Review - The Graveyard Book

This book was a bit of a connundrum to me. At times, I felt myself feeling like maybe I didn't really like it and at other times I felt like this could be a favorite book. I definitely flip-flopped back and forth. Even the segments that "weren't a favorite" were interesting elements to the story and provided great added detail.

The book starts out with a very intriguing and engaging "hook" to draw you right in. As mentioned in the summary, the book is about a young child living in a graveyard after the murder of his family...the first chapter of the book is about that murder and how the baby boy escaped the same fate as the rest of his family. The boy is named "Nobody" and called Bod. As the book goes on, we learn along with Bod the various intricacies of "life" in the graveyard and how to interact with the other supernatural beings there.

The overarching plot of the story has to do with the murder of Bod's family and solving that mystery and confronting the murderer. But each chapter of the book has its own set of mini-adventures as Bod deals with different trials and adventures that come because he's living between the world of the living and the dead. The book also puts forth a number of interesting ideas about what it really means to be alive and the ways different people interact with each other and see the world.

By the end of the book, I really loved it. I thought the story was very engaging. The writing was very vibrant and enticing. The characters were interesting. The small adventures were fun. And the overall mystery was rather intriguing. I especially liked the way knowledge and details came to the reader piecemeal in the same way and at the same pace that Bod was learning about things. It left a lot of gray area to ponder.

Thinking back over the book I had a hard time picking out the segments that I had been "iffy" about when first reading. Everything fit together nicely like a very cool jigsaw puzzle that may have areas that are frustrating or "less fun" when trying to piece them together but when the overall picture is finished, every little area is vital and very fulfilling.

One thing that was VERY interesting to me came as I read the author acknowledgements in the back of the book (yes, I read those). Gaiman's first mention was his gratitude to Rudyard Kipling for The Jungle Books. I suddenly felt like a dunce...being an English major who read the Jungle Books only a couple of years ago and even discussed them in a college class. I couldn't believe I'd missed the connection. As I went back and thought through each book, I was stunned at the parallels between the Graveyard Book and the Jungle Books. I certainly wouldn't call this book a "retelling" of the Jungle Books, but there are many direct similarities as well as a lot of peripheral comparisons. If you've read the Jungle Books (not just 'watched' the Disney movie), you should think about it while reading...or at least after reading.

This book won a Newbery Award which is a reward for distinguished American literature for Children. While I certainly think it's worthy of the award, I'm a little nervous about how appropriate this book would be for younger children. Most of the time, it's not too over-the-top scary or terrible, but there are some moments where the story is a bit grisly and I'd be worried giving it to anybody under ten years old. Still, I think a ten year old definitely qualifies as a child and thus warrants this being a Newbery recipient.

Overall, I really did like this book. It was an intriguing, thoughtful mystery-adventure with a lot of good fun and moments of psychological/human analysis. It has some nice "life lessons" about how we need to make the most of our lives, set goals and work to achieve them, strive to build good relationships with other people. As an English major, I'm very interested to re-read this book alongside the Jungle Books to explore similarities. Maybe that will be a class assignment once I finally start teaching English. ;)

Give it a try and let me know what you think.


4 out of 5 stars

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Books Read in 2010

Here's my running list of books read in 2010. Last year I made it to 43. This year I'm shooting to at least match my reading list from last year, but I'd rather surpass it.

1. The Hunger Games
2. Sea of Monsters
3. Great Work Great Career
4. Archenemy
5. The Drug of the New Millennium
6. The Sorrows of Young Werther
7. The Hourglass Door
8. A Tale of Two Cities
9. The Maze of Bones (The 39 Clues Book 1)
10. Right Ho Jeeves
11. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
12. Soulless
13. A Monstrous Regiment of Women
14. Catching Fire
15. The Four Loves
16. Magic Kingdom For Sale | Sold!
17. One False Note (The 39 Clues Book 2)
18. The Black Unicorn
19. The Titan's Curse
20. The Great Divorce
21. The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimeus Trilogy Book 1)
22. The Sword Thief (The 39 Clues Book 3)
23. To Kill a Mockingbird
24. Beyond the Grave (The 39 Clues, Book # 4)
25. The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson
26. Those Extraordinary Twins
27. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
28. Mockingjay
29. The Holy Man
30. The Search for Delicious
31. The Battle of the Labyrinth
32. Chains
33. Foucault's Pendulum
34. The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch
35. A Charmed Life: Growing Up In Macbeth's Castle
36. Dracula
37. The Turn of the Screw
38. Fablehaven
39. The Dain Curse
40. The Lord of the Flies
41. The Maze Runner
42. The War of the Worlds
43. The Last Olympian
44. The Graveyard Book

Here's my "to read" list as it stands now...though I often just grab books as they appeal to me. If you have some suggestions, let me know.

Happy Reading.

Review - The Last Olympian

I've been reading through the Percy Jackson series with my kids as their bedtime reading for the last year+. There have been times where I've wanted to skip ahead but I've forced myself to let myself be surprised/anxious/excited right along with them. As we read the Last Olympian, it became even harder for me to not read ahead.

Speaking of personal difficulties, I had a hard time deciding how to review this book...I debated whether to stay "high level" and talk in generalities or to dig deep and reveal potential spoilers. I finally decided to stay kind of high level since I think it's more fun to stumble on the revelations through reading rather than through a review. Don't let the high level review make you think this book was missing the detail and depth of the previous novels. In some ways the plot was a little less complex than previous books...but in other ways it was a little more engaging.

The Percy Jackson series spanned 5 books. In each of the previous books we were given a single stand-alone adventure that Percy and his friends had to take on. In the background of each book, there were always a couple of parallel storylines going on which were intriguing and fun to follow. Behind all of the books, there was the story of a "Great Prophecy" that basically suggested that Percy, on his 16th birthday, would be part of a decision that would make or break the existence of Olympus and the Gods. In the Last Olympian, we're thrown neck deep into the war that's at the crux of the Great Prophecy.

Right from the onset of the book, we are thrown into some serious action and tension alongside Percy. The immediate danger, disaster and intrigue sets adrenaline and emotion at high levels early on. And for most of the book, the story doesn't let down on that intensity. There are moments of "downtime" where the characters are talking about the situation, investigating leads, or planning for future battles, but the large majority of this final book is action, Action, ACTION.

In addition to the main battle and the unraveling of the Great Prophecy a number of other loose threads and subplots are resolved over the course of this book. Some interesting new revelations are given that shed light on previous 'back burner' topics. There's also an interesting resolution to the potential "love triangle" that's been created through the last couple of books in the series.

I really enjoyed the fast paced almost non-stop-action ride in this conclusion to the series. As in many conclusions, the final wrap up to me felt a little anti-climactic and even a little forced in some points. But generally I was very pleased with the way this series wrapped itself up and I really enjoyed the overall story and the tension of the conclusion.

If you're just starting into the world of Percy Jackson and you're enjoying it at all, I definitely recommend you push through and read the entire series. The reading level and general content stays at the same level throughout the series which is a good advantage in a kid's series since you don't have to wait for the kids to mature before going on to future books. The final book does take on Percy's adolescence a little bit with peripheral references to romance but nothing over-the-top or off-putting to young readers.

Overall, I really enjoyed the series. It's not without its flaws, but it's definitely a lot of fun. We've already jumped headlong into the next Riordan book in the Olympian world....The Lost Hero....and I'm looking forward to seeing how Percy and friends have evolved.



4 out of 5 stars

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Review - The War of the Worlds

I've listened to the radio drama. I've seen a couple of movie/tv versions. But I'd never read the book. I've read a little bit of Wells but have never gotten around to this one. My son saw it on our shelf and wanted to know if he could read it so I decided to preview it for him first to be sure. After finishing it, I told him he could read it. He hasn't started it yet, but I'm curious to see what he thinks.

The writing style is definitely late 19th-century. There's a lot of the "high" language style present in a lot of other 1800s literature. It's a very descriptive and thoughtful writing style paying careful attention to even small details and drawing the reader in with intricate attention to the characters's emotional attachment to surroundings and events.

Additionally, H.G. Wells does an exquisite job in supplying fabulous details for the "science" portion of his science-fiction. He provides concrete information regarding astronomical studies of the day including references to astronomers, scientific magazines, various studies, and more. I didn't bother to cross-reference all of the details he provided. But they all had a definite ring of veracity. Some of them I was fairly certain I've read or at least heard reference in other documents I've read. Wells did a fabulous job of mixing the truth of science with the intense fiction of an invasion from Mars.

I also really enjoyed the psychological analysis of the humans and the Martians. The narrator often takes a moment to ponder the motivations and beliefs of the Martians and compares those to our own human beliefs during our own conquests (whether of other humans or of "lower life forms"). It provided an interesting parallel line of thought to think of the Martians as doing the same thing we had done...simply fighting for survival/expansion and exterminating/controlling life forms deemed to be inferior.

Overall, this was an engaging read and a lot of fun. While some of the writing and the details are antiquated, nearly all of the story and its concepts can be almost immediately dropped into our own 21st century world and be just as stark and terrifying (as shown in recent movies).

As for a recommended reading audience, I'm not really apprehensive about having my 11 year old read it. There were a handful of characters who "cursed" and there was one reference to sexuality (though in a very scientific means...discussing the apparently asexual reproduction method of the Martians). As to be expected, there was a lot of violence and death, but it was generally distanced and when it was "in your face", it was presented more analytically than grotesquely. More than the actual content, I think the language and writing style will be more likely to slow down a younger reader.

If you haven't read this one, you really should. I keep intending to read more Wells and other early sci-fi. It's a lot of fun..especially when it holds up so well even after a century or more.


4 out of 5 stars

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Review - The Maze Runner

I've read blurbs saying that this was an action-packed adrenaline ride and I have to agree. While there are definitely moments of introspection and some expository narrative, there are HUGE segments of non-stop adventure. The reader is truly RUNNING through this book and the maze along with the characters.

Summary

The story is told in a close 3rd person following closely the adventures and interactions of young Thomas. He wakes in a darkened elevator with no distinct memories of himself, his past, or his future. He remembers his name and has very vague memories about things of the world (he knows what an elevator is and general concepts like that, for example) but is totally oblivious as to his current situation. The elevator finally arrives in the Glade where he's welcomed by a group of boys no older than him (and many are younger). He quickly learns that they all came up through the elevator in the same way with the same amnesia and that none of them really have any sense of an overall purpose for the Glade or, the larger mystery, of the large maze surrounding the Glade from which there is apparently no exit. The 'Gladers' have organized a routine by which they sustain life through farming and they explore the maze through the use of 'Runners' who search each day for a way out. After 2 years, they haven't yet found an exit. Still confused and trying to understand things, the next morning brings another teenager in the elevator…the first girl ever to arrive at the Glade and she brings a message with her that "things are going to change."

Characters

Thomas is the central character that we follow on the journey. We get his thoughts and analysis along the way and we unravel the mystery along with him. We experience a sense of amnesia along with him as we try to figure out what could be going on and why. As various elements unravel that confront Thomas with some potentially harsh truths about himself, I found myself feeling some of the pressure on him as though the accusations were coming at me and I didn't understand why. I guess what I'm saying is that it was pretty easy for me to relate to Thomas…not just because he's a male protagonist but also because the presentation allowed me to learn along with him and to feel very close to his confusion and his emotions.

We don't get as close to the other characters but we do learn a lot about their personalities through their interactions with Thomas and the other Gladers. Even though the various leaders in the Glade have distinct personalities they felt largely the same to me in two main categories…those who were pro-Tom and those who were anti-Tom. I often lost track of which Glader was speaking/acting at a certain time because apart from those two main groupings, a lot of their behaviors/dialogue/actions were very similar. Still, many of them did do very unique things at key moments in the story which set them apart, but generally, the Gladers fit into these key groups.

The one Glader who was different was Chuck. Chuck was the seemingly out-of-place Glader who was almost an outcast among this group of outcasts/exiles/whatever-they-were kids in the Glade. He didn't have many (any?) friends. His skillset was low. Early on, Thomas was easily annoyed by Chuck, but as the book went on, Chuck became the enduring and sympathetic character.

And finally, there was Teresa, the girl who arrived and brought on the major changes. She spends a large chunk of the book in a coma but we still get to know about her through the various snips of memories and implications that come as well as her connection with Tom. When she starts taking part in the action, it's quickly apparent that she's strong willed and maybe a bit cocky. I'm interested to see how she plays out in the next book as well.

My Thoughts

The idea for this plot and this world is very interesting to me. It's a strange dystopia world where adults are absent and children are fighting for their lives and their future.

The intriguing twist comes in the amnesia that plagues the group. Nobody knows why they're in the Glade/Maze, who put them there, what the world's like outside the Maze or any other key details. Even after two years of searching and making maps, the kids haven't found an escape nor have they gotten any closer to answers. And now, with the arrival of Thomas and Teresa, their entire existence within the Glade has changed and their forced to find answers and escape or die.

As the overall mystery is slowly revealed, it becomes more intriguing and each answer brings more questions.

My two main complaints with the unraveling of the mystery are both related to the intelligence of the kids.

1. As smart as all these kids are and as much comparing of the maps as they made, it seems odd to me that either out of desperation or just pure luck, they hadn't yet made the discovery that Thomas and Teresa help them make.
2. Again, with the intelligence of these kids, it was frustrating just how long the acronym (WICKED) remained a mystery…even once Thomas started asking the question, it still told half or two-thirds of the book before he made the connection.

So, although the kids are very intelligent, so much so that their conversation and thoughts seemed very mature at times (don't worry, there's still enough balance of immaturity to realize they are just kids/teenagers), it seems that there were a couple of things that these smarty-pants should've figured out sooner.

Overall

This was a very engaging story. Even though the mystery is thoughtful and intriguing, it's not so deep as to overwhelm the tween/teen reader.

The story is very action packed and should appeal to an action-hungry reader. However, if you're looking for a deep book large amounts of character and plot development…a sort of literary classic…this isn't the book for you.

The book is part of a series with the second book already released. While this main segment is self-contained as a single story, it still definitely leaves you not only wanting more, but needing to discover what happens next. I'm not sure if the hardcover came with the "WICKED files" or not, but the version I did had various office memos/emails/etc at the end of the book that shed some more light on the mystery while also creating more questions. In addition, it had the first few pages of book two which helped whet my appetite.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more. I've got a couple of brothers (who aren't huge readers even) that I'm thinking of giving this to as a gift.

I can certainly recommend this as a good adrenaline filled adventure book.


4 out of 5 stars

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Review - Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies is another one of those classic English novels that I somehow made it through school without ever reading. It was often referenced in other book discussions in classes and I had a very general feel for the overarching plot of the book, but I'd never actually read it. So, I finally did.

For those who somehow haven't heard of the book or know anything about the story, it basically involves a bunch of British schoolboys (probably aged 6 or 7 through early/mid-teens). During wartime evacuation, the kids all crash land on a deserted island and are the lone survivors (no adults). Timeframes are somewhat ambiguous but over time, one of the kids, Ralph, becomes a "chief" of the group and comes up with plans for survival (shelters, food, etc) and escape (keeping a signal fire going with green wood/leaves nearby to send up a flurry of smoke). As time goes on, order is pulled apart either from youthful desire for fun over work or from coercion from Jack Merridew and his group of boys, "the choir."

The general plot of the story is interesting and reminded me a little bit of Robinson Crusoe and his desire to bring civilization and order to his little island. This book had more psychological themes going on though since there were many people on the island and they were all either very young kids or young teenagers pushing into self-consciousness and evaluation.

The book provides interesting insight into the thoughts and desires of kids as they work towards adulthood. These kids are generally younger than what one might consider a "young adult" but they're forced into a very adult situation. We get to see a number of different reactions. These range from the strong desire to maintain order and civility by creating and enforcing rules based on ideas from the adult world to the youthful desire for fun unbridled now that there are no adults to stifle entertainment to the completely savage nature of play as the kids revert back to their savage natural state in the wild.

Most of the people who saw me reading this book were quick to let me know how much they disliked it. I can see the reasons for distaste. The themes are harsh and uncomfortable. The end result of the story, even though it has a "happy ending", are does not provide a happy, enthusiastic view towards humanity.

A lot of the writing style was very descriptive and evocative and just plain lovely to read. A lot of the theme and tone of the book was very unsettling and hard to read. This juxtaposition left me feeling mixed about the book. While I may not like the story or what it proposes to say about humanity, I can certainly appreciate the message it's trying to convey and the way it does it.

There's a lot going on in this book and I certainly don't feel like I've unpacked it all. At the same time, I'm not particularly eager to go back and read it again to try and unpack more. I saw some definite commentary on humanity, on "civilization", on war, on psychology, religion, etc. I can see why it's taught in schools and see how it could provide intense discussions.

However, I worry that some of the themes and concepts may be lost on too young a reader. And it may not even be an "age" thing as is shown by some of the events in the story. Just like some of the kids in the story were not ready for what they were forced to undertake, I would worry that if a child is too young or emotionally/intellectually immature, they may not recognize the message and allegory in the story and will either leave thinking it's just a fun adventure and (who knows) will strive to go out hunting boars themselves, or they could come away emotionally troubled without a good outlet to deal with it.

I'm glad I read this. Not one of my favorites, but very thought provoking. I have no intention to hand it to my 11 year old to read (even though he's begged me to let him) but I'll gladly discuss it with him if/when it's assigned to him in High School.


3.5 out of 5 stars

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Review - The Dain Curse

The Dain Curse is my second excursion with the Continental Op. I read Red Harvest about a year ago and really enjoyed it. In Red Harvest, the Op is battling gangsters in a mess of a town. Part of me expected the same sort of thing from the Dain Curse. While there were similar gangster-like elements, the overall plot structure was fairly different.

The Dain Curse plot is, at its heart, what you might expect from a robbery/murder mystery story. It involves a lot of intrigue, misdirection, suspense, etc. At the same time, it's not your standard mystery novel a la Sherlock Holmes. It's definitely gritty and "hardboiled" in the same style as the earlier Hammett I'd read.

One thing I noticed quickly was just how twisty the path was along the story arc. Things start out simple enough with our Op investigating a small scale jewel robbery as a representative for the insurance company who will have to pay the claim on the missing diamonds. The Op's detective nature shines as he questions the surface value of the facts and doesn't accept the "easy answer" that the suspects and the insurance company would like him to take. Instead, he keeps digging and before long, the jewel theft gets forgotten as murder becomes the primary crime…and then another murder…and another.

The language, imagery and pacing of Hammett's novel was fabulous. It was very easy to get caught up in the action and the adventure of the story. The depth and intrigue of the mystery was very impressive. In the end, I could follow the unraveling of the mystery but there were constant wild cards thrown from seemingly out of nowhere that threw into a spin any theories I had already come up with.

The biggest downside of the book were the times when everything was spelled out. While it was very interesting reading the entire plot unraveled so the whole mystery was exposed, the segment where this happened was a somewhat drudgerous read. Still, I was compelled to read it to make sure I didn't miss anything. The main drudgery of the explanation was due to its length and intricacy. The final mystery had layer upon layer of detail and a whole stage of characters. As a result, the wrap up took a long time to get out and part of me wanted to skip past it, while the other part wanted to make sure I understood everything.

While not as action packed as the gangster hunting events of Red Harvest, the mystery and intrigue level of The Dain Curse were taken up a notch. Once again, I found myself really enjoying the minimal, course, gritty, blunt style of Hammett and I look forward to reading more.


4.5 out of 5 stars

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Review - Fablehaven (Book 1)

I approached Fablehaven with wary curiosity and interest. I'd heard that it was a fabulous series. I'd read another book (Candy Shop War) by the same author and had enjoyed it. However, I was a little concerned and wondering how fresh and new this story would be, especially considering the market saturation of young books centered around modern day kids/teens interacting with magic and fantasy in our modern world. So perhaps I went into this book being more skeptical than I should have been. In the end, however, I found this to be a fun and engaging read.

As I mentioned above, the high-level concept felt initially a little overdone…a pair of young kids visit their grandparents' estate only to find it teeming with magical creatures and then they find themselves in the middle of a fantastic adventure. So yeah, from a high level, it feels similar to a lot of other stuff out there.

Fortunately, Mull brings a level of freshness and excitement into the story that sets it apart enough to leave me not only enjoying this first book but also interested in following the series.

Our two young heroes are quirky and fun. Sometimes they felt a little "old" for their age, but generally they felt realistic and likable. I enjoyed the brother-sister dynamic as well as their sometimes polarized personalities. Kendra is methodical, thoughtful, insightful and careful. Seth is headstrong, curious, action-prone and one who leaps-before-he-looks.

The world of Fablehaven is curious and intriguing. Each of the adults who live and work at Fablehaven have their own backstory and unique elements to bring. The wide variety of creatures and regions on the Fablehaven estate are also deep and interesting. Mull did a great job creating a vivid world with vivid characters. Elements of the plot reminded me of other books I'd read recently but the core details are different enough to make the story fresh and exciting.

As an adult, I really enjoyed this book. As a parent, I have no problem having my kids read this if they want to (in fact, my oldest has just finished plowing through the series). As a kid in the target audience (~9-13?), I think this fantasy adventure would be a lot of fun and really enjoyable. By having two central characters, a boy and a girl, I suspect the story will be accessible and relatable to a wider range of readers.

The writing is simple and easy to follow for young readers while also having enough depth to keep older readers engaged. The mystery and intrigue of the plot is well developed enough to make kids feel smart rather than talked down to even in the more in-depth parts of the narrative.

This is a great start to the series and I look forward to reading more.


4.5 out of 5 stars

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Review - The Turn of the Screw

The Turn of the Screw is a rather famous and critically renowned novella in American literary history. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I started into the story. I specifically avoided the wealth of critical theory and interpretations out there. After finishing, I'm very curious to see the many possible discussions that have been spurred by this book.

The narrative style is simple and easily accessible. For modern readers, it may present itself a little daunting at first because of the high/antiquated language of the 19th century. But truly, it's not a difficult read. The language is very lovely. The descriptions are vibrant and intriguing. And the story is interesting.

The way the plot is laid out was somewhat interesting to me. It starts with a group of characters sitting around telling stories and one of them decides to read this account from a journal he's discovered/received. The rest of the story is then this journal.

That presentation in itself isn't terribly odd. What was intriguing to me was that the framing was simple and subtle but the overall purpose is ambiguous. We're told that the original storyteller (the man who has the journal) has a connection to the governess. The exact nature of his connection is left ambiguous to the extent that I sometimes wondered if he (the man) was a grown version of one of the children in the story (assuming a different name). Once I decided that wasn't the case, I was interested to see if he would have some sort of epilogue for what happened AFTER the final words of the journal. If he was close enough to the governess to now have her story, then it's somewhat strange that we have this exclusion of his own interpretation or of commentary after the fact.

The story of the governess and the children is interesting…eerie…somewhat chilling at times. It's not a shocking tale of horror and fear. But James does a great job of portraying the horror of emotion that the governess feels and that makes its way into the life around her. The interactions with the ghosts and the nature of the behavior of the children were strange and distanced. It was difficult for me to decide what was real and what was imagined. Many times I thought the governess was going insane. Other times I was certain she was on the right track. In many instances it felt like her leaps of logic were a little too far fetched and that she made too many wild assumptions. But it was interesting to see how things played out with her and with her interactions with her single confidant Mrs. Grose.

The ending left me stunned and with a whole set of new questions to think on. I enjoyed the story. It is definitely engaging. I really wanted more of a wrap up…more closure…more something after the current ending. Still, leaving this abrupt, shocking ending is certainly more powerful and long-lasting than if the author had stepped back and wrapped everything up in a nice neat bow.

Overall, this was a good story and I look forward to reading more by Henry James when I get the chance.


4 out of 5 stars

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Review - Dracula

I'd never read Dracula before so it made a fun Halloween treat. I tried to read it "fresh"…to shun what I "knew" from all the media and pop-culture references that are nearly impossible to avoid.

While it was difficult (impossible?) to fully forget all the things that culture has thrust on me, I did try to envision what this book would have been like if I'd read it 100+ years ago when it was originally published. While it shares many elements of the graphic novels and general horror writing of the time, it is certainly more "terrifying" than much of the other horror writing I've read from that era (which isn't saying a whole lot since I haven't read a ton). For the era, this novel seemed to me startlingly graphic in terms of describing the horrors encountered by the main characters. Compared to the gothic novels I've read, this is definitely more creepy. It reminded me a lot of the eerie, creepy horror of some of Poe's works.

The writing style was a little different than I imagined. It's set up as an epistolary novel with the narrative coming from multiple points of view as written after the fact in diaries, letters and even some newspaper clippings and commercial documents (ships logs, etc). Thus, we are somewhat distanced from the action of the story, but we also get it from a variety of perspectives and with multiple different voices. Some of the voices were very similar to one another and hard to distinguish. The most distinguishable was Van Helsing who was actually written with a very strong dialect that sometimes annoyed me.

I definitely applaud the attention to detail in this book. The descriptions of Dracula's castle and (later) the various homes/parks/streets in England were very vivid and easy to picture. Even more engaging were the details brought to life through the emotional turmoil of the characters. Reading the diary of Jonathan Harker, I could completely envision his growing terror throughout his stay at the castle. I also really liked the detail and interaction in the letters between Mina and Lucy.

There were a number of times where I wanted the story to "hurry up" but when I sat back and read the novel without the cultural baggage of a world that's grown up with the vampire/Dracula mythos, I felt myself very content to move along at a slower pace. Not only did I find myself enjoying the methodical unraveling of the mystery and the descriptions of the Undead, but I also found that the slower pacing created a greater sense of anxiety and apprehension.

I only had a couple of minor complaints that stayed with me after finishing the book.

First and foremost, I wanted much more interaction with Dracula. There was a ton of build up and a lot of "off stage" action implying what Dracula had done and what he was doing. We saw him with some regularity early on but in those instances he was still more of an enigma than a source of horror. There were only a very few scenes in which we actually came face-to-face with him as evil antagonist. Furthermore, each of these confrontations was usually over very quickly. Even the final confrontation was concluded quickly. I appreciate that the novel's form makes it impossible for us to see things from his point of view or actually observe his actions off-stage (unless perhaps he had left his own journal), but I would have appreciated more encounters or perhaps lengthier encounters. Instead, most of what we learn about his power and abilities come in short snippets followed by explanations from Van Helsing.

My second complaint had to do with Dr. Seward and Renfield. We have Deward's diary which provides information as to Renfield's strange behavior and his unusual outbursts. While I will grant that the chronology of things makes it difficult/impossible for Seward to piece together what's going on, it seems that there were a number of times where Seward should have sought more information but didn't (such as when Renfield escapes and runs to a certain home…even with his rantings and ravings and the strange workmen hauling boxes of dirt, Seward doesn't bother to investigate the owner of the home…I would think that it might be worthwhile to see if there was a particular reason why an escaped lunatic ran to a very particular home after escaping). In spit of Seward's education and experience, it seems that he let a number of threads fall away. Perhaps this is part of the nature of working in a sanitarium in the 1800s.

All in all, I really enjoyed finally reading this book. With it's huge influence on modern culture, I definitely recommend checking it out and getting to know this original and exciting work. Be prepared for a bit slower pace but if you put yourself in the mind of a reader in the early 1900s and try to distance yourself from the cultural baggage, I think you'll be in for a very creepy ride.


5 out of 5 stars

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Review - A Charmed Life: Growing Up in Macbeth's Castle

My wife gave me this book knowing that it would be of particular interest to me for two reasons. The most obvious to most people would be my affinity for Shakespeare and the fact that this memoir follows the story and history of family members in Cawdor castle...the same location/family that figures in Shakespeare's Macbeth. That in itself makes this interesting enough. Even more fun to me is that (supposedly), I'm a distant descendant of an early Thane of Cawdor...or at least a member of the Cawdor family. My aunt/uncle supposedly traced us all the way. In my own records, I only have information back as far as the early 1700s in Northern Scotland 50-100 miles north of Cawdor.

Regardless of whether I'm a distant-distant-distant cousin of the author and the family, this was still a rather interesting memoir. It's well written and does a great job of combining contemporary family history with the history of generations of Thanes and others in the area.

The historical stories were very interesting. The narrative voice is humorous and makes the ancient tales seem vivid and very accessible.

The modern day story is sad and distressing at times. One of the reviewer quotes from the back cover identifies the author/writing as "corageously honest." I can agree. Life in her family was difficult. She tells about feeling a bit distant and separate from her fellow school mates and not being able to relate to them and their modern parties and ideas while she lived in a castle in an antiquated family system.

Her father Hugh became Thane in his mid 20s when her grandfather died. Through the course of the book, it's very apparent that Hugh wasn't ready to become Thane and didn't really know what to do with it. The estate suffered. But his family suffered even more. Hugh became a violent alcoholic and womanizer. He liked to put on a good show but at the same time he was almost a sociopath or, at the very least, not a big fan of dealing with people (aside from disposable women).

I don't want to sound like I'm judging Hugh too harshly and it was evident that the author didn't want to leave us with that perception either. At the end of the book, she outlines a variety of external influences that weighed heavily on the life/mind/psyche of her father...ranging from immense stress and pressure to mental and physical abuse. In the end, it's hard to justify his actions but the book does a great and thorough job of outlining the life of her father and her family.

I'm not a big reader of memoirs or biographies but I did enjoy this. The writing was fresh and clever. Even though this is a "titled" family living (literally) in a castle and on an estate, the stories and their lives were presented in such a way that I could empathize and relate to some of their struggles. I was left feeling close to the family and feeling sorrow at the way things turned out. Moreover, I was left curious for the future and to learn what's happened in the years since her brother became Thane and began working to restore the estate.


4 out of 5 stars

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