Pimp: The Story of My Life Review

This has to be one of the most fascinating books that I've ever read. Pimp: The Story of my Life, by Iceberg Slim, is the autobiography of a man that was a pimp. Because of moves like "The Mack", "Pimps Up, Hoes Down", and the general pimp culture that seems to permeate everywhere, most people think they know about pimping.

This is just absolutely untrue. Iceberg Slim goes so far beyond just beating a woman. He explains how he actually takes and molds her mind in order to make as much money off her as possible. This is absolutely disgusting to read, and I find him repulsive. However, he knows how repulsive his acts were, and turned his life around.

What really kept me reading the novel was Slim's writing style. He knows how to weave together words and tell a story. He uses such lovely metaphors, and speaks truthfully. This book feels like I was sitting in a park, and began talking with someone about their life. His memory is a steel trap, and the details that he remembers lets me feel like I'm seeing it with him. Sometimes if it wasn't for the extensive vocabulary, and the high priced items, I wouldn't know that this story took place in the 1930s. If there are any issues with the language, the back of the book has a glossary, although I could have sworn a few of the words had multiple meanings.

I don't want to put anything from the book, but I can say that from the first page, he held me captive. I think there is a look inside feature, if not, you're just going to have to look on Amazon, or find a blog that gives previews and spoilers.

This is definitely an adult book with adult themes. It's not for people with multiple triggers, nor is it for people that can't stand to read the objectification of women. He was as icy as his name implies, and it definitely shows in this. I'm actually curious to read more of his work; he's a fascinating person, and going from the world of easy money, easier women, and drugs flowing--to going straight (that is the only thing I'm giving away, and it's not even something I'm giving away because he says it right in the introduction to the book).

The Phantom of the Opera Review

I was trying to figure out what I wanted to read; it seemed like there was something in all of the books I've recently had that just made me...zone...out. After a time, I downloaded The Phantom of the Opera, and from the first page I knew that I was going to have a good time with it.

The book takes place in the Paris Opera house. I expected a traditional novel, but the story is instead written as if the author is reporting on a case from thirty years in the past, a mystery that involves death, and a supposed "Opera Ghost". Most people are probably familiar with the long standing play that's been on Broadway for ten thousand years, or the movie that was based on the play. I've seen most of the movie, and I've yet to see the play, but from what I know, there are a lot of differences and things that just could not have translated on stage easily.

When I started reading it, I was expecting something with incredibly difficult language or really crazy paragraphs (ex: Hunchback), but it's a very approachable story. It's a bit archaic, but not so much that you have to do a ton of work looking up definitions. Because the book is written as an article of sorts, there are footnotes, but they're not functioning in the digital copy. Maybe in a hard copy the footnotes are actually at the foot of the page.

From the moment I read the description of Christine Daae, I was worried I was running in to another stupid female character, I was pleasantly surprised to find that she had a brain in her head. She's a bit naive, but she didn't have the best education, something that is repeated a few times. The character that I had the biggest issue with was her love interest Raoul. I can't quite remember how he was in the play, but in the book, he thinks that she is cheating, and is most worried over whether she is a victim or a two timing floozy. He bounces back and forth between loving and pitying her to thinking she's spreading her pussy around to the Angel of Music. He even directly asks her guardian at one point "if she is still a good girl" translation: "has she given that cherry to anyone but me". That pissed me off; he really wouldn't have had anything to do with her if she had somehow fucked someone, then again, the characters were young and not the most worldly.

Unlike in the play, where the Opera Ghost is known as the Phantom, and see wearing that weird Africa shaped mask over half his face, the book has someone that has to wear a full face mask. Once when I was in elementary school, I read a child's adaptation of the book; it spoke a bit about the origin of the Opera Ghost, and they gave him a less tragic life. He is an incredibly tragic character. When Christine Daae describes meeting him, and how he was, I cried. I felt such a pain in my heart for what he went through. He wasn't just a creep who could sing that lived in the walls of the opera, he was a brilliant mind that was cursed to have a hideous face. Actually, I'm not sure that hideous is the right word for how he looked; I don't know if this counts as a spoiler (sorry if it is), but the Opera Ghost apparently looked like a living corpse. The only thing attractive about him (besides his talents and brilliants) was his voice. He had an amazing voice, and he treated others kindly, as long as they treated him kindly.

Although he is clearly the antagonist of the story, he's one of the most sympathetic antagonists that I've ever come across. He's batshit, yes, but one can't help but feel for him and his plight. He only wanted love, and that makes me want to cry even whilst typing. I felt a connection to him, as I do many tortured outcast artist characters.

The copy of the book that I have is a free download for Kindle users. Apparently it's the digital version of the original copy. There are little inserts that say a drawing should be there, but the drawing isn't there, a bit of a disappointment, but I lived. There weren't too many words I didn't know, and the ones that didn't have a definition in my dictionary had a definition given to it by the author.

From a little bit of research I just did, the book isn't that popular, and has been out of print before. There are quite a few movie and stage adaptations, but one of the most faithful stars Lon Cheny Sr as the Phantom, and from what I can tell, he has a face rather similar to how the phantom is supposed to have look. The 1925 version is also considered the one that is most true to the book. It's probably available to watch on YouTube or somewhere else online.

All in all, I think this is a wonderful book. It's one that if you're a teacher, I think you could get students in to. One of the most fascinating points of the book, is that the descriptions of the Paris Opera House are accurate, and just seeing some pictures I'm flabbergasted and want to visit. I think someone with a middle school or higher reading level could have fun with this, especially if it's a digital copy where you can look up the definitions of words that you don't know. I really think a lot of people, especially those that like romance novels, tragedies, and somewhat gothic literature will have fun with it. I took me three days of easy reading to get through it, then again, I was distracted by all the stuff on my kindle. I can't give this book anything but an amazing review, it was an amazing novel.

The Last Unicorn Review

I am on a roll today!

I was going through my Kindle, trying to decide what I should read next, when I came across a very good book that I read, and I hadn't written a review on. That book is The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (his website is currently down). Now, I read this book a few months ago, but I have to say that it has a style that had influenced at least one of my stories. I didn't realize that I was being influenced until just now when I read the title, and put two and two together.

The Last Unicorn is the story about a unicorn who believes that believes she is the last of her kind, and goes on a quest to seek her others. That is the basic gist of the story, and I'm giving it generally, because I don't want to give anything away. This is a fantasy book/ children's chapter book. It is beautifully written, and so tragically sad. I'm cynical and I have a rather icy heart, but the opening page made me "aww" for the character. There are four main characters in the book, and the adventure they go on is one whose path I couldn't predict: something I always enjoy. I'm so tempted to give a summary, but I'm not going to... I refuse to go down that path!

This particular story is good for someone who has a middle school or higher reading level. It's not difficult at all, and even someone that doesn't necessarily like reading, as long as they like a good fantasy story, would enjoy this. I don't remember finding any of the vocabulary challenging, and I do remember seeing everything the characters did clearly in my mind. Beagle is very good at getting an image and idea across. It's the kind of book that you watch, not read. When I read it, I felt the story was complete, and I didn't really wonder what had happened to the characters afterwards; I knew they all had their lives to lead. I just found out there's a sequel to the book, and that the movie was screened in NYC a few weeks ago.  This is exciting news, he is also getting ready to publish six short stories about the characters. I can't wait to get my grubby little paws on it.

My copy of the book is a PDF. I'm not sure where I found it, or if I just googled "The Last Unicorn PDF" (it comes up in the google search suggestions). It's rather small, because I think it was actually taken from the book, and scanned, so you either have to not mind fine print, tilt your e-reader to the side, or blow up each page and let it move around a bit (which annoys me to no end). But other than it being kind of finely written, I don't have any complaints about my copy-- no typos or anything like that. It was good money.

I'm so happy that I was going through my Kindle and I saw that I hadn't done a review for this, because this book really deserves it. It is beautiful, and endearing, and the characters are ones taht your heart goes out to, especially the unicorn. I suggest this book to anyone that really enjoys fantasy literature.

Books I Can't Complete

I don't think I've ever seen a list like this online before, so I might as well be the person that starts it. I've read... I don't know how many books in my life. Some of them are nothing more than shards by now, while others stick out in almost their entirety. Some of the books that stick out the most for me, are books that I just can't get in to. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with these books--they just don't do it for me. There are multiple reasons why a book can be on this list, but for each one, I will give the reason. They're not listed in any particular order, just as they come to me.

1. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Now... I've had this book on my Kindle since I first got my Kindle--it was one of my first downloads. It has a trifecta of things I love reading: slavery, drama, and a female writer. What more could I ask for? I could ask for a book in which the mullatto and quadroon characters aren't seen as something super amazing special magnificent. Just the Stowe describes Eliza and her son is enough for me to feel true disgust. Their exotic beauty, large ringlet curls, or the slight hint of cinnamon on the cheeks... it makes me want to puke. I just quickly scanned Wikipedia, wanting to do a bit of research so I don't misname characters, and I read a spoiler that makes me want to read the book... if only I could get past the descriptions. This is a blog about writing, not about my personal opinion of pop culture, but the idolatry (especially in the Black community) of people that are "light, bright, and damned near white" disturbs me; I'm not even going to go in to the bleaching and plastic surgery to change for a more European (or creepy as it usually turns out) features. I've gotten as far in to the book as the basic description of Uncle Tom (who isn't a sellout character, as his name has become synonymous with), but I couldn't go any further. I don't like the idea of the characters ethnicities being a primary factor to their noodle use, even if there is some awesome feminist themes, and martyrdom themes. I can't get past that initial part. If ever I do read it, and make it all the way through, I will definitely put up a post about it. But as of right now, I don't see that happening.

2. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Considering how many of the short stories I write tread (frantically thrash and splash) the same waters as Nabokov, I thought this book was going to be epic. I actually quite a bit, far more than Uncle Tom's Cabin. But I have a few big issues that cause altogether too much tooth sucking, sighs and rolled eyes. The first is the protagonist Humbert Humbert. He's described as a hot dude, and he likes nymphets (pubescent females that are still more girl than woman. I have an entire post idea about them planned). He falls for Lolita, and marries her mother. I should probably have more disgust at the fact that he likes young girls, but my biggest issue with him is that he is a stupid punk. He has everything necessary to make Lolita his from Jump Street, but he doesn't utilize it. He instead prefers being a creeper and pining after her from afar, and licking her eyeball, and masturbating to her. Another thing that annoys me, that I found out halfway in to reading the story, was that Nabokov was inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's poem "Annabel Lee". That is one of my FAVORITE poems by Poe, and I was offended that he assumed the narrator of the poem would end up a pathetic schmuk like this bastard. The poem clearly states that the protagonist is so grief stricken that he sleeps each night in her tomb. Poe doesn't mention anything about the dude ending up a perv for younger girls. Both of those facts compounded just turned me off from the book, even though it is enjoyably written and most people would think it would be a favorite book.

3. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

I feel so terrible, after just reading the synopsis of this book, for putting it up here. But it is here nonetheless. I was supposed to read this book in English class in high school. Apparently it's an amazing book, and a classic of African literature in English. I just saw it as the most boringest thing on the face of Earth. This book literally put me to sleep, and I'm not being dramatic. Every time I would try to read this book, I would start yawning and get tired and start dozing. I'd never done it before, nor has it happened since. I think it was the writing style that did it for me, but I can't quite remember at this point in my life. I wish to everything I could, so that I would have a better review. Because I've just read such a good synopsis, if I get my hands on the book, I would most certainly read it, or try to read it. Maybe I just need to push myself through it, and not give in to the sleepiness. I know my teacher would be disappointed if he read this-- sorry, Michelson!

4. Behold a Pale Horse by Milton William Cooper

This is a book that came highly recommended by a friend of mine. She had just started reading it, and suggested that I read it as well, that it was a book that you had to be on the up about. It's a book about how the government is ready to start the New World Order any day now, and how people don't know what's going on around them, and that people don't know anything about the world around them, and the symbolism everywhere. If you're a person that enjoys reading about secret societies, the Illuminati, the Masons, and think that the government is out to get us, this book is right up your alley. I'm not into that stuff. Oh, there's also some alien stuff mentioned in there. I'm not into aliens either, unless it's like fantasy/science fiction. This book is mostly a bunch of government documents that Cooper does a fabulous job explaining to the common man, and him bringing up connections that conspiracy theorists would love. I made it maybe 25% through the book. It's literally just too much to chew, and he spend a lot of time going over the same facts multiple times, which gets really boring after a while. I'm not the person to want to read all of that. Granted, I need to learn more about politics and things of that nature, but I don't want to learn it with him. I'm the last person to care about Illuminati or things like that, so it was probably foolish of me to start it.

These are all the books I can think of off the top of my head. I'm not sure if there are more, but if there are, I will definitely write a part two

Black Beauty Review

I don't know if I've mentioned it in previous blog posts, but I love animals. Seriously, I take animals over humans any day of the week. That's probably the reason my review of the book is going to be biased.

Black Beauty is the only published novel by writer Anna Sewell. According to Wikipedia (whose information can only be trusted so much), she originally wrote the book for people that work with horses. It's become most famous as a book for children.

I first came in to contact with the book Black Beauty because of a typing program that was on my computer when I was younger. One of the test passages was when Beauty is describing his appearance, starting with "I was now beginning to grow handsome..." that is the only part I had really read up until downloading it. That's not to say that I didn't see it in my elementary school--I did, and I tried to read it a few times but I just never made it past the first few pages. I'm not quite sure why. Anyway, it was downloadable to my Kindle, and I finally made my way through.

The book is a biography of a finely bred horse named Black Beauty, from when he was a foal, all the way through to old age. His life starts off rather charmed, but there were years when it was very hard. He also meets other horses, and learns of their life stories. I have to tell you, this book will give you a mega dose of the feels. I cried a quite a few parts when the horses were describing some of the hardships that they had went through. There were animals, like a particular mare named Ginger, who had grown up without knowing human kindness. It hurts me to think that any animal can have such a hard life, although I know it still happens today (hello, I live in New York City--we still have carriage rides that can be taken) to a lesser extent.

Apparently when the book came out, it brought a lot of awareness to the plight that cab horses in London were going through. Not only that, it also criticized people that did things to their horses for the sake of fashion, like bearing reins. From the (minimal) research that I've done, there are situations where the rein is still used, but for shows, and not to the extreme of making the horse look "proud" and hold their head tall. Horses lean their heads forward when doing things to help disperse the weight evenly.

"Proudly" unable to move their necks

That just looks lovely, doesn't it...? The thing that makes Beauty's story so special is that he doesn't just have cushy homes, he changes hands, and owners, experiencing the full spectrum of humanity. And above all else, he does his best to stay a sweet, kind, gentle horse. Even through the bad times, he doesn't allow it to change his disposition, always taking his mother's advice. Once again, a dose of the feels.

The copy that I had was a digital download from Kindle, for free. It doesn't have any pictures, but it is a very nice text copy, and most of the archaic or European words/phrases have a definition in my dictionary, and the ones that I couldn't look up, or needed a visual reference for, were easily found via web search. Whilst on the subject of vocabulary; this is not at all a difficult book. If you're reading it to a younger audience, you will have to define some of the words, and some picture references will be appropriate, but it should be easily digestible, although some parts will get their emotions going. If this is for a younger audience, and you're reading a paper copy, I do suggest having the internet near by, just for some pictures, especially if the young person isn't equine savvy. If they are, it might not be necessary. If you're older, you still might want to do some research, although if you're anything like me, a little research can lead to an hour of reading about diseases of horse hooves.

I suggest this book to anyone that likes animals, nice descriptions, history, and autobiographies. This is a very lovely book, and I'm happy to have read it.

"Fallout" By Ellen Hopkins Review!

Man, have I been on a roll with reading. It's really making me feel smarter, and it's loosening the bonds of writers block.

For the last two days I've been reading "Fallout" by Ellen Hopkins. Before I even get into the review deeply, I have to say that this book is the last in her "Crank" trilogy, so do not read this until you've read the first two books. And, that this review is going to be more like me gushing about how much I love this author.

I came across Ellen Hopkins when I was reading books about drugs a few years back. I took Crank out the library because I thought it was cool that the words looked like lines of coke. I didn't know what the book was about, I didn't know what the Monster was (in NYC, the Monster is usually used as a code for HIV), I didn't know what it did to your body.

The books looks intimidating from a distance (or like an awesome challenge to someone that loves reading), but then when you begin, you see that it's written as poetry. Usually I try not to talk about plot too much, but I have to in this case. "Crank" is a fictionalized version of Hopkins' daughter's battle with crystal meth.

I really didn't know what an epidemic the usage was, but I'd seen those horror photos of people before and after meth. I didn't know that it was so widely available in so many places. I didn't know anything; this book taught me nearly all I know. This trilogy of books cover over twenty years in the lives of the character, and her children. "Fallout" is the story of her children.

The first thing I have to say, is I love Ellen Hopkins style. In this book, the three different protagonists/narrarators have three different styles of headings, three different type faces. At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks, they're not. And then her poems themselves... I hope that there is a picture I can insert here (there wasn't, but at the first link, she has some amazing samples, and an awesome summary of the story better than this review lol). Her poems aren't written straight forward. Sometimes they tumble down the page, sometimes they take shapes, forms of letters, question marks. Quite a lot of the time, there is more than one poem in the poem, and I have to urge you to read the initial poem before reading the side poem, or you might get the wrong idea. Sometimes, the poems are part of a series of poems, and the side poems are a series of poems.

Each of the main characters have their own demons that they're fighting, their own issues stemming from the Monster. It shows how meth doesn't just effect the user, it effects everyone they come in to contact with, especially their children. I think this book should be on ever middle school mandatory reading list, especially in areas where meth is an epidemic. I always knew that there was a list in the back of my head of no-no drugs, and there is a reason why meth is at the top of that list. With "Crank" I saw how the protagonist, someone that could have been one of my friends, dabbled in it, and what happened with her life. It steals everything that ones has, and it rots holes in your brain, and metaphorically speaking, in your heart.

Unlike most of my other reviews, this book is an actual hard copy of a book; I held it in my hands, I flipped pages, I had its weight with me in all the rooms of my apartment. This is a book that will make you talk to it, talk to the main characters, whether you're urging them to take another path, or cursing at them for the choices they made (I did that a lot). The characters aren't perfect people, they're young adults, like me, but they grew up so very different from me; maybe they grew up in ways like some of you. And although they're siblings, they grew up so very different from each other. Even thinking about the things they went through, it makes me feel a type of negative way.

My recommendation for someone that wants to jump in to Ellen Hopkins' books, take them out the library. You can start with "Crank" or one of other stand alone stories. But if you start with "Crank", I really suggest taking "Glass" and "Fallout" out at the same time, because you're not going to want to wait to read what happens next. These are some of the few books I thoroughly plan on owning in my private library, hard copy, and if I can, getting them signed. Ellen Hopkins' is simply one of the best young adult writers out there.

"Second Child" By John Saul Review

I mentioned there would be a lot of updates.

A few days ago, I finally took up my sister on her fantastic reviews of the book Second Child by John Saul, and bought it for my Kindle. I spent my day yesterday reading it, and I have to say, it really was a good book.

It is quite a bit different from most of the other works that I've read, because it's incredibly modern, published in 1991, and its setting is the late 80s, early 90s. My sister read it years ago when I was a youngin'; from what she describes, it's odd that it wasn't one of the many books of hers that I stole at the age and read, although I must admit the cover looks somewhat familiar to me.

Anyway, on to the review. I'm not going to get into all of the details of the plot, but it revolves mostly around two half sisters, brought together by tragedy to live together amongst the elite hoity toity in Secret Cove, Maine, at their father's summer house. But strange things that have already happened, begin to grow more frequently.

This book has one of the worst mothers that I've read, only a few steps beneath Catherine Dollenganger , as far as how she treats her daughter. It's a really awesome story, and not something that I would have read recently if I wasn't told how good it is. It crosses over quite a few different genres; it's young adult, it's horror, it's supernatural, it's a bit psychological, it's a thriller... it's a really nice page turner.

There are some cons, some times where I shook my head, talked to my Kindle about how the character was acting/responding to what was going on with her. I'm trying to figure out how characters could be so totally blinded by beauty and grace to not believe what was going on around them. I really don't want to give away anything that happens, because I'd love for you to read it yourself.

As far as the Kindle copy, it was lovely... and $7.99. Now, I'm still not sure how I feel about paying that much for it, but considering my sister told me this is a book that I would want to own, I'm not upset. If you're a fan of John Saul, then I would suggest buying it. If you're someone that's never read his work, I would suggest going to your local library and taking out a copy, and buying it if you find that it's too awesome to part with. There are already other books by the same author that my sister is suggesting for me to look at, and I have to say, I'd love to read more of his work. I might actually have to go to the library and take out some books, just like I used to do when I was younger.

Carmilla: The Seemingly Lesbian Vampire

While on my facebook, I came across a post about about a lesbian female vampire that predated Bram Stoker's Dracula. So interested was I that I immediately went to Project Gutenberg to find it and begin to read it. I did find it, and I did begin to read it, even though I first felt a bit guilty about cheating on "Behold a Pale Horse", but that's for another blog entry. Apparently there's also an audio book form, for people who enjoy listening to books. I'm personally not one, so I'm not including it here. You can backtrack from the link I put up to find it.

Carmilla is a very short story, I read it in just a few hours early two mornings ago, and I loved it. The story, like Dracula, is told in a letter form, a diary entry of sorts by the young women that experienced the phenomenon with the vampire known as Carmilla.

From the beginning of the story, we know that there is something off about the entire situation to which Carmilla is thrust into the world of the protagonist, although she immediately loves the other young woman. Although I use the world love, the entire thing is platonic, at least on the part of the protagonist, there is only mentioned the exchange of kisses.

I will not get in to the plot too deeply, but I will say that vampires in the book are viewed in the same way as they are in Dracula. There is nothing deeply romantic about them, although Carmilla is described as ridiculously beautiful, with dark hair and eyes, and charming almost beyond belief. Another interesting fact about Carmilla that makes her different from Dracula, is that she can walk about in daylight; granted, she is never seen very early in the morning, she still comes out and about, and she is known to drink hot chocolate (the only thing the protagonist actually witnesses her drink).

There is a connection between the protagonist and Carmilla that I feel isn't fully explored by the author, which makes it fall a bit short for me of a really, really good novel. I felt it could have been expanded upon, and fleshed out, because it is known that Carmilla treats the protagonist different from other victims, and that the protagonist is a distant matrilineal descendant of the vampire.

It felt a bit like the story stopped too soon, which is why I think it doesn't have the same fame as Dracula, and it's not as long. There are overlapping themes, although one of the ways that vampires are seen to become vampires is by suicide, and having lived a particularly ungodly life. There isn't much work about the history of vampires, except that Carmilla's family name had been extinct for at least a century, and that they were known as bad people. There are a lot of unanswered questions that I think also makes it less popular than Dracula.

The copy of the book that I had is a good copy, on my kindle, the margins are rather wide, making for a narrow page look. There isn't much difficulty with the language, at least nothing you can't click and find the meaning to if you have a digital copy for an e-reader, but even if you don't, you can figure out the context easily, and usually the protagonist gives a meaning.

All together, I enjoyed the story, I think people that like pseudo-lesbian literature, vampires, an old stories would enjoy it. It's not long, and it's fascinating to have insight that the protagonist doesn't. I had more than once I sucked my teeth and talked to the book, telling the character that she was stupid for not realizing odd habits, but there are moments the main character acknowledges that she was being stupid, so I like that as well. It's a nice little read that I think people would enjoy.

Captives of the Flame: Another Samuel Delany Review!

I won't lie, the exclamation point on the end of the title is only because I'm incredibly excited to review another one of Samuel R. Delany's books. It doesn't actually translate into real life, my face, or my voice right now, due to hormonal and life imbalances that have left me full of rage and anger, except when I'm reading, writing, or possibly drawing. But you're not here to read about my personal woes, you're here to find out about this story.

I bought this book via Amazon.com, although it was apparently translated to its digital state by Project Gutenberg, so I'm unsure whether it's available for free. I think I paid .99 cents for it, so it was definitely another steal.

This book is the first in a trilogy of stories known as "The Fall of the Towers". I've only read this first story thus far. Apparently this story was originally rewritten in a different form when it became the first book of the trilogy.

The story takes place in the same world as The Jewels of Aptor, however, the two cities that are the settings of this story do not know they are in the same world. Apparently, references linking the stories all to the same world were later omitted, so I think it might still take place in the same world, just in different time frames.

The story has a host of protagonists working together yet again, this time in an attempt to thwart a war that their civilization is threatening against an unknown enemy in a twin city.

Like the last work I read of Delany, it's incredibly visceral, so much so that you really have to pay attention when reading, especially the opening pages, so that you have a perfect idea of what the character is experiencing. But once you get a view, and you have your full attention on the book, you have no problem sailing through pages like nobody's business, because it's that interesting.

It is once again science fiction, and it has a lot of philosophical questions about war, and society, and even humanity.

I feel like this review is going to be more brief than the previous one because it's only the first part of a trilogy, therefore I only have the first third of the story. But never fear, I am actively seeking out the next parts of the story so that I can read further in. Because it's one of a trilogy, the main adventure of the story reaches a conclusion, but there are larger questions that are left for the later works.

I do have a few downsides about my digital copy. It has a plain black and green cover, very much like the free books that one downloads from the Kindle store, and not the beautiful original cover artwork like Jewels of Aptor had. Then, because the book was put in to press by Project Gutenberg, at the end I thought I had five or six more pages to go, but it was merely the project gutenberg conclusion, and all of the legal information therein. But other than that, I really don't have any complaints. I just realized that I didn't necessarily have to pay for the book, it's available for free via Project Gutenberg here, along with Jewels of Aptor. That makes me a bit angry that I paid, but fuck it, Samuel R Delany deserves my muneyz, so it wasn't a waste. The only thing I'm somewhat upset about is the fact that the free version has the original cover art available, and I didn't get a chance to get it.

Other than that, the book is awesome, and I recommend it to folks like myself that aren't big on science fiction, but love a good detailed story and something that will hold your interest until the last page.

Equestria Girls: Better Than Expected, but Still Crap (To Me)

I have now seen the Equestria Girls movie, thanks to a "copy" on YouTube.

And I have to say, I still didn't really like it. Now, it wasn't horrific, but it still was a failure, and I could feel how much Hasbro rushed to get it out, believing that MLP:FiM is merely a fad.

Now, there are some things that I didn't like about the movie; first, this random character, Princess Celestia's former student Sunset Shimmer, comes out of nowhere, and steals Twilight Sparkle's crown, which keeps Twilight's Element of Harmony. Now, if her student was anything like Twilight Sparkle, everyone in all of Equestria would know about said student, and she would have had some sort of mentioning before.  Now, Twilight has to go alone to this alternate universe (one of few, as it's implied by Sunset Shimmer), as to not throw off the balance. We never hear what happens to the real Twilight Sparkle; Pinkie Pie implies that there's another Twilight, living in the city, however, she doesn't seem to go to school with the other students.

Another HUGE problem that I had with the movie was that they made all the characters pastel. Like seriously, each character was as pale as all hell, and Rarity just looked sick, being as white as paper. They even made Princess Luna, in all her midnight blue glory, sky blue. It was just not cool.

Besides the fact that they made them pale (and they made Celestia seem like a bitch), they put all of the students in the same school, although they clearly refer to the school as "high". Besides the fact that the school is at least middle school and up, it seemed really moronic that Twilight didn't recognize the building as a school, or read more books about the general rules of their world and anatomy, to the internet. To me, it took too long for her to realize what was going on, which is another bad point of the screenplay. I know they had to make the movie a certain length, or whatever, but this just reinforced the happy high school, everyone-will-become-friends again stereotype that disappoints so many.

Then there's Sunset Shimmer. She just doesn't have any depth, and that sucks very, very hard. I like a villain that has a real reason, not just revenge against Celestia. Another thing about her, I don't understand why everyone is afraid of this fucking idiot, there's nothing that she has or does (besides moronic intimidation and stupid little ways of breaking up friendships) really makes me want to fear her. Was everyone in this school lily-livered.

Also... the school is Canterlot High, but almost all of the characters are from Ponyville. Now, if it was a college, it would make sense that students from a small town are in the capital of Equestria. But no, it's high school, and they have all the students being... typical.

There were so many moronic plot devices, something that they should have already thought of. It would have just been a much better movie if they expanded on the world of Equestria. Apparently, Lauren Faust said that the ruined castle in the Everfree Forest was the childhood home of Celestia and Luna. Now that back story would have been an awesome movie, or maybe having further exploration into Equestria, or the rest of the Equine-sentient world.

I know there are people that really liked the movie, but I still think that it's stupid, and was a waste of a brilliant opportunity.

Draula: Not What I Expected

I finally decided to read Dracula, although I had downloaded it on to my Kindle more than a year ago. I'm not sure what I was expecting, maybe something like the movies I had seen, or possibly a crazy look into the vampire that seems to be the basis for all other vampiric works in modern history.

The first thing that was different than I expected, is that the book is written entirely in diary entries of the main characters, and other written works. For the first part, the diary of Jonathan Harker, it's a lovely diary, but I do have to admit, when I was at the halfway point of the book, many of the other characters annoyed the hell out of me.

As a cynical, hard New Yorker, I found it hard to believe that many of the characters could be that sweet, or wordy. I wanted to slap the female protagonists when they spoke at how "undeserving" women are of the love of men, or how they were incredibly "obedient" to their menfolk. As I continued to read, and did a bit of research into British people, I realized that the character's were intentionally written as sweet, and that British people really are that wordy and formal, And then I realized that the characters were being genuine, and all the niceness was intentional.

It seemed like religion, specifically Christianity, plays a huge part in this book. Faith is the driving point for most of the characters when they're at their lowest. I wonder how this book would have been were it written by a person of another faith, or an atheist.

I think the biggest misconception that people have when coming across this book is that they expect vampires to be handsome. Dracula is not traditionally handsome, in fact, he's only described as cruel and sensual, with, isn't necessarily a compliment considering how Stoker feels about sensuality. Vampires, vampire women, are seen as incredibly sensual, oozing it to the point where one of the main characters knew it was no longer the love of his life, just a hot demon in her place. Also, vampires aren't sexier after drinking. Jonathan Harker describes Dracula:

"Even the deep burning eyes seemed set amongst swollen flesh, for the lids and pouches underneath were bloated. It seemed as if the whole awful creature were simply gorged with blood. He lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion."

That certainly stands in stark contrast to hotties like Lestat and Louis in Anne Rice novels, and as the antithesis of Stephanie Meyer's sparkling marble people. I don't know how many people understand, there isn't supposed to be anything sexy and beautiful about vampires, according to this book. They're disgusting, unholy creatures from the deepest pits of Hell. For your loved one to become a vampire is a curse of the highest order; they may never dwell with God, and will forever walk in darkness.

Another thing, people seem to think that Dracula is seen as the original vampire of all vampires. The book does not support that claim. They call him "the king of vampires", but I think that's more because of his royal standing, and his position in Europe. Dr. Van Helsing (whose an old man, not Hugh Jackman) mentions that there are types of vampires in the lore of all people, not just in Europe, although this book is Eurocentric. Dracula is not given credit as the originator of all vampires, something that people give him too much credit for.

Every cinematic interpretation of the book has taken liberties with it, making Dracula into something more desirable, and building upon him a legend more fantastic than the count gives himself. It is interesting that Dracula's three females speak of him not having loved, but there is a sadness in the Count when he speaks of love, something one of the movie versions, the one with Keanu Reeves is in, where Mina is seen as a reincarnation of his beloved one. That's totally not true, the Count only wished to take from him everything that they had.

All in all, this book is a bit of a hard read. If you're anything like me, you'll want to quit when you're halfway through, when things are just building, but I assure you, if you trek to the end, it's worth it. It's a good book, but I don't think I'll read it again any time soon.

Also, I have a book list that I'm working on. Not something particularly long, but some things that have been recommended to me that I'm going to work through this month. Up next, is "Behold a Pale Horse", which I'm starting right now. I've read interesting things about it, and I'm not sure what I'm getting myself into.

The Jewels of Aptor Review

I had been told for a few months to check out the work of Samuel Delany, but I hadn't gotten around to it; I had read an interview with him, and I had seen a documentary clip, but I still had not actually read any of his fiction. Now, I can officially say that I've read his work, and that I am a fan.

I bought The Jewels of Aptor for my Kindle, because it was the only book of his that was in my measly price range. It looked interesting, I loved the cover, and I dove right in. From the beginning of the book, my attention was held. I loved the names of the characters, and the journey they were to go on.

I'm not really one to read science fiction, but this definitely has me more interested in the  genre. The basic plot of the story is that our three, later four, protagonists (for the story is really about all of them) on a mission to retrieve the last of a trio of very powerful jewels from an evil island in a dystopian future. I'm not going to pretend that I'm good at figuring out meaning in stories, but one could argue that the entire story is an allegory for the gray area that is good and evil, religion and power. Even I, who can't find the theme of a story, found themes in this one, well worked themes that made even my hardened brows raise.

Unlike most of the books I read, there was no real reason to have to look words up. I think someone with an advanced middle school education could read this without issues. The words that I didn't know were words that the author had created for the story. There were some scientific things that I didn't understand, but the protagonists didn't understand either, so I didn't feel bad. The thing I find craziest about the book is that it is Samuel Delany's first published story.

He wrote this amazing book when he was twenty. 20. I definitely need to up my game.

This is a book that I would recommend to someone who might not usually pick up a science fiction story. It's not something that spends billions of words on the science, it's only used when it serves the plot. One of the things I really enjoyed about the book, is that it didn't leave a bunch of open questions at the end, it wove in all of the plot lines, but ended in a way that makes me wonder what happened when the pages stopped, because the world was that interesting.

At $2.99, this book is an absolute steal, and I definitely think more people should read it.

The Wind in the Willows Review

Recently, I read the book, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. I had read it when I was much younger, and watched the 1980s animated version. Since encountering it again, I remember why I enjoyed it.

I guess this is considered a classic in children’s literature because the target audience is a younger one, or rather, was a younger one. The characters are named after their breed: Mr. Mole, Mr. Rat, Mr. Otter, Mr. Badger, etc. which makes it very easy to keep up with the characters. You really don’t get them confused, even if they had non-breed names, because they’re so distinctly them. However, because the book was written so long ago, and it’s a British book (I’m American), there are phrases and words that are now archaic. I enjoy the archaic words, they add to the charm.

Considering this is a book geared towards a younger audience, there’s quite a bit of violence, and smoking, which is considered rather taboo subjects for the youth of today. I like all the violence and different things, it was surprising, and held my attention. The book is a combination of different stories of the different creatures, although the antics of Mr. Toad do take up the most time.

The version of the book that I downloaded from Amazon was unabridged, so there is an interesting chapter that apparently is omitted from newer versions, including the chapter that inspired the original cover of the first edition (which freaked me out at first).

Even though I’m technically not a child anymore, I think I can get enjoyment of the story for years to come.

As for the digital version, it was a lovely copy. Almost all the archaic words/spellings had definitions that were easily understood. I think this would be the kind of book you would read for a week or more as a bedtime story. I will certainly read this to any kids I might pop out.

New Stuff Coming Soon!

I will admit shamelessly that I haven't been doing as much reading as I should. I've only really read one book, The Wind in the Willows, and I will have my review up some time this week I've kept myself a busy bee knitting and crocheting, but I do have a book that I'm starting to read, which I think will be another I review.

I have not forgotten about this blog, not at all. Just wanted to put that out there.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame or Disney's Biggest Classic to Movie Failure

I have finally finished reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame!

WARNING: No one makes it to the end of the book happy, except one character.

Yes, it is officially done, and it was an amazing experience, in a good and bad way.

The first copy of Hunchback that I had was a PDF, and that was the worst thing I could possibly do to help with reading it. This book not only has difficult regular vocabulary, but it also has many phrases in Latin, and in (what I'm guessing is) archaic French. Then I finally stopped being a cheap ass and bought a copy for my kindle.

The first thing that I must say is that this book is not a book that you should go into lightly, unless you're like a super genius or something, and you're well-versed in ancient writing. If you are, you're probably not even reading a review from a plebian such as myself.

Now, the book should not have had the title The Hunchback of Notre Dame, because the book isn't about Quasimodo, although he is one of the main characters. That would be like me calling a book The Black Girl of Greenwich Village, when the book is about the entire neighborhood.

If I really had to choose a main character of the book, I would choose the cathedral itself. I don't know how many pages are spent describing it, and describing all the historical people that helped create it. There are times, when you get these really magnificent images that are built upon for pages and pages. That's nice, but then you forget that there is something else going on that you lost track a while ago. Besides the crazy historical things that he goes in to. Only a fraction of the people he mentioned actually had an entry in my Kindle's dictionary.

Victor Hugo is an amazing author, and he has a real talent of weaving together ten different character's stories, and ending them seamlessly. There were a few characters that I was like "dafuq do I care about this dude?", and later on, I was like "ooooooh, wooooow". I have to admit, you probably will have a problem in the first few books keeping the names and character's straight, except Claude Frollo and Quasimodo, and of course Esmerelda. After a while, you begin to associate the name with the actions, and you really get the drift of them, not to mention, the characters have distinct speaking styles, at least, a lot of them do.

This book is not for children, even if the language was simplified. People talk about his Quasimodo being a demon that should be burnt or drowned. Not only that, there's also some Antisemitism.

A lot of people of my generation might come to the table with their prescribed idea of the characters from what Disney told up in their movie. Some might come to it after watching Lon Chaney Sr.'s brilliant (and I do mean brilliant) performance, or a host of other cinematic depictions of the book.

Rather than starting on my basic breakdown of characters (the ones that are in both the book and the movie, because a lot were omitted), considering how people are familiar with the "gist" or what they think if the gist.

Quasimodo:

In the Disney movie, he's a kind of squat, red-headed dude with a hunched back, wart-hooded eye, kind of piggy nose, uneven (but adorable) front toothed misshapen loner. He sings, he dances, he talks to gargoyles and generally has a sweet demeanor.Disney was able to take a character that didn't have many lines in the novel, was deaf and half blind, and make him something cuddily. 

The real Quasimodo was hunchbacked, bandy legged,with teeth that stuck out like tusks, a ridiculous amount of strength, and an inner pain that made him cruel to most people, since they were cruel to him. Hugo says "One would have pronounced him a giant who had been broken and badly put together again."  There was no singing on his part, except an incredibly sad song he sung near the last part of the book. He didn't have gargoyles talking back to them, but he did have a connection with the cathedral and one gargoyle that he felt kindred to. He did talk to the bells however, and he had their names, and referred to them as his loves. Quasimodo didn't do much wrong in his life, and unlike the movie, he is incredibly stoic, to the point where being shot with an arrow doesn't even make him blink. He's honestly the character that I have the most pity for in the entire book, because his whole world crumbles around him. He's honestly the most pitiful character I've read, in a dead heat with Victor Frankenstein's Creation. If there was anything that I can say he had, was unwavering faithfulness, which made him so much more tragic.

Dom Frollo:

He seems made to be evil. Tall, long and gaunt, with bags under his eyes as if he's one thousand years old. He is an asshole of the highest category, from the way that he talks to Quasimodo and puts him down, to the general fuckery and judgmental manners.

In the book he was the only person that wanted to take Quasimodo in, and he NEVER mentioned to Quasi how disfigured. Frollo also had a younger brother that he loved and cared for (I can't remember if he was in the Disney one), and he was only 30 years old. Granted he was prematurely aged, and he was bald atop, and his hair was gray, but that was because he was so studious, and passionate about everything that he studied. If someone says that I have a thirst for knowledge, Frollo had an entirely unquenchable thirst, something that made him pretty crazy. If there's anything I can say about Frollo, he drove himself crazy.

Phoebus:

In the movie, he is a typical Disney hot dude that saves the day type. He is caring and "falls in love" with Esmerelda. He is injured and all, and they live happily ever after. -_-

I wish they had kept him true to character, because I think the Phoebus in the book is so much more realistic as to how those hot dudes are. To put it shortly, is an asshole playah. He has no real feeling for Esmerelda, he can't even say her name right, and he only wants the pussy. He is the unequivocal love interest, but he doesn't deserve to be the love interest. I can't think of an asshole that I dislike more than this fuckwad, as far as characters. Hell, "The Grandmother" from Flowers in the Attic is a more decent character than this scumwad.

Esmerelda:

Beautiful, dark-skinned, with eyes that glimmered like the emerald she is "named" after. She is intelligent, caring, sees past Quasimodo's outside, and falls in love with a handsome man and lives happily ever after. And she has Djali, her beautiful little goat.

A sixteen-year old, tanned (not nearly as dark as the character in the movie), ridiculously beautiful, dark eyed, naive girl. She does have a moment when she has sympathy and shows kindness to Quasimodo, something he never forgets. But more than anything... she is a stupid character. She is one of the most ridiculously stupid little girls (for she is more girl than woman) in my literature history. I was sick of her after half the book, because she was just so stupid and naive. I'd have imagined, living with a band of thieves her entire life, she'd have learned more than how to work a dagger, and teach her little goat. She becomes absolutely smitten with Phoebus, and that's all she cares about. Quite literally. She never takes the time to find the inner beauty of Quasimodo, although she understands that he's kind, and always brings her  vittles, and she knows he is utterly devoted. She never gets comfortable enough to look at him for long, and doesn't seem to understand anything other than what her heart becomes fixated on.

The Outcasts:

In the movie, they are Travelers that are outcasts because they aren't like the others. These are people God probably should help.

The Outcasts are a group of thieves, con artists, prostitutes, and vagabonds of all natures. They're not people that are outcast because society is full of douche bags, these are people outcast mostly by their own choice, because they don't want to live under the constraints of French society. These are not people God will help, because they (for the most part) don't want to be helped. They enjoy their place on the fringe of society.

If I am to end this review of the novel with anything, it would be that people should give it a chance. If you get really confused, take some time away from it, or skip over the extra wordy sections, because Hugo does have ways of letting you know important things are about to start back up. This is an amazing book, and a classic for a reason. I will say that if you're a sap, this will be a hard read. I was PMSing when I was finishing th estory, and I was crying almost constantly the last six or seven pages.

Were I to be a teacher, I would definitely want to teach this book to my students, whilst first watching the movie. It's wordy, and hard and difficult, but I think I could teach people to fall in love with it. I mean, c'mon, it has attempted rape, murder, attempted murder, sexual assualt, and lots of death and gore. If I jazz up those parts, I'll get even the most non literature liking person to enjoy it, especially if I find some graphic pictures to go with the teaching.

Red Dragon By Thomas Harris Review

Remember that whole Black history month reading list? How I had Invisible Man on it? I got fifty pages into the book, and I realized that I was reading it with only the most basic understanding of what was going on. So basic did it feel, that I really want to get a companion guide whilst I read. This might sound bad, coming from a writer and all, but I fucking suck at identifying the meaning behind symbolism, and what the deeper context means. When I'm picturing something, I basically picture it at face value. So, I'm going to go back to Ellison when I actually have a snowball's chance at understanding what is going on.

That's why I started reading Red Dragon. Yes, I had to use that color and everything in order to write the name. I'll start off by saying that I'm a fan of Thomas Harris, particularly a fan of his fantastical character Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The only literary villain that I've had as much fun reading in a series of stories has been Lord Voldemort himself.  Last year, I read Hannibal, and I loved it (I also lent it to a friend who had a gay old time with it). A few years before that, I read Silence of the Lambs. I remember so distinctly that Harris is one of the few authors whose books I've read have actually given me flashes of the movies. Granted, there are still differences (in some cases rather major ones that I shan't reveal due to their spoiler nature), but they're much less dramatic than some screen play treatments (i.e Flowers in the Attic).

When going in to the book, I'd already been in love with the movie, and the titular antagonist played by Ralph Fiennes (Also Voldemort's actor). I wasn't sure how the original character stacked up to how he was played, the same with Ed Norton's Detective Graham. Just like with Silence of the Lambs, there were times that I was able to sync the movie with the book, and picture all the characters. I had been told by a friend that the Dragon was actually not hot like Fiennes, but as I read further into the book, I found that comment wasn't exactly true.

Because this is just a review, and not a synopsis (something many a critiquing person seems to confuse), I won't get into the plot, I'll go straight into the style of writing. Harris does a few things with his style that I rarely see with other writers. Sometimes he uses jarringly short sentences, ones that give you a very clipped image of what is going on. Another thing he does (that to be honest, I thought was one of the cardinal writing rules you're not supposed to break) is switch tenses. Unlike back in the early days of my writing, his have a purpose, and make the reader feel as if they're right in the moment, watching it unfold with every word they read. It's actually refreshing for it to happen, and sometimes it's so subtle that I don't realize I'm in the present tense.

The copy of the book that I had was a PDF version, so there were typos on the behalf of whoever types it up, and there were a few images that I know I would have gotten if I had actually had a legit copy. What can I really say about PDF versions of books, they have their upsides and their downsides, but that's not for me to explore here.

Harris is careful about his language, and doesn't use any words that I would be forced to look up, something I like a lot. At just over 200 pages, it was a relatively fast read, although chocked full of information and some technical things. I feel like Harris is the kind of writer that checks his background information well, or has an editor that does a bloody brilliant job. I would say that this book, as with his other books, is a read for a mature reader. Now, I'm not saying a certain age, because I know I technically could have read this in middle school, but the main characters have some pretty shitty memories that they're forced to look back on, and we journey with them, including some really jacked up abuse and murders.

All in all, I really have to give this book two thumbs up. It's a Thomas Harris book. What more can I say.

Oh, and a little random fact that made me giggle: the Red Dragon's birthday is the day after mine. Gemini's whoop whoop!

My Little Pony, From a Writer's Perspectve

I've just watched the season finale of My Little Ponies: Friendship is Magic.

For anyone that is a fan, and hasn't seen this, and doesn't want to know what we all know happened, don't read on.

This isn't going to be a critique of the show from the point of view of a fan, this is a critique for the point of view of a writer.

The writer of the episode, M. A Larson, has just bumped up what us fans knew was inevitable. But should it have been done at this point in the story? As a writer, I find that this is entirely the wrong thing on the part of the company and on the part of the series.

My first reason for being against this, is that it throws of the balance of the series. No matter how many times they say that nothing changes, everything changes. They took six perfect characters, at least one that anyone can identify with, and just gave one of them demigod status. Now it's the mane six, including a princess.

The second anti-alicorn point is that it's far too soon into the series to do something like this. I watch a lot of anime, but with anime, you know from jump street that it's going to be a full story. Only rare series like InuYasha seem to go on indefinitely, even then, I knew that they were going to eventually have the facedown with Naraku and get the entire jewel. Most shows have arcs that consist of a few episodes, and each arc leads towards the end. With American shows, they seem to go on indefinitely. People don't feel that their shows will end because the plot continues to go. A lot of shows in the west end in ways that really don't resolve anything, or make you feel as if you've been told an entire story; for me the show leads up to Twilight reaching her destiny. This season finale feels like the end of the story.

Who in their right mind would make a choice like this is an idiot that obviously doesn't listen to their demographic. Granted, I'm a bit out of the age bracket, but I'm still part of the majority that watches the show.

Hasbro is not doing justice to the characters at this point. Last season, they also released the Littlest Pet Shop, as if it's going to make the same money, especially when they have repeating color schemes. In a race to make money in the short run, they're losing in the long run. I know now for damn sure, I'd never buy a Hasbro pony toy; I'll take a custom artist piece over their shitty versions any day.

Although I'm being urged by my friend to watch the next season, I'm incredibly disappointed.  I really thought that Lauren Faust leaving wouldn't leave that much of a difference. I don't think this would have happened under her watch. She said that she had ideas for Twilight, but that they don't matter at this point, because, well, she's not in charge anymore.

I really hope that Lauren Faust's Galaxy Girls becomes a show because I'm losing faith in American animation and writing styles.

I've never thought about show writing, or screenplays, but I've always read that you have to "be the change you want to see in the world".

My Bondage and My Freedom: A Review

The first book I decided to read for Black History Month, is My Bondage and My Freedom, Frederick Douglass' account of his life as a slave, and how he achieved freedom.

From the first page, I can see how powerfully he used his words. This is the first full length narrative of someone who was enslaved that I've read, and it's definitely the most detailed. The picture he paints is a life of sadness, heartache, and dehumanization of both slave and master.

He was an incredibly intelligent child, one that felt the full burden of his life as a slave, and what it means. When I watch things like Roots, I see how historically inaccurate they are, compared to what Douglass reports. Even Django is inaccurate in ways, although it has a bit more of a ring of truth (as far as the treatment of the slaves).

Douglass' has a very unique writing style. When I'm reading, I feel as if he's literally narrating the story to me. He doesn't use plush language often, and he doesn't go into horrific detail about the horrific moments. During the most brutal period of his slavery, he only elaborates on one beating, and tells the reader (he really talks to us and calls us "reader") that the only proceeding were just as horrible as the first. He also elaborates on particular slaves, their lot, personality, and how they were to him. There were some slaves, belonging to other people, that were treated horrifically.

There are a lot of differences between the treatment of house slaves and field slaves; just as there are differences between city slaves and slaves on large plantations. Douglass experienced all parts, including some kindness, which makes him the perfect teller of this tale.

To me, the most scandalous theme of the story, the part that I know was definitely scandalous during the time it was published, is that he uses the real names of people. Considering this is the time of "tell-all" books, this is like the original. And he definitely isn't Super Head. I wonder if there are people that read this book, who are related to the people that are being put on blast. I've never read something where so many details and government names are being used, and the true character of people are put on display.

Because this is a review, I'm not going to get into specific parts, and how they affected me, or anything like that; that's more appropriate for an essay. I don't want to spoil it for potential readers, but I will say one thing that I found incredibly interesting. Out of all the slaves on his original owners plantation, hell, in the whole county, his mother was the only one that could read. She was a field hand; many people seem to want to credit his intelligence to the bit of European in his blood, but he gives the credit to her. By some miracle, she was granted knowledge, something that Douglass stresses is the key to freedom. If only such a mindset still existed amongst our people.

As for the copy of the book (downloaded free on my Kindle), it's very good. There is this weird habit Douglass has of outlining a chapter at the beginning, in bold. I almost feel as if he's writing it while I'm reading, making sure that all the points are gone over. There are some links, and footnotes that are one click, and the e-book copy is good for most of the difficult language.

This book is definitely for someone with a high school reading level or above, because the words have become somewhat archaic, and he uses words that I had to look up. Some words I looked up, but I didn't find definitions for, just like what happened when I read the slave narratives. All in all, I think every American should read this book; hell, everyone in the world should read this book, it's amazing.

Writing Terminology: My Way

If there is anything I try to stress about myself, it's that I am not a professional writer. I am not a technical writer. To be quite honest, I don't know much about technical English (hence my reason for wanting to go to school for it), and I skated through all my years of school by knowing how to form sentences, and not necessarily being able to name sentence parts.

In the writing world, or what I've gathered, there are a bunch of fancy terms for literature, different parts, and plot devices. These are also things I'm unfamiliar with. Most of the time, when I write, read or review something, I use descriptive words from my own vocabulary, words that other people might not know or be familiar with. That's why I'm writing this entry. I will start with a word that I use frequently:

Sceney:

A sceney is a short piece of writing. It can be as long as a chapter, or as short as a page. A sceney can be an excerpt from a story, or a small stand alone situation in and of itself. The majority of short stories are sceneys. I think I consider a sceney anything under ten pages, but usually more around five. Better terms for sceney may be excerpt, short short, short story, or essay.

Plush:

Plush is a word I use to describe a certain style of writing. Plush writing has very long paragraphs, incredibly descriptive language, and delves deep into each thing it covers. Plush writing is a double edged sword, because it can enthrall a reader, or make the person drift away. Plush stories are definitely not everyone's taste, and more often than not, are not as awesome as the author thinks. Some examples of plush authors/books are "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde, "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, and "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" by Gregory Maguire (he's the man that wrote "Wicked").

Fluff:

This word goes back to my fan fiction roots. Fluff is anything that is sweet, mushy, sometimes romance novel-esque. Fluff, fluffer, or fluffy as a character description usually means that the character is sweet, mushy, soft. Sometimes the character is stereotypically good, with predictable actions and responses to certain stimuli. Sometimes a character, especially if a dominant character, is fluffy, it means that they are more of a kind, caring Dominant. I used this in a slightly derogatory manner when referring to Wanda in Venus in Furs. This definition is strictly for literature, because fluff has definitions outside of this when used in other contexts.

I think these are the big three words that I use that aren't standard. If any reader has any other terms they've found, and are confused by, I'd love to know. I will add more, and I do check this blog frequently.

Minski the Cannibal: Good Story, Bad Copy Choice

Sometimes when I have a few digital rubles, I make spur-of-the-moment purchases. Buying Minski the Cannibal definitely falls into that category.

I'll start by saying I'm a fan of de Sade's work. I read 120 Days of Sodom two years ago, and it was hilarious. Granted, there are some things you have to get used to when reading things written by him.

I should start by giving a basic warning:

• de Sade enjoys writing torture and murder. There is no care for humanity, or individuals, especially not family members.
• There is usually some form of pedophilia, the victims (many times females) are for the most part young beautiful girls, and he often rapes children.
• There are very few fully-fledged female characters. He seems to have a love/hate relationship with the fairer sex, and he has a hate/hate relationship with the vulva. I could write essays about how hard he is, but I shan't for the sake of brevity.
• He loves the buttsex. Male, female, it doesn't matter, it has to be up the poop shoot. He does seem to like boobs, though.
• He can be a super blasphemer. Like... he's beyond an atheist, and says things that I would never in my brain, let alone create.

If you can't stand those five things in literature, don't read his stuff. There is also plenty of corprophilia, and sometimes cannibalism and incest. I honestly don't feel like it makes me want to throw up, but I can guarantee your draw will drop. I kept gasping and giggling as I read it, so much so that I was a distraction in class.

Now, if you'd still like to give it a shot (which I hope you do), I'll get on to what de Sade is more than anything: a philosopher. Just like his longer work, Minski the Cannibal is chocked full of his ideologies, ideas and philosophies. He declares himself a libertine, and gives in to it in the most extreme of ways. I have to admit, there are quite a few places in the philosophy where I found myself agreeing, although I generally found him batshit. If everyone was like him, there would be no next generation of humans.

This book is actually a sceney from Juliette, a work considered his masterpiece. In this particular part, the titular character, and some of her homies encounter this Russian giant that enjoys seeing them being super pervs. His name is Minkski and he lives in a desolate castle where he keeps harems of people at hand to sate his depraved ways. His favorite ethnicity of people is Africans (which I'm not sure I like...), and he lives by his natures. Whatever sick fucked up crime he can commit, he does. He's wanted all over Europe, and the only reason he hasn't added more to his sizable resume, is because he hasn't had a chance. He's a standard libertine de Sade character. Once inviting the young people to partake, they live in his castle and do naughty things. I shan't give away exactly what happens, but that's the gist of it.

It's not that long, and but it packs a nice little bit for people who just want to start in on de Sade.

Now, on to the cons.

As far as the literature, it's good. It gives a good impression of his style. The fault lies with Kindle, and the douchewaffle that put this to print. I shelled out $2.99 for this, thinking it was that much reading material (at least 100 KBs of writing). It's not. Just when I hit the middle of the "book", the scene is over, and it starts in on some authors fucking essay about de Sade. I was so heated. All those pages... I thought I was going to have more of him for my buck. I could have bought Justine for one third of the price. I felt so duped. If I wanted to read some essays on de Sade, I would have went on Google Scholars and downloaded some. I didn't want to pay for someone else's writing on him, I wanted him. I was so super livid, that I went to search for the full version of the book Juliette to see if I could buy it...  that shit was nearly ten buck for a digital copy! As much as I like reading him, I had to say fuck outta here.

If you want to read de Sade, and see what all the hooplah is about, I suggest going to your local library and picking up a hard copy. Yeah, schlep your ass outside and get up off the wireless. You can see what kind of copy it is, and turn pages. If there's one thing de Sade does, it's turn pages. Don't waste your money on that digital copy. Only buy it if you read it and love it.