Tag Archives: fiction

Carl Melcher Goes to Vietnam by Paul Clayton

Posted by melydia on November 7, 2004 None comments

Carl Melcher Goes to Vietnam by Paul Clayton: I would summarize this book but the title does that job for me. It is the story of Carl Melcher, a recent high school graduate in the 1970s who gets drafted and sent to Vietnam. He makes some tenuous friendships, sort of falls in love, and seems at least vaguely affected by the war. This book would have been greatly improved had it been in a journal format, giving Clayton an excuse for being so trapped within Carl’s voice that things get lost. I often did not know how much time had passed between chapters, lost track of who was who, and missed what was going on because I did not understand the appropriate lingo. A diary format would have forgiven most of these problems as well as cleared up the time-jump confusion. If it was Clayton’s intent to paint a picture of pointlessness and bungling in the Vietnam War, he did a good job. But if he hoped to produce a thought-provoking critique of the war, a cast of sympathetic characters, or a moving tragedy, he did not accomplish his goals. Carl’s experiences in Vietnam were neither extraordinary nor detailed, and his limited use of adjectives (he felt only “scared,” “sad,” “happy,” or “angry” at any given moment) further distanced me from the story. In summary: this was not a bad book…just very forgettable.

Originally posted on Bookcrossing.

The Face by Dean Koontz

Posted by melydia on October 13, 2004 None comments

The Face by Dean Koontz (unabridged audiobook read by Dylan Baker): The two main characters here are Ethan Truman, chief of security for megastar Channing Manheim, and Fric, Manheim’s lonely but surprisingly normal 10-year-old son. Ethan begins the story by investigating some strange packages delivered to his employer, which earns him a fatal shot in the chest…only to wake up back in his truck, unharmed but with his own blood under his fingernails. Also lurking in the wings is Corky Laputa, self-proclaimed anarchist and servant of Chaos, spreading fear and discord however he can.

When it comes right down to it, I enjoyed this book very much, thanks in no small part to Dylan Baker, the reader. His voice acting was convincing, his narration was engaging, and he managed to keep me interested – even rapt in parts – all 19 hours. However, I had a few complaints even Baker’s massive talent could not quell. First, the sappy ending: this being Dean Koontz, I knew that Good would triumph over Evil in the end, but the overly saccharine fate granted a character I didn’t care very much about in the first place was tiresome. Second, the flowery description: most of it was fun and useful in setting the mood, but there’s only so many times you need to describe the rain. Third, there were lots of lengthy details and backstory that weren’t necessary to the story. I have a feeling Reader’s Digest could trim this down to a novella and lose nothing.

Certainly not my favorite Koontz novel, but I may have to track down more audiobooks read by Dylan Baker.

Confessions of a Crap Artist by Philip K. Dick

Posted by melydia on August 19, 2004 None comments

Confessions of a Crap Artist by Philip K. Dick: Jack Isidore is a “crap artist” who collects crackpot theories and lives his life as though a scientific observer instead of an active player. Fay and Charley (Jack’s sister and brother-in-law) decide he is not capable of supporting himself in normal society, so take him in to live with them in their giant house in the country. Fay and Charley have problems of their own. While no single character in genuinely sympathetic, Jack’s naive observations of dramatic events entertained me in a way similar to Star Trek’s Data and his confusion when humans react differently than he expects.

It’s an initially confusing book, and takes a little while to get into its groove. It swaps point of view nearly every chapter, alternating between first-person Jack, first-person Fay, third-person Charley, or third-person Nat Anteil (their neighbor). (The fact that the back of the book incorrectly refers to Charley and Fay as Charlie and Judy didn’t help matters either.) Once you pick up on this it’s fairly easy to distinguish narrators and becomes an interesting study in different people’s opinions on the same events, and the effect these differences have on the outcome. You can see the tragedy coming a mile away but still can’t believe it when it actually happens, which is a feeling I hadn’t encountered in a book for a long time. The ending was somewhat abrupt but generally satisfying.

Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz

Posted by melydia on June 24, 2004 None comments

Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz: I have surprisingly little to say about this book. It kept my attention at a time when I had little else to do but read, but it was not a real page turner. The secrets that come out among the characters were worth the wait, the characters themselves were fairly three-dimensional, and the description of rural Wisconsin in the first half of the 20th century was compelling. The ending, however, was a bit of a letdown, even though it appeared to be implying a kind of happy ending. I think my problem was that I felt dislike for Amanda rather than the sympathy I imagine the author was attempting to invoke. I felt she was obsessive and selfish from the very beginning. Her remorse about the death of her sister was not convincing and I did not care much about what happened to her, even though she was basically the main character. The rest of the story was good, and perhaps another reader would empathize more with the posessive Amanda than I did.

Originally posted on Bookcrossing.

Cold Steel Rain by Kenneth Abel

Posted by melydia on June 23, 2004 Comments Off on Cold Steel Rain by Kenneth Abel

Cold Steel Rain by Kenneth Abel: I’d never heard of this author, and had his book been more than two dollars in the Safeway bread aisle I probably would have passed it by. That said, my only major gripe with the book was that I often felt a strong desire to throw conjunctions at the author, who tended to replace such necessary words with commas.

The plot is complicated, so I won’t try to explain it. Suffice it to say that the main character, Danny Chaisson, is running from both his past and present, trying to find out why people want him dead. The novel is rather obviously anti-gun, but the story never comes off as preachy. The Black dialect, from an admittedly white perspective, was spot on without making the characters sound stupid, which tends to be a problem when writing in any dialect. Everyone had believable (if sometimes despicable) motives, and at the end you were left with a feeling of satisfaction and some small measure of hope for the future…without denying the grim reality of the present.

Originally posted on Bookcrossing.

Smart Women by Judy Blume

Posted by melydia on May 22, 2004 None comments

Smart Women by Judy Blume: Maybe I’m just not ready for middle-aged chick lit yet, but I felt like I was reading a Lifetime Original movie. It had all the prerequisite plot devices: divorce, puberty, affairs, teen sex, and mental breakdowns. To top it all off, it was set in the 1980s. I remember enjoying Blume’s children’s books when I was young, and unfortunately I felt like that’s what I was reading again, only with sex and foul language thrown in. Blume can write very realistic children, but this talent does not translate well to adults. Much of the dialogue fell flat, sounding like monotone in my head. To her credit, there was some funny banter between Margo and Andrew, I felt real pity for B.B., and the children (Sara and Michelle) were very believable and sympathetic characters. All in all, Blume should stick to what she does best: children’s fiction.

Originally posted on Bookcrossing.

The Magic Circle by Katherine Neville

Posted by melydia on May 13, 2004 None comments

The Magic Circle by Katherine Neville: What happens when you mix Native Americans, Hitler, Gypsies, nuclear weapons, human sacrifice, Mongols, the Cold War, the Roman Empire, the early Christian church, Druids, the Knights Templar, sex, and Greek gods together? A whirlwind, globe-trotting adventure that spans the centuries. Though not as engrossing as her earlier novel, The Eight, this story still has quite a bit to offer. The year is 1989. We meet Ariel Behn, your average nuclear engineer whose world is turned upside down with the sudden death of her beloved cousin Sam. Suddenly everyone from the family she’s spent her life trying to avoid is interested in her inheritance, which is a set of ancient manuscripts. Ariel spends much of the book trying to figure out how the various players are interconnected while attempting to stay alive long enough to learn why people are so willing to kill or be killed for these documents. There are plenty of twists, turns, and surprises in store for her on her journey that takes her from the remote mountains of Idaho to deepest Soviet Russia and beyond.

This is not a light read. The story pauses several times to give first-hand accounts of events in the years following the death of Christ, both of those who knew him and those who wanted to destroy him. I unfortunately read three other books while reading this one, and I admit I was still a little lost by the end of it. I do not understand how everything tied together, or why exactly the manuscripts were so important. All the same, I enjoyed the characters and felt myself cheering Ariel on as she untangled the web of lies that had ensnared her family for so many years. Not as good as The Eight, but if you’re interested in historical fiction mixed with New Age spirituality, it’s worth a read.

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

Posted by melydia on May 9, 2004 None comments

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson: This is not an exciting, thrill-a-minute, real page-turner type of book. It is, in a word, interesting. I like both strawberries and winter, so I enjoyed much of the description. The characters, while realistically portrayed, did not evoke much sympathy in me, and while I generally understand why the reporter was given so much backstory, it did not really strike me as all that relevant. So if the post-WWII world of Japanese Americans in a remote island off the coast of Washington state interests you, you may like this book. If not, you would probably be bored to tears. [Note: I have not seen the movie.]

Originally posted on Bookcrossing.

The Singing Stones by Phyllis A. Whitney

Posted by melydia on May 8, 2004 None comments

The Singing Stones by Phyllis A. Whitney: My mother gave this to me because it takes place in Charlottesville, Virginia, where I used to live. It was a very quick read. The characters are more or less believable, but I was terribly unimpressed with Stephen and therefore Lynn as well. I also thought the ending was kind of forced. I like to be surprised at the identity of the killer in a “wow, I never would have suspected him/her but it all makes sense now” kind of way instead of a “hey look, the author took the least likely person and made them act out of character in order to explain their motive” kind of way. Julian was pretty cool, at any rate.

All the same, it kept my interest to the very end and brought back pleasant memories of the Charlottesville area. Strangely enough, the book set C’ville in Nelson County. Perhaps in the 14 years since it was written things have changed – today C’ville is in Albemarle County.

Originally posted on Bookcrossing.

Gates of Eden by Ethan Coen

Posted by melydia on May 5, 2004 None comments

With Gates of Eden, Ethan Coen has proven himself a true wordsmith. His prose is witty, starkly realistic, and often beautiful. His plots, on the other hand, are quite lacking. This is more a matter of personal taste, but I prefer stories in which something actually happens. Too many of the stories merely stopped after assorted description, rather than providing an actual ending or at least a feeling of purpose to the story (often I was left thinking, “So why did he think that story was worth retelling?” or “Where was he going with that?”). I also got tired of feeling like I was hearing everything secondhand. Even the stories that were not in first person left me feeling like somebody was telling me the story, rather than truly experiencing the events or connecting at all with the characters. I’m glad I read this, but I think I’ll stick to Coen films from now on.

Originally posted on Bookcrossing.

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