Bronwyn Knox
Warning: below is more of a shared memory than a review.
Reread this recently as sort of a “buddy” read with my daughter. I feel pretty confident in saying I still love this book. It's not nostalgia talking when I say it's one of the funniest books I'd ever read and probably formed a lot of the basis of my sense of humor and ways of thinking.
It is my standard for a humorous book and my eventual attraction to Discworld started with this series. There was a whole entire phenomenon with this series in the early '80s with a radio show, PBS series, and of course the book. I'm happy to be old enough to remember all that even though I was too young to read the book at the time. I picked this book up the first time as young as the age of eleven, and a lot of it went over my head I'm sure, but I still enjoyed it.
It is more than just funny. There is great world-building, characters with huge personalities, and lots of philosophic ideas and other stuff that just gets you thinking and laughing.
The first third or so of The Scarlet Gospels was highly focused and left me anticipating what was to come.
The rest was lightweight for a Clive Barker horror novel, especially when he has all these iconic characters (Harry D'Amour, Pinhead, Lucifer) to knock together.
I miss the older, more intense Barker.
I picked this up specifically for “Harrison Bergeron,” a dystopian future story where “equality” is forced on everyone by law. Any advantages citizens have, intelligence, strength, beauty, must be handicapped artificially. Interesting concept and absurdly wicked the way the plot goes down.
Other stories in the collection I enjoyed were “Report on the Barnhouse Effect,” “The Euphio Question,” and “Deer in the Works,” all of which were dark and funny at the same time and gave me plenty to think about.
The title story was a real doozy, another dystopian future, in which the world is overpopulated so people take a pill to kill all sexual desire, instead of the more expected methods of contraception.
“If you go back through history you'll find that the people who have been most eager to rule, to make the laws, to enforce the laws and to tell everybody exactly how God Almighty wants things here on Earth — those people have forgiven themselves and their friends for anything and everything. But they have been absolutely disgusted and terrified by the natural sexuality of common men and women.”
Electric Dreams
I read this book soon after reading Mother Night; I was curious since I knew that Campbell, the main character of Mother Night made a “cameo” in Slaughterhouse-Five.
This has other similarities, it is about WWII, it uses dark humor, there is a narrator telling a story-within-a-story and the narrative shifts around in time.
The time shifts are connected to the story here because the mind of the main character, Billy Pilgrim, moves in and out of different points in his life. He believes he was captured by aliens who taught him that time doesn't happen in any particular order. Everything happens all at once and is predestined. He'll be in WWII and suddenly shift to his wedding night, or to working with a patient as an optometrist, or to being an exhibit in the alien zoo, etc.
I'm suggesting “he believes” because my thoughts during reading this were that the reader is not meant to take this as part of the reality of the book; it's not science fiction. Instead, the alien abduction is part of his way of escaping the horrors of his life, particularly being a POW and surviving the bombing of Dresden. I could be dead wrong about this; maybe we are meant to think he was captured by aliens.
But take the bits when he's in the alien zoo, Billy's mating partner is a sexy movie star, Montana Wildhack. This indicates to me that it's a fantasy created in Billy's mind, otherwise, why wouldn't it be just any average woman, someone equal to Billy himself in looks and fame.
The other effect of Billy's alien adventure is that he is convinced there is no such thing as free will. If all events are happening at once then they will always happen; there was really no choice to be made. This fits in with Billy's general passivity during the course of his own life. The only time he seems to make a decision in the book is when he searches for a television station (but finds a radio station) to get his story on the air. He doesn't have to take responsibility for things that happen to him.
Another concept that both Slaughterhouse-Five and Mother Night explored is that in warfare, both sides are human. Germans were people too, or whoever is the “enemy” in any given war. The citizens of Dresden are all killed and it's just as horrifying as when any Allied cities were bombed. It's not a totally original thought but I like the way it's handled by Vonnegut.
Final thoughts: Slaughterhouse-Five was an interesting tale full of many ideas to ponder, but it didn't move me quite as much as Mother Night did. As always, I appreciate Vonnegut's high degree of readability and ability to get across meaning without getting preachy. This is a skill that's missing for many writers these days.
Loosely connected short stories that wrap around or are “nested.” (Matryoshka dolls are specifically called out in one of the stories.)
Some of them are more fun to read than others; “Letters from Zedelghem,” “Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery,” and “The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish” were the most entertaining. The first one because of the self delusional and self-destructive nature of the character and the other two because they were just great stories in their own way. The central story, “Sloosha's Crossin' an' Evrythin' After,' ‘ was a challenge because of the dialect.
Mitchell is certainly talented. He wrote each story in their respective style and voice convincingly.
If you're really into books where a fancy, non-traditional structure is used, I can recommend The Islanders by Christopher Priest, Gnomon by Nick Harkaway, and 4-3-2-1 by Paul Auster.
The last section, “The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing,” got a little preachy at the end when Adam wrote out the message in his journal, basically that humans have to believe we can rise above the predatory and selfish. If you'd been reading the book this far, you probably already got that point as it is present in some way or other in each story with varying degrees of subtlety.
“She was in college, a time of optimistic fascism when it seems that all the world needs is one more rally.”
Strange tale about a young man who is suffering from an undiagnosed mental illness. Many surreal and absurd incidents that happen in the otherwise realistic book make the reader wonder what is real and what is happening in Anthony's mind.
The main character is funny, intelligent, and sympathetic but sometimes repulsive. I rooted for him to get his life together, however unlikely this seemed. He does a lot of bizarre, cringe-worthy things. Yet, I found myself taking his side against his three equally crazy female relatives that he has to live with. These ladies put pressure on him to change his ways and could be put into the triple goddess archetype of “Mother, virgin, and crone.” Since I know LaValle as a fantasy/horror writer who doesn't miss a trick I'm sure this was intentional.
The end is left somewhat unresolved but this works fine. I can't imagine what kind of neat and tidy wrap-up would have worked here. Certainly, I cannot imagine that Anthony was going to seek any kind of help. It's just not that kind of story. This was a unique, clever, sad, and fantastic story that was worth reading.
Overall: Clark presents an imaginative take on the idea of the KKK as true monsters from another world, feeding on the existing hate in the human mind. The story goes at a good clip and there's never a dull moment. I found this to read as more of a YA urban fantasy than horror. There's magic swords, spiritual guides, and chosen ones and so on. Nothing wrong with that, but it's interesting that it's marketed as horror.
The Horror: There's some monster goo and weird creature bits but nothing here that should keep you from reading it if you usually shy away from horror. Nothing too intense or gory.
Characters: The adventure is led by Maryse and her comrades in arms, Sadie and Chef. I liked Maryse's sidekicks quite a bit. They had personality and since we knew less about them, it was easy to project what they're like. Maryse's character arc is pretty smooth; she's never in doubt for long for what that's worth. (It is a short book after all.)
Final thoughts: I think I might have appreciated this being a bit longer. So much happened and it felt rushed. There was no chance to make a deep connection with characters or events and it seemed like the kind of story where you would want that.
Off and on, while I was reading this, I couldn't decide if I was liking it or not. It's a quick read, 130 sparsely populated pages, so I never considered quitting. Since the story is narrated by a character, what was happening was pretty transparent and consequently, there wasn't a lot of surprise/tension. Once it got to the last 20 pages, things got more interesting.
I think it's hard to talk about without giving it away. I can say that it's about one mannequin, a few teenagers, and lots of death. Like the cover marketing says, it is indeed “twisted.” It's super weird and ambiguous, which are things I like. It was also funny at times, in that dark way.
I finished the book with a feeling of “huh...” but it was an entertaining kind of “huh...”
The epilogue was the best part, and what I was expecting more of from the book. In the epilogue, she talks in general terms about the Gen-x tendency toward depression and the culture of the 1990s. Most of the rest of the book is her own story and it is sad but, as she herself admits in the afterward, the repetitiveness of it can be annoying. Still, I'm not sorry I read it. It was a book I always hear about and never got around to and it was relatable sometimes.
This is quite an epic, sci-fi story. It's got space battles, aliens, action, alien worlds, monsters, tons of characters, romance, mythology, and even a little cyberpunk. The amount of detail was quite overwhelming at times. Dan Simmons really outdid himself on world-building. I also really enjoyed the mythology of the entire series, including the two Hyperions books. Raul is an entertaining character and makes a fine narrator for this and the previous book. He's a hero but not too perfect. Brave when he needed to be and his battle with Nemes was the highpoint of the book for me.
I was also enthralled with the mythology of this series. The mystery of the time tombs, the Shrike, and the cruciform. As the last book in the series, Simmons resolved a lot of these secrets nicely. The idea of a future where the Catholic Church takes over the galaxy was intriguing.
Now the not-so-good stuff. The Aenea character because once you've set up a character as a messiah, how does she live up to that? Unfortunately, it causes her to lose her personality. She went from being a fun and bright kid to an adult that all the other characters worship or want to kill. Also, there is the problem that a lot of things were resolved simply by having the all-knowing Aenea tell herfollwers, and the reader, the secret to the mysteries that had been set up. Not the most exciting way to reveal.
Then there's the problem of her and Aenea as lovers. This was set up long ago as something that was “destiny” because she knew her future and Raul's future as a child. So when it finally happens, it's not that exciting, nor can I convince myself that the characters have any real attraction there. I hate destiny. It's also difficult because he knew her as a child and it's a little gross that they would end up in bed. Like having sex with someone you once babysat. Not to mention that she's his messiah and his lover;it's a complicated relationship.
Despite these less-than-satisfying elements, I did enjoy this book and this series very much. The resolution to the conflict with the Pax was surprising, convincing, and satisfying. Aenea lived up to her purpose. I was also happy to see Raul was not going to end up left out in the cold. He was a good man and deserved some happiness.
“Fear can make you do the wrong thing more than hate or jealousy. If you're afraid, you don't commit yourself to life completely; fear makes you always, always hold something back.”
Flow My Tears... is one of those alternate history/dystopia types of sci-fi novels. I do love reading Philip K. Dick. The writing is easy and relatable but the happenings are so delightfully weird and engrossing.
This world is a police state where your ID and proof of occupation are needed just to be allowed on the street. Other than the fascism, emotional detachment and inability to love are among the problems characters face. They inhabit a world of sex, drugs, and obsession with youth. (Okay, maybe that's not so different from our world.) Our protagonist Jason is a genetically engineered singer and television star who personifies these fixations.
He is attacked by a jilted lover and when he wakes up all proof of his existence, not to mention his incredible fame, is wiped out; everyone that knew him no longer remembers him. (As in his Twitter account vanished.) A cold, self-centered and pleasure-seeking individual who is used to luxury and ease, he now has to beg others for help. His good looks allow him to rely on women, but women that are outside of his former social sphere whom he never would have had anything to do with.
A couple of moments that stood out for me were when other characters had to explain love to him. His old flame Ruth tells him that love is caring for someone beyond your own survival; when that someone dies or leaves you grieve. Jason chooses to believe it would be better not to love like that.
Felix Buckman, the policeman of the title and Jason's nemesis, explains that when you love a child your love for them never changes, even after death or divorce you never lose that love. Again, Jason is relieved not to have this in his life.
There were only two things that kept me from a full five star review. One was the explanation for Jason's sudden “non-existence.” Sometimes these plot devices don't really matter, only the conflict they create. But if Dick is going to bother to write one, this one didn't sit right with me. I'm not going to spoil it, but it wasn't anything I could twist in my mind as making any sense.
The other thing that bothered me was the climatic emotional moment of the book belonged to Felix, not Jason. Felix has the breakdown and reaches out to another human. It's puzzling that Dick sets up Jason as the one that needs to come to this moment of crisis, but then gives it to Felix.
Genesis who?
(Reviewing this series as a whole, not just this volume.)
It started off so well. I loved the premise: A bad-ass preacher (Custer) is possessed by a creature (Genesis) that is the offspring of an angel and demon and gives him the power to make others obey verbal commands. Not to mention his gun-toting girlfriend and vampire sidekick. Yes please! It was a revelation–a unique twist on horror, fantasy, and westerns.
I loved the dialogue, the attitude, the action, the perversions, the rebellion against authority. There were so many unforgettable characters: The Saint of Killers, Arseface, and Herr Starr to name a few. My favorite moments were in “Until the End of the World” which featured a storyline about Custer's psychotic grandmother and henchmen, as well as the three friends avenging the death of one of Cassidy's old girlfriends.
Unfortunately, this series peaked with “Proud Americans.” The high point was the death of the All Father/destruction of the Grail organization. Once Custer is presumed dead, the series loses all momentum. Ennis goes off on a tangent about the sins and redemption of Cassidy which could have been fine as a side-story but they spend the entire last half of the series with this as the main arc.The final showdown with Jesse and Starr is anticlimactic. Genesis makes a brief appearance but the Saint of Killers takes over the final battle while Jessie is dealing with Cassidy. Starr is reduced to a paranoid, crippled punchline.
My real problem is that there were so many fantastic philosophical implications of Genesis and what Custer could or should do with this power and what the existence of this Being could mean for God and humanity. Ennis suggests he's going to go there but never gets around to exploring any of these elements. I was left with a feeling of “meh” by the end.