00:00
00:00
Newgrounds Background Image Theme

Thatboileppy just joined the crew!

We need you on the team, too.

Support Newgrounds and get tons of perks for just $2.99!

Create a Free Account and then..

Become a Supporter!

The Book Club

91,309 Views | 1,139 Replies
New Topic Respond to this Topic

Response to The Book Club 2005-09-27 07:16:36


At 9/26/05 06:19 PM, MasterStalker wrote: I have other plans for it. I failed english 1 (9th grade) on attendance, and am making the course up online. after all the online testing I have to submit an offline book report. I make it a habit to befriend all teachers councilors and all around authority fiures to gain a little leaniance. I'll just talk with a past teacher and submit it to make up that credit.

At least other routes will allow you to get it sorted. Well done, because this was an excellent review.


Will it ever end. Yes, all human endeavour is pointless ~ Bill Bailey

News

#StoryShift Author

BBS Signature

Response to The Book Club 2005-09-27 18:16:33


At 9/27/05 07:16 AM, Coop83 wrote:
At 9/26/05 06:19 PM, MasterStalker wrote: I have other plans for it. I failed english 1 (9th grade) on attendance, and am making the course up online. after all the online testing I have to submit an offline book report. I make it a habit to befriend all teachers councilors and all around authority fiures to gain a little leaniance. I'll just talk with a past teacher and submit it to make up that credit.
At least other routes will allow you to get it sorted. Well done, because this was an excellent review.

Yeah, I do tend to over do it some times.

what helps when going for longevity is to summarize the book chapter by chapter instead of waiting to finish the book then summarize.


BBS Signature

Response to The Book Club 2005-09-30 10:26:57


Title : Maskerade
Author : Terry Pratchett
Date of Publication : 199
ISBN : 0-552-14236-0

" THE SHOW MUST GO ON, AS MURDER, MUSIC AND MAYHEM RUN RIOT IN THE NIGHT...

The Opera House, Ankh-Morpork...a huge, rambling building, where innocent young sopranos are lured to their destiny by a strangely-familiar evil mastermind in a hideously deformed evening dress...

At least, he hopes so. But Granny Weatherwax, Discworld's most famous witch, is in the audience. And she doesn't hold with that sort of thing.

So there's going to be trouble (but nevertheless a good evening's entertainment with murders tyou can really hum...)"

Writing style.

The Discworld series continues, this time in the guise of a murder mystery. Usually, Pratchett's Watch series within the Discworld are his murder mysteries, but this is one for the Lancre witches, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg. The plot is very easy to follow, but the mystery is easy to get lost in. Figuring out who did what, how they did it and when is all part of the fun. Superbly executed.

Would I reccomend it?

Without a doubt, one of the easiest books to reccomend, but it wasn't my favourite of the 30 novels alone (plus the few sagas, children's tales, maps and Science of Discworld books that are out there.) Well worth a read though, as he will probably elude to the goings on in some later novel, to keep the avid fans (like myself) on their toes.

Favourite Quote:

"It was an education watching Enrico Basilica eat.It wasn't as though he gobbled his food, but he did eat continuously, like a man who intends to go on doing it all day on industrial lines, his napkin tucked neatly into his collar. The fork was loaded while the current mouthful was being thoroughly masticated, so that the actual ti me between mouthfuls was as small as possible. Even Nanny, no stranger to a metabolism going for the burn, was impressed. Enrico Basilica ate like a man freed at last from the tyranny of tomatoes with everything."

My Rating : 9/10

Not really my favourite novel, but the mystery is certainly one which you can't put down. The pace is truly breathtaking and you rarely find time to stop, before another cunningly placed device grabs your attention and diverts your mind to another possible suspect.

My next conquest shall be Feet of Clay, which is another murder mystery in Ankh-Morpork, but this time there is only the City Watch to deal with it. Plus there may even be regicide as well, but we haven't got that far yet.


Will it ever end. Yes, all human endeavour is pointless ~ Bill Bailey

News

#StoryShift Author

BBS Signature

Response to The Book Club 2005-10-10 18:49:57


I just finished Moby Dick by Herman Melville... I must say, what an adventure... I had to read it for school and we picked apart every chapter to the point where im not sick of whales.... The book itself was decent but somewhat random due to Melville's style of writing... Despite the fact that is a "great" book i didnt think it was that great a book... Next up... The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Midnight Club, and The Pythons autobiography by The Pythons...


Thanks nightmareLeecher for the sig.

BBS Signature

Response to The Book Club 2005-10-10 19:01:33


Another short story from English Class considering I have yet to finish Moneyball:

Title: The Masque of the Red Death
Author: Edgar Allen Poe

I don't know why I like this book so much, was it the allegories and symbolism of the characters, was it the way Poe uses senses of color and sound to further the story, was it the gruesome death of the plague? It was all these reasons and more, it was frankly a nice, little story to read when you have 5 minutes to spare.

Note that I put the words "nice and little", because that's what it is. Unlike the Most Dangerous Game, this was a mere 5 pages, thus leaving you wanting more. You may want to have a dictionary by your side just in case. Of course death isn't for everybody, and the plot was kind of obvious. The mysterious setting and use of senses is enough to give it a:

9/10

Response to The Book Club 2005-10-10 19:04:51


Has anyone read the Anne McCaffery book series Pern?

Response to The Book Club 2005-10-11 08:19:26


At 10/10/05 07:01 PM, seventy-one wrote: Another short story from English Class considering I have yet to finish Moneyball:

Title: The Masque of the Red Death
Author: Edgar Allen Poe

A nice little story, I'll ahve to look into reasding at some point.

At 10/10/05 07:04 PM, jake_loyed wrote: Has anyone read the Anne McCaffery book series Pern?

I'm a fan of the Dragons of Pern. It's a subtle blend of Sci-Fi and fantasy. Have you heard that she has retired and handed control of the series over to her son, Tom.

I think it's going to be good, but not as good as the originals (which I still ahven't finished reading.


Will it ever end. Yes, all human endeavour is pointless ~ Bill Bailey

News

#StoryShift Author

BBS Signature

Response to The Book Club 2005-10-11 17:29:31


I'm a fan of the Dragons of Pern. It's a subtle blend of Sci-Fi and fantasy. Have you heard that she has retired and handed control of the series over to her son, Tom.

I think it's going to be good, but not as good as the originals (which I still ahven't finished reading.

dude, she did? i dont know if i will like the new ones that come out, and i have every one of her Pern books, and some in her other series

Response to The Book Club 2005-10-12 04:14:51


At 10/11/05 05:29 PM, jake_loyed wrote: dude, she did? i dont know if i will like the new ones that come out, and i have every one of her Pern books, and some in her other series

You obviously haven't, because she released one in 2004 by her and Tom, while Tom went solo and released one this year, I think.

At 10/11/05 07:00 PM, Baby-on-Fire wrote: I'll join this kick ass crew :O

I am reading the lord of the rings trilogy now, I finished the hobbit a while ago.

You may also find it worthwhile to join the Tolkien Club (Tolkien link in my sig). It's a little slow, but that's because we've talked most Tolkien topic to death.


Will it ever end. Yes, all human endeavour is pointless ~ Bill Bailey

News

#StoryShift Author

BBS Signature

Response to The Book Club 2005-10-15 16:22:21


There's a very good chance that no one in here remembers who I am, but on the other hand, I haven't contributed much to this thread and I still haven't picked up a Discworld novel so it's not as if I'm anyone of consequence. Besides, like I said in my last post here, college is eating up all of my time so I really don't post here that often. The last time I posted must have been over a month ago. And even though no one reads my posts anyways, I figured I'd at least say something about the last two books I've read just so I might have something to look back on if, say, in the future I were called upon to discuss a piece of literature that I hadn't read in some time. But to be sure, remember when I said that I wouldn't be reviewing textbooks? Well, I'm kind of going against that. No, I'm not going to review "Final Cut Pro HD". I'm going to talk about the first nonfiction book I've read since that Kinsey bio I read last year: "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer.

So, has anyone here ever had one of those courses that you really couldn't figure out the purpose of? Like, no matter what you did in that class, it was never actually benefiting you in any way? Well, I thought that Film 101 would be more helpful than it is, but so far, the only purpose of my Film Crafts course that I can see is just to have another class to heap just a little more work on us. Which would be where "Into Thin Air" comes in. All the instructors in my class have this analogy about filmmaking being a lot like climbing a mountain, so naturally, they just had to get us to read a personal account of the disastrous 1996 Everest season in order to demonstrate, and I quote, 'good and bad team or leadership behavior'. I can see the point of it, really. I just think there are better ways we could have spent our time. However, I must admit that the book was a very pleasant change of pace after having to read so many manuals and screenplays. Krakauer is a very readable author as well, and truth be told, I believe that this was my first foray into narrative nonfiction, and I enjoyed myself immensely. One of the reasons I enjoyed this piece of writing so much was mostly because, as this was a personal account, Krakauer didn't decide to simply pummel us with fact after fact after fact. While still remaining objective, he treats each of his team members fairly, criticizing only their decisions and never the person. For example, during the 1996 Everest season in which twelve climbers died, an Anatoli Boukreev decided to descend from the summit hours ahead of his teammates despite the fact that he was serving as a guide. Krakauer calls Boukreev's decision into question, which of course, he should. But just a few pages after that, Krakauer acknowledges Boukreev's later attempts to find a group of missing climbers, writing that "[i]t was an incredible display of strength and courage, but he was unable to find any of the missing climbers." (p. 222). Krakauer also writes with a sense of honesty, even willingly bringing up his own mistakes and his own contributions to the tragedy: "[M]y utter failure to consider that Andy might have been in serious trouble -- was a lapse that's likely to haunt me for the rest of my life." (p. 196). There are many more examples to prove those two points, but for the sake of brevity, I'll move on. The last thing that really got me came near the end, as Krakauer describes going back home to all the things he used to take for granted. "[E]ating breakfast with [his] wife, watching the sun go down over Puget Sound, being able to get up in the middle of the night and walk barefoot to a warm bathroom" (p. 282), all reminded me of how, at one point or another, death reaffirms life and how profoundly certain events can change a person. But I had never really left the comforts of my own home here at sea level British Columbia. Yet, as I read that line, I suddenly understood, in some small way, what Krakauer and his teammates had been through, carried forward by only their sheer determination and will. I can tell you right now that I will never climb a mountain. But for the 333 pages of this book, I got a sense of what it might be like. And so, even if you're not really into nonfiction, I still recommend this book for that very reason.

The second book I've read since my last post, I'm still not sure counts. Because, well, it's a play. In any case, Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" is actually in town at the moment but I was too late in getting tickets, so I'm settling for reading it. Now, everyone compares this play to Samuel Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" but what most people don't realize is that "Waiting For Godot" is all about existentialism whereas "Rosencrantz" is more about determinism. "Rosencrantz" also belongs to a very exclusive type of theatre known as 'metatheatre'; essentially, 'theatre about theatre'. Much like the 1976 film, Network, the characters eventually become vaguely aware that they are actually in a film/play. In the middle of Act One, Rosencrantz loudly proclaims, "I feel like a spectator -- an appalling business. The only thing that makes it bearable is the irrational belief that somebody interesting will come on in a minute." (p. 41). And no one does until the end of the scene. But metatheatre aside for now, the theme of "R&G" is the illusion of free will. Aside from the slapstick absurdist elements of the play, "R&G" is actually extremely dark. After all, if free will doesn't exist and we all know what happens to Ros and Guil at the end, where does that leave us? At the end of Act Two, Ros and Guil are about to get on a boat to escort Hamlet to England. We all know what really awaits them, but Ros sees this as an opportunity to be free at last and makes a point of saying so to Guil. At which point Guil replies, "I don't know. It's the same sky." (p. 95). Act Three gets even darker, with the Player denouncing life as being a "gamble, at terrible odds" (p. 115), until finally, Ros and Guil meet their end and Guil reflects on it in his final chilling monologue: "There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said -- no. But somehow we missed it." (p. 125). Strange that one of the funniest plays of all time is also one of the darkest. Acts One and Two, by the way, are hysterical. Watch for the game of questions and how they try to trap Hamlet. I'm still livid at the fact that I missed the live production.

The Book Club

Response to The Book Club 2005-10-24 19:50:59


Here it is, the review you've all been waiting for:

Title: Moneyball
Author: Michael Lewis
Date of Publication: 2003
ISBN: 0-393-05765-8

"It really began with an innocent question: How did one of the poorest teams in baseball, the Oakland Athletics, win so many games?"

And so started a revolutionary reformation of the way scouts look at players. As some of you may know I have been anticipating this book for quite awhile. Normally anticipation leads to dissapointment, I am happy to say that, that is not the case in this situation.

Michael Lewis takes an adventure into the world of the Oakland A's managing department, and it is like no other world. Billy Beane has developed a new way of scouting players, a way that will change baseball and sports forever. Ways of evaluating players like speed, physical form, speed of pitch, saves, batting average, RBI's and errors...are complete and bullshit. Instead, stats like OBP (on base percentage), total amount of walks, are true ways of telling the value of a player.

Billy Beane took advantage of this, following the starter of it all Bill James and his sabermetrics. In the draft room, at the trading deadline, he manipulated the system and got the team he wanted, a team that won 103 games with one of the lowest payroll in the entire league.

Writing Style

Now this may seem like a boring book of stats and what-not, but Michael Lewis makes it a fun and entertaining book sure to make you at least chuckle at one point or another. Everything flows smoothly, and it is a book that you just can't, or shouldn't for that matter, as you will leave the book knowing more about baseball than George "Spend a lot" Steinbrenner.

The question that it boils down to, is "should I read it". You're probably thinking to yourself, "I'm not a baseball fan. Why should I read it?" The real question is, why shouldn't you read it. You shouldn't read it if:

-You are allergic to the paper and ink
-You absolutely, positively, entirely, hate sports, this book does not pertain strictly to baseball, but other sports....
-You are offended by the occasional "Shit, and Fuck"

I am only afraid that I may have overhyped this, and ruined it. If so, I am truly sorry...
My rating:
You should know by reading the review but if you don't I give it a

10/10

Response to The Book Club 2005-10-25 04:16:26


At 10/24/05 07:50 PM, seventy-one wrote: Title: Moneyball
Author: Michael Lewis
Date of Publication: 2003
ISBN: 0-393-05765-8

Non-Fiction for a change. I've always managed to steer clear of sports books, particularly Autobiographies, since it's just someone famous having a dig at some former teammates, coaches or just the establishment in general, but I've never come across anything like this.

It sounds good. Since I'm into baseball, I may have to read it.


Will it ever end. Yes, all human endeavour is pointless ~ Bill Bailey

News

#StoryShift Author

BBS Signature

Response to The Book Club 2005-10-25 18:59:32


At 10/25/05 04:16 AM, Coop83 wrote: It sounds good. Since I'm into baseball, I may have to read it.

Oh I STRONGLY urge you to read it, espiecally if you're a baseball fan. This book transcends all sports, and management in general...

Response to The Book Club 2005-10-26 04:14:49


At 10/25/05 06:59 PM, seventy-one wrote: Oh I STRONGLY urge you to read it, espiecally if you're a baseball fan. This book transcends all sports, and management in general...

Read my comments about it in the MLB thread.


Will it ever end. Yes, all human endeavour is pointless ~ Bill Bailey

News

#StoryShift Author

BBS Signature

Response to The Book Club 2005-10-26 20:04:05


At 10/26/05 04:14 AM, Coop83 wrote:
At 10/25/05 06:59 PM, seventy-one wrote: Oh I STRONGLY urge you to read it, espiecally if you're a baseball fan. This book transcends all sports, and management in general...
Read my comments about it in the MLB thread.

I missed that reply for some reason, anyway, I find it somehow ironic that his last name is Cashman.

Response to The Book Club 2005-10-27 05:10:07


At 10/26/05 08:04 PM, seventy-one wrote: I missed that reply for some reason, anyway, I find it somehow ironic that his last name is Cashman.

Well, it's like a poker player being called Moneymaker. In fact there is one. Chris Moneymaker, who won the world poker tour. I really must read his book at some point.


Will it ever end. Yes, all human endeavour is pointless ~ Bill Bailey

News

#StoryShift Author

BBS Signature

Response to The Book Club 2005-10-27 18:03:16


At 10/27/05 05:10 AM, Coop83 wrote: Well, it's like a poker player being called Moneymaker. In fact there is one. Chris Moneymaker, who won the world poker tour. I really must read his book at some point.

I was thinking of reading that as my next book. I'm open to suggestions by anyone, preferally non-fiction sports...but I'll be open to different genres.

Response to The Book Club 2005-11-04 03:07:54


Taking a complete detour from the predominantly masculine worlds of both baseball and poker, I figured I'd drop by to talk about my latest literary conquest: "The Edible Woman" by Margaret Atwood, a decidedly feminist novel and in fact, her very first. Sorry to steer so far from the current topic of discussion, but if past occurrences are any indication, it's probably a safe bet that this post will remain unread either way. But to begin, I'm sure that there were times for all of you here when you read a certain piece of mediocre fiction that, in an instant, made you appreciate all the good fiction you'd read at that point much, much more. Such is what I experienced two days ago when, after three weeks of reading -- amongst other things, since school is keeping me so busy -- I put down "The Edible Woman", wholly disappointed by the lacklustre ending.

Now don't get me wrong. I love Atwood to death and I'm not saying for a moment that I can write better than her. All I can offer is a comparison between her first novel, "The Edible Woman", and her latest novel, "Oryx and Crake", which I read over the summer. And, as is usually the case in such comparisons, it should be obvious which novel came out on top. To start out with though, Atwood has been a good writer ever since she started pumping out stuff in the early 60's. But that was all poetry and well, fiction is a completely different world. "The Edible Woman", published in 1969, was her first foray into the whole new genre of fiction, and although the result is far from perfect, her talent for creating emotionally complex characters is already well evident. There is a character in "The Edible Woman" by the name of Leonard Slank, for instance, who happens to be a bit of a skirt-chaser. Lusting after young women -- women too young, as a matter of fact -- was Len's modus operandi but he could never actually bring himself to follow through with his dubious desires. "The supposedly pure, the unobtainable, was attractive to the idealist in him; but as soon as it had been obtained, the cynic viewed it as spoiled and threw it away." (p. 97), was how Atwood pictured him in her mind. In a word, wow. It takes decades of acute observance to gain that level of insight into human psychology. And yet, it makes perfect sense to me. To take a complex idea like that and shape it so that a relative plebeian such as myself can grasp it is a mark of brilliance. But just three chapters later, Atwood begins to falter. She begins to write in confusing run-on sentences in attempts at eloquence and what's worse, she starts using nonsensical and inconsistent metaphors. Sure, Marian -- not the librarian -- "could feel time eddying and curling almost visibly around her feet, rising around her, lifting her body in the office chair and bearing her, slowly and circuitously but with the inevitability of water moving downhill" (p. 131), but really now, using "rising" and "downhill" in the same metaphor, no matter how extended, is a poor move. Later on, Atwood makes the same faux pas when she writes about Marian walking by her old university. The university buildings "radiated a faint hostility towards her through the cold air, a hostility she recognized as coming from herself" (p. 198). Say it with me: Huh? Of course, Atwood masters metaphor a few books later in her career, but it's little details like that that threw me right off "The Edible Woman". Oh, and clunky sentence structure -- "By now they had gone up the stairs and were at the door of the apartment, which was opened before Duncan had touched the handle by Trevor." (p. 225) -- and a need to spell out the leitmotifs of her novel didn't help either. Having characters yell lines like "You're rejecting your femininity!" (p. 321) is not only pointless; it also brings down the quality of the work substantially. But perhaps I've been too vicious. Only Atwood can take the minutiae of cups and crumbs on a green arborite-surfaced table and turn them into the "remnants of the courageous breakfasters who had pioneered earlier into the morning when the arborite surface was innocent as a wilderness, untouched by the knife and fork of man" (p. 300). That kind of writing takes work. And there's something about that tongue-in-cheek juxtaposition of consumerist arborite and Romantic wilderness that I can't help but fall in love with. Yes, "The Edible Woman" has its moments, but overall and especially in the ending, it was a letdown. The title itself brings to mind horrific Cronenbergesque images of a human being being consumed, and in many ways, that was kind of the appeal for me. As a Canadian film buff, I kind of grew up on Cronenberg and from what I'd heard of "The Edible Woman", I was expecting the same kind of 'body horror' that he suddenly made so famous. (And for all of you who think me comparing Atwood and Cronenberg is weird, watch Videodrome, then read "Oryx and Crake". Also, they're both Canadian.) But aside from a few semi-grotesque food analogies that really aren't any worse than anything PETA could come up with, the novel is very minimalist in style. Just another story about women overcoming adversity, only with food serving as a metaphor for us in our present day consumerist society. Not the worst book I've ever read, but far from the best. I think I'll be sticking to more recent Atwood from now on. I'll let you boys get back to your poker and baseball.

So, no one got the Music Man reference, did they?

The Book Club

Response to The Book Club 2005-11-04 04:00:24


At 11/4/05 03:07 AM, biteme2514 wrote: "The Edible Woman" by Margaret Atwood,

this sounds kinky. Maybe it's just my sick mind.

Anyhow, I've got a review to post later on Feet of Clay. I'm not gonna post it now, because I should be working in about 5 mins


Will it ever end. Yes, all human endeavour is pointless ~ Bill Bailey

News

#StoryShift Author

BBS Signature

Response to The Book Club 2005-11-04 09:30:30


I've slowly moved onto Mark Twain... I'm currently reading "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", "A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court", and i'm trying to get my hands on "Letters from the Earth"... All are brilliant books, maybe i'll post something on Mr. Twain a little bit later...


Thanks nightmareLeecher for the sig.

BBS Signature

Response to The Book Club 2005-11-05 11:01:38


Sorry that I haven't posted in a long time, I was banned for 29 days. Anyway, I am not going to be on NG anymore for certain reasons. I have another BBS where I post all my book reviews and I thought I should post here before I go.

Here's the site.

Later guys.

Response to The Book Club 2005-11-05 11:34:55


Havent posted in here for a loooong ass time. I will start back up posting here though. Ive read a few books since my last post. I'll type up a review and post it later when im not tiredn shit :/

Response to The Book Club 2005-11-05 13:33:41


Title : Feet of Clay
Author : Terry Pratchett
Date of Publication : 1996
ISBN : 0-552-14237-9

"THERE'S A WEREWOLF WITH PRE-LUNAR TENSION IN ANKH-MORPORK. AND A DWARF WITH ATTITUDE. AND A GOLEM WHO'S BEGUN TO THINK FOR ITSELF.

But for Commander Vimes, Head of Ankh-Morpork City Watch, that's only the start...

There's treason in the air. A crime has happened.

He's not only got to find out whodunnit, but howdunnit too. He's not even sure what they dun. But as soon as he knows what the questions are, he's going to want some answers."

Writing style.

Like so many of the Discworld novels, there is a feeling conjured up by Pratchett that you are there, in Ankh-Morpork, watching the events unfold, no matter how grisly they are.

He gives you the clues to this mystery, as every good crime writer should, but they are so subtle, you don't even realise they are there until you read the text for a second time.

If Pratchett hadn't been a Fantasy Writer, he would ahve done crime, since he is sucj a master of suspense

Would I reccomend it?

I am so far into the series, that Pratchett is into his element. These books are his piece de resistance, each one an instant classic, which will have you howling with laughter time and again.

Favourite Quote:

Lord Vetinari, ruler of Ankh-Morpork giving Commander Vimes a debriefing.

"Lord Vetinari glanced at a piece of paper. 'Did you really punch the president of the Assassins' Guild, Vimes?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Why?'
'Didn't have a dagger, sir.' "

My Rating : 10/10

I loved this one. I adore the Watch series, as I feel it has a lot more steam left in it. Vimes is one of the characters Pratchett feels greatly for, which is why he keeps reappearing so often. I'd say the only character he loves more is Death.

Speaking of which, I've moved on to Hogfather, with all the festive cheer and a Ho. Ho. Ho. Can you guess where it's going to lead?

The Book Club


Will it ever end. Yes, all human endeavour is pointless ~ Bill Bailey

News

#StoryShift Author

BBS Signature

Response to The Book Club 2005-11-14 22:24:36


At 11/4/05 09:30 AM, -Superman- wrote: I've slowly moved onto Mark Twain... I'm currently reading "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", "A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court", and i'm trying to get my hands on "Letters from the Earth"... All are brilliant books, maybe i'll post something on Mr. Twain a little bit later...

I'm planning on doing some Dickens myself. It's always nice to go back to the classics. I mean, I tried reading Chuck Palahniuk's "Haunted" a while ago, but I just couldn't get into it. Which is why I'm planning on reading "A Tale of Two Cities" next. It's kind of a shame that I've put it off until now, but seeing as how I'm sure someone in here has read it before, can anyone tell me a little more about it? Thanks to my college workload, I don't think I'll be able to start it until this weekend, but it'd be good to know that, say, I should do my research into that time period's vernacular or I'm going to be hopelessly lost. Things like that. Any information would be appreciated. Also, this is kind of embarrassing, but I've never picked up any other Dickens before either. Should I start small and work my way up?

The novel I'm here to talk about today though was penned sometime in the last five years. Mark Haddon's "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" is a story of a young, autistic boy trying to catch the murderer of a neighbour's poodle across the street. The boy, Christopher, has no understanding of human emotion and takes everything at face value however. But just before the novel's halfway point, the clues that Christopher gathers lead him deeper into a seemingly-unrelated mystery altogether; a mystery concerning him, his father and his mother whom Christopher long thought dead. Sounds like a good movie, don't it? Well, one's in the works. And the book will almost undoubtedly be better. But just how good is the book anyway? If you listen to the critics, it's a 'superb achievement'. But to me, it's one of the most overrated books I've read all year, second only to "Tuesdays with Morrie". First of all, let me just say that I found the writing too simplistic for my tastes. Yes, I know that Haddon was trying to create a distinct voice for his autistic narrator and yes, I believe he achieved this admirably, but when I read something, I like to think that it's helping me in some indirect way to become a better writer. Reading sentence after commaless sentence that turn the two words, 'and a', into some sort of bloody mantra is not my idea of a phenomenal time to spend 226 pages. But what Haddon lacks in poetic prose, he makes up for in wit. Part of the reason that "Curious Incident" is as funny as it is stems from the fact that young Christopher does not know that he is funny. Take an early chapter where Christopher is talking about his decision to make all the book's chapter numbers prime numbers: "Prime numbers are useful for writing codes and in America they are classed as Military Material and if you find one over 100 digits long you have to tell the CIA and they buy it off you for $10,000. But it would not be a very good way of making a living." (p. 12). Or even later on in the story, when Christopher is busy listing off all the contents of his father's room while searching for clues and finds "7 shoes and a comb with lots of hair in it and a piece of copper pipe and a chocolate biscuit and a porn magazine called Fiesta and a dead bee" (p. 93). Throughout the novel, Christopher just gives the facts as he sees them. And because he does not understand emotion, he takes everything literally. He doesn't understand metaphor and believes that a metaphor "should be called a lie" (p. 15) because, for instance, people don't really have skeletons in their closets. He also never uses any dialogue attribution, but since the dialogue is so well written and the reader always understands how a certain line is being said, the writing isn't bland. And you'd think that a novel with no metaphors to break up the minutiae would be boring, but it isn't. Haddon cheats a little here and allows Christopher the use of similes. That having now been noted however, the minutiae comes in copious quantities here. Hardly a chapter goes by without some only marginally relevant digression breaking up the pace of the story and while it works well at times -- like when he goes off on a tangent about The Monty Hall Problem and uses it to turn math into a metaphor for his life (but without realizing it) -- most of the time, it's just irritating. Coupled with the lack of vocabularistic variety, it just seems like a children's book that's all over the place. So even though I read it over the course of two weeks, it felt extremely short and rather shallow. I've heard from an outside source that a Grade 6 class in my neighbourhood started teaching it in their Language Arts program. That doesn't surprise me. What does surprise me is that "Curious Incident" makes the Adult Fiction shelves at my local library. I would have expected Teen Fiction. On the other hand, it's no "Gossip Girl". Really, it's a smart book. It's just that it's more trouble than it's worth to figure that out.

And just for the record, 'vocabularistic' isn't a word. What can I say, I'm a sucker for alliteration. Natch.

The Book Club

Response to The Book Club 2005-11-15 10:22:54


Reporting for duty sirs, my book report is here!

Peter. F. Hamilton, JUDAS UNCHAINED.

Judas Unchained is the conclusion of the Commonwealth Saga begun in Pandora Tommorow.

This book in my opinion, was awesome. The character developement, all took part in the first book, but you can see the characters growing in this book even more.

This book, is generally about an all out galactic conflict in the near future. First off with man landing on mars and the developement of the man made worm whole, Earth begins to explore new worlds and plant its seed. Their curiosity leads them to meet new alien lifeforms and bond with them to an extent. Many advances have been made in this new world, both technologically and Biologically, now people can live for hundreds of years. This book picks up from where the last left off, straight in the action. One of teh characters in this book 'Dudley Bose' discovers a barrier surrounding a whole star system. He informs the goverments space agency and they decide to investigate. Some how the barrier is switched off, and a hideous race set loose. The alien race conquer planets and destroy all life. They are coming to earth.

Then a spy is found, the star flyer is an alien found on one of the conquered planets of earth. He is in league with the aliens, and has his spies all over the Commonwealth. The goverment the police and the Clans of the planets, are all looking for these agents, but they have no idea how high up these spies have reached. They are now in the Great Earth families, and members of the goverment. Its a race against time to stop the Starflyer alien reaching back home, and passing on information to destroy Earth.

Over all, this book was a great read, especially the Great space wars and the political intrigue created by the spies and the leading rulers of the planets. I would heartilly recomend this book to anyone, but they need to read the first book first :P

Peter Hamilton has been described as the best British Sci-Fi writer, on this recent work, i would have to agree.

Response to The Book Club 2005-12-03 14:49:41


Hey all, sorry I havent been around, but heres an update.

1. I finished "The Bourne Identity" and "The Bourne Supremacy"
2. I'm currently 1/3 through "The Bourne Ultimatum" (which by the way is the best thus far)
3. I bought "Tom Clancy's Raindow Six" since I read a few chapters but never finished it.
4. And here is whats going on in the Bourne Ultimatum:

The Bourne Ultimatum
As of right now, I'm at chapter 17, which is pretty good considering I've only been reading it for a few day. So far, the Carlos the Jackle from the title "The Bourne Identity" is back and wants revenge for the proffesional humiliation he sustained from David Webb, aka Jason Bourne. The action starts at the very beginning of the book as Mo Panov and Alex Conklin are set up for an unsucessful trap by the Jackle's minions. After a little digging, Bourne and Conklin find the best way of going about trapping the Jackle is to do it through the old Guerilla Operation "Medusa." It has been decades since the original medusa though, and the old Members are now a currupt network within various government branches between the U.S. and Brittain.Also, Bourne now has two kids the the Jackle see's as potential targets to get revenge aon for the evnts that took place 13 years ago in Paris and the Treadstone Building in New York. As I just left off, The Jackle just spung a trap on Bourne in a small cathedral in the Carribean islands.

Happy reading.


BBS Signature

Response to The Book Club 2005-12-05 08:44:09


Right, I've got a bit of work to do when I get home *writes post it note*

I'll hopefully be posting reviews on 'Hogfather' and 'The Wee Free Men', both by Terry Pratchett. I seem to have forgotten to do a review of one and I finished the other yesterday.


Will it ever end. Yes, all human endeavour is pointless ~ Bill Bailey

News

#StoryShift Author

BBS Signature

Response to The Book Club 2005-12-10 00:56:29


Yay books! I'd have to say that I'm a big fan of fantasy (LOTR, Wheel of Time, etc.) and also into philosophical books, not really Western philosophy, but more Eastern. A good one is "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda. He was probably the first of the Swami Order to set foot in the West and was instrumental in bringing Yogic philosophy to America.

Response to The Book Club 2005-12-10 09:54:47


At 12/10/05 12:56 AM, BhaktaLali wrote: Yay books! I'd have to say that I'm a big fan of fantasy (LOTR, Wheel of Time, etc.)

Well, there are lots of fantasy fans here. You may wish to check out the Tolkien club as well (see the link in my sig)

and also into philosophical books, not really Western philosophy, but more Eastern. A good one is "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda. He was probably the first of the Swami Order to set foot in the West and was instrumental in bringing Yogic philosophy to America.

Well, I like philosophy, though I must try to apply it more in the games I play (such as Poker and Mahjongg)


Will it ever end. Yes, all human endeavour is pointless ~ Bill Bailey

News

#StoryShift Author

BBS Signature

Response to The Book Club 2005-12-10 10:26:39


Title : Hogfather
Author : Terry Pratchett
Date of Publication : 1996
ISBN : 0-552-14542-4

"IT'S THE NIGHT BEFORE HOGSWATCH AND IT'S TOO QUIET.

Where is the big jolly fat man? Why is Death creeping down chimneys and trying to say Ho Ho Ho? The darkest night of the year is getting a lot darker...

Susan the gothic governess has got to sort it out by morning, otherwise there won't be a morning. Ever Again...

The 20th Discworld novel is a festive feast of darkness and Death (but with jolly robins and tinsel too).

As they say: You'd better watch out..."

Writing style.

Pratchett puts his unique satirical take on humanity into a more festive atmosphere this time. Well, about as festive as you can get when the character delivering the presents is supposed to be a jolly fat man, with tusks and a big white beard, who delivers the good little children sausages, bacon and other pork products.

He expresses Death's interest in humanity expertly, as he is looking at humanity from the point of view of not actually being one. I would imagine it to be a most difficult task at the best of times.

And another character makes his first (and last) appearance in the Discworld novels. Mr Teatime (teh-ah-tim-eh), the completely unhinged 'genius' of an assassin, sent to kill off the Hogfather. His freakishness stands out, even in the crowded streets of Ankh-Morpork.

Would I reccomend it?

Of course I would. It is the right time of year to be reading something like this. A very funny work, but slightly macabre in places, because of Mr Teatime's 'efficiency'

My Rating : 10/10

I have to say, this is definitively my favourite book from the Discworld Series. This is where I truly discovered (no pun intended) my love of the novels. I recieved it from my brother on Xmas morning 1997 (in paperback) and had finished it by 1700 on Boxing day evening. I could rarely put it down and recieved a reprimant for reading it during Xmas lunch.

I'm not saying I don't like the others, but this is the best one. (Send me your opinions, I'd love to hear them)

I've got a review for 'The Wee Free Men' in the pipeline, but my mum has taken it in hospital with her, so I'll wait until she gets back before writing that one. I've moved onto number 30 in the series, called THUD! It's another watch episode, but I won't give anything away... yet

The Book Club


Will it ever end. Yes, all human endeavour is pointless ~ Bill Bailey

News

#StoryShift Author

BBS Signature