Barry Stewart Levy's Blog, page 14
May 21, 2018
Contest
I just entered the North Street Book Prize Contest for Self-Published Books. Hey, why not? Winners will be announced on February 15, 2019.
A Shocking Turn of Events
I just got off the phone with CreateSpace to request that they add the review from BookWorks (see below) to the others in my book. I was shocked to learn that they no longer have teams working on interior or cover changes to the books they publish. I would have to hire a freelancer to add the changes and submit them to CreateSpace. Anyway...that's not gonna happen. The good news is that Createspace is posting the BookWorks review on my book's Amazon page. I still can't believe this!
May 16, 2018
Book Review #40
The Gun
by Fuminori Nakamura
Although the novel held my interest, much of the language was too casually written to create believable, compelling, in-depth characters. I do, however, agree with one critic who drew parallels between this book and "Crime and Punishment" and "The Stranger." Nakamura's young male protagonist is definitely an existential anti-hero, gradually driven mad by his obsession for a stolen gun to the point where he feels possessed by the weapon. In fact, towards the end of his journey he thinks: "I'm not the one using the gun... The gun is using me." An interesting premise and at times a suspenseful one. Unfortunately it is not helped by an awkward translation from Japanese to English.
by Fuminori Nakamura
Although the novel held my interest, much of the language was too casually written to create believable, compelling, in-depth characters. I do, however, agree with one critic who drew parallels between this book and "Crime and Punishment" and "The Stranger." Nakamura's young male protagonist is definitely an existential anti-hero, gradually driven mad by his obsession for a stolen gun to the point where he feels possessed by the weapon. In fact, towards the end of his journey he thinks: "I'm not the one using the gun... The gun is using me." An interesting premise and at times a suspenseful one. Unfortunately it is not helped by an awkward translation from Japanese to English.
Book Review #39
The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
It is a beautifully written and painfully sad book, as incisive about the Jazz Age as it is about the yearning for a love, elusive and lost and just out of reach.
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
It is a beautifully written and painfully sad book, as incisive about the Jazz Age as it is about the yearning for a love, elusive and lost and just out of reach.
Book Review #38
Gone Girl
by Gillian Flynn
An addictive read. There were days when I could not put down the book. Very entertaining in a sardonic way. I cannot recall having a reading experience as intense and as uncomfortable as this. A wild, at times over-the-top, rollercoaster of a ride. Fun and scary. Though I hated the ending.
by Gillian Flynn
An addictive read. There were days when I could not put down the book. Very entertaining in a sardonic way. I cannot recall having a reading experience as intense and as uncomfortable as this. A wild, at times over-the-top, rollercoaster of a ride. Fun and scary. Though I hated the ending.
Book Review #37
The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick
by Peter Handke
As much as I wanted to like Handke's short novel, which is reminiscent of "The Stranger," "Metamorphosis," "Crime and Punishment" and even Antonioni's "Red Desert," I was disappointed. His protagonist, Bloch, is insane from the opening pages and becomes even more unhinged as his journey progresses and his mind deteriorates. The world, as seen through Bloch's eyes, is bleak, drab, ugly and mundane. The language flows but is also fragmented and stultifying. I often found my mind wandering. Also, there is very little suspense until the final quarter of the book which ends with a soccer game. The last sentence of the novel is breathtaking. But it's too little and too late.
by Peter Handke
As much as I wanted to like Handke's short novel, which is reminiscent of "The Stranger," "Metamorphosis," "Crime and Punishment" and even Antonioni's "Red Desert," I was disappointed. His protagonist, Bloch, is insane from the opening pages and becomes even more unhinged as his journey progresses and his mind deteriorates. The world, as seen through Bloch's eyes, is bleak, drab, ugly and mundane. The language flows but is also fragmented and stultifying. I often found my mind wandering. Also, there is very little suspense until the final quarter of the book which ends with a soccer game. The last sentence of the novel is breathtaking. But it's too little and too late.
Book Review #36
Go Tell It on the Mountain
by James Baldwin
A beautifully written book. The language is poetic and passionate, filled with a multitude of emotions: fear, confusion, lust, rage, regret and sorrow, as Baldwin tells the coming of age tale of John, his fourteen-year-old protagonist, who struggles with his religious faith, his conflicting sexual desires and his anger towards his father. John's story opens and closes the novel. The middle portion of the book is devoted to his aunt, father and mother and their individual journeys of pain, suffering and disillusionment. All the characters walk along a difficult path, striving towards a kind of redemption. Some of the book's passages are truly transcendent. James Baldwin is a masterful writer. As the saying goes, he takes you there.
by James Baldwin
A beautifully written book. The language is poetic and passionate, filled with a multitude of emotions: fear, confusion, lust, rage, regret and sorrow, as Baldwin tells the coming of age tale of John, his fourteen-year-old protagonist, who struggles with his religious faith, his conflicting sexual desires and his anger towards his father. John's story opens and closes the novel. The middle portion of the book is devoted to his aunt, father and mother and their individual journeys of pain, suffering and disillusionment. All the characters walk along a difficult path, striving towards a kind of redemption. Some of the book's passages are truly transcendent. James Baldwin is a masterful writer. As the saying goes, he takes you there.
Book Review #35
The Girl on the Train
by Paula Hawkins
It's very well written and complex, with an unreliable narrator whom you can't help but root for. The last sentence gave me the chills, as did as the two pages that precede Chapter One. They need to be reread once you've finished the book. A very impressive debut thriller.
by Paula Hawkins
It's very well written and complex, with an unreliable narrator whom you can't help but root for. The last sentence gave me the chills, as did as the two pages that precede Chapter One. They need to be reread once you've finished the book. A very impressive debut thriller.
BookWorks Review
Big Congrats to FEATURED AUTHOR, Barry S. Levy! His novella is a tight edgy psychological thriller about a young man's tumultuous path to self-discovery:
May 14, 2018
Book Review #34
The Forgiven
by Lawrence Osborne
Paul Bowles meets Evelyn Waugh (so to speak) in this dark and sinister, satirical and sardonic tale involving a tragic automobile accident on a desolate road in Morocco. The story is told from multiple points of view, exploring themes of class differences, morality, guilt, forgiveness and retribution. Osborne, a travel writer, creates descriptive passages that capture this foreign and forbidding environment, while delving into the psyches and mores of the jaded and hedonistic Europeans and the pious and suspicious natives. The novel is permeated with a sense of dread, ending with a final act of violence that is both surprising and inevitable.
by Lawrence Osborne
Paul Bowles meets Evelyn Waugh (so to speak) in this dark and sinister, satirical and sardonic tale involving a tragic automobile accident on a desolate road in Morocco. The story is told from multiple points of view, exploring themes of class differences, morality, guilt, forgiveness and retribution. Osborne, a travel writer, creates descriptive passages that capture this foreign and forbidding environment, while delving into the psyches and mores of the jaded and hedonistic Europeans and the pious and suspicious natives. The novel is permeated with a sense of dread, ending with a final act of violence that is both surprising and inevitable.
