I have an eleventh printing of the 1985 version of a story copyright 1979.
The general plot is this: Our hero lives in Iowa, lots of things are illegal. Most music is illegal. Our hero cannot sing but wants to because it will let him fly, leaving the bounds of his earthly flesh and soar.
I've NEVER in my life thrown a book across the room after reading it but this one had a really nice flightpath, and a resounding thunk.
Maybe I am just too young for this book I was three when it was printed, but the political overtures that speak of the prohibition, racial slurs considered grammatically correct at the time insult me beyond the fact that the story might be halfway decent.
I've plodded along its 359 pages wondering when I am going to care really about anything other than our main character. His comatose wife (who left her body in song after their wedding before their honeymoon) I could care less about. Her character never really developed for me. It took over a hundred pages for Daniel to be told properly, but his wife is reduced to an aside that compliments the angst against politics and the League of Women voters, the ACLU and Politicians in general. The Farm Belt is described as a close parallel to the bible belt and what happens when we let religion and fear of the upper white class get a hold of our amendments.
It won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel. No I don't know what year it was.
I can't stand corruption, political and religious zealots and the fact that people have held the arts and artists in their grip for lifetimes. I do not appreciate the devaluing of art as a commentary of the state of the US, even if it is true. It bothers me on a personal level as an artist and in the end what do authors want? They want their stories to be read and they want you to feel something from having read it. I did.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Duma Key Stephen King
I am Stephen King fan. I think I've read about everything he has published. I have a Stephen King shelf right next to David Eddings.
Edgar Freemantle is a construction worker who loses his arm in an accident. It ruins his marriage, and sends him on a journey to find himself. He ends up in Duma Key in a pink house that should be listed in the realty section of the twilight zone. Edgar decides to take up drawing and painting again because its good therapy. That is when the twilight zone comes and gets him.
King describes the feeling obsessive artists get when the need to paint strikes them hard. It describes my own feelings exactly in a way that I couldn't before. I read it and thoght "Yes that's it, where were the words before?"
While reading I worked on a few paintings one of which is a beach, but the others were twisted and haunted.
The dark journey of the soul is shown with interactions with his few and eccentric neighbors, a living forest that smells sickly sweet, paintings that haunt and or kill the owner, the rattling of shells, gruesome deaths and that rag doll. The doll haunts my nightmares today.
Must READ!
Edgar Freemantle is a construction worker who loses his arm in an accident. It ruins his marriage, and sends him on a journey to find himself. He ends up in Duma Key in a pink house that should be listed in the realty section of the twilight zone. Edgar decides to take up drawing and painting again because its good therapy. That is when the twilight zone comes and gets him.
King describes the feeling obsessive artists get when the need to paint strikes them hard. It describes my own feelings exactly in a way that I couldn't before. I read it and thoght "Yes that's it, where were the words before?"
While reading I worked on a few paintings one of which is a beach, but the others were twisted and haunted.
The dark journey of the soul is shown with interactions with his few and eccentric neighbors, a living forest that smells sickly sweet, paintings that haunt and or kill the owner, the rattling of shells, gruesome deaths and that rag doll. The doll haunts my nightmares today.
Must READ!
Shimmer
Shimmer by John Passarella
It is paranormal thriller based around the protection of humanity. There are always heroes but these are different. When spots between realities thin things come through and the Walkers stop them. Some of the things that come through are reminiscent of Lovecraft and add to the bloodshed factor. The monsters here rock.
This story is based around the youngest Walker and his high school drama, love life. It wasn't what I expected from the previews.
I am a fan of John Passarella and was one of the winners of his fan email contest to have your name used as a character in the book. I was very pleased to see my three pages of existence and my good death.
This is a young adult book, so for those of us who have read some of his other books will find it an easy read.
I think I am just jaded. His other books seem to be much more substantial to me. Don't get me wrong, I love the story but I felt as if I was missing more back history on the characters.
But it was good enough to make me want to get a tattoo of their motto: “Anima spes est, life is hope."
Is it conjugated correctly?
It is paranormal thriller based around the protection of humanity. There are always heroes but these are different. When spots between realities thin things come through and the Walkers stop them. Some of the things that come through are reminiscent of Lovecraft and add to the bloodshed factor. The monsters here rock.
This story is based around the youngest Walker and his high school drama, love life. It wasn't what I expected from the previews.
I am a fan of John Passarella and was one of the winners of his fan email contest to have your name used as a character in the book. I was very pleased to see my three pages of existence and my good death.
This is a young adult book, so for those of us who have read some of his other books will find it an easy read.
I think I am just jaded. His other books seem to be much more substantial to me. Don't get me wrong, I love the story but I felt as if I was missing more back history on the characters.
But it was good enough to make me want to get a tattoo of their motto: “Anima spes est, life is hope."
Is it conjugated correctly?
The Gryphon King
The Gryphon King, Tom Deitz, isbn:0-380-75506-8
The ren faire college crowd meets Tir na nog. Its written well, before mass market paperbacks were only made on an eighth grade reading level.
A man donates his personal library to the University of Georgia. He dies before he can have a chance to save a book and a sword from being excluded from the collection. They are donated. A student drops the book and a manuscript not seen for over five hundred years is found. It is a play about St. George and the devil. Nice huh? Its well worth it for the retelling of that fable alone. The book blends the pressures of dissertations with the King of the faeries (and a war between the true king and the thief) and the local renn faire. Add gryphons, weird fog and some truly dramatic characters and this book is definitely a fun read. Mr. Deitz has a wry sense of humor and an appreciation for the dramatic effect.
I read it in nine hours, mostly because I went back and reread the parts that made me laugh out loud.
The ren faire college crowd meets Tir na nog. Its written well, before mass market paperbacks were only made on an eighth grade reading level.
A man donates his personal library to the University of Georgia. He dies before he can have a chance to save a book and a sword from being excluded from the collection. They are donated. A student drops the book and a manuscript not seen for over five hundred years is found. It is a play about St. George and the devil. Nice huh? Its well worth it for the retelling of that fable alone. The book blends the pressures of dissertations with the King of the faeries (and a war between the true king and the thief) and the local renn faire. Add gryphons, weird fog and some truly dramatic characters and this book is definitely a fun read. Mr. Deitz has a wry sense of humor and an appreciation for the dramatic effect.
I read it in nine hours, mostly because I went back and reread the parts that made me laugh out loud.
Storm of Shadows
Storm of Shadows, Christina Dodd (The Chosen ones Book 2)
ok here goes. This is a paranormal romance. That usually means a normal woman finds lonely werewolf in need of love and a good brushing. Not this time, yay! The intimate scenes are few and actually continue the plot. There is some foreshadowing in the first hundred pages that set up the ending nicely. There are many different folklore references that make the book less predictable. Its a fast read and honestly its brain candy. I read this book in less than five hours (374 pages) If you like this genre, go for it. you can do alot worse.
Plot Spoiler:
This book concerns the finding of a prophecy that will determine the outcome of the world and the balance of god and evil. Abandoned ones are born and abandoned by their mothers. (make sense.) They can become good (chosen) or evil (the others). They all have paranormal abilities that have manifested. They are also marked in some way with a sigil or tattoo on their bodies that have something to do with their power. There are seven active chosen ones working for the good and numerous Others. That is why evil always has a leg up on humanity. If they do not have seven Chosen to protect humanity evil wins period.
After the first book in this series, they are down one Chosen One. The war continues, but the Chosen Ones support group enlarges.
ok here goes. This is a paranormal romance. That usually means a normal woman finds lonely werewolf in need of love and a good brushing. Not this time, yay! The intimate scenes are few and actually continue the plot. There is some foreshadowing in the first hundred pages that set up the ending nicely. There are many different folklore references that make the book less predictable. Its a fast read and honestly its brain candy. I read this book in less than five hours (374 pages) If you like this genre, go for it. you can do alot worse.
Plot Spoiler:
This book concerns the finding of a prophecy that will determine the outcome of the world and the balance of god and evil. Abandoned ones are born and abandoned by their mothers. (make sense.) They can become good (chosen) or evil (the others). They all have paranormal abilities that have manifested. They are also marked in some way with a sigil or tattoo on their bodies that have something to do with their power. There are seven active chosen ones working for the good and numerous Others. That is why evil always has a leg up on humanity. If they do not have seven Chosen to protect humanity evil wins period.
After the first book in this series, they are down one Chosen One. The war continues, but the Chosen Ones support group enlarges.
Comets, Stars, the moon and mars
Comets, stars, the moon, and mars is a children's book written and illustrated by Douglas Florian.
This is a nice way to start young children learning about astronomy and the universe around them. It starts with stars and goes through, constellations, our solar system (updated with Pluto as a dwarf planet) and continues out to the great beyond.
The poems are catchy and fun to say, some can become great tongue twisters.
The illustrations are not just pictures they are labeled. The parts of a comet, the craters and moons of planets, and on earth there are representations of wildlife on their appropriate continents.
If you have a young child who is interested in stars, or that you want to get interested in stars this is a good book to start with.
There is also a selected bibliography in the back of the book that lists top of the field references for all ages. I do suggest that adults try Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time before trying to explain it to their five year olds.
This is a nice way to start young children learning about astronomy and the universe around them. It starts with stars and goes through, constellations, our solar system (updated with Pluto as a dwarf planet) and continues out to the great beyond.
The poems are catchy and fun to say, some can become great tongue twisters.
The illustrations are not just pictures they are labeled. The parts of a comet, the craters and moons of planets, and on earth there are representations of wildlife on their appropriate continents.
If you have a young child who is interested in stars, or that you want to get interested in stars this is a good book to start with.
There is also a selected bibliography in the back of the book that lists top of the field references for all ages. I do suggest that adults try Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time before trying to explain it to their five year olds.
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