The Stand - Stephen King

I’m a little surprised at myself when I say this, but I don’t think I really have anything in particular to say about The Stand. I’m surprised because I found it to be a good book (I would definitely recommend it to others), and it was engrossing (once I picked it up I wouldn’t put it down again for hours). But, other than that, I have nothing much to say about it. I guess those two things should be enough, really, but what I mean is nothing really hit home that much, not the characters, or the ending, or the supernatural elements. They were all just all right, good, nothing to get overly excited about. In any case, I don’t think as highly of it as I do of Wizard and Glass. But the review must get written, so here it is.

The book is divided into three books. In the first book, King provides an awesome story and the best part of the entire book, in my opinion. A superflu epidemic (oftentimes compared to the swine flu, and let me tell you how enjoyable it was for the hypochondriac in me to read about a massive deadly flu right in the middle of our very own swine flu panic) has been accidentally released from a U.S. research facility, wiping out something like 99.9% of the world’s population. King’s narrative throughout this whole first part is phenomenal: suspenseful, tragic, scary (terrifying even), believable (to me, at any rate), and even funny sometimes, as he describes the outbreak, the spread, the reactions, society’s downfall, the panic, basically the meat of any apocalyptic story. The main characters are setup and you start to really care about their different storylines and personalities.

The second part of the book introduces the supernatural elements of the story, where the remaining survivors begin to have dreams in which they are either drawn to Mother Abigail (the archetypal good force) or to Randall Flagg (the archetypal devil). The rest of the story plays out as a battle between good and evil (the spiritual, religious kinds, with God, hell, demons, etc.) as the remaining survivors either build up a democracy along with Mother Abigail or succumb to Flagg’s domination. The last book recounts the final stand and the resolution of this good vs. evil battle.

The supernatural elements, well they’re fine…possibly a bit silly if you stop to think about it but this is King after all. Supernatural stuff is part of the deal when you read his books, silly or not. But I thought the pace of the story gets a big bogged down, things get dragged out a bit more, characters get lost in the shuffle of too many characters, and so on. I’m not saying parts 2 and 3 are bad. They’re still engrossing and interesting, but the high point of the book was part 1 and everything else leaves you with a feeling of “well I guess I gotta keep going here just to find out what happens,” and sometimes it even leaves you with a feeling of "oh come on, the Hand of God, really, THE God? phhht." Parts 2 and 3 also take on a Lord of the Rings type feeling, which King has acknowledged is intentional. I didn’t realize it was intentional until I read the wiki site to refresh for this review, but I did notice a Lord of the Rings quality to it as I read it. I couldn’t describe it to you but if you’ve read Lord of the Rings, and if you read The Stand afterwards, you’d probably feel it too.

One other thing, which I’ve talked about before, is how I both love and hate King’s foreshadowing. For example, he’ll write something like “And that’s the last time they saw each other.” I hate it because I don’t want to know that’s the last time they see each other, I want to hang on to some hope that maybe later on they will see each other even if they don’t. At the same time, I love it because now I no longer have to wonder if they will see each other, I can just wait to find out why they won’t get to see each other. That makes no sense, I suppose, but in my own tortured way, I quite enjoy when those passages pop up.

At the end of it, I’m left in neutral territory because it was an outstanding opening with a tepid ending. But I would still recommend.

Don't Nobody Do Anything Crazy

I hadn’t been home to Honduras since 2007, which is a really long time for me. I hadn’t been able to go because of graduation and starting a job and then, in 2009, some jackass got it into his head that he would violate the Honduran Constitution repeatedly and create a huge media frenzy when he re-entered Honduras and barricaded himself in the Brazilian embassy. He was still in there when I was deciding to go. He’s been in there since October of 2009 and it’s anybody’s guess when he’s getting out…most likely in handcuffs.

Anyway, that stressed me out whenever I thought of going home for Christmas because how absolutely wonderful would it be for me to go home and then have that same jackass make a huge scene, which would then lead to airports shutting down or the U.S. closing borders to Hondurans? But I finally decided to go, especially since things had been very calm for the last month. The first few days I was expecting stuff to go down at any moment, but after a while you start to realize that the situation in Honduras is nothing more than a sociopath sitting in an Embassy while life is going on outside much as it always has. After a while, you forget he’s even there. You can drive by the Embassy where he’s locked in and see the police barricade and soldiers standing guard (how I regret not taking a picture), but that’s it. I’m glad to say the crazy stayed inside and the trip went very well. And he’s still in there…

Besides stressing out over fears of political insubordination and riots, I also had a chance to reflect on some cultural aspects of Honduras that I’ve (naturally) always taken for granted, but which now jump out at me and make me pause…here’s a list of things you may notice when traveling to Honduras that might strike you as…odd…

1. Most of the year, days are sunny to partly cloudy, temperatures range from 74 to 86 degrees F, humidity is a pleasant 55-65%, and nights get as cold as 60 degrees F….it is ridiculous how awesome the weather is every day.

Perfect weather every day...no wonder I complain about New England winters and summers

2. Nearly every meal, regardless of what it is, will also feature rice and corn tortillas…even pasta dishes.

3. Residential houses can be turned into anything: restaurants, bars, salons, boutiques, grocery stores, offices, you name it.

4. Pulperias are ubiquitous. These are your poor-man’s versions of a CVS on every corner. Home owners will often set aside a piece of their house (usually a small brick house adjacent to the main house) and set it up as a mini-convenience store. You can get food, beer, soda, cigarettes, bathroom supplies, medicine, and so on. Damn, I should have taken a picture of the one right next to my house…(not mine)

5. Any social gathering is a good excuse to throw up a piñata; this is not reserved just for birthdays, as I learned when I went with my parents to my dad’s office holiday barbecue.

Yep, that's a snowman piñata for a holiday office party :)

6. This one is odd only because it’s so eerily similar to the U.S.: there are coffee shops on every street block, some even across the street from each other.

7. The only other store more popular than coffee shops are pharmacies. There is one on every other street block.

8. Fireworks may be illegal, but there has never been a Christmas or New Year’s Eve where it didn’t sound like a war was going on in the entire city for 10 min before and after midnight on those days.

9. Hondurans will go out and drink like it’s the weekend even on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays.

10. I’ve talked before about every house having a 6 to 10 ft wall completely surrounding it (some of the wealthier mansions can get even higher), but I didn’t remember that most houses will ALSO put up bars on every window and door. Who said fire hazard?

These houses don't completely show what I'm saying because the house can also be completely removed from the wall...but, as you can see, bars everywhere

11. Any security guard, police officer, or soldier that you see will be carrying a shotgun. I think it’s a shotgun anyway, it looks like one of the weapons you can pick up in Left 4 Dead. This includes bouncers outside some bars and clubs (though those only carry a gun, not a shotgun), guards outside banks (any bank, all banks, every single one, will have armed guards at all times), vehicle patrols, and I know I’ve seen more but I can’t remember where else. Basically, don’t be shocked if you walk to a gas station or a store and someone is standing around with a bulletproof vest, a Security hat, and a shotgun.

12. During Christmas, anywhere you go, any restaurant, store, or house, will have at least three nativity scenes on display…at least.

That’s all I can remember for now. I had a longer list but I knew I would forget half of it by the time I got back. Despite all I know about myself and my horrible memory, I can never get into the habit of writing things down constantly :(

The Portrait of a Lady - Henry James

First, let me just get this out of the way: I am so, so, SO, SOOOOO glad I’m finally done with this book. Second, now that I’ve fully prepared you for a less than praising review, I urge you to not judge this book based on my poor review. People much smarter than me have praised this book very strongly for a very long time. Third, this is a long book…a very LONG book and I was never good at putting up with those. Fourth, possibly I’m depicting myself as educationally-challenged (if that’s even a term, which just cements the point further, I guess). And, finally, on to the book review!

It’s not that I don’t understand why this book is generally regarded as James’ best novel. Really, I get it, the themes are ripe for discussion: the juxtaposition of American ideals (namely, freedom and individuality) with European standards (sophistication and social convention); the embodiment of these conflicting ideas in the story’s heroine, Isabel Archer; Isabel’s struggles as she is faced with betrayal, deceit, responsibility, and emotional pain. I even learned a new literary technique (you know, for whenever I decide to become a writer…): ellipses. Not, not the “…” that I already use far too frequently. I mean the style of skipping over main events, rather than narrating them, and only referring to them in side conversations after they have happened. It works surprisingly well.

No, I’m afraid my problems with the book are much simpler than disagreeing with the plot, the themes, or the ideology. I was simply bored. The pace of the book induces zombie-reading (you know, reading over a paragraph before realizing you’ve no idea what you just read). And (granted James is a key figure in psychological realism) I think it was too psychological, and a lot of it went over my head. Spark notes helped a lot. In other news, I really am becoming a dunce :(

My attempt at spicing up my posts with some visuals...I'll give Isabel some credit, though...she didn't come off as that stuck up

And, lastly, I disliked Isabel. But I think that only shows that James is excellent at character development because I hated this woman as if I knew her in real life. She thinks about herself obsessively and generally has the highest opinion of herself, regarding her strong beliefs in individuality, freedom, and her moral strength. This is mostly the attitude of the first half of the book and it really does get very annoying. But character development is the major element of this portrait (I had to get that in there) and by the time we reach the second half of the novel, Isabel has undergone some… well, some development. She isn’t radically different from who she was at first, but the events she has undergone have created a conflict within herself, between who she once was and what she has become (between freedom and social convention).

I don’t want to give plot points away, but she really is incredibly stubborn and stupid at times, and even she comes to realize this by the end. So, again, it’s not that the story or the character are badly written, it’s more that James does such a good job of creating this person that I was yelling at her (in my head, of course). And, speaking of the end, this book ends with one of the biggest cliff-hangers of all time. Ok, maybe not that drastic, but it does end very abruptly and indefinitely, meaning you can’t be completely certain what Isabel has decided to do at the end. Critics generally agree on what she did end up doing, but from the text it really can be interpreted in a couple of different ways. It’s not that big a deal, you do still get a sense of completion, but be warned in case you don’t like those kinds of endings. In any case, the point of the ending is to leave the reader with a sour taste.

I probably didn’t give this book a completely fair chance. I mean, I did when I started it, I was expecting it to be a really good book, but it just lost me somewhere along the way, in between Isabel’s self-reflection and the story’s snail pace. I highly doubted whether I would finish it at one point because it was an exercise in overcoming boredom. But, after finishing it (and reading analytical overviews), I see what James did there.

20 down, 32 to go.

The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton

I can already tell I won’t be able to do this book justice. I’ll just get this out of the way now: I loved this book. Rock will laugh at my “sentimental female nature, the typical silly-girl stereotype that sighs at the doomed love affair and cries during the film adaptation.” Well, in fact, I did. I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it. Daniel Day Lewis is partly to blame, damn him and his awesome acting (though the hair…was a tad ridiculous). I didn’t cry when I finished the book, but watching the movie afterwards really put that last nail in, as the saying goes. The screenplay adaption went well beyond anything I expected. I remember liking the movie when I saw it years ago. I didn’t expect such a faithful adaptation of the novel.

It would be hard to improve on the book anyway, or to mess up the carefully-aligned series of events that take place. The novel won Edith Wharton the 1921 Pulitzer Prize, making her the first woman to receive one, which is a pretty cool feat right there. The novel is probably best known (at least, that’s what I knew about it before I picked it up) for its accurate portrayal of New York City’s upper class during the late 1800s. Wharton herself grew up in that society. In the novel, she doesn’t scorn or condemn the society, but she does question the moral righteousness and stifling social codes that the society depicted in her novel adheres to.

The central character is Newland Archer, who finds himself questioning his society’s norms – norms which he strictly upheld at the start of the novel – in light of his perfect but dull marriage, his too-perfect wife, and his wife’s modern and unconventional cousin. You see the triangle, I’m sure. My favorite aspect of the book was the complexity of Newland’s and May’s personalities. Newland’s views change quite radically (radically for the context, anyway), from strictly upholding the established social norms and seeking the perfect marriage with the perfect New York socialite, to questioning everything his society believes and the motivations of all the people he thought he knew so well. The catalyst for this is, of course, May’s cousin, the Countess Olenska, a woman who is the complete opposite of every cookie-cutter debutante he’s ever met. Then there’s May, who Newland generally attributes as a product of New York society, with little opinions or motivations of her own beyond those which have been instilled in her. In my opinion, one of the saddest parts of the book is that Newland never really understood his wife, while becoming painfully clear at the end that it was May who always understood him.

And yet Wharton doesn’t portray Newland as a complete jerk, but as a person in the middle of a personal crisis. That, I think, is why the book works so well, instead of coming off as just a book about someone’s affair. The entire environment also makes the book enjoyable. Wharton’s careful descriptions, both of characters and settings, rich with detail and meaning just make every paragraph fun to read, even if she’s merely discussing the emotions evoked in Newland by a lady’s forgotten parasol or the preparations for the annual society ball. I’m keeping a copy of this book in my phone, as I would definitely pick it up again to read a chapter here or there.

21 down, 31 to go.

The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

If you didn’t already guess, I pretty much suck at maintaining websites and at writing and at doing stuff worth writing about. Well I could talk about my WoW exploits, but I want to preserve some semblance of not being a complete junkie…though I suspect I’ve already failed at that, as well. Anyway, the one thing I have going for this site is my book reviews, because now that the mind-drain that was college is long over, I can go back to reading for fun like I used to in “the old days.” And while I’m no New York Times Book Reviewer (or even a mildly popular blogger) I continue to write up my reviews so that I can one day look over my posts and say “ah yes, I recall reading that book and according to this post written by me, found it extremely enjoyable…not sure why I don’t remember a thing that happens in it.” Why this happened just the other day when I was reading my blog titles and saw a post on Slaughterhouse-Five and I said “what the-…which book is-…oh right, right, I did read that book…huh.” But I digress. On to the book review.

It’s funny to me how I’ve always known of Sherlock Holmes. And who hasn’t heard “Elementary, my dear Watson,” in some long forgotten context, which actually never really existed? Yet I’ve never read a mystery novel written by Sir Conan Doyle, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen any of the TV movies or mini-series. Probably the closest I ever got to see an adaptation of a Sherlock Holmes story was that Saved by the Bell episode where the gang winds up in some cooky old house playing a 90’s version of those mystery dinner role-playing games (those crazy kids). By the by, googling “mystery dinner role-playing” will lead to quite a few groups out there that actually stage these things for you…there’s just a whole other world out there, sometimes, is what I’m saying (and, no, it’s not pr0n). So I was actually looking forward to picking up The Hound of the Baskervilles and discovering for myself what this Holmes guy was all about. Many thanks to Rock who donated Sir Conan Doyle’s complete collection to my measly library.

Reminds me of the upcoming Worgen class for WoW....dammit, there I go again!

The first thing that jumped out, which is probably not news to anyone, is that the story is told from Watson’s point of view, and not at all from Holmes’. In fact, Holmes was absent for a good part of the story (maybe a little over half the story) so that overall we experience the entire story as Watson does. Watson is clever and inquisitive but not a master-mind like Holmes, and so, as the reader’s proxy, he is as perplexed and surprised by the conundrums of the story as the reader is. As clever as Watson is, his explanations (like ours) tend to be wrong, something which (in my opinion) amuses Holmes to no end. To be perfectly honest, I would have to say that Holmes is an arrogant, teasing, righteous know-it-all. However, he does actually know it all, so you can’t fault the guy for looking down on everyone else.

The story itself sounded like the makings of a decent X-Files episode, in which an older gentleman is found dead in his own backyard from what appears to be a heart attack, but the locals are convinced that the man was attacked by a supernatural creature in the form of a hound with blazing eyes and jaws (though I’m betting there are many X-Files episodes with similar premises…there’s only so much supernatural stuff to go around). The gentleman is Sir Charles Baskerville, the wealthy land-owner in the area (obviously), who dies leaving only one heir, Sir Henry Baskerville. Dr. Mortimer, a friend of the family, hires Holmes to solve the mystery and protect Sir Henry, who is believed to be in danger. According to Dr. Mortimer, the Baskervilles have been cursed for centuries by the Hound of the Baskervilles, who kills the Baskerville heirs as revenge for the evil doings of Sir Hugo Baskerville, described as an evil and sadistic man who enjoyed kidnapping women and later sending his hounds after them when they got away.

Knowing nothing about the story, I was not expecting any supernatural elements, which really make the story creepier. I was expecting very formal writing where nothing too unpleasant happens and murders are committed quietly and neatly. In fact, the story can get gory and violent without being over-the-top or cheesy. The story-telling did lose a bit of steam towards the last quarter of the book, as the mystery is resolved well before the end, but I think I’ve gotten too used to mystery stories that rely on the last 20 pages to bring all the events to the climax (Harry Potter, I’m looking at you). Overall, though, I highly enjoyed it and am glad I have finally read a Sherlock Holmes mystery. For those wondering, this was another card in my deck of 52 Great Books to Read.

20 down, 32 to go.

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

Out of my deck of cards. Unlike most, if not all, other 13-yr old girls on this planet, I did not pick up Jane Eyre during junior high (I’m not saying I strayed from Victorian romances, but that I picked up Wuthering Heights instead). I believe if I had read this book back then, I would have swooned over the romance much more than I did (after all, isn’t it the fantasy of every school girl to learn that that cute boy she has a huge crush on, the one that seems so unattainable, is secretly having a huge crush on her?). However, as a school girl harboring crushes of her own, the rest of Jane Eyre would have probably gone right over my head. As such, I’m glad I didn’t pick this up until now, since I was much more interested in Jane’s strengths as a character, completely independent of the romance storyline with Edward “Stephanie Meyer only wishes she could write Byronic heroes this good” Rochester.

Like an orphan out of a Dickens’s story (or like any heroine in a Mexican soap opera), Jane goes through some pretty tough times before finding happiness. Orphaned as a little girl, she is taken in by her uncaring aunt, then sent to a strict religious boarding school (the kind where it’s always cold and everyone is always hungry and the Man always finds a way to suck the joy out of life), and then confronted with the death of her only friend. Eventually she becomes a teacher and gets a job as a governess with Rochester as her employer. I guess I let the cat out of the bag by saying there is a romance between the two (no surprise there, though, right?) but, for a tragic heroine, things are never that easy. That’s just volume one of this book.

Anyway, there’s more to it of course, but the point is Jane survives and rises above a number of trials that would have broken down most people. I like the description given in the back of the card, and I don’t see the need of saying it any better: “Jane Eyre lives in a world of cruelty and injustice, yet nothing breaks her spirit. Readers today are still inspired by Jane’s rebellion and passion – traits that were considered merely daring in a society that had little use for a single woman.”

Now I know next to nothing about Victorian society, but I can imagine how some of Jane’s actions would have been pretty scandalous, or against what was expected. Above all else, and despite how cliché it sounds, she remains true to herself, and is committed to maintaining her sense of integrity and morality despite whatever hell may come after. Now there’s a role model that is worth reading about (not to sound preachy, but this book and this character beat the hell out of most of the young adult garbage that is out there these days).

My only complaint is that the narrative itself is pretty boring. I don’t mean the writing style is bad, just that it’s extremely proper and too straightforward (if that makes any sense…). Bronte also tends to go on and on at times, which can get a bit drowsy (I did possibly end up merely skimming some pages; I definitely skimmed over most of the whole St. John argument). Knowing that there’s no reason for comparing Emily and Charlotte other than because they are sisters, I will just say this: Wuthering Heights has more originality and drama, but Jane Eyre has more normal, relatable, and likable characters.

19 down, 33 to go.

The Subtle Knife - Phillip Pullman

Book two of Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy (audiobook format). I'm not sure what to say about this book...I think I liked it, but it took me nearly a month to finish (listening to, not reading) because I couldn't make myself stop listening to Broken River Prophet and put this on instead. That is partly due to BRP being awesome, but it was also due to Subtle Knife not being very engaging. Yes, that might be a good description, not engaging. I can think of things I liked: I loved Will (a lot of that might have to do with how good the actor's voice is); really liked Mrs. Coulter who is the kind of villain you love to hate, though there wasn't enough of her in this book; inter-dimensional travel is a plus to any fantasy story IMO (check The Riftwar Saga); the Specters turn every adult in one particular world into essentially zombies (zombies always being another plus in any genre); you get a relatively decent cliffhanger at the end, enough to make me read the first chapter of the last book right then; and, kinda unrelated, it was very well acted.

But, overall, it was a bit of a sleeper. There wasn't enough intrigue, not much mystery, and nothing totally unexpected happened. Will and Lyra meet up in an alternate universe from their own, where they realize they are both on related quests and must help each other (or, I think Lyra is told by her golden compass that she has to help Will, but same deal). After that, they run into some good people, some bad people, lose some things, acquire others, travel a lot, escape the "authorities," realize they are destined for greatness if they can only overcome their personal doubts and fears (Will), don't get to realize that they are destined for greatness if they can overcome the people that are trying to kill them (Lyra, but hang tight, your time will come in book 3), and get help from others who must make sure these two succeed above all else.

I sound mean, I know. To be fair, it's not a terrible setup, and there are a lot of different bits and pieces going on at once that will lead up to something. But, it sounds kinda rehashed, the story-telling is too serious, and maybe I'm going deaf, but I'm not really sure what this is all leading up to. At this point, I think the main conflict is that there's a side that wants to bring down God and another side that doesn't agree (yes, God). Why bring him down? Well, as far as I can make it out, Pullman is turning the tables: instead of a God that represents good (the way we know it), God in this story is the bad guy. Long ago, when the angels rebelled in Heaven and lost, things started to go bad. Now a similar war is coming, but this time "the right side must win."

Now I'm not saying that this plot is objectionable. It's actually pretty interesting, the idea that you would need to overturn a Supreme authority that you consider your God because, in actuality, he's a jerk. It worked for Stargate. But Pullman doesn't give us much in the way of back-story. Presumably that's book three.

That’s my take, anyway. At this point, I’m not jumping up and down with excitement to start book three (I’m certainly not using two Audible credits to get it, rather than the customary one, so I’ll have to read the hardcopy at some point). I’m hoping that the twist in book three is that Lord Asriel (the guy leading the rebellion against God) ends up making things way worse and everyone that supported him is left standing with egg on their face. Then again, if that does happen, it won’t be much of a twist. And if it doesn’t happen, then we just end up with a story about a guy beating God with a subtle knife and a golden compass (I guess an amber spyglass will feature somehow, as well).