Browsers' Book Blog

Thoughts on the Dark Tower series. Stephen King.

2008-01-28T10:59:00.000-08:00

I believe that King did not know where the story was going when he wrote the first book or two. This may, of course, strengthen his argument that the story was told through him rather than by him. Still, he seems undecided as to the reality of his characters and their worlds. Are we to take this series merely as a tale told by a "word smith," or are we to believe in it? Are these characters going to connect with us in a deep way, or are they only part of King's personal mythology? Or, is Stephen King opening himself up, as few authors do, and allowing us full access to his imagination and subconscious so that we may identify with what he hopes is a universal tale? I opt for this last theory.

One must wonder how he and the series will be regarded in 100 years. Will King be the Dickens of our time, in which case vast reference volumes and concordances shall be written? Or will he be yet another semi-forgotten author which just a few people will be interested in? This series is good; his writing matures (yet calcifies) over the 30 years it took him to write it. This may be his best shot at respectability and remembrance amongst our posterity.

The Dark Tower. Stephen King.

2008-01-28T10:48:00.000-08:00

The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower.
Stephen King.
Grant: 2004.

[warning: plot spoilers]
The final volume in this interesting series is as good as the first. All the good guys and the bad buys die -- including some real tear-jerking moments -- except Susannah (who gives up--a very disappointing move on King's part) and Roland. He, of course, successfully reaches the Dark Tower. As he ascends, he passes through rooms, each of which encapsulates one moment, one part of his life. When he at last reaches the top and opens the door, the horrible truth comes to him: he has done this already, perhaps an infinite number of times. He is immediately sent back to the desert, chasing the man in black (the opening scene of Gunslinger, already forgetting what he knew. King could have made this a great commentary on the curse of a character who has to relive his painful life each time the book is read anew (he is, after all, aware that he is a character), but he backs away from this by changing one detail, which implies that next time Roland goes through this, he might find redemption, or at least be one step closer. Oh well, at least it's a positive message of perseverance and hope.

Sails of Hope. Simon Wiesenthal.

2008-01-28T10:40:00.000-08:00

Sails of Hope: The Secret Mission of Christopher Columbus.

Simon Wiesenthal.
Macmillan: 1973.

A fast and interesting read which proposes that Columbus was either a converted Jew, a crypto-Jew (marrano), or came from a family of conversos. Wiesenthal is never foolish (or confident) enough to make a solid claim, and indeed, his scholarship is definitely at an interested amateur level, but he draws on the research of others and does two things: he shows that Columbus being Jewish or of Jewish descent is an Occam's razor for many of the unanswered questions about him, and he also poses a few questions that lead one to accept his idea, at least as a working hypothesis.

The bulk of the book, actually, deals with the plight, importance, and fate of Jews in Spain; this in itself makes for interesting reading.

The Cook. Harry Kressing.

2007-12-03T15:43:00.000-08:00

The Cook.

Harry Kressing.

Random House: 1965.

This has been on my 'to read' shelf for at least two years. I'm glad I got to it (rather than giving up), as it goes into the permament collection.

A tall, thin, mysterious man comes to town to apply for a job as the cook at an estate. There are two families in the area, and when they inter-marry, they will be able to move into a large castle. Gradually, through means both sly and harsh, he succeeds in having the town kow-tow to his needs, the staff at the house fired, and his employers become the butler (the father), housekeeper (the mother) and cook (the son.) He marries the daughter, and after the son marries into the other family, they all move into the castle -- after which, the son's bride dies.

Conrad, the cook, is an awesome character, clearly possessed of demonic power (if not Satan himself, on a little holiday), yet always seeming to accomplish things by verbal and culinary methods. Funny and suspenseful; difficult to accomplish. Excellent book.

R.U.R. Karel Capek.

2007-12-03T15:37:00.000-08:00

R.U.R.

Karel Capek.

Washington Square Press: 1969/1923

I have always known this book for two reasons: it is the origin of the word 'robot' and it has always been hailed as being ahead of its time. Despite the advance warning, I was still taken aback by its ability to be applied to today's world. Indeed, the main plot of the book (robots come to realize that they can take care of things better than people can) is one of the plots in Asimov's I, Robot.

The play reads fast, yet even a fast read cannot ignore the huge issues raised: who is responsible for the moral use of technology?, what should the relationship ultimately be for man & machine?, will humans evolve or be replaced by another species -- even one of our own design?, what are the effects of leveling of the economic/political strengths of the world's economies?, who watches the watchers?, how does one face personal vs. global annihilation?, etc. This guy is good!

Rasselas. Samuel Johnson.

2007-09-25T17:43:00.000-07:00

Rasselas: Prince of Abyssinia.
Samuel Johnson.

John B. Alden: 1887.

A short classic about a young prince who leaves his overprotective castle to search the world for happiness -- or, the way to live happily. He is joined by his sister and an older "man of learning," Imlac, on his quest.

Along their way, they meet with a variety of people who seem happy: farmer, hermit, scientist, philosopher, ruler, etc.; yet each one declares himself to be unhappy. Eventually, they decide to return to Abyssinia.

Johnson's cynicism and pessimism are laughable at times, probably intentionally. Rasselas intends to find a life of continual ease and happiness -- such as his father intended for him at Abyssinia -- yet despite his own experience and observations, he his unable to see that struggle and strife are necessar to experience true happiness.

The Broken Bubble. Philip K. Dick

2007-07-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

The Broken Bubble.
Philip K. Dick
Arbor House, 1988.

One of Dick's posthumously published non-SF novels. This follows a man who is 30-35 but still refuses to succumb to societal norms. One day, he refuses to read a blaring radio ad on his programme; his refusal speaks clearly to some teenagers who proceed to -- believe it or not -- rebel against authority. More interesting than this guy is his ex-wife (whom he is pursuing again) who has a complete emotional and moral breakdown.

Ultimately, though, the reader is watching these people's lives rather than understanding or participating in them. Dick's writing is good enough that we believe him when the ex-wife seduces the 18 year old fan, or paints the whole apartment black, etc., but the emotional distance remains -- as with his naked woman in a giant ball, we are always watching through a plastic bubble.

Journey Under the Southern Stars. E. L. Grant Watson

2007-07-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

Journey Under the Southern Stars.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Abelard-Schumann, 1968

Because his novel Lost Man! is one of my favorites, and because the first part of the book reveals the real life experiences of the author which mirror his novel, I was immediately fascinated by this autobiography.

What I come away most clearly with, however, is the author's experience on a Fijian island in the plantation house of a white man. There are ghosts, a mysterious and horrific volcanic lake, and a magical calling of sea turtles.

The author is a young scientist out for adventure, and he maintains a firm belief in magic -- a belief which is confirmed by his observations.

Grant Watson's narrative prose in this book is beautiful and haunting in many sections. An excellent book to re-read as I find more of his works.

Secrets of Our Spaceship Moon. Don Wilson.

2007-07-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

Secrets of Our Spaceship Moon.
Don Wilson.
Dell: 1979.

Sequel to Our Mysterious Spaceship Moon, this book rehashes a lot of the same info, but also presents new "evidence" and expands earlier statements offering proof that the Moon is a hollow vessel from another planet. This book is just as good as the first, and presents strong arguments as to why the other theories of the Moon's origin cannot be true, and why it could be that it is hollow.

The most recent (last 10 years) scientific theory is one that says the Earth, in its early formation, was "whacked" by a HUGE (planet-sized) object which caused the Moon to form out of the fragments. At a glance, this doesn't quite answer a lot of the structural questions Wilson raises (such as mascons), though I plan to look into it, as that theory is more plausible than the spaceship one (though not as exciting.)

Still, there are enough doubts about the moon's structure and composition, NASA's lack of communication to the public about certain things, and those pesky UFO's that will keep me open-minded on this subject for a while! :)

Flowers in the Attic. V. C. Andrews

2007-07-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

Flowers in the Attic.
V. C. Andrews.

This book is generally classified as horror, though I don't know why as there's nothing really scary about it. Four kids are locked in the attic for a few years, so that their mom can inherit lots of money. After she does, she tries to poison them slowly.

The whole point of "willing suspension of disbelief" is that you will accept the premise of the book as long as people still act like people. And that is the flaw with this book: it's totally unbelievable. And as such, boring.

People usually say that this book is just about incest and child abuse, but it truly is not overloaded with nasty details -- only a few instances which are actually handled rather well. Indeed, the writing is good throughout, markedly so for this type of book. Character development, though, is its downfall: the narrator is the most believeable, but even she has moments of being too innocent.

Not too interested in the sequels, of which there are many.

With Clive in India. G. A. Henty

2007-06-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

With Clive in India.
G. A. Henty.
A. L. Burt, ca. 1900.

Henty is an author much sought-after by homeschoolers. He wrote historical fiction for teenage boys, although the writing style and vocabulary of this book far exceed that of most modern teen writers.

This book takes place in India around 1750, when England and France are battling for control of the country. Clie is the British officer who made many daring attacks against the French and helped turn the tide for the English. Henty, however, does not make him into a superhero, and points out emphatically that Clive's connivings in one battle were greedy, ungentlemanly, and one of the blackest moments in British military history.

The book flows quite smoothly and is interesting and humorous when describing the fictional adventures of Charlie Marryat (the main character), but becomes bogged down in military detail and jargon when the author describes some of the battles that took place -- his laudable concern for historical accuracy hampers the otherwise enjoyable prose. Overall, quite a good book and I would be interested in reading some more by Henty.

Myths of Precolumbian America. Donald A. Mackenzie.

2007-06-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

Pre-Columbian America: Myths and Legends
Donald A. Mackenzie.
Senate/Random House: 1923/1996.

This book was originally written when scholars were gravitating to the theory that America remained completely isolated until Columbus. MacKenzie doesn't believe this and attempts to disprove the theory by a comparison of American myths to those of Egypt, India, and Asia.

There are two major flaws to the book. First, I'm reading it 80 years late, and a lot of new information has come to light. Second, his writing style is lacking in proper structure which makes his rambling, unorganized thesis hard to follow sometimes. The main theoretical problem is lack of dating -- when did the Indian my of such-and-such arise vs. the first appearance in America? Whas there time for transference of ideas? Are the ideas separated by many centuries?

The book does a good job in bringing to light how much you need to assume is a natural psychological process for two cultures to develop similar ideas if they don't have any contact, e.g., why would Egyptians, Chinese and Aztecs associate colors with four cardinal points? Overall, the book is persuasive that there was at least some sort of contact between Old and New Worlds.

The Proving Trail. Louis L'Amour

2007-06-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

The Proving Trail
Louis L'Amour.
Bantam: 1979.

This is the first Western I have read. Centers around a young man whose "pa" has been killed after winning big at gambling. Mysterious men come after him -- turns out Pa's family back east isn't so nice. Our hero has to wander around the West -- mostly Colorado -- to avoid the bad guys. Along the way, he chats with a nice waitress. In the end, there's a shoot-out, the bad guys die, and the boy gets the girl.

The most annoying thing about this book is that although it is written in heavily accented and lingo'd first person, our 18-year-old narrator steps outside himself and starts teaching the reader how things were "in his day." There are other, slightly less obvious paragraphs where L'Amour is trying to teach us something about the Old West, but overall, the segments are indicative of a complete lack of subtlety in writing. Passable, but not a genre I want to get deep into.

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm. Nancy Farmer

2007-04-21T15:34:00.000-07:00

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm
Nancy Farmer.
Orchard Books: 1994.

In Africa 2194 AD, the top General's three kids are too over-protected by their parents and not allowed out. They finally escape and during the course of the story are kidnapped several times - by a slaver, a ransomer, a commune, and evil gang. Meanwhile, Mother hires three mutant detectives (see title) to find them.

Story centers around maturing of 13-year old boy and on Arm, the psychic-sensitive detective. In both cases, sensitivity to others is shown to be a handicap: Tendai is too sensitive to be a brave warrior, and Arm is so sensitive that he turns into a baby when he's near one. Tendai loses his compassion for the enemy during a final battle scene, and Arm actually dies during the battle: when he comes back to life, he has lost his psychic sensitiviy. Not sure if I like this message for teens, but it is still a good story. Main flaw is that it spends too much time teaching us the vocabulary and customs of the future and traditional Africa -- overdone and it slows the reading down.

Truckers. Terry Pratchett

2007-03-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

Truckers
Terry Pratchett
Delacorte: 1990.

The first in a new series for teens, Truckers has the usual (though a bit toned down) Pratchett humor and wacky mythology. This mythology is a biblical-sounding one based on the store (in which these little guys live) being the universe, and the store's founder being God. The creatures in question are "nomes," 3-inch high people who don't live very long -- but they live fast. Thus, a minute for us humans is like an hour for the nomes.

Some rural nomes are forced to move and they wind up in a store which is like a great metropolis with rival families and guilds. However, none of the store nomes believe there is a world outside of the store. Various political battles ensue, and soon it is revealed that the store is about to close down. So Masklin, our hero, gets everyone together and they steal a truck and make it to a quarry, their new home.

As it turns out, they arrived on this planet a long time ago, but have since lost all knowledge and technology -- except the Thing, which turns out to be a super intelligent computer that helps them.

Good, not his best, and definitely for teens.

Rising Tides. Nora Roberts.

2007-03-03T16:01:00.000-08:00

Rising Tides
Nora Roberts.

Felt I had to read this due to Roberts' tremendous popularity. After consultation with Diana, I've learned that this follows the basic pattern of romances: two people feel undeniable and irresistable attraction, but against the better judgment of at least one of them. Fate throws them together and they're quite happy for a while, but then break up. Of course, in the end they get married.

This one involves a guy who was sexually molested (sold to men by his prostitute mother) and now doesn't want to have kids of his own: he does not want to pass on his evil mother's genes. The rest is pretty boring, though there's nothing actually bad about the book. It's inoffensive, but by no means am I inspired to read everything she's written.

Who Was Jesus? G. A. Wells.

2007-02-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

Who Was Jesus?
G. A. Wells.
Open Court, 1989.

Subtitled "A Critique of the New Testament Record," this book is unfortunately too biased for my taste. However, the main flaw is its poor quality of writing, which makes the book difficult to read.

Despite that, there is a lot of interesting information here, although not always documented. The author's main point is to show how different Gospels treat Jesus differently -- either because of the author's theology or because the mythology surrounding Jesus had changed. Thus, the earliest NT texts say nothing about John the Baptist or virgin conception, and the latest texts are full of this. Wells has another book called Did Jesus Exist? which, according to his references in this book, purports to show that the early NT texts refer to Jesus as a long-ago teacher, not a recent one, and say nothing of his resurrection. (Seems a stretch, but might be interesting to read.) The main strength of his argument comes from his extensive use of Christian theologians as sources.

Columbus & Cortes, Conquerors for Christ. John Eidsmoe.

2007-01-27T13:30:00.000-08:00

Columbus & Cortes, Conquerors for Christ.
John Eidsmoe.
New Leaf Press: 1992.

Obviously written in response to liberal Columbus-bashing on the 500th anniversary of his voyage, this book is an overly apologetic defense of Columbus and Cortes.

The foreword by Peter Marshall gets off on the wrong foot, decrying adultery and homosexuality in entertainment, yet saying nothing of violence, rape, murder, etc. Eidsmoe's main fault is that he does not apply the same standards across the board -- thus, we have to understand that slavery and warfare was an acceptable practice back in days gone by, but those idolatrous cannibals must have worshipped Satan because their actions were so evil. His other main flaw is putting words in the mouths of his opponents who, he claims, either deny that Cortes and Columbus were Christians (saying they only gave lip-service to Christianity), or that they suffered from severe delusions. Although Columbus was, indeed, "visionary", none of the books I have read on Cortes indicate anything other than that he was a devout Christian.

The bulk of this book is retelling the story with occasional jabs at non-Christians. Eidsmoe uses older sources, and at least one teen-age book, rather than newer and/or more accurate texts, and he provides no historical or textual criticism. Disappointing and poorly written.

The Human Encounter With Death. Stanislav Grof & Joan Halifax.

2007-01-23T17:49:00.000-08:00

The Human Encounter With Death.
Stanislav Grof and Joan Halifax.
Dutton: 1978.

Certainly one of the most interesting books I've read for quite some time. The authors are psychiatrists who administered LSD to dying cancer patients to see if it would alleviate pain or enable them to cope with their impending death. It did both -- sometimes, and in varying degrees.

After discussing this research project, the authors launch into a comparison of LSD sessions with both near-death/resuscitation experiences as well as initiation rites throughout world history. Not surprisingly, a major component is the death-rebirth experience (perinatal) where the subject describes a scene much like the process of birth; often followed by a transcendental feeling of unity with the cosmos. The authors, having experienced LSD themselves, may give too much credence to the reality of the hallucinations/insights, even after explaining that they are caused by lack of oxygen to the brain -- inhibited by LSD, through meditative breathing techniques, fasting, etc. Their argument is that because those archetypes are within all of us, they must point to an external reality. Not so sure...

Death and Dishonor. Iaian Pears.

2007-01-10T15:03:00.000-08:00

Death and Dishonor.
Iaian Pears.
Scribner's: 1996.

Jonathan and Flavia Argyll are the husband and wife team of this mystery author, who is an art history professor. As we saw with Elizabeth Peters, the novel allows the author to show off (rather than share) his or her specialized knowledge. Fortunately, Pears is not nearly as obnoxious as Peters in this regard. I rather enjoyed the basic plot of the book, because although there were two murders, the mystery to be solved is an art theft, not a murder. However, there is a major stretch of imagination to be made (a monestary has proof that Constantine spent his last days there and brought a holy relic with him), and the crime is too easily solved. On the other hand, one character, who is a retired art thief and now a grandmother, is pretty amusing.

The author has the opportunity to develop some interesting points -- do supernatural powers of holy icons dissipate if no one believes in them? why is the mass public satisfied with religion, yet not the clergy? etc., but the author opts for a short, mostly-brainless, easy-to-read book instead.

Lord Foul's Bane. Stephen R. Donaldson.

2007-01-10T14:56:00.000-08:00

Lord Foul's Bane.
by Stephen R. Donaldson.
Ballantyne. 1977.

First novel in popular epic fantasy series. Thomas Covenant has leprosy and is magically transported to fantasy world, which he refuses to believe in. The whole leprosy thing is done well, though overdone at some points, but his constant anger and disbelief are a bit wearisome. The problem with the book is that the reader doesn't care about any of the characters. The plot (Covenant has to defeat the evil Lord Foul) is so inane that it doesn't hold the reader's interest, either. So, the author does what all epic writers do: keep the characters moving, keep introducing new settings, weird characters, etc.

Well-written from a technial standpoint, but the author never gets us to question our own reality (even though this is the whole point of the book), and only in a limited way get us to see that there are other realities: specificly, how different it must be to be a leper. Overall, rather boring, and I doubt I'll read any further in the series.

King Solomon's Mines. H. Rider Haggard.

2006-12-06T17:12:00.000-08:00

King Solomon's Mines.
by H. Rider Haggard.

Supposedly the first African adventure novel, this book contains interesting details of the white man's experience of Africa circa 1885, but since so much is obviously made up, there are some places where you're not sure how much Haggard is intentionally stretching the truth.

Two English men approach a white hunter to locate their brother whom the hunter (Alan Quatermain) knows has gone off to search for King Solomon's Mines. They enlist some native help, and discover a lost valley. One of their helpers happens to be the rightful king. They invoke a civil war, win it, and are led to the diamond mines by an evil and ancient witch, who then betrays them, only to wind up dead thanks to the efforts of African maiden in love with John Good. They escape with a few diamonds and live happily ever after, etc.

The plot is too simple for its time and genre, but laced with enough humor to keep your interest. Quatermain stars in 16 more books and stories, although he dies in the sequel to this one.

The Gnostic Gospels. Elaine Pagels.

2006-11-28T13:14:00.000-08:00

The Gnostic Gospels.
by Elaine Pagels.
Vintage: 1979.

Written by an academic who is an 'expert' in gnosticism, this popular work gives a brief introduction to the texts discovered at Nag Hammadi.

This book is far, far too short, and inspires me to read the complete translation of these early, unorthodox Christian texts. As short as it is, the book is dense with information and valuable interpretation.

Most interesting is the author's main argument that the conflict between orthodoxy and gnosticism was as much political as it was theological -- in fact, that doctrine comes more from politics than from the teachings of Jesus.

Pagels does a very good job of evoking the climate of A.D. 60-200, during the establishment of the Catholic church and its constant attacks against the gnostic Christians -- who were often part of the catholic church itself -- especially their belief in personal experiences of enlightenment, even though they did not necessarily disbelieve in having a "regular" church.

The Five Flamboys. Francis Beeding.

2006-11-13T17:13:00.001-08:00

The Five Flamboys.
Francis Beeding.

Little, Brown: 1929.

This mystery/adventure gets a regular guy involved in an international espionage scheme involving the overthrow of the Roumanian government. It's truly impressive the number of plot twists Beeding is able to invent.

Excellent Hitchcockian adventure, even though it predates Hitchcock. One interesting thing about reading pulp fiction from this era is that, because the authors generally didn't spend much time concerning themselves with high quality of writing (sort of like writing a blog, don't you think?), a lot of colloquialisms come through, rendering several sentences absolutely unintelligible. In this case, outdated British slang makes a few spots even harder to figure out...

Character-wise, the evil villain is fairly interesting, as well as self-reflective, and the super-spy who helps the narrator is flat, but very cool in a pre-James Bond sort of way.

'H' is for Homicide. Sue Grafton.

2006-11-04T16:21:00.000-08:00

'H' is for Homicide.
Sue Grafton.

The two complaints that I hear most often about Grafton are that she's wordy and that all her books are alike. I read this book as an abridged audio book, which takes care of the first complaint, and I probably won't read another of her books, which takes care of the second.

Nothing really mysterious about this mystery. The reader and narrator both know that she's investigating a bad guy. This is more of a suspense novel without the suspense.

Kinsey Millhone is an insurance PI investigating false claims. The police persuade her to work under cover. She does, and does nothing too interesting, until the bad guy shoots someone, then she chases after him. No Poirotesque grey cells in action here: this is the new breed of mystery novel.