Friday, August 26, 2016

“Haunted,” by Chuck Palahniuk

FM's ratings:

          1. Premise 10
          2. Prose 10
          3. Plot 9
          4. Characters 9
          5. Overall 10

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)
“This is one of the most disturbing and outrageous books you’ll ever read, one that could come only from the mind of Chuck Palahniuk.”  So says the text on the back cover – and it is absolutely true.  It reads like a complete compendium of ways in which one can be “grossed out.”  Not creeped out; not suspensed out or horrored out; but grossed out.  If that sounds childish or sophomoric, well, it should be; but in the hands of a genius like Palahniuk (did I say “genius”?  I mean that) it becomes a masterpiece.  It’s a short story and poetry collection disguised as a novel.  Or maybe the other way around; it’s hard to say.  The author’s afterword (which should have been a forward, but the editor probably thought people would not go on to read the book if they read it first) describes how the author has read the first short story out loud to numerous audiences, and virtually always has audience members fainting from the graphic grossness.  But the book’s chief asset is its total originality. I often wonder what would have happened if I had directed my focus on writing fiction instead of music.  And I usually feel that any book I read is one that I could have written if my life had gone that way.  Rarely do I read a novel having to admit that I could never have written anything like it.  This amazing book is just such a novel.  One more impressive book by Palahniuk under my belt should result in him being my favorite male author!


Here’s the September line-up!

“Bloody Bones,” by Laurell K. Hamilton [9-3]
“Naked Empire,” by Terry Goodkind [9-10]
“Death of a Witch,” by M. C. Beaton [9-17]
“The Aeronaut's Windlass,” by Jim Butcher [9-24]

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for next month, please do so.  Also, if you have already read one on our previous lists, you are invited to send your ratings and or comments for that book!)

Sunday, August 21, 2016

“Locked In,” by Marcia Muller

FM's ratings:

1.      Premise 6
2.      Prose 4
3.      Plot 6
4.      Characters 5
5.      Overall 5

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

Shallow. That’s the word that comes to mind regarding almost every aspect of this novel.  The characters are shallow, responding to the events of the story in the most sophomoric ways, even to the point of making very dubious and unprofessional decisions in order to take the plot in the direction the author wants to take it.  The prose is shallow; reminding me of the gossipy chattiness of bored housewives, and full of incomplete sentences apparently aimed at imitating natural speech patterns in an attempt to create relatability for a shallow readership.  Maybe I’m spoiled to really smart writing – but this isn’t it.  “Shar had told her to dig, so she did.  Also asked Thelia and Diane to help her.  More background on Haven Dietz.  Nothing there she didn’t already know.  Phone calls to Dietz’s former friends and colleagues.”  This is a stylistic device that can occasionally create tension; not a trademark writing style to be used on every page.  Are there readers who respond to this kind of writing?  Sure, but don’t try to have a meaningful conversation with one of them.  A question that comes to mind is: Does this shallowness necessarily mean that the author herself is that shallow?  Or is she “writing down” in order to sell books?  And what does it reveal about the general readership if we conclude that the author really can’t do better but has a successful career as a novelist despite her limitations?  I have to stop; I’m creeping myself out!






Here’s the September line-up!

“Bloody Bones,” by Laurell K. Hamilton [9-3]
“Naked Empire,” by Terry Goodkind [9-10]
“Death of a Witch,” by M. C. Beaton [9-17]
“The Aeronaut's Windlass,” by Jim Butcher [9-24]

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for next month, please do so.  Also, if you have already read one on our previous lists, you are invited to send your ratings and or comments for that book!)

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

“Little Men,” by Louisa May Alcott

FM's ratings:

1.      Premise 7
2.      Prose 6
3.      Plot 6
4.      Characters 7
5.      Overall 6

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

“As there is no particular plan to this story, except to describe a few scenes in the life at Plumfield for the amusement of certain little persons, we will gently ramble along in this chapter and tell some of the pastimes of Mrs. Jo’s boys.”  Full disclosure – fair enough – of the fact that this novel has no real intended plot and very little premise.  Only it isn’t revealed to the reader until the beginning of chapter 8!  And yet, these factors exist almost by accident.  The premise is what might typically occur at a boy’s school, though a rather odd one.  And the plot is an interweaving of days in the life of several of the boys in attendance.  Having read other writing by Alcott, I know she was capable of writing excellent prose, but here she is writing “for children” and, just like music written “for children,” the quality doesn’t seem to matter.  “Pollyannaish” is an apt term for the tone of the prose, and in its innocence, there are some odd, anachronistic turns of phrase.  It would, in fact, be highly amusing upon re-reading this novel to highlight all the poorly phrased passages that could be taken by a dirtier mind than mine – well, okay, almost as dirty! - to mean something suggestive.  There are dozens.  The characters are all quite stereotypical, with the occasional flash of real human qualities.  But it’s the prose that makes this a tedious read.  Having said all that, I have to admit that there are quite a few very poignant moments designed to make one at least misty-eyed – and somehow, it works.  Without them, the novel might rate an overall “4” or less.  As with all “classics,” this one is worth reading, if only for the historical significance.  Just be prepared for the tedium.

Sunday, August 7, 2016

“The Devil Went Down to Austin,” by Rick Riordan

FM's ratings:

1.      Premise 9
2.      Prose 9
3.      Plot 10
4.      Characters 10
5.      Overall 9

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

Another impressive novel in a great series!  Tres Nevarre is a joy to watch as he tries to solve a murder that has been pinned on his wheelchair-bound brother, Garrett.   The realism here is superb, especially if you are from Austin, where the story takes place.  Oddly, the ever-present mobile taco stands have had eggroll carts substituted for them – Riordan is after all from San Antonio…  But the landmarks, buildings, and street names are all familiar to an Austinite.  I concurrently read a novel set in San Francisco which did much the same thing for that city and have to admit that not being as familiar with it made it not as much fun.  At least this technique doesn’t detract, and adds some atmosphere.  The real draw here, as in so many good novels is that the characters seem so real, like people you are actually getting to know.  Even the secondary and tertiary characters come off the page and add to some very effective action scenes.  And, as with all books by Riordan, the humor is a huge plus; not as prevalent as in his Percy Jackson series, perhaps, but popping up at unexpected times, sort of like classic Arnold Schwarzeneggar lines like, “I had to let him go.”  The female roles are very strong as well, especially the love interest, Maia Lee.  Next stop in this series: “Cold Springs.”