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Kyra Davis Passion, Betrayal and Killer Highlights. I feel like...

Sun, 06 May 2012 19:01:00 -0400

Kyra Davis

Passion, Betrayal and Killer Highlights.

I feel like I should start with a warning, this book (and book review) is probably not suitable for manly men who feel they need to be manly, and people under the age of 16.

I’ll say as well, I’m not a girly girl, I like computers and slap stick comedy and sci-fi, the whole ‘rom-com’ super girly books have never been something I could get behind, but I picked up the first of this series in a charity shop for 50p on a whim and fell in love, despite P,B &KH (as i will be referring to it from now on) being massive girls book, (much like its prequel, Sex, Murder and a Double Latte,) its a funny, sarcastic, romantic (at times) murder mystery novel by Kyra Davis.

The main character is a novelist called Sophie Katz, and African-american jewish woman living in san Francisco, who’s sister (Leah) is currently suspected of shooting (and killing) her own husband.

I won’t really bother delving too much into the plot of this book, I don’t want to give anything away, and as such, this will probably be a rather short review in comparison to some of our others. But that doesn’t really matter, plot has nothing to do with why I love this writer.

Davis’s characters are perfect, if a little clichéd, and you can’t help but fall in love with Sophie, she’s funny, attractive, quite inappropriate and like all women, secretly (or not so secretly in my case) a bit of a loser and prone to fits of insanity due to jealousy or bad hair. Davis’s dialog is creative, concise and oozes a kind of comfortable nature that makes me really believe in the characters she’s created, and her deliverance and timing are perfect. (Plus there’s a pretty descriptive scene that has given me some idea’s for what my boyfriend and I will be doing when he returns from university…. don’t judge me, you all know books are a little bit better with a steamy sex scene… how do you think Charlene Harris sells so many books… I’m rambling.)

Back to the point.

In fact, this book is very much like sex, in the sense that it builds momentum as the plot goes on, everything gets a bit heated in the middle, and at the end you feel great. (and you’ll get annoyed if someone interrupts you half way though.)

The closes thing I can find to a fault is that it is very similar to the first in the series and I imagine the 3^rd (which I will be starting shortly) will be very much the same as well, but I don’t really care, its a bit mindless but good fun, Davis has found what she’s good at and she sticking to it, theres no big series plot and there no major twists or overly serious issues, and it’s nice to find a book that is flawlessly written but over all just a laugh.

If you want a book you can read on the tube so everyone will see and and be like “ohh this person must be intelligent” or if you want a gripping/shocking thrill ride or fantasy/horror, then this book is not for you (mostly because it will have you laughing out loud, like a crazy person on the tube) but if like me, you have an evening in, and you want to settle down for some light-hearted (but not bimbo) fun, then get comfy with some icecream, because you won’t be able to put it down.

pros: funny, witty, fast paced

cons: not very many pressing enough to be a reason not to read this series, although i would advise starting off with the first in the series ‘Sex, Murder and a Double Latte’

- Jade.

heres whats coming up!

Sat, 05 May 2012 20:25:00 -0400

* Passion, Betrayal and Killer Highlights! (maybe a brief look at Sex, Murder and a Double Latte, seeing as its the first book in the series)

* Inkheart - I’m a little over half way through it currently, maybe i’ll crack down tomorrow and nail it (Maybe not.. )

and if I am correct, Nick is currently reading the first mortal instruments book so im sure its safe to assume a City of Bones review a-coming, maybe if my lazy ass boyfriend finally gets round to helping a few extra’s as well :D

Main characters: Janey Author: Kathy Acker Apparently it is...

Sat, 05 May 2012 19:11:14 -0400

Main characters: Janey

Author: Kathy Acker

Apparently it is indeed possible to love and hate something and I wish I could tell you I was exaggerating. I’m not, there are parts of this book I love, really love, and there are parts that I can only describe as being the most incomprehensible slag heap dross I’ve come across. Maybe I just don’t get it, maybe I’m being too harsh and maybe I need to re-read. Writing this review however I would describe Kathy Acker’s writing as being 1 part sane, 1 part insane and 1 part genius. And that’s exactly how I’m going to review this book. If you don’t like the word cunt, don’t read this book. If you don’t like abortions, prostitution and sexual promiscuity and a ten year old having sexual relations with her father, don’t read this book. However, this stuff does occur in the world so that said…maybe Blood and Guts in High School serves to highlight, as it certainly does not glorify, any of the above.

The sane is that the main character Janey’s life does genuinely distress the reader. From the start it is clear that Janey has already suffered trauma the likes of which very few (one hopes) have been subjected to which is the idea that sexual relations with her father being acceptable and perfectly normal. Her Father’s friends all treat it as such. Whether or not this started as rape, we simply do not know, for the impressionable ten year old Daddy having sex with her is just how it is, she loves him. Janey’s Dad kicks her out because he’s found another woman. From then on Janey life devolves further and further into degeneracy and delinquency, from dead end jobs, rat hole apartments and being kidnapped to serve as a whore to her kidnappers. That’s about as sane as this book gets-girl with a really really strange life getting stranger, shitter then dying of cancer.

The insane in this book is really frustrating, it’s the narrative. The book is told from the perspective of Janey who at 10 years old talks and acts like an adult, which I found to be very annoying from the start. The most frustrating thing, for me anyway, was the prose. This book is hindered by the constant and seemingly unrestrained switching of style and genre-one minute we are reading a regular narrative, the next we read play script, the next we read a dream-which is mostly incoherent-and it goes on and on and on. This is not a long book, it’s a very taxing book which is quite an admission coming from me, take my word on that. Note that this, instead of making Kathy Acker a bad author, actually shows incredible skill, vision and imagination which I applaud, I wanted to read something fresh and new and the late author delivered. However, this is not an easy book and to be quite honest if you cannot be arsed, if you don’t have a good attention span, if you’d rather read a book that just makes clear perfect sense then don’t even bother picking this up, I’m being serious here, you’ll hate it. I didn’t hate it. I didn’t love it. I loved parts of it. I have no problem with a lead character fantasising about being violently raped by a man, the girls had a hard life. I do think however Kathy Acker tries to deliberately shock and provoke a reaction which again is a double edged sword by the crudeness and hardness of the prose. It does feel, at times, as though the author has almost wrote a bit just to say fuck you world, I’ll write what I want and if you crucify me for it, hey I’m a martyr.

The genius found within Blood and Guts in High School manifests in various ways and, if you’re going to read this book, perhaps it’s best if I leave most of them unrevealed. However what I will say is this

book offers a startlingly clear and concise critique of the problems faced by the poor and downtrodden peoples of the world, whether by the lack of care and attention paid to these people or the fact that these people are forced to starve and scrape to survive. Janey survives both her own delinquency and the filth of her existence with such a acidic sense of detachment that we, the reader, know that all this to her is normal. She’s beyond hoping or even caring. This book highlights the problems of capitalism, societies based on greed and the fact that so many Americans, and by extension the world, have yet to realise or even imagine the American dream. This book contains, within yet separated from its hard edged prose, beauty and poetry the likes of which I’ve only ever seen very rarely in a book.

If you want something different, well, read this book. If not, go by something else. You’ll love it or hate it.

“Dear Dreams, You are the only thing that matters. You are my hope and I live for and in you. You are rawness and wildness, the colours, the scents, passion, events appearing. You are the things I live for. Please take me over.”-Janey

My rating: 6/10 (Brilliant in this case, yet frustrating.)

Pro’s: Beauty, poetry and rich imagination that delivers astute observations and gripping narrative

Con’s: At times deep to the point of seeming incoherent and nonsensical and deliberately shocking.

- Nick

Junk Author: Melvin Burgess Okay, so you hear new age classic...

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:39:00 -0400

Junk

Author: Melvin Burgess

Okay, so you hear new age classic and you’re thinking “Well daymm, this book must have something about it” and honestly, the, I can only assume, ironically named, Junk was anything but addictive.
The main characters are a boy (Tar) and a girl (Gemma) who run away from home to live on the streets of Bristol (which obviously they didn’t research first, I’m from Bristol, you can definitely pick a better city to be homeless in) and of course, end up getting addicted to heroin, because, well, they’re just really smart kids.
Each chapter is written in a diary form from a different characters point of view, (the author uses a grand total of about 6/7 different characters to narrate over the whole book) which I’m sure was meant to be ‘creative’ but just ends up being slightly confusing, and to be honest, a little bit irritating.
Now, as for the characters, the lad, Tar, is a nice character, quiet, shy, easy influenced and more than a little bit naive. He leaves home because his mum’s a alcoholic and his dad beats the pair of them… Sound reasoning, this is a guy who’s motives I can get behind.
Which brings me to Gemma, and I’m not going to lie, I hate her, from the get go, I can’t really help it, she is pretty much everything I loathe about humanity, she’s stupid, impulsive, ignorant and completely undignified, and to top it off, the whole series of unfortunate events are caused by her acting out against her parents because she’s a spoilt brat.
She decided to follow her boyfriend, not because she loves him (THAT I could understand, people, kids especially, do stupid things in the name of love) but rather because her parents don’t approve of her friends, grounded her for a weekend for missing curfew and don’t let he go out until she’s done her homework (geeze, I wish I’d be allowed a curfew till 11pm at 14 years old)
Tar is doing fine, he’s living in a squat with a few other people, who are really looking after him, trying to help him get a job, the whole nine-homeless-yards. Then Gemma rocks up, drags him into the wrong crowd, and they all get addicted to smack.
I’m sure that the reason people advocate this book is because it’s meant to be ‘controversial’ but quite frankly, it’s more of a cliché, boy meets girl, they run away, they get addicted to drug, then she ends up being a prostitute and he ends up in jail. It probably would have saved a lot of my time and a hell of a lot of trees just to print “DRUGS ARE BAD, KIDS!” on a piece of paper and hand ‘em out in schools.
I can’t even get behind the writing or structure of this book, the whole thing is narrated from the point of view of kids who are too stupid to realise heroin is highly addictive, they don’t exactly use a lot of 3/4 syllable words.
The only saving grace is that it DOES improve as the book goes on, the writing gets better as the characters that are being use grow older and stop being so vexing (did I mention I hate kids?) and even I, who found the whole book somewhat of a chore, started to empathise with characters as they have to face ‘the harsh reality of the life they lead’ but my hearts not really in it, I just can’t help but think they brought it on themselves, and I have no sympathy for stupid people. I know, I’m a bitch, but really, it’s like one of the first things you learn about drugs, (whether you advocate the use of recreational drugs or not) heroin is the one thing you stay away from.
My true sympathy, goes out to Gemma’s parents, I mean, they did nothing wrong, yet their only child runs away to be a smack addict, really, my thought are with you.

So, to conclude, if your parents haven’t sat you down and told you the story of that kid she knew once who knew someone who got addicted to heroin, and you’re blissfully ignorant of the daily mails ‘how to become a junkie’ story they publish at least once a week, then by all means, give this cautious tale a peruse, but if you went to a state school and was not kept in a bubble, then don’t bother, you’ve heard it all before at those ‘drug awareness’ conferences they try to pass off as a ‘fun day out of lessons’

4/10

Pros: It’s not THAT lengthy, or particularly difficult (technically speaking) to read.

Con’s: see main review ;P

Note * Obviously, this book is aimed at a slightly younger audience that myself (it said 14+ , I’m technically 14+) but if you’re a young adult (i’m thinking anything from 16 – 20) then this review is aimed at you!

- Jade

The Shining Main Characters: Jack, Wendy and Danny Torrance....

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 15:26:32 -0400

The Shining

Main Characters: Jack, Wendy and Danny Torrance.

Author: Stephen King

Few books stand out on my bookshelf as much as The Shining, it really is one of my all times favourites and one I read at least once a year. Stephen King creates an atmosphere so eerie and utterly chilling that as a reader you can almost feel the Overlook Hotel slowly coming to sinister life around you as the evil deeds and times have merged in to one frightening and macabre wonderland, that with the help of a certain little boys tremendous potential gradually becomes more than just images, it becomes a very real malevolent force.

That said, what makes this book is the characters to be all superbly well crafted by the author not to mention believable despite the horror setting.

We have Jack Torrance, who contrary to Nicholson’s portrayal (which, having read the book, I don’t really like) is not a raving lunatic. He is instead a writer, a former teacher, a recovering alcoholic as well as a husband and father. Jack’s character is incredibly hard to discuss because discussing his character would generally mean having to divulge elements of the story. What can be said is Jack’s character is essentially marked by degradation and degeneration. Jack, despite the demons that plague him and his many flaws, is essentially a good man being overpowered and overwhelmed by events around him, both in the present and the past.

Then we have Wendy Torrance who is refreshingly different in the sense that she is both sexy and loving, while being fiercely protective of her family, to the extent of fighting to protect her Son. This is something I love because despite being something of a nag, Wendy is strong and intelligent and very rarely does she ever behave like a stereotypical damsel in distress, on the contrary she acts independently and always out of love for Danny and Jack. However, much like Jack, Wendy is very flawed and therefore very believable. For example she accuses Jack of hurting Danny purely based on past experiences among other things, which while they do not make the reader like Wendy at times, they do allow Wendy to be a very realistic and very human character which I think is testament to Stephen King’s novel.

By far the most the books greatest achievement, and at times its failing, is Danny Torrance. Danny Torrance is a child and so he is written and acts in the way one would expect a child to act. This means that despite Danny’s immense shining ability he cannot adequately control his powers, hence why the Overlook’s various shining ghosts (for want of a better word) become more and more powerful and real. Also Danny does not always understand what his premonition’s mean and sometimes does not act upon them because, for the first time in a long time, his parents seem happy-until of course the Overlook schemes against them. This makes Danny frustrating and at times a little unbelievable, also even I have to admit that sometimes it seems as though King tries too hard to make Danny a child and forgets that children are not only very intelligent but often not as naive as they are often portrayed or stereotyped as being. Finally most young children are selfish, Danny is literally never selfish-he never tantrums or gets sent to his room-though Jack does occasionally lose his temper at Danny, so perhaps I’m being overly critical.

Perhaps inevitably however the most fascinating thing in The Shining is The Overlook Hotel itself. From its rich and, at times, rather sordid history to the ghosts and images that fill the hotel is both a fascinating setting for the novel in the physical sense due to its isolation during the winter months, but also because the hotel is almost a character in itself. It’s history, the rich characters that have been and gone are given tantalisingly little space in the book, which leaves me wanting more, however events are referenced to an extent which allows King to give the Overlook’s history a coherent, if very brief, look. Stephen King actually did write a more in depth look which I believe was titled Before the Play. Even though the Overlook is evil, one almost can’t help but be lured by the magic and glamour that the place exudes-both in the present and in the scenes that present themselves to those with Shining ability. It’s important to emphasise that not everything that happened in the hotel was awful, which it uses to its advantage.

So there you have it, one of my favourite books of all time that I cannot recommend strongly enough. I am currently re-reading this book and suspect I will do so for many years to come. Also Stephen King has made a teleplay of The Shining, which providing you only watch the essential parts of disk 1, is actually really good and a faithful adaption.

My rating: 10/10 (read this book now!!)

Pros: Great characters, great setting and gripping narrative.

Cons: More history on the hotel would be welcome…I’ve heard there’s a sequel book in the works.

- Nick

writersnoonereads: No one reads Junnosuke Yoshiyuki (1924-94),...

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:55:04 -0400

writersnoonereads:

No one reads Junnosuke Yoshiyuki (1924-94), a prolific Japanese author who wrote short stories, novel(la)s, essays, translations of stories by Henry Miller and Kingsley Amis, and, for a time, edited and wrote for—what he later described—a “third-rate” scandal sheet.

With the additional intent of briefly highlighting anthologies of Japanese literature, here is an annotated list of Yoshiyuki’s writings available in English translation:

“Sudden Shower” (Shūu), trans. Geoffrey Bownas, New Writing in Japan (Penguin, 1972). This is the anthology that Bownas compiled with the legendary Yukio Mishima, they completed their collaboration just a few months before Mishima’s coup attempt and seppuku. In the introductory essay, Mishima wrote:
The delicacy of Yoshiyuki’s language and sensibility is probably more subtle and sophisticated than that of any Japanese writer since the war. “Sudden Shower” is not just a love story; Yoshiyuki gives us first-hand experience of the woman’s sensuality and we are made to feel somehow like skin-divers on the sea-bed of man’s passions and emotions. […] Yoshiyuki’s writing is semi-neurotic and, by restricting his subject, he is able to convey a deeply sensual experience in a world as confined as a bath-tub. The idée fixe of Japanese youth today—that love is impossible and impracticable—lies deep at the root of Yoshiyuki’s thinking.
“Sudden Shower” was Yoshyuki’s first literary success, he was lying sick in a hospital bed when he was told that it had just won the 1954 Akutagawa Prize. (Also, this collection begins with Bownas’ translations of two excellent stories by other Japanese writers no one reads, “Icarus” by Taruho Inagaki and “Cosmic Mirror” by Yutaka Haniya.)

The Dark Room (Anshitsu), trans. John Bester (Kodansha, 1975; orig. 1970). His only novel, thus far, available in English. It was awarded the Tanizaki Prize. With that said, he is often compared to Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, and they do have much in common, but Yoshiyuki’s subdued style makes his writings bleaker and more haunting. The narrator’s pessimism toward domesticity and procreation is the basis of this dark and disconcerting novel—however, I think Yoshiyuki achieves as much or more in some of his shorter works.

“In Akiko’s Room” (Shōfu no heya; literally, “A Prostitute’s Room”), trans. Howard Hibbett, Contemporary Japanese Literature: An Anthology of Fiction, Film and Other Writing Since 1945 (Alfred A. Knopf, 1977). Another historic anthology; the 2005 reprint is a bit pricey and it only adds a two-page preface by Hibbett, so look for the older editions.

“Are the Trees Green?” (Kigi wa midori ka), trans. Adam Kabat, The Shōwa Anthology - Modern Japanese Short Stories, 1929-1984 (Kodansha, 1985). One of my favourite Yoshiyuki stories, and it’s only found in this must-have anthology, which also features lesser-known stories by well-known authors, e.g., Kōbō Abe, Ōe, Kawabata. (Note: it’s common that sellers only have one of the volumes from the older, two-volume edition: Yoshiyuki is in the first book.)

“Three Policemen” (Sannin no keikan), trans. Hugh Clarke, The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories (1997). Even though this anthology covers a broader timespan, and it’s easier to track down, I still prefer the overall selections in the aforementioned anthologies. “Three Policemen” is a quick, humorous introduction to Yoshiyuki’s lighter side.

“Personal Baggage”, trans. John Bester, The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature, vol. 2 of 2, (2007). The most ambitious and comprehensive anthology to date. (One of the editors, Van C. Gessel, also worked on the above Shōwa collection.) “Personal Baggage” is a clear example of what Yoshiyuki meant by “internal realism”, a term he proposed as a more accurate classification of his later works. The story is a disorientating account of the fragility of consciousness.

Fair Dalliance: Fifteen Stories by Yoshiyuki Junnosuke and its companion Toward Dusk and Other Stories were published by Kurodahan Press in 2011. Fair Dalliance features two biographical essays and fifteen previously uncollected stories that span Yoshiyuki’s diverse career; “My Bed is a Boat”, “The Man Who Fired the Bath”, “I Ran Over a Cat”, “Three Dreams”, “The Flies”, and “Katsushika Ward” are my favourites from the collection. Toward Dusk and Other Stories opens with an interesting exegesis on Yoshiyuki’s fiction, and presents nine previously uncollected short stories, plus the title novella; “Burning Dolls”, “The Molester”, “Treatment”, and the seven (somewhat loosely connected) chapters of “Toward Dusk” are the standouts for me.

For more online material about Yoshiyuki and his works, see:

“Obituary: Junnosuke Yoshiyuki”, one of the three hundred obituaries the poet and translator James Kirkup contributed to The Independent. (Fittingly, here’s a snippet from The Independent’s obituary for Kirkup: “He was a one-man world literature necrology department, […] an evangelist for the untranslated […]”.)

Two reviews of The Dark Room: one by Bibliophilia Obscura and another by Nihon Distractions.

(Image: the front cover of the first edition of The Dark Room: “Jacket design by S. Katakura, incorporating a pen-and-ink drawing by Masuo Ikeda from My Imagination Map (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1974).” Also, Ikeda was a film director and an award-winning novelist, see: obituary (another by Kirkup), blog article, web gallery, and 50 Watts.)

Admittedly...

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:30:09 -0400

… I’ve deviated from the reviews I said were coming this Month, but we have another writer now, so hopefully we’ll be able to up the reviews to 4/5 a month.

So… coming up (hopefully, don’t hold me to this)

* The Hunger Games! (eventually)
* Junk (Eventually, tbh, I’m not enjoying the book that much so its taking me a little longer)
* The Shining.

watch this space ;P

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Main Characters- Rick...

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:22:00 -0400

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Main Characters- Rick Decard, J.R Isidor

Author- Philip. K. dick

Okay, first off, of the pertinent questions one could ask in a dystopian future where everyone with money and good health has emigrated off world and the world is a radioactive mess, one would think the above question was not especially important. But apparently it is, because Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is essentially a book in which the line between Humans and Replicants (made by the Rosen Corporation), the natural and the artificial and the morally ambiguous to the morally abhorrent (having sex with a female Replicant before “retiring”, killing it.) are so blurred and distorted one really does not know what it is to be human. A world where moods can be dialled, where most of the animals are fake and where humans join together with “Mercer” who feels their pain, as they feel his. And Buster Friendly and his Friendly Friends-23 hours a day, everyday which actively ridiculous Mercer, who is right? If humans have souls then why are Buster Friendly and Mercer fighting for them? All these questions and more will scream from your mind as you read this thought provoking, interesting and most importantly of all gripping novel.

Why retire a Replicant? Because they do not wish to be slaves, they want to pass as humans. That’s horrible you may say, yes it is, however Androids are revealed to be very dangerous due to their complete and utter emotional detachment and inability to be human in any emotional or spiritual sense of the word. Furthermore, they view our emotions as yet another attempt to prove our superiority as Androids cannot use Empathy Box’s and connect with Mercer.

So that’s the setting and this novel requires are long introduction because it really is such a complex masterpiece of science fiction. Meet Rick Decard, a bounty hunter working with the present day police, who is given the case of the senior bounty hunter who was almost killed by a Replicant. Decard’s sole goal is to have enough money to purchase a real sheep as opposed to his electronic one, which replaced his original real one. Decard’s desire, possibly due to the estrangement of his wife Iran (who dials depression on the mood box), for a live animal is so strong he is prepared to kill the Replicant’s, he nearly allows himself to be bribed by the promise of a real Owl before Rachel Rosen coldly reveals “there are no real Owls.” Decard is himself tested for being a suspected Replicant, by ironically a Replicant run mirror police force that operate out of a modern building as opposed to the human police’s rundown buildings, showing Replicant’s have not only integrated but that they are adapting. The Rosen Corporation are trying desperately to undermine the police to protect their Android’s. Decard is exposed to angst, death, sexual frustration (deliberately by Rachel in an attempt to get Deckard to give up the hunt), despair and complete loss of faith in whatever the hell humanity is. Adding to the poor man’s work load are the machinations of the aforementioned Rosen Corporation and the whole world is being flushed down the toilet, except it’s blocked. Rick Decard is drowning.

The other main character is J.R Isidore, a “chickenhead”, a “special”-a man who’s biology has been so damaged by radiation that his IQ has plummeted, also because of his status he will never be allowed off world. The author skilfully creates J.R’s character in a genuinely quite distressing chapter when Isidore is unable to tell the difference, the very real difference, from an electronic animal and a real one. However J.R’s emotions are not so stunted, Isidore believes in Mercer as Mercer knows and feels his suffering, just as J.R can feel Mercer’s. He is also friendly enough to take pity upon the renegade Replicant’s despite the fact they mostly treat him very unkindly and as a slave, not out of malice, merely because they cannot give him the emotional attachment he so craves, living alone and probably near death. If Decard’s chapters serve to highlight the similarities between the Humans and the Replicant, Isidore’s serve to highlight the contrast. For example, the Replicant’s mutilate a real spider (rare, valuable and in Isidore’s eyes very precious) in order to make it walk on four legs, in the end Isidore is so distressed me performs a mercy killing upon the spider. The Replicant’s recognise Isodore’s distress, but they are unable to fathom why as they cannot empathise.

The author tells a compelling story, interweaving two characters, and takes the reader on a journey that is so delightfully full of twists and turns, where every facet of a question is so luxuriously presented and turned over in your own mind because this book forces you to think and reason and empathise. Congratulations if you liked my review, you have passed the Voight-Kampff empathy test. ;)

My rating: 9/10

Pros- Compelling, insightful, moving and sickening I literally cannot put into words how great I think this book is. I think the title could have been better, like Blade Runner or something…

Cons-WARNING! DANGER! Do not read when tired, under no circumstances should you read this when tired, if you are feeling tired do not read this book and if you get tired while reading put it down.

- Nick

Battle Royale Main characters: Shuya Nanhara, Noriko Nakagawa...

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:54:18 -0400

Battle Royale

Main characters: Shuya Nanhara, Noriko Nakagawa and Shogo Kawada.

Author: Koushan Takami

Before the much talked about Hunger Games hit the shelves, there was only one book and film, that I know of, that involved children butchering each other as part of a government programme and that book/film was Battle Royale. However this review will largely focus on the book as it must be said the two are a very different beast.

Set in an alternate reality, The Republic of Greater East Asia is nothing short of a totalitarian regime controlling everything from the music that you are allowed to play and listen to, to the personality cult surrounding the mysterious “Dictator.” However as unemployment spirals and the youth are perceived to be rebellious the Battle Royale Act is passed-A randomly selected class of kids are sent to the island, fitted with bomb collars and forced to slaughter each other until a winner is declared. Weapons are randomly given out, ranging from the downright brutal to the ridiculous. Finally failure to comply, or if the game lasts too long, results in everybody dying. They listen to your every word, track your every move. In this game the characters face several choices-kill, run or suicide. Alliances are optional.

This is the world the main character of the story, Shuya Nanhara finds himself in, along with the rest of his fellow classmates. Shuya’s character is both a good thing and a bad thing. Shuya is not a killer, nor is he particularly violently inclined. Instead he is a relatively naive guitar player and athlete, both polite and mild mannered, thrust into the Battle Royale to kill or be killed. In this sense Shuya is very believable, this is not a case of simply picking up a gun and blasting everyone he comes across, this is a teenager who feels anguish, reluctance to participate and guilt in the rare instances where he is forced to take action. Action is not a large part of this novel, not in regards to the main characters who are simply trying to survive. The reason for Shuya’s determination to survive is of course a girl, the equally polite and mild mannered Noriko Nakagawa who unfortunately it has to be said fulfils the usual female stereotype of the girl in distress who relies on stronger males to survive and I cannot remember her doing anything particularly helpful, except for the fact that her existence and survival is what drives Shuya to survive in turn. It should be noted that one particular female (I won’t spoil it) is the absolute opposite of Noriko, willing to do anything and everything in order to kill and survive.

By far the coolest and my favourite character is Shogo Kawada (the transfer student), a mysterious and shadowy individual who’s motives remain largely unknown for most of the novel, I will not spoil any of this characters story for you, but Shuya and Noriko come to view him as an ally, due to his exceptionally tough nature, his wide knowledge and his iron will. He is an excellent supporting character and while some may argue he is again somewhat stereotypical, I think his character is good to the extent of stealing the interest in the main characters. I personally think this is a bit of a shame, but I think it serves the story well as it gives the naive Shuya and Noriko a much needed ally to help them survive, thus preventing this story from straying into the realms of the unrealistic and ridiculous.

However my biggest criticism the book is unfortunately in the way the author chose to tell the story, which is by breadth rather than depth. Every student in the class has a chapter or is featured in a chapter, however because they are both numerous and not main characters the effect is not all that satisfactory. All the names and various struggles eventually merge into the mere desire for the author to get back to the main characters and deaden what could of been a very moving account from Shuya’s perspective of the battle’s he witnesses. Instead the author spends time trying to pan out all these different struggles and students and, in all honesty, all the Japanese names only serve to further alienate a western reader in this regard-I felt little sympathy or emotion throughout many of the deaths and the book is very slow, perhaps due to translation too. However, this approach does have some positives sides in that it shows the sheer scale of the Battle Royale, the perspectives and fears of each different student (petty grudges become murderous suspicions for example) and highlight that our main characters are not the only fighters out there struggling to survive or attempting to murder their classmates. It allows every character to be human or inhuman, though at the cost of the fast pace and gripping narrative seen in the likes of the The Hunger Games.

I leave it up to you to decide whether Battle Royale is the father of a genre that still stands as the head of the family, or the old man of a genre that has since moved on. A good read, but I preferred the film. It’s also a Manga, I have not read it and from what I saw I did not like the artwork.

My rating: 7/10 (good, but not without flaws)

Pros-excellent characters/setting

Cons-Slow paced, perhaps spread thin at times and in fairness translation. Can also be cringe worthy at times, especially Shuya’s taste in “rock”, ew.

- Nick

The Runnning Man As an adult (I use the term loosely) who...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:32:00 -0500

The Runnning Man

As an adult (I use the term loosely) who prefers books aimed at a slightly younger audience, I often find myself frustrated with the fact I’m not being challenged by the books that I read (But at the same time, adult books are boring so I can’t really win)
And after reading the Hunger Games, I really enjoyed the concept behind them, and someone suggested to me, Stephen King’s (Or as he originally published it as Richard Bachman) ‘The Running Man’
Its fast paced, fairly short novel (241 pg) about a man (Ben Richards) who’s daughter is dying from the flu and without the money to pay for health care, he applies for a nationwide game show in which the whole country hunts him down and he gets money for every hour he stays free. (If he evades capture for a month, he wins the jackpot and gets to walk away, If they catch him before a month, they execute him. (On live t.v. Don’t be getting idea’s Cowell))
King’s writing as usual, is practically flawless, you are drawn in right from the beginning and barely have time to breath, I found myself not just routing for Richards but actually feeling anxious and paranoid along with him. (Which is not a nice feeling when you’re out in public and convinced everyone wants to kill you.) The dialog is creative, and you have a few adult themes running round, but not so much that you feel like there’s a massive sign saying “This book is only for adults!!!” all the time. King’s writing is concise and descriptive and he throws some slang in there so you find yourself more convinced by the world he’s creating, and you get a sense of depth, without the chapters and chapters of back story.
Richards is fasted witted and bitter, and to be honest, a likable character with a bit of a bite, its fun trying to keep up with his next move, other than that, a few characters come and go (Games master Krillian, and a woman Amelia) But they don’t demand a lot of attention.
The plot is straight forward and to the point, and doesn’t really deviate (King threw in a government conspiracy plot about air pollution, but it didn’t have very much conviction and dies out pretty much as suddenly as it appears.)
All in all, my biggest complaint is length, a book that big doesn’t last me two seconds, its gripping so I barely put it down and it does leave you wanting more, so if you’re going on holiday, take at least a few more books, cause this one will barely last you the flight ;P
You’d think this would go without saying, but seriously, don’t watch the film, terrible terrible adaptation, Arnie really doesn’t do King’s character ANY justice, and lastly, if you enjoyed the hunger games then please do give this a try, similar concept, much better written and without Katniss running round being a whiney hoe ;P

8/10

- Jade

This Month!

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:25:00 -0500

The Hunger Games! (what with the films being released ‘n all)
The Running Man (I felt like I needed to keep the whole ‘deadly televised game that rigged by fat selfish capitalists’ feel going)
Junk (A new age classic… apparently)