Title of Book: The Dead Zone
Author: Stephen King
Pages: 402
Grade: C+
Buyability: 4/10
Status: Owned, but gave away in a book drive
Review: Ahhh another book for pop lit down, another day. The thing about Stephen King books, and many of the same genre, is they fail to really challenge the reader other than to try and retain certain clues and hints as to what might happen in the future of the plot. Why are we being introduced to a lightning rod salesman? Why do we see a blue and yellow filter in a vision? What is the significance of the main character's interest in meeting politicians?
Well for the most part, the big hints were pretty easy to pick up on in this wide-sprawling tale of a man who has a 'gift' for predicting the future when he touches someone. The gift remains dormant for most of his life until a near-fatal car crash puts him into a coma for four and a half years. When he wakes up he finds most of his old life - and his old self - has wasted away, except for this newfound gift that continually astounds people, but more importantly freaks them out.
I guess my beef with the book was how much of it felt like filler and fluff. Even the more exciting parts of the book didn't reallllly contribute to the so-called climax of the story. I guess in reflection the story is a lot about checks and balances - ironic since a good deal of it deals with politics. An eye for an eye and all that..the big twist kind of falls in line with other elements of the plot but I can't say it was a BIG twist like say, in Secret Window. The characters fell flat, the descriptions were tideous to get through (and were often skipped), and good portions of the book failed to ignite tension, while others forced it.
I know this is classic Stephen King and I'm sure for the time it was quite a remarkable, exciting book...but other pop lit books I have read, like Peyton place or Valley of the dolls, have really inspired me as a writer and a reader...but King's book just didn't. It felt flat and pulpy. Sorry dude.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Book #23: Valley of the Dolls
Title of Book: Valley of the Dolls
Author: Jacqueline Susann
Pages: 440-ish?
Grade: A
Buyability: 9/10
Status: Bought, owned & lent out to virtually everyone I know
Review: Another book for pop lit and probably my favourite to date, although I did enjoy Peyton Place this was just so much more crushing! Basically it follows the rise to fame for 3 young women in New York, from about age 20 to 40 and all the trials that befall them along the way. The book I think, is a satire on fame and feminism, given it gives the 3 girls a taste of pure joy but repeatedly crashes it down by punishing the girls with what they value (or are valued for) most...looks, personality, determination/wealth. The very things that get the girls to the top are the same things taht drag them to the 'valley of the dolls' - dolls being uppers and downers that play a significant role in the story.
I won't say too much about the plot, other than it has a lot of repetition...but for interesting reasons. The first time these repetitive storylines are introduced, you feel a ton of sympathy for the female characters. The second time, perhaps moreso, but it also shows how the cycle of fame is quite fickle and just that - a cycle. A neverending one.
What I liked (and simultaneously hated) about this book the best was the ending. There is no easy exit for these women from the lives they've created for themselves. I also loved how much the book shed light on celebrity - many of the patterns and commentary in this book is some of the same stories I've heard today! It really got me thinking about the celebrity world a lot more. Although the book isn't particularly...forceful...in its suspense, the very idea of how much bigger or how much worse or how much better can it be is what makes you keep on turning the pages.
Overall this is a great book - but the A- grade comes from the fact some of it is kind of dippy and fluffy and really unnecessary. The book is quite staggeringly long for its genre, but despite its pop lit/fluff motif, it also has some hard hitting lessons and commentary about women's power. If you want to borrow it, get in line, I'm shoving it down the throats of all my friends....the power of fame = deadly!
Author: Jacqueline Susann
Pages: 440-ish?
Grade: A
Buyability: 9/10
Status: Bought, owned & lent out to virtually everyone I know
Review: Another book for pop lit and probably my favourite to date, although I did enjoy Peyton Place this was just so much more crushing! Basically it follows the rise to fame for 3 young women in New York, from about age 20 to 40 and all the trials that befall them along the way. The book I think, is a satire on fame and feminism, given it gives the 3 girls a taste of pure joy but repeatedly crashes it down by punishing the girls with what they value (or are valued for) most...looks, personality, determination/wealth. The very things that get the girls to the top are the same things taht drag them to the 'valley of the dolls' - dolls being uppers and downers that play a significant role in the story.
I won't say too much about the plot, other than it has a lot of repetition...but for interesting reasons. The first time these repetitive storylines are introduced, you feel a ton of sympathy for the female characters. The second time, perhaps moreso, but it also shows how the cycle of fame is quite fickle and just that - a cycle. A neverending one.
What I liked (and simultaneously hated) about this book the best was the ending. There is no easy exit for these women from the lives they've created for themselves. I also loved how much the book shed light on celebrity - many of the patterns and commentary in this book is some of the same stories I've heard today! It really got me thinking about the celebrity world a lot more. Although the book isn't particularly...forceful...in its suspense, the very idea of how much bigger or how much worse or how much better can it be is what makes you keep on turning the pages.
Overall this is a great book - but the A- grade comes from the fact some of it is kind of dippy and fluffy and really unnecessary. The book is quite staggeringly long for its genre, but despite its pop lit/fluff motif, it also has some hard hitting lessons and commentary about women's power. If you want to borrow it, get in line, I'm shoving it down the throats of all my friends....the power of fame = deadly!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Book #22: Weetzie Bat
Book #22: Weetzie Bat
Author: Francesca Lia Block
Pages: 107
Grade: C
Buyability: 3/10
Status: Owned, but I think I donated it to a book drive recently
Review: I remember wanting to read Block's books when I was a kid...they are really airy, poetic stories, often retellings of fairy tales or myths or this or that, but set against the backdrop of new york or venice beach or something crazy. I never did read one of her bookst ill now, and this was for class - fairy tales - as its supposedly related to Cinderella. I made one note of them mentioning Cinderella but otherwise I didn't get it. I read this book in approximately 30 minutes it was so short - big type! Yay.
Regardless, the story is about a girl named Weetzie who befriends a gay guy, gets 3 wishes from a genie that give her and her friend lovers and a house. Eventually she decides she wants a baby so the two gay guys and her boyfriend all sort of try to impregnate her and one of them does - not sure who - and her boyfriend leaves when he realizes what's happened so the gay guys help her raise her kid and then the boyfriend comes back...the end is sort of abstract and weird but that is the gist.
The point of Block's books though, clearly, aren't the plot because there really isn't any. She manipulates words in a way that paints a world that I'd picture if you could permanently take hold of the feeling of a happy drug - like ectasy or something. Everything is pink and bubbly and floaty and indie and sparkling, yet everything is so realistic at the same time. Her writing is beautiful, but shrouds any hope of 'understanding' the books she writes (i've read a short story of hers for class as well so I get the gist of how she writes).
I can't say I 'reccomend' the book persay because it's so...airy. But if you're into an extremely quick read fantastical long-form poem, then pick it up.
Author: Francesca Lia Block
Pages: 107
Grade: C
Buyability: 3/10
Status: Owned, but I think I donated it to a book drive recently
Review: I remember wanting to read Block's books when I was a kid...they are really airy, poetic stories, often retellings of fairy tales or myths or this or that, but set against the backdrop of new york or venice beach or something crazy. I never did read one of her bookst ill now, and this was for class - fairy tales - as its supposedly related to Cinderella. I made one note of them mentioning Cinderella but otherwise I didn't get it. I read this book in approximately 30 minutes it was so short - big type! Yay.
Regardless, the story is about a girl named Weetzie who befriends a gay guy, gets 3 wishes from a genie that give her and her friend lovers and a house. Eventually she decides she wants a baby so the two gay guys and her boyfriend all sort of try to impregnate her and one of them does - not sure who - and her boyfriend leaves when he realizes what's happened so the gay guys help her raise her kid and then the boyfriend comes back...the end is sort of abstract and weird but that is the gist.
The point of Block's books though, clearly, aren't the plot because there really isn't any. She manipulates words in a way that paints a world that I'd picture if you could permanently take hold of the feeling of a happy drug - like ectasy or something. Everything is pink and bubbly and floaty and indie and sparkling, yet everything is so realistic at the same time. Her writing is beautiful, but shrouds any hope of 'understanding' the books she writes (i've read a short story of hers for class as well so I get the gist of how she writes).
I can't say I 'reccomend' the book persay because it's so...airy. But if you're into an extremely quick read fantastical long-form poem, then pick it up.
Book #21: Peyton Place
Book #21: Peyton Place
Author: Grace Metalious
Pages: 372
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10 (probably in the library, but good enough to own)
Status: My sister got this for HER pop lit class, but I have absorbed it into my own collection
Review: This is a really famous book I read for pop lit class and I devoured it despite the fact it's a bit tough to read here and there cause it's so packed with information! Peyton Place (PP) is actually the basis for modern soap operas in a lot of ways...it really would have been a shocking book for its time so I get the appeal and shock value back then. Did you know the character of "Peyton" on One Tree Hill and the title of Melrose PLACE are both tributes to PP? Yep.
To sum up, it's the story of the inhabitants of a small New England town called Peyton Place, named after a black guy who managed to get a ton of $$$, build a castle, which attracted other people to the area, and then the castle looms over the place forever...the people in the town are BIG on gossip and there happens to be a lot of it to go around. It takes place over 3 sections of time - when the younger characters (Allison, Selena, Norman, Rodney etc.) are at the cusp of high school at 14, when they are just about graduated at 17, and a couple of years after that.
I can't really say much more about the plot cause it's SO interwoven. Nearly every character has a plot arc, some have several. Overall though this book is fabulous, definitely not just another 'school book' for sure! I loved the way it wove between stories so effortlessly, you never sat and read too much about one person or family and you were never bored, especially because you were always surprised. This was a GREAT book! Read it.
Author: Grace Metalious
Pages: 372
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10 (probably in the library, but good enough to own)
Status: My sister got this for HER pop lit class, but I have absorbed it into my own collection
Review: This is a really famous book I read for pop lit class and I devoured it despite the fact it's a bit tough to read here and there cause it's so packed with information! Peyton Place (PP) is actually the basis for modern soap operas in a lot of ways...it really would have been a shocking book for its time so I get the appeal and shock value back then. Did you know the character of "Peyton" on One Tree Hill and the title of Melrose PLACE are both tributes to PP? Yep.
To sum up, it's the story of the inhabitants of a small New England town called Peyton Place, named after a black guy who managed to get a ton of $$$, build a castle, which attracted other people to the area, and then the castle looms over the place forever...the people in the town are BIG on gossip and there happens to be a lot of it to go around. It takes place over 3 sections of time - when the younger characters (Allison, Selena, Norman, Rodney etc.) are at the cusp of high school at 14, when they are just about graduated at 17, and a couple of years after that.
I can't really say much more about the plot cause it's SO interwoven. Nearly every character has a plot arc, some have several. Overall though this book is fabulous, definitely not just another 'school book' for sure! I loved the way it wove between stories so effortlessly, you never sat and read too much about one person or family and you were never bored, especially because you were always surprised. This was a GREAT book! Read it.
Book #20: Ella Enchanted
Book #20: Ella Enchanted
Author: Gail Carson Levine
Pages: 200-ish
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10
Status: Bought & owned
Review: This is one of the books I read for my fairy tales class as it's a short novel that retells the Cinderella story in the form of a full-length story about a young girl cursed with the duty of being obedient. She goes on adventures to try to break her curse but eventually is reduced to slavery by her stepfamily until the curse is finally broken...a prince, glass slipper, and a happily ever after are involved.
I really liked this book! Even though the Cinderella story is so tired for me after this class, I found Ella Enchanted strangely amusing and cute - the romance was well done, Ella was a good Cinderella role model as opposed to traditional versions, and the world created in the story was quite lovely. I could have done without some of the magic/ogre languages and so on, but overall it was a cool modern redo of the story where the fact they made it fantastical actually made it quite realistic.
Author: Gail Carson Levine
Pages: 200-ish
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10
Status: Bought & owned
Review: This is one of the books I read for my fairy tales class as it's a short novel that retells the Cinderella story in the form of a full-length story about a young girl cursed with the duty of being obedient. She goes on adventures to try to break her curse but eventually is reduced to slavery by her stepfamily until the curse is finally broken...a prince, glass slipper, and a happily ever after are involved.
I really liked this book! Even though the Cinderella story is so tired for me after this class, I found Ella Enchanted strangely amusing and cute - the romance was well done, Ella was a good Cinderella role model as opposed to traditional versions, and the world created in the story was quite lovely. I could have done without some of the magic/ogre languages and so on, but overall it was a cool modern redo of the story where the fact they made it fantastical actually made it quite realistic.
Book #19: How to Win Friends & Influence People
Book #19: How to Win Friends & Influence People
Author: Dale Carneigie
Pages: 250 I think
Grade: C-
Buyability: 4/10 (because if you're actually going to follow the advice of this book, you'll want to keep it on hand)
Status: I think this was in my mom's collection of books, and it probably still resides there.
Review: I do not need a self-help book folks, this was for pop lit. It was interesting to read cause it is quite famous and was written in 1936 believe it or not...which is crazy cause a fair bit of the advice is still relevant, but a lot of it was annoying and manipulative. I tried out a few of the techniques and found it a bit exhausting to always be this person that Carnegie is suggesting you should be...attentive, ask lots of questions, make people feel happy to talk to you etc.
It was an easy read though - I got through it quite quickly. I'd say if anything you should read the beginning of each chapter, the end, and a couple of examples in between and you'll get the gist. Every example simply reillustrates the point of the chapter! There were some good tips though - say it with a smile, remember people's names, be courteous...stuff that is simple but is nicely reinforced in the book. But definitely not the type of self-help book I'd recommend to someone that needs some help!
Author: Dale Carneigie
Pages: 250 I think
Grade: C-
Buyability: 4/10 (because if you're actually going to follow the advice of this book, you'll want to keep it on hand)
Status: I think this was in my mom's collection of books, and it probably still resides there.
Review: I do not need a self-help book folks, this was for pop lit. It was interesting to read cause it is quite famous and was written in 1936 believe it or not...which is crazy cause a fair bit of the advice is still relevant, but a lot of it was annoying and manipulative. I tried out a few of the techniques and found it a bit exhausting to always be this person that Carnegie is suggesting you should be...attentive, ask lots of questions, make people feel happy to talk to you etc.
It was an easy read though - I got through it quite quickly. I'd say if anything you should read the beginning of each chapter, the end, and a couple of examples in between and you'll get the gist. Every example simply reillustrates the point of the chapter! There were some good tips though - say it with a smile, remember people's names, be courteous...stuff that is simple but is nicely reinforced in the book. But definitely not the type of self-help book I'd recommend to someone that needs some help!
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Book #18: All Quiet on the Western Front
Book Title: All Quiet on the Western Front
Author: Erich Maria Remarque
Pages: 295
Final Grade: B
Buyability: 2/10 (it's in the library, trust me!)
Status: Bought, and I still own it I think
Review:
I read this book for my pop lit class - it is truly the first 'war' novel as we know it today. And is it ever. This book is LITERALLY dead-on been copied by a book I read in my can lit class in first year (it was a third year class) entitled No Man's Land. Yet NML is the Canadian perspective of a battle in WW1, while AQOTWF (hereby AQ) is written, quite interestingly, from the perspective of a German solider during WW1. What I liked about the book is the ultimate message that Remarque was fighting to get out there - that fighting one another is insanity, that men of the same generation are driven to this place by men far older, less wiser, shrouded in lies to get their way.
I guess when I read it I didn't absorb as much as I could have - given I've already read NML, and I was speed reading this so I could have it done for Monday. There were some main images of interest to me, mostly Remarque's interest in boyhood and manhood and how there would likely be no place for these 'men' once they returned to their 'boy' lives. I also enjoyed the fact the book was written from a German perspective and found it astonishing how similar it was to NML - but then it supported my beliefs that war is quite stupid. It really painted a picture of the rawness of death and seperation and what it meant to the protagonist, Paul.
Finally, the best part of this book was the end. In one short paragraph Remarque manages to leave the most unsettling finish to a book I have encountered in some time - although I believe the same ending occured in NML, once again. But yes, after the amount of time you spend with Paul, in his head, in his actions, the more devastatingly interesting the ending is. A good read, although not my type of book, and not well received given I felt like I'd read it before (which is not Remarque's fault I don't think).
Author: Erich Maria Remarque
Pages: 295
Final Grade: B
Buyability: 2/10 (it's in the library, trust me!)
Status: Bought, and I still own it I think
Review:
I read this book for my pop lit class - it is truly the first 'war' novel as we know it today. And is it ever. This book is LITERALLY dead-on been copied by a book I read in my can lit class in first year (it was a third year class) entitled No Man's Land. Yet NML is the Canadian perspective of a battle in WW1, while AQOTWF (hereby AQ) is written, quite interestingly, from the perspective of a German solider during WW1. What I liked about the book is the ultimate message that Remarque was fighting to get out there - that fighting one another is insanity, that men of the same generation are driven to this place by men far older, less wiser, shrouded in lies to get their way.
I guess when I read it I didn't absorb as much as I could have - given I've already read NML, and I was speed reading this so I could have it done for Monday. There were some main images of interest to me, mostly Remarque's interest in boyhood and manhood and how there would likely be no place for these 'men' once they returned to their 'boy' lives. I also enjoyed the fact the book was written from a German perspective and found it astonishing how similar it was to NML - but then it supported my beliefs that war is quite stupid. It really painted a picture of the rawness of death and seperation and what it meant to the protagonist, Paul.
Finally, the best part of this book was the end. In one short paragraph Remarque manages to leave the most unsettling finish to a book I have encountered in some time - although I believe the same ending occured in NML, once again. But yes, after the amount of time you spend with Paul, in his head, in his actions, the more devastatingly interesting the ending is. A good read, although not my type of book, and not well received given I felt like I'd read it before (which is not Remarque's fault I don't think).
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Book #17: Shopaholic & Baby
Title of Book: Shopaholic and Baby
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Pages: About 350
Grade: A-
Buyability: 6/10
Status: Bought & owned
Hmm so I'll probably have another book review by tonight the way I'm ploughing through. This is also probably my last bit of pleasure reading for awhile. And pleasurable it was indeed! This is the latest (and quite delayed imo) installment of the shopaholic series, starring the plucky Becky Bloomwood as she prepares for motherhood. For those of you not familiar with the series, I believe this is the 5th book, which features Becky, a woman with a bit of a shopping problem and a lot of imagination. Each book usually features a bit of financial mayhem, shopping glory, and relationship problems between her and her family, friends, and now husband, Luke Brandon.
The focus here is not as obvious as one might think - of course Becky goes haywire shopping for baby stuff here and there, but the bigger issue is Luke's suddenly mysterious behaviour once they go to a new celebrity obstetrician, Venetia Carter...who happens to be Luke's gorgeous ex! Of course many other issues swim about throughout the book, including Becky's failing career destination, Suze's war with her so-called friend Lulu, Jess' new love interests etc.
I liked this book because I had forgotten a fair bit about the shopaholic series. I mean I remembered the characters, the motifs, how the plot would break down, but I remembered Becky being out of control and insane, and after a discussion with friends about who was the more annoying character - Becky Bloomwood or Bridget Jones, I faithfully stood by Becky and was well rewarded. Perhaps she has been toned down a bit in this book but I found her behaviour to be slightly less flightly, although still quite humorous, ridiculous, and unfounded at times.
What I didn't like so much, was how much the book's formats have changed for this one and the previous one. Call me a fellow shopaholic but I wanted more drama with the shopping! Then again. I probably would have bitched had they included another book on Becky's overspending woes. I guess the twist in this book was just relatively predictable, so the big dramatic scenes were kind of like...it's about time. The ending was interesting though, if they were to create another shopaholic book, my money is on it being about moving into a new house and living on a budget. A binary opposition for most - the move in means a move out of cash from your pockets.
We'll see if I'm right! In the meantime, pick up a copy of S & Baby - you won't be disappointed (I wasn't) if you are looking for a breezy, fun read that isn't annoyingly flightly, and manages to keep you on the edge of your seat (well sort of) throughout. A fun read that I couldn't put down for school books! Shocker...haha.
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Pages: About 350
Grade: A-
Buyability: 6/10
Status: Bought & owned
Hmm so I'll probably have another book review by tonight the way I'm ploughing through. This is also probably my last bit of pleasure reading for awhile. And pleasurable it was indeed! This is the latest (and quite delayed imo) installment of the shopaholic series, starring the plucky Becky Bloomwood as she prepares for motherhood. For those of you not familiar with the series, I believe this is the 5th book, which features Becky, a woman with a bit of a shopping problem and a lot of imagination. Each book usually features a bit of financial mayhem, shopping glory, and relationship problems between her and her family, friends, and now husband, Luke Brandon.
The focus here is not as obvious as one might think - of course Becky goes haywire shopping for baby stuff here and there, but the bigger issue is Luke's suddenly mysterious behaviour once they go to a new celebrity obstetrician, Venetia Carter...who happens to be Luke's gorgeous ex! Of course many other issues swim about throughout the book, including Becky's failing career destination, Suze's war with her so-called friend Lulu, Jess' new love interests etc.
I liked this book because I had forgotten a fair bit about the shopaholic series. I mean I remembered the characters, the motifs, how the plot would break down, but I remembered Becky being out of control and insane, and after a discussion with friends about who was the more annoying character - Becky Bloomwood or Bridget Jones, I faithfully stood by Becky and was well rewarded. Perhaps she has been toned down a bit in this book but I found her behaviour to be slightly less flightly, although still quite humorous, ridiculous, and unfounded at times.
What I didn't like so much, was how much the book's formats have changed for this one and the previous one. Call me a fellow shopaholic but I wanted more drama with the shopping! Then again. I probably would have bitched had they included another book on Becky's overspending woes. I guess the twist in this book was just relatively predictable, so the big dramatic scenes were kind of like...it's about time. The ending was interesting though, if they were to create another shopaholic book, my money is on it being about moving into a new house and living on a budget. A binary opposition for most - the move in means a move out of cash from your pockets.
We'll see if I'm right! In the meantime, pick up a copy of S & Baby - you won't be disappointed (I wasn't) if you are looking for a breezy, fun read that isn't annoyingly flightly, and manages to keep you on the edge of your seat (well sort of) throughout. A fun read that I couldn't put down for school books! Shocker...haha.
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