Wall
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Scribbles

The Last Lecture (April 2008)

November 10, 2008

I am not the first person to talk about this book, and I know damned well that I won’t be the last. That aside, I have little choice but to talk about The Last Lecture. I meant to talk about the original online version when I first saw it the day Randy Pausch died. I know it’s somewhat of a morbid coincidence, but it’s true and I can’t tell you how heart-broken I was when I found out this tidbit of information.

When I saw the actual lecture, I was at work. Though I told myself I would let it play in the background as I worked, that idea was quickly thrown out and I watched the 76 minute video without pause. Actually there was one pause when I went to the washroom. You get the idea.

When I found out he had a book, the only reason I didn’t buy it was because my girlfriend wanted it. So I got it for her and borrowed it when she was finished.

1984 (June 1949)

October 20, 2008

I finally read it. It took me far too long, but I finally found time to sit down and read 1984. What is there to say about this book? It set the bar for every totalitarian-themed novel, T.V. show, movie and video game that was to come. You know what else? After reading the book itself, I can actually say that 1984 does it better than any movie ever could.

1984 paints a future (well alright, past technically) where there is no law, and yet everyone fears to break it. A land so poor, yet constantly boasting it’s over-manufacturing. A world so controlled, that the past literally changes to suit the need of the ruling class. It depicts such a cultural and societal wasteland that nothing else really quite compares.

1984 is terrifying.

Lottery (August 2007)

September 25, 2008

I don’t know what it is with me and reading books about mentally-challenged, slow, or otherwise afflicted people. It’s not like I’ve got a fetish or anything; I think maybe I’ve got Underdog Syndrome. In any case Lottery, by Patricia Wood, isn’t about a mentally-challenged person; Lottery is about Perry L. Crandall. He’s not retarded; he’s got an IQ of 76, and 76 is higher than 75 – The IQ bar for ‘reatrded’.

As an aside, I have noticed something about myself: If a book writes about someone dying that is in any way dear to the protagonist, I will tear up. I can’t help it. The effect is almost immediate, and the Man in me shakes his head in disgust. This happens more often than it really should, and Lottery did it to me as well. I won’t divulge any more about it, because I’m not really in the habit of spoiling books.

Flowers for Algernon (March 1966)

May 29, 2008

I picked up Flowers for Algernon almost on a whim. My friend told me about it when I picked it up in a book store. Curiosity got the better of me, and 10 dollars later I had what I consider a great piece of literature added to my collection. I consumed the book with a hunger I haven’t had from many books. It almost hurt me to put it down for any amount of time, and I found that when I did sit down to read it, I’d end up getting through about a 3rd of it in one sitting. These are the signs of a great story.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (May 2004)

May 5, 2008

I recently got around to reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I remember picking up the book a long time ago and only putting it back because I didn’t have the money to purchase it right then and there.

The next time I find the book, it’s a best seller across the world, and Mark Haddon has already written another novel. I could have been there in the beginning! Ah well, I picked it up, and once I started reading, I found it hard to put down.

Gods Behaving Badly (December 2007)

April 10, 2008

I read Gods Behaving Badly in three days.

The only reason it wasn’t read in one is because I have to work during the day. Truly a fun book to read, Marie Phillips does a fantastic job of detailing the lives of the Greek Pantheon. Granted it’s a humorous view and takes light of the fact that the Gods are losing their powers are slowly slipping away, but it’s a hell of a humorous view.

Sting of the Zygons (April 2007)

April 4, 2008

Another Doctor Who adventure comes and goes, and I’m once again left wondering how this got to print. Sting of the Zygons wasn’t a bad story by any means, but the new novels just aren’t doing it for me. With the original Doctor Who book series, the authors were writing stories that were so epic that they simply couldn’t be done on screen at the time. Stories so fantastic that imagination is a requirement in order to read them. This is a quality that I find lacking within all of the new novels that I have read thus far, with exceptions being made for The Last Dodo, Stone Rose, and The Clockwise Man.

The Memory Keepers Daughter (June 2005)

March 20, 2008

I’m impressed with The Memory Keeper’s Daughter.

I thought it was going to be a dry, boring read, much like Everything Must Go. I was mistaken (mostly) and by the end I found myself devouring the last pages. Despite its small dimensions, the novel sports 401 pages, 300 of which were a fantastic, engrossing read. Kim Edwards does a wonderful job of getting the emotion across as well as managing to make very real characters.

The Quantum Archangel (January 2001)

February 11, 2008

Why can’t the new series make books that match the caliber of the old series. This is probably the newest one that I have read of the original(ish) series, and its grandeur dwarfs any of the new series with out even batting an eyelash. Taking place during the Sixth Doctors’ time, The Quantum Archangel is a sequel of The Time Monster from the Third Doctors’ time in the limelight.

I Am Not Myself These Days (February 2006)

January 11, 2008

Who knew that reading about a gay man who dresses in drag and his call-boy lover would be all that interesting? I sure didn’t! To be honest had someone suggested it to me, I probably would have sprained my eyebrow from the speed in which it would’ve raised. All that aside, I Am Not Myself These Days is a great first book to the year. Starting off with your good foot and all that.

The Last Dodo (July 2007)

December 12, 2007

Finally! A new series that actually has a little body to it. I was honestly starting to lose hope in the new adventures. The Last Dodo puts a little bit of that darkness, that deep reflection of the Doctors that has been until now has been sorely lacking from the new books. Though there is only a small moment of it (part of which is quoted in this review) it demonstrates what I’ve been talking about over he past couple books. I know that the authors were probably told that they need to ease into it all, what with trying to nail such a wide demographic and so many new readers, but have a little compassion for those who’ve stuck with the series all these years.

Wicked (October 1995)

November 28, 2007

So much like the other 3 million people – if the cover tells the truth – who have bought this book, I caved and decided to read Gregory Maguire’s Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. I admit that it has interested me for a while, but I’m adverse to reading much of what the general public reads. I don’t even want to start on The DaVinci Code. What is shocking is that it took this long for the book to become such a hit. It was originally printed 12 years ago. 12!

Everything Must Go (November 2006)

October 27, 2007

Where to begin with this one? I honestly don’t know and I’m at a bit of a loss. Maybe I’m just not used to reading this style of book. Maybe I just don’t get the point behind it. Maybe I overlooked some obvious and keen insight that everyone else picked up on. No matter how you put it, I still don’t know what to make of this one.

the average american male: a novel (March 2007)

October 19, 2007

I really wish I could find a good quote from this book, but I assure you that every one of them is offensive and far too vivid. I’m serious in saying that this is the most blunt, graphic, degrading, disgusting, non-pornographic article I have ever read. The best part is that you can pick it up in Chapters. Right off the shelf. There isn’t even a disclaimer, though I’m being totally truthful that anyone who lets a minor read this should be shot. Now having said that this book is either the equivalent of a harlequin novel for women, or the most subtly brilliant thing I’ve read. To be honest, I think it’s both.

The Gum Thief (October 2007)

October 17, 2007

How to describe Douglas Coupland’s new novel “The Gum Thief?” I’m struggling for words here because I’m fairly sure I’d need too many, and probably have to create a few just for the effect to truly sink in. I think I’ll go with ‘depressing and beautiful.’ It’s sad and its magical. It’s bleak and its stunning, It’s a fire-y car crash between two massive trucks carrying nothing but bright, floaty balloons.

The Price of Paradise (September 2006)

October 4, 2007

Today I completed the Doctor Who novel “The Price of Paradise” written by Colin Brake, and features the 10th Doctor and Rose.

The synopsis is fairly straight-forward: Laylora is a perfect planet. Pristine and beautiful, and the residents live a nomadic life and praise the planet like a deity. The Doctor and Rose show up just as another Ship crash-lands. He lends a helping hand to get them off the planet, but the planet is working on removing them in her own way. The planet is, for lack of a better term, allergic to all outside objects. This includes alien people, ships, waste product, etc. Oh, and did I mention that the planet can turn it’s native people into giant hive-minded furry things with 4 arms that have scythes for claws?

Que the hilarity.

World War Z (September 2006)

May 16, 2007

I started reading this book directly on the tail-end of The Zombie Survival Guide. I have to say that where the Guide failed to impress, this book delivers.

The book takes place years after what the Guide specified as a “Class 4″ or when Zombies overthrew the world, and mankind goes into hiding. The book is basically a recount of peoples tales of what happened before, during and after the “Great Panic”.

The Zombie Survival Guide (September 2003)

May 8, 2007

When I started reading this book, I can honestly say that I was expecting a humourous, maybe even cute survivalists guide to a Ghoul outbreak. Lord, even something that was at the very least eccentric in its writing style or message.

Hell was I wrong.