My wife and I watched the TV series, Bridgerton, on Netflix. This was a very fictionalized account taking place in 18th century Georgian England. One My wife and I watched the TV series, Bridgerton, on Netflix. This was a very fictionalized account taking place in 18th century Georgian England. One of the continuing characters in the series was Queen Charlotte who was married to the Mad King, George III. We also watched the spinoff series called Queen Charlotte which told of Charlotte's travel from a kingdom in Germany to become Queen of England by marrying King George. This series was actually more interesting and enjoyable to me than the original Bridgerton series. It told of Charlotte's marriage to George and his struggle with mental illness. Again, both of these series were highly fictionalized and used a premise of Charlotte being at least partially black with other black personages being granted peerages in England. But how much in the series was close to what really happened in history? Anyway, I wanted to find out more about George III and Charlotte so checked this mammoth biography out from the library.
This is a very detailed biography of not only George III and his family but of the Georgian dynasty as a whole, including George I and George II who came before George III and ending with Victoria, George III's granddaughter. The German House of Hanover became the British royal family by default of the Act of Settlement of 1701, which assured only a Protestant monarch would rule England. George I and II were not fond of England and were miserable parents who despised their own offspring. George III came into power in 1760 at age 22, and was determined to be a better king whose power would be rooted in the affection and approval of his people. He wanted to escape the dysfunction of his predecessors by maintaining a faithful marriage with domestic harmony. His marriage to Charlotte was an arranged affair with Charlotte coming from the German kingdom of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Charlotte agreed with George's sense of moral purpose and together they do everything possible to raise their thirteen sons and daughters with love and attention. However, as the children grow older, the men mostly stray and have affairs outside marriage while the women have difficulty in securing a husband who meets the requirements of a royal marriage. And then George III struggles through a time of change and tumult including both the American and French revolutions. Then at age 50, George is stricken with a mental illness that plagues him off and on through the rest of his life. This kept him confined and in strait jackets for many years. His symptoms included manic bouts of talking until he passed out, becoming obsessed with a certain Lady Pembroke of court and telling his wife he hated her and preferred Lady Pembroke (in front their children), trying to seduce his daughter-in-law, and using increasingly bawdy language in front of his daughters. George's illness has sometimes been identified as porphyria, a metabolic disorder caused by a genetic malfunction that alters the body's chemistry, resulting in the overproduction of toxins affecting the nervous system. However, more recent research questions this diagnosis and attributes his madness to the mental condition, late-onset bipolar disorder with recurrent manic episodes.
This biography was very well researched and contained a ton of information about life during that time period including things such as childbirth and midwifery, education of children including differences between how boys and girls are taught, religion and politics, and domestic and public life. So how does this compare to the Netflix series. Well there is some truth to the series including Charlotte's motherhood of 15 children, but the series is much more romantic than the actual life. George's mental illness is portrayed as something he was plagued with since childhood but in actuality, it didn't affect him until age 50. I would recommend this biography for anyone with an interest in Georgian England but it is a slog to get through — I admit that I did skim some of the later chapters. [image] ...more
This book has been sitting on my shelves for several years waiting to be read. Glad I finally got to it! First of all, this is a time travel novel, onThis book has been sitting on my shelves for several years waiting to be read. Glad I finally got to it! First of all, this is a time travel novel, one of the genres I always find fascinating. It also is a good historical novel dealing with the Black Death in 14th century England.
The book starts out in 2054 Oxford where time travel has been developed to assist historians in their endeavors. Kivrin, a young historian receives permission to travel back to 1320 to study the Middle Ages. But when she arrives there, she falls into a feverish delirium and loses sight of her surroundings making it almost impossible for her to find the way back to the "drop site" for her return to 2054. Meanwhile, in 2054 Oxford, a highly contagious flu epidemic occurs resulting in the "time net" being shut off for fear of a contagion coming from the past. This leaves Kivrin stranded but it turns out she is really in 1348 during the time of the Plague or Black Death! The story is told between what is happening to Kivrin during the plague and what is happening in 2054 during the flu epidemic. The novel tells of an earlier pandemic in the 21st century and the quarantines that now seem necessary again. As the doctors race to find the source of the flu in 2054, Kivrin soon discovers that she is in the wrong year and is faced with the horrors of the Black Death. [image] This book was first published in 1992, over 20 years before the Covid pandemic in 2020, but it is eerily remindful of the worst that can happen. I thought Willis did a very good job of showing the devastation that can be caused by pandemics, especially what happened during the Black Death with little to no survivors in many of the villages in England. Willis also did a good job with character development and plot even though she used the literary device of interference causing the problems encountered by Kivrin. And as others have pointed out, the world of 2054 as portrayed in the novel did not seem futuristic except for the discovery of time travel. Landline phones were still in use in this future causing many problems with communication during the flu epidemic. There were no cell phones or internet in this future — weren't these things coming into play in 1992 when the book was published? But even with this less than futuristic future, I did enjoy this and I'll probably be reading more of Willis....more
Flannery O'Connor (March 25, 1925 – August 3, 1964) was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. She was born and lived in Georgia and Flannery O'Connor (March 25, 1925 – August 3, 1964) was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. She was born and lived in Georgia and often wrote in a sardonic Southern Gothic style, relying heavily, on regional settings and grotesque characters, often in violent situations. Her fiction is usually set in the South and features morally flawed protagonists who frequently interact with characters with disabilities or are disabled, themselves (O'Connor was afflicted by lupus). The issue of race is also prevalent in her writing.
A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories was first published in 1955 and with it, O'Connor is often praised as one of the most original and provocative writers of her generation. The majority of the stories include jarring violent scenes that make the characters undergo a spiritual change. I thought all of these stories were very praiseworthy even though they tended to show the darker side of the human experience.
The title story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" is perhaps O'Connor's most famous story about a family driving to Florida on vacation who end up being slaughtered by a serial killer called "The Misfit." After shooting the grandmother, The Misfit says she "would've been a good woman if it were someone there to shoot her every minute of her life."
Other notable stories include "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" about a woman who marries her deaf-mute daughter off to a drifter in exchange for paying him money and a car; "The Artificial Ni**er" about a man who takes his grandson on a trip from the country to Atlanta and ends up getting lost there in a predominantly black neighborhood; "A Late Encounter with the Enemy" about a 104-year-old veteran of the Civil War who remembers little about it; "Good Country People" about a woman whose daughter is handicapped with only one leg and is taken advantage by a traveling Bible salesman; and "The Displaced Person" about a Polish refugee who is hired to work on a farm through the help of a Catholic Priest. He works hard but is eventually resented based on public opinion resulting in a tragedy.
This was really a great collection of short stories that I would highly recommend. They delve into the darker side of human nature as well as the conditions of life in the South shortly after WWII. The stories tend to show life as it was at the time including the prevalence of bigotry and racism. I will probably be seeking out more by O'Connor. ...more
A BETTER MAN is the fifteenth book in the Gamache series and follows KINGDOM OF THE BLIND which I read a few months ago. I found out that Penny will pA BETTER MAN is the fifteenth book in the Gamache series and follows KINGDOM OF THE BLIND which I read a few months ago. I found out that Penny will publish the nineteenth book, THE GREY WOLF, in October so I thought I better try to catch up a little on one of my favorite series. I have read all the previous books in order (which I would recommend doing given that previous events are discussed in the books) and I now only have a few left to read.
In this one, Gamache returns to the Sûreté du Quebec as the head of the homicide department after his demotion relating to events in the previous novels. However, his protege, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, is currently serving in that position until his pending departure from the Sûreté to take a job in Paris. So technically Gamache is reporting to his once subordinate. As he returns to work, he is bombarded by a doctored video on social media which portends to show Gamache wantonly killing black children. Then there is major spring flooding across Quebec which may wipe out the small town of Three Pines where Gamache is now living. And Gamache is approached by a subordinate who is trying to help a friend find his missing daughter. Meanwhile in Three Pines, Clara, the local artist is being attacked on social media for her latest offerings of a series of miniature artwork that people and critics feel are inferior work for her. The missing daughter turns out to be married to an abusive husband who may have murdered her along with her unborn child. Gamache feels empathy for the father as he can relate to how it must feel to be in his position. So what happened to the missing wife and daughter? Did her abusive husband kill her or did something else happen?
This was another very good entry in the Gamache series by Penny. I especially enjoy when the narrative takes place in the quaint village of Three Pines with the interplay among the eccentric characters living there. This one uses the Three Pines locale extensively so I was pleased. Penny also threw in several twists to the story and I was surprised by what happened to the missing woman. I'll be looking forward to continuing with the series but may hold off on reading the final books so I'll continue to have them to look forward to....more
Westllake's comic Dortmunder novels are among my favorite series of crime/caper novels. Dortmunder is a professional thief who along with his crew tenWestllake's comic Dortmunder novels are among my favorite series of crime/caper novels. Dortmunder is a professional thief who along with his crew tend to foul up most every job they pull. THIEVES' DOZEN is a collection of short stories featuring Dortmunder written by Westlake from 1981 through 2000. The stories originally appeared in various publications including Playboy magazine.
The stories were all very enjoyable and included the usual humor that is always present in the Dortmunder novels. Among the stories Dortmunder tries to steal a race horse valued at over $300,000 with the usual consequences; attempts a bank robbery through a tunnel only to find that it was already being robbed by another crew; on the run from a burglary, Dortmunder slips into a window and blends in by helping the caterer with a Christmas party; and Dortmunder is mistaken for a substitute player as he slips into a poker game with Otto Penzler with a bag of stolen Roman coins in his pocket. I still have several of the Dortmunder novels left to read and I'm definitely looking forward to them....more
This is a collection of 22 classic stories, essays, and poems about baseball. These date from the 1860s up until 1920 and include such authors as RingThis is a collection of 22 classic stories, essays, and poems about baseball. These date from the 1860s up until 1920 and include such authors as Ring Lardner, Damon Runyon, Zane Grey, and P.G. Wodehouse. The collection also includes articles by baseball greats Christy Mathewson and Grover Cleveland Alexander.
This was kind of a mixed bag for me but I did enjoy much of it especially the stories by Ring Lardner, Zane Grey, and Charles Van Loan which included a lot of humor. The story by Lardner, "My Roomy," is about a ball player who can hit the ball out of the park but is lousy at fielding. He also is a very quirky person who runs the bathtub and shaves in the middle of the night along with some awful singing. "His Own Stuff" by Charles Van Loan is about a practical joker who gets his comeuppance. And the Zane Grey story is about a ball player who gets married and spends his honeymoon on the road with the team.
There is also the classic poem "Casey at the Bat" and its sequel that I had never heard of "Casey's Revenge." There are also some good nonfictional pieces including "Why Baseball Has Become Our National Game" by Albert Spaulding and "The Color Line" by Sol White that argues for inclusion of black players in baseball going back to the 1880s. There is also a discussion of jinxes by Christy Mathewson and one of my favorite pieces, "A Whale of a Pastime" by Brig. General Frederick Funston about baseball being played on the ice in the Arctic among a group of whalers. Overall, I would recommend this to any baseball fan....more
A pair of newlyweds, Tricia and Ethan, get stuck in a house that they were possibly interested in buying when a blizzard hits and strands them there oA pair of newlyweds, Tricia and Ethan, get stuck in a house that they were possibly interested in buying when a blizzard hits and strands them there overnight. The house, a huge five-bedroom mansion located way off the beaten path, was formerly owned by a well-to-do psychiatrist, Dr. Adrienne Hale, who also saw her patients there and recorded her sessions with them. Dr. Hale has been missing for four years and is thought by the police to have been murdered by her boyfriend, Luke. But is that what really happened? The narrative of the novel is told by switching between Tricia in the present day and Adrienne before she went missing. Tricia is not too thrilled with buying this remote house and gets bad vibes by what might have happened there. But Ethan is set to make the purchase and likes its location and its beautiful layout. During the night, Tricia looks for a book to read and discovers a hidden room containing the tapes of Dr. Hales sessions with her patients. She can't resist listening and discovers a possible motive for murder.
This was a real page-turner and of course I was totally wrong about what really happened here. There are some twists at the end that I didn't see coming at all. The author was great at leading the reader down a false path and then completely changing what she had planted in the reader's mind. I enjoyed this one a lot and I'll probably be looking for more by McFadden....more
On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles, the actor and director, presented an adaptation of the classic novel War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells on his HalloweOn October 30, 1938, Orson Welles, the actor and director, presented an adaptation of the classic novel War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells on his Halloween episode of the CBS radio series The Mercury Theatre on the Air. The episode is famous for inciting a panic by convincing some members of the listening audience that a Martian invasion was taking place. The broadcast was changed from the original story and set in New Jersey using a "breaking news" style of storytelling where a music program was interrupted by bogus news alerts about a Martian invasion. Because many listeners didn't tune in at the start of the program, they were convinced this was an actual live broadcast and that we were being invaded by Martians!
Max Allan Collins used this as his basis for his novel THE WAR OF THE WORLDS MURDER. This is the sixth in his series of books that use actual historical events which interweave a murder into the story using an historical character involved in the story. I've read two of his other books in this series, THE LUSITANIA MURDERS and THE PEARL HARBOR MURDERS which I enjoyed very much. Collins is excellent at combining a good murder mystery with actual historical events that he spends a lot of time researching.
In War of the Worlds Murder, Collins starts the story with his meeting with Walter Gibson, the author of The Shadow pulp novels from the 1930s and 40s that were the basis for The Shadow radio program that originally featured Orson Welles as The Shadow. Gibson goes on to tell Collins that he was present with Welles during the infamous War of the Worlds broadcast in 1938 and that there was also a murder involved in the story. The book goes on to tell the story of the days before and during the War of the Worlds broadcast. Collins did a great job as usual in his research and tells of the collaboration between Welles and his team at CBS including John Houseman and others. And then he goes on to describe the broadcast and the panic it created in different locales, especially in rural New Jersey where the attack was supposedly taking place. And while this was all going on, Gibson was on the trail of murderer at the studio.
I really enjoyed this one. I first heard about Welles broadcast and the panic it created from reading an article about it in the back of an old War of the Worlds comic book. I am also a fan of pulp novels including The Shadow and I have actually listened to a few of the old radio broadcasts of the show with Orson Welles. [image] I'm also a fan of Welles and his movies. Many consider his Citizen Kane as the best movie of all time. His collaborator, John Houseman went on to star in later life in the movie and TV series, The Paper Chase, another favorite of mine. So overall, this one really hit on a lot of my likes. After reading this, I also found and listened to the original radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds on Youtube. It was good fun and I could see how this could cause a panic if you listened to it without knowing the context. I'll be looking forward to reading more of Collins disaster series....more
Iris Murdoch was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, moraliIris Murdoch was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. In 1987, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to literature. In 2008, The Times ranked Murdoch twelfth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1997 and died in 1999 in Oxford.
I first became interested in Iris Murdoch after seeing the 2001 film Iris which starred Kate Winslet and Judi Dench as Iris. The movie is about her relationship with her husband John Bayley through her early years and their later life, when Murdoch was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. I would highly recommend it. [image]
The Sea, The Sea published in 1978 won the Booker Prize. The novel tells the story of Charles Arrowby, a retired director and actor, who moves to an old house by the sea called Shruff End to write his memoirs. The house is located on a rocky peninsula and includes an old tower but is without electricity or indoor plumbing. Arrowby likes the location by the sea because it allows him solitude and the time to swim nude in the sea (a very dangerous proposition given he has to climb up the rocks after his swims). When he is first there, he thinks he sees a sea monster in the waves, but is it real or can it be attributed to a bad LSD trip he experienced years ago? And then the house may also be haunted—Arrowby sees faces and hears strange noises in the night. He is visited by former friends and lovers but he is obsessed by his childhood sweetheart, Hartley, who makes an unexpected appearance on the scene. Her presence motivates Charles to try to rekindle a romance that died many years ago as he tries to win Hartley back even though she has aged and rejects his pursuits. The novel focuses on Arrowby's egotism and selfishness which he fails to recognize in himself.
This was a rather long novel that I almost gave up on a couple of times. But the story kept pulling me back into it and I was eager to read more as it progressed. The character of Charles Arrowby was not likable; he was a misogynist who treated his past lovers terribly; and he was an egotist who thought only of himself. However, Murdoch's writing was wonderful including her descriptions of the sea and the landscape of the location. The story also brings out a lot of ethical questions and what-ifs. Can one rekindle a love from long ago? Something that I'm sure a lot of older people have thought about. Overall, I did enjoy this and hope to read more of Murdoch in the future....more
This is the third gothic suspense/ghost novel that I have read by Wendy Webb after THE TALE OF HALCYON CRANE and THE VANISHING. I enjoyed both of thesThis is the third gothic suspense/ghost novel that I have read by Wendy Webb after THE TALE OF HALCYON CRANE and THE VANISHING. I enjoyed both of these novels and was hoping for another good ghost story.
THE END OF TEMPERANCE DARE takes place in a retreat called Cliffside Manor located on the shores of Lake Superior. The building was formerly a tuberculosis sanatorium that had been converted to a retreat for artists and writers after TB was no longer a threat. Eleanor Harper becomes the director of the retreat after Penelope Dare decides to retire. But when Eleanor takes over the job, Penelope suddenly commits suicide leaving Eleanor in the midst of a mystery that may put her and the newest group of artists at risk. Ever since she arrived there, she has felt a feeling of dread. She hears coughing in corners, laughter and children's footsteps (even though there are no children there), visions of other people, knocks and noises. And she met an old man who told her that death resides at Cliffside. So what is really going on? Is Cliffside haunted?
I enjoyed this novel and its creepy setting up to a point. But then there were some major reveals and twists at the end that were just a little too much over the top. The story kind of devolved from a ghost story into a possession/horror story. There are some interesting characters in the story including a housekeeper named Harriet that seems to know more about whats happening at the retreat than she wants to reveal. This novel also had a romantic side with Eleanor seeming to fall for the local doctor as well as one of the guest artists. Only a mild recommendation overall....more
This anthology of works by H.G. Wells includes the complete novel The Invisible Man along with 17 of his fantastic short stories. I read Invisible ManThis anthology of works by H.G. Wells includes the complete novel The Invisible Man along with 17 of his fantastic short stories. I read Invisible Man many years ago and I have also seen the movie version of it several times so I decided not to reread it. However, I did read all the other stories and was really pleasantly surprised by them. The stories were not all science fiction but included stories of fantasy as well. There were stories of inventions, biological beasts and monstrosities, travels in other dimensions, and mysteries from space. The stories were all originally published from the 1880s to the early 1900s. Many of them reminded me of pulp fiction from the early 20th century that was published in such pulp magazines as Weird Tales, Amazing Stories, or Argosy. I think some of the pulp authors such as H.P. Lovecraft were probably inspired by Wells stories.
I have read most of Wells' more famous science fiction novels including The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine but had never read any of his short stories. One story included in this volume was "The Crystal Egg" which I had heard about as a precursor to War of the Worlds. This was one of the motivations to read this anthology. The story tells of a shop owner who finds a strange crystal egg that serves as a window into the planet Mars. By looking into the egg using a beam of light, he could see the strange beings on Mars as well as the Martian landscape. And the Martians could also use this to look at Earth and its inhabitants. The story was written the same year in which Wells was serializing The War of the Worlds in Pearson's Magazine. Because of the vaguely similar descriptions of the Martians and their machines, the story is often considered a precursor to The War of the Worlds, as the Martian effort to observe and study humanity remotely might indicate their preparation for an eventual invasion. The story was later reprinted in Amazing Stories magazine. [image] Some of the other stories I enjoyed included these related to biological oddities or monstrosities: "The Strange Orchid" about a rare orchid obtained from beneath a dead explorer who had died of blood loss. When the orchid is planted it puts off a strong perfume and grows tentacles to attack the orchid owner. "The Apple" about a man who possesses "The Apple of the Tree of Knowledge." The apple was obtained from a remote valley in Armenia that was supposedly the site of the Garden of Eden. So what happens if you eat the apple? "The Purple Pileus" about a man who ingests a weird purple toadstool. The mushroom changes his character from a weakling into an unafraid man who takes no guff. So was this a magic mushroom? "Aepyornis Island" about a man looking for eggs of Aepyornis, an extinct flightless bird, passes two years alone on a small island with an Aepyornis that has hatched. So is he safe from the bird? This was very reminiscent of a Dodo Bird. [image] "In The Avu Observatory" about a man who is studying the stars at a remote observatory in Borneo when he is attacked by a large bat-like creature that flies in through the observatory hatchway. "The Sea Raiders" about large octopus-like creatures with tentacles that attack the ships and shoreline of Southeast England.
Other stories: "The Man Who Could Work Miracles" about a man who could make anything happen just by thinking it. He tells a local reverend about this who wants to change the world for the better but because he is running out of time, tells the man to stop the rotation of the earth which of course has unexpected dire results. "The New Accelerator" about a man who develops a drug that increases man's abilities a thousand fold. This includes bodily functions, movement, etc. The result is that by moving so fast, others appear to be stopped. "The Star" about a collision of Neptune and a passing celestial body. The result is a very bright star that is heading towards Earth resulting in very dire consequences. "Filmer" about a man who invents a heavier than air flying machine but is then too cowardly to go up in it.
I really enjoyed this collection and I can definitely see how other writers were inspired by Wells writing. Another author that was probably inspired by Wells was John Wyndham in his novels such as Day of the Triffids where mankind is at peril from an extraterrestrial source. I know Wells wrote many other short stories and at some point I may seek out more of them. ...more
Several years ago, I read the first two books in the Serge Storms series by Tim Dorsey. At the time, I compared the books to Carl Hiaasen on steroids Several years ago, I read the first two books in the Serge Storms series by Tim Dorsey. At the time, I compared the books to Carl Hiaasen on steroids with wacky characters engaging in random acts of mindless and reckless behavior including murder and mayhem across the State of Florida. The protagonist of the series is Serge Storms—a serial killer who suffers from mental disorders, but loves Florida history and trivia. He is accompanied by his drug-addled sidekick, Coleman.
I happened to find COCONUT COWBOY, the 19th novel in the series, in a local thrift shop and couldn't resist picking it up to see how Serge is doing after 18 previous adventures. Well Serge has mellowed a little from the first books but not much. In this one he decides to hit the road on a chopper to reenact his favorite movie, Easy Rider. So off he goes with Coleman in a sidecar to rediscover the American Dream. This also included following the trail of a young Tom Petty who grew up in Florida. And of course along the way he encounters some baddies who he takes care of in his usual ways. These include a road rager who follows a young mother and child to their home and calls her a bitch because she pulled out in front of him; the owner of a fetish website that shows women stomping on various animals for kicks; and a rude Ferrari owner who thinks he owns a fast food place by stealing from the tip jar. The novel also focused on a very corrupt small town called Wobbly where the mayor and his crew fleece anyone going through in a speed trap, allow housing projects on unstable ground, pump water to sell to neighboring towns resulting in sink holes, and make deals with the mob to launder drug money through the local bank (which doesn't really happen). The mayor's crew were for the most part very inept and included a pair of brothers nicknamed Slow and Slower. Well Serge doesn't make it to Wobbly until late in the novel but when he does, just desserts are served.
This novel was as usual way over the top. Maybe a little too much. There were some definite laugh out loud moments in the novel as well as the usual violence. And Serge's bottomless pit of trivial knowledge was often entertaining and educational. I have a couple more in this series on my TBR shelves but not sure when I'll get to them. Overall, a mild recommendation for this one....more
I was really drawn into this very intense thriller. Maybe thriller isn't the right word. . . more of a psychological novel of suspense. Anyway it's thI was really drawn into this very intense thriller. Maybe thriller isn't the right word. . . more of a psychological novel of suspense. Anyway it's the story of Alicia, a famous painter, who lives with her husband, Gabriel, in a good area of London. It seems her life is perfect. But then one night, Alicia is found next to the body of Gabriel who has been shot in the face five times. Alicia was found with slit wrists as she had tried to commit suicide. She then goes silent and will not speak. She is charged with killing her husband and then committed to a mental facility. Several years later, Theo Faber, a psychotherapist, transfers to the facility to try to get Alicia to speak and find out what really happened on that fateful night. So did Alicia kill her husband? If so, what was the motivation? Or did someone else do it?
The novel is narrated primarily by Theo as he delves into Alicia's case. But Theo also has some baggage and had previously been treated by a psychiatrist. Part of the novel is also told with excerpts from Alicia's journal that she kept prior to the death of her husband. Will Alicia speak again? This one really kept me guessing with a lot of false leads and then a totally surprise ending. I thought Michaelides developed the story and characters very well and overall, I really enjoyed it....more
Consider the train of events that led to his passing: an avian, possessing the power of flight, finds himself without predators on a luxury island in Consider the train of events that led to his passing: an avian, possessing the power of flight, finds himself without predators on a luxury island in the Indian Ocean. He no longer needs to fly so he doesn't bother. If I could fly I'd keep on flying, whether I needed to or not. Laziness is not attractive even in a handsome creature and the dodo was no oil painting—there are oil paintings to prove it. —Paul Spooner, Museum of the Mind, 1992
This novel is a satire of Hollywood, revolving around the extinct dodo bird. The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The last widely accepted sighting of a dodo was in 1662. Its extinction was not immediately noticed, and some considered the bird to be a myth.
The story is told from three different perspectives. The first is by Henry Cadwallader, an English doctor who is accompanying his daughter, Dorothy, on a trip to Hollywood where she is supposed to meet up with a Hollywood agent. Then there is Rick McCartney who Henry meets on the plane to L.A. Rick is a self-proclaimed movie auteur of the future who is trying to get the backing to make a movie set in 17th century England about a man who may own the last dodo on earth. And finally there is William Draper who lives in the Alsatia district of 17th century London and who wants to buy and mate a dodo that is on display there by a hawker above a very seedy tavern.
I actually enjoyed this satirical novel of Hollywood. The characters were interesting and Nicholson is able to expertly weave the three storylines together. At one point, Rick meets with a past life therapist who is able to regress Rick back to 17th century London where he is put in the midst of the squalor trying find historical content about the dodo. But the main focus of the novel was on Hollywood and its excesses including the porn side of movies and how people can be drawn into it. But I think I most enjoyed the chapters involving William Draper and the London of the 17th century. Poor William wanted to repopulate the dodo but the best he could do was stuff the bird after its death but the methods available then were less than long-lasting. Overall, I thought this book was a lot of fun. I have read a few other books by Nicholson including THE FOOD CHAIN and HUNTERS AND GATHERERS and for the most part, I would recommend them....more
I really enjoy Daphne du Maurier's writing. I have read a few of her novels including the classic REBECCA that I consider one of the great novels of aI really enjoy Daphne du Maurier's writing. I have read a few of her novels including the classic REBECCA that I consider one of the great novels of all time. This is the first collection of her short stories that I have read and I was not disappointed!
This volume includes six stories:
The Birds This is of course the story that is the basis for the Alfred Hitchcock movie. I like the movie but this story is much more ominous and full of foreboding. While the movie takes place in Bodega Bay, California, the story is set in Cornwall, England and the onslaught of the Birds is more widespread to include England, Europe and possibly the whole world. I thought overall this was the best story in the collection. The story and its mood reminded me somewhat of the novels of John Wyndham such as DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS with an unknown element threatening the world. A very terrifying and disturbing story.
Monte Verita This is the longest story in the volume and probably the strangest. It's about a young couple and their friend who enjoy mountain climbing. The couple goes to Monte Verita in an undisclosed European location and discovers an ancient monastery at the top of the mountain with a cult of people living a very serene life. The young woman gets drawn into the cult and cannot leave while her husband desperately tries to get her back. But she is content there. The story encompasses many years until something unexplained happens to the people in the monastery. I liked this story but is was very strange and reminded me of stories by H.P. Lovecraft and others that were published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales.
The Apple Tree This one is about a man who loses his wife after many years of marriage. But the loss was really more of a relief for him as he saw his wife as a burden or irritant. But is she really gone? Why does the sickly apple tree in his garden remind him of her? This was a somewhat whimsical tale with a good lesson to be learned at the end.
The Little Photographer This ones about a beautiful and lonely Marquise on vacation with her two children who has an affair with a local photographer. But when the photographer doesn't want to give her up, the Marquise takes drastic steps to protect herself. But is she safe enough?
Kiss Me Again, Stranger A young auto mechanic falls for a pretty usher at a movie theater. He wants her as a steady girl friend but turns out she is not what she seems. This is a very cautionary tale about being careful who you fall for.
The Old Man This one took me completely by surprise! About an old man and his family who live by a lake. But what happened to the man's children? The ending of this one really blew me away. After reading the last paragraph in the story, I had to go back and reread the story which changed my whole perspective.
Overall, I really enjoyed this collection of stories and will be looking forward to reading more du Maurier....more
Back in the 1970s I used to enjoy reading Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine as well as his anthologies that came out in paperback and hardcover. ManBack in the 1970s I used to enjoy reading Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine as well as his anthologies that came out in paperback and hardcover. Many of the anthologies included reprints from his magazine but also included other classic suspense stories. This volume is actually the second part of an anthology that Hitchcock put out in hardcover in 1965: STORIES NOT FOR THE NERVOUS. The first part was published in paperback under the same name in 1966.
I thought this was overall a very good collection of murder and suspense tales that usually included a surprising twist or two at the end. I enjoyed almost all of these even though they were definitely dated. For example, Something Short of Murder was about a woman who had an addiction to betting on the horses. She would make 5 dollar bets and had run up a debt to the mob of a whopping 25 dollars that she couldn't repay. But of course she did find a way. . . This story was originally published in 1957 and things were a little cheaper then!
Included at the end of this collection was Louise Fletcher's novella Sorry Wrong Number. I remember reading this back in high school as part of a literature class. It's one of those stories that seemed to stick in my memory. It's about an invalid woman who overhears a murder plot when her phone wires get crossed with another line. Of course it turns out that the plot is intended for her murder and paid for by her husband who had married her for her money. The story goes on using a set time for the murder which makes it all the more suspenseful as time is running out. . . This was originally a play that aired in 1943 on the Suspense radio program. It was also made into a successful noir movie in 1948 with Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster. [image]...more
If you were alive in January 1977, you probably were glued to your TV set for eight consecutive nights watching the miniseries Roots with Lavar BurtonIf you were alive in January 1977, you probably were glued to your TV set for eight consecutive nights watching the miniseries Roots with Lavar Burton starring as a young Kunta Kinte, who was kidnapped from his home in The Gambia and sold into slavery. Kunta was also supposedly the ancestor of Alex Haley who wrote ROOTS: THE SAGA OF AN AMERICAN FAMILY which was the basis for the TV series. I know I and my family were engrossed by the miniseries and ever since then I have been meaning to read the book. Well after almost 50 years, I finally got around to it! I think I had been putting it off because of its length at over 700 pages and because I pretty much knew the story based on the TV show. But I'm glad I finally read it. The book really provides a lot of depth missing from the series. [image] Of course this tells the story of Kunta Kinte, the young 17-year-old Mandinka taken from The Gambia and sold into slavery. The book goes into a lot of detail of Kunta's life in the Gambia before he was captured and how he and his tribe's people lived subsisting mostly on farming. The climate was sometimes harsh resulting in drought and a lack of food. Then the next section of the book after Kunta is taken described some of the most brutal and harsh conditions I have ever encountered. Kunta and other captives are stripped naked and placed in the brig of a ship, naked and chained. Conditions are nightmarish with the captives vomiting and relieving themselves as they lay chained with no cleanup of the vomit and feces. The novel goes on to tell of Kunta's descendants down through the years to Alex Haley.
I thought that for the most part this was very compelling reading. It took me a little longer than usual to read this book given its length and because I was distracted by some personal issues at home but I was always glad to get back to it. I did find some of the dialogue a little over the top. Haley used black slave vernacular throughout the story which sometimes sounded almost like portrayals of blacks in early motion pictures. Use of the N-word is also prevalent throughout. Here's a short example: "All white folks scairt us n*****s sometime gwine organize an' rise up together— But n*****s ain't gwine never do nothin' together... "
So how much of the book is true? "Haley called his novel "faction" and acknowledged that most of the dialogue and incidents were fictional. But, he claimed to have traced his family lineage back to Kunta Kinte, a West African taken from the village of Juffure in what is now The Gambia. Haley also suggested his portrayal of life and figures among the slaves and masters in Virginia and North Carolina were based on facts which he had confirmed through historical documents." However, "some historians and genealogists suggested Haley did not rely on factual evidence as closely as he represented. They said that there are serious errors with Haley's family history and historical descriptions of the period preceding the Civil War. . .Historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. was a friend of Haley's. Years after Haley's death, Gates acknowledged his own doubts about the author's claims: 'Most of us feel it's highly unlikely that Alex found the village whence his ancestors sprang. Roots is a work of the imagination rather than strict historical scholarship. It was an important event because it captured everyone's imagination.'"
And then there were also allegations of plagiarism: "In spring 1977, Haley was sued for plagiarism in separate lawsuits by Harold Courlander and Margaret Walker Alexander. Courlander, an anthropologist, claimed that Roots was copied from his novel The African (1967). Walker claimed Haley had plagiarized from her Civil War-era novel Jubilee (1966). Legal proceedings in each case were concluded late in 1978. Courlander's suit was settled out of court for $650,000 (equivalent to $3 million in 2023) and an acknowledgment from Haley that certain passages within Roots were copied from The African. The court dismissed Walker's case."
OK, well overall it appears there are some definite problems with the accuracy of Haley's history of his family. But it is still a very engrossing and compelling read and provides a very heart-wrenching story of slavery in America. I would still recommend this to anyone interested in this ugly part of our history....more
This was rather a convoluted gothic novel about a young woman, Georgina Ferrars, who wakes up in a private asylum in Cornwall, England. She has no memThis was rather a convoluted gothic novel about a young woman, Georgina Ferrars, who wakes up in a private asylum in Cornwall, England. She has no memory of her past few weeks and the asylum's doctor, Maynard Straker, tells her that she committed herself to the asylum under the name Lucy Ashton. She then suffered a seizure resulting in her loss of memory. Georgina insists that her name is Georgina Ferrars and provides the doctor with the name and location of her uncle who she lives with in London. But when the doctor sends a telegram to the uncle, the reply states that Georgina is there living with him and that the patient must be an imposter. So what is really happening here? Why is Georgina being held at the asylum under a false name? The novel goes on to tell Georgina's backstory and history through her own memories and a series of letters and entries from her journal.
A few years ago, I read Harwood's novel THE GHOST WRITER and found it to be an enjoyable gothic horror story. However, I was a little disappointed in THE ASYLUM. I thought the plot was very convoluted and quite unbelievable. The protagonist, Georgina, was also easily duped and could have easily avoided what happened to her. I know this was written in the vein of a classic Victorian gothic novel and included many of the plot points of such novels including gloomy locations, women in peril, coincidental occurrences stemming from the past, and mistaken identities. The novel also included some illicit love including a lesbian relationship between two of the protagonists. And then the ending of the novel was very melodramatic with a villain straight out of an old pulp story from the 1920s or 30s. Only a very mild recommendation overall....more
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