RJ - Slayer of Trolls’s Comments

RJ - Slayer of Trolls’s comments from the 2025 Reading Challenge group.

Note: RJ - Slayer of Trolls is not currently a member of this group.

I finished my 44th book of 2020:


The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

I'm way ahead of my challenge - right now I've read 43 books and my goal was 52. I'll probably finish another 7 books in August and will meet my goal in September. Thank you Coronavirus lockdown! The rest of the year will be quite busy so it's nice to know I can slow down a little bit if I need to. On the other hand...nah, I think I'll keep going full speed ahead.

I finished my 43rd book of the year:


Death's Master by Tanith Lee
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin

I finished my 42nd book of the year:


Yonder by Charles Beaumont
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

As a result of finishing this collection, I have also read all the stories in these two Beaumont collections as was able to rate and review them as well - both are out of print but well worth picking up if you should happen to find them second-hand:


The Magic Man and Other Science-Fantasy Stories by Charles Beaumont
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


The Edge by Charles Beaumont
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I'm starting the final Beaumont collection, published posthumously and consisting of several unpublished stories:


A Touch of the Creature by Charles Beaumont

I finished another one, bringing me to 41 for the year:


The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy

I finished my 40th book of 2020, another excellent short story collection by one of the writers behind many of the finest episodes of the original Twilight Zone TV series:


Night Ride And Other Journeys by Charles Beaumont
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading another Beaumont collection:


Yonder by Charles Beaumont

Because of the overlap of stories in Beaumont's various collections, I have already read many of the stories in this book.

I finished my 39th book of 2020:


Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar

I finished my 38th book of the year:


The Hunger: And Other Stories by Charles Beaumont
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


Night Ride And Other Journeys by Charles Beaumont

There is a lot of overlap in Beaumont's various short story collections so I have already read many of these stories.

I'm up to 37 now for the year!

I finished two collections by Charles Beaumont, one of the writers behind the scenes of the original Twilight Zone TV series:


Perchance to Dream by Charles Beaumont
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


The Howling Man by Charles Beaumont
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And I started reading another Beaumont collection (there is a lot of overlap between his collections, so I have already read many of the stories):


The Hunger: And Other Stories by Charles Beaumont

I finished my 35th book of the year:


Origin by Dan Brown
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins

Candice Burnett, whose friends called her "Candy," made it a point to always dress for success because Squatsville, South Carolina, was a small town and you never know who you might run into, whether you were at the shopping mall or the beach.

Division

Commitment

Rhino

Kandice wrote: "I love Cliff's Notes for the same reason! I never read them instead of, or before, a book, but I love reading them afterward. I like to enjoy the story as I read and learn everything else later, po..."

I've heard that from other readers, but I've never tried Cliff's Notes. Maybe I will have to check them out someday.

Alisia wrote: "You are both awesome! It clicks a bit better now. I still have to think about whether or not I like the regular or extended ending though... You both make great points...."

I'm glad that was helpful Alisia. Sometimes after I finish a classic novel I like to read the Wikipedia pages for both the author and the book. In this case, the Wikipedia entry for A Clockwork Orange has a lot of interesting information. Occasionally I Google search the novel and quite often some interesting reviews and articles pop up - that is also the case when it comes to A Clockwork Orange. Reading some of those articles helps me sort out my own thoughts and feelings, especially those well-worded opinions that are contrary to my own that often give me food for thought.

Group discussion (like this one) always helps too. You can find more group discussions by going to the Goodreads page for the book and scrolling all the way down to the bottom of the page where you will find a section entitled "DISCUSS THIS BOOK" (this works on a computer but I don't think it works on the mobile app, by the way). If you click on the link that says "More Topics..." you will be taken to a page that will show all book discussions for the book, those in groups that you may not be a member of. That's something I've kind of figured out on my own and I don't hear many people talking about it so I thought I'd throw it out there. Some of the robust discussions are well worth reading even if they ended years ago, and more than once I have stumbled across new, interesting groups to join.

My on reading experiences have improved since I started enjoying books for what they are and how they speak to me personally. No two readers will have the same experience with a book because the act of reading is an interaction in which we draw on our own experiences, our own likes and dislikes. Some books "click" with us, others don't and maybe never will. If A Clockwork Orange doesn't speak to you (and there are many, many people who find that is the case for themselves) then I hope you find other books that do.

Sometimes I ease in a few pages at a time, other times I leap in feet first.

It seemed to me that the author wanted to explore the idea of how much power the state should have to enforce law and order (an interesting topic given the current times we live in). Although Alex's crimes were reprehensible, should the state be allowed the power to modify Alex's brain in order to ensure his future lawful behavior? The theme is somewhat reactionary to B.F. Skinner's behaviorism school of thought, of which Burgess was not a fan.

When Stanley Kubrick adapted the book to film, his written comments about the book included this gem: "It is a story of the dubious redemption of a teenage delinquent by condition-reflex therapy. It is, at the same time, a running lecture on free-will."

I didn't like the last chapter by the way. I prefer to pretend that it never existed.

As for why people love it, I think it's because the book and film have become counter-culture classics due to their criticism of the state's suppression of individuality. Burgess' dystopic future also holds some quirky charm, especially with his made-up slang ("Nadsat") that is derived somewhat from the Russian language.

Hope that helps.

I finished another one! Now I'm up to 34 for the year so far:


A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading (don't judge me):


Origin by Dan Brown

Today I finished my 33rd book of 2020:


A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

Jim wrote: "I've read 43 books this year so far and three stand out.

The first is "The Cosmic Puppets" by Philip K. Dick in my goal to read and some cases all of PDK's novels in the order they were written, ..."

I'm a big fan of PKD but I haven't read that one yet. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I have read other books by Burnett and MacDonald but not High Sierra or The Empty Trap. I'll have to look around for those.

I finished my 32nd book of 2020:


Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest by Stephen E. Ambrose
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing

I finished another one, bringing me to 31 for the year so far:


A Murder of Quality by John le Carré
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell