Finished Tu 10/27/15
Loved it from page one....FIVE STARS... Great saga of a family and a really innovative storyline. You don't even know what the novel is really about until about forty pages in.
Daughter and father relationship against the backdrop of the turbulent sixties.
Rather a depressing ending. Does Roth feel that all is doomed? No real option to prevent the deterioration of all things.
There is a movie in the works (Begun Sept. 2015)
Page 402 uses the words 'American Pastoral'. A reference to Thanksgiving, a day in which all differences, religious and otherwise, are to be put aside.
wikipedia page-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pastoral
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Friday, October 23, 2015
THE MURDERER INVISIBLE by Philip Wylie
Finished Th 10/22/15
Although this novel is not the basis for the 1933 film, THE INVISIBLE MAN, Philip Wylie helped with the script. The genesis for that film was from an H.G.Wells novel, however the subject of 'invisible men' was big during the thirties.
I felt that the premise was hard to accept especially since all of us have been living in the 'War On Terror' for a couple of decades.
One man (invisible or not) doesn't seem that much of a threat these days. I kept thinking that all the authorities had to do was wait until winter and then Carpenter wouldn't be able to go outside because clothes would make him visible.
I still want to read Wylie's GENERATION OF VIPERS.
The author's page on wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Wylie
Although this novel is not the basis for the 1933 film, THE INVISIBLE MAN, Philip Wylie helped with the script. The genesis for that film was from an H.G.Wells novel, however the subject of 'invisible men' was big during the thirties.
I felt that the premise was hard to accept especially since all of us have been living in the 'War On Terror' for a couple of decades.
One man (invisible or not) doesn't seem that much of a threat these days. I kept thinking that all the authorities had to do was wait until winter and then Carpenter wouldn't be able to go outside because clothes would make him visible.
I still want to read Wylie's GENERATION OF VIPERS.
The author's page on wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Wylie
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Karilyne's Korner: An Allert Village Novel (Allert Village Novels Book 1) by Kristy Woods
Finished Th 10/22/15
I got this for 99 cents to read on the Kindle app.
This is the October selection for the Contemporary Book Club. The author will be at the meeting when we discuss the book.
A very sweet Romance novel and I read it in a couple of sittings.
Kind of like a John Denver song. You definitely are 'moved', but in a slightly corny and manipulated fashion. I felt that I had to suspend all ties to the real world, and just 'give in to the spell' of the novel. But, this prevented me from identifying with the characters because they are clearly not based on anything in the real world. This could be seen as the novel's strength, and also, as the novel's primary weakness.
All in all, an enjoyable read, but a bit too sentimental and soppy for my taste.
I'm looking forward to meeting the author because in the prologue to the novel she mentions that she began her love of reading at the Lincoln Library West Branch.
I got this for 99 cents to read on the Kindle app.
This is the October selection for the Contemporary Book Club. The author will be at the meeting when we discuss the book.
A very sweet Romance novel and I read it in a couple of sittings.
Kind of like a John Denver song. You definitely are 'moved', but in a slightly corny and manipulated fashion. I felt that I had to suspend all ties to the real world, and just 'give in to the spell' of the novel. But, this prevented me from identifying with the characters because they are clearly not based on anything in the real world. This could be seen as the novel's strength, and also, as the novel's primary weakness.
All in all, an enjoyable read, but a bit too sentimental and soppy for my taste.
I'm looking forward to meeting the author because in the prologue to the novel she mentions that she began her love of reading at the Lincoln Library West Branch.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND by Robert A. Heinlein
Finished Sa 10/17/15
This was one of my paperbacks, and according to the flyleaf, I bought it Mo 2/29/88, but I know that I must have read this novel at least one time (probably more) before that.
This is the kind of book that can be read several times over the years, and it never grows old and new ideas can be found. Without a doubt, a true Sci Fi Classic.
Link to wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land
This time, I didn't find the inclusion of the 'arch-angel' sections so clumsy. Now it made more sense and added to the theme of 'after-life' and some type of 'divine' involvement.
Although I felt it was a pretty long novel, Heinlein's original manuscript was quite much longer. I'd like to find this unedited edition and see what it's like.
This was one of my paperbacks, and according to the flyleaf, I bought it Mo 2/29/88, but I know that I must have read this novel at least one time (probably more) before that.
This is the kind of book that can be read several times over the years, and it never grows old and new ideas can be found. Without a doubt, a true Sci Fi Classic.
Link to wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land
This time, I didn't find the inclusion of the 'arch-angel' sections so clumsy. Now it made more sense and added to the theme of 'after-life' and some type of 'divine' involvement.
Although I felt it was a pretty long novel, Heinlein's original manuscript was quite much longer. I'd like to find this unedited edition and see what it's like.
Monday, October 12, 2015
DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART by Dean Koontz
Finished Mo 10/12/15
My hardbound copy which I had never read.
No aliens or alternative universes, but much more terrifying.
Michael Ackblom repressed watched his father attack and kill is mother when he was eight years old. And, when he was fourteen, he discovered that his father was a serial killer and he shot him.
He spends the rest of his life traveling the country with his dog, Rocky, telling people his story in long barroom chats.
Rocky was abused before he came to Spencer and is basically terrified of everything. He is every bit as 'human' as any of the other characters in the book.
Because his father was not only a notorious serial killer (over 40 kills), he was also a famous artist. Michael (now known as Spencer Grant) becomes a wizard at computers and is able to bury is old identity. He also is an ex-Army Ranger.
When he enters a bar called 'The Red Door' he meets the love of his life. Valerie Keene. She is also in 'deep cover' and a computer whiz. She was the daughter in law of the Assistant to the US Attorney General who is responsible for a 'Black Op' that has subverted American liberty.
Roy Miro is the head of an operation that is trying to kill Valerie before she blows the whistle on this clandestine governmental coup. The government seizes citizen property and is able to fund a massive 'off the books' fascist operation in the name of government policy.
Roy murders people in the belief that he is helping humanity and ending their private suffering. He is a vicious psychopath, but an essential component in the unholy Black Op system.
The novel begins when Spencer goes to the bar where he first met Valerie and she has called not reported for her shift. He goes to her home and enters the house just as it is hit by Roy's SWAT team. He escapes, and later is rescued by Valerie in a flash flood.
Spencer, Rocky, Valerie, and Roy are the principal characters in the novel.
As with most Dean Koontz novels, it has an electrifying beginning.
The book was released in 1994 and I'm certain that things have gotten much worse in the last two decades, but in the afterword Koontz states that to preserve American democracy 3 things must be done-
1. We must revoke all asset-forfeiture laws in their entirety.
2. The Congress must cease exempting its members from laws passed to govern the rest of us.
3. Congress must stop enacting laws that criminalize beliefs that are politically incorrect or unusual but that harm no one, for these are what George Orwell termed 'thought crimes'.
The section of the novel where a police captain is set up and then the government seizes all of his property is especially chilling. This is years before Homeland and The Patriot Act, and now it must be many times more dire for the average citizen.
I loved the book and this might just be my favorite Dean Koontz novel. I wonder what he would say about his predictions today with the Patriot Act and so forth?
Link to wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Rivers_of_the_Heart
Link to Amazon-
http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Rivers-Heart-A-Novel/dp/0345533038
My hardbound copy which I had never read.
No aliens or alternative universes, but much more terrifying.
Michael Ackblom repressed watched his father attack and kill is mother when he was eight years old. And, when he was fourteen, he discovered that his father was a serial killer and he shot him.
He spends the rest of his life traveling the country with his dog, Rocky, telling people his story in long barroom chats.
Rocky was abused before he came to Spencer and is basically terrified of everything. He is every bit as 'human' as any of the other characters in the book.
Because his father was not only a notorious serial killer (over 40 kills), he was also a famous artist. Michael (now known as Spencer Grant) becomes a wizard at computers and is able to bury is old identity. He also is an ex-Army Ranger.
When he enters a bar called 'The Red Door' he meets the love of his life. Valerie Keene. She is also in 'deep cover' and a computer whiz. She was the daughter in law of the Assistant to the US Attorney General who is responsible for a 'Black Op' that has subverted American liberty.
Roy Miro is the head of an operation that is trying to kill Valerie before she blows the whistle on this clandestine governmental coup. The government seizes citizen property and is able to fund a massive 'off the books' fascist operation in the name of government policy.
Roy murders people in the belief that he is helping humanity and ending their private suffering. He is a vicious psychopath, but an essential component in the unholy Black Op system.
The novel begins when Spencer goes to the bar where he first met Valerie and she has called not reported for her shift. He goes to her home and enters the house just as it is hit by Roy's SWAT team. He escapes, and later is rescued by Valerie in a flash flood.
Spencer, Rocky, Valerie, and Roy are the principal characters in the novel.
As with most Dean Koontz novels, it has an electrifying beginning.
The book was released in 1994 and I'm certain that things have gotten much worse in the last two decades, but in the afterword Koontz states that to preserve American democracy 3 things must be done-
1. We must revoke all asset-forfeiture laws in their entirety.
2. The Congress must cease exempting its members from laws passed to govern the rest of us.
3. Congress must stop enacting laws that criminalize beliefs that are politically incorrect or unusual but that harm no one, for these are what George Orwell termed 'thought crimes'.
The section of the novel where a police captain is set up and then the government seizes all of his property is especially chilling. This is years before Homeland and The Patriot Act, and now it must be many times more dire for the average citizen.
I loved the book and this might just be my favorite Dean Koontz novel. I wonder what he would say about his predictions today with the Patriot Act and so forth?
Link to wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Rivers_of_the_Heart
Link to Amazon-
http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Rivers-Heart-A-Novel/dp/0345533038
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
PLEASE KILL ME- THE UNCENSORED ORAL HISTORY OF PUNK by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain
Finished Tu 10/6/15
This is a library book that I picked up after I read 'Dear Nobody' which was edited by the same authors. The book is a collection of 'voices' of people who were involved in the scene. They each get a paragraph and sometimes up to a page. A great read and not so much, 'behind the scenes', but reveals the characters as real people.
Dead Boys- A knife fight in NYC sidelined a band member for months and probably knocked the band out of the public awareness. The incident is different in the book; nothing about a fight with a rival punk band. The fight occurs after a run-in with a cab filled with Puerto Ricans.
Johnny Blitz wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Blitz
Dead Boys wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Boys
Patti Smith fell off the stage at a concert in Florida just as punk was breaking and prevented the band from becoming more well known.
At the top of The Patti Smith Group's fame she decided to become a wife and mother with Fred 'Sonic' Smith, lead guitar for MC5. Another swipe at the band's influence and popularity, but she made it work 'for' her.
Nauseous Nancy- Nancy Spungen
Sid Vicious used 'sex wax' as hair gel. Johnny Rotten said that 'now you can stick your head up someone's ass'.
Johnny Thunders's hands 'like sausages' from shooting heroin. It's suggested that his overdose in New Orleans was caused because dealers gave him massive hits of LSD and he took the heroin and downers to stop the bad trip.
Johnny Thunders wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Thunders
Link to amazon-
http://www.amazon.com/Please-Kill-Me-Uncensored-History/dp/0802142648
This is a library book that I picked up after I read 'Dear Nobody' which was edited by the same authors. The book is a collection of 'voices' of people who were involved in the scene. They each get a paragraph and sometimes up to a page. A great read and not so much, 'behind the scenes', but reveals the characters as real people.
Dead Boys- A knife fight in NYC sidelined a band member for months and probably knocked the band out of the public awareness. The incident is different in the book; nothing about a fight with a rival punk band. The fight occurs after a run-in with a cab filled with Puerto Ricans.
Johnny Blitz wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Blitz
Dead Boys wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Boys
Patti Smith fell off the stage at a concert in Florida just as punk was breaking and prevented the band from becoming more well known.
At the top of The Patti Smith Group's fame she decided to become a wife and mother with Fred 'Sonic' Smith, lead guitar for MC5. Another swipe at the band's influence and popularity, but she made it work 'for' her.
Nauseous Nancy- Nancy Spungen
Sid Vicious used 'sex wax' as hair gel. Johnny Rotten said that 'now you can stick your head up someone's ass'.
Johnny Thunders's hands 'like sausages' from shooting heroin. It's suggested that his overdose in New Orleans was caused because dealers gave him massive hits of LSD and he took the heroin and downers to stop the bad trip.
Johnny Thunders wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Thunders
Link to amazon-
http://www.amazon.com/Please-Kill-Me-Uncensored-History/dp/0802142648
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)