Justin Pyfrom's Blog, page 29

Nevermore… (I love that line!)

Edgar Allen Poe’s tales

The Tell-Tale Heart
The Raven
The Cask of Amontillado

Three of my favorite tales of Edgar Allen Poe popped up on my YouTube feed and I just couldn’t help myself. I mean…I was forced to read them in high school. But, this time around, it was purely for fun. And that’s where I can get the most out of reading.

[image error]The Tell-Tale Heart, for all intended purposes, is about a person who killed an old man because of his “vulture-eye“. It’s a very unsettling reason to kill someone but I’ve heard worst. (Criminal Minds, anyone?) The story is told in the first person by, in literary terms, an unreliable narrator due to his crumbling sanity.

It’s worth pointing out that the gender of the narrator wasn’t clearly specified. This means that, quite literally, any reader can immerse themselves in this story. It is also important to point out that this story tells the tale of the ” perfect crime” as the narrator killed the old man, dismember him and concealed him under the floor to remove the evidence of the deed. The perfect crime, right? Yeah, the narrator thought so, too.

So much so, that, when the police were called, the narrator invited them into the old man’s room and converse with them. Confident and easy going was the narrator’s demeanor…until a ring in the ear starts becoming uncomfortable. Even better, the ringing sound turns into a beating sound. Then, the beating sound turns into a throbbing sound. Actually, it turned into the sound of a throbbing heart. Haha! Yeah, the perfect crime, my arse. Bet you didn’t count on the conscience playing a role. Just broke down and confessed the crime after the sound got loud enough.[image error]

The Cask of Amontillado tells the same tale of committing murder but in a different formation. This time, the narrator has a name, Montresor, and he’s out for revenge to a man, Fortunato, who insulted him. So, to complete this crime, Montresor got Fortunato drunk and convinced him to accompany him in the wine cellars of the latter’s palazzo, where they wander in the catacombs, with the promise of Amontillado. He even made sure that Fortunato was intoxicated the entire time.

When X makes the spot, Fortunato was quickly chained and bound to the wall and Montresor began to create a wall of bricks to trap him. This sobered Fortunato up pretty quickly and tried to call for help which Montresor. He tried to reason with his “friend” but to no avail. Finally, he was forced to succumb to his fate as Montresor placed the last brick and left him to die.

Even fifty years later, the crime was never reported; only the readers are aware of it. Still…pretty drastic way to get revenge…especially over an insult.

[image error]Finally, my one of favorite poems, The Raven. This dark poem tells the story of a talking raven and its mysterious visit to a distraught lover which leads the man sinking slowly into madness. I mean, if a talking raven was only saying “Nevermore”, over and over, to me…yeah, I would start looking my mind, too. Especially after losing a loved one…that’s just too much.

You know…sinking into madness can be another way of saying that the narrator died of a broken heart. I mean, I’ve read stories and articles of such incidents. Still, I found this poem to be more sad than dark. It shows how guilt can really take a toll on a person.

Edgar Allen Poe can do no wrong with me. He’s always going to get an A+. Well, let me read the rest of his work before I say that.

A Streetcar Named Desire

American Legends (Marlon Brando) by Charles River Editors

(Disclaimer: this will be a short review)

This came across this series through GoodRead as it was recommended to me. It was a good thing, too. Because Marlon Brando is a great actor and I was intrigued to learn about his story. Apparently, he had quite the history to his name.

My favorite movie of his is A Streetcar Named Desire and his performance as Stanley Kowalski was marvelous. And this book basically gave the readers the full(ish) biography of the famed actor and how he got started in the industry – from life to death. It even talked about the trial of his son, Christian Devi Brando. I enjoyed sitting down with a cup of coffee to listen to the life of a famed actor.

Interesting enough, he was one of the few actors that perfected the art of method acting. I’m not too big on that particular form but, you have to admit, its yield. Plus, his dedication to the art is something to marvel at.

What’s also great to learn about was his psych through it all. He has openly discussed how he was feeling like that he wasn’t enjoying his art and he wanted to take a break. But, then, he managed to find a role that gave new breath of life in his artistic life. That’s something I can admire because he’s explaining the reality of the industry.

47 pages. The life of a great actor down to 47 pages. Still pretty good, though. A solid B.

A Series That Needs To Be Visited

The Spies That Bind by Ally Carter

Normally, I’m not that huge into spy books as I find them better suited for the silver screen. But I’ve been reconsidering my stance on the subject after reading this free Audible book. It also doesn’t hurt that the book is the prequel to a series so, you know, more to come and what not.

The Audible Original focus on how Cammie Morgan, the only child of a legendary spy, became a Gallagher Girl, an elite female spy trained in The Gallagher Academy. Think of it as an origin story of sorts. It’s laying down the foundation for the series by explaining a few details that would otherwise be lost to the reader. Plus, the book does a really good job of making you want to proceed to the actual series but leaving some questions unanswered.

Now, to the actual story…

See, Cammie is still dealing with the disappearance of her father while being filled with excitement, along with nervousness, of being accepted in The Gallagher Academy. It also doesn’t help that her mother is the Headmaster so, yeah, no pressure. But there’s something about that school that needs to be pointed out. Something obvious but still important. Every girl was sent there for a specific reason. Some for bloodline. Some for a particular skillset. Some for one specific skill. Despite the reason, they’re there to learn…and be a little catty towards each other.

As one would guess, there is an antagonist in this story and it’s actually one of the girls. A girl of bloodline from another spy which makes her think that she’s above it all. Because of that mentality, she works to get Cammie and her new friends, Liz, a tech genius, and Bex, a girl gifted with athleticism, kicked out. Why? Well, she thinks that they don’t belong.

Too bad that becomes her own undoing. Yeah, ratting people out is something that The Gallagher Academy frowns. And she almost got kicked out until the other girls showed sympathy for her. How they all ended up at this point? Oh, you know better than that…I’m not telling. But it ended the story quite nicely.

This is going an A and I’m so reading the series later on in the year.

Another Refresher Course…Or So I Thought…

Kindle Self Publishing for Beginners by James Moore

(Disclaimer: this will be a short review)

I reeeeaaaally wished I had this book in 2017. Would have been better prepared with some of the important pieces of information that this book provided for me. I mean, seriously, this book was godsent.

Don’t let the title fool you, either. It doesn’t just cover publishing books for the Kindle. The book showed readers, or aspiring writers, how to publish audiobooks for Audible. It even took the reign of how to properly set up the book for publications as well as marketing and promoting. There are too many lessons to list here and most of them are essentially common sense.

The big thing to point out is that this book provided links and suggestions on how to design book covers, set up accounts with Kindle/Amazon Publishing Company and many MANY other topics. For example, they suggest creating a Fiverr account when looking for a graphic designer for your book cover.  Then, it teaches the reader how to find the right narrator for your audiobooks. Yeah, it’s a bit more intricate than one would lead you to believe. Again, there are just way too many things to list.

I’m giving this book an A because of that reason.

It’s Only Half The Story…

The Last Days of August by Jon Ronson

(Disclaimer: This review is going to be rather short-ish.)

Soooo, what do you know about the suicide of famed adult film star August Ames? Read this before continuing. All caught up? Good, let us proceed.

This was a free audiobook for me and I always like the journalism side of true crimes because, if done correctly and respectfully, it gives the reader a great perspective on the crime that past. This time around Jon Ronson, a critically acclaimed journalist, focused on the suicide of August Ames which took place after a backlash of a tweet she posted about an industry norm: man performing in both gay and straight porn.

However, Jon doesn’t’ just focus on the suicide itself. He spread his parameter to the industry as a whole and EVERYBODY that knew August Ames and her behavior before, during and after the infamous tweet. It even dove into her childhood that her brother had no problem with divulging as he “had no secrets.” But, it also did a couple more…direct things, too.

It exposed her surviving ex-boyfriend and his many borderline sociopathic behaviors along with proving the innocence of Jaxton Wheeler, a bisexual pornstar, who received some backlash of his own for the responsive tweet he made. To make Jon’s progression even more troublesome for the industry, he explored how the porn industry, itself, can create and/or amplify the inner demons of its performers that REALLY pissed off a lot of big-name figures. Eventually, he managed to get everything he needs for his documentary and showed that, in his research, there was a lot of blame to be passed around here including directors who did nothing when things went bad.

I would say more but, since I’m giving this a B for professionalism and boldness, I rather just implore you to give this audiobook and nice lesson to.

A Game of Cat and Mouse

Zero G by Dan Wells

This is actually a funny story. I picked this story because I got to pick two free Audible Originals and the summary was interesting enough. However, the vocabulary, plotline and, the overall tone seemed to feel “elementary” to me. Looking into it, you know, after finishing the book, I realized why I felt that. The book was meant for an elementary crowd. Middle schoolers, actually. Haha!

Yeah, I’m still laughing over that but, I have to admit, it was still a good book. Or rather, Audible Original. It’s amazing, really. I got to listen to a kid’s book like I was in grade school, all over again. A really REALLY good one.

Zero G followed the misadventures of Zero who accidentally woke up 2000 years earlier than he was supposed to. Actually, some context is needed. Haha!

Zero is the youngest kid in his family and also the smartest with an affinity for science and technology. You know? Typical kid stuff. Now, him and family, along with 20,000 people, aboard a spaceship that was heading to a new planet so they begin colonizing there. This makes me think about Mars, truthfully. Anyway, the coordinates are set and everybody is put in a stasis chamber because the journey is over a century long. This makes sense because people can keep their true physical appearance without the real issue of time. Plus, it’ll protect them from the crushing speed and gravity of the ship All well and good…until Zero’s pod malfunction. Talk about bad luck.

No, wait, it gets worse. Zero can’t get the pod working and now he has to deal with a group of space pirates who wants to redirect the ship into a planet that’s heavy on the idea of slave labor. So, we have pirates that want to loot the ship, enslave its inhabitants and wreck havoc before the ship reach top speed and them all – including Zero. It’s safe to say that Zero have no choice but to stop them as crazy as that idea sound to the young kid. Oh! As one could imagine, a sense of stealth was required in order for the young protagonist since *ahem* the space pirates don’t know that he’s the only one awake.

A game of cat and mouse ensued between the two parties. And Zero proved to the readers that he’s great at thinking on his feet. Especially when he has to deal with a crazy psychopath among the group. He even managed to make friends with the youngest pirate and convince her to switch sides after showing her their true colors. It was quite a rollercoaster for action and suspense. And, if I like, I can guarantee you that kids will enjoy.

Of course, it ends on a happy note with the pirates’ defeat, Zero making a new friend and the ship making it to its destination without harm. Yes! Yes! Yes! This Audible Original gets an A+ because it proves that the suspense genre works well for kids.

My Favorite Audible Original

Christmas Eve 1914 by Charles Olivier

Full closure…I am not a history buff in the slightest. Not really a heavy focus of mine because, frankly, it’s bloody depressing. However, I find myself compelled to visit various topics for research point. This ALWAYS leads me to do even more research when I find the topic interesting. I believe that would be, yet, another example of hyperfocus. And that’s how I came across this Audible Original! No, seriously, watch this…

See, I already had an Audible subscription and loving every bit of it. I was also creating a “great war” for my space opera that I was working on for some time now. Just some details here and there because I have a few series that require my immediate attention. Anyway, I decided to look up a few great wars of history to gather some inspiration. Take a wild guess where this is going. Yep, this led me to the World War I’s Wikipedia page.

I read what I needed to know and then some. Not enough to make an expert but enough to get the clear picture. And, then, I read the literature and works that were inspired by the war. Christmas Eve 1914 was, of course, one of them but a completely different approach was taken. See, the original author and, later, director of the radio play decided to focus on Christmas truce between the British and German soldiers on no man’s land on Christmas Eve. Notice I said soldiers, not officials. Very important.

The play was created by the author but it was directed by Dawn Prestwich with a phenomenal cast. They even did an exceptional job with the sound effects and musical scores that gave the radio play life. It was humorous at times but didn’t hold back on the pain and drama of war. You could literally how tired the soldiers were and how desperate they were for a break. A moment of happiness and peace. Especially on Christmas Eve.

This is an A+ quality of work. Instead of turning it into a history lesson, they took a more intimate approach and focus the audience attention on a small group of soldiers and guided the narrative from there. Truly a masterpiece and a great choice for my first Audible Original.

Freedom vs Security

Captain America vs Iron Man by Travis Langley

Marvel’s Civil War was a comic book story arc that put two of the most prominent superhero against each other because of conflicting beliefs. And since they have demonstrated to be great leaders, they developed a following which led to an all-out war. Worse yet, all of this started because of a group of careless heroes starring in a reality show that caused the death of more than 600 citizens including school children. Yeah, you can imagine that the government was going to get involved. And, if history has taught us anything, it’s when the government gets involved, all hell tends to break loose. Now! That’s the practical side of it, but this is Travis Langley and practicality isn’t his forte. His is the mind…

Just like every other book from his Popular Culture Psychology series (I just made that up), Travis works with many psychologists from various fields to talk about topics revolving around the subject at this. This time around, it’s the age-old conversation about Freedom vs. Security, the central theme of the Civil War storyline. But, again, this Travis Langley and, if you have read ANY of his books, the topics are not that narrow.

With the help of many MANY psychologists, Travis explored the psychological markup of Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Steve Rogers (Captain America). Their past, methods of leadership, fighting style, strengths, weakness, and even their ideology was explored and broken down for the reader to absorb and understand. But doesn’t stop there.

See, there are chapters that talked about the people’s psychological markup around the conversation of freedom vs. security without actually picking a side. Actually, if you noticed, they do a really great job about not condemning either side. They only point out facts and talk about them in an academic fashion. That’s something I respect and admire about Mr. Langley. He doesn’t criticize; he’s just pointing it out. It’s his way of starting a productive discussion without starting an argument.

Even stepping away from it the central theme, the topic of gender roles, the making of a superhero, conflict resolution, trauma, morality, teamwork. There are so many to list and each one makes the reader think and discuss among others. Yes, it’s a constant formula BUT IT WORKS!!!

Oh! And, bonus points, he got freaking STAN LEE to write the foreword for the bloody book. Brilliant. Bloody brilliant. Freaking mic drop!!!

When you get the chance, get this book and his many others. I did a review about another one of his books last year. Right now, he’s at ten books with two more planned for release (Yes, the books are out of order – don’t judge me):

Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight
The Walking Dead Psychology: Psych of the Living Dead
Star Wars Psychology: Dark Side of the Mind
Game of Thrones Psychology: The Mind is Dark and Full of Terrors
Wonder Woman Psychology: Lassoing the Truth
Doctor Who Psychology: A Madman with a Box
Supernatural Psychology: Roads Less Traveled
Star Trek Psychology: The Mental Frontier
Daredevil Psychology: The Devil You Know
Westworld Psychology: Violent Delights
Black Panther Psychology: Hidden Kingdoms

You already know it. This book gets an A+ from me.

My Life, The Gay Life

I know I’ve said it numerous times on various posts but allow me to say this key feature about me: I’m gay. Yeah, I’m not so obvious in public at first glance because how I present myself. But, if you ask me, I don’t have a problem with admitting it. Just not going to vocalize to every John, Dick & Sally that comes by. Yeah, to be blunt, I have this notion that if you’re meant to know they they’ll tell you.

That’s something I really hold dear: my privacy. I tell people exactly what they need to know. And I look on the news to see that these celebrities are scrutinized by the press about matters that doesn’t really matter. All for money, I suppose. I dont know but when I see reluctance to talk about something, that usually mean that they dont want to talk about it. Privacy should be respected. Or was I only one who was taught human desceny.

The reason why I’m talking about this is because I recently saw someone at the bar I work at being a victim of being “forced out of the closet”. Said it would do him some good and threaten to “out” him, otherwise. You didn’t see devastation until you saw his face. It was the beginning of the end of a friendship. Even I knew it.

Later on, i spoke to the bloke and explained my story. I told him that I got lucky. I told the four people in my life that opinions really matter to me: my brother, my mother, my grandmother and my big cousin. And, when they all accepted it, I was good. My little brother even took me to my first gay bar, and club. After that, nobody else’s opinions matter. I quite literally didn’t care. I mean…I also told him to discard his pathetic lot of “friends” and come out in his own time. Moreover, he would feel better when it’s done that way.

It really sucks that there are people like that in the world but, alas, here we are. We already have so many outside forces trying to destroy us, we dont need to do it to ourselves. Be safe and love each other.

Oh! And, p.s., only for this month, I will be doing my normal blog posting outside of book reviews on Sunday.

Player Getting Played? Well…

WTF Venice by Elaine Marie

You know, I never told anybody this: I really detest womanizers. It’s a personal annoyance that stems from the ripple effect that those repulsive tribe of people seems to leave behind. Plus, it’s the whole attitude behind the whole lot of them. Just arrogant wankers all around. So, it gives me great joy in seeing the table turns and for them to learn their lessons.  Take Enrique from WTF Venice, for example…

Before I begin, just a heads up, this is the third book of the series and I have no intention of reading the other two for reasons I will explain later. But, let’s start off by saying that the main character is a self-proclaimed player who gets an opportunity to model in a Venice commercial as he continued to practice law in Paris. Seems harmless enough…until he met his tour guide, Alonzo. That’s where things got really funny, really fast.

See, after some flirting on Enrique’s part, eventually they ended up having sex and the player ended falling in love for the first time. Too bad, the feeling wasn’t mutual – at first. However, the model doesn’t take it too well and ends up, inadvertently, stalking his love interest by uprooting his life in Paris and moving to Venice, finding an apartment, gathering clients and aimlessly calling Alonzo to no avail. These actions began to worry his best friend and, quite frankly, me. This would have been grounds for a restraining order.

Now, it does bear to point out that Alonzo’s action did have some metric to it. You know…aside from the belief that Enrique being a one-shot deal. What else? Well, he’s a target of a homophobe who was his sister’s boyfriend before they broke up causing walls to form around his heart and mind.

Luckily, his sister brought both of them together due to some legal matters that she was finishing up. This led to a happy ending and a C+ for this book. It gave a great look into how homophobia can destroy a relationship. But, alas, the story didn’t stick with me, unfortunately.

However, that’s not the reason why I’m not going to read the other books in the series. Well…not the only reason, anyway. Why else? Well…I have over fifty audiobooks that I’m going through and this series doesn’t hold my attention well enough.