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June 22
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Joy
read and liked
Jessica's
review of Lilith's Brood:
"Like every good sci-fi book, this book about aliens explores what it means to be human. What makes this book amazing is that Butler quietly takes the usual aliens-invade-earth trope and gives it a good hard shake. Gender and race theory mix with an e...more
Like every good sci-fi book, this book about aliens explores what it means to be human. What makes this book amazing is that Butler quietly takes the usual aliens-invade-earth trope and gives it a good hard shake. Gender and race theory mix with an environmental consciousness and startling prescience regarding new science. I read once that she predicted develoments in certain scientific fields in these books. It is a sci-fi exploration of colonization - even a 'benevolent' colonizer still threatens your identity. But when the colonizer takes your body and your families as well as your land, the conflict can tear a person up. In short, I love this book. It is what is best about sci-fi. ...less
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Joy
gave
to:
Lilith's Brood (Paperback)
by Octavia E. Butler
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my rating:
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read in June, 2008
Joy said:
"Lilith’s Brood by Octavia E. Butler is actually a novel trilogy (Dawn, Adulthood Rites and Imago), evidently published separately, then gathered in the one novel. I became interested in reading the trilogy after hearing Lynn, from my writers group,...more
Lilith’s Brood by Octavia E. Butler is actually a novel trilogy (Dawn, Adulthood Rites and Imago), evidently published separately, then gathered in the one novel. I became interested in reading the trilogy after hearing Lynn, from my writers group, talk about it. I couldn’t be more pleased that I did.
In Ms. Butler’s work, the people of earth have destroyed the viability of the planet through war. An extra-terrestrial race of beings rescue the few remaining inhabitants, place them in stasis until the earth can be repaired and go about re-introducing mankind along with a superior race of human/alien hybrids back to the again flourishing planet. Lilth, the title character, is chosen to be the “mother” of a group of beings in that she is charged with the responsibility of waking other humans from stasis. She must get them used to the idea they will no longer be able to reproduce via the usual method and she must teach them to re-inhabit a somewhat altered earth. It’s a daunting task for Lilith and marks her forever in the eyes of the rescued human race a traitor.
The premise of the new earth, hybrid human/alien beings, and a radical new definition of parent, child and family is the backbone of this trilogy but, in my mind, takes a back seat to the characters Octavia Butler creates. As a reader, I was thrilled with the adventure of reading this book. As a writer, I was extremely impressed with Ms. Butler’s ability to make very alien creatures sympathetic.
By way of a practical analysis, the first two books of this trilogy zipped by very quickly. Even though the third lost a little steam for me, I still recommend this book. It’s a great adventure.
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June 06
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Joy
marked as to-read:
Twilight (Twilight Series, Book 1)
by Stephenie Meyer
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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May 29
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Joy
gave
to:
Horseman, Pass By : A Novel (Paperback)
by Larry McMurtry
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in May, 2008
Joy said:
"This book is McMurtry's first novel and a memorable start to a career of putting the reader in the hip pocket of, on the saddle with, and in the life and times of the characters he portrays with aching accuracy.
I wasn't aware this was the book o...more
This book is McMurtry's first novel and a memorable start to a career of putting the reader in the hip pocket of, on the saddle with, and in the life and times of the characters he portrays with aching accuracy.
I wasn't aware this was the book on which the screen-play for the Paul Newman movie "Hud" was based until I recently read McMurtry's "In A Narrow Grave", a collection of essays. The first essay in the Narrow Grave book is about his experience with the making of that movie. I saw the movie when it was a first run in 1963 and thought it a gritty, powerful movie.
As is often the case with Hollywood, the screen-play changed the focus of the story as McMurtry had written it from the story of a 17 year old's coming of age in the book, to that of a hell-raising, surly man played by the guaranteed big box office draw Paul Newman in the movie. Doing so is understandable in light of the medium, but a huge loss for the viewer.
"Horseman, Pass By" is the story of three men. Lonnie, from whose point of view the book is written, is a 17 year old, unsettled and anxious to get to know more about the world than his growing up on his grandfather's west Texas ranch has shown him. He's torn between his "itch" and his devotion to his grandfather and his grandfather's way of life. The grandfather is nearing the end of his days and sees his life's work snuffed out when his cattle develope the dreaded hoof and mouth disease and must be destroyed. Caught between is Hud, the old man's step-son who has an itch of his own. He wants the old man's land and he doesn't want to wait.
Larry McMurtry is a master at telling the real story of the cowboy, past and present. This is a very readable example....less
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May 26
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Joy
gave
to:
In a Narrow Grave : Essays on Texas (Paperback)
by Larry McMurtry
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Joy said:
"In the whole, I really liked this book of McMurtry's essays. I enjoyed it in the beginning and I enjoyed it in the end. The middle, especially where he expounded on his opinion of the cities of Houston, Dallas and Austin impressed me less. I suppose ...more
In the whole, I really liked this book of McMurtry's essays. I enjoyed it in the beginning and I enjoyed it in the end. The middle, especially where he expounded on his opinion of the cities of Houston, Dallas and Austin impressed me less. I suppose I took exception to his rather arrogant dismissal of any worth found in the cities. McMurtry is a great story-teller, even when writing non-fiction about his travels and his times. This book of essays shone with his keen eye for people... the general public in his travels in the beginning of the book and his family in particular at the end. It's absolutely worth the read....less
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May 23
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May 07
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Joy
read and liked
Doug's
review of Lilith's Brood:
"Butler does not let up. She presents you with the alien, and then doesn't let you flinch or look away. She is quietly relentless, and the tension in her stories builds and builds...and doesn't explode, like the cliche, but subsides. Along the way,...more
Butler does not let up. She presents you with the alien, and then doesn't let you flinch or look away. She is quietly relentless, and the tension in her stories builds and builds...and doesn't explode, like the cliche, but subsides. Along the way, you get an excellent story presented through the kind of excellent and innovative ideas that mark superb SciFi....less
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Joy
read and liked
Stevelvis's
review of Lilith's Brood:
"OCTAVIA E. BUTLER-- Lilith's Brood (aka Xenogenesis): Three books originally marketed as a trilogy under the title Xenogenesis with newer editions published under the title Lilith's Brood. A story which takes place after Earth has been destroyed by...more
OCTAVIA E. BUTLER-- Lilith's Brood (aka Xenogenesis): Three books originally marketed as a trilogy under the title Xenogenesis with newer editions published under the title Lilith's Brood. A story which takes place after Earth has been destroyed by war and pollution leaving only a handful of humans still alive but imprisoned by a strange horrific species of aliens who are willing to make a deal with the humans to save the Earth and humanity. In exchange for a total terraforming makeover of the Earth the remaining humans must agree to mate with the aliens producing a hybrid species which will be the new humanity....less
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Joy
read and liked
Jess's
review of Lilith's Brood:
"I read Dawn a few months ago, and while I liked it, I wasn't blown away. After I read Fledgling and was newly impressed with Butler's creativity and way with language, I decided to finish the series. It absorbed me for two days, and I...more
I read Dawn a few months ago, and while I liked it, I wasn't blown away. After I read Fledgling and was newly impressed with Butler's creativity and way with language, I decided to finish the series. It absorbed me for two days, and I ended up absolutely loving it. This series reminded me of Vonnegut without the humor--where he uses absurdity to make a point, Butler lets that same point seep into you a little at a time. These books are about perception, violence, independence, and most of all, what it may take to make peace within humanity. Rather than choosing between utopia and dystopia, Butler writes a novel in which one cannot distinguish between the two. And that, my friends, is an interesting feat=)...less
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