LEGION by William Peter Blatty

 Finished Tu 9/29/20

This is one of my ancient paperbacks (released in 1983) and there is notation when I bought it or if it has been read. The book is a sequel to THE EXORCIST. 

I was surprised to learn that there have been five movies in the 'Exorcist Franchise'. 

A young black mute paperboy is brutally murdered. The killing looks like it was done by The Gemini Killer, but this man was murdered twelve years before. The kid was crucified on rowing oars.

A  priest is decapitated and another priest is murdered.

Lt. Kinderman is the detective in charge. He distinctly Jewish, near retirement and given to posing questions about the nature of reality and why does God act the way he does. 

The best parts of the novel are the philosophical discussions that Kinderman (A kinder man?) has with the other characters.

There is an eye-opening quote from Charles Darwin in which he says that he believes in a creator.

An Interesting Point of View:

"Let There Be Light" might actually mean "Let There Be Reality".

I guess that the novel makes the case that the murders have been committed by an angel who was mad at the original exorcism. 

From a review at 'deadendfollies.com':

"...it's not REALLY a horror novel and not REALLY a mystery either. It's a literary novel that tries to address the possibility of religious dogma being true in the most realistic possible way. I supposed you can say it's a novel about demonology? It may seem austere and maybe it is a little, but I thought it was a lot more convincing than the flying demon/battling angel type of supernatural horror."

I liked the book and would read more by Blatty.

I noticed that the film, 'EXORCIST 3' was available on Amazon Prime and I made it today's Morning Movie:

Although Blatty wrote the screenplay the ending is radically different from the novel. Kinderman has a 'Exorcism Struggle' with the man in the padded cell who claims to be Kinderman's friend, the priest. This exorcism seemed very tacked-on, and according to one of the YouTube video reviews, it was. The bit about the carp living in his bathtub is still in the film and one of the highlights; George C. Scott, Brad Dourif, and a very small role for a very young Kevin Corrigan.

A WOMAN AT WAR by Molly Moore

 Finished We 9/23/20

This is one of my hardbacks that I don't know when I bought it and apparently had never read.

This is NOT a story of 'a woman in a man's world', but it's more of a blue print on what went down during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. It was only a three day war and thousands of  Iraqi soldiers surrendered during the first minutes of the attack. 

There is an excellent 'wrap-up' beginning on page 315.

Many military and government officials do not want reporters to be anywhere near the frontlines for fear of giving away the generals' battle plans. But, Molly reminded them that the generals on the frontlines were more than willing to get their plans 'on the record'. And, modern battles move so fast and the 'front' is so wide ranging that even if 'secret' information was released it would no longer be relevant. 

So much of the information that was gleaned from American intelligence agencies was just flat-out wrong. They over stated completely the strength of The Republican Guard and how many enemy soldiers were actually on the field of battle. Moore seems to believe that this was done for political reasons and none other. 

The biggest 'reveal' was that the 'new' battle plans were largely ineffective and tanks and 'boots on the ground' fighting is what carried the day. 

Communication was the biggest problem at the frontlines. During the battles generals had no idea what was going on....Just like Vietnam, WWII, and the Civil War. 

From the back cover of the book:

"During the Gulf War, most journalists were confined to media pools. But not Molly Moore, the senior military correspondent of The Washington Post. Moore was the only reporter to accompany a senior commanding general as he led his troops into battle in Kuwait. This is her eyewitness account of the war as she lived it by the side of the top Marine general, Walter E. Boomer. There has never been a book quite like Molly Moore's, for hers is the unique story of what a woman experienced inside the Gulf War military machine - in a male-dominated military amidst an Islamic culture in which women are on a level with the family pet. Molly Moore offers a detailed account of the buildup toward war in both Washington and the Gulf, and reveals the heroism as well as the calamity of the battlefield - the miscalculations, the failed communications, the distress and disarray among the troops and their officers. With an appealing combination of chilling authority and a warm understanding of the human dimensions of battle, she provides a frank and unprecedented view of the war planning councils as the action escalates. Here, too, are the tensions and exhilaration of daily life in a war zone - what it was like to wait for days for a gas mask when everyone else was well protected; how it felt to live in the desert, where, among other hazards, freezing winds made it impossible to take out a pair of contact lenses, and lack of privacy left women on duty with few choices about bathroom facilities. A Woman at War showcases as well the fresh and exciting new voice of Molly Moore herself, the first woman Pentagon correspondent in the history of The Washington Post. For its unusually candid and graphic depictionof men - and for the first time, women - in battle, A Woman at War will be highly valued and long remembered."

  

THE BIG FIX by Roger L. Simon

 Finished Th 9/17/20

This was one of my ancient paperbacks that I had apparently never read. There is also no date when I bought the book.

This is a very well-written novel with a somewhat confusing and convoluted plot-line.

MODERN PREMISE:

A Democratic candidate for the California legislature gets endorsed by a former Leftist Radical. This could ruin his chances to have his name tied to a violent Socialist. Then, the Leftists issue a press release that the are bombing a secret section of the Los Angeles highway system in the name of the Democratic candidate.

They are probably too many characters and numerous red herrings, but I guess this style of novel is very popular. 

On Saturday, 9/18 I watched the movie of 'The Big Fix' on YouTube. I thought that the movie did a far superior job of telling the story. Although the film was still very complex, it made sense in the end.

 Richard Dreyfuss, John Lithgow, and F. Murray Abrahams looked so young that I almost didn't recognize them. Once I heard their voices, I knew who they were.

The film's page at Wikipedia which also gives a fair rendition of the story-line. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Fix_(1978_film)

Roger L. Simon's page at Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_L._Simon#Moses_Wine_Series

THE KEYS TO TULSA by Brian Fair Bekey

Finished Su 9/14/20

Last week I watched the movie with James Spader and Eric Stoltz and was confused, but I thought that the idea was great. I found the book on Amazon and ordered and I'm glad that I did. I'll watch the movie again (Amazon Prime) soon. 

Set in Tulsa, OK during the early 80's- The Reagan Years. The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 is mentioned. I watched two YouTube documentaries about this incident of American genocide. May 31st, 1921 the white townspeople burned down the entire successful Black area of the town. Greenwood was destroyed and hundreds of blacks were murdered. In a town of 100,000, three thousand people belonged to The Ku Klux Klan. 

"Redneck Film Noire"

Richter Boudreau is a boozed up, drug addled newspaper reporter. He's barely hanging on to his job and writes movie reviews when it's convenient. He also teaches a college film class. He was born rich, but now has sunk to the bottom.

He falls under the spell of an old girlfriend, Vicky Stover. When he was in high school he was friends with Vicky's brother, Keith. Keith is now a morbidly obese man who does nothing but drink and drug. He is very rich and lives off his inheritance.

Vicky is now married to Ronnie. He's an over-aged juvenile delinquent who has come up with kidnapping plan. He knows a stripper who witnessed the murder of another stripper by a wealthy and well-connected white man. He wants to hit them up for over a million dollars in blackmail.

The book is about how Richter tries to get a handle on 'the plan and the players'.  

The review at Publishers Weekly:

"Berkey's manic and wildly raunchy debut novel is not likely to be warmly received by the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce. He takes us on a seven-day out-of-control grand tour of this Western city's extensive seamy side. Berkey leaves skid marks on Oral Roberts University and racist country clubs, and rampages through the red-light district with quick pit stops in striptease parlors and drug dens. The company is less than wholesome: hookers, heroin addicts, a murderer or two, extortionists, millionaire prairie preachers and yahoos galore. It's as if the cast of Taxi Driver were to invade the set of True Grit ; a sort of redneck film noire. And it succeeds smashingly. Richter Boudreau, the novel's central character, is the ultimate scamp. He's a wisecracking Berkeley graduate in deep trouble with gangsters and the police. Not the least of his concerns is that he owes a lot of money to a temperamental drug dealer involved in blackmailing some of Tulsa's leading citizens. Richter's love life--by turns absurdly romantic and unbelievably sleazy--only complicates the mess. One of the most fiendish characters is Richter's very own mother, a glorious manipulator bent on straightening out her errant son. Mixed up in the story is Richter's partner in vice, journalist George Brinkman, who is investigating the death of a topless dancer, the novel's main mystery. Berkey's only bad habit is his continual mockery of the characters' cornball accents. It's the one note of condescension in a novel of great sympathy and enjoyment. The keys to Berkey's Tulsa unlock a raucous and exciting world."

From the book:

"Tulsa was a sociopolitical jerkwater, an isolated pocket of oilmen, defense contractors, racists, Republicans, and religious fanatics a place forgotten by time, like one of those tiny hamlets in the Appalachians where they still spoke Elizabethan English. Heterogeneous opinion was inappropriate; you spoke the common language or you kept your mouth shut."

I would love to read more by this author, but apparently this was his only book. Too bad, I would have loved to read more. 

MAZE OF DEATH by Philip K. Dick

 Finished Tu 9/8/20

This is one of my ancient paperbacks and there is no indication when I bought it.

Plot:

A group of space colonists believe they are on Delmak-O, but really they are the crew of the spaceship of Persus 9, stranded in orbit around a dead star with no way of calling for help. Most of the explorers decide to continue the hallucinations. It's a 'reality vs. perception' novel and it's as if the characters embrace a non-reality. 

One of the people believed that they were picked for the mission through prayer. Prayers 'work', but they must be augmented electronically to reach all the known and unknown parts of the galaxy.  

The book's page at Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Maze_of_Death

The explanation of the book at Goodreads:

"Fourteen strangers come to Delmak-O. Thirteen of them were transferred by the usual authorities. One got there by praying. But once they arrived on that treacherous planet, whose very atmosphere seemed to induce paranoia and psychosis, the newcomers found that even prayer was useless. For on Delmak-O, God is either absent or intent on destroying His creations. At once a wrenching metaphysical thriller and an ingenious meditation on the nature of divinity, A Maze of Death is Philip K. Dick at his most dizzyingly provocative."

A link to the comments at Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216399.A_Maze_of_Death

I think that one of the most glaring irregularity is PK Dick's treatment of women. The only aspect of Dick's female characters is important is that they are physically beautiful. One of the people on the 'ship/planet' is a woman who is portrayed as 'the town whore'. 

The best part of the book is its' brevity. Slightly less than two hundred pages was just enough. 

The copy that I have is falling apart, but I think I'll keep it because I liked it.

AMERICAN PSYCHO by Bret Easton Ellis

 Refinished Sa 9/5/20

This is an old trade paperback that I bought at Barnes & Noble; Sa 11/5/94: $14.00. I finished it four days later, and I reread the novel and finished on Su 9/17/00.

Patrick Bateman is a psychopathic serial killer. He's quite open about his activities, but nobody listens.

Donald Trump is a hero of Bateman's. When people refer to 'The Plaza', he corrects them by saying, 'It's 'The Trump Plaza'. If Trump has eaten there, it's where Bateman's friends will definitely go there.

He claims that he works in 'Murders and Executions' instead of 'Mergers and Acquisitions'. 

Many times he is not recognized, but people never question that he is part of the top 'One Percent'. 

Many times he claims that he has to return video tapes to the store. 

Positive Criticism:

"...a gruesome little critique of the most shallow and depraved aspects of 1980s American capitalism..."

Negative Criticism:

"...“he most loathsome offering of the season, and “a contemptible piece of pornography.”

"...stupefying details about expensive clothing, food and bath products, that were it not the most loathsome offering of the season, it certainly would be the funniest..." I remember that this is what I loved about the novel my first time through it. But now it just dates the novel. Bateman's fantastic TV is only a 27" model and some of the trendy products are no longer for sale. 

 "...a hilarious, repulsive, boring, seductive, deadpan satire of what we now call—as if it were something in the past—the Age of Reagan."

"... a canonical work of social satire, widely regarded by gender theorists and feminist critics alike as a scabrous assessment of modern masculinity run amok."

Bateman is an expert on clothes and how they are worn. All of his friends defer to his opinions on fashion. 

Bateman is referred to by his friends as "Mr. Wallstreet".

I really loved the book all of the times that I've read it. Funny and horrifying.

TRUE TO FORM by Elizabeth Berg

 Finished Tu 9/1/20

This is a hardback that Janny bought at a lawn sale. I think that this novel could be aimed at the 'young adult' market, but maybe contemporary kids would think it too sweet.

The character of Katie was in two other novels; 'DURABLE GOODS' 'JOY SCHOOL'.

The novel is set in 1961. Katie is thirteen and this is her summer break and her father wants her to work. She gets a baby sitting job taking care of three young boys and also helping an old man take care of his elderly wife, Mrs. Randolph. And, her best friend Cynthia, has a mother who insists that young girls should be part of The Girl Scouts of America. 

Mr. Randolph is a retired teacher and he is able to get her into the exclusive girls school where he used to teach. Katie wants to be part of the 'popular' girls at the new school and she gets used. The new girls want to use her for her intelligence and she denigrates Cynthia in front of her new friends. Cynthia hears it and will not speak with Katie. This is the major 'clash' of the novel. 

The book is a kind of meditation on Friendship. 

From the book's page at Amazon:

"Living with her stern, unapproachable father and his new wife after the death of her mother, thirteen-year-old Katie finds herself lonely and forges an alliance with Cynthia, a fellow misfit."

A review by 'Top 500 Reviewer Vine Voice':

"Written with wisdom and wit, this book by Elizabeth Berg—the third in a series—is a coming of age story to which any woman who came of age in the '60s will thoroughly enjoy, if not actually treasure.

It's the summer of 1961 and Katie Nash is 13, bridging that confusing time between childhood and adolescence. But Katie does something so terrible and upsetting that she can barely forgive herself, and the act may very well bring her remorse her entire life. How she tries to make amends is both endearing and sad and teaches us all lessons in not only how to forgive one another, but also humble ourselves to seek forgiveness from those we have harmed.

While this book can be read as a stand-alone novel, I think you will appreciate it so much more if you read "Durable Goods" and "Joy School" first."