... in which a young woman and her five year old son are kept captive in an 11' x 11' room.
Showing posts with label crime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crime. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Room, by Emma Donoghue
Room, by Emma Donoghue. Back Bay Books, 2010. 321 pp. 978-0-316-09832-8.
... in which a young woman and her five year old son are kept captive in an 11' x 11' room.
Andrea already described and reviewed this book here, so I won't bother to recap it here again. Given the amount of attention this book got, the odds are good that you already know the general idea of the book's plot.
... in which a young woman and her five year old son are kept captive in an 11' x 11' room.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Heat Wave by Richard Castle
This book is ostensibly written by Richard Castle, a fictional character and main protagonist of the TV show Castle. He's supposed to be a James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Tom Clancy style blockbuster author, with a focus on Mystery Thrillers. Heat Wave is, within the context of the TV show, the novel he writes over the course of the first season, using the show's other main character as inspiration; Kate Beckett, an NYPD detective.
However, this book is really more of a book written by 'some guy' inspired by watching the TV show than by 'Castle' inspired by Beckett. Every character in the book has a direct analogue to the TV show, to the point where the book may as well not have even replaced the names. Within the context of the book, there's a journalist following Nikki Heat around named Jameson Rook... yeah. Heat and Rook have an intense attraction to one another hiding behind a veneer of sarcasm and mild resentment (on her side at least)
So really, it isn't actually a book, it's one episode of the TV show in book form. It's not a terribly good episode either. The plot unfolds so predictably that it's almost painful. The millionaire industrialist is actually broke. His trophy wife is a former stripper. The virtuous accountant is less than virtuous. The crazy Russian giant loses an identifiable ring in a key location because he needed to lose it there to connect the two crime scenes. The only original idea comes near the end, and it's the only salvagable part of the experience.
Overall, it doesn't read like a book written by the character Richard Castle would, it doesn't give fans of the show anything new for these characters to do, and the plot is noticeably less intelligent than plots on the show tend to be. All the humor falls flat as does the romance. The action scenes are okay though, and those are hard to write. Skip this book and watch the TV show, after all, it stars Nathan Fillion. If you watch it all and can't wait to watch more, the book might be worth your time... all 3ish hours it'd take to finish. It's only about 180 pages long.
However, this book is really more of a book written by 'some guy' inspired by watching the TV show than by 'Castle' inspired by Beckett. Every character in the book has a direct analogue to the TV show, to the point where the book may as well not have even replaced the names. Within the context of the book, there's a journalist following Nikki Heat around named Jameson Rook... yeah. Heat and Rook have an intense attraction to one another hiding behind a veneer of sarcasm and mild resentment (on her side at least)
So really, it isn't actually a book, it's one episode of the TV show in book form. It's not a terribly good episode either. The plot unfolds so predictably that it's almost painful. The millionaire industrialist is actually broke. His trophy wife is a former stripper. The virtuous accountant is less than virtuous. The crazy Russian giant loses an identifiable ring in a key location because he needed to lose it there to connect the two crime scenes. The only original idea comes near the end, and it's the only salvagable part of the experience.
Overall, it doesn't read like a book written by the character Richard Castle would, it doesn't give fans of the show anything new for these characters to do, and the plot is noticeably less intelligent than plots on the show tend to be. All the humor falls flat as does the romance. The action scenes are okay though, and those are hard to write. Skip this book and watch the TV show, after all, it stars Nathan Fillion. If you watch it all and can't wait to watch more, the book might be worth your time... all 3ish hours it'd take to finish. It's only about 180 pages long.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
I solemnly swear to never read a book again just because it is popular. OK, seriously. I utterly fail to see why people like this book. There are much better mysteries around. Unless people really like reading about sadism, torture and rape (in between incredibly long and dry stretches of the actual mystery's story, of course) I don't understand why this book is so popular. I am including spoilers in this review, so if I can't talk you out of reading this book you might not want to read further.
I read this book mostly because everyone seemed to be reading it and its sequels. I was also slightly intrigued because not once but twice, when I told people about my job, they said it sounded like what Lisbeth Salander does in this book. My job is not remotely related to hacking or private investigation so I have no idea how people get that, and it makes me think I must do a remarkably poor job explaining what I do for a living!
So this book was not at all what I expected it to be. I don't know what I was expecting but I was very disappointed. At first, reading this book, I was like ok, it's a mystery. I used to read mysteries I sort of like these patterns and tropes. Then, I was like wow. Nothing is happening. Something should probably be happening in this book by now. Then I was like jesus fucking christ why would anyone write a scene like that? How can I get these horrible descriptions of assault, sadism and rape out of my brain? Then, it was back to boringness in between a few scenes that I wish I could scourge from my mind.
OK, I'll admit. I am sheltered and sensitive. I cannot stand watching movies or television, or reading books that include much sexual violence, or animal cruelty. Those are two things I really go out of my way to avoid and I was not happy to be surprised with both of those things in this book. I literally got dizzy and nauseous from reading scenes in this book. I knew I was a little sensitive, but to be so disturbed and sickened by a book that is so incredibly popular was unexpected and it has really diminished my opinion of humanity. What really pissed me off was that after finishing the book I realized that the scene that upset me so much was totally unrelated to the plot. That scene could have never happened and nothing about the main plot would have changed. Apparently Larsson knows his audience though, because the teaser for book two at the end of this book was all about bondage, rape and child abuse. It was not subtle. Guess what books I won't be buying?
On to problems other than the grotesque, vivid sexual and animal violence, of which there were several.
I really found it to be a strangely paced book. It was SO SLOW until like half way through. Just plodding along, plodding along. No progress on the mystery, no progress on the plot. Then, over half way through, our heroes figure almost everything out in a few pages. And it is written in a way that kills any interest you might have had in the mystery at hand. Like, oh by the way, they figured out this and this and made that connection. There was no gradual piecing together of knowledge or sudden insight for the readers, oh no. It was like Larsson suddenly decided that brevity was to be preferred and crammed what should have been the meat of the story into a small, abrupt section of the book. What a waste of time.
It was impossible to like any of the characters, with the possible exception of Blomkvist. Lisbeth Salander (the girl with the dragon tattoo) was not a character you could relate to or empathize with. Her character was so absurdly contrived and eclectic. She could not have been less like a real human if Larsson tried. He tried so hard to write her thought processes but it just made her seem impossible.
It's a pet peeve of mine when authors mix perspectives and point of view characters. I know there is nothing technically wrong with it, but it makes me crazy. I find it incredibly distracting when you are cruising along from the perspective of one character and then suddenly and inexplicably the thoughts of someone else are interjecting. It's jarring. I especially disliked the contexts in which Larsson distractingly switched perspectives. It was just icing when I was reading about how *someone* felt to be butt raped, and then suddenly I was reading about what the rapist was thinking. Really Larsson? Was that necessary?
The story was over almost exactly a hundred pages before Larsson stopped writing the stupid book. After the epic conclusion, the final nausea inducing confrontations and discoveries, he spends a hundred pages wrapping up side-plots that I did not give a rat's tit about. I doubt I am the only one who was totally uninterested in the financial fraud tangents in this book. They were a nice break from reading about bondage, but otherwise not something I enjoyed.
In summary, do yourself a favor and skip this one. If you like reading violent porn, if that's your thing, whatever. You would be better off reading porn without windy descriptions of boring characters and financial fraud. If you do not want to read about incredibly disturbing things just pass on this book. It's not worth it.
I read this book mostly because everyone seemed to be reading it and its sequels. I was also slightly intrigued because not once but twice, when I told people about my job, they said it sounded like what Lisbeth Salander does in this book. My job is not remotely related to hacking or private investigation so I have no idea how people get that, and it makes me think I must do a remarkably poor job explaining what I do for a living!
So this book was not at all what I expected it to be. I don't know what I was expecting but I was very disappointed. At first, reading this book, I was like ok, it's a mystery. I used to read mysteries I sort of like these patterns and tropes. Then, I was like wow. Nothing is happening. Something should probably be happening in this book by now. Then I was like jesus fucking christ why would anyone write a scene like that? How can I get these horrible descriptions of assault, sadism and rape out of my brain? Then, it was back to boringness in between a few scenes that I wish I could scourge from my mind.
OK, I'll admit. I am sheltered and sensitive. I cannot stand watching movies or television, or reading books that include much sexual violence, or animal cruelty. Those are two things I really go out of my way to avoid and I was not happy to be surprised with both of those things in this book. I literally got dizzy and nauseous from reading scenes in this book. I knew I was a little sensitive, but to be so disturbed and sickened by a book that is so incredibly popular was unexpected and it has really diminished my opinion of humanity. What really pissed me off was that after finishing the book I realized that the scene that upset me so much was totally unrelated to the plot. That scene could have never happened and nothing about the main plot would have changed. Apparently Larsson knows his audience though, because the teaser for book two at the end of this book was all about bondage, rape and child abuse. It was not subtle. Guess what books I won't be buying?
On to problems other than the grotesque, vivid sexual and animal violence, of which there were several.
I really found it to be a strangely paced book. It was SO SLOW until like half way through. Just plodding along, plodding along. No progress on the mystery, no progress on the plot. Then, over half way through, our heroes figure almost everything out in a few pages. And it is written in a way that kills any interest you might have had in the mystery at hand. Like, oh by the way, they figured out this and this and made that connection. There was no gradual piecing together of knowledge or sudden insight for the readers, oh no. It was like Larsson suddenly decided that brevity was to be preferred and crammed what should have been the meat of the story into a small, abrupt section of the book. What a waste of time.
It was impossible to like any of the characters, with the possible exception of Blomkvist. Lisbeth Salander (the girl with the dragon tattoo) was not a character you could relate to or empathize with. Her character was so absurdly contrived and eclectic. She could not have been less like a real human if Larsson tried. He tried so hard to write her thought processes but it just made her seem impossible.
It's a pet peeve of mine when authors mix perspectives and point of view characters. I know there is nothing technically wrong with it, but it makes me crazy. I find it incredibly distracting when you are cruising along from the perspective of one character and then suddenly and inexplicably the thoughts of someone else are interjecting. It's jarring. I especially disliked the contexts in which Larsson distractingly switched perspectives. It was just icing when I was reading about how *someone* felt to be butt raped, and then suddenly I was reading about what the rapist was thinking. Really Larsson? Was that necessary?
The story was over almost exactly a hundred pages before Larsson stopped writing the stupid book. After the epic conclusion, the final nausea inducing confrontations and discoveries, he spends a hundred pages wrapping up side-plots that I did not give a rat's tit about. I doubt I am the only one who was totally uninterested in the financial fraud tangents in this book. They were a nice break from reading about bondage, but otherwise not something I enjoyed.
In summary, do yourself a favor and skip this one. If you like reading violent porn, if that's your thing, whatever. You would be better off reading porn without windy descriptions of boring characters and financial fraud. If you do not want to read about incredibly disturbing things just pass on this book. It's not worth it.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Nature Noir, by Jordan Fisher Smith
Nature Noir: A Park Ranger's Patrol in the Sierra, by Jordan Fisher Smith. Mariner Books, 2005. 216 pp. 978-0-618-7119506.
... in which a park ranger describes what it's like in one of America's least appreciated, but hugely significant, jobs.
I bought this book several years ago in a national park gift shop on one of my numerous trips to the parks. Before I read it, it got buried away in a mountain of stuff in my closet and I forgot all about it until I was sifting through my pile of junk. I'm really glad I unearthed it.
The book follows the adventures of a park ranger who worked in a mountain valley near Sacramento. As the land was not federal land, he was employed by the state of California, and California didn't really care all that much about this particular chunk of land. Years before, the government had decided to build a dam at the base of the valley, so the land the rangers were guarding was essentially condemned land, as the understanding was that the land would one day be flooded.
One might think that ranger work might get kind of dull... leading interpretive nature walks for little kids, writing tickets for people who forgot to pay their campsite fee. Fisher does a nice job of exposing the darker aspects of the work: he opens with a story where a man (high on drugs) literally flings a baby into the open window of a moving car, then proceeds to go into cardiac arrest as a result of his drug use. The book could have very easily become very dark and depressing. The rangers, all passionate about preserving and protecting the land, have to fight against many foes, not the least of which is apathy. Why bother preserving the land when it's going to be underwater someday? However, Fisher does a very nice job of balancing out the dark parts of the work with his inherent love and respect for nature. Who cares if the land will be underwater someday? That campfire is illegal, and it's damaging to the landscape in the here and now. The book reads like an old-fashioned crime novel crossed with the writings of environmentalist Bill McKibben.
My main complaint is that I wish the little section on the history of rangering was a little longer. He wrote the section so well and captured my interest enough that I was disappointed that the topic didn't get more coverage.
I would definitely recommend this book to someone who has an interest in the public parks of America, or for someone looking for an interesting, informative, quick vacation read. It's a pretty short book, and Fisher's writing moves along at a nice pace.
... in which a park ranger describes what it's like in one of America's least appreciated, but hugely significant, jobs.
I bought this book several years ago in a national park gift shop on one of my numerous trips to the parks. Before I read it, it got buried away in a mountain of stuff in my closet and I forgot all about it until I was sifting through my pile of junk. I'm really glad I unearthed it.
The book follows the adventures of a park ranger who worked in a mountain valley near Sacramento. As the land was not federal land, he was employed by the state of California, and California didn't really care all that much about this particular chunk of land. Years before, the government had decided to build a dam at the base of the valley, so the land the rangers were guarding was essentially condemned land, as the understanding was that the land would one day be flooded.
One might think that ranger work might get kind of dull... leading interpretive nature walks for little kids, writing tickets for people who forgot to pay their campsite fee. Fisher does a nice job of exposing the darker aspects of the work: he opens with a story where a man (high on drugs) literally flings a baby into the open window of a moving car, then proceeds to go into cardiac arrest as a result of his drug use. The book could have very easily become very dark and depressing. The rangers, all passionate about preserving and protecting the land, have to fight against many foes, not the least of which is apathy. Why bother preserving the land when it's going to be underwater someday? However, Fisher does a very nice job of balancing out the dark parts of the work with his inherent love and respect for nature. Who cares if the land will be underwater someday? That campfire is illegal, and it's damaging to the landscape in the here and now. The book reads like an old-fashioned crime novel crossed with the writings of environmentalist Bill McKibben.
My main complaint is that I wish the little section on the history of rangering was a little longer. He wrote the section so well and captured my interest enough that I was disappointed that the topic didn't get more coverage.
I would definitely recommend this book to someone who has an interest in the public parks of America, or for someone looking for an interesting, informative, quick vacation read. It's a pretty short book, and Fisher's writing moves along at a nice pace.
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