Another book review installment brought to you today by our new pet, Ludwig Van Beethoven, the Western Hognose snake. I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams for the second time. If you like quirky British humor, then this book is for you.
It's a quick read; it introduces you to Arthur Dent who travels throughout the galaxy. I won't tell you who the most intelligent beings really are on earth, according to Adams, but it will give you a laugh, if you haven't already read the book or seen the movie. I recommend this book and the others in the series. Bring your towel. *wink*
If you are in the mood for a nonfiction book, I recommend Bare Bones: Conversations on Terror with Stephen King. This book is an old collection of interviews, but worth reading. The writing advice King dishes out is relevant to the industry today and you will learn a lot about such classic King novels as Carrie, The Shining, The Dead Zone, Salem's Lot, and more. King also offers insight into his family life and what scares him. Oddly enough, everything that scares him also scares me. (I guess I'm in good writing company.) His witty, honest, no-holds barred interview style is refreshing and entertaining.
If you don't have the taste for terror or British sci-fi humor, you might try the classic, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. Not ever having seen the movie, I enjoyed the book. However, I could have done without the extremely long scientific lists of fish scattered throughout the novel. This is the same problem I had with Moby Dick; the story interested me, but sometimes I found the technical information a tad boring. While this book kept my attention, I was disappointed with the short Kraken scene at the end. I expected a bit more, but maybe, I'm jaded by Hollywood these days. Anyway, I can now check this classic off my list.
As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!
4 comments:
Thanks for the information, Nora. Have you read King's "On Writing"? It is phenomenal. As you mentioned, his writing style is quite refreshing. "On Writing" recounts King's childhood in the context of how it influenced his writing. That's the first part of the book; the second focuses on the craft of writing. Being an undergraduate, writing only for my own enjoyment and course work, I found his advice to be quite inspiring. If you get a chance, pick it up. It's quite cheap and I'm sure you'll laugh, cry, and enjoy your craft even more.
Frederick, I own a hard and soft cover of On Writing. It is also one of my favorite writing books. I also love Natalie Goldberg's writing. Her books are very informative too.
Yes, I really enjoyed 20,000 Leagues. I found Moby Dick bored me to death - which I feel guilty about as it's a classic. The basic storyline is great, but the details about boats, whale anatomy etc just about finished me off.
I totally agree. The whaling chapters were a bit much. That's the complaint I had with Verne's classic, though I did enjoy it. The overly long scientific classification of fish in the beginning didn't finish me off. By the end of the novel I felt like I was in a marine biology class. LOL
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