Extremely Difficult and Incredibly Unnerving

It’s no surprise today to learn that the movie Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. It has all the right things that a Best Picture nomination should probably have:

Tom Hanks.

Sandra Bullock.

Cute lil boy that reminds us of Haley Joel Osment.

9/11.

You may or may not be surprised to learn that its based on a book by Jonathan Safran Foer, who also wrote Everything is Illuminated, which was a good movie but did not have Sandra Bullock or Tom Hanks in it. But it did have Elijah Wood if that counts for anything.

Anyway, I started reading ELIC this past Saturday and I am about 60% through it. Half of it is the first person narrative of a young boy named Oskar Schell who lost his father in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Oskar comes across a key in his father’s belongings which he believes is a clue that is father left for him to something quite extraordinary, so the book becomes Oskar’s adventure in finding out what the key goes to.

The book is written in a bit of stream of consciousness type format, in that almost all of the dialogue between Oskar and anyone else is crammed into one large paragraph, sentence after sentence, making it a bit hard to follow and determine who is saying what if you aren’t paying attention.

Chapters are frequently broken up by random photos which you learn Oskar is taking along the way: a door knob, the back of someone’s head, the front of a house… and then there are random photos that Oskar hasn’t taken but which point your attention to something trivial in the text: a roller coaster, a skeleton’s hand, an elephant’s eye up close. There’s also a “falling man” picture that repeats itself throughout the book, reminding us that this is a 9/11 story. By the way, the date has not been mentioned so far in the 60% of the book I’ve read. You know they are in New York. Oskar mentions his father was killed in a terrorist attack and mentions visiting Ground Zero, but other than that, the date itself has not been mentioned. I don’t know if that’s important, but I’m sure it was left out intentionally.

Speaking of things being left out, about every other chapter is told from the point of view of Oskar’s grandmother or grandfather. Their chapters are also told in an extreme stream of consciousness narrative…long run on sentences, short choppy sentences, no quotations around dialogue, long paragraphs, no paragraphs… it’s erratic and unorganized and very hard to follow at times. Much of it appears to be drafts of journal entries that the grandmother has written to her son, Oskar’s father, about how his parents met, etc. The grandfather was a mute sculptor. At least I think he’s mute, but I don’t really know if he was always mute. He writes in a notebook a lot when conversing with his wife. He also leaves her, but comes back later, maybe, I’m not sure…I still have 40% more to read, hopefully I’ll find out.

And hopefully, you get my point. This book is extremely hard to follow. BUT….buried in it is something that makes me want to finish it instead of throwing it across the room, although I wouldn’t actually throw it because I’m reading it on my Kindle Fire. Maybe, I’d delete it from the device instead with a smirk on my face. There! Take that ELIC!

But I’m going to finish it. I don’t want to play the 9/11 card and say that’s why I’m reading it. Sure, seeing the trailers for the movie helped. It’s definitely meant to tug at our heart strings. Maybe that’s even why some people don’t want to see the movie or read the book.

Though this is Foer’s 2nd book, his ability to fill a page with banter, but still give his reader those A-ha! moments like some archeologist who just found a femur bone on the last day of a five year expedition is amazing. I stumble all over my tongue trying to describe this book to someone as I’m reading it, but deep inside, I get it. Do you hear me Foer? I get it. I connect with Oskar as a kid. I feel sorry for him. He makes me laugh. He pisses me off.

And that’s probably what a good book should do. Makes us think about it. Laugh at it. Hate it. Write about it. But most of all, it makes us remember. I may not be able to clearly tell anyone what this book is about by the time I finish reading it, but I will remember it.

And in the end, isn’t that what a good book or a good movie or a good person or a good memory deserves?

To be remembered.

Dec 20 2011

Relentless by Dean Koontz (Audio): The First 100 Pages..err, First 3 CDs.

As an early Christmas gift, I landed three of Dean Koontz’s books on audio which we found on sale at Tuesday Morning of all places. I like audio books when I have more than the ten minute commute to and from work to devote to them. I’ve enjoyed quite a few on the iPod while at the gym over the past year, but since these Koontz audios are on CD, they’d have to be reserved for the car. So, I saved them for my three hour holiday road trip home to Tennessee this past weekend and started with Relentless.

First some notes on the audio itself…it’s read by Dan John Miller, someone I wasn’t previously familiar with. He is well known for his voice though, has a country band he’s involved with, and has had some small onscreen roles. He definitely holds my attention and brings life to the text. He even somewhat does voices for each character. Nothing over the top or hokey though, although as the third CD began, he sounded different and I had to check the box to see if someone else was also reading part of the book.

The story itself is also decent. It’s about Cullen “Cubby” Greenwich, a well-known author climbing the charts, married to Penny, a children’s book illustrator who is the love of his life. They have a six year old child prodigy named Milo. When Cubby’s latest book gets a bad review from well known literary reviewer Shearman Waxx, it rubs him the wrong way but at the advice of his wife, he’s determined to “let it go.”

But that’s hard to do when he discovers Waxx likes to dine at one of his favorite restaurants and Cullen goes there one day to get a look at the bitter reviewer. An innoncent encounter between the two in the restaurant’s restroom soon turns into a bizarre and dangerous cat and mouse game. Waxx is clearly a sociopath who will create “doom” in the lives of reviewed authors who cross his path!

Since I first started reading Koontz back in July, I’ve really come to appreciate his humor. It shines here. Milo, the genious son, and his strange dog “Lassie” are my favorite characters thus far.

Waxx’s “relentless” behavior of bringing terror to the lives of authors he’s reviewed seems a bit extreme, especially without the authorities ever getting involved. But that’s what makes Koontz’s books good reads. You can definitely expect the unexpected and they aren’t your typical hard boiled crime drama with private eyes on the case. His characters are multi-layered and usually left to fend for themselves.

At a three hour one way trip, I made it through three of the eight CDs. I can’t wait for the trip home on today to listen to more. Full review to follow….

Dec 16 2011

The First 100 Pages: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Most people who know me know that I tend not to read what is too popular. I’m a big indie author supporter and am often reading smaller press books that the majority of you have no doubt ever heard of. I do often make exceptions. Case and point, my Dean Koontz craze that started back in July!

Earlier this year I bought The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo on audio on my iPod and gave it a try while at the gym. I abandoned listening to it just after about thirty minutes, despite the outstanding reviews and numerous friends who have suggested it to me. Now, with an American movie tie-in, it seemed inevitable that I would never read this book! Like I said, I stray from the popular on purpose. I’m quite proud to say that I’ve never read any of the Harry Potter books to this day!

But with two hours to kill in the Detroit airport on Friday before my flight back home, I hit the bookstore first and there was the movie tie-in edition of Dragon in mass market. I bought it and figured what the heck. I’ve got two hours to kill. Before my flight had touched down in St. Louis at 7:30pm that evening, I had already read 100 pages of it and have to say I’m hooked.

True, as many have said, the first few chapters drag as Larsson introduces you to each of the main characters, spending a good chapter on each on trivial details that don’t seem too important (yet). But at least I do feel like I know these characters now and that’s important when it comes to really getting into the mind of what makes a book good.

I’m not going to bore you with the details of each of those characters here since I still have only a tiny glimpse into what this book is really about. But I’m pretty sure you can expect to read a glowing review by the time I’m done.

Anyone else reading this book? Already read it? Your thoughts? Are you looking forward to the American version of the movie?

Dec 10 2011

The First 100 Pages: Appalachian Justice by Melinda Clayton

If the old saying “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” holds merit, it’s certainly true when it comes to the book I’m reading right now: Appalachian Justice by Melinda Clayton.

At first glance, you’d probably think it is some type of mountain mystery or crime thriller. You’d be partially correct. The somewhat unappealing cover and the word “Justice” in the title probably throw you off. I know it did me. But when Robin Tidwell, owner of All On The Same Page Bookstore, put the book in my hands and I read the back I knew I had to read this book! At just 245 pages, I’m almost half way through and have not been disappointed.

It’s a beautiful and haunting story of a mountain woman named Billy May Platte. Read the description for yourself:

Deep in the mountains of Appalachia, Billy May Platte learned the hard way that 1940s West Virginia was no place to be gay. ‘We was sheltered in them hills. We didn’t know much of nothin’ about life outside of them mountains. I did not know the word lesbian; to us, gay meant havin’ fun and queer meant somethin’ strange.’ In 1945, when Billy May was fourteen years old and alone, three local boys witnessed an incident in which Billy May’s sexuality was called into question. Determined to teach her a lesson she would never forget, they orchestrated a brutal attack that changed the dynamics of the tiny coal mining village of Cedar Hollow, West Virginia forever. Thirty years after the brutal attack, living in solitude on top of Crutcher Mountain, Billy May discovers the hideout of a young girl – a girl who just happens to be the daughter of one of the boys who attacked Billy May so long ago. No one knows better than Billy May the telltale signs of abuse, and she must quickly make a decision. Will she withdraw into the solitude in which she has lived since the horrific attack, or will she risk everything to save the girl from a similar fate? In spite of the heartbreaking incidents that take place in the novel, the book is ultimately a tribute to the resiliency of the human spirit and a celebration of the beauty of second chances. Underneath it all, Appalachian Justice is also a powerful love story, though certainly not a conventional one.

Surprised? I was.

Clayton captures that slow backwoods drawl of Billy May perfectly. I fell in love with her as a character on page one -so distant and fragile, but full of love. I often go back and read long passages, some even out loud, because the writing is that good. The story trades chapters between 1975 and 2010. In the 70s, Billy May is recalling her tragic childhood while also helping a young girl who has escaped to the mountain. In current 2010, Billy May is old and in the hospital and her mind keeps wondering “back to the mountain.”

I am often reminded of movies or other books when reading something. With this book, I recall ” The Accused” and “Nell,” both movies starring Jodie Foster. If you haven’t seen them, look them up. Both are brilliant. And while you are at it, read Melinda Clayton’s book. It is brilliant too!

More about it later when I post a full review after I’m finished reading it.

Nov 13 2011

The First 100 Pages: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

This post should really be called The First 200 Pages, because as I’m writing this that’s about where I am with 11/22/63, Stephen King’s new book that came out last Tuesday, 11/8/11. I had pre-ordered it back in June as soon as I learned about it, and was a bit peeved at UPS when it didn’t show up until after 6pm that day on my doorstep. But for $3.99 shipping guaranteeing it on the day of release, I shouldn’t complain. I read 65 pages of it that night!

I have to admit I was a bit worried because this book is close to 900 pages. What if I didn’t like it? Luckily, I didn’t have that problem. The only thing I haven’t liked about it is not having a whole day to myself to do nothing but read it. King wasted no time diving right into the goods and just 20 pages in!

For those who might not know, 11/22/63 is the story of Jake Epping, a teacher who likes to have dinner occasionally at an old diner. The owner of the diner informs Jake that there’s a time portal in the pantry that if you walk through it, you’re transported back to a day in September 1958. Every time you go through, no matter how long you stay, when you come back only 2 minutes has passed in 2011. And every time you go back, everything resets itself so if you’ve changed anything, it’s all set back the way it was if you come back and go back through again. The main theme of the novel? The owner of the diner wants Jake to go through and stop the Kennedy assassination in 1963. Yep, that would require Jake to go through and stay at least 6 years!

The book starts with Jake teaching an adult GED class where he has his students write essays about a day that changed their life. The school’s janitor is in the class and writes about the day his father killed his entire family right in front of his eyes when the janitor was a kid back in 1958. He was the only one that survived. Of course, Jake finds the story touching and gives the janitor an A+. He decides to use this as a test the first time when he goes back in time by trying to stop this horrible event from happening.

Like I said, King wastes no time right from the start getting you hooked on the story. As you know, I read a lot but only occasionally do I read a book that just keeps me thinking about it nonstop. It just clicks and you know you are really enjoying a good read. Well, this is definitely one of those books for me!

King like to tie his books to other books or characters or stories he’s written, and he’s already done that in this book as well. When Jake goes back to 1958 and travels to Derry, Maine, some child murders have just taken place reportedly by a man dressed as a clown – this was the story of his book IT. For those who love reading King, it’s fun to pick up on things like this if you know his books.

That’s it for now. More about it later. Back to reading….

Oct 27 2011

The First 100 Pages: Forever Odd by Dean Koontz

Having finished The Leaving and Intensity this month, as I said a few days ago, I have two weeks left to read something before the mega monster 900+ page King 11/22/63 book arrives on my door step on November 8th. So, what did I decide to squeeze in?

You guessed it! Another Koontz book. This time it’s Forever Odd, the second in the Odd Thomas series. I figured it would be a quick read, and two days into it, I’m already at 134 pages out of 364 as of scheduling this post Tuesday night. So, I will definitely have it finished in time.

This book is pretty much the same as the first so far in that Odd finds himself having to solve a crime and the reader is given just as little detail as Odd has, having to discover clues along the way with Odd. Crying Elvis is there, the police chief, the grille owner, the fat author and Chester the cat – all characters from the first book.

After having such a difficulty warming up to Odd in the first book, despite really wanting to like the book, this is a much smoother read for me but it’s a bit like moving chess pieces around a board. We’re just following Odd around town as he takes us along for the ride. It’s not very multidimensional as far as characterization or plot goes.

This being my 9th Koontz book I’ve read since July, I’m looking forward to the break next month. Full review to follow…

Oct 18 2011

The First 100 Pages: Intensity by Dean Koontz

Yep! Started another Koontz book this month thanks to my online reading group, Koontzlanders over at GoodReads. Intensity was their pick for October, and due to reading two books at the same time I’m just now 100 pages into it.

Intensity is the story of Chyna, a college girl whose had a rough childhood with pretty wild parents. She goes to spend the weekend with a friend and her family when a serial killer breaks in during the night and murders everyone but Chyna. Believing her friend might still be alive, Chyna stows away on the killer’s RV as he sets off down the road to return to his home.

When the killer stops at a gas station and murders the two attendants, Chyna has the chance to escape. But, she’s learned he is holding a young girl captive. So, she sets off after him in one of the dead attendant’s cars.

The “intensity” comes from the fact that the killer remains completely unaware of Chyna. She’s hiding in the RV bedroom. She hides under the RV while he’s pumping gas. She hides at the end of one of the aisles in the gas station while he shoots the workers. I find Chyna interesting as far as when Koontz dwells into Chyna’s messed up childhood attempting to give her some depth, but otherwise, I really have no connection with her.

Koontz’s serial killer, Edgler Foreman Vess, is a bit flat too. Let’s face it, Harris created the God of serial killers with Hannibal Lecter in 1988. Intensity came out in 1996, so while Vess is scary and has his crazy traits – he likes to spell things using the letters of his name, god, fear, rage…probably the reason Koontz gave him such an anagramable name – he’s still not all that bizarre and twisted as some of the bad guys I’ve seen in Koontz’s later writing. Koontz definitely got better.

This is also a short book, just over 300 pages. So I hate that it’s taking me so long to finish it.

A full review to follow when I do!

Sep 3 2011

The First 100 Pages ~ Twilight Eyes by Dean Koontz

Yes. I’m reading another Dean Koontz book. Pouring through What the Night Knows in July and then averaging a book a week all through August reading his Frankenstein series wasn’t enough for me. I’m now reading Twilight Eyes. It wasn’t my choice for the next book I’d read, but I picked it up because (don’t make fun!) I joined an online fan club called Koontzland over at GoodReads.com. Twilight Eyes is their read for September. So, I decided to join in the fun. I expected this to be yet another fast fun read that I could polish up in a week, but I was wrong. I’ve been reading it for a week now and I’m only at page 150 of 450. It’s been a stressful week at work which has killed some of my reading time, but overall this is a nice slower paced engrossing read.

Twilight Eyes is the story of Slim Mackenzie. Slim has psychic powers, mainly the ability to see demons living inside of other people which he calls goblins. He’s on the run because he killed his uncle who was a goblin. He soon takes refuge in a traveling carnival where he lands a job and a girlfriend. But on his first night, he kills another goblin whose body goes missing before he can hide it himself. Slim suspects that someone in the carnival has the same ability to see goblins like he does.

The writing is much more in-depth and solid in this book. I’ve heard that a lot of Koontz’s older work is much better this way. I’ve read that Koontz actually wrote the first part and released it in the late 80s, but later re-released it with the second part of the story. And some believe the 2nd part is not as good. I guess we’ll see. My copy is actually an older edition of the complete book (not pictured).

Slim falls into a relationship with his gorgeous boss, Rya. There are several descriptions of their love making which I thought were very well written without being overly erotic. But most of all, I’m enjoying the carnival setting – the freakshow, the games, the shows, the dwarfs, the midway – Dean’s writing definitely gives it service and its what’s driving the book for me so far.

I have jury duty next week and am allowed to bring a book, so I’m hoping to wrap this one up next week. Full review to follow! And no, I won’t be following it with another Koontz book. I’ve already got something else lined up.

Aug 7 2011

The First 100 Pages: Dead and Alive (Frankenstein Book 3) by Dean Koontz

That’s right! I just started this book and I’m already 100 pages in. Note it only has 352 pages to it, the first two in the series were over 450 each.

And whoa! The reviews were right although I tried to avoid looking at them. This one is a real stinker. First, let’s talk about the reviews, shall we?

At Amazon, Book 1 has a 4 star rating with currently 169 reviews.

Book 2 has 148 reviews and a 4 star rating.

Book 4 has 156 reviews and a 3 star ratring.

Book 5 has 42 reviews and a 4 star rating.

But Book 3? It has 207 reviews and a 2.5 star rating…the most reviews out of all 5 books and the lowest rating too! Wow!

So, at 100 pages here’s what has happened so far. Warning! These could be spoilers for those who plan to read this book…

Deucalion found his way into Victor’s lab and confronts his virtual secretary and kills her. Ripley, the lab assistant, has a conversation with the bizarre panther-cockroach-spider thing that has gotten out of its holding cell. The thing was once Werner, the security guard, but like Harker (in the first book) it metamorphosed into something else. It kills Ripley. Carson and Michael are off having a po-boy sandwich. Ericka is becoming intrigued with a Gollum-Dobby like albino troll called Jocko, which we find out is the strange character that escaped into the sewers in the first book after Harker gave birth to it. Oh, and the District Attorney and his wife (introduced at the very very end of book two), who have been replaced by New Race copies, get naked and go on a killing spree around their neighborhood.

And that’s literally about it.

There’s a note in the first two books in the series from Koontz stating that the first two books were cowritten with someone, but he doesn’t work well with others so I guess he bought them out and had their names removed. You can read more about that on the Wikipedia page for the series. While the first two books were light reads with a bit of off color humor, they were at least good and definite page turners. Wow! What can I say about Part 3? I’ll be glad when I’m done reading it. I thought I could brush through this one in less than a week, since it took only a week each to read the first two, but so far its been absolutely painful.

More to come when I post my official review, which so far is leaning toward 2 stars. And that’s sad since I have each of the first two 4 star ratings.

Jul 29 2011

The First 100 Pages: Frankenstein by Dean Koontz Book 1 Prodigal Son

Having just read my very first Dean Koontz book at the beginning of this month (Read my review!), I was anxious to start another. I chose Book 1 of his Frankenstein Trilogy which is called Prodigal Son. And I’m actually 200 pages in as I write this, having just started it last Saturday when I finished Stephen King’s Bag of Bones. I always seem to read mass market paperbacks quicker. Plus, Koontz is a much easier read than King. He gets right to the point and really pushes the story along which keeps my interest.

While Frankenstein is definitely a page turner and I do plan to read the other 2 books in the series right after I finish this one, it’s not as captivating as What The Night Knows was for me. Koontz actually wrote this originally as a miniseries script which he abandoned after the network wanted to make a lot of changes. He developed it into a five book story instead.

It’s the story of Victor Frankenstein and the monster (now known as Deucalion) from Mary Shelley’s classic now living in a modern day New Orleans. Like vampires, or more like zombies, they’ve both sustained immortality. Deucalion has become educated and refined. Frankenstein is a rich doctor who is developing a New Race now that he’s improved his mechanics of new life forms. Throw in a serial killer – who may or may not be a member of the New Race – who is preying on both humans and New Race members, and a storyline about two young detectives tracking him down, and you’ve pretty much got enough suspense to keep you reading. I know I’m intrigued!

Like I said, while this one is a bit more loose as far as details go, moreso than Night was, it’s still a good read and is holding my attention. More about it later when I post my full review.

The Lone Writer: Shannon Yarbrough

Category Archives: The First 100 Pages