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| 0722125844
| 3.35
| 51
| Oct 17, 1985
| 1985
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liked it
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Since this is a novelization of a movie with "the Movie" in the title, does that make this "Santa Claus: the Movie: the book?" Since reading Christmas Since this is a novelization of a movie with "the Movie" in the title, does that make this "Santa Claus: the Movie: the book?" Since reading Christmas books after the New Year is against the rules, I got this in just under the buzzer. I probably first saw this movie on HBO when I was eight or so, and we recorded it later after we got our first VCR. I was the right age for this kind of movie, and I remember when I thought of Joe as one of the big kids. [image] He's 10 years old in the book, but I guessing this actor, Christian Fitzpatrick, is closer to 12? I really can't tell. This was his only acting credit save for a small part in Vice Versa (another underrated movie), and I can't find his birthday because the internet is slacking! The movie still holds a special place in my heart in spite of its flaws. (The poor thing has a 22% rating on Rotten Tomatoes... Ouch! Sure, it's pretty cheesy, but it's not that bad!) It was due to this movie that my sister and I started putting our letters to Santa in the fireplace to float away to the North Pole which my parents probably found incredibly convenient since they went to bed after we did, so they could look at the letters before Santa's magic grabbed them in the middle of the night and get some ideas about what we wanted. As far as the book goes, the screen to page translation is about as close a one as I've ever seen, but it's also better written than most super-strict transcriptions. Some novelizations read like a screenplay just barely put into a prose format. Others embellish and add scenes to the point that it's almost a different story. This one hit it just right by giving us just the movie scenes, omitting and adding very little, and making it read like an actual book. That doesn't mean it's great literature, but I enjoyed it. I put this on my "Child-Lit" shelf, but I'm not entirely sure if it belongs there. The sentence structure, vocabulary, and whatnot are just a tad advanced for elementary age children, but it's definitely a kid's story. If I hadn't seen this at the age I did, I don't think I'd have as much patience for its shortcomings. Santa Claus and magic aside, any adult could see that situations in this couldn't possibly play out the same way in the real world, and the cynical adult in me could really do a hatchet job on it. But adults aren't the target age group for the story, though I'm not sure most kids who are in that age range would be able to read it without help in a few places. The actors brought a lot to the roles. Since I've seen the movie a million times and still catch it every couple of years, I can't help but see them play their parts in my mind. I'm not sure how someone coming to this book fresh would see it play out. There was one big change, though. Patch the elf is is accidentally insufferable in the movie, and you just want to smack him on occasion for being a dodo. In the book he's an intentional, arrogant asshole, and I wanted to kick him in the head all the time. A couple of things he does alllllmost earns him the role of villain, and if it weren't for B.Z., he'd definitely be given the honor of being the chief antagonist. Dudley Moore brought some charm to the character that wasn't found in the book. [image] This was my first exposure to Dudley Moore, and it was weird seeing him play such different, more serious roles when I got a bit older. David Huddleston played Santa, and I confess this is pretty close to the picture I have of Santa when I imagine him in my mind if I see him as a real person instead of a cartoon. [image] And not that anyone cares, but he also played Sheriff Ep Bridges in The Homecoming. Oh, and apparently the big Lebowski which I've actually never seen. I know. Shoot me. His wife Anya is played by Judy Cornwell. [image] I know her better now as the romance novel loving Daisy in the 90s Britcom Keeping Up Appearances, and it was also weird reconciling the disparities between the two characters. Burgess Meredith had a cameo as the ancient elf. [image] This was long after his umbrella-toting, waddling days as the Penguin were behind him. But the one who steals the show is John Lithgow as B.Z. [image] The opposite happens with him. I've seen him in several different roles, but every time I see one of those, my mind goes back to his over the top performance as B.Z. Make no mistake, it's not bad ham at all because it's exactly what it's supposed to be for this kind of movie; his performance is flawless and fits perfectly in the niche it's supposed to fill. I'll leave you with "It's Christmas (All over the World)" sung by Sheena Easton which plays over the closing credits. I know it never made it onto the Christmas hit parade, but I love it, and it's pretty eightiestastic. Enjoy. ...more |
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| 1721331379
| 9781721331376
| 1721331379
| 3.87
| 362
| Nov 21, 2007
| Aug 21, 2018
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really liked it
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My reviews to the individual books contained in this volume are linked below. The Night Stalker: ★★★★✰ The Night Strangler: ★★★★✰ This is a new experienc My reviews to the individual books contained in this volume are linked below. The Night Stalker: ★★★★✰ The Night Strangler: ★★★★✰ This is a new experience for me. I've never listened to an audiobook without having read it for real first. I can't multitask for shit. (I'm led to believe that most men can't and most of my women friends are definitely better at it than I am.) I have friends who could listen to a book while doing chemistry equations and tell you everything about both of them if you ask them about it later. I don't exactly trip while chewing gum and walking at the same time, but focusing on two cerebral matters at once is beyond me. So, the only time I listen to audiobooks is when I have a mundane task to perform at work (of which there are plenty at certain parts of the year) or when I'm driving sometimes. That way if I miss something because I have to actually use my brain to do something else for a few seconds, it's no big deal because I've already read it. However, these books are out of print and quite expensive. Luckily the audiobook was affordable, so here we are. I don't think I would've attempted a listen if I hadn't already seen the movies and knew that the books and the movies are quite similar. Johnny Heller read both of these, and he did a great job. He's not on the top tier for my favorite narrators, but he's pretty damn close, and I think he did a better job with the second book. Or maybe I was just used to him doing Kolchak by that time. I couldn't get Darren McGavin out of my head for the first book, and my brain kept trying to paste his voice over Heller's. For the second one I pictured McGavin, but was fine with Heller providing the voice. Check these out if you enjoyed the movies or the old show. ...more |
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| 0671783432
| 9780671783433
| 0671783432
| 4.09
| 323
| 1973
| 1973
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really liked it
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I'm having trouble deciding on a couple of shelves for this book. Firstly, I'm not sure if this counts as a novelization and if I should consider it s
I'm having trouble deciding on a couple of shelves for this book. Firstly, I'm not sure if this counts as a novelization and if I should consider it such. I'm going to go with "no," but I could be wrong. The made-for-TV movie Kolchak: The Night Stalker was released first and the novel followed, but the novel was written before the movie was made. Rice was having trouble getting it published, but some agent read it, thought it'd make a great movie, and so they went that route. The novel wasn't published until after the sequel movie, Kolchak: The Night Strangler, was released because the powers that be wanted both books to be in the one and two spots for the publisher's list in 1974. The novel for Kolchak: The Night Strangler is definitely a novelization because Rice wrote it based on the screenplay for the movie, pretty much the reverse of this one. But this? I don't know. What are the rules for a movie that comes out based on an unpublished novel but the novel comes out later? Next is the "liked movie better" shelf. The story is the same in both the book and the movie with minimal changes, so I can't use my "they're a little too dissimilar" cop-out. The book is grittier, has a bit of profanity which is well placed and doesn't shy away from some seedier aspects of life in Las Vegas. Since the movie was a made-for-TV deal in the early '70's, it had to tone down a lot of that. However, Darren McGavin stars as Kolchak, and he makes that thing work, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. His interactions with his editor, the police, and just about anybody is a treat to watch. The character of Kolchak is great in the book, but if I had read it first, I don't think I would've seen the extra dimension McGavin brought to the role. As it is, I saw him playing out his part in my head in spite of the fact that the narrator didn't sound anything like him. This is a very tough call, but after looking at this paragraph, I think I'll say I liked the movie better... for now. The decision would be easier if the movie was just a bit grittier like the book. However, one shelf decision that's easy-peasy is the "dead dog warning" one. Said shelf exists because a friend who is a huge dog lover hates seeing dead or injured dogs in her books, so I do this for her benefit. I'm not sure why I continue since she hasn't been on this site for four years as of this month (12/23), but since the shelf is there I reckon I'll keep it updated. However, my friend should never, ever read this book. There are more dead dogs in this thing than any other book I've ever read if you're talking sheer numbers, and a couple of them die rather horribly. You have been warned. This story concerns a vampire in modern day... well, modern when it was written... Las Vegas. Kolchak is a newspaper reporter who is able to believe the unbelievable. This comes in handy when the unbelievable turns out to be true. In fact, Kolchak is the only person in this with a lick of common sense, and almost everyone else is infuriating. I don't believe that vampires exist myself, but if I saw a supposed 70-year-old man clean the clocks of the entire police force, take about 30 bullets without batting an eye, and escape cars and helicopters at a flat-out sprint without getting winded, it would behoove me to consider that maybe, just maybe, we're not dealing with a regular man here. So, why not try the anti-vampire techniques? You know, just give them a shot and see what happens since nothing else has worked so far. If they don't work either, what's been lost? The powers that be don't see it that way, and Kolchak has to deal with that knowing that he's been right the whole time. It really pisses me off, but being so tied up in it is the sign of a good story. And the ending enrages me to the point that I thought my head would explode, but I won't go into all that. I wonder what kind of vampire Skorzeny is. Father Callahan from Salem's Lot and the Dark Tower Series identifies three different types. Type ones are the big, bad dudes like Dracula who live for centuries, can do mind control, shape shift, are super strong, super intelligent, wily, etc. Type twos are strong, can make other vampires with a bite, but aren't all that bright, can't do the other supernatural shit, and don't tend to live very long. Type threes are mostly human, can move in sunlight, eat food, etc. They drink blood and can put their victims in a trance while they're sucking on them so the victim doesn't remember being bitten, but that's about it. They can also die from more ordinary means and aren't injured by crosses and holy water. Skorzeny must be something between a one and a two because he's strong, and has type one and two weaknesses, though I don't remember him making any new vampires in the book. However, he's much smarter than twos, but doesn't seem to have the mind control and shape shifting abilities of ones. Does that make him a 2.5? Or maybe a 1.5? How about a one minus or a two plus? I don't know. Does anyone really care? I don't know that either. Regardless, this was a great book. Finding an affordable physical copy is impossible, so I had to go with the audiobook. The narrator did a great job. He didn't sound anything like Darren McGavin, but that's fine. Check it out. ...more |
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Nov 30, 2023
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Nov 29, 2023
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| B0075ZFCYW
| 3.97
| 199
| Jan 01, 1974
| Jan 31, 2012
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really liked it
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Well, this is just bizarre. The first book isn't a novelization, but I liked the movie better. This one is definitely a novelization, yet I liked the
Well, this is just bizarre. The first book isn't a novelization, but I liked the movie better. This one is definitely a novelization, yet I liked the book better... [image] Novelizations aren't allowed to be better than the movie. Isn't that like illegal or something? Parts of this were seedier and darker than the film version, and the villain was definitely a bad dude, no question about it, and the story is much better because of it. In the movie, he's doing his dastardly deeds with the betterment of human society as his main goal. In the book, he just wants to keep on living and he doesn't really care about the damage he does or how it affects other people. He uses the "this will make mankind better" as an excuse, but that's all it is. I really appreciated that twist, and I'm not sure why the producers didn't roll it out that way. There was also a lot of extra history provided that enriched the tale. Kolchak is still a fantastic character, and watching him butt heads with every-damn-body is a lot of fun. It's a shame everyone he has to work with is hard-headed as hell. I really don't have a lot to add that I didn't say in my review of the first book. I guess that makes this one of the shortest reviews I've done in recent memory, and we all say hallelujah. ...more |
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Nov 29, 2023
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Kindle Edition
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| 9798350925005
| B0CJ6C8XKX
| 4.00
| 1
| unknown
| Nov 10, 2023
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really liked it
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11/26/23: Matt has written another book in the JamGuy series. Now that JamGuy has gotten himself outside to see the larger world, he's decided to take 11/26/23: Matt has written another book in the JamGuy series. Now that JamGuy has gotten himself outside to see the larger world, he's decided to take a hike with some friends. He learns what he needs to take for such a venture, and sees some cool stuff. The target age group for this is ages three to seven, or preschool to second grade. The message is wonderful, and I think kids that age would love the story. However, like with the first book, some of the words are a bit advanced for that age (e.g. carabiner), but I get it. It's never too early to introduce such terms when the subject matter is hiking. I noticed a couple of extremely minor grammatical issues, but they might fly in today's world, at least with those who feel that grammar evolves as time goes one. I know it evolves, and I can give allowances for some matters, but I'm pretty stubborn with others. (For example: "Their" can't be used to refer to a single person [or jam in this case], I don't care what anybody says. I realize the powers that be are more lenient about this nowadays, but my brain breaks a little when I see it used that way. I guess it's just stylistic preference now, and I'm going to be an asshole about it.) The illustrations are once again rather adorable, and the story gives a great message. You'll have to explain a couple of words to your kids, but that's what parents are for; it's all part of the learning process. The last book got me to get up and start taking walks around my neighborhood. Miraculously, I continued this kind of regularly for a couple of months before falling off the beam. (I normally quit that kind of thing within a couple of days.) However, I doubt I will be doing any hiking anytime soon. I might have a case of bronchitis setting in as I type this (I'll check with the doctor tomorrow). I haven't been sick in over four years, but I used to get bronchitis like it was my job about a decade or so ago. One year I think I got it four times. Regardless, I have some kind of creeping crud trying to infiltrate my lungs and a stuffy head, and though I otherwise feel fine... mostly..., I'm confident that taking a long hike in the next few days would not be conducive to good health until whatever this is passes. (That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.) A trip to the mailbox might be alright, though. I think these books are great for the target age group, and I look forward to continuing the series. I won't go so far as to say that I wish I had some kids to read these books to, but if there were some age appropriate kids around, I would totally read this to them... And it looks like I can screw up the plural/singular thing within a single sentence myself... I hate it when I get my britches hung up on my own pitchfork, but it's no less than I deserve. Alas. JamGuy goes camping in the next installment (that book comes out in a few days), and I think in a couple months he gets involved with some beans, or something; I don't remember the title of that coming attraction. I reckon I'll find out then. ...more |
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Nov 26, 2023
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Nov 26, 2023
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Nov 26, 2023
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| B005XEREPM
| 5.00
| 1
| unknown
| Jan 01, 1992
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it was amazing
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Wow, would you look at this! Some fool's done gone and put the Sears catalog on here. It might not be up forever since it's not a real book, and every
Wow, would you look at this! Some fool's done gone and put the Sears catalog on here. It might not be up forever since it's not a real book, and every now and then some Goodreads librarian with nothing better to do will patrol the site and delete stuff like that. (Or maybe some asshat user narcs it out; I don't know.) I have personal experience with this. I had a review up for the One Line a Day journal. [image] It's a five year diary with each page split into five sections. You fill out the few lines at the top for that day one year, then you do it again in the second section the next year, and so on. You can see where you were the year before, how much you've grown or devolved, or whatever. I started my third one of those this year, so I've been at it for 11 years and have 3,972 entries as of this writing (11/16/23)... Damn... I think I'll give myself a pat on the back for that since it's not unusual for me to give up on a task of that nature pretty soon after I begin. [image] Maybe... Anyway, I found that book on here, wrote a review, and it was a good review... I think. Unfortunately there's no way to check because some bastich came along and deleted the book even though it has an ISBN number and everything (978-0811870191, ya asswipes), and so my review went with it. I tried to send a message to the Goodreads gurus about it, but there don't seem to be any Goodreads gurus or at least anybody willing to admit that they are are one, but I was frequently redirected to some page describing what is and isn't a real book that's allowed on the site. [image] I doubt this catalog can boast an ISBN number, so this review may very well be gone before I even finish writing it. The rating and review represent how I feel about the old catalog in general. To be clear, I did not read this particular catalog (or any of them) from cover to cover. I'm not even sure which year the one shown in the picture represents, but if I had to guess, I'd say 1987 because in fourth grade I totally had the shirt that kid is wearing. [image] However, there's something off here. The woman's hair style is not mid-80s. And her shirt/blouse/sweater/whatever looks a tad more modern too... Standby while I conduct more research... Well, fuck it all to hell and gone. It looks like that cover is from the 1991/92 winter edition. [image] (Ignore the woman on the right; that's the cover for the 1992 summer catalog. Those were never as fun as the winter/Christmas ones, at least not until I got older, but more on that in a moment.) And even though it's close, that's not the shirt I had; that kid's shirt is stupid. However, the shirt was the catalyst that prompted me to do this review... Goddammit, another senseless accident, and another pointless review. Oh well, since it is already started, I guess there's no reason not to see it through to its conclusion. I mean, it's not like you have to read it, so feel free to depart now. And this is really Goodreads' fault. Why don't you let us see bigger pictures when you click on the book image? You used to allow that, but nooooo, that convenience isn't good enough for your new and improved site. If I had been able to enlarge the image, I would've seen that it was a different shirt, and this whole review could've been avoided. Not to mention you made me a liar about owning that shirt. Fie on you, I say. Fie! Fie! But how about the catalogs? They were awesome. Sincerely! Kids these days don't know what they're missing. They have the internet and can scroll through whatever sites, and instantly order anything they want. I had to wait for the catalog to find out what new toys were coming out, and Sears had the best. The thing was sometimes as big as a phone book! Then you could just stare at the toy pages and dream. Daydreaming is good for kids. Hell, it's good for adults too! I don't think kids get enough daydreaming time nowadays. They have their fancy gee gaws which do most of their thinking for them, and absolutely no imagination. I didn't exactly wait for the catalog with bated breath, but I sure spent a lot of time poring over the toy section, mentally marking what I already had, wishing I could get what I didn't, and compiling a Christmas list for Santa. Then my imagination would take me away to see the scenarios I could act out with the new toys I didn't have, and it was a grand old time. Just look at some of the shit you could drool over: There was Masters of the Universe... [image] ...and GI Joe... [image] ...and Thundercats... [image] ...and Transformers... [image] ...and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... [image] ...and My Pet Monster... [image] ...and... Well, I could go on and on and on, but you get the gist. And do you remember Teddy Ruxpin? [image] I never got him, but who wouldn't want a talking bear who told you stories once you shoved a cassette tape into his back? Once upon a time you could get just about anything at Sears. Hell, they even sold mail order houses! They got out of that line before I came along, so I never saw that in the catalog, but there were toys, clothes, linens, tools, appliances, kitchenware... You name it, they had it. When I turned 11 or 12, I started to take an interest in the clothes section, but it wasn't really the clothes I was looking at. It was the boys and men models that titillated me. I was rather confused about this fascination at the time, but I got it all straightened out several years later... Well, not "straightened" out... Well, "it" was often straightened out when I scoped out the catalog, but "I" never was... At least, not the full "I"... I mean, only part of "I" got straight from time to time, but that part was straight then because the rest of me wasn't straight, you got that straight?... What the hell am I talking about? Anyway, all my straight friends... [image] No. Sorry. My hetero friends had it made. They had older brothers or cousins or friends with Playboy or Penthouse or the like, and even those that didn't could get their hands on a Victoria's Secret. What did I have? The fucking Sears catalog, boys/men underwear section which was like four pages max, but God bless them for coming to the rescue. (The bathing suit section in the summer edition was a bonus.) Truth be told, I think the JCPenney catalog had better eye candy, but we got that too, so I was set... or as set as one can be under such circumstances. For everything else, though, Sears was where it was at. It's a shame it's just about gone dick up. ...more |
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Nov 16, 2023
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| B00RLRWW9C
| 0.00
| 0
| Dec 29, 2014
| Dec 29, 2014
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As near as I can tell, this book doesn't actually exist which is a shame because the author's name is awesome, and I really want to read it... Actuall
As near as I can tell, this book doesn't actually exist which is a shame because the author's name is awesome, and I really want to read it... Actually, I just wanted an excuse to drop this song somewhere, and I reckon this the best chance I'll ever get. Sing it with me! Mistadobalina, mistabobdobalina! I guess there's always hope that it will come back, but since it was, ahem, published on Kindle nine years ago and there's nary a review or rating for it (until now), I expect it's gone for good if it was ever here at all. And it's only 24 pages long. How many horror stories can there possibly be? My curiosity is up now. It does say they're short, though, so I reckon there could be a few. I guess I'll never know. Alas. ...more |
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not set
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Oct 05, 2023
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Kindle Edition
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| 4.15
| 8,675
| Oct 1979
| Oct 1979
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really liked it
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HD Film Tributes music video: Halloween main theme by John Carpenter. I'm the only person I know who has the soundtrack to this movie on CD. My friend
HD Film Tributes music video: Halloween main theme by John Carpenter. I'm the only person I know who has the soundtrack to this movie on CD. My friends used to make fun of me over the fact, and well they should. Firstly, if you have a copy of this, hold on to that shit, and save it for some rough times! The cheapest one of these I could find was $250, which is well out of my price range. I mean, shit, that's like a car payment! Or at least it used to be. Fortunately some unscrupulous soul has done and put this up on the internet so that this unscrupulous soul could read it. You know, I took an ethics class in college. It must not have made much of an impression. Oh well. This was fantastic, at least for a novelization. The story in the book and the movie are pretty much the same, scene for scene except in the beginning. It gave some background information about Michael that let us know what the hell was the matter with the boy. I liked those scenes. However, it also gave us scenes from his point of view which let us know what he was thinking, and I wasn't all that keen on that. In the movie, Michael kills his sister and then shuts up for the rest of his life. When he gets stabbed or injured in any kind of way, he does it Timex style by taking the licking and keeping on ticking. (Well, after a brief fainting spell to reset himself, but nobody's perfect.) He also attacks everyone Charlie Chaplin style: silently. (Except for his breathing. Like I said; imperfect.) He's always there, and his victims have no intimation of his coming. I find the silence and mystery much more menacing than any noise and explanations. I always thought of him as a kind of Jaws who just stalks and kills. (Kind of like a landshark!) There isn't really much rhyme or reason behind it; it's just what he does. The book gives us his POV and thoughts from time to time, and that kind of lessens the terror you get in the movie. It humanizes him a bit, and one of his most terrifying traits was his complete disconnect from humanity. He also talks for the first few years in the institution, and he's usually grunting when physical exertion requires it. This is certainly terrifying since he is killing your ass, after all, but doing all that silently seems scarier to me. Also, we learn that Michael Myers often has a raging boner when he stalks his prey, and nowhere in this book does it mention that he takes care of it. I'm sure you know what this means. If the boy had just learned how to jack off, he could've gotten everything out of his system, and about 90 people would be alive today. (See comments section below). We won't count his sister Judith since he was only six then, and masturbation is a skill typically picked up during adolescence, but surely he should've learned how to wax the bishop sometime in the following 15 years. I was 12 myself when I stumbled upon this vital, life-saving skill, but I had some friends who started as young as 10 and two who claim they were 18 before they gave in to temptation. (One of them I actually believe.) But Michael was fucking 21 years old and must've had blue balls from hell. No wonder he was so pissed off! This is recommended just for die-hard fans of the movie who would like a little bit of extra background info. The book is quite good, but the movie is better. Appendix from the Damn Fool Archives: Back in the MySpace days... [image] Hi! Oh, look! It's my first social network friend, Tom, come to say how-do! Anyway, as I was saying, back in the MySpace days, I did three blog entries tallying up Michael Myers' kills, and I eventually copied them over to Facebook a few years later, and I saved all those notes when I got off Facebook about 10 years ago. Back in 2006, the internet didn't have this information, though it's since been added at some fan sites, and those counts differ from mine by a couple of deaths. They're probably right, and I'm not going to argue with them since I really don't care. I'm going to post my blogs in the comments section complete with spelling and grammatical errors (and possibly some bad math). They cover the original run of movies from Halloween (1978) through Resurrection. Making sense of the franchise since then has gotten confusing. There are 13 movies now, but not all of them relate to each other. You can watch the first series which has seven movies, (movies one and two and four through eight; part three is always ignored since Michael Myers isn't in it, but it still technically counts as a Halloween movie due to the title.) Or you can watch the second series which is movies nine and ten and counts as a reboot. (I don't recommend this.) Or you can watch the third series which covers movies one and 11 through 13. (Movies two through ten were kicked out of the band to make this work.) One can only hope that they are now done with this madness. Enjoy. ...more |
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Oct 15, 2023
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Oct 04, 2023
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Mass Market Paperback
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| B0CJ4FJHMX
| 4.41
| 32
| unknown
| Sep 16, 2023
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really liked it
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This is going to be two reviews, or perhaps a review with a followup. Sean has a blog entry where he shows how the sausage is made which I plan to rea
This is going to be two reviews, or perhaps a review with a followup. Sean has a blog entry where he shows how the sausage is made which I plan to read later. I don't always like knowing how a magic trick is done because it takes the thrill out of it, but it really depends on my mood, and I am interested in reading about the process behind getting this book out but not before giving my own, for lack of a better term, unbiased or uninformed review. The blog post may or may not explain a couple of things that confused or bothered me, but I'll find out later. Also, I received a delayed reader's copy, and the author did not require a review, honest or otherwise, (though he said I would "honor [him] with one"), but really, since when have I read a book and not reviewed it? (I think he knows that about me.) If you'd like to read it yourself (which I highly recommend), you can get a copy from Amazon here in paperback or on the Kindle. Ignorant review: For 16 days this book had a perfect five star rating from six raters, and here I come with my four to knock it cattywampus. [image] Now I feel like an asshole. Oh well. I always try to be honest with my ratings, and I honestly "really liked" this, which is what the fourth star stands for. This is Sean's first book, and I must say I'm quite impressed. I've read several books from novice authors that I thoroughly enjoyed, yet I often felt like they were stories turned in for a college creative writing course. There were always minor, rookie flaws peppered throughout, usually implausible solutions to problems such as a deus ex machina to get the author out of a corner he had accidentally put himself into. Sometimes research on a specific topic didn't go all the way (or worse, no research was done at all and the author was just making shit up). Then there are editing mistakes such as occasional typos. This doesn't suffer from any of that. This was like reading a real book from a real author put out by a real publisher. It's clear a lot of research was done, (this is confirmed in the acknowledgments), and though I can't say how accurate the findings are since I'm not an expert in the fields discussed, nothing stood out that made me cry "bullshit." Sean and I have had a correspondence going on for a few months about this, that, and the other, and I've always been impressed with his vocabulary and his writing ability. He uses that to great advantage with his prose as well. However, there were a couple of stylistic elements that grated on me right from the start, but it's really due to personal preference. He has a tendency to use sentence fragments instead of a complete sentence. I suspect this was done for emphasis or flow (I suck at English lit stuff, so I'm not sure what the right term is), but I'm afraid it drove me to distraction due to the frequency, especially for the first couple of chapters. Once in a while is fine, and such maneuvers work to a writer's advantage if it's used sparingly, but this was everywhere. After chapter two, though, I threw out a serenity prayer to the heavens, and plowed on. At that point he either stopped doing it (or at least didn't do it as often; I did see it again from time to time), or I just stopped noticing. Once I made a conscious effort to just appreciate the story and stop treating it like an English assignment I needed to grade, I enjoyed the ride. I'll give an example since I brought it up. Here's a sentence from page nine: "Squatted over the remains." That's the whole thing. There's no subject in that sentence, and my brain just has a syntax error over such syntax license. I knew what the subject was because it was mentioned two sentences prior. (Yes, the sentence before that one was also a fragment, although a much longer one.) It works, but it irks. I also got lost a couple of times when a long dialogue was playing out because he wouldn't always use "he said," and "she said," or something similar to indicate who was speaking, and I had to go back to figure it out. However, I confess that my reading comprehension skills are sometimes slightly below average, so this could be a personal problem. The other thing I noticed, though it didn't bother me as much, was a lack of articles and conjunctions. They were there sometimes, but they weren't always there. This is also personal preference stuff, so if that kind of thing doesn't bother you, then you won't have any trouble with it. This book is also progressive, but not hatefully so, just annoyingly so, at least to one with my right-wing sensibilities. (I hail from the basket of deplorables in MAGAland.) The story is set in the post-pandemic era when masks are no longer required, but life hasn't completely gotten back to normal, so there are mentions of it here and there, and opinions, etc., etc. I understand an author wanting to weave his views into his work, and I actually encourage that if it's done well, but that is sometimes a difficult trick to pull off. One of my favorite quotes from Stephen King's It occurs when Bill is in a writing course in college, and the class is talking about lofty English Lit matters and he finally says "I don't understand any of this. Why does a story have to be socio-anything? Politics... culture... history... aren't those natural ingredients in any story, if it's told well?... Can't you guys just let a story be a story?" I think Sean almost pulls that off; it's so close. He's certainly ahead of a couple of professional authors who really ought to be a lot better at this kind of thing. Yeah, I'm looking at you Stephen King (who used to be excellent at it, but has either lost that subtle skill or just doesn't give a shit anymore) and John Irving (whom I will never read again because the one book of his I did read left such a bad taste in my mouth due to this very issue though the book was rather decent otherwise.) The point is the author can express his own views on divisive matters without bludgeoning the reader to death with them, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate Sean doing it that way. His characters have a conversation about whatever topic (or we get an inner monologue), they air their grievances, then that's that. They move on, and it's back to the story. The character who did this the most was Jessie. I disagreed with almost all of her political, cultural, environmental, whateveral opinions, but I really liked her as a character. Did any of those conversations she had with whomever add anything to this story about a werewolf terrorizing a town? Not at all. However, they did add depth to her character. But is depth of character important in this kind of story which is a light, horror comedy? I don't know; you'll have to be the judge of that. Personally, I don't think so, but I could be wrong. (Update: This is explained in his blog post linked above. See below.) But that's enough nitpicking. This was an absolute joy to read, and I may even give it a reread one day because it was a lot of fun. It was quite humorous, and it's horror without excessive gore. Don't get me wrong; gore is just fine with me, but a lot of writers throw it in there gratuitously just for the sake of shock value, and that has never impressed me. (I've even been known to fall asleep during splatter films.) Sean doesn't do that. The gore here fits in just right. The plot was great for this kind of book and worked perfectly. The subtle nods to other franchises were great. (There were several, and I wish I had jotted them down, though I do remember a reference to Tombstone, and General Zod is the best name for a dog ever.) And it happens during Oktoberfest! I've always felt that was a holiday that doesn't get enough glory. (I love Oktoberfest music, and if I still drank and weren't an alcoholic, I'm sure I'd love the beer part of the holiday too, but that's just for people who can handle it responsibly, and if that's you, then roll out the barrel and have a barrel of fun.) For some reason Oktoberfest seems to be set during Halloween instead of late September in this, but writers are allowed a bit of license to make the story work. (You should see the holiday/full moon timeline abuse Stephen King does in Cycle of the Werewolf, and nobody complains about that.) To be fair, the name is a bit misleading. The holiday runs for a couple of weeks in September and usually ends the first Sunday in October. Then there were the characters. They were all believable, and I enjoyed reading about their complicated relationships with each other. Unless I miss my guess, I suspect they were based on people Sean knows personally, or at least has met in various walks of life. The most memorable of these is Waff. I'm sure we all know a fuckup who could screw up a wet dream and really isn't worth the buckshot needed to blow him to hell. You know; the kind of fellow who can be infuriating due to his irresponsibility, but we keep him around anyway for other redeeming qualities. Usually because these people tend to be a hoot. (And it looks like Sean isn't the only one who can drop a sentence fragment. Dammit, I hate it when I lose credibility.) I simultaneously loved and hated Waff, and (view spoiler)[I wasn't too upset when he died nor was I upset when it turned out he survived, all thanks to him being the fuckup that he is. (I suspected this would be the case since the death happened off screen, so to speak.) (hide spoiler)] To sum up: This was a load of fun though a couple of stylistic elements might be an acquired taste. Extra note apropos of nothing: I have a million homemade bookmarks from stuff like event tickets, wrapping paper, pictures, and movie tickets (such as they are now; you have to print the things out if you want a keepsake, and where's the fun in that)? Mama and I saw the 1989 Batman in the theater a couple years ago, and of course I saved that one for this purpose. Sean and I have discussed that movie a few times, and we both well remember the summer of Batmania with nostalgic fondness. Sean also sent me a card with the book that had Batman on the front. This seems like fate, or destiny, or kismet to me: use the Batman ticket bookmark. I actually just laminated this one a few weeks ago, and this was its maiden voyage. [image] (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is on the back waiting for its ride when I get to that novelization.) Thank you, and you're welcome. Now I'm off to read the blog post to see what I missed. Enlightened review: I really don't have much to add here. He discusses how the book came about, why it took 14 years, what was going on in his life during that time, how that worked its way into the story, etc. He used to be a screenwriter for Hollywood back in the day, and he was actually blackballed by them over this story. Personally, I would consider being blackballed by Hollywood a badge of honor since I consider L.A. one of the five cesspools of American rot. (Then the poor man moves right to one of the other four, NYC.) I appreciated getting the extra info. If you enjoy those documentary extra features on DVDs, then you should check it out too. He did answer one of my questions, though, the one about sociowhatever issues being interwoven into the story and whether or not they belong there. In short, his answer is the same is mine which if you recall is "I don't know." But let him tell you about it: Rather than being rendered irrelevant by the current events that coincided with its writing, The Dogcatcher actively engaged in real-time conversation with those sociopolitical happenings.And there you have it. For the record, this reader came to be entertained, and he was. The base of this is shock-schlock which is often the only thing some people want in this kind of work. However, the seasonings (his prosocial values, the characterizations, family dynamics, town dynamics, themes, etc.) add a depth I certainly appreciate and it raises the quality which is nice to see. This will never be one of the Great American Novels, but it's not trying to be. Recommended to all horror fans... Woops, there I go again. Damn sentence fragments... AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!! It must be contagious! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 2023
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Oct 10, 2023
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Sep 28, 2023
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Paperback
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| B01MA439UJ
| 4.14
| 7
| unknown
| Jul 31, 1996
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really liked it
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Part of my comic book reread project. Continued from The Trial of Superman. 3.5 stars rounded up to four. The rating applies to the whole run of comics Part of my comic book reread project. Continued from The Trial of Superman. 3.5 stars rounded up to four. The rating applies to the whole run of comics from February to September of 1996, and not just the three part "Bottle City" story that ends it. This isn't a trade paperback; I'm just using this "Bottle City" story as a checkpoint since there's almost a whole year between "The Trial of Superman" and "The Wedding and Beyond." Also, I believe something that happens in the "Bottle City" story starts a process that culminates in Supes' powers changing sometime after the wedding, so it's as good a place for a marker as any, but I better stop before I get ahead of myself. Course, I could be wrong since I don't think I've read this in nigh on 30 years. I started college around the time these stories came out, so I had to wait until I was home on break to catch up on them, and I had about six years worth of comics by that point, so rereading them from time to time was no longer a viable option. Superman is back from his trial, and it's business as usual. There's always serial, soap opera stuff going on in the background behind the main stories, but for this whole eight-month run the soap opera shit is the main story. Throughout all of it, every Tom, Dick, and Shithead tries to wild out in Metropolis, and with the exception of a couple of stories, those encounters take a backseat to the drama which is Lois and Clark's deteriorating relationship. Here's a selective summary. We start off with don't care dealing with who cares, then more don't care, and yadda, yadda, yadda, and whatever. The point is that it takes Superman away from Lois every single time they're about to have a moment. Then Lori Lemaris returns. She was a friend of Clark's from college waaaaaaaaay before he and Lois ever met. She used to be a mermaid. Now she has legs on dry land, but things get fishy when she's wet. [image] (Think Madison [Daryl Hannah] from Splash.) Lois questions Clark about why he never told her about Lori, and it's here that we get the first intimations that Lois might be getting a little neurotic. Lois also let's Lori stay in her apartment with her even though she's jealous of her and there isn't anything between Lori and Clark other than an old friendship. Then it's guest star month starting with Batman, and we get what is easily the best story in this eight month run. Lois falls down sick, and it's determined she's been slowly poisoned by a Joker action figure the Joker left in her apartment the last time he was in town. This will kill her in a couple of hours. Superman consults Batman, they visit the Joker in Arkham, and he tells them that if they insert the toxin into the Joker's body, that will combine with his unique blood to create the antidote though it will kill the Joker. The choice Superman faces is to either kill the Joker to save Lois or let Lois die. Superman doesn't take lives, but Lois is his fiancee and he loves her more than anything. In short, the Joker has put Supes in a no win situation because even if he saves Lois' life, Lois wouldn't respect Superman anymore because he killed to do it, and Superman wouldn't be able to live with himself either. Of course, the Joker is always willing to die for a good joke, though it never seems to turn out that way. Superman decides to let Lois die, but at the last second she comes to. That would've been the Joker's coup de grace. Think how nuts Superman would've gone when he discovered he killed the Joker for no reason at all. [image] This version of the Joker is reminiscent of Heath Ledger's portrayal in The Dark Knight, and I just love that madman. After that, guest star month continues with Spectre, then Plastic Man, and Impulse, and Captain Marvel with stories that are respectively what the fuck, and no seriously what the fuckity fuck, and don't care, and whatever. All of these take Superman away from Lois even more whenever they're trying to have a chat, and then suddenly... [image] Yep, between not getting any time together, and her irrational jealousy of a fish, and Superman deciding to let her die, Lois has had enough and called off the wedding. Meanwhile, Lex and Contessa have met again (they knew each other ages ago), and their relationship is heating up, though each has ulterior motives to thwart the others' plans. Jimmy Olsen, whom you remember left the Daily Planet and became a reporter and sometimes anchor for the GBS TV station, is proving to be a world class shit by letting the fame going to his head. He loses his girlfriend because he's seeing another woman, he steals notes off his old collegues' desks just to get a scoop which not only causes real world trouble but also trouble for Lois and Clark's friendship. He also pesters people seconds after they've either lost a loved one or nearly lost their lives and shoves a camera in their face for an interview. In short, he's the epitome of the obnoxious reporter you just want to deck. [image] (This actually happens later on, the blow delivered by his own ex-girlfriend in fact, and it. was. sweet!) Superman and Lois try to deal with their new relationship status, and talk, and misunderstand, and etc. Meanwhile for the action portion, we get more don't care, don't care, don't care, but everybody in Metropolis has been having a run of good luck. Then suddenly everyone's wishes are coming true, but not the way they expect, (e.g. someone wishes their new apartment had a view of the river, so the building walks over to the river, causing a ton of damage along the way). Then the winning lottery numbers are called, and everybody won. This, of course, causes a lot of fights. I bet you can guess who's back in town. [image] Yes, it's Mr. Mxyzptlk his own self. This was a great story full of nonsense, and the scene above is a fave. No, not because he's naked in the shower. (Even though I'm gay and would be thrilled to find a naked man in my shower if he's hot, Mxy is gross; blech.) He tells Supes "It ain't Bobby Ewing" which is a nod to DALLAS, my favorite show in college. This scene is a reference to the season eight (DVD season nine) season finale when Pam wakes up and finds Bobby in the shower. (You see, he had been dead for an entire year, and... well, that doesn't belong here. Get me started on DALLAS, and I'll fill up the rest of this review space.) Another great image in this story is the following: [image] Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes must've wished for a dinosaur, and how do you like the name of the school? (Watterson Elementary in case you can't see it.) Anyway, even this story is supporting the Lois/Clark breakup one because Mxy's trying to get Clark to use his one wish (only one to a customer) to get back with Lois, but Supes supports free will, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Besides, he's seen the "Monkey's Paw" results of the other wishes, and no thank you, so he simply wishes Mxy to go home, and I reckon there he'll stay for his customary 90 days (which I think lasted about three years this past time). Then there's more don't care, and whatever, and a hundred twisters in Smallville, then more whatever, and don't care, and Lex and Contessa get married, and Jimmy is still a shit, and yadda, and don't care, and ah... Here's the one story in this run in which the relationship troubles are put on the back burner: "Identity Crisis," a rather clever four parter. Brainiac comes to in the asylum outside of Gotham to which he's been confined. After discovering a 15-year-old patient there named Chas thinks he's Superman, he lures the real Superman there, then transfers Superman's soul into Chas's body, transfers his own into Superman's body, and, we assume, Chas's into Brainiac's body. For some reason Brainiac's body is semi-comatose during all of this. Superman tries to convince everyone that he really is Superman, but of course nobody believes him since they've heard that song from Chas before. Brainiac discovers Superman's rather pedestrian brain isn't up to the task of doing everything Brainiac used to be able to do, so he slams a force field over Metropolis and taps into everyone's brain there for extra storage, using them like a hard drive though it leaves them constantly spouting binary code, and nobody knows shit from Shinola anymore. Brainiac plans to expand this to the entire world, but Superman has escaped the asylum and sneaked back into Metropolis. There's a battle of sorts, and we find that Chas's soul is also in Superman's body with Brainiac's which explains why Brainiac/Superman knee-jerk rescued people. (The soul in Brainiac's body was Milton Fine who was a regular Joe before the Brainiac alien took him over ages ago.) Stuff happens, and all souls go back where they started, and it's back to the love story show. Whatever, don't care, etc., and so on, and further, and Doc Parasite frees a bunch of mutants, and Superman keeps making blunders with Lois by rescuing her when she didn't actually need rescuing though he had no way of knowing that. She accuses him of spying on her and following her. (He was just there. I mean, he's Superman; he's always where the action is, and Lois really ought to know that by now.) She gets on his case for rescuing her, and this is after she had gotten on him for not rescuing her with the Joker thing; the poor man can't win. Frankly, Lois is a bitch, and I'm not sure why Clark even wants her. She gets offered a position as the Daily Planet's foreign correspondent which she accepts, and she leaves town. Good fucking riddance... though nobody in the books agrees with me. Drama, crying, yelling, fighting with a couple more whatever stories, drama, drama, drama, etc. Then we get to the "Bottle City" three part story. Tolos has found Superman and wants his body to add to his collection in the bottle where he's imprisoned 300,000 aliens from around the galaxy. Tolos is able to pull these out one at a time and use them whenever he needs them. Long story short, he doesn't get Supes. Oh, and Perry White has revealed he has cancer. From our sponsors: Like I've said in the last couple of reviews, good ads, or ones that are important to me, are getting scarce, but here's one. [image] I used to play this game on the computer, but it was a few years before this version. I made it a good ways toward the end, but I never got Carmen. Alas. Here are a couple of shitty movies that came out in 1996: [image] I never made it all the way through that one. I hope you didn't either. [image] I did see this one a couple of times. I had forgotten all about it for the past 25 years, and I wish it had stayed that way. Next checkpoint: Superman: The Wedding and Beyond. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 25, 2023
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Oct 21, 2023
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Sep 24, 2023
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Kindle Edition
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| 1668016133
| 9781668016138
| 1668016133
| 4.12
| 117,687
| Sep 05, 2023
| Sep 05, 2023
|
liked it
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Winner of Pierce's 2023 Razzie I've decided to do a journal style review for this, and I've decided to do a journal style review for this, and Do you suffer from lazy eye? [image] Uh huh! Well, then you need Holly! Yes, reading Holly will have you continually rolling your eyes and exercising those optic muscles in no time. [image] The secret is a smattering of unbelievable poppycock dropped every page or two which triggers a mental response of exasperated incredulity. The ensuing involuntary reaction of the eyes forces them to make a full circuit in their sockets which strengthens the recti. A complete read-through has been proven to cure even the worst cases of strabismus, amblyopia, retinopathy, glaucoma, and it can even clear up cataracts. Plus, if you opt to read it multiple times, you could experience macular regeneration and more! (Customer testimonial.) "I read Holly five times in a row, and now not only can I see straight and have better than perfect 20/10 vision, I don't even need a stove to fry my bacon in the morning anymore!" [image] Burn, piggy. BURN! "Thanks, Holly!" So, act now, get your copy of Holly today, and start whipping those ocular cells into shape! (Cases of aneurysms, strokes, head explosions, and death have been reported. People with strong conservative beliefs are urged to use caution when reading Holly.) Reader's log, 9/8/23 (pre-read): I have never wanted to start a Stephen King novel less than I do for this one. I've been forewarned by multiple people and sources that this is one of his most political novels. It's also a Covid story, and I know Stephen's views are polar opposite from mine on that issue. Plus, he has a hard-on to bash Trump and MAGA Republicans lately (I'm definitely in that camp), and I'm told he cranks it into overdrive here. I even thought about returning the book and just getting it from the library, but dumbass me had already put my "from the library of" stamp in it. And you can add in that I really don't give a shit about Holly as a character. I don't hate her the way a lot of people do, nor do I love her; she's fine, and I can take her or leave her, so she's no selling point for me. I have every bit of fiction SK has ever published, so it was natural for me to purchase this one as well so I can say "yes, my collection is complete." However, if this goes the way I suspect it might, I may be turning in my "constant reader" card and getting rid of half of that collection. I absolutely love a lot of his books, I reread them from time to time, and plan to continue to do so. No matter how this one affects me, I can't imagine it being so bad that I feel compelled to kick everything to the curb. But, as Edgar Freemantle points out in Duma Key (a four-peat for me): "God always punishes us for what we can't imagine." I will endeavor to keep an open mind. Holly is a liberal hypochondriac, and if the views are expressed through her in just the right way, I might not mind it so much. E.G., I disagree with Gard's political views in The Tommyknockers, but I really like Gard as a character and even root for him. Maybe some of that magic will be here as well, yet King and Chizmar botched this kind of thing so badly in Gwendy's Final Task that my hopes aren't high. Come on, Pierce. That's enough contempt prior to firsthand investigation. You know people are always blowing things out of proportion on the internet anyway. You can do this. Just dive in, and even if you hate it, just plow through it to the end if you have to. Bricka-bracka, firecracker, sis-boom-bah! Go, Pierce, go Pierce, RAH-RAH-RAH! [image] Reader's log, 9/8/23 (pg. 30): Picture it: Richmond, VA; Regal Cinemas; July 3, 2007. A poor, out of work, 28-year-old, top-tier, G1 Transformers fan since 1984 is attending the midnight showing of the new, live-action Transformers movie with his cousin, his ticket purchased with money his grandmother had given him. He's excited, yet nervous because he knows this is in the hands of Michael Bay who can really fuck something up when he puts his mind to it. The movie starts. The screen is dead black. Optimus Prime's voice fills the theater and says "Before time began, there was the cube," whereupon this man-child turns to his cousin and says "this is going to piss me off." That model of arrested development was me. I ended up liking the movie in spite of its numerous shortcomings. I'm 30 pages into this book now, but just had that same reaction at page 18, almost an entire page into chapter two which is set in 2021, and things intermittently deteriorated over the ensuing 12 pages. I have a sinking feeling this will continue through the remainder of the book, at least for those sections set in modern times, which seems to be most of them. At least chapter one, set in 2012, was good. Here's hoping I end up liking the book in spite of having to see the story through Holly's sanctimonious, alarmist eyes. Only 419 pages to go... Reader's log, 9/9/23 (pg. 103): This flits back and forth between the villains' point of view in the past, starting in 2012 and going up to 2018 so far, and Holly's point of view in July of 2021, which is actually really cool. Both timelines move forward from their starting point. Aside from a few heavier barbs near the beginning from Holly's POV, the Covid and political talking points have been minor annoyances, though they're dropped more often than necessary. They're sometimes wrong with the facts and always wrong with the conclusions, but whatever. Minor annoyances so far. I'm almost disappointed because that means I have nothing to bitch about, and I was so looking forward to excoriating this thing. However, there's hope. Up next is the villains' POV in 2020 so there's apt to be Covid and political views from all concerned going forward. I suspect the bad guys will showcase the worst my side has to offer on that front. (I'm not ashamed to admit it. We have nutballs over here too whose only saving grace over the Covid Crazies is that they're not Covid Crazies.) Reader's log, 9/10/23 (pg. 179): You know, there's a decent story in here, and it's coming together nicely, but it's stumbling along because it's constantly tripping over the liberal talking points du juor. Covid. Vaxes. Masks. Elbow bumps. Cops killing black people. Racism for multiple races. Politically correct fiddle-faddle. Etc. They're not pissing me off (mostly; there've been a couple of instances), but they're repeated over and over and over every few pages when being mentioned once or twice would easily suffice for the purposes of the story or characterization. It started off as annoying, and it still is. [image] If the frequency remains the same (though it wouldn't hurt my feelings one bit if it lessened) and if the intensity of the gibes doesn't ramp up, I think I can make it through the remaining 270 pages without too much difficulty since I'm interested in the story itself. Reader's log, 9/11/23 (pg. 241): The story is good, as well as engaging. King rarely has a problem keeping the pages turning, and I'm definitely invested in the story. However, the aforementioned talking points keep popping up. There've been three or four instances of this kind of thing when new people meet: Blah, blah, blah "I am pleased to meet you. Have you been vaccinated?"Another example: Imani is perfectly willing to talk, but she has a question....I've never had anything like that kind of interaction before, and I've never seen or heard someone else doing it. Is this really how the Branch Covidians introduce themselves to each other? [image] You know, I'd probably rather read that book. At least I like the characters in the Harry Potter books. Most of the ones in here are fine, but nothing to write home about, especially compared to others in the Kingverse. And all these poor people live in a red state where everyone is encouraged to be irresponsible by the state government. Jerome (whom I actually like) is visiting New York and calls Holly. During their conversation he tells her "I think I could fall in love with this city. For one thing, they get it--there are actually pop-up vaccine sites." In an earlier conversation when he's preparing to go to NYC, he tells her "according to the statistics, New York is actually safer than our town." Holly is concerned about this trip because he'll be "traveling on a plane where the air is recirculated and anyone might have Covid..." I don't even know where to start with this, so I won't, but Harriett Beecher Stowe, eat your preachin' heart out. Stephen's presenting a lot of this through Holly's eyes, but let's be real here: it's really just his political persona dressed up in Holly's clothes. [image] I'm surprised I'm not blowing a gasket over it all. Maybe I have a high threshold for aggravation these past few days, but I think it's because I was apprised of the situation before going into it. If I had been blindsided by it, my head probably would've exploded by now. Reader's log, 9/13/23 (pg. 350): This isn't bad. The plot is slogging along, but it's still filled with reference after reference after reference to masking, and vaccinations, and BLM issues, and racism, and homophobia, and anti-Trump, and MAGA supporter bashing, and... [image] ... ... ... [image] If that's the way you feel about it, then fine, be that way. However, that's how I feel every time I get to another reference. Then there's stuff like this: Barbara, a black girl about to go to college, has been writing poetry and doing it very well according to critics whose opinions matter in the poetry world. They're "poems not about 'the Black experience,' but about coping with horror. Although sometimes there may not be that much difference, she thinks..." Holly also cringes every time someone uses a term that's not exactly PC and mentally corrects them with the appropriate word. I swear it's just as tiresome to me as my bitching about it is to you. Just tell the damn story, man. Reader's log, 9/14/23 (pg. 420): [image] Jesus fuck me Christ, dude; give it a fucking rest. I'm going to bed now and plan to finish the last 25 or so pages there. Hopefully it won't make me vomit. Final analysis to come tomorrow. Reader's log, 9/15/23 (finished): Dear Mr. King, [image] Okay, it wasn't that bad, but I already had this gif on standby, and it would be a shame to waste it. This is a fair three stars. I'm not turning in my constant reader card, nor am I getting rid of the SK books I don't plan to reread, however this is definitely strike two. If his next book is like this one, I don't know if I'll be able to stay a completist. That doesn't mean he still can't hit a home run (e.g. I loved Fairy Tale, and that came right before this one.) But, this is still mediocre King even without my personal political hangups. In case you haven't gotten the message from all my bellyaching above, this was supersaturated with leftist opinions. I'd think even liberals would be put off by the incessant repetition, but I can't give credence to that argument after looking at other reviews on here. For me, reading this was like enduring Chinese water torture; the first drips are all like whatever, but the longer it goes on, the more agonizing it gets, and by the end you're all like "Please, God; make it stop." I believe that this was written not by Stephen King (who wrote stuff like Salem's Lot), or Sai King (who penned The Dark Tower and the like), but by Uncle Stevie. You know, that uncle at the Thanksgiving table who just can't help launching into current affairs that nobody wants to discuss and can't take any hints that he should change the topic, so everyone just sighs and say "oh Lord, here we go again," and just has to wait until he blows himself out, though that never happens, so everyone rushes dinner and splits up to separate parts of the house, each hoping that the Uncle will follow someone else to continue his harangue on the state of the nation. I think there's one of those in every family. But what about the story? I enjoyed it, but like I said, it was still mediocre compared to some of his other offerings. The ending was satisfying, and he stuck the landing (he doesn't always). The big problem is that the story is overshadowed by the political stuff. It's like baking a cake and icing it with a cow flop. No matter how great the cakey part is, it's going to be unappetizing. I think King's lost his touch with characterization which used to be his forte. I've noticed that a lot in his books over the past few years. I'm also listening to The Tommyknockers (1987) which very few people think is a great book, although I like it (I seem to be in the minority with that one). Almost all of the characters in that have more depth and are more believable than any in this book or from most of his more recent stories. I can't put my finger on it, but it's just something I noticed. It's like a lot of his newer characters are more caricature than character. Holly also seemed a bit off compared to her earlier adventures. I suppose it could be that she's grown over the years, but I'm not sure. All through this I had a picture of Jack Webb from Dragnet in my head whenever she was interviewing people, and I doubt that's what Mr. King was going for. And speaking of Holly, I'm not a hater, but that needle is moving. If I had my druthers, she'd never put in another appearance, but I wouldn't refuse to read another story if she were in it. This book concerns cannibalism and the medical benefits of consuming human flesh. Holly considers this to be a placebo effect, and does so without any sense of irony at all with respect to Covid and masks. She was a hardcore masker even though it does nothing to stop that kind of virus. Masks are effective against a lot of diseases, but for a coronavirus it's nothing more than a security blanket for your face. It doesn't stop transmission no matter what grade you have and how many you put on... I better quit before I get fired up. I'm glad this book is out there because it will be of great historical value one day. 15 years from now you won't be able to find anyone who will admit that they thought our Covid response was a good idea, and most won't confess that they behaved with such lunacy, because (and here's another Edgar Freemantle gem from Duma Key) "when it comes to memory, we all stack the deck." But here it all is in black and white for posterity. The sad thing is that this still doesn't showcase the worst of the madness. There is one thing that's for certain, though: King has proven that he's still the master of horror, for I had a nightmare while reading this. [image] Luckily it didn't take me to long to realize I was still asleep after I woke up. ...more |
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1
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Sep 08, 2023
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Sep 14, 2023
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Sep 05, 2023
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Hardcover
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| 0307124002
| 9780307124005
| 0307124002
| 3.38
| 8
| unknown
| Jan 01, 1990
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really liked it
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Looks like Goodreads doesn't have a cover for this version of the book, and once again I have to do all the heavy lifting around here. Stand by. [im Looks like Goodreads doesn't have a cover for this version of the book, and once again I have to do all the heavy lifting around here. Stand by. [image] There. This is the junior novelization. The only reason I have it is because AbeBooks either sent me the wrong book or I accidentally ordered the wrong one; I disremember which. I was just going to send it to 2nd and Charles, but I never got around to it. I came across it again last night, had a little bit of time to kill and said "What the hell? It's only 64 kiddie pages," and here we are. Now I can send it away guilt free since I don't plan to reread it. This is a very condensed and scaled-down version of the movie and Max Collins' novelization with some of the more adult parts taken out. In short, it's perfect for a 10-year-old which is the target audience, so four stars it is. (The chapters are so short I was able to read a whole one and sometimes more during commercial breaks for Svengoolie.) It might be worth five stars when considering said audience, but I just can't bear to give this the fifth star when the other novelization, which is awesome, earned only 4.5. Alas. ...more |
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Aug 26, 2023
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Aug 27, 2023
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Aug 26, 2023
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Paperback
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| 1668022346
| 9781668022344
| 1668022346
| 4.01
| 100
| Aug 08, 2023
| Aug 08, 2023
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really liked it
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Disclaimer one: After writing this review, I notice that a lot of it is negative. I kind of hate to do that because so far this is the only review of
Disclaimer one: After writing this review, I notice that a lot of it is negative. I kind of hate to do that because so far this is the only review of this book on here, and I didn't hate or even dislike it at all. It was not my intention to trash this book. Hell, the political advice content is five stars all the way; the Democrats must be stopped, or at least the progressive psychos who have hijacked their party need to be. Democrats and Republicans used to want the same thing (American exceptionalism) several years ago, but they just had different ways of getting there and different definitions of what that meant exactly. However, those days are gone. The Democrat party, at least the progressive wing of it which is running everything right now, is ashamed of America as it was founded and wants to completely tear it down. But I deduct one star for stylistic reasons explained below. Clay throws out the Davy Crockett quote "be sure you're right and then go ahead" multiple times. Well, I'm not 100% sure if I'm right (I'm not sure if there even is a right or a wrong here), but I'm gonna go ahead anyway. Hopefully some other people will come along with glowing five-star reviews that get multiple likes and drive my drivel into the depths of the review feed. Disclaimer two: There's a review down there eventually, but I talk about myself for a couple of paragraphs first. This fits in well with the book because Clay likes to talk about himself too, so I'm really just following his example (though I confess it's happenstance here). Five stars for the content, like I said, but I'm deducting a star because I'm a little confused by the book itself. I think it's because I'm overthinking it. I normally don't read political books, not even ones I agree with like this one. I do this because I discovered years ago that I can't handle politics responsibly. I'm a recovering news junkie, and I've been on what I call a news brownout for the past seven or eight years. (Execution of this plan has had varying degrees of success, but I've never had a full-blown relapse into looking at it online or on TV all day.) On my best days all I do is read the newspaper (something else Clay and I have in common is reading a physical newspaper everyday, though I think he reads three; he must read a million words a minute.) That gives me about half an hour a day to see what's going on in the world. If it's upsetting news, I can blow a gasket, get over it, and then I still have 23 1/2 hours left to live a normal life. I don't watch it on TV, check it on the internet, or anything... with one exception. I used to listen to Rush Limbaugh and now I listen to Clay and Buck from time to time. I had avoided Rush for a while and would only check in when major events were happening, like the Republican National Convention in 2016, or whatever. Then when the mass hysteria pandemic hit, I started tuning in more regularly because the news was inescapable no matter what you tried to do, and I needed sanity and hope from somewhere. Rush, and later Clay and Buck, provided that. Since then I've found I can still tune in two or three times a week without getting bent around the axle. Sometimes I listen more, sometimes less, depending on what else is going on, but I do love the show. They have good camaraderie, it's informative, you hear news you don't hear from the mainstream media, and they seem to have a lot of fun doing it; it's not just a bitchfest. Plus, I love the bits when they're just talking about lighter topics, like movies or music. Clay and I are at the tail end of Gen X, and Buck is at the front of the Millennials which makes all of us Xennials: people who learned old world skills and values when we were children, but were young enough to pick up the new internet technology without difficulty. Ergo, we grew up with the same pop culture influences. Back when Rush was running it, if I missed a show I could go to the website and read/skim the transcript and get what I needed rather quickly. When Clay and Buck took over, they continued that format, but later the transcripts were removed, and they provided a very brief summary to read which was nowhere near as good. Then the summaries stopped, and they didn't even list the topics that were discussed, and you had to listen to the audio to get anything. Then the audio was cut a bit and you had to be a VIP member to get everything, and later still you had to get a VIP membership to get just about anything. 12-3 on weekdays at work is my Clay and Buck time, and I don't really have time to listen to them at other points in the day. I have a life. It might not be much of one, but I do have one. I'd much rather read the transcripts because I could pick and choose if I were interested in the topic, and I could skim when they started repeating themselves (a bit of repetition is just the nature of a talk-radio show) and get everything I needed when time was limited. I wrote to the show a few times only to discover that the transcripts weren't coming back. I'm also a Luddite (though not as much of one as Clay's dad who doesn't even have an e-mail address, and God bless the man for showing us how it's supposed to be done). I don't have a smartphone, and I plan to hold out as long as I can; my life is much simpler that way, and I value simplicity. I've seen what smartphones have done to my family, friends, and society in general, and I don't want to be a part of that problem. Even Clay recognizes the issue, and he talks about it a bit in this book. He used to be on his phone nine hours every day. He's managed to cut it back to six... I think; I can't find that section in the book, so I might be wrong on the numbers. He hopes to shave off a bit more in the future. But still, nine hours... Hell, even six hours... How much other stuff can you get done in six hours? I really can't talk much, though. Substitute smartphone with a computer, and I can be just as bad; it's the same issue, but with a different tool. The one benefit I have is that I'm not taking this habit out into society, and I have to be at home to indulge my addiction. It makes me really sad to see a family of four sitting at a restaurant, each of them with his/her head up his/her app, not paying a bit of attention to the other people at the table unless they happen to be texting each other, and if I ever find out that that's what's actually happening, I may just weep. And then there's this BS. [image] But this isn't the place for that rant. Where was I? Oh yeah, the website. As a result of all the changes, I started visiting the site much less because it wasn't of any use to me. I considered getting the VIP membership just to see what other benefits I could get, but I'm cheap and don't want to pay for something that used to be free, especially when the new costly thing isn't even as good as the old free thing; all I want is to be able to read the transcripts which don't exist anymore. But I get it. Clay and Buck are capitalists, and I support capitalism, and if they can make more money by making a change, then what the hell, go make the money. Of course, it could also be a matter of not being able to afford running it the way they used to; I don't have all the details. (Actually, I don't have any of the details; I'm passing judgement without a leg to stand on here.) Then Clay announced you could get an autographed copy of his book for "free" if you signed up for an annual subscription for $50, and thus were they able to snag me. It turns out VIP members don't get to see transcripts either, and I don't see a whole lot which is useful to me, but I am allowed to send them direct e-mails, and I have wanted to do that a couple of times during the show to answer a question they posed. Maybe I'll be able to do that before my subscription runs out next year. We'll see. (Actually I'll have to cancel it since you're forced to sign up for auto-renewal. I hope they send out a reminder that you're about to get dinged.) Regardless, I got the subscription and the "free" book. Normally when I get a new book, I don't read it immediately (Stephen King novels are an exception). But even though I have over 100 books on my TBR list, I launched right into this one because it's topical and relevant to the world today, and reading it a year and a half from now would be silly and almost pointless; I would've missed the boat. (I've had some books for 10 or 15 years and haven't gotten to them, so that scenario is a definite possibility.) The information in this book was great, and I agree wholeheartedly with it. However, I'm not entirely sure what the target audience is. It purports to be advice for whoever ends up being a 2024 Republican nominee regardless of the office. I think if they follow the advice, they could probably win their respective races. But it's also more than that, and I'm not sure what the book is trying to be. Is it an advice book for political matters? Is it an advice book for life? Is it a memoir? Is it a book of anecdotes? Is it him getting some of his frustration out of his system? All of that is in here, but it could be better polished. Clay's writing style is conversational, and he mentioned he did that intentionally. It does make it easy to hear his voice as you read, but it doesn't always translate well on the page. In short, his writing style is not above reproach, and much of this read like a first draft with the typos buffed out. I don't think this would've made it to the printing press if it were written by somebody who wasn't an established media personality. If I, an unknown nobody, had submitted this for publication, the editor would've sent it back and said clean it up a bit, move this paragraph over here, you're repeating yourself 18 times here, here, here, etc. Cut out this bit of internal monologue; it interrupts the flow. Then again, it could just be personal preference, and like I said before, I don't read political books. Maybe I'm just unfamiliar with the genre, and they're all written like this. I still think another round of editing would've made it a better book, but I read a ton of classics, and I admit I can be a book snob. (I also think he was under a hard deadline for this, and really, how the man ever found time to write a chapter, let alone a whole book, is beyond me. He's on the radio three hours everyday, on TV shows everyday, coaches his sons' little league teams [or some sports thing], reads a ton, travels all over creation, is on his phone six hours a day, and still has a social life. It's pretty impressive.) There was also some profanity peppered in. It wasn't much, but there were a couple of f-bombs. I have no problem with it personally and I use the word all the time in the right setting, but I imagine this would turn off some of his readers, especially since none of the profanity was necessary. Profanity offends some people, but I've never met anybody who was offended by the absence of it. Clay kind of addresses that in the first chapter, though. He said penis too many times on an early radio show. It upset a lot of listeners, but in the end they wound up picking up even more listeners. He's not afraid of rocking the boat and taking risks. I personally prefer a little more class in this kind of book, but it didn't make me want to put the book down. Really, it didn't upset me at all, but I did wonder how his more conservative readers would feel about it. I doubt any of them would put the book down either over the vulgarity, though it probably made them wrinkle their noses. However, I bet some threw in the towel when he talked about an infection he had at the base of his penis right before he was going on TV for the first time, or something. I don't remember the point he was trying to make with that bit even though he spelled it out, but that might be due to my sucky short-term memory. The point is I remember the story, but not the purpose of the story. And that brings up another point. There were points to all of these stories that related to the subject at hand which is how Republicans could win elections. However, there were really long wind-ups to get to those points. This made for interesting reading, but was that his intention? Again, what is this book trying to be? Another thing that was a little off-putting is that Clay seems to be an arrogant cockwagon, at least that's the impression I got from the book. Luckily me calling him that isn't going to upset him at all (though his mother might come after me in the comments if she has a burner account on here... Hello, Mrs. Travis. For what it's worth, I enjoyed your interview on Clay's Mother's Day show). Clay made it clear he doesn't care what anyone thinks about him except for the people he's close to. But in all fairness, he did call me a pussy for never having seen some movie any 80s kid ought to be familiar with, so we're going tit for tat here. (To be clear, I was not offended by the pussy comment and even laughed at it. Some of this is tongue-in-cheek [especially when he's talking about how humble he is; he can't possibly be serious about that unless he has no understanding of humility], and you just need to recognize when he's joshing you a bit. Enjoying jokes and humor without getting canceled is another theme in this book.) I think the work he does is great, and I agree with most of what he has to say on his show (and everything of substance he says in this book), but I'm not sure if we could ever be friends. I've heard most of what's in here before because I listen to the show, but one thing that was new to me was the bit about why the media seems so much more partisan than it used to. He's quite right that nonpartisan reporting is a relatively recent thing that started a few decades ago in the early 20th century then began to ebb again sometime in the late 80s/early 90s. But why did we revert to the old way? It's because the money news organizations make now comes from subscriptions instead of ads, so they can pander to their subscribers and don't even have to pretend to be fair and balanced. (Also, the Fairness Doctrine was abolished in 1987, though he didn't go into that. I have mixed feelings about that because it's nice to hear opposing views on the same show. However, it rubs against "freedom of speech" and "freedom of the press," and also Rush Limbaugh would never have been able to have his show if it were still in place, and we wouldn't have Clay and Buck as we know it today.) In the end, though, it comes down to money just like it does with everything else in the world. I'm glad the "why" for new media bias has been explained to me. A few more random items of note: I loved the history bits he included in his book since I'm also a "history nerd" as he terms it. Hell, I was a history major in college, though I haven't done anything with the degree. Clay is a sports nut. I am not, so a lot of those references were lost on me, but I was still able to follow along. I did read this with the dust jacket off, but not for the reason Clay supposes. I have no shame at all in being seen reading this in public. Hell, his name is on the spine, and so is the title, and my hands aren't so big that I could cover them. I always remove the dust jacket when I read a book for two reasons. I like for the dust jacket to remain clean, and I set it aside so it won't get dirty or damaged traveling around in my bag, setting on a table at a restaurant, etc. (I never go anywhere without a book, not even to the pharmacy, bank, fast food restaurant, or anywhere else where there's a chance I might be standing in a line for a few minutes by myself.) If the book gets slightly battered, it still looks nice in its pristine dust jacket when I put it back on the shelf. More importantly, though, is that dust jackets are an annoying inconvenience when actively reading a book. The book is always slipping out of it as I hold it, and I'm constantly having to tamp it back into place. Best to just set it aside. Last bit apropos of nothing: I have a ton of bookmarks that I alternate, most of them homemade like laminated movie tickets, or reminders of places I've been, etc. If I have one that's related to the book I'm reading in even the remotest degree, I'll grab that one. This book gave me the perfect excuse to use my Donald Trump 2020 dollar bill. [image] (Front and back shown here.) Thanks Clay! And for everyone else, read this book. I have spoken (though I suspect some of my liberal friends on here wish I hadn't... and probably some conservative friends too, though for different reasons. Sometimes you just can't please anybody.) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 12, 2023
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Aug 15, 2023
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Aug 12, 2023
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Hardcover
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| 1401300008
| 3.84
| 20,725
| Sep 01, 2014
| Sep 30, 2014
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really liked it
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(Read in Full Dark, No Stars) In the afterword of Full Dark, No Stars, Stephen King tells us "I have no quarrel with literary fiction, which usually co (Read in Full Dark, No Stars) In the afterword of Full Dark, No Stars, Stephen King tells us "I have no quarrel with literary fiction, which usually concerns itself with extraordinary people in ordinary situations, but as both a reader and a writer, I'm much more interested by ordinary people in extraordinary situations." This story might be the best example of that in this collection with Big Driver being a runner-up. Wilf and Streeter in 1922 and Fair Extension respectively weren't quite as ordinary as the average bear. Just what exactly does one do when she discovers her husband of 27 years has been (view spoiler)[a serial killer since before they even met (hide spoiler)]? If you speak, your life and that of your family's is pretty much trashed forever. If you stay silent, the behavior might continue. [image] Sometimes in life there are no good options, and you simply have to make a choice. I liked Darcy's solution, and I liked the aftermath and closure. I don't want to give anything away, though, so you'll have to read it (or perhaps garner information from other reviews). Stephen King doesn't often write happy endings, and I don't consider this one to be pleasant per se, but it's as close to a happy ending as someone in this situation can possibly get. It's resolved in the best possible way for everyone involved (even those who didn't even know they were involved), and all can move on with their lives while Darcy totes the burden for everybody. ...more |
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Jul 30, 2023
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Aug 2023
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Jul 24, 2023
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Paperback
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| 1401308668
| B0DD6ZMY49
| 3.95
| 4,284
| Nov 09, 2010
| Sep 30, 2014
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really liked it
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(Read in Full Dark, No Stars) Boy howdy, do I love me a good revenge yarn, and this one delivered. It didn't deliver it perfectly (think a couple plot (Read in Full Dark, No Stars) Boy howdy, do I love me a good revenge yarn, and this one delivered. It didn't deliver it perfectly (think a couple plot holes). (view spoiler)[And also, how stupid are the bad guys? If he had successfully murdered the person, there's no way he would've gotten away with it. A semi well-known almost-local (she lived in a town about a half hour away) personality missing (the mother should've known better here), her vehicle with its registered license plates and GPS abandoned at a rockin' honky tonk on a Friday (the rapist should've known better here)... Any halfway competent investigator would've been able to follow this back trail. The most unbelievable thing is that these clowns managed to get away with another two+ rape/murders in the past. (hide spoiler)] But! This did deliver, and I enjoyed reading the whole thing... Well, maybe "enjoy" isn't quite the right word for the first part in which some rather heinous stuff happens, but it was easy to keep turning the pages for the whole thing. I especially liked the conversations Tess (the narrator) had with other people in her head. Well, not always other people. (One was a cat, another the voice of her GPS, and the other was a fictitious character in the books she wrote.) And I guess not always in her head. She sometimes had these conversations with herself out loud, but only when she was by herself. I do this kind of thing all the time, both silently and aloud, and it's nice to see I'm not alone, nor am I crazy; Tess gives me validation... (view spoiler)[She accomplished her goals rather easily, but I thought that was a relief as it provides variety. King has plenty of other stories where the protagonist comes by the payoff with much more difficulty, and has to endure ongoing trials with the villain popping up again at the last second. (E.g.: The Gingerbread Girl). In this it's all "Hey, bub. Remember me?" Gasp! Blam! And that's the end of that. (hide spoiler)] I liked it. After that, she had to decide on what to do in the aftermath, and I enjoyed reading about that as well. This isn't for everybody. The opening is rather hardcore. Reader discretion is advised. ...more |
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Jul 28, 2023
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Jul 30, 2023
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Jul 24, 2023
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Paperback
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| unknown
| 3.66
| 882
| unknown
| unknown
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it was ok
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(Read in Full Dark, No Stars) This was more like a long short story than a novella, and I'm afraid it was just wrong. Not the story; the main character (Read in Full Dark, No Stars) This was more like a long short story than a novella, and I'm afraid it was just wrong. Not the story; the main character, Streeter. I didn't find him believable which is surprising for Stephen King, because making a realistic character is his specialty. Streeter was jealous, and he was selfish, but I saw no indication during the setup that he was evil inside. However, not only does he curse somebody, he exhibits schadenfreude on steroids. I'm not buying it. The guy at the beginning of the story and the pitiless ass at the end just don't match up. I seem to be of the minority opinion, though, so it's possible that I missed something. Maybe his deal with the devil started sucking out his humanity just a bit at a time? Yet, he still has that humanity with everyone else. I don't know. This wasn't a bad story; I just think he screwed up the main character with some inconsistencies, so I didn't enjoy this very much. I also didn't like the ending. (view spoiler)[I wanted some comeuppance and there wasn't any. (hide spoiler)] What an asswipe. ...more |
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Jul 30, 2023
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Jul 30, 2023
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Jul 24, 2023
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| 3.91
| 18,848
| Nov 09, 2010
| Nov 09, 2010
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really liked it
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(Read in Full Dark, No Stars) Start with Dolores Claiborne... [image] ...then put that thang down, flip it, and reverse it. Add in some Tell Tale Hea (Read in Full Dark, No Stars) Start with Dolores Claiborne... [image] ...then put that thang down, flip it, and reverse it. Add in some Tell Tale Heart... [image] ...and a dash of Bonnie and Clyde... [image] ...throw in a few "Rats in the Walls..." [image] ...(possibly behind some Yellow Wallpaper), and just a touch of Mayor of Casterbridge, and you have the foundation for this tale. Wow. Do one bad thing (and it admittedly was a really, really, really bad thing), and just pay for it with misery and woe from every conceivable angle for the rest of your life, (view spoiler)[even after you make the confession (hide spoiler)], but perhaps by that time it was too little, too late. Then there's the possibility that (view spoiler)[death was the release, and that was only granted after the confession. But to whom, exactly, did he confess? (hide spoiler)] Anyway, this was great and it brought out a lot of conflicting emotions. Do I root for the main character? A lot of what happened to him was pretty unfair if you take all the incidents separately, but did he have it coming anyway because the one crime was so bad? No, I can't exactly root for him, but I can still feel bad for him. I guess everyone will have a different view on the matter. ...more |
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Jul 24, 2023
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Jul 28, 2023
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Jul 24, 2023
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| 1429754796
| 9781429754798
| 1429754796
| unknown
| 4.13
| 131
| Jan 01, 1865
| Jan 01, 1865
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really liked it
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This is the first White House Memoir ever written, and it was written by a slave who served James Madison for about 30 years, then his wife for anothe
This is the first White House Memoir ever written, and it was written by a slave who served James Madison for about 30 years, then his wife for another eight. Here he be: [image] This is quite short, and you can read it for yourself here. I read this mostly to get a first-hand account of how George Washington's picture was saved from the White House before the British could burn it down in the War of 1812. The popular story is that Dolley Madison rolled it up and ran off with it over hill and dale so that we could preserve that bit of history. However, it didn't happen that way. There are a few versions, one including Paul cutting it out with help from the doorman and gardener. However, in this he takes almost no credit yet makes it clear that Dolley didn't do the work herself. (And why would she? She was busy directing the staff, though it's pretty clear she gave the order for the picture to be saved if it could and destroyed if it couldn't so the British couldn't get it as a morale booster for them and a slap in the face for us.) The rest of this is anecdotes of Jennings' time with the Madisons. He was their slave, but had been sold around 1846 to an insurance agent because Dolley needed the money to pay off some debts. A few months later Daniel Webster bought him for $120 and freed him, allowing him to work it off at $8/month. He became an ardent abolitionist after that, and even helped plan an escape of 77 slaves in DC, although the attempt failed. (This isn't in the memoir; I picked it up elsewhere.) In spite of all that, Jennings has nothing but praise for both of the Madisons and even did what he could to help Dolley both in service and financially after he was freed. I like this because it shows the complex relationship between master and slave that existed during slavery. I reckon it's impossible for some people to understand in today's world where one fault, even a minor one, is grounds for wholesale damnation of the offender, but life isn't that simple. Jennings hated slavery but loved his owners. This will always be a mystery to some. (I'm not saying that every master/slave had this kind of relationship, or that it was even common; I really don't know about the percentages. However, every relationship is different. Think of all the people you know. Do you get along with all of them? Do you hate all of them? Are the relationships varied? Do some of them drive you bonkers sometimes, yet you still spend time with them because you like them when they're not being obnoxious? The list of possibilities could go on ad infinitum.) I'm not sure if this deserves the title of memoir since so little of it is about Jennings himself. It was actually put together by John Brooks Russell for a historical magazine in 1863 and then published in book form in 1865. However, it was the first of the White House Memoirs and gives a unique glimpse into James Madison's life from a different perspective. Check it out if it's your cup of tea. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Jul 16, 2023
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Jul 16, 2023
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Jul 16, 2023
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Paperback
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| 4.38
| 1,236
| 1775
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it was amazing
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(Or the most famous thing never said.) Read in The Constitution of the United States of America and Selected Writings of the Founding Fathers. Summary: (Or the most famous thing never said.) Read in The Constitution of the United States of America and Selected Writings of the Founding Fathers. Summary: "Look fools. There's some peeps at the door with guns and handcuffs; just what the hell do you think they're here for? Rappin' wit' em ain't done shit, and I sure as hell got better things to do than stand around waitin' for a BOHICA. Y'all do what you want, but I'm done wit' this even if it kills me." That actually might be closer to what Patrick Henry actually said than the speech we have on record (though probably not). There was no transcript of it, and the version we have today was cobbled together from elderly witnesses almost four decades later and two decades after Henry died. William Wirt, Henry's biographer and the man who put this speech to print, was known as the South's chief man of letters, so you know he had a flair for eloquence, and he didn't let it go to waste here. (Thomas Jefferson, who knew Patrick Henry rather well, apparently kept his copy of the biography shelved under "fiction.") The discovery of this intelligence was particularly dismaying to me because I had to memorize the final paragraph of this speech in 11th grade and recite it to my English class. (Well, how would you feel if you did all that work to memorize a famous speech only to find out nobody ever said it that way in the first place?! I mean, if Patrick Henry didn't even have to memorize his own speech, why should I?!) What's worse is that I still have it memorized. In fact, I ran into my 11th grade English teacher a few years ago, and after shooting the bull for a couple of minutes, I set forth with "It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter," and we both ran it through to its conclusion because we're dorks. (Well, I should just speak for myself. She can get away with that kind of silliness because she was a teacher, and such behavior is expected of her. I have no plausible excuse.) It looks like the reproductions of the speech can't even agree on what words weren't said. The version I read tonight (7/4/23) in the book linked above omits the line "The war is actually begun," and uses "gale" in place of "tide." (Personally, I wish I had learned gale because it sounds cooler, but I doubt I will be able to casually slip it in now. After all, this has been hammered into my head for 28 and a quarter years next Tuesday which is almost twice as long as I had been alive when I learned it.) I really would like to have heard the original speech, for I bet it was a pip. Patrick Henry was a firebrand with a penchant for name calling. [image] "Which is a wonderful trait to have." Uh, yeah. I guess it depends on whom you ask. So, why full marks for something so deceptive? Well, first, the speech actually happened. This incident is nowhere near as egregious as Weems' Washington cherry tree story which never happened at all. Second, everyone agreed on the content of the speech even if they couldn't recollect the exact words 40 years later. (As opposed to the rest of us who can recall with perfect clarity Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech from 1983 and can recite it verbatim.) Third, it's well written even if Patrick Henry didn't use those words. (Historians aren't even 100% sure if he said the phrase "give me liberty, or give me death;" it's a fifty/fifty chance that that expression is all Wirt, though there's only a 10% chance of that. However, the phrase was used as a rallying cry all over the colonies after the speech, and it had to come from somewhere.) [image] (I doubt he said that.) Fourth: Whatever Patrick Henry did say had a profound impact not only on the listeners but on history itself. Everyone sat silent for several moments after he was done. Thomas Marshall (father of John Marshall, the most famous Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court), declared it was "one of the boldest, vehement, and animated pieces of eloquence that had ever been delivered." Edward Carrington, who was listening outside the window, turned to his friends and said "bury me here in this very spot," and 35 years later, that's exactly where they planted him, right outside that window. [image] (He actually might've been standing more to the right.) The speech's impact on history cannot be overstated, and it is one of the key events leading up to the Revolutionary War as it got everyone off their duffs to form a militia. The Virginia colony was "put into a posture of defence" (or went into DEFCON Two in modern parlance), and Patrick Henry pretty much gets most of the credit for that due to this speech. Not all of Virginia's counties complied, but several did; the ball was now rolling, and there was no stopping it once it got started. The other colonies heard about the speech, and several followed suit. A month later we had the Gunpowder Incident (Virginia's "Lexington and Concord" moment), and the new militias mobilized. While there wasn't any real military action involved, that was the final nail in the coffin for peace. In short: it was on. This speech took place at St. John's Church in Richmond which is only 15 miles down the road from me. They have reenactments open to the public every Sunday during the summer as well as a few other times each year (not to mention private ones for schools and whatnot), and I've never been to one. (I'll never be able to make it to the anniversary one on March 23rd since it's right in the middle of tax season, and the firm would certainly give me permanent liberty as soon as tax season was over should I try to slip away for a few hours in the middle of the day, and that's only because it would be illegal for them to give me death.) But, I should be able to get to one during the summer easily, and I think I'll try to do just that later this year. Plus, a friend of mine plays Patrick Henry there, and I've never been to see him. Just what kind of a friend does that make me? I reckon I better get on out there. 8/6/23 update: A friend and I were able to make it out there today, and it was worth the price of admission. [image] (Mr. Henry's on the left, just in case you couldn't figure it out.) The members of the audience are supposed to be random delegates and shout out "aye" or "hear hear," or whatever whenever they agree with something, but they were moving so quickly that I didn't get too many "hear hears" out there. I got to sit behind my friend who was playing PH, and it was fun to hear his mumbles when he disagreed with another speaker; all the delegates were into their parts, so it was pretty fun. Also, I was inspired to go do something, anything, when it was all over. So, after I got home, I built this miniature Lego thing of St. John's Church which I got at the gift shop. [image] Well, I know it's not the same as marching off to war, but it's something. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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Jul 04, 2023
Mar 23, 1995
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Jul 04, 2023
Mar 23, 1995
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Jul 04, 2023
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Kindle Edition
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| 0451021266
| 9780451021267
| 0451021266
| 3.83
| 17,075
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| May 01, 1962
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really liked it
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Part two of my 2023 James Bond movie/book project. Continued from Goldfinger in January. Thunderball theme song sung by Tom Jones who got so lightheade Part two of my 2023 James Bond movie/book project. Continued from Goldfinger in January. Thunderball theme song sung by Tom Jones who got so lightheaded holding the last note he had to hold onto the wall to steady himself. (The urban legend is that he fainted, but he didn't. Too bad; it would've made for a good story.) Bonus track: 007 which is often used in other movies in the series. This is the ninth book in the series, but the fourth movie. It's the fifth book that I've read, and I'm now caught up to where I can read the remaining books monthly in conjunction with the above mentioned project, hallelujah. A friend of mine who did this same project thought this book was boring, but I didn't think so at all. There's a dearth of action for much of it, but I found much of this rather amusing. M and Felix Leiter are a trip, and I enjoyed Bond's camaraderie with both of them. Book Bond might not be as suave as his movie counterpart, and both incarnations have a sense of humor, but book Bond's is more jocular. E.g.: Bond and Leiter both hate the administrative duties they have to perform in relation to their jobs. They frequently bitch about them and always try to find ways to shirk said duties. At one point, they're trying to take a plane to do some reconnoitering when "...a uniformed motorcycle dispatch rider came driving uncertainly toward them across the tarmac. Bond said, 'Get going! Quick! Here comes paper work,'" and off they roared. The radio began crackling angrily, and Leiter just turns it off. It's the small things like that which make these fun to read. As for the plot, the basic structure is pretty much the same as the movie (maybe the closest of the five I've read so far), but the details are quite different, and several scenes and characters were added for the film. There's no Volpe or Junkanoo festival, and so we don't get this wonderful line: [image] There's still an underwater battle at the end of the book, but thankfully it's on a much smaller scale, and doesn't go on for hours like it does in the movie (it's not even 10 pages in the book, and it works just fine that way). Also, there's no high-speed, out of control yacht at the end. That has to be one of the most ridiculous things I've seen in a Bond film, and that's saying something, because there are a lot of scenes in the franchise worthy of that honor. It made me think of the car scene in Airplane!, and trust me, you don't want viewers making that association in a thriller/spy flick. Fleming still has a penchant for inserting minutia when a brief summary would do, but a lot of people like that. I just kind of speed-read the parts detailing the layout of a submarine, or how an atomic bomb is assembled, or whatever else he wanted to go on about for a couple of paragraphs. Fleming was an important part of the intelligence community in Britain during WWII, so I understand the temptation to explain the nuts and bolts even if such is just a tad much for the average reader who's here for the thriller side of the story. One reason my friend didn't enjoy this book at all was the misogyny. She raises good points, however I missed all of it until it was pointed out, and even then it still doesn't bother me. I actually found the couple of paragraphs about women drivers rather entertaining, but I'm a primeval boor. I have trouble taking such things seriously even if the author was serious with his views. After all, it's just another person's opinion, and he has just as much right to be wrong as I do. Continued with March's entry: You Only Live Twice ...more |
Notes are private!
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May 13, 2023
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May 01, 2023
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| 3.35
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Dec 31, 2023
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Dec 20, 2023
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| 3.87
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really liked it
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Dec 18, 2023
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Nov 29, 2023
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| 4.09
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really liked it
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Dec 05, 2023
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Nov 29, 2023
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| 3.97
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really liked it
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Dec 18, 2023
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Nov 29, 2023
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| 4.00
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really liked it
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Nov 26, 2023
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Nov 26, 2023
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| 5.00
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it was amazing
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not set
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Nov 16, 2023
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Oct 05, 2023
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| 4.15
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really liked it
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Oct 18, 2023
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Oct 04, 2023
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| 4.41
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really liked it
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Oct 10, 2023
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Sep 28, 2023
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| 4.14
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really liked it
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Oct 21, 2023
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Sep 24, 2023
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| 4.12
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liked it
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Sep 14, 2023
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Sep 05, 2023
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| 3.38
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really liked it
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Aug 27, 2023
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Aug 26, 2023
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| 4.01
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really liked it
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Aug 15, 2023
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Aug 12, 2023
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| 3.84
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really liked it
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Aug 2023
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Jul 24, 2023
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| 3.95
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really liked it
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Jul 30, 2023
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Jul 24, 2023
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| 3.66
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it was ok
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Jul 30, 2023
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Jul 24, 2023
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| 3.91
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really liked it
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Jul 28, 2023
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Jul 24, 2023
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| 4.13
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really liked it
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Jul 16, 2023
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Jul 16, 2023
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| 4.38
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it was amazing
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Jul 04, 2023
Mar 23, 1995
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Jul 04, 2023
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| 3.83
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really liked it
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May 20, 2023
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May 01, 2023
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