A special post

For those of you who are unaware, another adaptation of Stephen King's work is hitting the small screen.  Tonight on CBS at 10pm, tune in for what will no doubt be an interesting TV series.  I have read the book myself (I was fortunate enough to get an advanced "reader" copy from my wonderful mother-in-law, and made sure to finish it before the book hit shelves), and I can only imagine how it will transition to TV.  Unfortunately I read this back in 2009, and therefore it doesn't appear on this blog (maybe I'll have to reread it).  I have a feeling this will be a bit different than the book, but the microcosm the dome creates can only lead to suspense and a very interesting story line.  Tune in!

The Shining

                                                                 By Stephen King

            Ok, it’s time for me to admit something.  Despite being a huge Stephen King fan, I have never read The Shining before.  Shocking, I know.  I’ll go one step further; since I have not read the book…I have never seen the movie either (aside from brief glimpses on TV).  Recently I read that Stephen King is workin a new book, with a grown up Danny Torrance as the main character.  Clearly I needed to read this classic novel, especially so I can read the new novel “Dr. Sleep.”

            The story of Danny, Jack and Winnifred Torrance begins in Vermont.  Jack has recently lost his job as a teacher for assaulting a student who had vandalized his car.  Jack accepts a job from a former drinking buddy as caretaker of the Overlook hotel.  He moves the whole family into the Overlook Hotel, where they will be isolated all winter long.  Jack in in charge of heating sections of the hotel and making sure the boiler isn’t damaged from over pressurization.  As caretaker he is also in charge of minor maintenance, but mostly he looks forward to being able to work on his play in solitude.  After a short period of time in the hotel, Jack starts to become very interested in the history of the building.  He spends a great deal of time wandering the halls, and looking through a scrapbook he found.  His mood slowly transforms from loving husband, to impatient jerk, and beyond as the story progresses.  His wife is convinced he is drinking again, even though the bar is completely dry.  Wendy fears that Jack will hurt Danny in another drunken incident.  As the reader, we can only watch Jack plummet as we know he will eventually hit bottom.  What we don’t know is: When will he reach it, and what will he do when he gets there?

            The supernatural aspect of the book is centered on Jack and Wendy’s son, Danny.  We learn that Danny has special abilities; which is referred to as “shining.”  This can manifest itself as precognition, ESP, or even a type of telepathy.  Danny is often able to know things or sense the moods of people without fully understanding what is going on.  “The shining” is very powerful in Danny, but being young means that he doesn’t fully understand how to use or interpret this power.  Danny’s invisible friend Tony makes many appearances (Tony is often used to help Danny understand what’s going on), and Danny is terrified of visions he is having.  While he isn’t always a witness to the discord between his parents, he has the ability to sense what is happening in the hotel.  And Danny is afraid.   

            The story is told from the third person perspective, which allows for a great deal of insight into each characters thoughts, fears, and actions.  This allows Jack’s slow descent into insanity to be reinforced and reflected by his behavior, his thoughts, as well as how others react to him.  I felt that this mode of storytelling, as well as the quality of the writing made it very easy to crawl into the characters’ minds and really understand what was going on.  The use of flash back was also prevalent which helped to reinforce the tumultuous relationship between Wendy and Jack.  The isolation, introspection, and fantastic suspenseful writing leaves no doubt as to why this is one of King’s most famous novels.

Rating 4.5 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

A Time to Kill

by John Grisham

        When a 10-year old black girl is found beaten and brutally raped by two southern redneck deadbeats, her father Carl snaps and takes justice into his own hands. Carl waits as the two men are taken to their hearing in the courthouse, and when they are close enough, he charges out shooting them both. Carl is soon arrested on charges of murdering these men. In this desperate time, he turns to small town lawyer Jake Brigance to take his case. Jake is used to taking small time cases and only enough to just get by. Jake knows that if he wins this case it could make his career.

        Jake is a young, but an extremely intelligent small town lawyer in Clanton, Mississippi. Jake takes the case knowing the outcome Carl wants will be hard to get. Carl wants to escape the gas chamber, however the town will not look favorably of a black man that has killed two white men, especially when the audience is an all white jury. It infuriates many that if Carl was a white man, avenging his daughter would have been dismissed and he would never have been taken to court. Jake puts together a small team in order to try and prepare for this case. Jake soon realizes that this case not only puts Carl's life in danger, but his own life, and his families life in danger as well. With growing violence between the black community members and the Ku Klux Klan this case soon captivates Mississippi.  In no time, things start escalating and Jake comes up against more obstacles then he can imagine.

       John Grisham's novel has become one of my favorite books. While difficult to read at times because of the brutal way he describes the child's rape, the premeditated murders, and the harshness of racial inequality, this book was very hard to put down. It touched on very tough subjects that still evoke a lot of emotion despite the time that has passed. Grisham's attention to detail and ability to evoke such emotion is why I enjoyed this book so much. Many readers feel that his attention to detail can sometimes be overkill and that even the smallest of items is easily two paragraphs long. What readers need to realize is that John Grisham is a lawyer and knows the "ins and outs". This makes his writing very powerful and full of descriptions that only help to immerse the reader into the book. My advice? Soak in the details, sit back, and enjoy this emotional ride.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Up Next: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Holes

by Louis Sachar


       This story begins with the main character, Stanley Yelnats, being accused of stealing a pair of sneakers donated by the basketball star Clyde "Sweetfeet" Livingston.  This doesn't surprise Stanley.  Stanley believes it is his cursed relatives (especially his "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather") that have done this to him.  His family has been cursed with terrible luck for generations.  When Stanley tells the judge the sneakers fell from the sky, the judge doesn't believe him.  At court, he and his family were given a choice.  He can go to jail or he can go to Camp Green Lake in Texas, a reform camp for juvenile boys.  

        What Stanley soon finds out, is there is no lake, but just a barren wasteland. What's more is Camp Green Lake isn't a "camp" either. The warden believes that the boys need to build character. In order to do that, they are expected to dig a 5 foot wide and 5 foot deep hole. After awhile, Stanley starts to realize that they are not just building character, but the the warden is using the boys to search for something.  This sends Stanley on an adventure he never anticipated as he searches for the truth.

       This books is a wonderful and quick read for young adults/students.  The author takes a very complex story with multiple characters and spins an adventure that is sure to keep there attention as well as expand their vocabulary.  It is interesting for them to map out different aspects of the book - for example how the main character, Stanley, changes from the beginning of the book until the end.  Or challenge them to visualize different scenes in the book.  Louis Sachar's descriptions are very well done, so for children who are starting on chapter books, it is easy for them to visualize the scenes with some guidance.

      My only critique of this book is that with its complex story line and multiple characters, it can be difficult for children to fully understand and comprehend it.  They might need some help understanding some hidden jokes, part of the story-line, or difficult words.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Up Next: A Time to Kill by John Grisham

A Brief Call for Feedback

I just wanted to take the opportunity to address the readers of this blog.  None of the contributors are under any delusion that this blog is reaching a vast audience.  I cannot speak for every contributor, but I know that my main motivation for doing these reviews is so that I will remember what the book was about and whether I enjoyed it.  I hope that while achieving this goal, I also reach a few readers here and there who either enjoy my review or are encouraged to read a book I recommend.  That being said, this is my call for feedback.

For the small audience we have, I would like to encourage you to comment and critique the reviews.  It's simple enough for me to read a book, briefly summarize it, decide what I liked and didn't like about it, and slap it up on this website.  But oftentimes I feel like I get in a descriptive rut, bogged down with verbal crutches and describing books in the same fashion.  I promise that I will make little progress in amending this, unless it is pointed out to me.  Let me know what would make a review more clear to you, or ask for more information about the book if you are interested.  And, above all, recommend books that you think we might enjoy.

While this book blog will never be featured on Oprah, or whoever is on daytime TV now, I would still like to produce reviews which are helpful to the readers of this blog.  Help me continue to improve upon my reviews.  And for the regular viewers of our blog, thank you.

Treasure Box

By Orson Scott Card

   

For my first endeavor into the writing of Orson Scott Card, I picked up this book at a local book sale.  I have been slowly acquiring books from “the ender’s game” series, and thought it’d be fun to give Card a try before getting deep into a lengthy series.  In the end, I appreciated the writing style and the way the story began, but overall the story was flat and somewhat uninteresting.

            Quentin Fears is in the hospital with his sister Lizzy, who is in a coma due to a recent auto accident.  His parents have decided to pull the plug, but Quentin isn’t ready to give up his best friend.  Lizzy speaks to Quentin, and convinces him that it is time for her to go.  After Lizzy dies, Quentin develops certain habits and behaviors which are disturbing to his parents.  He reads Lizzy’s old books compulsively and acts out to express his grief.  Quentin’s parents have finally had enough, but Quentin is well down the path to becoming a recluse.

            Many years later, we catch back up with Quentin.  Card glosses over his uneventful adolescence and briefly addresses the success he has had as an adult.  Quentin is a very wealthy entrepreneur who has gained his riches mostly through computer programming.  However, Quentin is alone and looking for a woman in his life.  He soon meets Madeleine who is everything he could ever want in a woman.  She meets every expectation he has, but something isn’t quite right.  Her behavior in certain situations is unusual, and things get really weird when she takes Quentin to meet her family.  Madeleine then gets very upset when Quentin doesn’t open her grandmother’s box.  The next day, Quentin wakes up and finds his wife and her family gone.  The house is deserted and even looks as though it hasn’t been lived in for some time.  Quentin is very troubled and realizes that Madeleine is not the woman he fell in love with.  As he tries to find his wife, he begins to learn the truth about his wife and her family.  Quentin has fallen in love with a manipulative and powerful person, and a dangerous mystery threatens.

            I was initially intrigued and impressed by this book.  I thought Card did a good job creating some relatable characters, and making the reader sympathize with Quentin.  The initial situation was believable and well done.  However, I didn’t feel that this somewhat brief character development was sufficient to carry the character through the story.  The end of the book was exciting, but fairly predictable.  From checking out other reviews, fans of Card do not hold this novel in high regard.  I will definitely be reading more books by Card, but this one certainly didn’t light a fire under me to read another one. 

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: The Shining by Stephen King