Literary Reviews/Commentaries' Journal

Literary Reviews/Commentaries' Journal

Literary Reviews/Commentaries

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[26 Jun 2008|12:55pm]

april_fan

Here's a great summer read for teenage girls - I read first it in seventh grade and loved it; now I'm entering college and I still think it's brilliant. Everything is written in free verse, with beautiful illustrations. Highly recommended.

(The video is only a minute long; make sure to turn up the sound.)

Happy reading!

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[07 May 2008|08:26pm]

sidrichmond

Hey everyone! I have spent the past few years writing on various livejournal accounts, and I have just recently made a website to organise all the work I have done in the past three years. I guess it's my first real attempt at presenting my writing in a serious way. This is really not intended as spam! But if anyone is curious, and would like to read some of my words, thoughts, ideas on life; I'm very interested in hearing any kind of feedback you may have to share!

Just words flashing through my mind, like television to the senses, and by hand of creativity, letting go to waves of emotion, and offering life what I see of its mystery. http://www.sidrichmond.com

Thanks so much! Cheers!

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Temeraire

[05 Oct 2007|05:27pm]

burninginnocent

I found a really great series called Temeraire.

There's three books in the series: His Majesty's Dragon, The Jade Throne, and The Black Powder War.

It's really awesome if you like historical fiction, with a twist - it's set in the Napoleonic-war era, with the added bonus of fantasy - dragons.

I highly recommend them.

4 comments|post comment

Anti-Christ: A Satirical End of Days (Review)

[23 Sep 2007|02:48pm]

antichrist_book

[

mood

enthralled

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Title: Anti-Christ: A Satirical End of Days
Author: Matthew Moses

Genre: Satire
Pages: 396

As told in Anti Christ: A Satirical End of Days the world is in chaos – proving reality infuses fiction. Russia is eliminating democracy, returning to an authoritarian government. The US is fighting government corruption charges as a possible war between Pakistan and India formulates. Now China wants to rule Taiwan…the global issues never end.

On a civilian scale, Matthew Ford is an average college guy, suffering the usual issues. After waiting three hours, his internet date is a no show, the bookstore refuses to refund a book he just bought, and then his car gets a flat tire as it begins to snow. Arriving home, Matt’s horrendous day ends peacefully once he throws out the ghost, haunting him for the last time. Okay, so this act is not usual however, it garners the attention of Heaven now commercialized and a power hungry Hell, both warring against the other to gain Earth peoples’ majority support. As for his awareness of the previously mentioned world issues, Matt was busy watching professional wrestling; his priorities are quite clear.

Mr. Moses composes an engaging, humorous parody, drawing from timeless world events and American life. The U.S. President Lucas is a ditz, believing that Kashmir – in India - is a sweater company, and cannot understand why Pakistan wants that particular cloth. It’s not material they want, it’s all about the land. Russia’s President Romanov wants to return his country into greatness. He dissolves the Duma, their legislative body, assuming sole leadership. After President Lucas’ lengthy warning that the U.S. will defend democracy, Romanov, a taciturn man, replies with a barbed curse, “F--- America”. Now that is honest communication.

The true witticism shines as Matt begins an enlightened journey first to Heaven, followed by Hell, then to the mystic Buddhist temples, and then back again to Heaven. Instigating this trek are two cherubs who abduct Matt, claiming the “Boss” wants to meet. Once in Zion (Heaven), the cherubs loose Matt, who wanders into a place called “Gabriel’s”. God’s Archangels now congregate in a local tavern since Heaven and Hell signed a peace treaty two thousand years ago, outlawing wars. They drown their sorrows in unending chalices of holy water or engage in wrestling smack downs in the tavern’s backroom; releasing pent up hostilities. The crowning moment is when Matt finally meets Jesus demanding that he take back the ghost he threw out; Heaven is overcrowded since Christ took over management.

The slapstick continues with attacks on big business, worker’s unions, fad diets, immigration, military assistance in foreign countries, reincarnation…not even the Pope is exempt from this fast paced, captivating farce. Still, when Satan entices Matt into becoming the world’s elite guru of wisdom, the amusing dialog turns gloomy. They attend congressional sessions discussing stem cell research and lecture overweight people simply to stop eating; naming only a few topics that some readers may not find amusing, in any form.

Yet, Anti Christ is a satire, “a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule” (definition from Dictionary.com)…hmmm, Mr. Moses has done his job well. His characters are well formed, genuine, aptly supporting this cabaret of imaginative intrigue. Even the typo, right at the beginning, “CwHyAPTER 1” only adds to this wacky novel. And yes, I roared with laughter throughout this distinctive book.

Pamela - Podpeep.blogspot.com

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summer books!

[07 May 2007|04:18pm]

hazysunrise

[

mood

excited

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all right, all of you... i have now until september when i go back to university to read any books i want. obviously it's possible to read while in school... just not as easy.

i want the book (or books) you are SO happy you picked up. brief descriptors of the books as well would be good if you have the time, though i can always look them up.

i have three books i'm going to read/in the process of reading:

moral disorder by margaret atwood
ishmael by daniel quinn
the facts behind the helsinki roccammatios by yann martel

aaand GO!

(thanks in advance.)

:)

3 comments|post comment

Quantum Consciousness and the Fifth Dimension

[06 Apr 2007|12:00am]

indiriverflow

[

mood

contemplative

]

Quantum Consciousness and the Fifth Dimension

By Indi Riverflow

“Where ya comin’ from?”

Our worldview is largely a function of our location. The range of what we can experience and imagine is bounded by the culture that spawned us, and the place that we hold within it. Transcending locality is key to comprehending quantum consciousness.

1 comment|post comment

Blues4Kali reader response

[06 Mar 2007|03:59am]

indiriverflow

Review by Ora Uzel

After reading this beautifully artistic prose, I find myself at a loss for words, perhaps out of some vein self-imposed egoist urge to somehow outwit and out write the author, when one of my mediocre artistic talents is writing. Indeed this story tells as much about the author as it does me.

This book definitely isn’t for everyone. Some knowledge of counterculture is necessary. More specifically, readers would be at an advantage to have knowledge of post-20th century hippie counterculture. I myself am beginning to encounter this culture in various realms of my life, and in the previous year have gained enough knowledge that I am satisfied I’m picking up 90% of what’s shared in the hidden meanings and symbolisms of the eloquent writing presented in Blues4Kali.

As suggested by the author, speed-reading would not do this story justice and indeed I read many passages multiple times. Thus readers will be treated to the literary value of two to three books in this single volume. Furthermore, the philosophy involved is not a simple counterculture viewpoint “against the man.” The story, narrated from the point of view of a reluctant skeptic yet thoroughly involved activist, incorporates the viewpoint that dominant popular culture is clueless, but also that mainstream counterculture is under scrutiny for practices that strangely mirror the culture it so much protests.

An instant love for the protagonist burgeons as counterculturist and skeptic alike are exposed to her personality immediately upon entering the story. Meanwhile readers are treated to phrases and cultural symbols in a delightfully witty manner that brings them subtly yet quickly into the essence of the characters’ environment of “festies” and west coast counterculture (as a Midwesterner, this is something I myself am still learning). And so in the dichotomy of inner dialogue the protagonist shares with herself, many levels of the questions of counterculture arise.

In one split second, the main character, Amana, finds herself wishing to (but not) flipping off a lumber mill because they destroy the environment, while shortly after thinking of a parody of a popular TV commercial that regular society might not get. At the same time, she is complacent to actually flip off the lumber mill, because she is a realist in that simple symbolic gestures do not affect real change. And during all this she acknowledges that she is fully understanding and appraised of modern standard culture through her TV reference. What’s more is while her vehicle she is driving in runs on vegetable oil to show independence from oil, a non-sustainable fuel, she is still driving a combustion engine vehicle, fueling the non-sustainable aspect of vehicle manufacturing.

All these thoughts can be raised from a single paragraph of this dense florid prose that connoisseurs of 21st century counterculture literature (if this genre even yet exists) will find equally entertaining, witty, insightful, and, in a single-stroke, profoundly yet curtly inquisitive.

Certainly past generations have had their Kerouacs and their Robert Anton Wilsons. Our generation has neither yet. In the search for contemporary meaning, we look to the lesser known writers for our guidance. Hidden among the vastness of the internet, out in somewhere unknown possibly on the west coast, a writer speaks out with fervor, tenacity, and a very healthy dose of humor about her own search for meaning through a not-so-simple façade of “everyday” counterculture experience.

Rather than telling us what counterculture is about, Blues4Kali intimates to us why it is, why we’re drawn to it, and why we have so much trouble in believing something we want to believe so badly.

Ora Uzel

available at www.blues4kali.com

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The Race Towards the Light: Hardscrabble

[07 Feb 2007|08:52pm]

alphadoc

The Race Towards the Light: Hardscrabble

I am the author of this book and have recently joined your communities. I have posted a couple of entries into my journal but my profile will tell you about my book. It is 500 pages and available on amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com or where I self pubished it at iUniverse.com. At iUniverse you can read the first chapter for free by simply clicking the browse button.
The Race Towards the Light is my autobiography of my interesting life and the written account of the short and remarkable life of my late daughter, Genevieve, who was born with Cerebral Palsy and overcame all the obstacles in front of her until she was in her second year of college and was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.
Hardscrabble is my climb in the subculture world of tournament Scrabble. I have been told that the book is very interesting and everyone who reads it always says the same things. They sart out with, "I couldn't put it down" and then go on from there. It touches on many subjects and is inspirational as well as spiritual.
I look forward to hearing from the community what you think of my book and feedback of any kind is always welcome.
My name is Ember and my handle is Alphadoc. Nice to meet you all.

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Asleep by Banana Yoshimoto

[05 Feb 2007|01:38am]

fctpq76

Hello,

New here. With that said, on with my two cents.

Asleep was incredibly refreshing for me. I've read a lot of dense, North American/Eurocentric literature, not that there's anything wrong with that, but I needed a change. It's only 177 pages, and is comprised of three vignettes, all bound by the theme of mourning. Asleep is ethreal. It has beautiful, haunting imagery and it is concise, bordering sparse. I don't know how else to describe it other than the fact that it forces the reader (okay, or maybe just me) to sit really, really still and for a few hours, just quiet down any dwelling mental neuroses.

Sorry. That was cheap and vague. Here's an excerpt:

"Sometimes I'm thinking to myself You mustn't go to sleep even as I'm dozing off, having some terrible dream. All these surreal things. Dreams where I'm on a boat that's going under, dreams where I've lost some coins I was collecting, dreams where the dark comes in through the window and blocks up my throat-- my heart is pounding, I'm so scared, and then I wake up. It's really frightening. The person beside me is all asleep and I look at them and think, Yes, of course, what I've just seen is how this person feels inside, so lonely it hurts, such desolation."" (Yoshimoto 125).

So if you just need to kill a few hours, read this book.

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Dava Sobel: The Planets

[26 Jan 2007|02:22pm]

carinbrat

Sobel uses an interesting device to write her book about the planets. Each chapter addresses a different heavenly body (sun, moon, Murcury, Venus, etc.) in a different style. For example, the chapter on Mars is in the first person.

She does an excellent job of mixing a poetic and engaging style with facts and interesting tidbits about astronomy.

It's a quick read, but worth it. A few lunch breaks and you'd be done.

Did you know that all of Uranus' satellites are names for characters from Shakespeare and Alexander Pope? Well, now you do.

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Blues4Kali- A Cult Classic for the End Times

[26 Jan 2007|03:14am]

indiriverflow

[

mood

indescribable

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What will Winter Solstice bring in 2012?
...an instant of Karma? ...an ethereal spiral dance of the collective soul? ... cosmic judgment leveled against civilization's expanse? ...destruction of the world as we know it? ...a chance for a new start? ...the rise and the revenge of the Goddess? or simply another day in the life of paranoia?
These are the false prophesies that your pastor warned you about!

Reality Exchange Program

"Makes DMT seem like a whip-it."

Crazy Bear said there'd be days like this. As usual, no one believed him. Now, all I want to know is: where IS that lifeboat, and how DO I ditch this ship of fools, without any of these bliss ninnies noticing that I'm already gone?

Captain, my ass. We are equal in this sea of madness.

That iceberg is looking awfully big.

Online New Age Books

Amana Mission is on a quest to save the world, and the only problem is, she can't remember why she got involved with such an obvious scam in the first place. Jesus saves. Christ. What a loser.

Kali kills first, and recycles later.

Hitchhikers, load up for a ride to the Other Side. You may wish you had gone Greyhound.

"What the...?"

*A cranky band of prankster peace warriors who absolutely cannot resist messing with each other's minds, no matter the cost.

*Cocky alchemy-dabbling quantum surfers, navigating the Ethersphere with hand-held computers, switching timelines to find a better party vibe and swap tips about the best temporary toilets for use as interdimensional portals.

*A burnt-out visionary hippie millionaire on a mission from Gaia to build a better "communitopia" by underwriting a convoy carrying telepathic priestesses.

*A wheelchair-bound mindpilot propelling a crystal-powered Seed Bank toward the post-Apocalyptic Garden, with psychic precision...and a predilection for high-velocity extreme driving.

*Hermaphrodite time-jumper fleeing a fate worse than death.

*Anarchist ghettoes where anything goes-except escape.

*Ancient Principals vying like sweatsoaked carpetbaggers for our loyalty as the Final Vote is tallied.

*Long-haired security patrols collecting a cannabis tribute tax from all pilgrims to the Valley of Fun.

*And an underground meat mafia bringing a black magic revival to a bloodless dreamworld gone bland.

All brought together by a secret psychedelic superdrug that tunes users in to reality through the eyes of another archetypal avatar inhabiting a different state of space and time. Mahayana made easy. Budding Buddha natures are running amuck on a virtual superhighway where all roads lead to the Bo tree and singularity.

Twenty-first century Tantra is about more than sex, drugs, and
rock and roll.Confronting the Karma of every wasted breath is only the first step.

Welcome to the End Times. Kali awaits. She already knows who you are.

Do you?

The 21st century counterculture is even weirder than it appears on the surface. This is not your mommy’s MTV Road Rules.

Ride along on this mesmerizing, metaphor-packed bus trip toward ecstasy and enlightenment, as three real-time guides-Amana, Sissy, and Deva, let you in on what they learned when they asked what It was really all about, after all.

Become them for a multilevel metafictional tour of infinity and awaken yourself to the miracle-a-minute magic of mighty Mother Kali!

Online New Age Books

Read Online Novel Blues 4 Kali at www.blues4kali.com

Prophecy 2012

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The Grapes of Wrath and Sushi for Beginners

[24 Jan 2007|06:52pm]

lethendy

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Penguin Classics, 467 pages

"Set against the background of Dust Bowl Oklahoma and Californian migrant life, it tells of the Joad family, who, like thousands of others, are forced to travel west in search of the promised land."

Sushi for Beginners by Marian Keyes
Penguin Fiction, 564 pages

"Three women, whose lives are linked, living in one city..... Sushi for Beginners is about searching for happiness. And how, if you let things bubble under the surface for too long, sooner or later they'll boil over......"

x-posted to my own journal and to

about_a_book

2 comments|post comment

The History Boys

[18 Jan 2007|08:18pm]

ladislaw

The movie's out now (perhaps in your neighborhood, perhaps not), so I thought I'd post a review of the play itself, which I just read:

The History Boys, Alan Bennett
A play taking place in modern times (though based on the playwright’s memories of former times) about the effects of two very different teachers on a group of boys at an English school, all of whom hope to get into Oxford. Some sharp moments, some funny moments, but it felt a bit thin for what it seemed to aim at. Perhaps a staged version would seem more substantial. I'm sure the actors would flesh this out quite a bit. Hector, the aging teacher of odd methods, gropes the boys but instills in them a love for language and a common cultural language. Irwin, brought in to prepare the boys for exams, wants them to challenge every notion so that they’ll seem unique in the eyes of the examiners. He’s meant to provide both parallels and contrasts to Hector, though his true attitudes remain ambiguous--even to the character. The play did make me take a look at poet Philip Larkin, who is cited more than once.

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Reading my ass Off!

[17 Jan 2007|06:38pm]

my_erratic_mind

[

mood

anxious

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Recently finished 'Relic' By Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, older book I know, but pretty damned good! If you like, SciFi/Horror/Science like jurassic park or in the jungle/history museum murders and Evil beings type stuff, you'll love this as much as I did!

Reading Offhand Haunted Stories and Some Short Stories from one of my many short story books, waiting for Sylvia Brown at the library!

Also reupholstered a chair today, and boy was it worth the work! I love the ideas Home decorating shows give you!

1 comment|post comment

Something unconventional

[16 Jan 2007|06:39pm]

_ladyatropos_

I recently was bored, and wanted to pick up something fun and educational. As an adult, I wanted something I could share with my step kids. Specifially I wanted something that would enhance their minds...and perhaps even add to a little bit of cultural aweness.

So I picked up an uber easy origami book. While I know this isnt a reading book - I spent more hours playing with this little book than I have ever spent reading any other single book. The origami is simple, fun, educational (teaches math skills and dimensions - my kids teachers now use it in the classrooms as a tool), and great for decorating! I make little paper animals to attach to verious gift boxes, or even more..I make origami gift boxes to put gifts on.

The uses for this book are endless - it is a cheap book, and very versitle. If my special ed step son can do these and love them - you can too :)

I hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

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Chinese Takeout by Arthur Nersesian

[11 Jan 2007|04:46pm]

hazysunrise

I wish I could remember why I picked up this little number. I think I was in a coffee house/bookstore called Casco Bay Books in Portland, Maine (if any of you are familiar with it), and it just somehow appealed to me. I'm always attracted to books in independent bookstores, as well as books in the first person.

This one follows the artistic struggle of Or, an essentially homeless, starving artist in the heart of NYC. It includes all the women in his life, his somewhat darker past that led him to become a painter, political sidelines, and his obsession with a beautiful heroin addict who he chooses as his muse. It asks the question, "Does life inspire art, or does art inspire life? Or maybe life is art?"

I would give this book a 7.5 out of 10. It's not a hard read at all, but it's certainly not a page turner. It's very slow moving, with very little ups and downs, and barely a climax at all, but I think the outcome is worth it. If someone told me they were thinking of reading it, I would see no reason to stop them.

PS: This is the same guy who wrote, "The F*ck Up," which I think was more broadly successful, so you could give that a shot too if you'd like. When I find the money, I think I might.

1 comment|post comment

Suggestions/Favorites/Must Reads!!!

[04 Jan 2007|01:56am]

afabulousmess

[

mood

curious

]

Hi everybody.
With the new year, my only real resolution is to read more (which is hard with being in Graduate school, working full time, and already reading a bunch). But I LOVE reading, a lot, and I need to expand my "circle" of books. I'd go into what/who I read but I want some suggestions/ideas from everybody without a lean in a certain direction. So if anybody who wants to, can suggest their Favorite book or a must read, that'd be great. I want to read about one book a week (though more is probably better.) I want to read everything from romance to history to biography, to religious to thought provoking ... probably anything minus do it yourself manuals. Any ideas? Thanks in advance, I can't wait to start.

X-posted and Thanks again

10 comments|post comment

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

[26 Dec 2006|01:13pm]

hazysunrise

I have been reading like a maniac this holiday season. Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer was the second of four books I have read so far in the last two weeks. I'm going to try and cram in two more before I have to return to university.

I will try and give reviews on the other books as well, but this one I wanted to particularly reccommend. In the cut is a quote/excerpt from it that I enjoy so much.

Those of you who have seen the movie, don't worry. The movie doesn't spoil much of the book, as there are really three parts to the book, and the movie only scratches the surface of one of them.

This book has some of the most eloquently butchered language I have read in a long time. I couldn't reccommend it more.

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New Book

[15 Nov 2006|12:20pm]

annwyn86

[

mood

relaxed

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Has anyone read the new book by Jennifer Armintrout, The Turning?

If you haven't I definitely suggest it. She's a new author, it's her first book, as far as I can tell, and it's the first one in the trilogy. It's an urban vampire novel, definitely worth checking out.

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book (memoir)

[16 Sep 2006|03:48pm]

trureader

-has anybody heard of the book "News Junkie". Put out by Process Media, that crazy publishing house that puts out weird books?....

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