The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
I'm struggling to find a way to properly characterize this book. Perhaps Neil himself said it best: It's an adult story told by a child. It's very hard to talk about this book without going into great detail as a literary criticism because the story really lends itself to that. I attended the release/book signing of it at Symphony Space in Manhattan, and it was an interesting night, to say the least.
I'd like to say that Neil is an absolute doll and I would do it again anytime as long as I could get a seat in the first 10 rows. Book signings take quite a while.
Back to the book itself. It's a story told as a memory back to when the narrator was a young boy and chronicles a short period of his life. During this time he sees a lot of terrible, eerie, supernatural things, and defeats them with the help of a friendly young girl named Lettie Hemstock.
The book is masterfully written, with just the right amount of everything. The introduction with the adult protagonist falling into memory, the thoughts and concerns of the boy, the change in him as things get more dire, and finally the disjointed ending as everything comes together. You can tell that Mr. Gaiman poured a lot of himself into this story and created something that you are meant to view as an allegory.
Because in a review you can't really dig deep into the storyline itself and I'm dieing to do a short critcism of the work, I'll be publishing a link to another post right after this. As far as the review goes, however, buy this book, read it, and really think about what is happening. This story happens on two levels, and it would be a shame to miss either of them.
Showing posts with label Book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book. Show all posts
June 29, 2013
January 1, 2013
Day 1 - 100 Day Meditation Challenge
Happy new year!
As part of my self-improvement for 2013 I decided to try meditating, and what better way to do so then to challenge myself to a 100 day stretch with some strangers over the internet. I’m joined up with some other meditators via Google Groups 100 Day Meditation Challenge.
I’ve had a few false start meditation plans before that generally resulted in twice a week attempts for a week or two in a row but it always falls off. I think that with this regiment and taking it slow I can really finally escape the rut.
Without further ado:
Length: 10 minutes (timed)
Start: 8:50am
Experience:
I wake up and before I’m really completely together I grab a pillow and place it in front of a window in my girlfriend’s apartment. I’d prefer to meditate here because it’s quieter but I don’t live here so I want to make the most of a nice start. My mind is turbulent. Small sounds distract me. I try to remember the things I learned from reading about Vipassana meditation in Mindfulness in Plain English.
I hear my girlfriend moving inside and wonder if she’ll come out, how I’ll handle it if she wants to talk, and recognize fleetingly that I should be trying to understand why I’m preparing for a thing that hasn’t happened. I think about writing this, and wonder if anyone will be interested, then try to forget it again. I don’t remember having this much of an issue when attempting meditation in the past, but now I’m wondering if I was just ignoring the stream of thoughts that I’m tapped into now.
It’s never ending, thoughts of selfishness, pride, curiosity, worry, it’s all connected in this web. I return repeatedly to the feeling of my breath coming in and going out of my nose. It feels like a crescent on my left nostril, and helps me picture a moon. That keeps me occupied and is one of the few moments throughout the experience that I’m not busy concerning myself with things I don’t need to be thinking about.
Closing thoughts: The morning is a good time to aim for because it gives me ‘make up time’ if I miss it. I’m not really as peaceful as I thought. At least I can see it all and become more aware of it.
As part of my self-improvement for 2013 I decided to try meditating, and what better way to do so then to challenge myself to a 100 day stretch with some strangers over the internet. I’m joined up with some other meditators via Google Groups 100 Day Meditation Challenge.
I’ve had a few false start meditation plans before that generally resulted in twice a week attempts for a week or two in a row but it always falls off. I think that with this regiment and taking it slow I can really finally escape the rut.
Without further ado:
Day 1
Length: 10 minutes (timed)
Start: 8:50am
Experience:
I wake up and before I’m really completely together I grab a pillow and place it in front of a window in my girlfriend’s apartment. I’d prefer to meditate here because it’s quieter but I don’t live here so I want to make the most of a nice start. My mind is turbulent. Small sounds distract me. I try to remember the things I learned from reading about Vipassana meditation in Mindfulness in Plain English.
I hear my girlfriend moving inside and wonder if she’ll come out, how I’ll handle it if she wants to talk, and recognize fleetingly that I should be trying to understand why I’m preparing for a thing that hasn’t happened. I think about writing this, and wonder if anyone will be interested, then try to forget it again. I don’t remember having this much of an issue when attempting meditation in the past, but now I’m wondering if I was just ignoring the stream of thoughts that I’m tapped into now.
It’s never ending, thoughts of selfishness, pride, curiosity, worry, it’s all connected in this web. I return repeatedly to the feeling of my breath coming in and going out of my nose. It feels like a crescent on my left nostril, and helps me picture a moon. That keeps me occupied and is one of the few moments throughout the experience that I’m not busy concerning myself with things I don’t need to be thinking about.
Closing thoughts: The morning is a good time to aim for because it gives me ‘make up time’ if I miss it. I’m not really as peaceful as I thought. At least I can see it all and become more aware of it.
August 23, 2012
Book Review: The Forever War
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
The Forever War is a classic scifi novella published in 1974. It chronicles the protagonist William Mandella, forever uninterested in military service, during his military career jumping through time due to relativity. Along with a member of his initial unit Marygay Potter, the story explores interesting social predictions and is primarily a reflection on the frustration and loss of 'normalcy' felt by veterans who return from war.
William is a young man at the start of the book who is drafted into the military service of an intellectually elite division of the army. They are being trained for war against a largely unknown civilization called the 'Taurians' who are believed to have destroyed several colony ships in distant places. Intergalactic travel has been discovered through the use of 'colapsars' which function like wormholes but cause a severe time dilation when you pass through them.
All of this is a set up for a scifi epic in which you see technology hopping forward in leaps and bounds, the endless catch-22s of military bureaucracy, and the resulting future shock that occurs. In one battle the Taurians are clearly not even aware there is a war, in the next they are advanced fifty years. The return to earth for the surviving members of the initial division is heartbreaking as everything has changed and the way they lived is a distant memory with no one to understand their confusion. This is a loud and clear metaphor for the experience of Vietnam veterans returning from the war and becoming 'displaced' in our society.
This is a story for any scifi geek but especially for one who enjoys seeing social commentary and change as foretold by authors. The story becomes more heartbreaking as time goes on but at the core it's a simple story about war, love, and loss.
This is a must-read for the genre lover but will flop for most people, especially if you're unfamiliar with the ideas behind relativity or dislike science fiction in general.
The Forever War is a classic scifi novella published in 1974. It chronicles the protagonist William Mandella, forever uninterested in military service, during his military career jumping through time due to relativity. Along with a member of his initial unit Marygay Potter, the story explores interesting social predictions and is primarily a reflection on the frustration and loss of 'normalcy' felt by veterans who return from war.
William is a young man at the start of the book who is drafted into the military service of an intellectually elite division of the army. They are being trained for war against a largely unknown civilization called the 'Taurians' who are believed to have destroyed several colony ships in distant places. Intergalactic travel has been discovered through the use of 'colapsars' which function like wormholes but cause a severe time dilation when you pass through them.
All of this is a set up for a scifi epic in which you see technology hopping forward in leaps and bounds, the endless catch-22s of military bureaucracy, and the resulting future shock that occurs. In one battle the Taurians are clearly not even aware there is a war, in the next they are advanced fifty years. The return to earth for the surviving members of the initial division is heartbreaking as everything has changed and the way they lived is a distant memory with no one to understand their confusion. This is a loud and clear metaphor for the experience of Vietnam veterans returning from the war and becoming 'displaced' in our society.
This is a story for any scifi geek but especially for one who enjoys seeing social commentary and change as foretold by authors. The story becomes more heartbreaking as time goes on but at the core it's a simple story about war, love, and loss.
This is a must-read for the genre lover but will flop for most people, especially if you're unfamiliar with the ideas behind relativity or dislike science fiction in general.
July 12, 2012
Book Review: The Year of the Flood (Sequel to "Oryx and Crake")
"The Year of the Flood" by Margaret Atwood is the successor to "Oryx and Crake" and delivers a completely different experience; you won't be reading much about Snowman in this installment.
Instead it follows the lives of two characters much in the style of the first book, right before the plague rips through the earth and demolishes most human life. Both are members of the Gardener sect casually mentioned by Snowman in the first book and appear to be foils of one-another.
Once again Atwood took on the concept of perspective and time and played with them: pay careful attention at the beginning and end of chapters and you'll be fine. Being slingshot around like this is jarring, but I have a feeling it was intentional in order to create for the reader a sense of what living in this future utopia/dystopia as the last remaining would feel like; living day-to-day with the horror of memory to break up the monotony.
Atwood plays short games of tag with the characters and situations presented in "Oryx and Crake". You can tell Atwood wrote these books together or at least with the stories crossing in mind. Some of the previous aspects of the society that were left to the imagination before were dredged up and put to the forefront here, with cameos of the characters from the previous installment.
All in all it's another home run. This woman has got it! Unfortunately the next (and last) part of the trilogy has yet to be complete; she's planning a 2013 publish for "Maddaddam".
This is another must-read for science-fiction genre enthusiasts, and I implore others to do the same. Atwood's raising plenty of interesting questions in this new world, and morality plays a big part.
Instead it follows the lives of two characters much in the style of the first book, right before the plague rips through the earth and demolishes most human life. Both are members of the Gardener sect casually mentioned by Snowman in the first book and appear to be foils of one-another.
Once again Atwood took on the concept of perspective and time and played with them: pay careful attention at the beginning and end of chapters and you'll be fine. Being slingshot around like this is jarring, but I have a feeling it was intentional in order to create for the reader a sense of what living in this future utopia/dystopia as the last remaining would feel like; living day-to-day with the horror of memory to break up the monotony.
Atwood plays short games of tag with the characters and situations presented in "Oryx and Crake". You can tell Atwood wrote these books together or at least with the stories crossing in mind. Some of the previous aspects of the society that were left to the imagination before were dredged up and put to the forefront here, with cameos of the characters from the previous installment.
All in all it's another home run. This woman has got it! Unfortunately the next (and last) part of the trilogy has yet to be complete; she's planning a 2013 publish for "Maddaddam".
This is another must-read for science-fiction genre enthusiasts, and I implore others to do the same. Atwood's raising plenty of interesting questions in this new world, and morality plays a big part.
June 28, 2012
Book Review: Oryx and Crake
Minor spoilers in this review, nothing that will ruin the book though.
"Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood is an incredible piece of science fiction. I first encountered Margaret after reading "The Handmaiden's Tale" and never guessed from that she would end up writing one of my new favorite books. I can't wait to acquire the next book in this series.
This particular little work has all the mainstays of awesome scifi: New technologies that feel like they're just beyond our reach, the dystopia created by hubris, interesting characters and a wonderful narration. She even manages to make you care about despicable characters.
You follow a lone anti-hero character, 'Snowman', through his life in a series of flashbacks as he navigates the world after the fall.
As 'Snowman' aka Jimmy grows up you see him squander his intelligence while his friend Crake distances himself as his intellect propels him forward. There's plenty of references to classic scifi advances like gene splicing and eugenics, and the way that Atwood leverages these things is brilliant.
Interspersed with the flashbacks are glimpses into 2 incredibly diverse societies: the old world in which he grew up full of decadence and perversion and high technology, and short glimpses into a 'perfect' society created by the title character Crake after he joins a major biotech corporation.
I think this book would genuinely be enjoyed by a wide audience even those that aren't particularly inclined to science fiction. For science fiction fans, however, this is a must read!
"Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood is an incredible piece of science fiction. I first encountered Margaret after reading "The Handmaiden's Tale" and never guessed from that she would end up writing one of my new favorite books. I can't wait to acquire the next book in this series.
This particular little work has all the mainstays of awesome scifi: New technologies that feel like they're just beyond our reach, the dystopia created by hubris, interesting characters and a wonderful narration. She even manages to make you care about despicable characters.
You follow a lone anti-hero character, 'Snowman', through his life in a series of flashbacks as he navigates the world after the fall.
As 'Snowman' aka Jimmy grows up you see him squander his intelligence while his friend Crake distances himself as his intellect propels him forward. There's plenty of references to classic scifi advances like gene splicing and eugenics, and the way that Atwood leverages these things is brilliant.
Interspersed with the flashbacks are glimpses into 2 incredibly diverse societies: the old world in which he grew up full of decadence and perversion and high technology, and short glimpses into a 'perfect' society created by the title character Crake after he joins a major biotech corporation.
I think this book would genuinely be enjoyed by a wide audience even those that aren't particularly inclined to science fiction. For science fiction fans, however, this is a must read!
June 25, 2012
Book Review: Ready Player One
"Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline is a quick read dystopian novella for the 80's-90's kids who've grown up and want a bit of nostalgia. Brimming with pop-culture references and trivia, the book really shines as a sort of YA crossover piece and is more of a candy read for adults who just want to lose themselves in a curious piece of fiction.
In it the protagonist Wade Owen Watts (WOW - get it?) is a poor kid from the new ghetto - vertically stacked trailer parks accessible by construction scaffolding - who is in the middle of a contest bequeathing the fortune of James Halloway to the first player to solve all of it's riddles. After years of no activity in the leaderboards he luckily uncovers the first piece and solves the puzzle, earning him a lot of celebrity and the enmity of a multinational corporation hell-bent on winning the prize.
The story grows from there in to a classic sort of hero's quest in both this virtual world and the real world. Wade has to deal with things on both fronts since this mega corporation is a force to be reckoned with. The government seems to be non-existant or powerless in the universe, and as such he must act as his own guardian, hacking and dodging the corp when he can (this is a less developed motif then the actual game world, no complaints there).
All in all the story was interesting, a fun romp and a good look in to a dystopian future world. The author poses some very interesting thoughts on how education and gaming in a virtual massive multiplayer RPG could be married together.
Unfortunately, the piece hinges on all the silly tropes of bland scifi including James Halloway, the socially inept developer of the MMO, the greasy unwashed and socially inept gamer, a series of deus ex machina that will make your head spin, and the power of teenage love. This is more of a thing that makes me sigh rather than a jab at the book which was well-written overall and fun.
If you're a fan of YA and/or Science Fiction I say go for it.
In it the protagonist Wade Owen Watts (WOW - get it?) is a poor kid from the new ghetto - vertically stacked trailer parks accessible by construction scaffolding - who is in the middle of a contest bequeathing the fortune of James Halloway to the first player to solve all of it's riddles. After years of no activity in the leaderboards he luckily uncovers the first piece and solves the puzzle, earning him a lot of celebrity and the enmity of a multinational corporation hell-bent on winning the prize.
The story grows from there in to a classic sort of hero's quest in both this virtual world and the real world. Wade has to deal with things on both fronts since this mega corporation is a force to be reckoned with. The government seems to be non-existant or powerless in the universe, and as such he must act as his own guardian, hacking and dodging the corp when he can (this is a less developed motif then the actual game world, no complaints there).
All in all the story was interesting, a fun romp and a good look in to a dystopian future world. The author poses some very interesting thoughts on how education and gaming in a virtual massive multiplayer RPG could be married together.
Unfortunately, the piece hinges on all the silly tropes of bland scifi including James Halloway, the socially inept developer of the MMO, the greasy unwashed and socially inept gamer, a series of deus ex machina that will make your head spin, and the power of teenage love. This is more of a thing that makes me sigh rather than a jab at the book which was well-written overall and fun.
If you're a fan of YA and/or Science Fiction I say go for it.
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