In Mark Z. Danielewski’s both mystifying and horrifying experimental fiction novel “House of Leaves”, color is only another part of an intricate puzzle spanning over 300 pages. Within the wildly formatted and sometimes intensely experimental pages of “House of Leaves”, a reader may become both lost and amazed at the surreal world painted within a book about a house.
Tag: book
Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas”
Hunter S. Thompson’s extravaganza on the virtues of gonzo journalism in the hippie drug era remains a cornerstone of both enjoyable fiction and pseudo-realistic nonfiction. It’s quite hard to say what is real and what is not in “Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream,” which […]
Dwayne Wade drops the ball & picks up pen
This summer has been an amazing adventure for Miami Heat super star and two-time NBA Championship winner Dwyane Wade. He is no stranger to doing battle on and off the court. Whether it’s staring down Boston Celtics power forward, Kevin Garnett, or bouncing back after knee surgery this summer, Dwyane Wade is always up for […]
Vladimir Bartol’s “Alamut”
In the contemporary media-laden world of today, new developments and projects are commonly considered “new” when they are, in fact, merely renditions of previous works. Such it is with Ubisoft’s recent “Assassin’s Creed” video-game series. The world of assassins and ancient Arabic mysteries captured the imagination of many before there were video-games to tell the tale, and Vladimir Bartol’s 1938 novel “Alamut” is commonly viewed as the beginning of the assassin hype.
Nevil Shute’s “On the Beach”
The book draws remarkable parallels to more contemporary novels on the subject, like Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road”, which follows a father and son travelling through the desolated landscape of a ruined Earth. Though it lacks the rampant irradiated landscape of Shute’s novel, the ecological collapse of both novels is clear, and the aftermath of a world where the nukes have begun to fly is both desolate and grim.
Orhan Pamuk’s “My Name is Red” puts art into perspective
While the writing in one of Pamuk’s most well known translated works (originally written in Turkish) isn’t as experimental as Danielewski’s “House of Leaves” or Palahniuk’s “Fight Club,” “My Name is Red” is a thoroughly engrossing novel that forces the reader to think and analyze what is written rather than simply reading i
Sophie Kinsella takes us to the roaring ‘20s on a path full of fun and intrigue in “Twenties Girl”
Sophie Kinsella, which is a pen name, first revealed after the release of the aforementioned “Can You Keep a Secret?” for author Madeleine Wickham, never disappoints when she puts pen to paper to create a new story. Her humor is sharp and witty and her characters draw you in and make you hope for them as they search for the thing that is missing from their lives.
“The Hunger Games” proves that it doesn’t take much to make the NY Times Best Seller list
Personally, I’m sick of all the hype these mediocre books receive when something better may be out there somewhere shelved from publication. It really is a shame. Not to forget, “The Hunger Games” movie is on the horizon and, hopefully, delivers more than this book did (which I doubt).
Review of “The Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan Didion
Didion tells a moving account of the struggle to deal with the grief after the loss of her husband, John Gregory Dunne, and the life-threatening illness suffered by her daughter, Quintana.