Review: In Cold Blood

I must admit that I approached this novel with many a bias and preconceived notion. I was curious about the claims that the author, Truman Capote, had created a new type of book-- the nonfiction novel.

Let's use a word nerd alert to get down to the marrow of those two words:

nonfiction |nänˈfik sh ən|

prose writing that is based on facts, real events, and real people, such as biography or history.-and-novel |ˈnävəl|a fictitious prose narrative of book length, typically representing character and action with some degree of realism.

How can a novel which is by definition a fictitious tale with realistic leanings be nonfiction? Can one possibly glean enough fact, setting, character descriptions, and plot to flesh out an entire novel worth reading? I suspected not.So how do I feel now that I have read the book? I have several thoughts... here a  few.The tone of the novel is journalistic in nature with a sympathetic overtone interwoven towards the victims -- and also the killers. I'll admit that this was off putting for me. The title for the book is a duplicitous moniker. "In Cold Blood" refers to the way the Clutter family was brutally murdered, but it also reflects the opinion of the author regarding the judicial treatment and sentencing of the murderers Perry Smith and Dick Hickok. When reading a book about a horrific mass murder, one does not expect to cultivate tender feelings for the people holding the guns. And yet, Capote tries his darnedest to incite empathy for the tough, neglected, even abusive past of these two individuals.
A greasy, charming, sticky fingered ladies man -- Hickok is always at the ready with a dirty joke and a hot check. He is apparently ashamed of his tendency to rape young adolescent girls, but that doesn't seem to impede his impulse to do it... several times. He is classified as knowing right from wrong, but due to a car crash that could possibly have damaged his brain-- he now only lives on his impulses with no thought for the consequences. His parents are present but poor. 
Perry Smith has a troubled past to be sure. His parents --former rodeo performers turned cross country impoverished gypsies-- separate after his mother turns to alcohol to assuage her anxiety. After a particularly bad fight, the mother sweeps off with the children. The father does very little to reclaim his children over the years. The mother finally drinks herself to death, but not before turning all of her children over to the state. Perry's sisters and older brother are reprimanded to an orphanage. Perry has a horrific experience at a catholic institution where a nun tortures him for wetting the bed. He later begins to act out his aggression and is sent to some sort of detention center where he is again abused. He becomes ill and hospitalized --only then does his father find him and take him in. (But they have a tumultuous relationship that ends in Perry nearly killing his father and abandoning him for the merchant marines.) Perry's character is the oddest combination of an uneducated intelligent poet type with an unchecked thinly veiled murderous rage. His demeanor is disarming, his crippled physicality mollifying, his internal dialogue is haunting. He truly scares me. A shrouded menace that beguiles it's prey into believing itself nurtured and safe...

Capote also gives us some psychiatric jargon to back up his feelings that these two praire-billy slaying thieves were simply overly vilified mentally inept victims themselves. However, this doesn't ring true-- with this reader at least. They had hard lives, physical and emotional trauma, and yet I couldn't find it in my heart to leap on the weep wagon for them after reading the descriptions --personal interview descriptions-- of what they meticulously did to the entire Clutter family. I will not go into those details here, but the level of callus premeditated apathy for human life is appalling.
The book is well written and does softly tread the line of novel and fact. I believe there to be several embellishments but none that detract from the horror or heart of the story set before you. I was held captive, suffered, and was sentenced along with the characters in the story. To put it lightly, I was enthralled and would read many a more book written in this style.
This book was a heavy hitter, and the actual facts made it that much more serious and engaging. I rate this book a 4 because I haven't stopped thinking about it since I put it down.

Review of The Yellow Wallpaper

I, personally, am a wusspuss when it comes to scary stories, but in keeping with the honor code of our book club, I read this one.  (Quickly, at night, and alone in bed) That wasn't exactly to keep the code, but it did do weird things to my dreams...

The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman is more of a psychological narative than a ghost story. It is short and to the point written in a series of journal entires following the prescribed secluded and deluded life of a wife suffering from a nervous condition as she is sequestered in a hideous nursery with some unsavory wall decor. And that is all I am going to say... Doesn't sound thought provoking? You'd be wrong. Doesn't sound like a much of a thought provoker? You'd be mistaken. And I'll go as far as to say, you'd be remiss in not reading this story immediately because I need to talk it out with someone -- anyone. Please.

 I read it in 15 minutes, and thought about for 2 days after that. I'd say that is a good story. Like oatmeal-- it sticks to your ribs, invades your mental revelry and has you asking questions. I even went back to reread some parts to make sure I didn't miss something. In short, it is wackadoo tale that details sticky mind trickery madness spiral of an isolated individual.


Read and let's discuss!
On the stocking scale I give it a four for Darned Good. It was thought provoking, discussion inducing literary candy as far as I am concerned! And at 6,000 words it's a story short enough for any reader.

Review of Gameland: The Ultimate in Undead Fiction

My heart is pounding, my eyes are wide, and the first utterance I made after finishing this episode was, "Unbelievable!"

I am now a zombie convert. Prior to this amazing story, I was the girl who would shy away from the realm of horror books and films. If coerced into consuming these works, I merely caught glimpses of terror between my shielding fingers. This story has changed me.

A tale of a post-apocalyptic future where the IU (infected undead) have been first quarantined into submission and then enlisted into a variety of servitude, Gameland follows a group of youthful albeit gifted rebels with a penchant for all things technological. Jessica and her friends embark on a final and ill-fated summer adventure into the forbidden zone of Long Island chockfull of shocking surprises including a few encounters with zombies.  

Tanpepper's writing is sharply succinct- thrusting the reader into the fast paced thrilling scenes with amazing control over detail and dialogue. Creating a new genre of episodic made for TV stories that leave the reader gasping for more; Tanpepper had me sitting up and taking notice from the first few lines. This is an author to follow! I cannot wait to read the upcoming stories!

A rare 5 stars folks a commendable read for young adults, and that is a lot coming from me! J

Review: Between Boyfriends (Not what you think...)

Okay. I am going to go out on a literary limb here and make a confession.

My name is Jessica, and I have read romance novels. (GASP-all caps for loud gasping)

And for those of you shaking your head and judging me from your high & mighty cultured horse, I have a quick statement. Unless you are an ostrich - and kudos on the whole reading thing if you are - you cannot tell me that you haven't seen such films as The Notebook, Titanic, Casablanca, (insert classic chick flick of your preferential choice). If you have even merely caught reruns on TV of these while folding laundry, you - my friend - have basically read a romance novel albeit using someone else's imagination. And to that I say, "J'accuse!" on count of hypocrisy.

This small confession has nothing to do with my review, other than to tell you, this book is not a romance novel. :) It comes from a genre that I was not acquainted with prior to this novel. The illusive genre of chick lit. (No, this is no vending machine gum.)

It is defined as such:
 Chick lit is genre fiction which addresses issues of modern womanhood, often humorously and lightheartedly. The genre became popular in the late 1990s, with chick lit titles topping bestseller lists and the creation of imprints devoted entirely to chick lit. Although it sometimes includes romantic elements, chick lit is generally not considered a direct subcategory of the romance novel genre, because the heroine's relationship with her family or friends is often just as important as her romantic relationships. 

Thank you Wikipedia for clearing that up. :)


Now on to my review of Between Boyfriends by Sarka-Jonae Miller.

Jan Weston is about to receive a hard knock that she wasn't expecting. Entitled, selfish, pretentious, and manipulative - Jan finds herself suddenly single, disowned by her family, cut off from her familial line of credit, and a nuisance to her so called friends. What's a girl to do? Can Jan survive getting a job, paying for school, living on oatmeal, wearing last year's fashions all while swearing off men? Between Boyfriends follows Jan through her hard fall to reality and rise to self reliance. Jan takes it all on the chin and keeps on swinging for the fences. 

The book is a well written exploratory view into the life and inner machinations of a drama riddled juvenile group of girls. And while the exhibition is spotless, it smacks more of spectacle than of spectacular. I had an excruciating time trying to relate to the main character - hating her pity parties, drunken binges, and temper tantrums. She was sophomoric, and the more that happened to her the less I cared about what else might happen to her.

This feeling of apathy didn't last the entire book. By the end, I was glad that Jan had found her sea legs and was off to start her own adventure. But I don't think that the end completely redeems the story. And here's why: some of her issues, that the author wraps up in tiny little bows of success stories, aren't actually fully addressed. Jan's relationship with her parents is a doozy, and cutting her back into the will - doesn't exactly translate to healthy boundaries or healing.

I felt like too much time was spent in laying out the minutia of Jan's problems (social and otherwise) - that the solutions were mere flashes in the pan to glaze us on to the happy ending with the bowing and the skipping. The book just wasn't the lighthearted look at college angst that I thought it was. When you pull out heavy hitters like emotional neglect and abuse, I expect some concrete resolution.

All in all, I give the book a 3 for standard stock. I truly enjoyed the writing style of the author and would be happy to read future works. :)

Review: Death and Taxes

Have you ever wondered how everyday life - history, violence, and environmental negligence - weighs on the immortal mind of Death himself? Death and Taxes by Simon Whitmore is a droll look behind the veil of eternity into the inner-workings of the mind of the Grim Reaper. Spurned to striking off  his duty to ferry souls to judgement (largely due to a mayan miscalculation of Doom's Day), Thanatos (WORD NERD ALERT- this is the Freudian term for the death instinct) decides to take some time to himself. The only problem is that while he's on holiday... someone else decides to try on the cowl and scythe. How are people dying when death is on vacation?

Whitmore's writing is clever and succinct. His use of imagery, word play, and pop culture weave together to form a reality where the supernatural not only observes the "normals", but they also have a part to play. There are few if any immortals sitting out on the bench with such heavy hitters as St. Peter, Persephone, Gabriel, the Ferry Man, and the Lord himself making appearances. The question is which divine is  attempting to replace Thanatos? Whitmore has us suspecting them all.


I am particularly fond of his personification of Death. Whitmore fleshes out the Angel of Death's bones with a penchant for humorous expletives (My favorite was, "Great rancid apples of discord."), a passion for Lepidopterology (the study of butterflies), and an all around cantankerous attitude toward humanity and their basic disregard for the sanctity and innate beauty of the Earth.

This is Richmond from The IT Crowd, but you get the idea. Death with flesh. :)

However, Whitmore doesn't leave Death as the unchanging, unavoidable partner to taxes. We see Thanatos grow to appreciate and understand humanity through his relationship with a young boy. Already a card in Thanatos' inbox, the boy should have been taken but is spared due to Death's unexpected hiatus. Through him Death comes to say, "You taught me how to live - or at least to appreciate the beauty of life, and not just its flora and fauna. It's difficult for me in this position you know, but I'd like to thank you."

Well written, charming, and full of logic and lore- Death and Taxes is worth perusing for those who like a little intrigue and endearment along with their dose of demise.

On the bluestocking scale, I rate this book a 4 for Darned Good.

Posting in Repose...

Whew. I must admit that I took a brief --but well deserved-- reading hiatus after my seafaring sprint through Melville's Moby Dick. My noodle was well and truly baked, and since I do all of my reading on my Kindle, I decide we both needed a respite to recharge our batteries.

I have joined a fun group of authors and reviewers on Facebook. I have already compiled a list of books to read and review which means I am book-rich instead of book-bankrupt at the moment. Through this group, I have already snagged my next read, Death and Taxes written by Simon Whitmore. Just picked it up, and I am already digging the author's voice and imagery.

So here is a snippet (or two) that I really enjoyed so far:


"The aperture of the heavy cowl, where the face should be, showed nothing but blackness, a bottomless pit of pitch. If there was a face in there, then none of the three men could see it. Faceless?"
Whitmore, Simon (2012-04-27). Death and Taxes (Kindle Locations 114-116). SDW. Kindle Edition. 


Death may be faceless, but he isn't nameless-

"The message from Thanatos was clear: Death had visited you, Death had taken you. It was now time to be judged."
Whitmore, Simon (2012-04-27). Death and Taxes (Kindle Locations 226-227). SDW. Kindle Edition. 



Shiver me timbers! A window into the person, persona, and personality of the Grim (or not so grim, we'll soon find out) reaper... This is going to be a good book!

Review: Moby Dick One Whale of a Tale

The radio made its grand appearance in 1895; the television coming along after that in 1929. Before these more modern forms of entertainment, books were king, being mass produced and widely distributed as early as 1454. And Herman Melville's Moby Dick: or, The White Whale is the king of books written for the king of whales (Whales as in sperm whale, not whales as in well -- the country Wales: a part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain.)


"Oh, the rare old Whale, mid storm and gale    
In his ocean home will be    
A giant in might, where might is right,      
And King of the boundless sea."   —WHALE SONG.

The journey of the Pequod

Brief:
Moby Dick is the tale of a man so consumed with vengeance, eaten up with hatred and driven by madness that he goes to whatever ends of the earth, exhausts all possible means, and sacrifices many on the alter of his passion in the pursuit of the infamous Moby Dick. Read aloud this book unlocks it's many secrets and subtle tones. To quote Jim Henson," When people told themselves their past with stories, explained their present with stories, foretold the future with stories, the best place by the fire was kept for... The Storyteller."(My husband enjoy hearing this book read voices and all by yours truly.) The tale is told by a man who bids us call him Ishmael, a newly ordained whaler off on his first voyage -- what a trip that turned out to be!


Melville uses his nautical knowhow and grasp on whaling vernacular to paint some beautiful maritime images. In this book, Melville hopes to illuminate the many darkened corners of everyday life aboard a whaling ship, a feat not many have had the opportunity to experience. (I was surprised by some of the goings on. Who would blaze a forge aboard a wooden boat in the middle of the ocean? Doesn't seem wisdom to me.) His tale is a fish tale told by a witness, too big to be believed, but too thrilling not to pass along. Chock full of tantalizing foreshadowing, exquisite imagery, lofty questions that harken even to the foundations of the universe: it is no surprise that this is a classic and should remain so for some time to come.


In Depth:
Written in 1851, Moby Dick didn't come into notoriety until much later, the 1920's, in fact. However, I don't believe that a work of genius loses its luster simply by being looked over for a few dusty decades. Moby Dick was still the peculiarly good book then that it is now, even without the recognition. 


The reason for this neglect is summed up in a critic's review upon the novel's release:
       
 "This is an ill-compounded mixture of romance and matter-of-fact. The idea of a connected and collected story has obviously visited and abandoned its writer again and again in the course of composition. The style of his tale is in places disfigured by mad (rather than bad) English; and its catastrophe is hastily, weakly, and obscurely managed."-Henry F. Chorley, in London Athenaeum, October 25 1851


Ouch, that is a harsh but not entirely inaccurate review.
 Here's how:
1.The book is a hodgepodge of the epically awesome thrilling narrative of a vindictive whaling revenge story gone awry, AND it's a not so accurate antiquated whaleology (Cetology is the technical term, but you know...) dissertation.


And I know what you're thinking..."OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet." And along with Rudyard Kipling you'd be right. Who would have thought of mixing science and fiction? (snicker, snicker... sorry) I am of course meaning literal science or at least the preconceived notions on whales from the time period . Moby Dick contains a wealth of knowledge and first hand whaling experience from Melville's life, but he doesn't just write it into Ishmael's tale. It is splattered haphazardly throughout the book educating the reader while disrupting the flow and pacing of the story. 


This is... well it's distracting, and well, it's infuriating! The story builds. As a reader, you are getting keyed in and keyed up. Then -- WHAM! Let's pause for this PSA on the differing types of twine used on whaling ships with an additional three pages on the species of whales this book is NOT about.

More whaling, less waxing on whaling, please!

From what I have gleaned about the book, it was not the current writing style of the times to marry fact with a tale of fiction -- however, woeful and whaleful it may be. But as much as it is a detriment to my attention span, this odd writing style also strokes my inner nerd and evokes my intellectual yearnings. I found myself continually questioning his information. Googling about whales -- heck, I even watched Blue Planet for some additional information. 


2. Now we come to the mad English bit. Melville uses either some extreme creative license or some heavily buried nautical colloquialisms to further embellish his maritime account. There are words in this book that only a sailor at sea cut off from civilization could conjure up. I remember looking at some words, and searching for them with my Kindle's dictionary. I cannot begin to relay the frustration that the phrase "No entries found" causes me now.  It had me continually worried I wasn't understanding the story as it was meant to be understood.


But beyond all this wordage and pacing, the story of Captain Ahab is intensely engaging. Long before you meet the whale (He doesn't make an appearance till the last 3 chapters out of 135...), you know things aren't going to go well for the captain or his crew. And it is these early portentous notions, that have you flat flying to the end of the book. You just have to know if Captain Ahab has his retribution or if the white whale exacts yet more torments on the already tortured commander.


On the Stocking Scale, I give it a 4 for Darned Good. It is looooooong, and takes a commitment to read, but I don't believe you'll regret the decision in the end. And should you want to skip the whaling tutorial and get down to the gritty tale itself, well -- read the abridged version.