Chris Holmes Online

Last year I made a promise to myself (a resolution, if you like) to read more. I love to read fiction, but the routine of every day life has a way of occupying one’s time. So last year I set a goal to read one book for every month of the year. That’s not a lot of reading for people who read a lot, but with my schedule it seemed attainable. As a corollary to the goal I also made it a rule to try and read only books I had never read before. I’ve read Herbert’s Dune books, The Lord of the Rings, and Stephen King’s The Stand at least a half dozen times each. Thats fun, and I love reading those books, but I wanted to experience new territory this time.

I ended up reaching my goal just days before the new year, so I thought I’d post what I read and maybe collect some recommendations for next year’s goal.

(1) Brave New World

I started 2007 off with Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. I had heard that it was a must-read for science fiction fans; a classic in the genre. It’s a short novel and not a very difficult read.

Brave New World is about a Utopian (or Dystopia, depending on your point of view) future where human beings are genetically engineered into a caste system. Through conditioning (that starts before birth), each human is taught to desire only the lifestyle of their caste. Lower level humans are taught to not to desire the responsibilities of the higher level castes, and the higher level castes are taught not to desire the mundane lifestyle of the lower castes. Anything that could disrupt this balance (love, religion, art, history) is eliminated from the equation, more or less. Everyone is free – encouraged even – to sleep with everyone else. There are no more parents (the government raises all of the artificially born children) and no more families.

Enter into this world a “savage” – a person born on what basically amounts to a “reservation”. You can imagine what happens when an attempt is made to integrate this person into this brave new world (better yet, don’t imagine – read the book).

The story, like many good pieces of science fiction, is fascinating, but Huxley’s execution is lacking. The basic problem with the book is that the characters are too thin and there’s no one to really care about; there’s nothing to emotionally engage the reader. As a case study in the potential perils of genetic engineering and the search for utopia, it’s an excellent work of fiction. But as a human story (which is ironic) it’s a flawed, sterile novel without any real emotional impact. Still glad I read it though.

(2) Ender’s Game
There have been rumors for several years now that Orson Scott Card’s novel, Ender’s Game, would be turned into a film. I didn’t want to miss the boat on another novel-turned-film, so this one was high on my priority list. Plus, I had heard from a coworker who liked it very much.

Ender’s Game is the story is about a very young, exceptionally intelligent child who is selected to go to a special school for gifted children that is really nothing more than a military boot camp. The children are Earth’s last great hope in an interstellar war against a race of bug-like creatures who, pardon the pun, wish to exterminate us. The school hopes to find the next great “commander” to lead its troops in the war. To facilitate this, the children learn to play a zero-gravity “game” that teaches them how to command troops in the weightlessness of space. Ender is the brightest of the smart kids, and much of the novel deals with his emotional and psychological state as he navigates his way through the perils of military training at such a young age.

I enjoyed Ender’s Game a lot. It is a neat story, with an ending I didn’t see coming. But I can’t see any entertaining way that this novel would make a decent film. The problem with translating such a story to film is that it’s really a thinking man’s novel, and I would worry that the film industry will want to turn it into another Starship Troopers type of movie, when it deserves to be something much better.

(3) Idoru

William Gibson is hailed as a sort of modern day science fiction god. He’s been credited with creating the genre of “cyberpunk.” And so it was with great anticipation that I grabbed Idoru off the shelf, because I had read so much praise for Gibson’s work.

Gibson might be a literary genius, but his storytelling skill doesn’t show in Idoru. The book is dull, slow and mostly pointless. Gibson’s literary chops are unique; He has a very abrupt style that takes some getting used to, but even once acclimated to it there’s no soul. Maybe that’s the point – the characters in Idoru are uninteresting and shallow, and perhaps that’s what Gibson was shooting for with his futuristic world where people spend hours inside virtual reality but are less connected than human beings before the invention of the wheel and postal service.

The basic problem with the book is that the plot is too thin; there’s no real story here. A singer/songwriter in a futuristic version of Hall & Oats has announced his intentions to marry the Idoru – a female singer that is completely virtual (she’s all computer bits and holographic images). When the male singer/songwriter’s “fan club” finds out about this event they send a teenage girl from Seattle to Japan to determine why their beloved idol would do such an outrageous thing. Right from the get-go the setup has “dumb” written all over it, and it doesn’t get any better as Gibson pelts us with one soulless character after another. There’s simply no one to care about in this novel, and the one interesting “person” (the Idoru) is given far too little play. There is a side-story that has to do with nanotechnology, the Russian mafia and a guy who’s got great Google-type data searching chops, but none of these story arcs come together in any really exciting or meaningful way.

(5) Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone

I had never read any of the Harry Potter books before. I had seen the first four films and enjoyed them, but Potter-mania had not stricken me. Then I heard all of the hype about the much anticipated 7th and final chapter in the Potter saga (does he live? does he die?), and I did not want to be spoiled by learning of the outcome. So, in June, over our summer vacation at the Oregon coast, I sat down to get caught up and read all six Potter books in anticipation of the 7th which was scheduled for release in July.

J.K. Rowling won me over immediately with The Sorcerer’s Stone. She proves that there’s more to being a great writer than literary chops. What Rowling lacks in raw writing talent she more than makes up for with imagination. She has created one of the most deep, rich and downright fun worlds I’ve ever encountered. She also created characters that were easy to care about. And diverse too – there’s someone for everyone in the Potter series.

(6) Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

One of the enjoyable things about the Potter universe is the sheer newness of it, and Rowling does a great job, from novel to novel, of introducing new characters, facts, items, creatures and plot devices. The Potter books are like owning a castle for the first time and exploring it, discovering every secret passage and hidden room. There’s a lot to like about this story, and Rowling does a nice job of weaving a lot of different elements together to create a really rich tapestry.

(7) Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban

When I read The Prisoner of Azkaban, I immediately liked it much better than the previous two novels. For one thing, it introduces us to R.J. Lupin and Sirius Black, two adult characters that I like quite a lot and could relate to. But more than that, it gives us the first real glimpse of Harry as a powerful wizard.

Much of my own criticism against the Harry Potter books (and believe me, my criticism pales in comparison to my love for Rowling’s work) is directed at the way Rowling evolves Harry. He often wins the day not based on any great wizard knowledge or power of his own, but on nerve, luck, and the help of his friends. This happens quite often in many of the books, and over time it gives the impression that Harry is just damn lucky, which seems unfair and contrived.

But in The Prisoner of Azkaban, we get to see Harry, for the first time, performing a spell that is beyond his years, in a life-and-death situation, with a result that grown wizards would envy. And it is during that moment that I began to cheer for Harry Potter. We get to see Harry’s greatness not as potential or myth, but in actual practice, and that is neat.

We also get to see, in this book, just how unfortunate this boy’s life has been. He gets to meet his Godfather, and we realize how much family means not only to Harry, but ourselves.

(8) Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire

My least favorite of all the Potter books, this one is also my least favorite film. It is contrived from beginning to end, and disappointing because Rowling, after the progress in the previous book, goes back to making Harry a kid who gets by on luck and the help of outsiders. The best moments are saved for the end, when Voldemort returns and duels Harry in the graveyard.

This film was, however, more than anything else, was the one film that made me most want to read the books, because after having established that the Cruciatus Curse had no counter, the film clearly shows Harry countering it with a simple disarming spell. The reason for that apparent bit of inconsistency is given as a whisper in the film (”Priori Incantatem”) which is hardly a sufficient explanation for people who have not read the books. And so it was that scene, more than any other, that made me want to pick up the novels and read them, because I knew there was a wealth of knowledge about this world that I was missing out on.

(9) Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix

This was the first book that made me really root for Harry Potter. Up until this book, Harry more or less gets by on luck, nerve and the aid of his friends. Rowling paints Harry as a reluctant hero in the first four books – a kid whose parents died and has had fame thrust upon him without his consent – but in many cases Harry comes off as the whining, lucky kid that we all want to punch in the nose because his good fortune is so out of balance with the rest the world. But it was in this book that things changed; that Harry’s character really began to emerge and his greatness as a wizard starts to take shape. It is in this book that Harry (through the prodding of Hermione) forms a secret club and starts to teach his classmates Defense Against the Dark Arts, and we realize that Harry is really good at this stuff, and not just lucky.

(10) Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince

As much as I liked The Order of the Phoenix, I liked The Half Blood Prince even more. This is when Rowling introduces the concept of the Horcrux (which I will not elaborate on here), and this story element adds much more danger, intrigue and darkness to the world of Harry Potter. I love the concept of the Horcrux, and I love how Rowling uses them as the driving force for the remainder of the novels.

(11)Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

The seventh and final book. If you haven’t read it, I won’t spoil the ending here. I was glad I took the time to read the Potter books though. It was well worth the journey.

(12) I Am Legend

I wanted to read this book before I saw the movie, but didn’t get the chance. Then my wife slipped me an early Christmas present and I devoured this very brief (189 pages) story in an afternoon.

I Am Legend is very different than what you’ll experience in the theater. If I were to equate the film to a color, I’d say it is White to the book’s Black. They are that different.

I Am Legend is the story of Robert Neville, a simple man living in Los Angeles who might possibly be the last man on Earth. He has survived a bacteria that turns its victims into vampires.

There are a couple of things that make the novel significantly different from the film. For starters, there are not just vampires in the novel, but also the “still living” – humans who have managed to resist the worst aspects of the bacteria to the extent that they have not become undead. However, both the “still living” and the true vampires suffer from an adverse effect to sunlight that causes them to hibernate in deep sleep comas during daylight hours. It is during the daylight hours when they are completely vulnerable, an so Neville takes advantage of this fact by invading their homes and killing them.

Neville spends countless hours crafting stakes and preparing supplies so that he can systematically destroy entire neighborhoods of vampires. During the night, he survives their attempts to invade his house, and in the morning he repairs what damage was caused and moves along with daily life. This cycle is repeated each day, and the book follows Robert through the psychological impact of his time alone.

He also spends quite a bit of time researching the bacteria. Through his research he learns that some of the vampiric effects are due to the bacteria, and others are more psychological. And then there’s the hope of a dog that seems unaffected by the bacteria, and the possibility of another human being…

The book is, in all ways, superior to the recent film, and ends in a manner that is diametrically opposite to the film’s ending. I wish the movie would have remained more faithful to the novel, but the reality is that even if it had, Will Smith really isn’t right for this version of Robert Neville. I thought before I saw the film that Christian Bale would make a perfect Robert Neville, and after reading the book I’m even more convinced. Bale, in this role, faithful to the novel, would be ideal.

2008

My goal this year is to read twice as many book as last year. I’ve started the year with Moneyball. I’ve also got a few others sitting in the queue, but I’m curious what other people like and think is worth investing the time. Any recommendations from the peanut gallery?

A Word About Spoilers

I had not read a single Potter book until about six weeks ago. I had only known Harry Potter through the magic of the first four films, of which The Prisoner of Azkaban was my favorite. The Goblet of Fire had many holes, it seemed to me, that the film did not adequately explain, not the least of which was Priori Incantatem. I could not understand how Harry’s meager disarming spell could stop Voldemort’s Killing Curse, for which the film established that there was no known counter.

Desiring answers, I took up reading the books. I was unsure how much information might have been left out of the other films, so I started at the beginning with the first book. I had never followed Potter outside of the movies, so I had never been exposed to spoilers. I did not know how The Half Blood Prince ended.

I know other people only follow Harry Potter through the movies, and so you will not find any blatant spoilers here.

The Review

I Open at the Close

That is an inscription written in magic on a Snitch; the very first Snitch Harry ever captured in a game of Quidditch. It is given to him by Professor Dumbledor in a way that I will not reveal here, in case some people have not read The Half Blood Prince.

When first encountered in the book, the inscription’s meaning is unknown. It could just as easily have been intended to describe my tear ducts. They opened at the close. Quite liberally.

I admit to being cautious prior to reading this book; fearful of reading even one single sentence, review, or spoiler. For a long while prior to the publishing of The Deathly Hallows, there had been a rumor, perpetrated in part J.K. Rowling herself, that Harry might possibly die in this book, the seventh and final installment of the Potter series. I felt that if I read anything resembling “It sucks!” that would mean he died, and if I read anything resembling “It’s great!” he would have lived, so I avoided all media until I finished reading it. I did not want anything given away (I would advise anyone who wishes to read the book, who has not finished it yet, to avoid all reviews, even this one, until you are done with the novel).

What I didn’t realize about The Deathly Hallows is that it didn’t matter as much whether Harry lived or died, this was still going to be farewell. This was still going to be sad. This was the final chapter – the last book Rowling would write about Harry – and so in effect he does suffer a kind of death. Whether or not a literal death would be added to the equation was the mystery everyone in Potter fandom was waiting to discover.

I can say only this about the end of The Deathly Hallows: I, like most everyone else, had become so entranced by the seemingly binary possibility of Harry living or dying that I had no even considered any other alternatives. I had not considered that Rowling might do something much more creative with Harry’s final pages. I won’t reveal whether he ultimated lives or dies, but I can say with certainty that I felt the final chapters were some of Rowling’s best storytelling.

I did not think I would be able to say goodbye to Harry Potter and feel good about it. Rowling made that possible with the way she put the final chapters together.

As to the book: When a series gets beyond a 3rd installment and grows into a larger work (i.e. Frank Herbert’s Dune), I usually find it difficult to choose favorites. I loved The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Half Blood Prince. I also especially liked The Order of the Phoenix. I won’t say what I think about The Deathly Hallows for fear of tipping someone off.

That said, I think Rowling has put so much thought, work and plotting into these books that you can’t really judge them fairly as individual novels. They are portions of a larger story that is one of the most enchanting and entertaining of our time.

Rowling will never win an award for great literary accomplishment (Stephen King has joked that Rowling “never met an adverb she didn’t like”), but she has won something much more valuable I think: The hearts and minds of millions of fans. Harry Potter has entrenched itself in our popular culture. He’s an icon now, standing right along side the likes of Luke Skywalker and Frodo Baggins. And that is an achievement I envy. I think most creative people would wish to invent a world and characters as lasting as those that Rowling has created.

To say goodbye to such an extraordinary character in such an extraordinary place is a sad thing. But Rowling has showed, with The Deathly Hallows, that she knows how to bid farewell with style, in a way that her fans can appreciate and enjoy.

If you have not read the books for whatever reason, I recommend doing so. There’s a wonderful world awaiting. You may be tempted to just wait until all the movies have been released; I would encourage you to do otherwise. Rowling has created such a rich, deep and interesting world that there simply isn’t enough room to get it all down on film.

Harry’s story, quite simply, shouldn’t be missed.

It’s been a while since I’ve read some Stephen King fiction. His non-fiction book, On Writing, has been a constant companion of mine this past year. In that book, one of the main tenets he offers is that in order to be a good writer one must “read a lot and write a lot”. Sound advice, I think, and because of it, I decided to spend more time this summer cracking open some previously unread literature.

Concerning this particular tale, the obvious first question everyone asks (even my wife) is: Is it like Christine? The answer is ‘no.’ It’s better.

From a Buick 8 is some of King’s best writing. He’s in total command of his style here, painting vivid pictures of the important things and leaving some of the rougher edges to the reader’s imagination. The dialog is well done and King puts a nifty spin on the flashback mechanism so often employed in fiction writing by splitting up the present day events between different character’s point of view. The chapters concerning the present are titled with the character’s name telling the story (and nearly every character gets a say at some point in time), such as “Now: Sandy”, while the flashback chapters are titled, “Then”, clearly setting the reader in the past. The constantly switching viewpoint gives the book a very conversational feel (and indeed, the setting for the book is a bench at the Pennsylvania State Patrol barracks where the characters have congregated to relay the story of the supernatural Buick to young Ned), and it also gives King an opportunity to have fun putting himself in the shoes of the different participants, making their mannerisms, motivations and speech patterns come alive.

As to the story, it reads a lot less like classic King horror (Carrie, Christine, Pet Cemetery) and a lot more like a really great episode of the Twilight Zone. I particularly like it when King goes down this road; he can do stuff that would have put a Cheshire’s cat grin on Rod Serling. From A Buick 8 reminded me a lot of The Tommyknockers, with its mysterious and inexplicable events, only better.

The car is, naturally, the central figure in the story. It is a mystery to the members of Troop D; some become rather obessed with it while others have a greater sense of fear about the vehicle and it’s strange ways. It fell into the Pennsylvania State Patrol’s hands quite by accident, and it is extremely pecular. It seems to almost be alive and capable of healing/protecting itself: scratch it and the cut is gone the next day; throw dirt on the tires and they clean themselves; throw a tarp over it and somehow the car shrugs it off. Even more bizarre: the car doesn’t actually work. No one can figure out how the original owner managed to drive it to it’s final destination when the battery isn’t connected to anything and none of the dials actually function. And then there’s the light shows…

I won’t give away the really good stuff. You’ll have to read it to find out. But I totally recommend the book. It’s a neat story with a very good setting (King got some nice help from the folks at the PSP; the entire book feels very authentic) and very interesting events. I’m a sucker for tales of the supernatural; things you just can’t completely wrap your head around, and From A Buick 8 falls into that category. There’s also a bit of a social statement in the story, but I’ll leave that for you to discover as well.