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1. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman | |
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Book Description Reviews (420)
Here, Gaiman takes the real life "London Underground" system of subways and tube stations and adds a twist, a magical world beyond the underground, London Below where pockets of lost time and places are filled with the forgotten people of the world. London Below is a world of Baronies and Fiefdoms, of angels, beasts and killers. Richard Mayhew, a securities analyst gets drawn into this secret, invisible world when he helps what appears to be an injured homeless woman. Because of his contact with her and some of the people from her world, he slowly disappears from his own reality. It seems that most people aboveground cannot deal with the reality of London Below so they conveniently can't see them or anything they do. A classic quest follows with an interesting cast of characters. Richard and The Lady Door, together with a reprobate Marquis and a bodyguard head off through danger to find answers. You enter the world of rat speakers, sewer dwellers and secret societies. It's all very interesting and funny as well as giving the reader the occasional scare. Below is a world where nothing is what it seems and danger lurks everywhere and yet, its inhabitants seem to derive pleasure from their lives despite that. As with Gods, Gaiman weaves his mythical world into the tapestry of the "reality" of every day life and there are times when you aren't sure if what is happening is just a manifestation of Richard's insanity or not. It's a nice tension. This book will please the fantasy reader as well as those who love a good mystery. It's a worthy read.
Gaiman obviously had a lot of fun with names of tube stops and prominent places in London and with the possibilities for parallels between London Below and London Above. I loved the sense of wonder and the sense of humor in Neverwhere, though both were balanced by the sense of darkness in the story. Quintessential Gaiman. A wonderful and imaginative book.
This novel was much better than I anticipated. Full of action and a great storyline, Neverwhere will stretch your imagination to its fullest. Great characters round out this superb story of love, vengeance, magic and escapism. ... Read more |
2. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide by DOUGLAS ADAMS | |
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Amazon.com This omnibus edition begins with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which Arthur Dent is introduced to the galaxy at large when he is rescued by an alien friend seconds before Earth's destruction. Then in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Arthur and his new friends travel to the end of time and discover the true reason for Earth's existence.In Life, the Universe, and Everything, the gang goes on a mission to save the entire universe. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish recounts how Arthur finds true love and "God's Final Message to His Creation." Finally, Mostly Harmless is the story of Arthur's continuing search for home, in which he instead encounters his estranged daughter, who is on her own quest.There's also a bonus short story, "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe," more of a vignette than a full story, which wraps up this completist's package of the Don't Panic chronicles.As the series progresses, its wackier elements diminish, but the satire of human life and foibles is ever present. --Brooks Peck Reviews (257)
But Ford & Arthur escape from Earth, and set out on a journey of a lifetime, spanning 5 novels so far, where time and space are equally trivial barriers that can be crossed at a leap. Along the way, Arthur finds out a lot he didnt know, and lots more than he ever wanted to know, from hitching rides on passing space ships and teaching their computers to make tea, to the real history of his planet and the knowledge that his is the third most intelligent species on earth(and not, as was widely believed, the second) He also grapples with scientific concepts way beyond his grasp like the Infinite Improbability drive, Somebody Else's Problem field, discontinuities along the probability axis, not to mention the End of the Universe(the universe's most spectacular & profitable catering venture) Douglas Adams serves up one wacky idea after another, a universe wildly beyond our imagination, yet very familiar in its core values of crass commercialization and tasteless marketing hype. The reader is hurled through a series of increasingly improbable events, all held together by equally crazy characters and brilliant, witty(and ofcourse crazy) dialogs. So if I'm raving so much about the book, why do I give it only 4 stars? Because, like all artists, Adams has his highs & his lows, both of which are present in this collection. I would wholeheartedly recommend the first two novels - Hitchikers guide & Restaurant at the end of the universe. But coming after them, Life, the Universe & Everything is somewhat of a letdown, and So Long & Thanks for all the Fish even more so. Mostly Harmless is better, but still doesnt meet the standards set by the first two. All in all, this book is a collectors item for Adams fans - and I dont regret buying it. But for those just starting out on Adams, I'd recommend they try individual copies of the first two novels.
'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' is the name of both the most popular portable comprehensive galactic encyclopedia, and the book that begins Douglas Adams hilarious space saga. It neatly sets up the tale by giving away the answer to the meaning of life! Don't panic, it's not all it's cracked up to be, because they don't have the question! We meet a great cast of eccentric characters, get to fly around on the 'Heart of Gold' (powered by the ludicrously simplistic Improbability Drive), and discover that planet Earth will be destroyed to make way for an interstellar roadway. 'The Restaurant at the End of the Universe' builds on the logic of the first book, and tweaks it enough to keep things really interesting. Milliways (the aforementioned restaurant) is a great comic creation, walking a grossly absurd existential tightrope to become a fascinating setpiece. There's a great moment about how Zaphod Beeblebrox's great-grandfather is named 'Zaphod the fourth' while he's 'Zaphod the first' ("An accident involving a contraceptive and a time machine"). The whole gang narrowly escapes flying into the sun, and are saved by a piece of specious bureaucracy. The whole mess ends with Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent landing on a familiar planet, and discover that evolution ain't all it's cracked up to be. The strength of the first two books is that when Adams goes off on these incredible leaps in logic and flights of fancy (two of my favourite modes of transportation) they always seem to follow some kind of narrative thrust. In 'Life, the Universe, and Everything', they seem like non-sequiters, or at most just interesting tangents. I enjoyed the concept of the poem that was never written due to a reckless time travel expedition, and the guy who was injected with too much truth serum and now told The Truth. But they seemed more ornamental than consequential to me. Maybe I just didn't understand the plethora of cricket references (although I did get a kick out of them). Furthermore, the installment was hurt by a serious deficiency in Zaphod Beeblebrox. A grand comeback is made in 'So Long and Thanks for all the Fish'. This manages to be a really touching love story, interlaced with grand questions about the nature of existence and what happened to all the dolphins. Arthur Dent and Fenchurch (don't call her Fenny) slowly but surely realize that the universe has a higher purpose for them, and they have no choice but to fall in love. And the scene describing their first consummation of that love is actually quite original, and very beautiful. That all being said, the story still manages to be a strong link in the overall chain of events, periodically keeping track of Ford Prefect until it becomes necessary for him to swoop in near the end (deux es machinas-style) and save the cosmic day. Adams also manages to include several more comic illogicalities (probably not a word, but whose rules am I following here?), the standout being the description of Wonko the Sane's inside-out house. A great little interlude, that. 'Young Zaphod Plays it Safe' is a confusing little mess, that I hope gains some meaning in hindsight, once the entire book is complete (**I've just finished reading 'Mostly Harmless', and I'm still in the dark over this one. Oh well.) 'Mostly Harmless' is a little less frenetic than its predecessors are, and a little more assured in its narrative structure. Its story is one of those that begins with three different plots, and as time goes on the plots slowly begin to converge into one final conclusion (kind of like an episode of Seinfeld, now that I think about it). Arthur and Ford get into some seriously mixed up situations, but they are perfectly explained through some more of that demented Douglas Adams logic. Ford actually jumps to his death, miraculously escapes, and then jumps again. And he has a perfectly good reason for doing it both times. My one complaint is that the book doesn't give each plot equal attention, so when you haven't read about one of the characters in a while, you tend to forget what they were doing when last you met them. On a positive note, the whole enterprise actually validates the mess that was 'Life, the Universe, and Everything'. The series can be read in two ways: as comic fluff (albeit high comic fluff), or as a satire on the nature of existence. A third way, and probably the most effective, would be to read it as both. Or neither. Just read it!
The basic premise of the novels is that Ford Prefect is a hitchhiker and writer for "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." He hitches rides all around space, writes up his experiences and sends them in to his editors. As the novel opens up, it's roughly 1980 in England, and he's been stuck on Earth for 15 years because Earth (as we know) has not really made contact with other planets and so he can't find a ride out of there (here). In that time, he has made friends with Arthur Dent, one of the absolutely most endearing characters I've ever come across in literature (even more than a Hobbit). When we first meet Dent, he thinks his greatest battle for the day will be to lie in front of the bulldozers which want to knock down his house. Little does he know that Earth is also about to be knocked over (obliterated really) for a hyper-space by-pass. Prefect, however, catches on and rescues Dent at the very last minute...Whether or not this was a good thing is up to the reader to decide. While Adams shows his literal genius for comedic timing and absurd humor within the bounds of Earth at the beginning, once he is freed of all constraints his writing style blazes with unique talent. Every page is so filled with parody, dry wit, perfect timing, and mind-boggling fictitious science that it leaves you laughing aloud and reeling at the same time. I realize that his humor is not for everyone...but for anyone who enjoys satire and for anyone who is frustrated with the insanity of life, this book brings the proverbial comic relief. From what I've read from hard-core Douglas Adams fans (and there seem to be quite a few of those), books #1, 2, and 4 in this series are Adam's purest works. #3 and 5 are a bit heavier in tone. #6 (Young Zaphod Plays It Safe) is simply baffling. For those who don't like science fiction, I would say that that shouldn't really be a problem here. While Adams does invent some very funny alien races (like the race with 50 arms that was the only one to invent deodorant before the wheel), his focus clearly isn't imagining how different life can be. Everything in his novels is a satire of humanity - from the bureaucracy to the androids to the laws of physics. Of all the wonderful things I could dwell on in Adam's work, the last thing I would like to mention is that of all action/adventure stories I have ever read, I think Adams has created a few of the most realistic heroes. Dent, Prefect, and Zaphod - though somewhat resourceful - aren't particularly strong, bold, courageous, intelligent or smooth. They bungle any number of situations, and only Trillian has a real moment of brilliance. And yet, no matter how much they might want to simply run and save their own hides, a sense of duty to man/life nags at their conscience and keeps bringing them to help save somebody. Ultimately, I think this balances out so much of Adams ironic humor about how stupid life can be. Yes, life is absurd at so many levels, but Adams never abandons our Western Civilization ideals of the value of life and our duty to help each other. Oh, and the dialogue is priceless!
There are those who hate "Monty Python" because it's "stupid" or "ridiculous." And there are those who hate the humor "A Midsummer Night's Dream" or "Pride and Prejudice," as its wit is deep and veiled. Now try and envision an amalgam of these two approaches to comedy. Witty lines, and wordplays, combined with floating penguins and Vogon poetry. You have to be pretty quick to understand some of Adams' jokes regarding quantum mechanics, yet silly enough to laugh at the manic depressive robot, and the apathetic mention of the destruction of Earth. Douglas Adams is simply the best at combining wit with irony and absurdity. And this is simply the best book in which to find his genius.
Cleverer than Pratchett and nowhere near as predictable, Adams seems to start at the beginning and then just bimble along through the narrative, but previous issues reemerge to show that the first three books, at least, were all part of a masterplan. ... Read more |
3. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by DOUGLAS ADAMS | |
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Reviews (39)
If you are looking for logical connections between the books, you may be disappointed as these stories seem to develop on their own, with explanations of unexpected twists and turns provided as the book proceeds. Along the way though, Adam's does provide some interesting food for thought about our place in the universe, and about the nature of the universe(s) themselves. His classic thinking-outside-of-the-square style shows when he describes the difficulties faced when dealing with the grammar of time travel. The tone of the last book 'Mostly Harmless' was a bit too serious for my liking, especially after some of the sidesplittingly funny lines in the earlier books. He really did bring the book down to Earth on the last one. All in all, not a bad effort, though as a Christian I had to constantly remind myself that his attacks on religion were his views alone. Even though it's a comedy, this book made me realize the enormity of the universe and our own insignificance in it. Read this book, if you like out of this world comedy.
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4. A Stroke of Midnight : A Novel (Meredith Gentry Novels (Hardcover)) by LAURELL K. HAMILTON | |
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5. The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower, Book 7) by Stephen King | |
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Amazon.com After a journey through seven books and over 20 years, King's Constant Readers finally have the conclusion they've been both eagerly awaiting and silently dreading. The tension in the Dark Tower series has built steadily from the beginning and, like in the best of King's novels, explodes into a violent, heart-tugging climax as Roland and his ka-tet finally near their goal. The body count in The Dark Tower is high. The gunslingers come out shooting and face a host of enemies, including low men, mutants, vampires, Roland's hideous quasi-offspring Mordred, and the fearsome Crimson King himself. King pushes the gross-out factor at times--Roland's lesson on tanning (no, not sun tanning) is brutal--but the magic of the series remains strong and readers will feel the pull of the Tower as strongly as ever as the story draws to a close. During this sentimental journey, King ties up loose ends left hanging from the 15 non-series novels and stories that are deeply entwined in the fabric of Mid-World through characters like Randall Flagg (The Stand and others) or Father Callahan (Salem's Lot). When it finally arrives, the long awaited conclusion will leave King's myriad fans satisfied but wishing there were still more to come. In King's memoir On Writing, he tells of an old woman who wrote him after reading the early books in the Dark Tower series. She was dying, she said, and didn't expect to see the end of Roland's quest. Could King tell her? Does he reach the Tower? Does he save it? Sadly, King said he did not know himself, that the story was creating itself as it went along. Wherever that woman is now (the clearing at the end of the path, perhaps?), let's hope she has a copy of The Dark Tower. Surely she would agree it's been worth the wait. --Benjamin Reese Visit the Dark Tower store Authors on Stephen King The Path to the Dark Tower History of an Alternate Universe Hail to the King |
6. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by DOUGLAS ADAMS | |
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Amazon.com Reviews (458)
I had planned on reading only the first in the series before embarking on Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver jouney. But now, I plan to read the remaining four in this series first. Anyway, if you like dry humor and brilliant characters, such as a gloomy robot that makes Eyorre's disposition seem as sunny as Richard Simmons', you will LOVE this book. ... Read more |
7. The Hallowed Hunt : A Novel by Lois McMaster Bujold | |
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8. Fahrenheit 451 by RAY BRADBURY | |
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Book Description Reviews (969)
Clarisse makes Guy doubt his motives and he soon becomes daring enough to break the law and read a book. He finds he loves litereature, he keeps steals books from the houses he's burning and reads them at home. He finally goes as far as to skip work one day, and his Fire Department Captain, Captain Beatty, shows up at his home. He tells Montag that it's normal for a Fireman to go through such doubts at a stage in his life. Then proceeds to go through a long monologue as to the history of banning books. According to him, special interest groups objected to books that criticized, belittled, or undermined their causes. For this reason, books became more and more neutral in order to avoid offending anyone. However, this still wasn't enough. So society agreed to outlaw books. Montag is not convinced and begins to plot with a professor he had previously met named Faber. They plan on planting books in the houses of Firemen as a way of discrediting the profession and destroying the governments unit for censorship. However, thing go when the alarm sounds at the firestation and Montag goes to the last house he'll burn in is career, his house. Unlike its fellow dystopia-themed predecessor, 1984, much of Fahrenheit 451's depiction of modern society came true almost prophetically. Although not outlawed, literature now holds a narrow audience. And the brainwashing televisions Ray Bradbury depicts aren't far off of today's one-eyed-boxes. Ray Bradbury's adjectival descriptions in this book are strong, even at times; on occasion, one could even say they became monotonous. However, the books never crawls forward for to long; the progress, although not quick, still moves fast enough to keep the reader's attention. Overall a strong novel censorship. Although not perfectI would recommend Fahrenheit 451 to any reader interested in either mere science-fiction, or one actually interested in a political criticism of censorship. Both will find their time well spent, the latter will definitely get more out of it, as for the previous. . .
This book is more than a seminal work of dystopian literature, however; it is also one of the most elegant meditations on the value of literature in modern society that I have ever read. In envisioning a society that destroys books, Bradbury has to explain what is lost as a result. His answer, as we see in Faber's expositions during Montag's visit, is the exact thing which makes this book worth reading - the insights we gain into our own world and our own lives through reading. Integral to this process, of course, is the fact that people must read them and put what they take from them to good use for a society to thrive; as Bradbury notes, the first step towards the world of his novel was taken when people stopped reading. It is this message which makes "Fahrenheit 451" essential reading, especially in a society where entertainment today bears an ever-closer resemblance to the noise-dominated media depicted in Bradbury's nightmarish future.
Anyway, I said the DIALOGUE was wooden. The characters were flat. ;) ... Read more |
9. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Hitchhiker's Trilogy (Paperback)) by DOUGLAS ADAMS | |
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I wouldn't start with this book. Adams has written it in such a way that the background of the first book (as I mentioned above) is really good to know. I would have given this 4 3/4 stars if possible, as the ending isn't quite as tidy as the first book; but rounding forces us up to the top mark. This book is another fun, quick read, which I think is the way Adams intended it.
The Book is fantastic! Totally hilarious. A welcome sequel to My two complaints on this media presentation are that it is Considering that Douglas was pretty-much a techno-hound, I think All-in-all, the book is as good as, if not better than,
Save your money. If you enjoyed the first volume, be satisfied. That's as good as it gets. ... Read more |
10. Shadow of the Giant (Ender) by Orson Scott Card | |
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11. A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4) by George R. R. Martin | |
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12. The Hard Goodbye (Sin City, Book 1: Second Edition) by Frank Miller | |
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Amazon.com Reviews (65)
For me Frank Miller began the road that ends in "Sin City" with "Daredevil" #164, which retold the hero's origin.There is a series of panels in which Daredevil is chasing down the Fixer, the man who arranged the fight that Battling Murdock refused to throw.In each frame Daredevil gets closer to his quarry and cutting across the panels is a line representing the Fixer's heart beat, which goes from blind panic to full cardiac arrest before flatlining.It was at that point that I knew Miller was starting to think of what he could do with art in a comic book.After his work on "Daredevil" there was "Ronin" and "The Dark Knight Returns," and eventually Miller gets to Marv. There is no doubt that Marv is the walking path of destruction that dominates this narrative.He is extremely violent, deeply disturbed, and whatever medication he is taking is just not doing the job.Still, he is a sympathetic figure because pretty much everybody he is maiming and killing are the real scum of the earth and he is on a mission to avenge the death of Goldie, the beautiful blonde who gave him a toss in the hay.He falls asleep in bed with her, having one of those moments of true happiness that never bodes well, and wakes up with her dead and the cops on their way.Marv is being set up, but that is incidental in his mind to the fact somebody killed Goldie, so somebody has to pay along with everybody else who stands in his way.The grand irony here is Marv and his interior monologues are the voice of sanity by the time he finds the killer. The characters and the dialogue are easy to characterize as Mickey Spillane types on steroids.Then there is Miller's artwork as he explores what can done with just black and white on a page.The result is wildly experimental and sometimes you can a sense of how rough Miller's ideas are by the time he finishes a page.The first page of the story is more black than white, with Goldie's lips, the outline of her hair, the white skin exposed by the strapless gown and gloves etched out in seductive folds sets the tone for the artwork.The second page is the opposite with more white than black and offers a more conventional view of Marv and Goldie, and already you like the first page better.The third page offers a synthesis of the first two and it is like Miller is laying out the new ground rules.There are figures reduced to silhouettes except for hair or teeth (or bandages), and others reduced to white images against a field of black.Then we get to Marv standing in the rain in Chapter 8 and looking at the statue of Cardinal Roarke, at which point Miller is trying something completely different from the rest of the book. I have no doubt that if Miller was to do "The Hard Goodbye" today that there would be significant changes in the artwork that would provide a refinement of the raw energy displayed here.There are times when the justification for the artwork seems to clearly be that it is different from the pages Miller has just drawn as opposed to be the best way of illustrating that part of the narrative.But this is the first story in an ongoing series, so allowances can be made if Miller really did decide to do a page a certainly way for no other reason than he had not done one that way yet.After all, it is not like he was coming up with 200 different pages of artwork and by the time you get to Chapter 8, which I think is artistically far and away the best of the entire graphic novel, it is equally clear Miller knows exactly what he is doing and all of the pieces are falling into place.The joy of watching the art evolve in this story makes up for the rough patches. These stories were originally published in issues #51-62 of the Dark Horse comic book series "Dark Horses Presents" and in the "Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special."This second edition has come out with the rest of the extant "Sin City" collection in term to be gobbled up by fans of the movie version and those who come from the theater to the graphic novel will probably be surprised how faithful Robert Rodriguez was to Frank Miller's story and vision.Then again, that was the whole point of doing the film the way it was done.
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13. Knife of Dreams (Wheel of Time, Book 11) by Robert Jordan | |
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14. Life, the Universe and Everything (Hitchhiker's Trilogy (Paperback)) by DOUGLAS ADAMS | |
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our price: $6.75 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0345391829 Catlog: Book (1995-09-27) Publisher: Ballantine Books Sales Rank: 3202 Average Customer Review: ![]() US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
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I would have to say I like this book for the plot twists. Also I like how it flowed with the other books nicely unlike some, trilogies if you will, done have a lot to do with each other just the characters. You find out more about the white robots and cricket.... This book, its great... sorry but I believe it is. It doesn't follow the typical style of book writing most people are used too. But I loved the couch (you'll see why if you read the book), also that poor rabbit... so sad. This and many other interesting twist's and turns await you in this book. ... Read more |
15. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by DOUGLAS ADAMS | |
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our price: $7.50 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0345391837 Catlog: Book (1999-03-29) Publisher: Ballantine Books Sales Rank: 3534 Average Customer Review: ![]() US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
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This book strikes me as having a very similar tone to Adams' Dirk Gently novels--of which I am a huge fan. While there is every bit as much hilarious caper going on in this book as there was in the previous three, we get the added bonus of some great character development, a few of the most poignant moments in the entire series, and Marvin's moving farewell to life, the universe and everything. We also discover God's final message to his creation. Woven throughout all the other stuff of this story is a tale of Arthur falling in love. I was surprised by Adams' ability to write a great love story. Rarely have I encountered one as powerful in any form of popular fiction (the only other that deserved to stand with it is Stephen King's "Wizard and Glass"--but that's apples and tank treads). Now that I've managed to blather ineffectively about this great book...just take my word. Get it. It is more than worth it.
Arthur Dent is back on Earth and pretty confused as to exactly how there is an Earth to be back on. Throughout this novel we learn that all the dolphins are gone (which is old news and no longer newsworthy), and we meet a Rain God, find out what God's Final Message to Creation is, revisit Marvin the robot, and find out that Arthur finds love with a woman named Fenchurch. That's a whole lot to fit into one book. On top of that, we have levitation, a small house that walled in the entire ocean, Ford Prefect, and the world's stupidest dog. All of this is handled with the offbeat humor that we expect from The Hitchhiker's Trilogy. This novel, for a change, focuses on Arthur Dent and takes place almost entirely on Earth. In this way, it is different from the Universe hopping we got in the first three novels. In both quality and content, this is a worthy addition to Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Trilogy.
The basic idea of "So Long, and Thanks..." is that Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent both suddenly realize that earth still appears to exist - even though last they knew it was to be demolished for a hyper-space bypass. Neither understands, but both hitch-hike their way back there (er, here) to check it out. While Prefect gets hung up along the way nabbing free meals, fighting aliens, and setting up inane pranks, Dent makes it back to England fairly quickly. As he walks towards his home, which he hasn't been to in roughly 8 years and a bizillion miles, he hears the phone ringing and so rushes into his house to get it. Just as he picks up the receiver, it stops ringing. And so begins his adventures back on his own planet. From there, you roughly stay with Dent as he settles back in on eart, falls in love, and reconciles the past 30 years of his life. He meets Wonko the Sane, who really does seem quite sane, and learns what happened to all the dolphins. He finishes this installment with a journey to see God's final message to his creation. It probably took guts for Adams to come up with something that's supposed to be God's final message, but he pulls it off quite well. Overall, I would say that Adam's story-telling nature seems to be so erratic, so creative, so outside the normal bounds that you get transported to another dimension in reading his work. Even though most of this story takes place on earth, you begin to see physics, dolphins and junk mail in a whole new light. You feel witty just catching on to his allusions and subtle writing quirks. For instance, If you are looking for a good laugh and/or a good escape that essentially deals with the questions of your own world, this book would be a good fit.
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16. Slaughterhouse-Five by KURT VONNEGUT | |
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Amazon.com Don't let the ease of reading fool you--Vonnegut's isn't a conventional, or simple, novel. He writes, "There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sick, and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters..." Slaughterhouse-Five (taken from the name of the building where the POWs were held) is not only Vonnegut's most powerful book, it is as important as any written since 1945. Like Catch- 22, it fashions the author's experiences in the Second World War into an eloquent and deeply funny plea against butchery in the service of authority. Slaughterhouse-Five boasts the sameimagination, humanity, and gleeful appreciation of the absurd found in Vonnegut's other works, but the book's basis in rock-hard, tragic fact gives it a unique poignancy--and humor. Reviews (448)
It is also about the Allied fire bombings of Dresden which killed more people than the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. (And so it goes.) Kurt Vonnegut begins as though writing a memoir and advises us that "All of this happened, more or less..." Of course it did not, and yet, as with all real fiction, it is psychologically true. His protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, an unlikely hero, somewhat in the manner of unlikely heroes to come like Forest Gump and the hero of Jerzy Kosinski's Being There, transcends time and space as he bumbles along. This is a comédie noire--a "black comedy"--not to be confused with "film noir," a cinematic genre in which the bad guys may win or at least they are made sympathetic. In comédie noire the events are horrific but the style is light-hearted. What the genres have in common is a non-heroic protagonist. This is also a totally original work written in a most relaxing style that fuses the elements of science fiction with realism. It is easy to read (which is one of the reasons it can be found on the high school curriculum in our public schools). It is sharply satirical, lampooning not only our moral superiority, our egocentricity, but our limited understanding of time and space. And of course it is an anti-war novel in the tradition of All Quiet on the Western Front and Johnny Got His Gun. Vonnegut's view of time in this novel is like the stratification of an upcropping of rock: time past and time present are there for us to see, but also there is time future. Billy Pilgrim learns from the Tralfamadorians (who kidnapped him in 1967) that we are actually timeless beings who experience what we call the past, present and future again and again. And so Billy goes back to the war and forward to his marriage, and to Tralfamadore again and again. He learns that the Tralfamadorians see the stars not as bright spots of light but as "rarefied, luminous spaghetti" and human beings as "great millepedes with babies' legs at one end and old people's legs at the other." So time is not a river, nor is it a snake with its tail in its mouth. It is omnipresent, yet some things occur before and some after, but always they occur again. And so it goes. What I admire most about this most admirable novel is how easily and naturally Vonnegut controls the narrative and how effortlessly seems its construction. It is almost as if Vonnegut sat down one day and let his thoughts wander, and when he was through, here is this novel. In a sense, Vonnegut invented a new novelistic genre, combining fantasy with realism, touched by fictionalized memoir, penned in a comedic mode as horror is overtaken by a kind of fatalistic yet humorous view of life. Note here the appearance of Kilgore Trout, Vonnegut's alter-ego, the science fiction writer who is said to have invented Tralfamadore. Bottom line: read this without preconceptions and read it without regard to the usual constraints. Just let it flow and accept it for what it is, a juxtaposition of several genres, a tale of fiction, that--as fiction should--transcends time and space.
On the surface, 'Slaughterhouse-Five' deals with the trials and tribulations of And in a larger sense Mr. Vonnegut asks us, who can make sense of a world where Truly a masterpiece of 20th-century literature. Should be required reading for |
17. The Dark Tower VI : Song of Susannah (Dark Tower (Paperback)) by Stephen King | |
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Book Description The next-to-last novel in Stephen King's seven-volume magnum opus, Song of Susannah is a fascinating key to the unfolding mystery of the Dark Tower. To give birth to her "chap," demon-mother Mia has usurped the body of Susannah Dean and used the power of Black Thirteen to transport to New York City in the summer of 1999. The city is strange to Susannah...and terrifying to the "daughter of none" who shares her body and mind. Saving the Tower depends not only on rescuing Susannah but also on securing the vacant lot Calvin Tower owns before he loses it to the Sombra Corporation. Enlisting the aid of Manni senders, the remaining ka-tet climbs to the Doorway Cave...and discovers that magic has its own mind. It falls to the boy, the billy bumbler, and the fallen priest to find Susannah-Mia, who in a struggle to cope -- with each other and with an alien environment -- "go todash" to Castle Discordia on the border of End-World. In that forsaken place, Mia reveals her origins, her purpose, and her fierce desire to mother whatever creature the two of them have carried to term. Eddie and Roland, meanwhile, tumble into western Maine in the summer of 1977, a world that should be idyllic but isn't. For one thing, it is real, and the bullets are flying. For another, it is inhabited by the author of a novel called Salem's Lot, a writer who turns out to be as shocked by them as they are by him. Reviews (194)
Of course, as a novel on its own, "Song of Susannah" seems more like just an appetizer to that bad boy that some Tower fans have been waiting over two decades for, Volume 7 of the series, "The Dark Tower". It is incredibly fast-paced (a welcome return to the hectic action of "Drawing of the Three" and "The Waste Lands"), and it manages to get across a hell of a lot of necessary info, in a bit over 400 pages. All that, plus even more character development and some nasty surprises. For one, the business with the chap and its parentage? Threw me for a loop. It is true that the style of these last two novels seems to differ a bit from the first four. It's hard to describe, more a feeling than anything else, but it feels like some kind of magic has been lost. Mr. King said in his Amazon interview (short but kinda interesting) that he felt the need to finish the series, but it seems to me he could have waited just a bit longer. With the other novels, there was like a little hibernation period in between each one. It always felt like a long wait between stories, but I can't say I was ever disappointed when the novels DID come. Now, it almost feels like Mr. King jumped the gun on his "muse", or whatever you want to call it... the latest novels are very well-written in a workmanlike sort of way, but that true EPIC feeling, prevalent in the first 4 books, only makes a half-hearted appearance. One surefire thing about "Song of Susannah"? It will you make wish the summer was only a few days long so you can get right to September, the release month for DT7 (!!!). P.S. If you're an impatient reader like me and you want to look for any possible clues as to how to the series might end (of course I'm not guaranteeing anything), you might try looking out for a copy of "Childe Roland To The Dark Tower Came", which I recently read the whole way through for the first time. As I've read through the series again in anticipation of the final book, I've noticed a load of parallels to the poem that I had never picked up on before reading Browning's work. If you can get past the poetic language and Victorian English (I had a tough time at first), it's really beautiful, with an aptly bittersweet ending.
Song of Susannah contains more action and fast-paced material than any of the previous DT books, even Drawing of the Three, but at the same time it seems to move in slow-mo, and for good reason: This book takes place primarily in one day, and King goes into tremendous detail on the sequence of events leading up to the end of this epic. Would we have it any other way? I got the feeling while reading this book (and accurately so, I have little doubt) that it is simply the first chapter of the very last Dark Tower book. That is to say, the last two books were originally written at pretty much the same time, as one, and King later separated them into two, for reasons of his own (probably for marketing and profit reasons, sure, but it also makes one hell of a cliffhanger!). The most recent example I can recall of this having been done was with the last two Matrix films (please forgive the reference). I scoffed at first when King brought himself into the story, and regarded it as a plot-thinner, rather than just the opposite. However, I feel that this must be a vital part of the entire series, that is essential to reach the conclusion King is going for, and has been going for all along, otherwise why would he dare?? I wouldn't say King is modest about his talents as a writer, really, but I don't think he's a fool either. I applaud his courage to venture into such an unusual realm, and sincerely hope he makes it worth our while and patience. There is a lot in this book that King answers ("What's going on inside Susannah?" being the main issue) and leaves unanswered (read the book for yourself to witness its monster ending!). I have found some of the turns he's made very curious, but not enough to decide whether they were or weren't good ideas. Like I said before, I think this book is simply a necessary prologue to the last book, and shouldn't be judged as a novel in itself (i.e. Don't expect to be satisfied!). Right now I am going on faith in his imagination, just as I have through this entire series, and enjoying the ride. As they say, it ain't over 'til it's over. So, for your father's sake, wait until the man finishes the story!
I've been reading DT since the beginning, and for me this was the best of the series. The most disappointing aspect of it is seeing so many negative responses. This probably wouldn't be the case if King wasn't in the novel. I wish that others could enjoy it as much as I did. The book has *extreme* suspense that builds throughout. It leaves you at a climax (somewhat like Waste Lands - but not quite THAT much of cliffhanger). Fortunately I won't have to wait long for VII. Mentioning Waste Lands reminds me of the controversial ending of that one. So many people made similar comments about it (how it trashed the series) then and now seem to view it as 'the high point. ... Read more |
18. That Yellow Bastard (Sin City, Book 4: Second Edition) | |
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19. A Dame to Kill For (Sin City, Book 2: Second Edition) by Frank Miller | |
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20. The Big Fat Kill (Sin City, Book 3: Second Edition) | |
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