Doug Lewars's Blog, page 11

The Mating Season

The Mating Season by P.G. Wodehouse

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

A lively farce as always from P.G. Wodehouse.



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How Right You Are Jeeves

How Right You Are, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

If you're looking for realism and don't like farce then turn away. This book is a delightful romp through early twentieth century England at the upper class level. This is probably not a good choice for younger readers. As for me, I thought it was splendid.



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The Dallergut Dream Department Store

The Dallergut Dream Department Store by Lee Mi-ye

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I really liked this book and I'm not certain why. The plot was pretty thin. Mind you it seems more like a book of themed short stories than a novel so maybe that's why. Character development was non-existent but I'm not one to hold that against an author. I think I liked it because it was whimsical. The idea of a store where you can go to buy dreams was fascinating. I do not recommend this for people who like fast-paced and exciting books. This one comes across as being much like a dream itself.

I noticed the author steered clear of discussing the logistics of the thing. There are roughly 8 billion people on this planet and most dream three or four times each night so packing that many dreams would be more than a little daunting. Still, if the dream store is magic, I guess the logistics can be handled by magic as well.



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Hoot

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I made it to page 124 of 292 before DNFing it.

When I selected the book I had no idea it was YA and even classified as a children's book. I knew only that someone had included it - evidently by mistake - in a list of humour. As juvenile literature I realize some allowance must be made, but this book went right over the top.

A plucky band of junior high school students thwarts Big Bad Business in order to promote an environmental cause, in this case saving a number of burrowing owls. Trite. Trite. Trite.

Another reviewer also giving it a 1 cited a lack of research on the author's part. Being a work of fiction I'm inclined to overlook a great number of faults - and this reviewer found a great many so I urge you to read it - but even I had to wince at a construction foreman, encountering vandalism on a worksite which threatens to delay a project and cost large sums of money, refraining from hiring a security service to patrol the grounds at night.

This book, it seems, is required reading for certain grade 4 and 5 classes. According to one reviewer, it was required reading for a middle school (Grade 7 possibly) English course, thereby indicating to what extent our education system has deteriorated.

I strongly recommend you look elsewhere for your reading enjoyment; however, the book might serve one valuable purpose. It would make a fine gift for any young person you particularly hate.





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Wise Children

Wise Children by Angela Carter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

This was written like a memoir, a little raunchy but interesting nonetheless. It covers a seventy year span in the lives of two sisters who were in show business. It deals with some rather complex family interactions. The ending was a little implausible and biologically questionable but this is fiction so the author is permitted do do as she pleases. I think it's worth reading although it wasn't quite as humerous as I hoped.



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Don't Tell Alfred

Don't Tell Alfred by Nancy Mitford

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

This was a pretty good book but not spectacular. It contains some subtle satire which I enjoyed but the plot was pretty thin. I enjoyed it and consider the time I spent on it worthwhile, but there are plenty of storied just as good.

I do not recommend this book for anyone under the age of thirty-five. All the young people in this book are portrayed as idiots.

I selected the audio version of this book and it was a little tricky remembering the characters as there were quite a lot of them. In particular, I found the ending a little flat because I'd forgotten who the individual being referenced was.

I almost rated this book a 1 before hearing the first line. I hate authors who preach and generally rate their books low or even DNF them. In this case it wasn't the author who was at fault. It was the publisher. At the beginning of the book is what amounts to a trigger warning. The publisher states there are outdated prejudices in this work which are unacceptable to modern readers and should have been unacceptable when it was written. They then go on to say that because this was a work of its time, they've decided to leave it uncensored and publish an unabridged version. When it comes to what is, and is not acceptable, I'll decide for myself. I find the self-righteous, smug, patronizing morons at Penguin UK utterly unacceptable. Readers would be better served if they did their jobs, published and distributed books, and let readers decide for themselves what they want. That they have the infernal arrogance to lecture us is infuriating.



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The Stranger Times

The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

This was one of the most enjoyable books I've read for some time. They author combines humour and adventure in a fantasy genre. Don't look for character building or any deep insight here. There are plenty of twists and turns, some humorous and lots of excitement as well. Excellent book and I highly recommend it.



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Death's Jest Book

Death's Jest-Book by Reginald Hill

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I listened to the audio book. I slogged my way through 44% of the thing and finally DNFed it when faced with yet another letter from Switzerland.

This book is supposed to be a psychological thriller. The author has clearly mastered the psychological part. Unfortunately he's a little unclear on the concept of 'thriller'. The pacing is not merely slow, there are glaciers just tearing along at breakneck speed in comparison.

Basically we have a psychopathic killer writing letters to the police detective who incarcerated him. These letters, apparently innocuous, friendly even, are, we are given to understand, threatening at a deep level. At least the protagonist sees it that way. But, the protagonist wonders, is he being paranoid? Is he so obsessed with this individual he's reading threat into ever innocuous word? You can see where this is going. Everyone around our hero discounts the letters as insignificant. He stands alone and will presumably be isolated when the psychopath eventually makes his move and we enter the thriller part. Regrettably the book is over 18 hours in length and I still had about 10 to go of which 9, I expect would be psychological and 1 thriller.

There were a couple of subplots one of which had potential. A woman is being threatened by a man who blames her for the death of his friend. In an 'exciting' scene, police are notified someone is causing trouble in the woman's apartment building. They rush to save her. When they arrive they find the perpetrator so drunk he can't stand up much less attack anyone and the victim has slept through the whole thing.

In this book, the author strives for realism in policing; however, realism and entertainment can be two different things. Evidently the author is a little unclear on the concept of 'fiction'. You're allowed to make things up. If I wanted realism in policing I'd locate a textbook on the subject.

If you like intense character development of a psychological nature carried on at a glacial pace, this book may be for you. On the other hand, if you believe there should be some 'thrill' in 'thriller', move on.





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Something Fresh

Something Fresh by P.G. Wodehouse

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

It's been a while since I last read a book able to make me laugh like this but but P.G. Wodehouse was a master at creating humorous situations. Frankly I didn't think this would live up to the Jeeves books but it was every bit as good if not better. I shall certainly continue with more books in the series.

For younger people there is one word used in the story which might be confusing. The author refers to a character as a 'drummer'. This isn't commonly used anymore. It means a salesman.



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You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here But it Helps

You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But it Helps by Tom Holt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I've read some of Tom Holt's books I preferred but this was pretty good. Because the author is writing a story in which reality gets messed up, he needed to provide a number of disconnects some of which are a little confusing. In addition, there are a few information dumps. I don't object to the dumps so much as they're a little complicated and not really needed to the reader to more or less understand what's going on. Nevertheless I enjoyed the book and recommend it to Tom Holt fans. I think my favorite part, however, was the title. It made me nostalgic for good old IBM.



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