I'm an old reader who loved older books even as a child. And my memory is unusually good. So my head is filled with thousands of books: older science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, YA fiction, children's fiction, humor, classics...I made a lot of book recommendations over on Reddit as BobQuasit over the years, since there weren't many people speaking up for older books. I'm hoping to find some place to be able to recommend books again!
I went on a Wodehouse binge long ago in high school. Read everything of his that they had on the shelves. Having finished and enjoyed it all, I moved on to the next author who caught my attention...I think it was Leonard Wibberly.
40 years passed.
And then I decided to read Wodehouse again. For some reason one title in particular had stuck in my head: Leave It to Psmith.
It's incredibly witty. I laughed out loud on page after page. And Psmith's unique means of expressing himself is unforgettable. I found myself talking like Psmith for days after I read that book. It won't be anywhere near 40 years before I read it again, you can count on that!
When an eccentric local artist disappears suddenly, the three investigators look into the matter.
Review of 'The three investigators in The mystery of the flaming footprints' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This is a relatively late and inferior entry in the Three Investigators series. The series was created by Robert Arthur, a woefully neglected author who did a great deal of work with Alfred Hitchcock; Arthur wrote the first nine and the eleventh book in the series. Unfortunately M.V. Carey was no Robert Arthur!
I recently read the book to my son. We've read many of the books in the series together. In this one, there were several ways in which the book simply didn't work. Oh, Carey included the usual iconic elements of the series; Jupiter Jones' family, and the hidden Headquarters (a trailer buried under a pile of junk), and Pete, and Bob. But there are several false notes.
One that was particularly annoying was the use of Jupiter's name. Arthur usually referred to him as "Jupiter" or "Jupiter Jones". Once in a while his fellow Investigators, Pete or …
This is a relatively late and inferior entry in the Three Investigators series. The series was created by Robert Arthur, a woefully neglected author who did a great deal of work with Alfred Hitchcock; Arthur wrote the first nine and the eleventh book in the series. Unfortunately M.V. Carey was no Robert Arthur!
I recently read the book to my son. We've read many of the books in the series together. In this one, there were several ways in which the book simply didn't work. Oh, Carey included the usual iconic elements of the series; Jupiter Jones' family, and the hidden Headquarters (a trailer buried under a pile of junk), and Pete, and Bob. But there are several false notes.
One that was particularly annoying was the use of Jupiter's name. Arthur usually referred to him as "Jupiter" or "Jupiter Jones". Once in a while his fellow Investigators, Pete or Bob, would refer to him as "Jupe". But in this book, he is almost always called "Jupe" - not just by other people, but by the narrator. I'm not that picky, but seeing "Jupe" repeated over and over in paragraph after paragraph just got weird! It started to become a meaningless sound - you know how some words get when you say them over and over? I ended up auto-correcting it to "Jupiter" when I read it aloud, except when it was said by Pete or Bob.
The mystery itself was just...okay. Nothing particularly clever or memorable about it. If anything, the resolution was rather anticlimactic. I won't bother to give it away, though.
But another thing that was quite irritating was a dramatic change in a long-standing supporting character, Police Chief Reynolds. In the early books in the series he was supportive and friendly to the Three Investigators, even going so far as to give them official cards identifying them as Junior Deputies or something like that. In Flaming Footprints, he has been completely changed. He's sneering, abusive, hostile, and sarcastic. The change was so extreme that my son remarked on it. Personally, I found the recasting of Chief Reynolds as a stereotypical negative adult authority figure so irksome that I couldn't resist editorializing: "'What do you want now, Jones?' snarled Chief Reynolds, while busily stomping on a cute kitten and simultaneously farting on a helpless old lady."
My son is more generous and/or uncritical than I am. He gave the book 4.5 stars. I feel I'm being generous in giving it three.
Oh, as always I should note that there are probably two different versions of the text extant. Older versions feature the character of Alfred Hitchcock. For legal reasons newer editions have been rewritten to replace Hitchcock with a lame-ass ersatz version. If you decide to pick this one up, try to go for an older edition. But if you're new to the series, I strongly recommend starting with the original nine books by Robert A. Arthur.
It's amazing how Marvel was able to take brilliant source material like [b:Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?|7082|Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?|Philip K. Dick|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327865673s/7082.jpg|830939] and Blade Runner and produce such a remarkably lame illustrated "novel". The art, the writing...just astonishingly bad. Do yourself a favor and go to the originals, not this churned-out piece of garbage.
I don't like Orson Scott Card. There was a time when he was a gifted writer, but that was decades ago. And I'm rather glad of that, I must admit, because his homophobia and religious bigotry offend me.
But Shadows In Flight isn't as bad as most of his recent books have been. Yes, it has the usual "genius" children talking to each other in "shocking" ways; Card seems to find them irresistible. There's even some of Card's trademark child-on-child violence, which makes me wonder just how badly screwed up his head is. But for once he doesn't take it too far.
This is no [b:Ender's Game|375802|Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, #1)|Orson Scott Card|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316636769s/375802.jpg|2422333] or [b:Songmaster|31352|Songmaster|Orson Scott Card|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312018544s/31352.jpg|2904642]. It isn't even [b:A Planet Called Treason|92974|A Planet Called Treason|Orson Scott Card|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1264770593s/92974.jpg|10261084]. But it's readable and not annoying, which is a big improvement over Card's other work this millennium.
A late-eighteenth-century carriage maker turns professional horse-tamer, and deals with many vicious or badly trained …
Review of 'The horse-tamer' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
First, a note: I will never try to use my Nook to write a book review again. I had written quite a long review - not easy on the Nook's touch-screen, which is not well-laid-out and lacks a number of conveniences which are standard on other Android devices - only to make the slightest mis-touch and lose EVERYTHING. That's incredibly annoying.
That said, The Horse Tamer is part of Walter Farley's Black Stallion series, and it's both charming and memorable. Bracketed by short passages featuring Alec, Henry, and the Black, it's actually a historical novel; Henry's story of his older brother, who tamed horses in the days when horses were the standard mode of transportation. Henry himself plays a small but substantial part in the tale.
Unlike most entries in the series, it's not a racing story. But the story of "problem" horses and how to help them is quite …
First, a note: I will never try to use my Nook to write a book review again. I had written quite a long review - not easy on the Nook's touch-screen, which is not well-laid-out and lacks a number of conveniences which are standard on other Android devices - only to make the slightest mis-touch and lose EVERYTHING. That's incredibly annoying.
That said, The Horse Tamer is part of Walter Farley's Black Stallion series, and it's both charming and memorable. Bracketed by short passages featuring Alec, Henry, and the Black, it's actually a historical novel; Henry's story of his older brother, who tamed horses in the days when horses were the standard mode of transportation. Henry himself plays a small but substantial part in the tale.
Unlike most entries in the series, it's not a racing story. But the story of "problem" horses and how to help them is quite fascinating, as well as exciting. I first read this book as a boy, and it has stuck in my head ever since. I'm glad to be able to buy it for my own son, and for the chance to read it again. It includes the original black-and-white line drawings, which are charming. I strongly recommend this book. One caveat, however: the Nook edition has been formatted with HUGE margins. Even when the text is manually set to the smallest margin size, the margins are nearly as large as the text itself - which means that in portrait orientation, each line of text is only a few words wide. This is somewhat awkward.
I assume that the publisher did it because the book is SO short, only 100 pages. With reasonable formatting, it would have probably been closer to 70 pages long, even with the illustrations - and they may feel that it would be difficult to charge a full-novel price (even a low one) for what is probably only a novella. But it's a really fine story, and any fan of Walter Farley, the Black, or horses would be wise to pick it up. Strongly recommended!
Review of 'Three Men in a Boat Jerome Klapka Jerome (Illustrated)' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Three young Englishmen decide to spend a fortnight boating on the Thames for their health.
A classic of English humor; I'm quite dismayed that I hadn't discovered it before now! It's one of the funniest books I've read in a long time (and I've read many funny books). I found myself laughing out loud quite often, and couldn't resist reading sections of it to my wife - even though I know it's not the sort of thing she cares for.
It's astonishing that a book written 123 years ago should feel so modern. I hadn't realized that such dark humor had been invented back in 1889!
The occasional turns into more somber and lyrical prose are a bit jarring at first (they're quite reminiscent of [b:The Wind in the Willows|5659|The Wind in the Willows|Kenneth Grahame|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327869222s/5659.jpg|1061285], which was published 19 years later), but you soon get used to them. And …
Three young Englishmen decide to spend a fortnight boating on the Thames for their health.
A classic of English humor; I'm quite dismayed that I hadn't discovered it before now! It's one of the funniest books I've read in a long time (and I've read many funny books). I found myself laughing out loud quite often, and couldn't resist reading sections of it to my wife - even though I know it's not the sort of thing she cares for.
It's astonishing that a book written 123 years ago should feel so modern. I hadn't realized that such dark humor had been invented back in 1889!
The occasional turns into more somber and lyrical prose are a bit jarring at first (they're quite reminiscent of [b:The Wind in the Willows|5659|The Wind in the Willows|Kenneth Grahame|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327869222s/5659.jpg|1061285], which was published 19 years later), but you soon get used to them. And the serious passages are quite brief, just sufficient to cleanse the palate (so to speak) before the next comic gem.
The illustrated EPUB edition at Project Gutenberg is excellent and, of course, free. The illustrations are well-formatted, clear, and enhance the text. If you appreciate humor, you have no excuse for missing this book!
Incidentally, I "found" Three Men In a Boat via [a:Robert A. Heinlein|205|Robert A. Heinlein|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1192826560p2/205.jpg]'s [b:Have Space Suit-Will Travel|20417|Have Space Suit-Will Travel|Robert A. Heinlein|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167297464s/20417.jpg|1984753]. The protagonist's father is a fan. I'd read the book (Heinlein's that is) a dozen times before, easily - but I always assumed that [b:Three Men in a Boat|4921|Three Men in a Boat|Jerome K. Jerome|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328025007s/4921.jpg|4476508] was fictional. For some reason while reading [b:Have Space Suit-Will Travel|20417|Have Space Suit-Will Travel|Robert A. Heinlein|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167297464s/20417.jpg|1984753] out loud to my son, I found myself wondering if [b:Three Men in a Boat|4921|Three Men in a Boat|Jerome K. Jerome|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328025007s/4921.jpg|4476508] was real; and Wikipedia soon set me right.
I'm glad it did. And now, on to [b:Three Men on the Bummel|324296|Three Men on the Bummel|Jerome K. Jerome|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328606877s/324296.jpg|3352742]! I've already downloaded it from Project Gutenberg.
Oh, I almost neglected to mention: there's an audio book of [b:Three Men in a Boat|4921|Three Men in a Boat|Jerome K. Jerome|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328025007s/4921.jpg|4476508], read by Hugh Laurie. A perfect choice, of course. It can be found in sections on YouTube, or, I presume, it can be purchased. But I must say that I laughed more when reading the book then while listening to it. I'm not quite sure why!
I picked this up used at the library's permanent book sale for a buck.
Add it to the very short list of books which aren't as good as their movie adaptations. A lot of the speeches were improved by much pruning for the movie, and the plot was cleaned up a good bit, too.
The book is okay, and I can see that for some it might really "click". But to me it just doesn't quite work. The whole thing felt forced to me, a too-deliberate attempt to create a classic (not unlike [b:The Polar Express|420282|The Polar Express|Chris VanAllsburg|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327961191s/420282.jpg|1045364], which was annoying as a book and loathsome as a movie). [a:Peter S. Beagle|1067608|Peter S. Beagle|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1198544926p2/1067608.jpg] is able to create a far more authentic magical feeling in his books; fans of [b:Shoeless Joe|57736|Shoeless Joe|W.P. Kinsella|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170476259s/57736.jpg|977324] might appreciate Beagle. They might like [a:Jack Finney|6944|Jack Finney|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1243650090p2/6944.jpg], too. Both are considerably more deft …
I picked this up used at the library's permanent book sale for a buck.
Add it to the very short list of books which aren't as good as their movie adaptations. A lot of the speeches were improved by much pruning for the movie, and the plot was cleaned up a good bit, too.
The book is okay, and I can see that for some it might really "click". But to me it just doesn't quite work. The whole thing felt forced to me, a too-deliberate attempt to create a classic (not unlike [b:The Polar Express|420282|The Polar Express|Chris VanAllsburg|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327961191s/420282.jpg|1045364], which was annoying as a book and loathsome as a movie). [a:Peter S. Beagle|1067608|Peter S. Beagle|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1198544926p2/1067608.jpg] is able to create a far more authentic magical feeling in his books; fans of [b:Shoeless Joe|57736|Shoeless Joe|W.P. Kinsella|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170476259s/57736.jpg|977324] might appreciate Beagle. They might like [a:Jack Finney|6944|Jack Finney|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1243650090p2/6944.jpg], too. Both are considerably more deft stylists than Kinsella.
And frankly, if I were [a:J.D. Salinger|819789|J.D. Salinger|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1288777679p2/819789.jpg] I'd have sued the crap out of the author.
"What happens when evil wins? That's the devastating question Superman, Batman, the Justice League and …
Review of 'Final crisis' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
...what the &(# was that?!?
I've enjoyed Grant Morrison's work in the past, but Final Crisis feels like an experiment gone wrong. It's incoherent and lacks even one memorable scene. Call me stupid (you won't be the first), but I couldn't make any real sense of it at all. Reading it felt like work, but there was no payoff. All it did was make me feel that the entire superhero genre is tired and outmoded.
Basically, Grant seemed to feel it necessary to try to amp up the tired old "heroes save the universe" plot into "HEROES save the MULTIVERSE!!!!!!", but ended up creating a confusing mess. Maybe it's time to stop trying to save the universe, and move towards a storyline a little less full of s---. Something that relates a bit more to the human condition.
I mean...it seems to me that Final Crisis …
...what the &(# was that?!?
I've enjoyed Grant Morrison's work in the past, but Final Crisis feels like an experiment gone wrong. It's incoherent and lacks even one memorable scene. Call me stupid (you won't be the first), but I couldn't make any real sense of it at all. Reading it felt like work, but there was no payoff. All it did was make me feel that the entire superhero genre is tired and outmoded.
Basically, Grant seemed to feel it necessary to try to amp up the tired old "heroes save the universe" plot into "HEROES save the MULTIVERSE!!!!!!", but ended up creating a confusing mess. Maybe it's time to stop trying to save the universe, and move towards a storyline a little less full of s---. Something that relates a bit more to the human condition.
I mean...it seems to me that Final Crisis is a good example of a real problem with the comics industry, or at least with the Big Two. The stories just don't have any connection to the real world any more. It's just the same old stuPENDOUS, tiTANIC WORLD-SAVING!!! And seriously who gives a f--- any more?
The fantastic is integral to superhero comics, just as sugar is integral to ice cream. But a comic book that consists of nothing BUT the fantastic, with the same old fantastic plot that has been done to death a million times over, is like ice cream made of nothing but sugar.
It'll rot your teeth. And the only people who'll like it are those with very simple tastes. Since TV serves the simple-tastes market cheaper and better than comics can, this isn't an approach that bodes well for the future of comics. And frankly, Grant Morrison is capable of better.
If there's nothing that connects a story to the reader, if there's no actual human element in the story, only rabid fanboys with undiscriminating tastes will buy your books. And where's the future in that? That's not an audience that's going to grow. It's not like fanboys have a high reproduction rate! And I should know - I was one.
Review of 'Crisis on multiple earths' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
If you've forgotten how incredibly awful comics were in the early-to-mid 1960s, this is the book for you! It's like a steaming turd, carefully gift-wrapped in shiny new paper so you'll open it not realizing just how painfully bad it really is.
Stupid minor characters who are so awful that it's actually hard to believe that anyone human actually made them up (like "The Fiddler", for example). No logic at all, no real stories in any sense of the word, just one pointless, stupid event after another. And the dialog...that painful, torturous dialog. Dick Cheney would love this book.
One thing that stuck in my mind was Dr. Fate trying magical atomic explosions on a colossal anti-matter creature. They didn't work, so Batman ran around it in a circle, Bat-punching it. Yes, many of the classic DC heroes are here, but they're warped out of all resemblance to the archetypes …
If you've forgotten how incredibly awful comics were in the early-to-mid 1960s, this is the book for you! It's like a steaming turd, carefully gift-wrapped in shiny new paper so you'll open it not realizing just how painfully bad it really is.
Stupid minor characters who are so awful that it's actually hard to believe that anyone human actually made them up (like "The Fiddler", for example). No logic at all, no real stories in any sense of the word, just one pointless, stupid event after another. And the dialog...that painful, torturous dialog. Dick Cheney would love this book.
One thing that stuck in my mind was Dr. Fate trying magical atomic explosions on a colossal anti-matter creature. They didn't work, so Batman ran around it in a circle, Bat-punching it. Yes, many of the classic DC heroes are here, but they're warped out of all resemblance to the archetypes we know and love.
DC thoughtfully put a modern-looking cover on this collection, presumably so that some poor idiots would buy it without realizing that the contents suck in every way imaginable (including, of course, the art).
The stories were originally published from 1963-1966. The Code was in full flower. But even under the Code, it wasn't necessary to produce such utter and absolute crap.
