in the future. If you write a clunker...then I move on. There are too many authors out there that I want to read before I pass on. But in doing a little research, I’ve found many despised sci-fi novels doing time in oblivion. Here are three:

The Saga of Seven Suns by Kevin J. Anderson. Blastr.com says, “Anderson has built quite a career both as a solo author and collaborator, but this epic saga has some outspoken detractors...Redditor FlaveC called it the worst pile of sci-fi crap ever!” Well, let’s cross this novel off our list of ‘books to read.’

The Eye of Argon by Jim Theis. Wikipedia says, “The Eye of Argon is a heroic fantasy novella that narrates the adventures of Grignr, a barbarian. It has been described as one of the genre’s most beloved pieces of appalling prose.” Cross that one off.

2121 by Susan Greenfield. Newstatesman.com says, “The neuroscientist’s first novel has clunking cliches, terrible characters and dialogue about the dissociation of reproduction from copulation.” So there you go, now I don’t feel bad about about wasting my time reading Forstchen’s novel. By the way there are many clunkers from big time writers that have received horrible reviews, but I choose not to mention them.

SUNBORN RISING: Beneath the Fall

The author sent a copy of his novel to my guest reviewing twelve year old grandson, Kai O:

Everything is okay in the loft...at least right now. For Barra and the many species of arboreals, life in the loft of the great trees seems unthreatened. The residents of the tree tops in the great forest have long since abandoned the roots of the trees. Meanwhile, in the abandoned roots, Creepervines are taking over. The deadly vines have already damaged most of the life in the roots and threaten to do the same in the arboreal’s loft. But the Creepervines are soon discovered when Barra finds her desisted father’s hidden journals.

Barra’s father, Gammel, predicted that the Creepervines would block the sun located in the center of Cerulean. The forest floats on a ocean around a star. However, the elder’s didn’t believe him. When Barra’s mother brings up the problem once again, the elders are still not convinced.

The angry Barra and her friends, Tory and Plicks, go to the middens (a place in the loft where Creepervines exist) to catch some bugs called kudmoths. This is because: where there are kudmoths there are Creepervines. They will use the kudmoths to prove that there are Creepervines. But in the process, the killer kudmoths chase them to the bottom of the loft in the fall of the tree (the trunk of the tree). But because they were not near the trunk, the group falls all the way to the roots. What follows is a trip down to the sun and then back up to the loft. What happens next is a journey to save Cerulean or let it die.

The author of this fantastic novel, Aaron Safronoff, wrote an enthralling story. One feature of this novel is the vivid artwork displayed throughout the novel. It really helps you to visualize the story and the many complicated species in the book. In conclusion, this was an amazing book. In some places it was a bit difficult to figure out what was going on, but the incredible artwork really helped to clear everything up. I would recommend this book to YA readers aged 10 to 14 years old because of how easy it is to get into the story.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars.

Comment: Once again, I think my grandson did a boss review. This was not the easiest book to comprehend, but Kai scrutinized the text like the seasoned reviewer he is. I remain in awe of Kai’s ability to interpolate his opinion.

Barra and her friends: