Review: Pride of Baghdad – Brian K Vaughan

I need a minute to catch my breath after that one.

Written in 2006, Pride of Baghdad was written during the height of Vaughan’s two successful series Y the last man and Ex Machina. Vaughan is no stranger to politically charged, controversial story lines, bringing LGBT characters into the spotlight, as well as attacking the issues of gay marriage and marijuana, racism, and islamiphobia. 

Pride looks at the Iraq war through the lenses of four lions living in the Baghdad zoo.  At the beginning of the story they are discussing escape with the other zoo animals. Serious tension exists between the lions due to their past experiences before the zoo, including a violent rape between the alpha lion and an older lioness. 

The bombing of the city destroyed the zoo walls, freeing all of the animals. Not all of the animals survive, notably a giraffe, who, chanting to the other animals about their deliverance, takes a missile through its neck in a particularly gruesome scene. 

As the lions make their way through the city, the come across a turtle in the Tigris river and it tells them this is not the first time such an event has struck the city, alluding to his own childhood when he lost his family to the first gulf war in a particularly traumatic panel showing the family of turtles drowning in oily river. 

Further travel through the city leads them to the palace, where they encounter a lion chained to a wall, dying of starvation and exposure. A bear, also palace entertainment attacks the lions, gouging out the other eye of the older lioness.  The alpha lion and the cub succeeded in killing the bear, with the help of a stampeding pack of horses, and make their way to the roof to view the sunset. The alpha lion is nearly how dead from the fight, and is finished off by a group of American soldiers who kill the group with assault rifles.  The final pages show that the story was based on a true story.

The power of the story and the images shown struck me like a slap in the face. The lions symbolize the innocent lives that were swept away in the bombing, and the careless nature and destructiveness of war.  Pride of Baghdad Is to the Iraq war what Grave of the Fireflies was for world war two: a reminder of grim war is.

Rating: 9/10

Order from Amazon:

Book Review: Cruel Devices – George Wright Padgett

Just finished up Cruel Devices, and I really enjoyed it. I meant to get into this one earlier, I received a copy through the publisher’s ARC program but December was so crazy that had to wait until now to get into this one. (See my post later on December’s readings) I only recently got into Horror through Stephen King’s The Shining, and you can see a lot of the same themes in this, the struggling author trying to identify himself and meeting scary and strange situations along the way made for a fast paced but engaging read.

Cruel Devices – George Wright Padgett  : 7/10

Available Direct from Grey Gecko: http://store.greygeckopress.com/products/cruel-devices

Review: Kill Swap – James Lovegrove

Let me preface this by saying that I usually love the work of James Lovegrove.

This book is only 56 pages long, and the print is enormous. 20 minute read at the most, so I was disappointed when I paid 6.50 for 20 minutes of entertainment.

Second. it really isn’t up to par with Lovegrove’s usual amazing work. I saw the 2012 publication date, and figured it just slipped by me, I’ve read everything he’s written since 2009. But this book simply fell flat, written in 2007, the plot was underdeveloped, the pacing was poor, and the prose was just not what I’d expect from such a great author.

Rating: 4/10

Check out his other work, I recommend starting with the Age of Zeus:

Goodwill selections for December

I visited my local Goodwill again today, it’s great to see their ever changing selection of books.  for a dollar a piece, I walked out with 5 titles that were on my list, and two new books that caught my eye.

Included were three books by Jasper Fforde, the second, third, and fourth in the Tuesday next series.  Lolita, and a David Sedaris collection (I now have all of his work except for Holidays on Ice and Me Talk Pretty One Day, in case you want to get me a Christmas present) the new titles that caught my eye were White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, winner of the Man Booker prize in 2008, and Bones, Blood, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton, a memoir about the life of a chef.

Looking forward to reading these, and will probably be reviewing White Tiger and Bones, Blood, and Butter.

Until next time,

Cheers

Josh

Review: Blood Gravity – Gayle Towell

Trigger warning: this review is of a book containing graphic depictions of rape, incest, self harm, and suicide.

A little while back I read the collection Burnt Tongues, and enjoyed it so much that I emailed a few of my favorite authors and offered to review any future work. The first author to graciously send me a copy of their next project was Gayle Towell.  Gayle’s new piece, Blood Gravity, Is the first installment in an ongoing series focusing on two brothers subjected to abuse by their father.

The story clocks in around a hundred pages, and focuses on the first born, Jake Smith. Jake is 20, a successful college student living with a heavy burden, he has been sexually abused by his father for the last 10 years.  Jake visits home often, mostly to watch out for his younger brother Ben.  Ben is 5 years old and suffers from chronic bedwetting and thumb sucking. Jake worries this might be an early sign of abuse.

Throughout the story we find Jake struggling with extreme anxiety and self harm as copingmchanisms to deal with his father’s abuse. Late in the story Jake visits home and goes camping with his father and brother, during the camping trip his father rapes him, telling him it’s alright, and that it can’t be wrong if he enjoys it.

After the camping trip, Jake spirals into increasing depression, his roommate discovers his self harm and attempts to connect Jake to help, but he is too afraid. Jake  runs away and considers suicide, but eventually talks himself down from a literal cliff. Through a chance turn of events he drops out of school and begins working as a shop assistant and gets his own apartment, much to his father’s disapproval. The story ends with Jake kidnapping his brother to bring him to safety.

This story is important for many reasons. It tackles the problem of abuse in boys as well as in girls. It also discusses the dangers of self harm as a way of dealing with abuse.

I greatly look forward to the continuation of Gayle’s work, and will certainly keep reviewing further releases.

Blood Gravity : 8.5/10
Availbile from the authors website
http://gayletowell.com/scars/bloodgravity/

Weekly wrap up 11/23-11/29

Hey readers, hope you had a great thanksgiving. I went home to Pennsylvania for a few days to spend time with my family. It was really relaxing and I had a good time.

This weekend was my first experience working retail on black Friday and small business Saturday, which was a really crazy two days.

I had a pretty fruitful week as far as reading, and finished a few really good titles. On the radar are about three advanced reader copies that I was chosen for, so as soon as those come in the mail I’ll be tearing into them.

Here’s a rundown of the weeks selections:

Definitely Dead – Charline Harris (Southern Vampire Mysteries #6) Rating: 6.5/10

Sookie is back on my list, I moved last weekend and I needed something familiar to read.  In the 6th instalment, Sookie and her shifter boyfriend deal with a murder and the politics of vampire leadership, the series takes a turn to look at the bigger picture of the supernatural world, and seems to be ramping up for some important events.

Love Me – Garrison Keillor – Rating 9/10

I had the pleasure of meeting Garrison Keillor back in June, he was speaking at the national archives before recording a live episode of Prarie Home Companion at Wolf Trap. After telling us the story of how he got into writing (an amazing story, something I’m sure I’ll write about in the near future) he had a signing for his new collection of essays and excerpts. He was lively and friendly, and was a great sport. We took this selfie together.

Love Me is a much different pace from Keillor’s usual fair. No familiar tones of Lake Woebegone or Guy Noir, this novel strikes like a poignant, modern piece. Focusing on a failed author currently separated from his wife, Love Me tells a tale of loneliness, frustration, and advice columns.  Our hero, Larry, moves from Minnesota to New York to extend his literary career, but after some failed attempts to follow a successful novel, ends up writing an advice column called “Ask Mr. Blue.”  Love Me stands out as one of my favorite Garrison Keillor Novels.

White Noise – Don Delillo – Rating 8/10

White Noise serves as the inspiration for one of my favorite bands, The Airborne Toxic Event. This novel took me a few tries to get into, but it was certainly worth it. I read it over my  thanksgiving visit, which provided an interesting setting for a novel that explores the idea of cultural noise. The protagonist and antagonist of White Noise exist in the character Jack Gladney.  Gladney is a professor of Hitler studies, and is currently married to his 4th wife Babette.  The first half of the novel focuses on his daily life and the mundane things that take up such key portions. The mid point of the novel is a chemical incident, known as the airborne toxic event, that changes the lifestyle of everyone in the town. People begin to worry over radiation levels, future events of similar nature, and the meaning of their lives. The book takes a deep look at the meaning of the stranger elements of culture and does so with a great voice.

The Hellbound Heart – Clive Barker – 7/10

I’m not going to lie, I love cheap horror movies, especially slasher series, so when I saw a copy of the Hellbound Heart on my friend’s coffee table I knew I had to read it.  For those of you unfamiliar with the novela, it is the original story on which the Hellraiser series is based.  Barker had very little to do with the series after the first film, but had creative control over the first. While the characters become more important as the series goes on, Pinhead and the Cynobites play a very minor role in the book.  The main focus is on the family of the deceased Frank, an extreme hedonist who summons the Cynobites in his search for the ultimate pleasure. He is dragged to Hell by the monstrosities, discovering that to them, ultimate pleasure has blurred with ultimate pain. The rest of the book focuses on his family, and their strange experiences in his house after his disappearance. Frank eventually returns, flayed of flesh and looking for revenge. The Hellbound Heart is a great piece of horror and good for those times when you just want something fast.

All in all it was a good week of reading. Looking forward to sharing more good finds with you all.

Cheers

-Josh

A fast from distraction, or, why I’m quitting T.V.

Hey readers.

So last night I had a realization, after watching the 4th episode of that 70s show in a row, I came to the quick conclusion that I watch way too much television.

The last two months I’ve been trying to convince myself to start writing, I mean really writing, between songs, poems, a free form role playing game, and a very quietly attended blog, I realized I needed more coaxing.  I read a lot, and I feel reading is a good way to stimulate creativity, find authors voices and styles who inspire my own, and figure out how they influence me. But television for the most part is a time drain. Sure, there are pieces out there that are truly well written stories, but binge watching mindless old sitcoms just to kill time the easiest way I know how is really just draining away valuable creative hours.

So my ultimatum for myself is as follows- from now until December 12th, the premier of the Netflix original series Marco Polo, I will abstain from watching anything on television. I will give myself the exception of movies, but even then there aren’t many on my radar, so my goal is to spend all the time I would normally use to watch tv to focus efforts on writing and catching up on music that I’ve been missing out on. So help me out! Give me something you’d like to hear me write about, and help me think of new music to listen to.

I already wrote a 1,300 word piece on the train home today, (which I might share with you if you ask nicely) and I can really tell that this will force me to actually use my brain.

Until next time,

Cheers.

Review: Beautiful You – Chuck Palanhiuk

Hey readers.

A few weeks ago I entered to preview some advance reader copies of new books I was interested in.  At the end of October I received an email saying that I won an audio copy of the new Chuck Palanhiuk novel Beautiful You. The book arrived on monday, and because I work on weekends, I used my days off (Monday and today) to listen through the book and do some work around the house.  While I listened, I worked on a new recipe I found for bread using the leftover mash from home brewed beer, which pairs well with sweet onion marmalade.

Beautiful You is one of Palanhiuk’s most outlandish pieces yet, focusing on the ideas of sexuality and power, but in terms of layout, it is one of the most linear and structured works he has published.  Starting with a scene from near the end of the story, Chuck tells the story of a woman in the near future.  Our hero, Penny Harrigan, is a young New Yorker aspiring to become an attorney.

(Due to the erotic nature of the book, this review gets fairly mature so please proceed with disgression)

Penny’s story begins in the usual way, a small fish in the big pond of NYC.  She is working as a errand girl in a big name law firm.  Having failed the bar exam three times, Penny is searching for meaning in her life when one day she meets the worlds richest man, currently in her bosses office dealing with a palimony lawsuit with his movie star ex-girlfriend.  A harlequin romance novel style romance ensues, Penny’s rich suitor C. Linus Maxwell (romanticized by the tabloids as billionaire playboy CLiMaxwell)  invites her to dinner at the city’s most exclusive restaurant.

After their high profile night out, a romantic relationship ensues, and Penny discovers that Maxwell’s passion in life is researching the maximum possible pleasure of the female sexual experience.  Penny describes her sexual history as very lackluster, but once she begins her relationship with Maxwell, she discovers new exciting experiences.   Over the course of their relationship, Penny begins learning of Maxwell’s past.  His previous sexual partners included the first female President of the United States, a four time Oscar winning actress, as well as many sexual teachers, courtesans, and prostitutes.

Penny and Maxwell’s relationship comes to an end after 136 days, the same period as every other relationship Maxwell has had.  As the relationship ends, Maxwell demands that Penny not tell anyone about their experiments in return for a trust fund of fifty million dollars.  This is the turning point in the novel where things change from erotica, to social commentary.  Maxwell takes his inventions public, creating the adult toy company “Beautiful You”.  The company does incredibly well, creating lines of women winding many city blocks before the store opens.  The female population becomes addicted to using the products, countless women begin calling in “sick” and lines around the stores increase exponentially.

The novel escalates as Maxwell’s former lovers begin dying mysterious deaths, and the female population begins disappearing.  Penny begins a quest to stop Maxwell, seeking legal action against him, and eventually traveling to Nepal to seek out the help of Maxwell’s original tutor, Baba Greybeard.  Baba Greybeard teaches Penny the ancient ways of sexual magic, teaching her to become a viable sexual wizard to stop Maxwell using her inner power.  Palanhiuk channels Stephen King for the last section of the book, as the story takes on a tone of Carrie, or It when Penny unleashes her powers to destroy a great evil.

Palanhiuk makes many assumptions in this novel, exploring the dangers of arousal addiction and obsession.  He also explores the idea of media control and the lemming-like nature of following.  The “Beautiful You” products were engineered to break, unleashing nanobots into the women using them.  The nanobots directed their buying habits, directing them to purchase things produced by Maxwell’s companies.  Maxwell’s ultimate goal was control of the world, and he thought that by using women, he believed he could direct the world.

Beautiful You was an interesting read, especially regarding Palanhiuk’s reputation for misogyny and sexism.  Like many male authors, Chuck often used women as a way to progress male characters, instead of using them as characters.  Beautiful You marked much progress in Chuck’s understanding of other genders.  One complaint that could be found in the novel was it’s disregard of LGBT+ identities in the story.  While very interesting, the book takes a very gender binary approach to the world, and could use some improvement.

As a whole, I was very impressed by Palanhiuk’s latest offering, and would recommend it to fans of his earlier work, and would also recommend it to those who were disappointed by his lack of knowledge of the female voice in literature.

Beautiful You: 8.5/10
Available on Amazon

What my day off looks like

I’ve got the day off of work. So this is what it looks like

It’s raining, and Pandora is streaming through my t.v., and there’s a few bottles of my freshly finished home brew in the fridge. Days like these are the best.

Dipping your toes in different ponds

Hey readers,

Sorry for the dry spell. Lots of things going on in my life right now, my community recently suffered the loss of a friend and I’ve been rather preoccupied with that, post related to that to follow. I’ve also been dealing with house hunting and getting acclimated to my new job.

The last week has been a rather experimental week for me as far as reading goes, lots of short stories, trying new authors to see if I was interested, and Found some stuff that wasn’t quite for me.

I love short stories, they’re a great window into a new authors work, as well as seeing what you think of new genres.  My most recent purchase was the book Burnt Tongues, edited by Chuck Palahniuk.  Burnt Tongues is a collection of work by Chuck’s following of authors, and is a great gateway into the world of transgressive fiction.  For those un familiar, transgressive fiction is considered the dark stories others afraid to tell.  Burnt Tongues includes stories about animal abuse, teen suicide, and stolen identity, the beginning of the book warns that it is not for the faint of heart, and it isn’t kidding, but these stories offer a unique look into a very different portion of the world than could be viewed in a standard thriller or romance novel.

My point is, everyone should take some time to step out of their comfort zone and try something new, my comfort zone happens to be transgressive fiction and post-modern fiction of the 20th century, so a difficult diversion can be the more verbose, or nebulous works of older authors, or less hard hitting non-fiction (my fields of interest there would include history, science, philosophy, and psychology.)

So read something new today, I’ll try to as well.

Cheers.

-Josh