Katherine Nabity's Blog, page 151

Review ~ Ghostland

Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey

Colin Dickey is on the trail of America’s ghosts. Crammed into old houses and hotels, abandoned prisons and empty hospitals, the spirits that linger continue to capture our collective imagination, but why? His own fascination piqued by a house hunt in Los Angeles that revealed derelict foreclosures and “zombie homes,” Dickey embarks on a journey across the continental United States to decode and unpack the American history repressed in our most famous haunted places. Some have established reputations as “the most haunted mansion in America,” or “the most haunted prison”; others, like the haunted Indian burial grounds in West Virginia, evoke memories from the past our collective nation tries to forget.

With boundless curiosity, Dickey conjures the dead by focusing on questions of the living—how do we, the living, deal with stories about ghosts, and how do we inhabit and move through spaces that have been deemed, for whatever reason, haunted? Paying attention not only to the true facts behind a ghost story, but also to the ways in which changes to those facts are made—and why those changes are made—Dickey paints a version of American history left out of the textbooks, one of things left undone, crimes left unsolved. (via Goodreads)

Why was I interested in this book?

I enjoy reading/hearing about hauntings. I was browsing through the library’s audio catalog and Ghostland had a good narrator.

What Worked

Like a lot of folklore, ghost stories are strongly tied to the history and culture of place. In Ghostland, Colin Dickey takes some of the most famous haunted places in the US, fact checks the story’s details (when applicable), and then takes a look at how the setting and history of the location has played a part in the narrative’s current form. There are differences between ghost stories in Athens, GA and Hollywood, CA after all.

Dickey also examines how modern society views ghosts. On one hand, there is a cachet to having a ghost “destination.” Many of the hauntings in Ghostland have been featured on ghost hunting TV shows. In many cases, like the Winchester Mystery house, not-quite-true stories continue because that is the narrative that sells. On the other hand, no one *really* wants to live somewhere they believe to be haunted, even if phenomena can be easily debunked. Ghost are good if you want a tourist trap, bad if you want to sell a house.

What Didn’t Work

The structure of Ghostland was roughly chronological, but also broken into specific types of locations—domestic places (houses), commercial places (bars, hotels), public works places (prisons, cemeteries, parks), and even cities themselves. I probably would have preferred a more strict chronological order.

This is also a popular nonfiction work, not a scholarly work. Some of the tenants of Ghostland aren’t exhaustively investigated. For example, it’s argued that the ghost stories of the American south edit out the horrors of slavery in favor of more romantic stories, like Myrtles Plantation’s Chloe. But a good investigation of such an assertion could take a book itself. Ghostland is a sip from the well instead of a deep dive.

Overall

Overall, thumbs up. It was good to listen to during my reading slump. If you’re a fan of podcasts such as Lore or Just a Story, this is definitely up your alley.

Publishing info, my copy: OverDrive Listen audiobook, Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group, October 4, 2016

Acquired: Tempe Overdrive Digital Collection

Genre: nonfiction, pop culture, history

Deal Me In, Week 10 ~ “The Invisible Man”

[image error] (Deal Me In logo above created by Mannomoi at Dilettante Artiste)

Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis

What’s Deal Me In?

“The Invisible Man” by G. K. Chesterton

Card picked: K♥

From: Found at East of the Web

The Story

Young Angus wants Laura to marry him. His is not Laura’s first proposal. Before she moved to London, two other men asked for her hand in marriage. The first, Smythe, is an imp of a man, short as a jockey and swarthy. The second, Welkin, is tall and almost handsome aside from an alarming squint. Since she is attracted to neither and neither seems to have good prospects, Laura lies and says she can’t marry a man who hasn’t made his own fortune. Both men vow to come back for her after they’ve earned her hand. Unfortunately for Angus, that day has come, at least in the form of Smythe. Always the inventor, he has become an appliance mogul. His business, Smythe’s Silent Service, provides automaton butlers and maids.

Until Laura mentions Smythe’s Silent Service, I couldn’t remember why Chesterton’s “The Invisible Man” had ended up on my Deal Me In list. Not that it’s a sub-standard story or that I don’t care of a mystery, but it didn’t strike me as a story that I would have added to my list after coming across a review of it from someone else’s Deal Me In roster. But automatons? Of course, it made my list! The automatons are a minor detail, really, but one doesn’t expect to find the odd science fiction element in a mystery story. But maybe one does in a 1911 mystery. At the turn of the 20th century the Western world seemed enamored enough with science and technology to regularly include it in fiction.

But back to the story: What has really been scaring Laura isn’t Smythe’s inevitable return to claim her, but the fact that she hasn’t heard anything from the creepier Welkin. That is until Smythe’s last letter was delivered. As she read it, standing where it was delivered, she clearly heard Welkin laugh and say “he shan’t have you” though no one was around. Welkin also leaves a large message tacked up on the display window of the bakery where Laura works:

“If you marry Smythe, he will die.”

No one saw anyone deface the bakery.

Queue Smythe’s return. Despite his interest in Laura, Angus decides to take an interest in events and even tries to protect Smythe while he goes off to find his detective friend Flambeau. Visiting Flambeau is Father Brown, a  Catholic priest who is actually the one to solve the mystery of the invisible man. I had previously not read any of Chesterton or his Father Brown mysteries. I’m kind of surprised that Father Brown has almost as much “screen time” as Smythe’s futuristic residence and robot butler and maid.

 

Review ~ Fascist Lizards from Outer Space

This book was provided to me by McFarland & Company via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fascist Lizards from Outer Space: The Politics, Literary Influences and Cultural History of Kenneth Johnson’s V by Dan Copp

When Kenneth Johnson’s science fiction miniseries V premiered in 1983, it netted more than 40 percent of the television viewing audience and went on to spawn a sequel, a weekly series, novelizations, comic books and a remake. Entertainment Weekly named the show one of the 10 best miniseries of all time and the franchise continues to enjoy ardent fan support at science fiction conventions around the world. Yet the 2009 V reboot was cancelled in its second season, despite a robust premiere. Both versions of V were products of their respective times, but the original was inspired by classic works by the likes of Sinclair Lewis and Leo Tolstoy. Johnson’s predilection for literature and history helped give his telling of V a sense of heart and depth that the contemporary version sorely lacked.

At first impression the original two-part alien invasion epic may seem a mishmash of science fiction cliches. Yet behind the laser pistols, anthropomorphic reptiles and flying saucers lies a compelling treatise on the nature of power, oppression and resistance, inspired by both classic literature and historical events. Featuring exclusive interviews with cast and crew, this book examines V’s cultural impact and considers the future of the franchise. (via Goodreads)

Why was I interested in this book?

I was eight years old when the original V miniseries premiered on NBC. Living in a household that appreciated science fiction, it was certainly a viewing event for us. In my wider world, even Star Wars wasn’t playground fodder, so I had no concept of how popular V was.* What I knew then was: V aired in the 8pm-10pm time slot and my bed time was 9pm. I begged and begged to be allowed to stay up. My mom relented. I could watch on the little TV in my room (black and white, btw), but I had to be in bed and the TV was to be turned off at 10pm sharp.** I was glad to have my covers to hide under, because the second half of the first night, when the villainous Diana eats a hapless guinea pig whole, was pretty heady stuff for an eight year old.

At that age, I knew nothing about WWII or the Holocaust, but I still felt that V had a different weight to it than its TV contemporaries (Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica). V‘s story was happening in something closer to the real world than other sci fi. When the character of Abraham Bernstein, a Holocaust survivor, refers to the past, it’s actually the real past. While I didn’t understand it, it wasn’t lost on me as a kid.

* Note also: I’m a girl. Maybe the boys were playing Visitors vs. Resistance…

** Even though it was kind of a big deal to have my own TV in my room, I don’t recall abusing the privilege. My parents might remember differently.

What Worked

Dan Copp does a really good job showing how Kenneth Johnson, writer and director of V (and many other sci-fi shows), grounds his speculative fiction stories in literature. V is more or less a retelling of Sinclair Lewis’s novel It Can’t Happen Here, a novel published in 1935 about the possible rise of fascism in the United States, with strong nods to the scope of Tolstoy’s War and Peace.

Copp also looks at Johnson’s career before V for evidence of science fiction strengthened by literature and finds it in the classically heroic underpinnings of Johnson’s The Incredible Hulk and The Bionic Woman episodes. Copp also notes how, without Johnson’s influence, V: The Final Battle and the V television series in 1983 and 2009 rarely rise above a shoot-em-up or the usual prime-time drama.

One of the other things the V does really well that  its later siblings doesn’t do, Copp points out, is show the use of media to control a population. In 1983, that was easily achieved by the Visitors taking over the small number of TV networks. The 2009 TV series (which I personally had forgotten existed until mentioned in Fascist Lizard‘s introduction) missed a great opportunity to similarly take advantage of how a fascist regime might levy social media.

What Didn’t Work

Much of Fascist Lizards from Outer Space is about how bad both TV series are. There is a nearly episode-by-episode breakdown of things that the TV shows do wrong. Some of it illustrates the choices that NBC (the 1983 series) and ABC (the 2009 series) made concerning the show’s budget and what they thought made the original popular. That part is interesting, but after a few strong examples, the litany of errors just gets boring.

I was also a little disappointed that Copp didn’t extend his evaluation past V to include Johnson’s Alien Nation. I was inspired by Fascist Lizards to rewatch both the original V and the Alien Nation TV series (1989). It’s hard not playing the “currently relevant” card right about here.

Overall

If you like reading about the history of science fiction in the movies and on television, this is solid choice.

Publishing info, my copy: ePub ARC, McFarland , April 1, 2017

Acquired: 1/17/17, NetGalley

Genre: nonfiction, pop culture

It’s Monday, What Am I Reading? 3/6

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?
 

Mostly, I have short stories and “work” on my plate for this week.

Finish listening to Ghostland by Colin Dickey – loan expires Sunday.
“The Invisible Man” by G. K. Chesterton – Deal Me In.
“The Regression Test” by Wole Talabi – Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction catch-up.
“A Gathering on Gravity’s Shore” by Gregor Hartman – Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction catch-up.
Finish SOUThErN AlLiaNCe – Eric’s manuscript.
Finish read-through of Wicked Witch, Retired – my manuscript.
Finish Writing on the Wall by Tom Standage

[image error] It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, hosted by Book Date!

What Else 2017, Week 9

[image error]

Writing Stuff

Wicked Witch, Retired: I puttered around with a section that needs rewriting, even taking it to the library to work on it. Decided I needed to get a good plot timeline worked out.

Looking ahead: I need to finish my reread early in the week and finish rewriting the problematic section by Weds/Thurs. My goal is to have a draft by the end of March, which means probably another 20K words. That means I’m going to have to write more than 4K/week.

[image error]A Round of Words in 80 Days

Blogging Stuff

The blog is still getting the short end of the stick. That just might be how it is for a while. I did post my March TBR list.

Fitness Stuff

Ran sprints with Eric on Monday. We hadn’t done that in a while and both of us want to be in better shape for spring league. Since it rained Monday night and into Tuesday, the fields were pretty wet and there were no Tuesday/Wednesday sprints or ultimate. I ran a slow 5K on Tuesday to loosen up my back.  No Friday ultimate due to A/B league tournament on Saturday. On Saturday, Eric and I started the day helping a friend of ours load a moving truck. The process took about three hours and I probably managed a good 45mins/hour of lift and moving boxes. Then we went and played in A/B league finals. I played in 2.5 games. Today? Man, I am sore. My arms and back don’t know what the heck happened.

Other Life Stuff

Had a busy Friday too. We went and saw Logan at a matinee showing. It suffers from many of the general comic book movie problems (where is the science?!), but I liked it better than many of the recent offerings on either side of the Marvel/DC fence.

Pinned: March 2017 TBR

[image error]

I was going to do a wrap-up, but I don’t think I want to give February any more of my time. Instead, ONWARD! Here’s my probably March TBR list:

Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey – Audiobook. I’m 53% finished.
Writing on the Wall: Social Media, the First 2000 Years by Tom Standage – I’m 38% finished.
Exclusive Magical Secrets by Will Goldston – I’m about a third of the way through.
Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
The Good Thief’s Guide to Vegas by Chris Ewan – Library book.
Adelaide Herrmann, Queen of Magic by Adelaide Herrmann
The Janus Tree and Other Stories by Glen Hirshberg
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January-February 2017 – Yes, still.
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March-April 2017

March 2017 TBR

[image error]

I was going to do a wrap-up, but I don’t think I want to give February any more of my time. Instead, ONWARD! Here’s my probably March TBR list:

Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey – Audiobook. I’m 53% finished.
Writing on the Wall: Social Media, the First 2000 Years by Tom Standage – I’m 38% finished.
Exclusive Magical Secrets by Will Goldston – I’m about a third of the way through.
Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
The Good Thief’s Guide to Vegas by Chris Ewan – Library book.
Adelaide Herrmann, Queen of Magic by Adelaide Herrmann
The Janus Tree and Other Stories by Glen Hirshberg
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January-February 2017 – Yes, still.
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March-April 2017

It’s Monday, What Am I Reading? 2/27

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?

Am I over my reading slump? I dare to hope.

For the first time in a long while, I am without any pending ARCs. I think I like this feeling. I have so many of my own books to read and no distractions from them (except for the library  *cough*). I stopped using Edelweiss more than a year ago, and I can see NetGalley becoming something I use less and less.

  


Ebook: Writing on the Wall: Social Media – The First 2,000 Years by Tom Standage – Started this back in Decmeber, I think. I’m 32% done.
Audio book: Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey – Picked this up on Saturday to listen to while doing some housework. Then realized that the Overdrive app and my phone no longer get along. Listened to the Arizona v UCLA game instead. :(
Physical book: The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie – Of the books I acquired last January, this is that last one that I haven’t read.
Another story by Saladin Ahmed for Deal Me In (I shuffled, I swear!)

[image error] It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, hosted by Book Date!

What Else 2017, Week 8

[image error]

Good Stuff

Just in case you’ve forgotten that Christoper Walken was in a music video (for a song with a Dune reference):

Writing Stuff

Added 2621 words to Wicked Witch, Retired and started a rewrite section. I was a bit unsure about my next few steps going forward, but a day off let my brain work on it. Still, didn’t get as much rewriting done as I needed to.

[image error]Hop over to check out more #ROW80 authors.

Blogging Stuff

In general this week, I decided not to worry about blogging. I thought about posting a round up of the books I’ve been DNFing lately, but I didn’t have the heart. Things are looking up on the reading front, though.

Fitness Stuff

Went for a 5K run last Monday. My time was okay for not having done a run of that length in probably over a month. No ultimate league this past week, but we played pickup on Wednesday and Friday. As some point during the game on Friday, Jody and I both decided we were going to play. I’d like to say I held my own, but I’m not sure that was the truth.

Other Life Stuff

Still working on how much news is too much news. I feel like I should stay informed, but some days are harder than others.

Deal Me In, Week 8 ~ “Mister Hadj’s Sunset Ride”

[image error]

(Deal Me In logo above created by Mannomoi at Dilettante Artiste)

Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis

What’s Deal Me In?

“Mister Hadj’s Sunset Ride” by Saladin Ahmed

Card picked: 7♣. Last week I picked the 8♣. I shuffled, I swear!

From: Engraved on the Eye, also available at Beneath Ceaseless Skies

The Story

The toughest man I ever met? That’s an easy answer to give, but a tricky tale to tell.

Mister Hadj was from the same place as my rattlesnake of a Pa. Araby, or someplace like, though I don’t rightly know…

Our narrator, a young man of half-Arabian decent but American West upbringing, tells of his mentor, a man he calls Mister Hadj. This is weird west story and, within the telling, Mister Hadj’s Muslim observances have as much mystical weight as the other supernatural elements. Or, rather, they are treated with the same lightness. In a world that includes hexes and zombies, what does it matter if our hero prays to the east on his “little heathen rug”?

I never learned Mister Hadj’s Christian name, but tell the truth I don’t think he was a Christian. Not to say he wasn’t living Christianly, you hear—

Weird west is a subgenre that I often enjoy more in concept than in execution. I think it easily gets bogged down by an overage of tropes, as horror (and often steampunk) gets heaped upon a western. “Mister Hadj’s Sunset Ride” is short enough to avoid that. Our villain, Parson Lucifer, is a very bad man. Our heroes are out to bring justice. With silver bullets and Mister Hadj’s stone singing. Simple as that.

The Author

I have a confession to make. I don’t go out of my way to read diversely. My reading choices are pretty much dictated by curiosity. This goes for fiction as well as nonfiction. When I encountered a free anthology by someone named Saladin Ahmed, I presumed that the author was possibly Middle Eastern and possibly Muslim. The thought of speculative fiction written by someone of that background intrigued me. What would that author bring to his stories? So, here I am. Thankfully, Mr. Ahmed is a great teller of tales.