I have long known the story of the West Memphis Three. One of my friends was deeply into the cause, and, some years ago, ran a film night at Adelaide'...moreI have long known the story of the West Memphis Three. One of my friends was deeply into the cause, and, some years ago, ran a film night at Adelaide's Mercury Cinemas, to raise money to help their legal battles. She did a fantastic job; but more to the point, that was the first time I had ever seen anything much about the story.
This book is a simple, passionate, peaceful autobiography by Damien Echols, writing about his version of events. It details his life up to the point where he was arrested, and after that only covers the aspects of his life that he wished to bring to the world. As he pointed out in the book, the story of the WM3 had already been more than ably covered by other books and documentaries.
The beauty of this novel lies in its simplicity. It reads like a letter, which in many ways is how it was written. You come to know Damien very personally, and as far as much autobiography goes, is devoid of ego. It is rare to read a text like this, and I suspect it has something to do with his perspective on the world after devoting himself to studies such as Buddhism, Zen, and many other philosophies. I won't go into the detail, but it was this section of the work in which much of the story really drew me in. I'm a sucker for that stuff.
Downside? As always, the errors, man, the textual, unnecessary errors!! Fuuck me drunk, I fear I will never read another beautifully edited book in my life. I hope I'm wrong.(less)
This is book is a conversational look at the life and times of the early death metal scene. It contains recollections of people, gigs, events, bands, ...moreThis is book is a conversational look at the life and times of the early death metal scene. It contains recollections of people, gigs, events, bands, and publications. It's at times in-depth, at times fucking hilarious.
The pictorial aspect is grand, too. Mostly live shots from shows back in the day.
My biggest criticism is that the publishers took submissions and pretty well published them as-is. The book is rife with spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors that truly disrupt the reading experience. It also paints a picture of metalheads as unschooled, which is unfair.
Even a hard-arse like me got over the errors, however, and just enjoyed the read. So much information is contained here, and in the most perfect way possible: personal story. In stories chosen by the bands themselves. It's truly their story, in their own words.
I loved the fact that this book, when I read it on commuter trains, sparked off conversation with non-metalheads who were curious. That alone is fantastic.
All metalheads, especially fans of thrash and death metal, need to read this book. I bought my copy from Missing Link Records in Melbourne. It was the only copy in the country! Wow! (less)
I had heard many, many good things about Ace's book prior to actually getting around to it myself. My other half, a *massive* KISS fan, devoured it as...moreI had heard many, many good things about Ace's book prior to actually getting around to it myself. My other half, a *massive* KISS fan, devoured it as soon as it arrived on my doorstep. His nonchalant "excellent book" was kind of neither here nor there.
What you discover, with No Regrets, is that Ace Frehley is an honest, forthright, downright funny dude. The book traces Frehley's journey into rock'n'roll, his foray into what became KISS, what it turned into, and the hows and whys and wherefores of his multiple departures from that band.
Given all of the bad press that Gene Simmons in particular has given Ace, the lack of malevolence in this book is striking. Frehley lives out a 'no regrets' perspective; he lives and lets live; so if you expect any bombastic argument against KISS from him, you will be disappointed.
Instead, what you find is a simple, yet brutally honest point of view about his life: from his addiction, to his dealings with the band and other people. It's completely refreshing.
My only misgivings are that some of the more personal stories are missing from this text. Ace's first wife, Jeanette "decided to move on"; we can infer the reasons why, and we have to, because none are proferred. After such detail about his family in the early chapters, they drop out of all existence until deaths occur. And Ace never dwells on his daughter's wellbeing; she herself was an addict, and this we only hear about in passing.
The inclusion of such stories would have taken away from the book's focus on the Rock, but it would have given it slightly more depth. For while No Regrets is an intriguing, beautifully written work, in the reading one feels like the story 'skims', without going into the deeper waters.
Nevertheless, outstanding book. I highly recommend it to everyone; even those who have no idea of who the hell Ace Frehley even is.(less)
The Last Watch contains hidden twists, which, when they take place, tie in issues from prev...moreThis is the last in Lukyanenko's amazing series.
The Last Watch contains hidden twists, which, when they take place, tie in issues from previous titles that one had not realised were parts of the long-term plot.
In the beginning of this book, having been so used to the primary protagonist of the previous novel, Anton Gorodetsky, it took me a little while to wo...moreIn the beginning of this book, having been so used to the primary protagonist of the previous novel, Anton Gorodetsky, it took me a little while to work out what was going on. I had no idea who this Alisa Donnikova was or why she was important. Or why this second book in the series was focusing so clearly on her. For a while I wondered if the novel was going to be a series of character-based short stories.
But it turned out that it was all just me being impatient. Gradually, one discerns why Alisa's circumstances are so important; but interestingly, one does not really discover this until much, much later in the book.
It was not, in fact, until I was on the home-run of this book - the last twenty pages or so - that I properly understood the statements from each Watch in the in the front-matter of the book proper:
- This text has been banned for distribution as injurious to the cause of the light. - Night Watch - This text has been banned for distribution as injurious to the cause of the darkness. - Day Watch
Day Watch is a far more interesting story than Night Watch. It proposes some interesting concepts to challenge your own notions of lightness and darkness, too. After taking so long to read Night Watch, I devoured Day Watch in a matter of weeks, and will hopefully finish the third book rather sooner than that.
Lukyanenko is an extremely talented writer. As an editor, and former publisher myself, I am a really tough audience. Yet I fall deeply into the spell of his fiction quite easily, and am happy to stay and wallow there. For me, there is no fight between enjoying the story and being aware of the text; this is really rare, and is probably why I enjoy the works so very much.(less)
I had been told about the excellence of this book, with great gusto, by a friend. As usual, it took me forever to get around to reading it.
A...moreI had been told about the excellence of this book, with great gusto, by a friend. As usual, it took me forever to get around to reading it.
And I adored it. For those who have seen the film, it is quite different (better) to the film.
As a great lover of Russian literature, and the certain turn of phrase that comes from the Russians to my eyes via superb and seamless translation, this book really did it for me. The very moment that I finished it, I began on the second novel in the series - which I have only just completed.
RealmShift is the first of Alan Baxter‘s novel-length works that I have read. Having previously published his short fiction, I knew first-hand how tal...moreRealmShift is the first of Alan Baxter‘s novel-length works that I have read. Having previously published his short fiction, I knew first-hand how talented he is. RealmShift confirmed to me that his abilities in long fiction are equally tight.
Not generally a big fan of dark fantasy, I put all my prejudices aside and dived in. It was a gripping and interesting tale right from the beginning; and the construct was nicely delivered.
RealmShift tells the story of Isaiah and Samuel Harrigan, in a race against time – and Satan! – to make sure that events occur as they should, to retain the ‘balance’ in the universe. I’m not going to write anything more about the story itself because you have to read the book for that; suffice it to say that other characters get drawn into the struggle, and that, for a while, you are not sure which way the story will fall.
Baxter handled the multiple storylines with aplomb, and brought them together in the ‘home run’ of the story admirably. Like many other great writers before him – like Le Carre and Iain Banks – the final portion of Alan’s book was the best part.
For me personally, I found, despite how good this book was, that Baxter’s grip on his characters was with a light touch, as though his ink wouldn’t render them as completely as I personally need to engage with them. They weren’t one-dimensional, but they were lightly sketched. It felt to me that Baxter had to work to portray them.
Except for the character of Samuel Harrigan, that is. Harrigan, in contrast, to the other cast, completely leapt off the page. I suggest that Baxter enjoyed writing this character far more. Harrigan had a density and dimensionality that the other characters lacked.
As an editor, some superficial glitches (of which there were a lot!) annoyed me: missing apostrophes, misused apostrophes, verb-noun sequences that didn’t agree. These could have been fixed with a solid copy edit. I *really* struggle with books that contain unnecessary errors, but with RealmShift I was able to overlook them and just enjoy the story. Kudos indeed!
This is a fabulous book, I’m sad it took me so long to find the time to read it (took me a year to finish it, thanks to other things – though I never had to go back and re-read passages, which is a feat in itself on the author’s behalf!!), and I’m sad it’s over.
Now. Where’s the next one, MageSign… I think I need another fix.(less)
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