Someday fairly soon I'm going to review another comic series that I feel is the BEST way to hook your non-comic book reading friends, but that day is not today. Today I'm going to review a series that I feel is integral for any lapsed comic book fans who are looking to get back into the thick of things. Those of you not interested in such nonsense, you're probably not gonna care from this point forward, so hopefully I'll see you next week.
Synopsis
The New Avengers begins pretty spectacularly with the breakout of several dozen major supervillains from The Raft, an extremely high security detention facility off the coast of Manhattan. Luckily, there happen to be several major superheroes present at the time of the breakout, and they're able to keep many of the inmates in check. 42 villains in total escape, however, and Captain America sees this as an opportunity to reform the Avengers using those few heroes that were present at the breakout (for reference, the Avengers had broken up following the events of Avengers: Disassembled when the Scarlet Witch went crazy and tore the team apart). Cap's team consists of Iron Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and Luke Cage, but as the series evolves, the team does as well. These "New Avengers" set off in search of some of the major escaped criminals, which leads them very early on to the Savage Land, where they meet up and are joined by Wolverine. These six individuals form the core team for much of the series, and work well together, both in an action sense and in a hilarious sense. It's really a great group to have together.
On the whole, this series—which recently passed the 50 issue milestone—has consistently been very strongly written. There have been a few minor hang-ups during some of the major crossover events, but Bendis has written this title into the forefront of the Marvel Universe, and in many ways has made it one of the flagship books, so those crossover stories affect our New Avengers more than most. The group dynamic is incredibly strong, the plots are intricate and well-written, and the art is some of the best out there. Leinil Yu, especially, draws some AMAZING scenes. If you've never seen his work, check out this or Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk, which is conveniently being reprinted right now. It's hard to tell you how much I like this series without giving too much away, but if you're a fan of superhero books, classic Marvel characters, action, humor, or all of the above, New Avengers is a great title to check out. It's the perfect gateway drug to the current Marvel Universe, and provides strong footing as a jumping off point into the books of any of the individual characters on the team, too.
Rating
The New Avengers
by Brian Michael Bendis
Story—7.67
I wouldn't say it's the most complex stories ever told, but the plots do weave in and out very smoothly, and almost all of the issues are goal-driven, which keeps things moving. The story does well at keeping the reader engaged.
Style—7.33
It's a superhero team book, and Bendis writes good superhero stories, there isn't much more to say about the style. It's humorous, has a lot of action, and utilizes many of the most popular Marvel characters. The guy know's what he's doing.
General—8
I have a lot of fun going through these issues again, so there is definitely some solid storytelling going on, but there are also just some really cool comic book moments that can catch you off guard. I like a writer who can be versatile and get into the heads of several different characters.
Overall—7.67
I'm planning on having a novel I'm currently reading finished by next Friday, so I'm excited for next week! In the mean time, keep reading, Genoshans!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Blue Like Jazz (Donald Miller)
There must be something wrong with me, because I went back and read another nonfiction book. I was punished severely for it.
Synopsis
The cover of the book really should've tipped me off on this one: Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality. Some points:
a) I don't like jazz.
b) I went to Catholic school for many years, so I've got more than enough thoughts on Christian Spirituality.
c) That title is actually a lie, since most of the thoughts were VERY religious. And poorly written.
I don't usually get quite this emphatic regarding the awfulness of a book, but I was really disappointed, because I thought I would be given some fresh insight into the spiritual world. I was not. It was mostly a book of random events in the life of a guy who says he has trouble connecting with his faith on one page, but then tells stories in which he's the most religious guy he knows on the next. And the writing is really bad, I'm sorry. He basically makes a statement. Then maybe he'll he make another statement. Often he'll make a third statement. Each of these statements will be their own complete sentence. Most of these sentences will be very simply constructed. He very rarely uses commas. I felt like I was in third grade. When I was in third grade I took my first religious classes. Stop dumbing things down, Donald Miller.
I'm pretty sure that this might actually have been a decently interesting book if it were written a little better. It's really frustrating when the author talks at length about something you actually might be connecting with, like wondering how people can be so sure of their faith when he is not, and then immediately jumping to how he tries so hard to convince his friends that Christianity is the way to go. Hold on, didn't you just say you weren't sure if it was the way to go? And I thought this was a NONreligious view on Christian spirituality? It sounds to me like a cheap ploy to get people to buy into your religious views. Mind you, I SHARE his religious views and I still got that feeling. Bad writing is bad writing, no matter how devout you are.
There really isn't much more for me to say. I hate to seem so closed-minded in a review, but aside from the random touching story of the miracle of how someone came to embrace Christ in their life blah blah blah, it's really bad. Don't read this book.
Rating
Blue Like Jazz
by Donald Miller
Story—N/A
There are stories included, but no real story. I'm gonna cut the guy a break and give him an "N/A" instead of a 2 or something.
Style—4.67
I guess journal entries on the glory of Jesus is stylistic?
General—3.83
Mindless rambling about vague spiritual dilemmas interspersed with fairly pointless stories of how people saw the light. Yeah, I got nothing.
Overall—4.25
Genoshans, I have a challenge for you. I challenge you to find me a competent book on religion/spirituality/whatever. Please. I'd really like to think that it's a coincidence that the two books on religion that I've reviewed so far were the two worst books I've read. Help me out, here. And as always, keep reading, Genoshans!
Synopsis
The cover of the book really should've tipped me off on this one: Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality. Some points:
a) I don't like jazz.
b) I went to Catholic school for many years, so I've got more than enough thoughts on Christian Spirituality.
c) That title is actually a lie, since most of the thoughts were VERY religious. And poorly written.
I don't usually get quite this emphatic regarding the awfulness of a book, but I was really disappointed, because I thought I would be given some fresh insight into the spiritual world. I was not. It was mostly a book of random events in the life of a guy who says he has trouble connecting with his faith on one page, but then tells stories in which he's the most religious guy he knows on the next. And the writing is really bad, I'm sorry. He basically makes a statement. Then maybe he'll he make another statement. Often he'll make a third statement. Each of these statements will be their own complete sentence. Most of these sentences will be very simply constructed. He very rarely uses commas. I felt like I was in third grade. When I was in third grade I took my first religious classes. Stop dumbing things down, Donald Miller.
I'm pretty sure that this might actually have been a decently interesting book if it were written a little better. It's really frustrating when the author talks at length about something you actually might be connecting with, like wondering how people can be so sure of their faith when he is not, and then immediately jumping to how he tries so hard to convince his friends that Christianity is the way to go. Hold on, didn't you just say you weren't sure if it was the way to go? And I thought this was a NONreligious view on Christian spirituality? It sounds to me like a cheap ploy to get people to buy into your religious views. Mind you, I SHARE his religious views and I still got that feeling. Bad writing is bad writing, no matter how devout you are.
There really isn't much more for me to say. I hate to seem so closed-minded in a review, but aside from the random touching story of the miracle of how someone came to embrace Christ in their life blah blah blah, it's really bad. Don't read this book.
Rating
Blue Like Jazz
by Donald Miller
Story—N/A
There are stories included, but no real story. I'm gonna cut the guy a break and give him an "N/A" instead of a 2 or something.
Style—4.67
I guess journal entries on the glory of Jesus is stylistic?
General—3.83
Mindless rambling about vague spiritual dilemmas interspersed with fairly pointless stories of how people saw the light. Yeah, I got nothing.
Overall—4.25
Genoshans, I have a challenge for you. I challenge you to find me a competent book on religion/spirituality/whatever. Please. I'd really like to think that it's a coincidence that the two books on religion that I've reviewed so far were the two worst books I've read. Help me out, here. And as always, keep reading, Genoshans!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Candide (Voltaire)
Finally, a novel! And an old novel, at that. Candide: Or, Optimism, was first published over two hundred years before any other book I've reviewed so far, 100 Years of Solitude having only been published back in the not-as-olden days of 1967 (well, olden for me, still, but maybe not for you). If I spoke French, I'd insert some kind of snobby, intellectual French phrase here, maybe something vaguely philosophical, but not too committal. Oh well, c'est la vie. That's how you spell that, right?
Synopsis
There's a reason this book has been around so long. To me this is a perfect example of great literature that's accessible on several different levels and overall very enjoyable. It's a fairly straightforward story about a young man named Candide, whose entire philosophy on life is that "all is for the best." Every terrible, horrible, atrocious thing that can happen to a person—and most things you could think of do happen to someone at some point in the book—are all in fact necessary for the greater good of the world, and could not have happened any other way. Throughout the story, which moves from Westphalia to Portugal to Argentina to France to England to Constantinople, Candide suffers through a flogging, a shipwreck, an earthquake, several wars, extreme poverty, an illness, and his girlfriend becoming ugly. Others are affected by similarly miserable afflictions: plague, hanging, rape, stabbing, forced prostitution, burning, and cannibalized buttocks. No matter what, though, Candide maintains that "all is for the best."
Now, I've written reports on classic literary masterpieces before, but I've never really done a review on one, so one of the best ways I can think to really give you a feel for this book is this: I wish they made us read this in high school. Public schools need more satire. Instead of being a dreadfully serious philosophical/political book like Crime and Punishment or The Stranger, Candide is wonderful because it gives a commentary on life while being hilarious. Voltaire is known to be a witty writer, and since most of his humor is situational, it comes across very well despite the translation from French. I don't care what you say, an old woman who can't sit on a horse properly because she's missing one buttock(s?) is hilarious. And Candide's naive attitude towards life is a great filter for Voltaire's opinions on the philosophies of his day. Plus, not only is this book funny, it also works fairly well as a straight adventure novel. It's pretty suspenseful for a satire. It's not the longest book in the world—only 144 pages—but even so I read it extremely fast because Voltaire constantly leaves Candide in some great predicament. It also helps when the chapters are really short and titled fun things like "VI—How a magnificent auto-da-fé was staged to prevent further earthquakes, and how Candide was flogged." I still don't really know what an auto-da-fé is, but I find that chapter title pretty exciting. I don't mind that it tells me some of what's going to happen, since it usually only makes me more curious as to why or how it's going to happen.
Anyway, this was a pretty stellar book, especially considering it was written by an old French guy 250 years ago. I'm not gonna say it's my favorite book ever or anything, but it's solidly written, gets its point across, and is quite entertaining. I highly recommend it to you for some light reading, and to teachers across America as a substitute for ghastly tomes like Tartuffe or Beowulf.
Rating
Candide: Or, Optimism
by Voltaire
Story—8.17
While not very complicated, it's a great vehicle for the message, and is still interesting if you don't care about all that philosophical mumbo-jumbo.
Style—9
This is satire at its best. It's funny, it's accessible, it allows the reader to judge for themselves; Voltaire knew what he was doing.
General—8.67
You'd think it would be stuffier, but it's pretty easy to read and still relates to current issues. Some of the cultural aspects are understandably outdated at this point, but they're written about from an outsider's perspective, so it doesn't usually feel like you're missing anything. All in all it's a great book.
Overall—8.61
Synopsis
There's a reason this book has been around so long. To me this is a perfect example of great literature that's accessible on several different levels and overall very enjoyable. It's a fairly straightforward story about a young man named Candide, whose entire philosophy on life is that "all is for the best." Every terrible, horrible, atrocious thing that can happen to a person—and most things you could think of do happen to someone at some point in the book—are all in fact necessary for the greater good of the world, and could not have happened any other way. Throughout the story, which moves from Westphalia to Portugal to Argentina to France to England to Constantinople, Candide suffers through a flogging, a shipwreck, an earthquake, several wars, extreme poverty, an illness, and his girlfriend becoming ugly. Others are affected by similarly miserable afflictions: plague, hanging, rape, stabbing, forced prostitution, burning, and cannibalized buttocks. No matter what, though, Candide maintains that "all is for the best."
Now, I've written reports on classic literary masterpieces before, but I've never really done a review on one, so one of the best ways I can think to really give you a feel for this book is this: I wish they made us read this in high school. Public schools need more satire. Instead of being a dreadfully serious philosophical/political book like Crime and Punishment or The Stranger, Candide is wonderful because it gives a commentary on life while being hilarious. Voltaire is known to be a witty writer, and since most of his humor is situational, it comes across very well despite the translation from French. I don't care what you say, an old woman who can't sit on a horse properly because she's missing one buttock(s?) is hilarious. And Candide's naive attitude towards life is a great filter for Voltaire's opinions on the philosophies of his day. Plus, not only is this book funny, it also works fairly well as a straight adventure novel. It's pretty suspenseful for a satire. It's not the longest book in the world—only 144 pages—but even so I read it extremely fast because Voltaire constantly leaves Candide in some great predicament. It also helps when the chapters are really short and titled fun things like "VI—How a magnificent auto-da-fé was staged to prevent further earthquakes, and how Candide was flogged." I still don't really know what an auto-da-fé is, but I find that chapter title pretty exciting. I don't mind that it tells me some of what's going to happen, since it usually only makes me more curious as to why or how it's going to happen.
Anyway, this was a pretty stellar book, especially considering it was written by an old French guy 250 years ago. I'm not gonna say it's my favorite book ever or anything, but it's solidly written, gets its point across, and is quite entertaining. I highly recommend it to you for some light reading, and to teachers across America as a substitute for ghastly tomes like Tartuffe or Beowulf.
Rating
Candide: Or, Optimism
by Voltaire
Story—8.17
While not very complicated, it's a great vehicle for the message, and is still interesting if you don't care about all that philosophical mumbo-jumbo.
Style—9
This is satire at its best. It's funny, it's accessible, it allows the reader to judge for themselves; Voltaire knew what he was doing.
General—8.67
You'd think it would be stuffier, but it's pretty easy to read and still relates to current issues. Some of the cultural aspects are understandably outdated at this point, but they're written about from an outsider's perspective, so it doesn't usually feel like you're missing anything. All in all it's a great book.
Overall—8.61
Friday, April 3, 2009
Scud: The Disposable Assassin (Rob Schrab)
I'm haven't finished any of the novels or non-fiction books I'm reading at the moment (possibly because I read too many books at once, oops), so this week's review is on an amazing comic book series that I plowed through this weekend. Scud's first publishing run ran from 1994-1998 and ended with a cliffhanger that lasted ten years, but the series was recently concluded, and the entire collection can now be found in a new omnibus, Scud: The Disposable Assassin: The Whole Shebang!
Synopsis
The title may seem to give a lot away here, and that's partially true, but Scud: The Disposable Assassin ended up being way more intelligent and complex than it initially lets on. The series takes place on an earth several decades in the future, where violence has become much more common than it is today. A "Scud" is a brand of robotic assassin that can be purchased from vending machines on any street corner, and programmed to kill whomever you would like however you would like, for only a few dollars. Our Scud is sent to kill a strange squid/mousetrap/electrical plug monster named Jeff who is terrorizing a mannequin factory. Scud easily takes care of Jeff, but as he is about to finish the monster off, he notices a sign on his robotic back that informs him that he will self-destruct upon termination of his primary target. Now, Scud doesn't want to die, so he instead sets Jeff up in an intensive care unit at a local hospital to keep them both alive as long as possible, and then starts working freelance to pay the medical bills. He does all this rather matter-of-factly, and as a reader you kinda just go along with him for a while.
The first few issues—there are 26 total in the omnibus—introduce the reader to Scud in a very blunt way. He blows stuff up, he shoots a ton of people, he makes witty remarks as he blows up said stuff and shoots said people. These issues are fun and completely absurd, but not necessarily all that interesting. Also, there are times early on, especially during any one of the near-constant action scenes, where the art is a little confusing. Wait, how did that guy lose his arm? Hold on, I thought Scud was behind that soldier in the giant ape suit? Stuff like that. There's so much going on, so many bullets and body parts flying all over the place, that it gets difficult to keep your bearings. I admit, I put the book down a couple times during the first half of the omnibus. Something about the characters and way the stories unfolded kept bringing me back, though. Around issue twelve or maybe even a little later, once the character of Sussudio is introduced (she's a spy with a robot fetish, for the record), all of the minor details that were overlooked earlier start coming back in highly impactful ways. The loose ends begin to tie themselves up, and the stories start to get down to the real meat of what's been going on since the very first issue. Seriously, shit goes down. Villains you thought were stupid and meaningless end up being extremely powerful, others who you assumed were running things get kinda pushed aside, and God Himself even makes an appearance, but it all makes sense somehow in the context of the story. I was even hoping for the series to keep going when I found myself at the end, the writing and art having gotten significantly better than where it was when it began. Similar to Agents of Atlas, though, I don't think I would necessarily recommend this series to someone who isn't already a fan of comic books. However, for those readers who are fans, I'd say Scud is like reading Deadpool, if Deadpool was a robot, had an insanely hot spy girlfriend, battled forces straight out of Heaven and Hell, and had to keep alive an absurd squid monster thing named Jeff who was trying to kill him. So, very similar.
Rating
Scud: The Disposable Assassin: The Whole Shebang!
by Rob Schrab
Story—7.83
It's a surprisingly complex story hidden beneath a million explosions and a hilarious robot assassin who time travels, goes to outer space, joins the mob, and fights not only a squid monster and zombie dinosaurs, but also a choir of angels and a reanimated Ben Franklin. Sign me up!
Style—7
The witty assassin anti-hero character may not be the most original in the comic book pantheon, but the writing keeps getting better and better as it goes, while maintaining a level of consistency regarding the quirkier and more absurd aspects of the story. The art gets better as well, and each page is treated as its own work of art. Scud never falls into the trap of boring/repetitive layout.
General—8.33
It's a ton of fun, with some surprising twists, interesting characters, and more blood and firepower than a Quentin Tarantino movie. It's a little long, and definitely slow up front, but it's worth it in the end. I'd say it's a winner.
Overall—7.72
Keep reading, Genoshans!
Synopsis
The title may seem to give a lot away here, and that's partially true, but Scud: The Disposable Assassin ended up being way more intelligent and complex than it initially lets on. The series takes place on an earth several decades in the future, where violence has become much more common than it is today. A "Scud" is a brand of robotic assassin that can be purchased from vending machines on any street corner, and programmed to kill whomever you would like however you would like, for only a few dollars. Our Scud is sent to kill a strange squid/mousetrap/electrical plug monster named Jeff who is terrorizing a mannequin factory. Scud easily takes care of Jeff, but as he is about to finish the monster off, he notices a sign on his robotic back that informs him that he will self-destruct upon termination of his primary target. Now, Scud doesn't want to die, so he instead sets Jeff up in an intensive care unit at a local hospital to keep them both alive as long as possible, and then starts working freelance to pay the medical bills. He does all this rather matter-of-factly, and as a reader you kinda just go along with him for a while.
The first few issues—there are 26 total in the omnibus—introduce the reader to Scud in a very blunt way. He blows stuff up, he shoots a ton of people, he makes witty remarks as he blows up said stuff and shoots said people. These issues are fun and completely absurd, but not necessarily all that interesting. Also, there are times early on, especially during any one of the near-constant action scenes, where the art is a little confusing. Wait, how did that guy lose his arm? Hold on, I thought Scud was behind that soldier in the giant ape suit? Stuff like that. There's so much going on, so many bullets and body parts flying all over the place, that it gets difficult to keep your bearings. I admit, I put the book down a couple times during the first half of the omnibus. Something about the characters and way the stories unfolded kept bringing me back, though. Around issue twelve or maybe even a little later, once the character of Sussudio is introduced (she's a spy with a robot fetish, for the record), all of the minor details that were overlooked earlier start coming back in highly impactful ways. The loose ends begin to tie themselves up, and the stories start to get down to the real meat of what's been going on since the very first issue. Seriously, shit goes down. Villains you thought were stupid and meaningless end up being extremely powerful, others who you assumed were running things get kinda pushed aside, and God Himself even makes an appearance, but it all makes sense somehow in the context of the story. I was even hoping for the series to keep going when I found myself at the end, the writing and art having gotten significantly better than where it was when it began. Similar to Agents of Atlas, though, I don't think I would necessarily recommend this series to someone who isn't already a fan of comic books. However, for those readers who are fans, I'd say Scud is like reading Deadpool, if Deadpool was a robot, had an insanely hot spy girlfriend, battled forces straight out of Heaven and Hell, and had to keep alive an absurd squid monster thing named Jeff who was trying to kill him. So, very similar.
Rating
Scud: The Disposable Assassin: The Whole Shebang!
by Rob Schrab
Story—7.83
It's a surprisingly complex story hidden beneath a million explosions and a hilarious robot assassin who time travels, goes to outer space, joins the mob, and fights not only a squid monster and zombie dinosaurs, but also a choir of angels and a reanimated Ben Franklin. Sign me up!
Style—7
The witty assassin anti-hero character may not be the most original in the comic book pantheon, but the writing keeps getting better and better as it goes, while maintaining a level of consistency regarding the quirkier and more absurd aspects of the story. The art gets better as well, and each page is treated as its own work of art. Scud never falls into the trap of boring/repetitive layout.
General—8.33
It's a ton of fun, with some surprising twists, interesting characters, and more blood and firepower than a Quentin Tarantino movie. It's a little long, and definitely slow up front, but it's worth it in the end. I'd say it's a winner.
Overall—7.72
Keep reading, Genoshans!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (Dave Eggers)
I'm a day late, but only because I was out of town. I'm still counting this as regularly scheduled.
Synopsis
I need to stop reading nonfiction. I loved this book, and think that, while not perfect, it is a stunning depiction of the insanity that accompanies everyday life, but a lot was lost on me as a reader who generally doesn't take to nonfiction as strongly as fiction or poetry. See, this is a memoir by a young man who lost both of his parents to cancer just before he finished college, and who then had to take care of his seven-year old brother. That's the synopsis, but it tells you almost nothing about this book. Dave Eggers basically just speaks to the reader—and sometimes himself—for 400 pages, and it's great. It's refreshing, it's honest, it's down to earth. During the acknowledgments, which are hilarious and prelude the book very well, Eggers actually tells readers to think of the book as a work of fiction if it makes it easier for them, or if they don't like reading nonfiction. I liked that suggestion, it being one of the many instances that Eggers breaks the fourth wall and is hyper self aware, but despite how good most of the writing is, it doesn't exactly work that way. The writing is remarkable, phenomenal, keeps you so engaged. Every time you begin to pull back from the story a little, or think something is a little contrived, a little absurd, Eggers agrees, and remarks on how contrived and absurd the situation is, how he doesn't believe it himself, how he's probably remembering incorrectly or possibly even lying. The voice of the narrator is astonishingly conversational, but in the end, that's almost one of the problems. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is fresh, it's wonderful, it's all these amazing things, but to be honest it also gets kinda boring. There were parts of this book where Dave Eggers was blowing my mind with how aware he was of what I was thinking, where my head was in terms of his writing, the story, the characters. I couldn't believe how accurate he could be. But there were other times when I honestly didn't really care at all, and only kept reading out of a dull sense of curiosity, not wanting to drop it in case there was some mesmerizing ending I'd be missing. There are times when Eggers is so honest that you almost hate him, and think that he really is a horrible person, and how can he treat his brother that way, which I think takes a lot of guts and a great deal of skill, but in a memoir, with no real plot, no real direction, it can leave the reader without any sense of why they're reading.
I enjoyed this book immensely. The things about it that were good were soooooooo good, but it took me a while to read, not because I didn't want to, but because it was so anecdotal. It jumps back and forth between time and location and mindset and all of these real things that the mind does while a person is driving along the Pacific Coast Highway so excited to play frisbee at the beach but what if we just drive off this cliff and I think we would make it we would probably make it just climb out the car windows and jump right before we hit the water but if we didn't make it what would happen and would a lot of people come to my funeral? would Sarah come to my funeral? oh man Sarah is so hot I should call her what a catch she was I haven't seen her since my mom died. Four hundred pages of that is easy to put down sometimes. And it's hard because there isn't always a real reason to pick the book back up. There are so many emotions, so many things to connect to, so many real moments, but I never found myself thinking, "I can't wait to get back to that book and find out what happens next!" Maybe that's just the product of it being a memoir, but I feel like memoirs can still have plot, drive, direction, story arcs. Life has story arcs sometimes. A big part of the book is the fact that Dave and his brother don't really have all that much to do. They're free. It's not a road trip book, or a story of self-discovery and overcoming tremendous adversity, or fulfilling one's dreams. It's a story about getting by, and how the author felt about getting by. Again, this might just be my reaction as someone who isn't a huge fan of nonfiction, and I did enjoy this book, I highly recommend it for a number of reasons, but I was expecting a little bit more than a unique and erratic narrator. It slows down a lot as you go further and further in and things begin to be repeated. Motives blur, characters jumble together, gain and lose significance. In this way it truly is evocative of real life, since you never really know what's going to happen, or who is still going to be important to you five years down the line, and I applaud that kind of truthfulness, but I wanted to see more of a journey, and I didn't get that.
Rating
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
by Dave Eggers
Story—6.5
We never really get to connect with any of the characters. Some recur, some don't, and we never get a good feel as to why. There's a lot of "we've been friends forever" but never any reason why certain people are more important than others. Some of the characters that are present throughout the entire book are never even described, just introduced by name and then referenced repeatedly.
Style—9.2
So ridiculously original to me. Maybe someone else has written a memoir that's this erratic, this true to life, this close to the way I feel the human mind tends to work, but I've never seen it. I have to give Eggers credit for the strength of his ability to write brilliant narration.
General—7
Some people are going to think this is the most incredible book ever written. Some are going to think it's self-serving garbage. I can understand where both are coming from, but am myself stuck somewhere in the middle. It had its strengths, it had its weaknesses. A solid effort.
Overall—7.57
If you have any suggestions or requests for books to be reviewed, or would like to write a guest review yourself, remember you can always email me at bpmcgackin@gmail.com, subject line "TDG: Review Suggestion" or "TDG: Guest Reviewer." I would love to get more people involved and see what the rest of the world thinks about some of these books!
Synopsis
I need to stop reading nonfiction. I loved this book, and think that, while not perfect, it is a stunning depiction of the insanity that accompanies everyday life, but a lot was lost on me as a reader who generally doesn't take to nonfiction as strongly as fiction or poetry. See, this is a memoir by a young man who lost both of his parents to cancer just before he finished college, and who then had to take care of his seven-year old brother. That's the synopsis, but it tells you almost nothing about this book. Dave Eggers basically just speaks to the reader—and sometimes himself—for 400 pages, and it's great. It's refreshing, it's honest, it's down to earth. During the acknowledgments, which are hilarious and prelude the book very well, Eggers actually tells readers to think of the book as a work of fiction if it makes it easier for them, or if they don't like reading nonfiction. I liked that suggestion, it being one of the many instances that Eggers breaks the fourth wall and is hyper self aware, but despite how good most of the writing is, it doesn't exactly work that way. The writing is remarkable, phenomenal, keeps you so engaged. Every time you begin to pull back from the story a little, or think something is a little contrived, a little absurd, Eggers agrees, and remarks on how contrived and absurd the situation is, how he doesn't believe it himself, how he's probably remembering incorrectly or possibly even lying. The voice of the narrator is astonishingly conversational, but in the end, that's almost one of the problems. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is fresh, it's wonderful, it's all these amazing things, but to be honest it also gets kinda boring. There were parts of this book where Dave Eggers was blowing my mind with how aware he was of what I was thinking, where my head was in terms of his writing, the story, the characters. I couldn't believe how accurate he could be. But there were other times when I honestly didn't really care at all, and only kept reading out of a dull sense of curiosity, not wanting to drop it in case there was some mesmerizing ending I'd be missing. There are times when Eggers is so honest that you almost hate him, and think that he really is a horrible person, and how can he treat his brother that way, which I think takes a lot of guts and a great deal of skill, but in a memoir, with no real plot, no real direction, it can leave the reader without any sense of why they're reading.
I enjoyed this book immensely. The things about it that were good were soooooooo good, but it took me a while to read, not because I didn't want to, but because it was so anecdotal. It jumps back and forth between time and location and mindset and all of these real things that the mind does while a person is driving along the Pacific Coast Highway so excited to play frisbee at the beach but what if we just drive off this cliff and I think we would make it we would probably make it just climb out the car windows and jump right before we hit the water but if we didn't make it what would happen and would a lot of people come to my funeral? would Sarah come to my funeral? oh man Sarah is so hot I should call her what a catch she was I haven't seen her since my mom died. Four hundred pages of that is easy to put down sometimes. And it's hard because there isn't always a real reason to pick the book back up. There are so many emotions, so many things to connect to, so many real moments, but I never found myself thinking, "I can't wait to get back to that book and find out what happens next!" Maybe that's just the product of it being a memoir, but I feel like memoirs can still have plot, drive, direction, story arcs. Life has story arcs sometimes. A big part of the book is the fact that Dave and his brother don't really have all that much to do. They're free. It's not a road trip book, or a story of self-discovery and overcoming tremendous adversity, or fulfilling one's dreams. It's a story about getting by, and how the author felt about getting by. Again, this might just be my reaction as someone who isn't a huge fan of nonfiction, and I did enjoy this book, I highly recommend it for a number of reasons, but I was expecting a little bit more than a unique and erratic narrator. It slows down a lot as you go further and further in and things begin to be repeated. Motives blur, characters jumble together, gain and lose significance. In this way it truly is evocative of real life, since you never really know what's going to happen, or who is still going to be important to you five years down the line, and I applaud that kind of truthfulness, but I wanted to see more of a journey, and I didn't get that.
Rating
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
by Dave Eggers
Story—6.5
We never really get to connect with any of the characters. Some recur, some don't, and we never get a good feel as to why. There's a lot of "we've been friends forever" but never any reason why certain people are more important than others. Some of the characters that are present throughout the entire book are never even described, just introduced by name and then referenced repeatedly.
Style—9.2
So ridiculously original to me. Maybe someone else has written a memoir that's this erratic, this true to life, this close to the way I feel the human mind tends to work, but I've never seen it. I have to give Eggers credit for the strength of his ability to write brilliant narration.
General—7
Some people are going to think this is the most incredible book ever written. Some are going to think it's self-serving garbage. I can understand where both are coming from, but am myself stuck somewhere in the middle. It had its strengths, it had its weaknesses. A solid effort.
Overall—7.57
If you have any suggestions or requests for books to be reviewed, or would like to write a guest review yourself, remember you can always email me at bpmcgackin@gmail.com, subject line "TDG: Review Suggestion" or "TDG: Guest Reviewer." I would love to get more people involved and see what the rest of the world thinks about some of these books!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Agents of Atlas (Jeff Parker)
Ok, I know what you're thinking. "What kind of weekly book review doesn't review a book every week? Sheesh, Brian, get it together." Honestly? I agree with you. Lately, I've been more worried about reading specific books and then reviewing them, regardless of how long it takes me to finish them. Sometimes I finish a book a week. Sometimes I finish two books a week. Sometimes it takes me 3 or 4 weeks just to finish a single book, though, and that's been throwing off the review schedule like crazy. I say no more, ladies and gentlemen! From now on, I am going to review something, anything, every Friday. Rain or shine, Hell or high water, something will be reviewed. Most likely this is going to mean more comic books, since a big reason why the literature I read takes so long is because I read so many comics every week. But this might also include things like poems, articles I find and think are interesting, or anything else with words on it that comes across my desk. Hopefully these reviews keep everyone interested and coming back. If they don't, there will still be the literary reviews every time I finish a novel or memoir. Basically, this is win-win. The literary reviews aren't going to come out any faster than they normally would, but now at least there will be some filler reviews in between. And who knows, maybe some people will enjoy the comic book/article/poetry reviews better than the novel reviews!
Synopsis
So, this is an interesting little comic book. I'd read snippets of it here and there, but only recently took a look at the original limited series in its entirety (a new ongoing Agents of Atlas title has just started up, by the way, if you find this story/premise interesting). The story starts with Kenneth Hale, a.k.a. Gorilla-Man (self-explanatory), a member of the global peace-keeping task-force S.H.I.E.L.D., being interrogated by his superiors. Apparently, in the 1950s, Hale was part of a secret group of superhumans brought together by FBI agent Jimmy Woo to rescue a kidnapped President Eisenhower. The group was only together for a few months, and none of the members had had contact with each other in the fifty years since, but when Agent Woo is discovered on the brink of death with another team of agents after attempting to break into some mysterious "Temple of Atlas," Hale is brought in for questioning. After breaking Woo out of the infirmary with the help of robot M-11 and Marvel Boy, both members of the old team, Woo is revived and the whole team is put back together to stop some insidious plan by the diabolical Yellow Claw. Several spy-story adventures later, the big secret of their entire group is revealed, and the team is set on the course that will define them into the future.
Now, it all seems very comic book-y, and I admit, it is, but I think there's a time and a place where story's like this one can be truly appreciated. I wasn't familiar with Jeff Parker's work before now, but I might check into some other things he's written, because I liked this a lot. It wasn't the smartest, best, most original, anything like that, but it's a solid story. And I mean that in the absolute best way possible. This is pulp escapism at its most absurd, which is where those kinds of books really thrive. It's over-the-top, extremely unbelievable, and boasts a stable of some of the most memorable characters to hit the page that I've seen in a while. The team (which does not actually refer to themselves as the "Agents of Atlas" until the end of this storyline) consists of the aforementioned Gorilla-Man, Marvel Boy, M-11, and Jimmy Woo, representing the Nature/Adventure, space, sci-fi and spy genres, respectively, Venus, a former Siren whose voice can control the emotions and thoughts of others, representing the mythical genre, and Namora, a member of the Atlantean royalty, filling in for both the undersea/fantasy genre and to a certain extent the mainstream superhero genre. Again, I'd like to reiterate the pure escapist mentality that was written into this story. It's fun to read. Gorilla-Man makes stupid jokes and laughs every time Marvel Boy says that he's from Uranus. Venus runs around half naked singing show tunes to the villains. Jimmy Woo gives uplifting pep talks. If you go into this book thinking that you're going to find some secret, poetic meaning to your existence, good luck, maybe you'll find it, who knows. You WILL have a great time, though. It reminded me a lot of Edgar Rice Burroughs' writing, having aspects of both Tarzan and the John Carter of Mars series, if you've read either of those. Having read the initial limited series and enjoying the strong characters and fun, pulpy situations, I'm much more likely going to check out the new ongoing that's currently on stands at a comic book shop near you.
Rating
Agents of Atlas
by Jeff Parker
Story—7
Agents of Atlas isn't going to win the Nobel Prize for Literature any time soon, but it makes up for it by being bold and direct. If the fastest way for the team to get into a building is through a wall, they're not gonna keep looking for a door, they're busting through that wall.
Style—8.17
Pure, undiluted, fresh squeezed, pulp included. Sheer ridiculousness, so much fun.
General—8
It's a fun read, and, to me, that's the most important thing. I enjoyed this book a lot, and as long as you go into it with that intention, to have fun, I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed.
Overall—7.72
Thanks for putting up with the infrequency of the reviews of late. That will no longer be the case, so I hope you're looking forward to the regular weekly posts from now on!
Synopsis
So, this is an interesting little comic book. I'd read snippets of it here and there, but only recently took a look at the original limited series in its entirety (a new ongoing Agents of Atlas title has just started up, by the way, if you find this story/premise interesting). The story starts with Kenneth Hale, a.k.a. Gorilla-Man (self-explanatory), a member of the global peace-keeping task-force S.H.I.E.L.D., being interrogated by his superiors. Apparently, in the 1950s, Hale was part of a secret group of superhumans brought together by FBI agent Jimmy Woo to rescue a kidnapped President Eisenhower. The group was only together for a few months, and none of the members had had contact with each other in the fifty years since, but when Agent Woo is discovered on the brink of death with another team of agents after attempting to break into some mysterious "Temple of Atlas," Hale is brought in for questioning. After breaking Woo out of the infirmary with the help of robot M-11 and Marvel Boy, both members of the old team, Woo is revived and the whole team is put back together to stop some insidious plan by the diabolical Yellow Claw. Several spy-story adventures later, the big secret of their entire group is revealed, and the team is set on the course that will define them into the future.
Now, it all seems very comic book-y, and I admit, it is, but I think there's a time and a place where story's like this one can be truly appreciated. I wasn't familiar with Jeff Parker's work before now, but I might check into some other things he's written, because I liked this a lot. It wasn't the smartest, best, most original, anything like that, but it's a solid story. And I mean that in the absolute best way possible. This is pulp escapism at its most absurd, which is where those kinds of books really thrive. It's over-the-top, extremely unbelievable, and boasts a stable of some of the most memorable characters to hit the page that I've seen in a while. The team (which does not actually refer to themselves as the "Agents of Atlas" until the end of this storyline) consists of the aforementioned Gorilla-Man, Marvel Boy, M-11, and Jimmy Woo, representing the Nature/Adventure, space, sci-fi and spy genres, respectively, Venus, a former Siren whose voice can control the emotions and thoughts of others, representing the mythical genre, and Namora, a member of the Atlantean royalty, filling in for both the undersea/fantasy genre and to a certain extent the mainstream superhero genre. Again, I'd like to reiterate the pure escapist mentality that was written into this story. It's fun to read. Gorilla-Man makes stupid jokes and laughs every time Marvel Boy says that he's from Uranus. Venus runs around half naked singing show tunes to the villains. Jimmy Woo gives uplifting pep talks. If you go into this book thinking that you're going to find some secret, poetic meaning to your existence, good luck, maybe you'll find it, who knows. You WILL have a great time, though. It reminded me a lot of Edgar Rice Burroughs' writing, having aspects of both Tarzan and the John Carter of Mars series, if you've read either of those. Having read the initial limited series and enjoying the strong characters and fun, pulpy situations, I'm much more likely going to check out the new ongoing that's currently on stands at a comic book shop near you.
Rating
Agents of Atlas
by Jeff Parker
Story—7
Agents of Atlas isn't going to win the Nobel Prize for Literature any time soon, but it makes up for it by being bold and direct. If the fastest way for the team to get into a building is through a wall, they're not gonna keep looking for a door, they're busting through that wall.
Style—8.17
Pure, undiluted, fresh squeezed, pulp included. Sheer ridiculousness, so much fun.
General—8
It's a fun read, and, to me, that's the most important thing. I enjoyed this book a lot, and as long as you go into it with that intention, to have fun, I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed.
Overall—7.72
Thanks for putting up with the infrequency of the reviews of late. That will no longer be the case, so I hope you're looking forward to the regular weekly posts from now on!
Friday, March 6, 2009
The Year of Living Biblically (A.J. Jacobs)
I wanted to wait, I really did. I wanted to be able to tell you that The Year of Living Biblically, ANOTHER New York Times Bestseller, was an amazing book that I couldn't put down. I wanted to be able to tell you to go out and get this book, because Jacobs writes hilariously about an incredibly interesting topic, but I can't, and it kills me. I was so excited to read this book. I had so much hope for it, but it's taking me so long, and I've lost so much interest, that unfortunately this is going to be the historic FIRST FAILED BOOK. I just couldn't finish it, after weeks of trying (I still have six months of the biblical year to go).
A.J. Jacobs is also the author of another New York Times Bestseller, The Know-It-All, which is described on the cover as "One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World." The Year of Living Biblically is described on the cover as "One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible." So it's a totally different book, because in one he's reading the encyclopedia and talking about it, and in the other he's reading the Bible and talking about it.
Synopsis
As I mentioned, it says "One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible" right on the cover. That's pretty much the whole synopsis.
The end.
-----
Just kidding. Kinda. What the cover of the book doesn't tell you is that Jacobs is boring (he repeats himself, a lot), self-centered (he frequently talks about how much he Googles himself, so he might even be reading this right now. oops), and overall not a very talented writer. The book is allegedly set up chronologically, with each chapter being a different month of the year, but it tends to skip back and forth between stories that are happening in that month and stories that happened way earlier but just weren't mentioned. That's a good strategy if you're writing a narrative, with reveals and secrets and plot twists, but when you're writing a factual account of how you're coping on a day-to-day basis with this difficult task you've set for yourself, and then randomly jump back three months every once in a while, it doesn't make sense. Why didn't you just tell us then, A.J.? Another reason this book didn't really grab me is that there's no end in sight. He isn't really aspiring towards anything. He vaguely makes reference to looking forward to figuring out if maybe this experiment will possibly make him more spiritual or something, but that doesn't really give the reader any incentive to keep going. At best the book provides some mildly humorous anectodes, but it reads like a case study that's almost funny. I've honestly read descriptions of quantum physics with more personality (JourneyByStarlight, if you're interested).
Seriously, the whole year could have been summed up in one sentence with Jacobs just writing "It was awkward" on the first page. It's not funny enough to pull you through it, which is such a shame, because the situations and complications that come out of this experience are interesting and have the potential to be so compelling. It doesn't go anywhere, though. I hate to judge it so harshly when I haven't even finished the whole thing, but when it takes me almost a month to get only halfway through a 332-page book, something's not right. If you still think that the concept is thought-provoking enough to pique your interest, go right ahead and try it out. Maybe you'll have a better time with it than I did. I'm not the biggest fan of nonfiction in the world, but I've read some outstanding pieces (The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester, for example, which I highly recommend and might review some day). This is not one of those outstanding pieces, though.
Rating
The Year of Living Biblically
by A.J. Jacobs
Story—5.67
The only reason this got higher than a 5 is because the concept was so original. I was so excited to read this book, but it's boring, it really let me down.
Style—5.33
The chapters were months of your year. Okay, Jacobs, that's a neat way to separate time, make it easy for the reader. Too bad you didn't really follow that model throughout. Oh, and you're a bad writer.
General—3.33
So let's sum this all up:
-Bad writing
-Uninteresting main character
-No real goal beyond finishing the year
Yeah, sounds like a winner.
Overall—4.89
A.J. Jacobs is also the author of another New York Times Bestseller, The Know-It-All, which is described on the cover as "One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World." The Year of Living Biblically is described on the cover as "One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible." So it's a totally different book, because in one he's reading the encyclopedia and talking about it, and in the other he's reading the Bible and talking about it.
Synopsis
As I mentioned, it says "One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible" right on the cover. That's pretty much the whole synopsis.
The end.
-----
Just kidding. Kinda. What the cover of the book doesn't tell you is that Jacobs is boring (he repeats himself, a lot), self-centered (he frequently talks about how much he Googles himself, so he might even be reading this right now. oops), and overall not a very talented writer. The book is allegedly set up chronologically, with each chapter being a different month of the year, but it tends to skip back and forth between stories that are happening in that month and stories that happened way earlier but just weren't mentioned. That's a good strategy if you're writing a narrative, with reveals and secrets and plot twists, but when you're writing a factual account of how you're coping on a day-to-day basis with this difficult task you've set for yourself, and then randomly jump back three months every once in a while, it doesn't make sense. Why didn't you just tell us then, A.J.? Another reason this book didn't really grab me is that there's no end in sight. He isn't really aspiring towards anything. He vaguely makes reference to looking forward to figuring out if maybe this experiment will possibly make him more spiritual or something, but that doesn't really give the reader any incentive to keep going. At best the book provides some mildly humorous anectodes, but it reads like a case study that's almost funny. I've honestly read descriptions of quantum physics with more personality (JourneyByStarlight, if you're interested).
Seriously, the whole year could have been summed up in one sentence with Jacobs just writing "It was awkward" on the first page. It's not funny enough to pull you through it, which is such a shame, because the situations and complications that come out of this experience are interesting and have the potential to be so compelling. It doesn't go anywhere, though. I hate to judge it so harshly when I haven't even finished the whole thing, but when it takes me almost a month to get only halfway through a 332-page book, something's not right. If you still think that the concept is thought-provoking enough to pique your interest, go right ahead and try it out. Maybe you'll have a better time with it than I did. I'm not the biggest fan of nonfiction in the world, but I've read some outstanding pieces (The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester, for example, which I highly recommend and might review some day). This is not one of those outstanding pieces, though.
Rating
The Year of Living Biblically
by A.J. Jacobs
Story—5.67
The only reason this got higher than a 5 is because the concept was so original. I was so excited to read this book, but it's boring, it really let me down.
Style—5.33
The chapters were months of your year. Okay, Jacobs, that's a neat way to separate time, make it easy for the reader. Too bad you didn't really follow that model throughout. Oh, and you're a bad writer.
General—3.33
So let's sum this all up:
-Bad writing
-Uninteresting main character
-No real goal beyond finishing the year
Yeah, sounds like a winner.
Overall—4.89
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