The Joy of Erudition > Recent Status Updates

Just like The Dead Zone, this book opens with a blossoming new romance that comes very easily.

"No, but the house was rented and we got just about everything valuable into the car, except for the TV. We tried to lift it and couldn’t even budge it off the floor. It was a Video King with a seven-inch screen and a magnifying glass over the picture tube. Hell on the eyes. We only got one channel anyway."

I don't think I ever would have heard about such a TV if not for all these little details from Stephen King!

What a twist! But not a good one. What an improbable, impractical twist.

This is no longer just boring, but repellent. It was bad enough to hear Jane say "We need to talk" no less than three times, and I was getting very tired of all the staring quizzically at Wilson, and/or searching his face whenever he says the simplest things, but then she says, "Are you having an affair?" What? What?! "I had to ask." No. No, you didn't. This marriage doesn't deserve to be saved.

The good thing about this book is that it'll be over quickly!

This guy is so exciting. 😐 "I'd learned to occupy my time while waiting with activities that I enjoyed, but required little thought. For instance, I might head to my office and straighten the items on my desk, or adjust the amplifier on the stereo after the children had used it."

Old married couple discusses current health issues of friends and family, and the minute details of wedding planning.

If I must read a book about small town domestic woes, please, at least let it involve vampires or something.

"Hello, Wilson. Thanks for stopping by." He's said this three times so far.

Old married couple awkwardly discusses the weather.

Is this guy a robot, or what? "I certainly had no intention of falling for Jane when I walked her to her car on that rainy day in 1971. 🤓" Yeah, it's not exactly voluntary, my friend. The real mystery is why Jane went for him in the first place, when he can't even open his mouth and answer her most of the time.

This guy is as expressive as Gordon Freeman.

Mainly this is a character study and a sampler of this author's fantasy world, with an introduction of some minor nature magic in opposition to some kind of necromancy, with a very young girl who is constantly misinterpreting situations, but is guided by a wise voice in her head.

I wasn't sure if this was a novel or an article about someone's married life, but dialogue finally began at this point.

A very imaginative and childlike character, but one whose wild imagination is somewhat justified.

So, the best parts are at the end. Leave a good impression, get a higher rating. Homer knew how to work Goodreads. He was online all the time on his custom-built system running Windows 750BCE, built by Hero of Alexandria.

Surprisingly enough, things have picked up now that they're holding chariot races and boxing and wrestling matches.

And we're in the final stretch!

So A killed B, and then C gave a speech that inspired D to kill A, and they stripped the body. But then D tried to kill E, but God F deflected the blow, so E killed D, which made God G angry, and he complained to God H. Repeat 100x.

Bizarrely leads to several different open-ended conclusions. A mild Nightmare on Elm Street? Repressed guilt over the Satanic Panic creating delusions later in life? Or if enough people believe something, it makes it become real? Could have been a fascinating story, but it's not explored adequately, or wrapped up.