Ace Books -- pb
New York -- ©2001 -- 292pp
ISBN: 0-441-00853-4
Vampires have recently been accepted as members of society and a small Louisiana town gets their first vampire citizen, who happens to have affectionate intentions toward an unusual local waitress.
#####
I've been fascinated by vampire literature long before it was popular chick-lit. For those old enough to remember, it was once popular for young boys (who remembers Vampirella?).
I picked this up because I've enjoyed the TRUE BLOOD series and I wanted to read the 'original.' I was sadly disappointed. I found this book to be dull and boring ... not nearly as exciting as the tv series.
I could picture each episode of season one as I read through this, and of course I could only imagine the actors in the roles, rather than creating new impressions of the characters. This part of it was somewhat fun ... especially seeing how they created the entire first season out of the one book.
But as a book alone ... I guess it's just the 'romance' aspect of it; clearly written as a romance with a dark twist, that didn't appeal to this reader.
However, I will say that I intend to read a few more books in the series -- in part because I picked up a bunch rather cheaply and in part because I had high hopes for such a popular series that I don't plan to give up on it too soon.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
HOW TO LIVE SAFELY IN A SCIENCE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE -- Charles Yu
Pantheon Books -- hc
New York -- ©2010 -- 234pp
ISBN: 978-0-307-37920-7
Charles Yu, time travel technician - part counselor, part gadget repair man - helps save people from themselves. Literally. When he's not taking client calls or consoling his boss, Phil, who could really use an upgrade, Yu visits his mother (stuck in a one-hour cycle of time, she makes dinner over and over and over) and searches for his father, who invented time travel and then vanished.
#####
I don't remember the recommended list that I came across that had this book on it, but it sounded fascinating. And it was. But it wasn't...well...it wasn't great.
For those who have read plenty of science fiction, the idea of time travel and time loops and the dizzying headaches that accompany both, is really nothing new. I can think of a few novels of this nature (David Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself comes first to mind). What makes this novel slightly unique is that the narrator appears to be the author himself and that the book that we hold in our hands is the book that the narrator is both reading and writing at the same time (confusing?).
I had high hopes for a truly original sci-fi novel, but found, instead, a book that was actually pretty conventional with a main character who was generally pretty boring and not immediately like-able.
For those who've only been reading SF for the past decade or so, then this is probably an outstanding, original book. For those of us who've been reading the genre for four decades or more, than this isn't all that spectacular.
New York -- ©2010 -- 234pp
ISBN: 978-0-307-37920-7
Charles Yu, time travel technician - part counselor, part gadget repair man - helps save people from themselves. Literally. When he's not taking client calls or consoling his boss, Phil, who could really use an upgrade, Yu visits his mother (stuck in a one-hour cycle of time, she makes dinner over and over and over) and searches for his father, who invented time travel and then vanished.
#####
I don't remember the recommended list that I came across that had this book on it, but it sounded fascinating. And it was. But it wasn't...well...it wasn't great.
For those who have read plenty of science fiction, the idea of time travel and time loops and the dizzying headaches that accompany both, is really nothing new. I can think of a few novels of this nature (David Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself comes first to mind). What makes this novel slightly unique is that the narrator appears to be the author himself and that the book that we hold in our hands is the book that the narrator is both reading and writing at the same time (confusing?).
I had high hopes for a truly original sci-fi novel, but found, instead, a book that was actually pretty conventional with a main character who was generally pretty boring and not immediately like-able.
For those who've only been reading SF for the past decade or so, then this is probably an outstanding, original book. For those of us who've been reading the genre for four decades or more, than this isn't all that spectacular.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
SOLAR -- Ian McEwan
Doubleday -- hc
New York -- ©2010 -- 287pp
ISBN: 978-0-385-53341-6
Michael Beard is a Nobel prize–winning physicist whose best work is behind him. Trading on his reputation, he speaks for enormous fees, lends his name to the letterheads of renowned scientific institutions, and half-heartedly heads a government-backed initiative tackling global warming. Can a man who has made a mess of his life clean up the messes of humanity?
#####
This book was recommended to me twice, first through a listing of books that I've generally liked, and then by our local librarian who has very similar tastes as I do. Unfortunately, this book completely failed to capture my attention.
Michael Beard was an unsympathetic character. Somehow, this nerdy scientist, who is never described as particularly attractive, has women falling all over him and each time he gets married, he's off having an affair. His latest wife has an affair of her own, and of course he seems to want her back to himself, but it never happens. And... we don't care.
Beard has all but given up actually doing any hard work once he's received the Nobel Prize, and ... again we don't care. It's a wonder he was ever successful enough to actually have received the Nobel, based on what we see of him in the book.
Bits and pieces of the book were interesting, if not completely transparent. The section of the book when he was exploring the Arctic was interesting, though I'm still not sure what it had to do with any other section of the novel.
I waited and waited for the section as described in the tag lines on Goodreads and the dustjacket: "Here is a chance for him to extricate himself from his marital problems, reinvigorate his career, and very possibly save the world from environmental disaster. Can a man who has made a mess of his life clean up the messes of humanity?" Do I need to answer the question that's posted?
This was a colossal waste of time. I waited for something to happen. Anything. The few things that did happen came as no surprise.
I hope this isn't McEwan at his best, it sure doesn't make me eager to read any of his other works.
New York -- ©2010 -- 287pp
ISBN: 978-0-385-53341-6
Michael Beard is a Nobel prize–winning physicist whose best work is behind him. Trading on his reputation, he speaks for enormous fees, lends his name to the letterheads of renowned scientific institutions, and half-heartedly heads a government-backed initiative tackling global warming. Can a man who has made a mess of his life clean up the messes of humanity?
#####
This book was recommended to me twice, first through a listing of books that I've generally liked, and then by our local librarian who has very similar tastes as I do. Unfortunately, this book completely failed to capture my attention.
Michael Beard was an unsympathetic character. Somehow, this nerdy scientist, who is never described as particularly attractive, has women falling all over him and each time he gets married, he's off having an affair. His latest wife has an affair of her own, and of course he seems to want her back to himself, but it never happens. And... we don't care.
Beard has all but given up actually doing any hard work once he's received the Nobel Prize, and ... again we don't care. It's a wonder he was ever successful enough to actually have received the Nobel, based on what we see of him in the book.
Bits and pieces of the book were interesting, if not completely transparent. The section of the book when he was exploring the Arctic was interesting, though I'm still not sure what it had to do with any other section of the novel.
I waited and waited for the section as described in the tag lines on Goodreads and the dustjacket: "Here is a chance for him to extricate himself from his marital problems, reinvigorate his career, and very possibly save the world from environmental disaster. Can a man who has made a mess of his life clean up the messes of humanity?" Do I need to answer the question that's posted?
This was a colossal waste of time. I waited for something to happen. Anything. The few things that did happen came as no surprise.
I hope this isn't McEwan at his best, it sure doesn't make me eager to read any of his other works.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
MAN FROM NEBRASKA -- Tracy Letts
Northwestern University Press -- tpb
Evanston, IL -- ©2006 -- 89pp
ISBN: 0-8101-2347-9
Two act play.
4 M, 5 W
A luxury sedan, a church pew and visits to a nursing home form the comfortable round of Ken Carpenter s daily life. And then one night, he awakens to find that he no longer believes in God. This crisis of faith propels an ordinary middle-aged man into an extraordinary journey of self-discovery. This wickedly funny and spiritually complex play examines the effects of one man s awakening on himself and his family. [from goodreads.com]
#####
I started out NOT enjoying this play very much, but as I got through it, it grew on me a bit.
Tracy Letts has a bit of a theme running here with this play and his much more successful AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, and that would be a theme of late-middle-aged men trying to understand their lives. In many ways, one could almost see this as a pre-cursor to AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY.
Both plays (and I will try, of course, to speak more to this play directly) deal with an older man who has some interest or experience in the arts. In A:OC it's a poet and here it's a man who thinks he no longer believes in god, leaves his family to discover himself, and finds art in the form of sculpture. He's not very good, of course, but it brings him to a better understanding of himself AND a creator.
As a middle-aged artist who has let his art slide, I could identify mightily with our lonesome hero, Ken Carpenter (and yes, the name Carpenter is a wonderful symbol in so many ways as the Christian god-in-flesh was a carpenter, and as a sculptor, an artist uses many of the same or similar tools as a carpenter). His desire to find passion in life is probably understood by many men, and that passion is not necessarily a sensual or sexual passion. That passion is relayed here as sexual, artistic, and religious.
What did not ring true for me was how quickly and easily Carpenter seemed to make his break. Certainly some (if not all) of this would be made up for by the actor portraying the character.
The only other part that bothered me was how many short scenes there were. We jumped quickly and loosely and it made it difficult to keep a thread of the story together, even though the scenes really revolved around Ken. The scenes with Ken's wife, Nancy, just didn't work as well. It seemed too late to try to make the audience care about what Nancy was going through and how stalwart she was toward Ken.
Still...Letts has a great sense of theme and plot and subplot and uses his imagery very well. This is a play that takes a little getting used to, but could work on many levels.
Evanston, IL -- ©2006 -- 89pp
ISBN: 0-8101-2347-9
Two act play.
4 M, 5 W
A luxury sedan, a church pew and visits to a nursing home form the comfortable round of Ken Carpenter s daily life. And then one night, he awakens to find that he no longer believes in God. This crisis of faith propels an ordinary middle-aged man into an extraordinary journey of self-discovery. This wickedly funny and spiritually complex play examines the effects of one man s awakening on himself and his family. [from goodreads.com]
#####
I started out NOT enjoying this play very much, but as I got through it, it grew on me a bit.
Tracy Letts has a bit of a theme running here with this play and his much more successful AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, and that would be a theme of late-middle-aged men trying to understand their lives. In many ways, one could almost see this as a pre-cursor to AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY.
Both plays (and I will try, of course, to speak more to this play directly) deal with an older man who has some interest or experience in the arts. In A:OC it's a poet and here it's a man who thinks he no longer believes in god, leaves his family to discover himself, and finds art in the form of sculpture. He's not very good, of course, but it brings him to a better understanding of himself AND a creator.
As a middle-aged artist who has let his art slide, I could identify mightily with our lonesome hero, Ken Carpenter (and yes, the name Carpenter is a wonderful symbol in so many ways as the Christian god-in-flesh was a carpenter, and as a sculptor, an artist uses many of the same or similar tools as a carpenter). His desire to find passion in life is probably understood by many men, and that passion is not necessarily a sensual or sexual passion. That passion is relayed here as sexual, artistic, and religious.
What did not ring true for me was how quickly and easily Carpenter seemed to make his break. Certainly some (if not all) of this would be made up for by the actor portraying the character.
The only other part that bothered me was how many short scenes there were. We jumped quickly and loosely and it made it difficult to keep a thread of the story together, even though the scenes really revolved around Ken. The scenes with Ken's wife, Nancy, just didn't work as well. It seemed too late to try to make the audience care about what Nancy was going through and how stalwart she was toward Ken.
Still...Letts has a great sense of theme and plot and subplot and uses his imagery very well. This is a play that takes a little getting used to, but could work on many levels.
Monday, February 21, 2011
SUPERPOWERS -- David J. Schwartz
Three Rivers Press -- tpb
New York -- ©2008 -- 377pp
ISBN: 978-0-307-39440-8
Five college students at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, wake up one morning after a party to discover they have super powers. They begin a journey, at first alone, and then together, to discover what their powers mean for themselves.
#####
I'm not sure what I was expecting when I picked this up in a little independent book store, but, as I like comics and I enjoy literary and genre fiction, this seemed like a good book for me.
I'm still intrigued with the premise ... five students in Madison, WI wake up one morning to discover that they've inherited/developed/been gifted with some extraordinary super powers. What happens next?
I like that Schwartz has attempted to keep it real. Grounded (no pun intended). Unfortunately, it gets so grounded that it becomes tedious and boring in spots. The personal/sexual relationships that are developed don't seem interesting, and frankly, I never fully understand how close these friends really are. Are they all friends? Are some outsiders among their groups? Does it matter? Well, yes it does if you're telling a story about people. And their actions as super-powered individuals isn't played up too much ... mostly second reports about what they've done. Again, this is fine as this is a story about people and not a comic about a superhero, but what is the focus of this story?
There are some really nice moments here ... specifically (without giving anything away), a scene in a nursing home that I really wanted to read more about, and the effects that the powers have on some of the students (physical as well as psychological), but in the long-run, this book lagged a bit.
I give it 3-1/2 stars.
New York -- ©2008 -- 377pp
ISBN: 978-0-307-39440-8
Five college students at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, wake up one morning after a party to discover they have super powers. They begin a journey, at first alone, and then together, to discover what their powers mean for themselves.
#####
I'm not sure what I was expecting when I picked this up in a little independent book store, but, as I like comics and I enjoy literary and genre fiction, this seemed like a good book for me.
I'm still intrigued with the premise ... five students in Madison, WI wake up one morning to discover that they've inherited/developed/been gifted with some extraordinary super powers. What happens next?
I like that Schwartz has attempted to keep it real. Grounded (no pun intended). Unfortunately, it gets so grounded that it becomes tedious and boring in spots. The personal/sexual relationships that are developed don't seem interesting, and frankly, I never fully understand how close these friends really are. Are they all friends? Are some outsiders among their groups? Does it matter? Well, yes it does if you're telling a story about people. And their actions as super-powered individuals isn't played up too much ... mostly second reports about what they've done. Again, this is fine as this is a story about people and not a comic about a superhero, but what is the focus of this story?
There are some really nice moments here ... specifically (without giving anything away), a scene in a nursing home that I really wanted to read more about, and the effects that the powers have on some of the students (physical as well as psychological), but in the long-run, this book lagged a bit.
I give it 3-1/2 stars.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
ALBUM -- David Rimmer
Nelson Doubleday -- hc
New York -- ©1980 -- 105pp
book club edition
A two act play about youth growing up in the 60's, with music as a focus of their lives and a device for the playwright.
#####
As I read this, my first thought is: "Wow, this play is dated."
I really liked the idea of incorporating popular music into the life of these youngsters. It reminds me greatly of my youth -- the days when we'd sit around and talk about the new songs, or the latest album by a favorite musician, and even the arguments about when band is better. In this sense, I was pulled in to the play. But as the characters got older, I cared about them less.
Again, I believe that this is more a result of the period of the play. This play is very characteristic of plays from this era, with lives changing for the worse at every turn. But dropouts and runaways don't pull at the heart strings the way they used to.
There are some great acting scenes and monologues here, but if I saw this on the season subscription for a local theatre, I wouldn't be running out to get tickets.
New York -- ©1980 -- 105pp
book club edition
A two act play about youth growing up in the 60's, with music as a focus of their lives and a device for the playwright.
#####
As I read this, my first thought is: "Wow, this play is dated."
I really liked the idea of incorporating popular music into the life of these youngsters. It reminds me greatly of my youth -- the days when we'd sit around and talk about the new songs, or the latest album by a favorite musician, and even the arguments about when band is better. In this sense, I was pulled in to the play. But as the characters got older, I cared about them less.
Again, I believe that this is more a result of the period of the play. This play is very characteristic of plays from this era, with lives changing for the worse at every turn. But dropouts and runaways don't pull at the heart strings the way they used to.
There are some great acting scenes and monologues here, but if I saw this on the season subscription for a local theatre, I wouldn't be running out to get tickets.
Sunday, February 06, 2011
BROKEN MUSIC -- Sting
A memoir
Dial Press -- hc
New York -- ©2003 -- 337pp
ISBN: 0-385-33678-0
An autobiography of Gordon Sumner (aka Sting).
#####
I first thought maybe I'd try to write a review without commenting on Sting's music, but frankly, it would be stupid to even try. You're unlikely to read this memoir if you don't know who Sting is, and unless you've lived in a movie theatre and think he's only a bit player in a few flicks, you're likely to read this book (or not) based on his music.
What I found most interesting, though, is that this book is a lot like his music ... occasionally brilliant, mostly just okay, and sometimes downright hard to follow.
The book rambled some, and at one point I paged backward to see if I had skipped something, because I didn't understand why we'd just spent a dozen pages or more on an off-topic. But then, when he wrote about music, and his music in particular, I was interested.
Lots of artists suffer and starve before they make it 'big' and it's good to be reminded that some of these artists had tough times. Sting had a somewhat unique situation where he was in the starving/struggling camp, while working with the Police.
What I liked learning about him was that he was smart enough to hedge his bets ... joining with other musicians even while playing with a group.
All in all, it's not a book that will live with me forever, nor did it offer any great perspective on the world or even Sting's music, but it was a pleasant way to spend a weekend reading.
Dial Press -- hc
New York -- ©2003 -- 337pp
ISBN: 0-385-33678-0
An autobiography of Gordon Sumner (aka Sting).
#####
I first thought maybe I'd try to write a review without commenting on Sting's music, but frankly, it would be stupid to even try. You're unlikely to read this memoir if you don't know who Sting is, and unless you've lived in a movie theatre and think he's only a bit player in a few flicks, you're likely to read this book (or not) based on his music.
What I found most interesting, though, is that this book is a lot like his music ... occasionally brilliant, mostly just okay, and sometimes downright hard to follow.
The book rambled some, and at one point I paged backward to see if I had skipped something, because I didn't understand why we'd just spent a dozen pages or more on an off-topic. But then, when he wrote about music, and his music in particular, I was interested.
Lots of artists suffer and starve before they make it 'big' and it's good to be reminded that some of these artists had tough times. Sting had a somewhat unique situation where he was in the starving/struggling camp, while working with the Police.
What I liked learning about him was that he was smart enough to hedge his bets ... joining with other musicians even while playing with a group.
All in all, it's not a book that will live with me forever, nor did it offer any great perspective on the world or even Sting's music, but it was a pleasant way to spend a weekend reading.
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