The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman (probably the best book I’ve read this year – next to Coraline!)

For The Everything Austen Challenge:

I’m breaking them up into 3 books per post followed by a film review. This way it is easier for me and hopefully everyone else too. It will also be in small paragraph reviews and not in long posts which I know I can sometimes do.

Sense and Sensibility

Emma

Mansfield Park

I’m reviewing Pride and Prejudice last since it’s my 2nd (or 3rd) time rereading the book. I also saved this one for last too at least for the main collection.

I’m excited to FINALLY be reviewing for the Everything Austen Challenge, I’m sorry it has taken so long just a lot of things going on currently.

btw: My pre-ordered copy of Stephen King’s Under The Dome FINALLY came in this week. I’m so giddy!!! I’m saving it for vacation/Thanksgiving, so it is the only thing I’m reading.

I’m starting New Moon and need to finish Just After Sunset because I keep putting it off everytime I add to my reading list.

I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. Maybe it should be ‘I Know I Can?’

There’s one thing I like about having Mondays off: everyone is at work. Sundays are good because I have my writing group, then the rest of the day I can be lazy. But eveything is closed. Moday mornings allow me to get business crap done, but then the rest of the day I get to explore.

Today I went to all the used book stores in town. But my big find was at the Salvation Army. I’ve never been there, but saw my aunt’s SUV there, so thought I’d stop and see her. Turned out she was in the store across the street, but when I went in, I found a wall of books.

My finds include: the Maximum ride series (already have them, but not in hard back), little women, little men, the Taking by Dean Koontz, the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, and Vanished by Tess Gerritsen (the only one I don’t have in hard back). Each book cost a dollar and were in excelent condition.

After that I finished the book I was reading, and got about 4 hours worth of writing in. It’s been a good day off.

I generally do not give recommendations for books, especially for books that I have only read 10% of but I have to say that Stephen King’s latest book is shaping up to be one of his best novels. I have, for the first time in a long time, allowed reading to overtake my other activities and it is all due to King’s latest, Under the Dome.

For those that have missed the King of The Stand, It, Needful Things, amongst others, then Under the Dome is what you have been waiting for. At this point it is my favorite non-core Dark Tower story since Desperation in 13 years ago. If you are a fan of enjoy well written horror fiction and can fathom taking on an almost 1100 page book then give it a go.

…Om man ska tro på killen som springer runt i “The Stand” med Rob Lowe!
Har nu ikväll/natt sett på Pestens Tid i ca 3 timmar. Ska se resten imorrn.

Grymt bra film och så himla lustigt och passande, dom tog upp Svininfluensan i filmen!!
Medans jag fortsatte att titta slog det mig, om man sänker ner allt det grövre i filmen så ser världen precis ut sådär med influensan å allt!
Därför i dessa tider som det är nu ska ni alla passa på att se just denna film
Grymt sevärd!

Recently someone flipped over the $35 price for the Kindle edition of Under the Dome. What people don’t seem to grasp is that a list price is actually a fictional price.

The eBook is $17.50.  It’s what people pay.  So, why bother to put a $35 list price on a book that’s actually $17.50?  Marketing.

The publisher sells the book to the retailer for a set wholesale price. Everything above that price is for the retailer. Where it gets weird is when retailers’ desire to undercut each other meets consumers’ desire for a “deal.”

Amazon needs 70% off list price, so it can offer the public books at 50% off list price.  It’s sounds good doesn’t it?  ”Buy it for 50% off, only $17.50!”  Not like: “It’s $17.50.”

To create the illusion of a 50% consumer discount, retailers need publishers to give them 70% discount.  To help out, Publishers simply inflate the list price till it equals the unchangeable wholesale costs +  the desired retailer discount.

When you find a new book sold at list price, that’s genuine priced publishing & retailing. When you see steep discounts on new books, the list price was probably manufactured to fit into a marketing scheme.

Now, whether an e-book should be the same price as it’s HB counterpart? That’s another question.

I’m only about halfway through Stephen King’s latest, “Under the Dome,” so I can’t offer much in the way of a review other than — so far — it’s King at the top of his storytelling game.

Coming in at a whopping 1,100 pages, it still manages to feel lean and mean as the residents of Chester’s Mill, Maine, learn that their town has become covered in a giant, impeneterable dome — setting up a doozy of a faceoff between a power-hungry councilman and his nutzo son, and a fry cook/former Army officer who is ordered to take charge of the situation by the powers that be on the other side of the dome.

King helpfully establishes the song that served as the book’s soundtrack — James McMurtry’s “Talkin’ at the Texaco — and makes frequent references to it throughout the novel.

I somehow managed to never hear of McMurtry, who I just discovered is the son of “Lonesome Dove” author Larry McMurtry, but the song’s wry point of view plays the perfect counterpart to a fictional small town coming loose at the hinges.

Great stuff, both.

The Yellow Fairy Book by Andrew Lang, just one I read earlier - a lot earlier

I am the sort of person that if I read something and I like it, and the way that it’s been written, I shall then proceed to read as much as possible by the same author.  So consequently, when I first discovered libraries I read one of the Andrew Lang Fairytale books (can’t remember which colour) which contained many fairytales and carried on until I had exhausted them all.

Sam Pig Alison Uttley

From there I progressed to Folk tales from different countries and this kept me going for a bit.  Other series that I liked reading as a child were the Sam Pig books by Alison Utterly.  I just like the way that these were written and the illustrations.  I read one Sherlock Holmes book and this lead to just having to read them  all.

Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

When I discovered Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre (which we had to read in school), I began to realise what ‘literature’ was really about.  Dickens also had the same effect on me, I devoured nearly his books, with varying degrees of enjoyment (though I still haven’t read ‘Edwin Drood’).  This habit  has stayed with me as an adult.  When I saw ‘Tipping the Velvet’ on TV, I decided to read the book, from there I have now read all Sarah Waters books: some are better than others, but I just love they way in which they are written – I like the style.  Having said that, Patrick Hamilton’s books, of which I have enjoyed an extensive one after the other phase, tend to be erratic (the author showing through sometimes too much), enjoyable though

Great-expectations one of my favorites

An author I could not get enough of about 25 years ago was Stephen King.  His works translates fabulously to the screen,  My hubby doesn’t like him, says he has a tendency to waffle on.  I disagree.  When for example, you read something like ‘The Shining’ it’s true that half the book is taken up with describing the hotel – but that’s the genius of King, he builds atmosphere so skillfully.  Then when the ‘hotel’ or scene of the horror is set and is then  so vivid in your imagination  - he just steps right  in and frightens the hell out of you, lol!

Stephen King the shining

Lot’s of writers I could write about: lot of books and writers I am going to write about, lots of books I have read, lots of books I have read and forgotten about. Yet so many books to read – I look forward to that.

I watched a rerun of Friends today. It wasn’t funny. At all. Which isn’t to say that I never liked the show, but smug humor doesn’t age well. And I was mildly annoyed with its complacent tone even back in the nineties. “People get paid for writing this?” I wondered. “Hell, stuff a wad of cash in my fist and I’ll write lazy, sarcastic one-liners till the cows come home!” But graver still than ten seasons of crime against quality humor, was the crime perpetrated against my favorite genre—more specifically, against The Shining.

Uh-oh!

In episode 13 of season three, Joey and Rachel decide to read the other’s favorite book. This means that Joey has to plow through “Little Women,” while Rachel gets to have some quality time with “The Shining”. Now, when this episode originally aired, a few years had passed since I’d read Stephen King’s tale of hotel madness. But I remembered the plot well enough. And since I’d already seen Kubrick’s adaptation a couple of times, I was especially attuned to the differences between source material and movie. Clearly, nobody who worked on that episode of Friends had read the book. Or if they had, they disregarded the facts for the sake of a stupid joke. In my book (geddit?), that’s cheating.

It's not what she expected, but still a gripping read ...

Joey: Oh, all blank and no blank makes blank a blank blank!

Say what? Forgive my confusion, but isn’t Joey supposed to be referring to the novel? They’ve exchanged books, not VHS tapes. Why is he talking about a scene that only appears in the movie? If you’ve seen The Shining, you no doubt remember the moment when Shelley Duvall riffles through her husband’s monotonous manuscript and grasps the true depth of his dementia. It’s a “whoa” moment, for sure. But like I said, you won’t find it in Stephen King’s original book. And in case you didn’t already know, it really bugs me when people don’t get their facts straight.

Her okurun bir “kitap tüketicisi” olduğunu, buna rağmen kötü baskı, kötü grafik tasarım, kötü çeviri vs. gibi konularda pek de hakkımı aramadığımı fark ettim.

Yazı yazmaya meraklı bir kişi olarak, bir süredir ustaların bu konuda kaleme aldıkları kitapları okuyorum. Bu yazıya neden olan kitap, muhtemelen satışları artırmaya yönelik çalışan ticari zekâ kitabın özünün önüne geçtiği için, Türkçe’ye “Yazma Sanatı” olarak çevrilen Stephen King’in “On Writing” adlı kitabıdır.

Okuduğum kitap, Mart 2007 tarihli Türkçe birinci baskı. Yayınevi “Altın Kitaplar”, çeviren Pınar Öcal, editör yok, yayına hazırlayan yok.

Eğer Altın Kitaplar internet sitesine girecek olursanız, açılış sayfasında “Yayıncılıkta elli altın yıl,” yazdığını göreceksiniz. Elli yıl içinde bir sürü kitap basmış bir yayınevi…

İnsanların kitapla ilgili düşüncelerini merak ettim. Sadece Türkçe’de binlerce sonuç var. Üşenmeyip bunların bir kısmını okudum. Birçok kişi, haklı olarak, bu kitabın yararlarından söz etmiş.

Bana göre de Stephen King’in “On Writing” adlı kitabı, yazmakla ilgilenen herkes için yararlı.

Stephen King; birçok kitap yazmış, görmüş geçirmiş, alkol-uyuşturucu bağımlısı olmuş ve sonunda yazmayı değil kullandığı maddeleri bırakmış bir yazar olarak, “yazı yazmak üstüne” tüm deneyimlerini büyük bir samimiyetle kaleme almış. Yazı yazmaya hevesli kişilerin zihnini açacak bilgiler vermiş. Çok da iyi etmiş.

İş, bu eseri Türkçe okuyan kişilere ulaştırmaya geldiğinde, sorumluluğu Altın Kitaplar üstlenmiş. Evet, Türkiye gibi az okuyan bir ülkede yayıncılığın zorluklarını falan filan ben de biliyorum. Böyle bahaneler, adını “Yazma Sanatı” diye Türkçeleştirdiğiniz bir kitabın bu kadar çok hata barındırmasını açıklamaya yetmez. Kitabı okurken sanki bozuk bir yolda amortisörsüz bir otomobille gidiyormuş gibi hissettim. Söyleme kolaylığına kavuşamamış birçok Türkçeleştirmenin arasından sıyrılmayı başarsam bile, bu sefer de eksik sözcüklere, dizgi hatalarına takıldım. Elbette, bunların sorumlusu Stephen King değil! Çevirmene çok sözüm yok. En nihayetinde, çevirebilmek için belli bir süreyi bu kitapla alt alta üst üste geçirmiştir ve bir süre sonra yaptığı çeviriye aşinalıktan duyarlılığını yitirmiştir. Yine de, işi teslim etmeden önce bir kere daha okusaymış keşke. Yayıncıya ne diyeceğimi bilemiyorum! Şu kitabın hazırlığında bir editör çalıştırmak ne kadar zor olabilir ki? Elli yıllık tecrübe birkaç editör bağlantısını da içeriyor olsa gerek!

Ben bir tüketiciyim. Tükettiklerim arasında “kitap” da var. Nasıl ki satın aldığım bir ürün bozuk çıktığında gidip satıcısıyla, üreticisiyle “papaz olmayı” göze alıyorum, aynı şeyi kitaplar için de yapmalıyım. Belli ki, uysal okurlar olarak yayıncıları kötü alıştırmışız…

-Yıldıray

BULUŞMA NOKTASI

Título: Carrie, a estranha
Autor: Stephen King
Género: Terror
Tamanho: 218
Formato: Pdf

Carrie narra a atormentada adolescência de uma jovem problemática, perseguida pelos colegas, professores e impedida pela mãe de levar a vida como as garotas de sua idade. Só que Carrie guarda um segredo: quando ela está por perto, objetos voam, portas são trancadas ao sabor do nada, velas se apagam e voltam a iluminar, misteriosamente. Aos 16 anos, desajustada socialmente, Carrie prepara sua vingança contra todos os que a prejudicaram. A vendeta vem í tona de forma tão furiosa e amedrontadora que até hoje permanece como exemplo de uma das mais chocantes e inovadoras narrativas de terror de todos os tempos.

Download

The cast of V, 2009.

As soon as I heard that ABC was remaking V, the classic 1980s  miniseries/television series about extraterrestrials coming to Earth, my mind was flooded with long dormant memories of the original series. Growing up with an older brother who had a taste for the macabre, I was exposed to a lot of popular culture that was not entirely age-appropriate — Stephen King novels, Night of the Living Dead (1968, George Romero), The Dead Milkmen — basically anything with “dead” in the title. And so it should not be too surprising that I watched V, in its various televisual manifestations (miniseries, television series), at the tender age of 7 or 8.

Even now, in my thirties, zombies are a key image in my worst nightmares.

I must have repressed most of my memories of the show because I could only conjure up flashes of images: a beautiful woman eating a rodent, a “Visitor” peeling back his faux human skin to reveal lizard skin below, and a super cheesy 80s era rendering of the inside of a “high tech” mothership. Lucky for me, the internet was more than happy to confirm these hazy visions.

Sometimes I wish computers did look like this...

The rodent eating:

This scene is truly laughable now but I’m pretty sure I choked on my Oreos when I watched this as a kid.

The skin-removing:

I think the special effects here are still pretty effective. They were so effective, in fact, that the series made me suspicious of everyone I knew. If anyone could be a V under their natural looking human skin, then what about Mom? Was she a V? What about Dad? I kept a close eye on the hamster cage just in case.

And something that I don’t remember at all but which is hilarious:

Start watching around the 2:10 mark.

Of course, the 2009 remake of V has far superior special effects. For example, when the mothership arrives in New York City a few minutes into the pilot episode  we first see its metal body reflected in the windows of a generic office building. It is a beautiful, chilling moment. Anything that arrives that way cannot be good.

The mothership approaches.

And of course the V’s lizard skins are far more … is realistic the word I’m looking for here? I’ll put it this way: although I figured out that Dale (Alan Tudyk) was an undercover V about 5 minutes after meeting his character, I still let out an involuntary shriek when Erica (Elizabeth Mitchell) pulled back his human skin during a violent showdown.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

In terms of themes, the 2009 series has shifted away (at least in the first two episodes that have aired) from the overt Nazi allegory of the original (and no, I did not catch the references to Jewish resistance groups and Fascism and Hitler Youth when I was 7. I was in it for the rodent eating). While V is still playing with some of these themes — for example, the Peace Ambassadors are given blazers reminiscent of SS uniforms and the Vs make generous use of propaganda — there seems to be more of a push to see the Visitors as an allegory of modern terrorism. Only these terrorists have discovered that it is far easier to achieve your objectives if you study your targets, use their language and customs and offer them peace, all while plotting how to gobble them up.

Does this uniform make me look Fascist?

One interpretation I am not willing to swallow (excuse the pun) is that the new V is an allegory for the Obama administration and its politics (also here and on many, many other sites and blogs). The scene in which  Anna (Morena Baccarin), the beautiful, calm leader of the Vs, offers Earth a form of “universal health care,” is deftly intercut with a scene in which an underground resistance movement is slaughtered by a band of vicious Vs. Certainly such editing techniques make the promise of universal health care appear sinister, as a kind of bait and switch for more nefarious doings. But I read this much discussed moment less as a dig at the President and more as a topical reference that would resonate with audiences. In other words, given the way our health care debates have been going, universal health care only seems possible in the world of science fiction.

Beautiful Anna

And yes, Anna and her fellow Vs are attractive, charismatic, and popular with “the kids,” just like Obama was/is. But isn’t this the case with most successful leaders (both the good and the evil)? If Anna were ugly and devoid of personality then broadcasting her visage over 29 major cities would not be the best way to convince the world to cooperate with the Vs. I am sure that right wing bloggers and pundits will continue to see the program as further evidence that the Obama administration will bring about the destruction of humanity, but this will not keep me from watching the show.

Quick thoughts on the cast:

1. Throughout the pilot episode I kept asking my husband “Who is that guy?” every time Ryan Nichols appeared on screen. “I know that guy!” Then as the second episode started (we watched them back to back) and the name “Morris Chestnut” appeared on the screen. Since his acting debut in Boyz N the Hood (1991, John Singleton) Chestnut has appeared sporadically on the big (The Inkwell [1994, Matty Rich]) and small (Bones) screen, but I hope his leading role in V will ensure more steady work. The man looks fantastic!

Ricky! Nooooooooooooooooooo!

2. I am really hoping that Rekha Sharma, who plays FBI agent Sarita Malik, turns out to be an undercover V since she was also one of the “final five” Cylons on Battlestar Galactica (another wonderful, contemporary remake of a somewhat cheesy sci fi program).

Two of the final five in Battlestar Galactica

3. Elizabeth Mitchell. You are truly kick ass. That is all.

"That's right. I survived that crazy island and now I'm here to save the world. With great hair."

So are you digging V? is it better than the original so far? And does ABC hate Obama?

SOUNDTRACK: SONIC-YOUTH-the eternal (2009).

It was the release of this disc that inspired me to see what they’ve been up to since the 80s.  And, sometimes it’s really fun to root through a band’s back catalog to see what kind of progression they’ve made over the years.

There are three things that set this disc apart from  many other SY discs.

The first is the dual/harmonized vocals. I don’t recall ever hearing Thurston and Kim split vocals duties in a song before, least of which in a half-line by half-line way.  There’s also some points where they sing (sort of) harmonies.  It’s a really interesting addition to their sounds.

The second is the staccato playing.  In the past I’ve always felt like SY ’s sounds flowed over everything (even if it was noise, it was a continuous wash of noise).  On The Eternal, there’s three or four songs where the band plays a chug chug chug chug rhythm (with everyone playing along).  It’s most notable in “Anti-Orgasm,” where the chug chug part is accompanied by Thurston and Kim chanting uh uh uh on every beat.

The third is the bass.  The band has added Pavement bassist Mark Ibold to their lineup.  And as far as I can tell he does things on bass that Kim never did.  He seems to complement Steve Shelly as a rhythm section.  I always felt that Kim played something of a lead bass: she didn’t seem to go in for a notable steady bass rhythm (note on “Kool Thing” where her bass plays the main riff).  And since Thurston and Lee were often playing noise, it was essential for Kim’s bass to be more than just a rhythm instrument.  On this disc you have bass sections playing the song’s rhythm. Its a simple thing, something that all bands do, but it sounds so different for them.

They even mix up the song lengths quite a bit.  The opener is a two minute bit (with great lyrics from Kim: “What’s it like to be a girl in a band?  I just don’t understand.  That’s so quaint to hear.  I feel so faint my dear.”)   While “Anti-Orgasm” is over six minutes (three of the chug chug section and then three of an extended jam).  Lee’s awesome song, “What We Know” runs about 4 minutes.  And the final song, the very cool “Massage the History” runs over 9 minutes.

These elements give the band a revitalized sound.  And they sound like they’re really having a lot of fun. And boy are they rocking.  The band sounds heavy, they sound intense, and they sound great.  There’s not a bad track on the disc.

[READ: November 6, 2009] “Premium Harmony”

This story takes a look at a dysfunctional husband and wife on the way to Wal-Mart.  She wants to stop at the Quik-Pik on the way, to buy something that he thinks will be cheaper at Wal-Mart anyway.  This detour turns out to be significant, and nothing will be the same for them again.

I have to be this vague because saying anything more will give away too much of this rather simple story.

As with many Stephen King stories, I was gripped by it pretty quickly.  I was intrigued and somewhat entranced by the story.  But when it was done, I realized that it didn’t have any real emotional impact.  There wasn’t enough of an investment in these characters for me to care about what happened to them (although i really enjoyed it while reading it).

It reminds me of friends who tell a really great compelling story while you’re hanging out.  The story’s about their bosses or whomever (someone you don’t know) and it’s really funny.  But you forget them as soon as you start to head home.

You can read it here.

Out 20th Nov

It’s HORROR WEEK at LL-Publications, culminating on Fri 20th with the release of award-winning author Ben Larken’s new book THE HOLLOWS. The first ten chapters of The Hollows are being serialised online on the run up to release, but while you enjoy those tasty sneak-peeks into Ben’s book, let me introduce you to someone new – that is if you haven’t had the chilling pleasure of reading his work yet!

Joseph D’Lacey is the British Fantasy Society’s Best Newcomer Award winner for 2009. MEAT was

Need to eat?

his debut novel and this gruesome, thought-provoking masterpiece even had Stephen King saying “Joseph D’Lacey rocks!”

I was turned in Joseph’s direction by reviewer Geoff Nelder, and I’m not sorry for that. I’m about 2/3rds of the way through MEAT and I just HAD to interview Joseph for the blog! Enjoy this fascinating insight into one of the brightest new stars in horror fiction.

Name an author (or authors) whose work you’ve read for the first time that you enjoyed.

Adam L G Nevill’s ‘Banquet for the Damned’ is a about as good a supernatural horror tale as it’s possible to find. Beautifully written – reminiscent of MR James – and truly frightening. I sat stunned on my couch after finishing it, what a climax!

Describe your experience getting published for the first time. Would you have done anything differently?

Oh, Lord, what a question!

I placed the very first short story I ever wrote (Getaway Car) with a small press magazine called Cadenza. That was eight or nine years ago and I took it as a good sign. I continued to sell short fiction and either place well in or win competitions but finding a taker for my novels was much more difficult. MEAT was my sixth novel but the first one to be published!

I had an agent for a while but I let him go when I realised I could do more for my career on my own. This isn’t always the case but it’s a fact that a bad agent is worse than no agent. I still don’t have an agent but I suppose I might need one some day.

Quite honestly, if I’d managed to get published earlier, I wouldn’t have been ready for it. When it finally happened, it was the right time. I wouldn’t change a thing, especially not the years of disappointment and yearning. Publication was so much sweeter for all that unhappiness.

What is one of the nicest things a critic or fan has said about your work?

The manager of a London branch of Waterstones called MEAT a ‘life-changing’ read. I know other people have become vegan after reading the book even though that wasn’t necessarily the point of it. Knowing your work has affected people’s lives – there’s no greater compliment than that.

What is your philosophy on writing?

Write what you love.

Who or what has been your best teacher when it comes to writing?

My greatest teacher has been ‘quantity not quality’. There’s no substitute for writing reams and reams of work of every kind from slurry to platinum. I think I improved over time because I allowed myself to write so much utter crap – journals, exercises and automatic writing included. As much as I could, as often as I could and in between would come the occasional gem.

Where did the idea for MEAT come from?

MEAT was a collision of ideas which had gathered pace and weight over a long period. I’ve always wondered how many meat-loving consumers would have the gumption to kill, gut, skin and quarter their next steak. I also wondered what really happens to factory-farmed animals – including their transport and slaughter. Coupled with an idea for the protagonist, Richard Shanti, the whole novel suddenly had real potential.

The research and subsequent writing shocked me so much I had to stop writing for a while. It was only when Bloody Books said they were genuinely interested in the idea that I sat down and finished the manuscript. I’m kind of glad I’ll never have to write it again!

Generally speaking, what do you develop first? Plot or characters?

Neither, really. All my stories develop as I write them. I write in order to discover what happens next. Stephen King talks about the process as being like an archaeological dig – unearthing artefacts a little at a time. I have a similar feeling about the process.

It’s random as hell for me, I’m afraid, and that doesn’t make it easy sometimes. I get characters, I get situations, I get phrases, I get flashes of location. But only in sitting and writing all these things down do I find the flesh and bones of a tale.

Name something you’ve tried but failed miserably at.

Pyramid selling. Market Trading. Squash (the game, not the vegetable). DIY. Car maintenance. Multitasking. Chess. Making decisions. Housework. Not being a perfectionist.

Favourite movie?

Midnight Run. I could watch that film over and over again.

Why do you think so many people are convinced they ‘don’t like horror’?

I think it’s just a misconception. Lots of folks think horror is about mindless violence and silly monsters – sometimes it is. But horror is also about taking a look at our dark side, a side we all have whether we admit it or not. This is a good for the soul. Horror is healthy. Horror is cathartic. Horror is safe because it’s pretend.

What’s more you find it in so many unexpected places – A Christmas Carol, an episode of House or even Chitty Chitty, Bang  Bang.

It’s a wonderful genre and one that will never die!

Thanks, Joseph! Now, while I get back to reading MEAT and scaring the sh** out of myself, let me tell folks some more…

About MEAT:

God is supreme. The flesh is sacred. From this all nourishment flows…

Abyrne is a decaying town, trapped by an advancing wilderness. Its people depend on meat for survival. Meat is sanctified and precious, eaten with devout solemnity by everyone.

A feud smoulders between the religious and secular powers holding the town in their thrall – whoever controls the food supply controls everything. Conflict is imminent.

But a handful of people suspect Abyrne is evil, rotten to its religious heart. They’re prepared to sacrifice everything for the truth.

What goes on in the meat processing plant? Where does meat really come from?

The townsfolk are hungry. The townsfolk must be fed…

You’ll never look at meat in the same way again.

About Joseph D’Lacey:

Joseph D’Lacey was born in London and has spent most of his life in the midlands.

“My mother warned me never to tell stories that aren’t true. It’s been great fun ignoring her advice.”

By day he runs an acupuncture practice (sticking needles into people and making little dolls scream). Between patients (victims) he writes all manner of disturbingly entertaining fiction.

He lives in Northamptonshire with his wife and daughter.

Tomorrow on HORROR WEEK at the LL-Publications Blog: Tell us which are your favourite horror books, and why!

Leave a comment any day this week for your chance to win a signed copy of THE HOLLOWS!

Freunde des subtilen Horrors aufgepasst! Es gibt einen Superschocker in der Videothek. Hinter dem Titel “Zimmer 1408″ vebirgt sich ein genialer Horrorstreifen.
In den Hauptrollen: John Cusack (brillant) und Samuel L. Jackson (weniger brillant).
Die Story: Aus der Feder des Altmeisters Stephan King.
Zitat: “Das Zimmer ist echt mies.”
Empfehlung: Angucken!

Mais um capítulo do meu diário de leitura altamente eclético. Na verdade ele está um pouco defasado (li esses livros há mais de dois meses, e já li outros depois), mas isso é até bom, pois garante conteúdo para mais alguns posts desta série - já que não ando lendo nada ultimamente.

Guardas! Guardas!, de Terry Pratchett (São Paulo: Conrad Editora do Brasil, 2005) foi meu primeiro contato com o Discworld, o mundo fantástico criado pelo (também fantástico) autor inglês. Interessei-me pela obra de Pratchett quando li em algum lugar que ele era uma espécie de “Douglas Adams medieval”. “Não tem como ser ruim”, pensei. E não tinha, mesmo.

Bom, decidido a conhecer o autor, não foi difícil escolher por qual livro começar:  o primeiro, claro. O problema é que não consegui achá-lo para comprar; optei, então, pelo volume que traz um dragão desenhado na capa. Adoro dragões.

Guardas! Guardas! é, em síntese, uma história de aventura envolvendo guardas e dragões. Os guardas são os membros da Vigilância Noturna, uma espécie de guarda municipal da cidade de Ankh-Morpork; o dragão é um bicho gigante da espécie Draco Nobilis, que foi invocado ao mundo por um homem misterioso com pretensões perversas e resolve ficar, fazendo da cidade seu domínio. Por ser um dragão de raça nobre, o bicho decide se tornar o rei do pedaço, mas terá de encarar a (nem tão) valente oposição da Vigilância. A história nonsense é recheada de situações inusitadas e personagens cativantes, com destaque para o ingênuo brutamontes Cenoura e o capitão Vimes, um beberrão cheio de dilemas morais.

Não direi aqui que o livro é perfeito: Pratchett não é muito bom em fazer descrições, e algumas vezes é meio difícil imaginar a aparência dos personagens ou mesmo entender o que está acontecendo. Além disso, como sua obra tem a pretensão de ser engraçada, é natural que algumas passagens soem meio bobas e forçadas. Mas nada disso chega a comprometer o resultado final: um livro divertidíssimo, agradável, viciante, daqueles que fazem você deixar de trabalhar/dormir/estudar para ler “só mais um capítulo”, que você pega e não larga até terminar, e fica desconsolado quando percebe que acabou. INDISCUTIVELMENTE relevante.

Que em nada se parece com Carrie, a estranha, o primeiro livro de Stephen King (Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, 2007). Este livro até já saiu em filme, embora eu nunca tenha visto. Conta a história de Carrie, uma menina impopular com poderes telecinéticos.

Maltratada incessantemente pelos colegas de colégio e sempre reprimida pela mãe, uma mulher insuportável e extremamente religiosa, a vida de Carrie não é das mais fáceis ou agradáveis. A garota carrega muita raiva consigo, e o ódio se desenvolve na mesma proporção que seus estranhos superpoderes – para o azar de seus desafetos.

A narrativa tem um ritmo meio estranho, misturando romance com documentário, intercalando passado e futuro. O andamento da história é quebrado por depoimentos e trechos de reportagens (fictícios, obviamente) que se passam depois dos acontecimentos do livro. Esses trechos pseudojornalísticos são meio chatos mas acabam sendo úteis, já que aumentam o suspense e servem para dividir os capítulos em partes menores.

Apesar do jeitão meio teen/colegial do livro, algumas das principais características da obra de King estão nele: há suspense, terror, violência, coisas sobrenaturais, personagens moralmente questionáveis e psicologicamente perturbados. Se você já leu outro(s) livro(s) do autor e gostou, provavelmente vai gostar deste também.

Um ótimo livro, embora não dos melhores. Bastante relevante.

Ya es la 4ª novela que leo de este archiconocido escritor llamado Stephen King (Portland – USA 21 de septiembre, 1947). Se trata de una de sus primeras novelas y que fue llevada al cine en el año 1983 por David Cronenberg, con Christopher Walken interpretando a John Smith y Martin Sheen a Greg Stillson.

LA ZONA MUERTA (The Dead Zone)

John Smith es el personaje principal de la novela, quien tras una accidente de coche queda en coma durante un periodo de más de 4 años, durante los cuales su pareja Sarah comienza una nueva relación después de confirmarle los médicos que el coma es irreversible, su madre sufre de fanatismo religioso y la política de su país ha cambiado considerablemente. Al despertarse, John empieza a comprender que ha adquirido unos poderes más bien proféticos ya que al contacto con la gente puede llegar a ver un futuro próximo. Esto le llevará a trabajar con la policía, un niño aparentemente disléxico y conocer a un político de no muy buen hacer llamado Greg Stillson, del cual sabe cosas que no le dejarán vivir en paz. El libro no es muy rápido, hay ratos en los que uno pierde un poco el hilo debido a la cantidad de nombres desconocidos (de aquella época, 1970 en adelante) que aparecen pero, en cambio, hay grandes momentos en los que no puedes dejar de leer y, para bien del lector, posee un final muy interesante y que incluso será capaz de estremecer a más de un@. Conmigo lo ha conseguido.

Enlace para datos sobre la película basada en el libro.

http://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film979652.html

*** Aceptable

Además de este título, hay otros trabajos de este escritor que han caído en mis manos y, lógicamente, he leído. Han sido LA LARGA MARCHA (*Malo), LA VIDA DE LISEY (****Bueno) y MISERY (***Aceptable). No creo que en el futuro los comente, a no ser que pase una racha en la que carezca de tiempo suficiente para dedicar a la lectura, pero puedo decir que S.K. no es uno de mis escritores favoritos, por mucho que como se puede ver lo intento.

Salam

SCORRREE!!!!!! Skim forward to about 3 minutes! It’s set between Wizard and Wolves. It’ll probably suck but I can’t wait anyway!

A beautiful Sunday, and I am inside.   It does mean that I am reading though.  As promised I did finish the prequel to “Black Friday” by Alex Kava.  ”Exposed” is a lovely book about Ebola.  Relevant now, with all the H1N1 germs flying around.  Scary how easy it is to whip my overactive imagination into an absolute frenzy.  I enjoyed the book more than the first one I read.  Maybe because it has some relevance now.  Same cast of characters.  Well drawn and believable, though I question whether FBI profilers can pull profiles out of their hats like that.   It did make me want to go reread “The Hot Zone” by Richard Preston.  I was telling my thirteen year old son about that book, scared me very badly.  I don’t consider myself a conspiracy nut, but I do find it incredibly plausible that our government is ever willing to cover things up, for the good of the country of course.  I guess that begs another question, how are authors able to be so far ahead of us readers?  Nelson DeMille’s seems to be frighteningly accurate about what is happening now a days.  (He is a big Phillip Roth fan I bet)  I always used to think that if I were to invest in the stock market, I just needed to find out what Michael Crichton was working on and invest in that. (Nanotechnology anyone?)  Steve Alten, made my jaw drop with “The Shell Game.”  I worry about his safety.  After that book I wonder if he always looks over his shoulder.  Currently reading the latest Stephen King.  surprisingly at 1000+ pages it is going quite quickly.  He says in the afterwords that is actually pared down from its original length.  Yikes!  Again, even though it’s a different cast of characters, I feel like some of them could be people I know, my neighbors, co-workers, family.  He does have a unique knack for “normal” everyday prose.  He writes like I think or speak.  I like that in a writer.  Makes me think that writing a book might not be so hard after all.  (I am joking.  Mr. King actually started this book in 1976, I guess that speaks for itself.)

I am thinking I need to read something really eloquent and informative on sibling rivalry right about now.  Both children are in their respective rooms, and I need to go mediate somehow.  And then I will read more…

CHRISTINE (editura Nemira) este prima (şi deocamdată singura) carte a lui Stephen King pe care am citit-o. La început nu am fost prea convins dacă merită să citesc o carte scrisă de acest autor. Abia după ce am văzut recenzia lui Dan C. Mihăilescu pentru Misery m-am hotărât să încerc şi eu un pic de Stephen King.

Coperta pentru Christine este misterioasă, cu maşina roşie care pare să se îndrepte cu viteză spre tine. Asta m-a şi atras la carte în primul rând. Dintre toate cărţile lui SK pe care le ştiam (Shining, Cimitirul Animalelor, Oraşul BântuIT, etc), Christine mi s-a părut cea mai potrivită.

Pentru a descrie evoluţia personajului Arnie Cunningham, autorul s-a folosit de un alt personaj, Dennis Guilder, care prezintă întâmplările într-un mod obiectiv, povestind totul aşa cum s-a văzut din exterior. Dennis este prietenul cel mai bun al lui Arnie, ceea ce este neaşteptat, având în vedere comportamentul diferit al celor doi: Arnie este un băiat studios, timid şi adesea batjocorit de ceilalţi, iar Dennis este popular, isteţ, prietenos, haios, liceanul ideal.

Apariţia lui Christine în viaţa lui Arnie semnifică începutul sfârşitului. Arnie O iubeşte, O îngrijeşte şi este obsedat de EA. Iar EA nu este deloc ceea ce credeţi că este: Christine este un Plymouth Fury `58, o vechitură de maşină care zace în curtea unui bătrân militar ursuz: Roland D. LeBay.

Totul este ciudat încă de la început, iar pe măsură ce timpul trece, Arnie pare a fi prins într-o cursă, nu  se mai comportă la fel, nu mai este acelaşi băiat de odinioară, îşi neglijează prietenii, iubita şi familia. Tot ceea ce vede în faţa ochilor este Christine, pe care o recondiţionează foarte repede, rezultatul final fiind perfect.

Când crime misterioase încep să se petreacă,  singurul suspect este Arnie, dar nu există nicio dovadă că el ar fi ucis atâţia oameni. Se pare că maşina sa, Christine, este responsabilă. Din acest moment acţiunea prinde un ritm alert, iar cartea abordează şi un stil poliţist.

Am fost captivat de acţiunea acestei cărţi, deşi pe alocuri mi s-a părut că Stephen King ar fi putut să scurteze din descrieri şi să facă un roman ceva mai concentrat. Limbajul folosit este destul de colorat, încercând să redea cât mai bine realitatea. În esenţă, Christine este un roman horror, dar nu asta este singura latură a cărţii. Este şi o carte psihologică, o dramă şi o poveste de dragoste în acelaşi timp. Cu adevărat foarte complexă.

Părerea mea este că partea sumbră a cărţii a fost finalul, care a fost probabil şi motivul principal pentru care specialiştii au încadrat Christine în genul horror.

Stephen King

Deocamdată o să fac o pauză din a citi Stephen King: am impresia că poate creea dependenţă! Nu pot să recomand această carte tututor; cred că pentru a o citi şi a o înţelege trebuie să ai peste 13 ani. Dacă aş citi-o încă o dată, peste cinci ani, ar avea probabil alt impact asupra mea.

Am fost însă convins că autorul îşi merită titlul de rege al horrorului, asta pentru că romanele sale se bazează mult mai mult pe psihic decât majoritatea cărţilor de groază.

Ecranizarea lui John Carpenter lasă însă de dorit, după părerea mea. Aşa că, pentru cei care au văzut filmul şi nu le-a plăcut, ar putea să îi dea o şansă cărţii, pentru că este mult mai complexă şi diferită faţă de film.

Título: Os Justiceiros
Autor: Stephen King
Género: Terror
Tamanho: 466
Formato: Pdf

"Uma das janelas laterais do furgão começa a baixar. Surge o cano de uma escopeta. Tem uma cor esquisita, não exactamente prata nem cinza. Os canos iguais parecem o símbolo do infinito pintado de negro" – Richard Bachman Tarde de verão em Ohio. Nada parece fora do lugar na calma rua dos ÿlamos.
Um menino entrega o jornal, crianças brincam no jardim e os irmãos Caver discutem normalmente. O problema é o furgão vermelho no alto da ladeira. Falta pouco para ele começar a descer e transformar esta bucólica paisagem num mar de sangue. Quem conseguir sobreviver a esta tarde de horror vai perceber as regras que movem o mundo dos justiceiros. Um universo onde tudo pode acontecer. Esta é a trama do livro Os Justiceiros, obra de Stephen King sob o pseudónimo de Richard Bachman. As perguntas que permeiam Os Justiceiros desafiam o leitor que se vê sob a mira de um texto aterrorizante. Por que eles vieram? Quem poderá detê-los? Até onde eles pretendem chegar? Afinal, quando a justiça começa a ser feita nesta pequena cidade de Wentworth, o medo torna-se a única lei.

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Título: Tudo É Eventual 
Autor: Stephen King
Género: Contos, Terror
Tamanho: 472 
Formato: Pdf

Primeira reunião de contos de Stephen King desde Pesadelos e Paisagens Nocturnas, o livro apresenta o mestre do terror em grande forma. Na obra destacam-se contos como "Andando na bala", o mais bem-sucedido e-book de todos os tempos, que atraiu meio milhão de leitores online no mundo todo; e narra a história de Alan Parker, um jovem universitário que precisa viajar urgentemente para visitar a mãe hospitalizada. Ao aceitar uma boleia no meio da noite, Alan só pensava em chegar ao seu destino. No meio do caminho, percebe que aquele estranho motorista poderia ter outros planos para aquela viagem… No entanto, já era tarde demais.
Em "1408", conheça Mike Enslin. Ele nunca acreditou nos fantasmas que adorava apresentar nos seus livros de terror, entretanto, uma noite no misterioso quarto 1.408 é capaz de acabar com muitas das suas certezas e, quem sabe, até com a sua própria vida. No conto "Tudo é eventual", que dá título ao livro, Dink é um adolescente e consegue o seu primeiro emprego. Vai ter que morar longe da mãe, mas pensando bem, isso não chega a ser um problema. Ele só precisa navegar pela Internet e gastar todos os cêntimos da sua semanada como quiser. Tudo parece bom demais para ser verdade, até que ele passa a desconfiar de que coisas muito estranhas acontecem quando aperta o rato. Ele não tem ninguém por perto para dividir os seus medos e qualquer decisão sua pode ser fatal. Essas são algumas das histórias que o aguardam. Um livro intenso, sinistro e envolvente com a inconfundível marca do mestre do terror.

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Saturday night.

* The TSA has finally put an end to the terrorist’s favorite toy: snowglobes.

* When your neighbor is unemployed: Bob Herbert has a good column in the New York Times today about the disparate rates of unemployment on different socioeconomic groups.

* 2010 will be the year of the deficit hawk.

* Poetry fight: Stephen King in Playboy vs. an ode to Megan Fox.

* “History should record that whether through unprecedented administrative incompetence or orchestrated mendacity, the American people were misled about the nation’s response to the 9/11 attacks.“

* As of July 2009, California’s budget shortfall was 49.3% of its general funds. States have considered drastic options to fill such gaps. “I looked as hard as I could at how states could declare bankruptcy,” said Michael Genest, director of the California Department of Finance who is stepping down at the end of the year. “I literally looked at the federal constitution to see if there was a way for states to return to territory status.” Via Edge of the American West, where eric asks, “Seriously, though, what does it mean—this is not a rhetorical question, I’d really like to know and don’t have an answer—when it seems more plausible to engage in constitutional shenanigans than to, for example, restore the vehicle licensing fee to its full former level, and other measures of that sort?”