The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

I have not read Treasure Island. In fact, this is the only thing I've read by this writer of classics. This story make a huge hit with me, I figure because it's too far before my time. Always, I knew the titular characters were part of some transformation of Jekyll. But I never knew for sure what happened with them. So the whole thing felt like an exposition, especially with the telling of the story from the accounts of different characters. Though I think the non-linear form worked in the favor of the mystery here. It might have worked better if some secrets weren't already in my consciousness.

Neuromancer by William Gibson

I can't say enough good things about Gibson's writing. While it forces you to play close attention in an environment ever both familiar and outlandish, we get a nearly unmatched level of immersion. While eventually explaining to us what the Nueromancer is, the book follows the stories of Case and Molly on a dangerous hacking mission.

How did they get mixed up into all of it? In Gibson's cyberpunk future, it could happen to anyone. Nobody is safe from this ever shifting, augmented reality we inhabit.

We Have Alaways Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

This is a pretty fun, creepy read. There's a mystery for sure, but you're also not sure what it is, aside from wondering what happened to the now deceased members of the Blackwood family. Everything about it's good and entertaining. If you need a short one for the spooky season to get your yearly book count up to 50, this is one for you.

Tales of a Forth Grade Nothing by Judy Bloom

This was one of my favorite books as a forth grader, and my flight to Seattle was a good time to charge through this bit of nostalgia. It reviles the tale of Peter Hatcher, son of a New York ad man, and older brother to a rascally toddler by the name of Fudge.

Being an older sibling can be tough, but it helps to have some laughhs and build fun memories. That's what this book is about. Being seven years older than my sister Amy, there were some times in which I related to protagonist Peter. And I liked to read as a kid, so this series became one of my favorites. I even drew my own covers for the books and bound them with pieces of cardboard. One of my Fudge doodles even made it onto a pog, with my 'Milk Cap Maker'.

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

I haven't seen the movie for this, so I don't know how to compare it. Let's consider this book another part of my education in classic thrillers. There's a mystery for a forward thinking photographer, mother, and wife who moves into Stepford with her successful husband.

They are generally on the same page, except when it comes to the Stepford Men's Association, or maybe it's club. There's something wrong with the wives in Stepford, and what it could be grows ever more scary as the mystery unfolds. It's a classic like that.

The Stranger by Albert Camus

I listened to a lecture series on existentialism in which this book was mentioned a few times. I must have really gotten the concept, even in the enjoyment of this book. But I suppose there was supposed to be some kind of deeper meaning to The Stranger. Sometimes life goes bad when you live in complete indifference.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

I never read this book as a young one, so of course I had to check in on what all the hype is about. To me, this book is a funny sci fi adventure. There is a space opera element, but since the story starts on earth and it involves some paradigm stretching stuff, I'll disqualify its space opera status.

This is a funny book, as in on almost every page there's an attempt to make you laugh. And sometimes these gags fall flat. Sometimes they bog down the story. But it's all in good fun. The proglem is I could never figure out when to read fast and when to read slow, so I can tell what's happening in the story. I didn't have the patience of a true Douglas Adams enjoyer.

Aurora Dawn by Howard Wouk

I think this book is a classic, but I don't know where I found the reccomendation for it. It's about the radio business and the American Sell-Out. I'm not sure if that's an official trope, or where I've last experienced it. Good people can win their battles, but the world will continue on its course.

Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini

In this classic pirate story, you follow the unjust fall and honorable rise of Captain Peter Blood. He may be the reason generic pirates have an irish accent. It's the kind of cunning hero tale that inspires us all to follow the call to adventure.

A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

It's been a while since I've posted a book report, and it's not because I haven't been reading. This last spring I kind of let computer game design take over my life. But over the summer, I expect to spend less time at my computer.

So I read A Princess of Mars back in March. It's one of the first popular space adventure stories, told by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the writer of Tarzan stories. Despite the pulp-magazine nature of this work, Burroughs' language is very formal in contrast to many of his hard-boiled peers.

This novel tells the story of John Carter, a Confederate hero of the civil war who ended up with nothing. On a desert quest for gold, he found himself trapped in a cave by american indians who were mysteriously decimated before John's spirit escaped to the planet Mars.

You may have guessed, the princess of Mars is his love interest. Her species are humanoid, but red, and lay eggs. And I like this kind of romantic story between two 'people' of very different culture and physiology. Originally published in 1912, this piece certainly fails the Bechdel Test. The other species of aliens on mars are war-hungry bugs who love to kill each other and everything else.

So John takes it upon himself to impress the princess and become the greatest hero the planet has ever known. There are some touching scenes in this book, but I would only reccomend it to those with a yearning for this kind of niche. After all, the trappings of a space adventure have expanded a great deal in the last 110 years. But it's nice to see where (much of) it all started.

Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski

I may have read the rest of Bukowski's novels, this being his last which tells his life story as lived by Henry Chinaski. He's an old fashioned drunk ass hole. Everything is ugly from the view of this ugly man. And there's a definite poeticism to it. There's a reason Bukowski's so famous.

He doesn't waste his reader's time, regardless of what contempt he might feel for anyone who might pick up his books. Bukowski's writing was likely the only good thing he did. And there's something special about that. Every page is indulgent and juicy. And the scenes of the first and last time his dad beat him come out like songs. Dark songs before their time.

We could talk for ever about separating art from their artists, and I think every case is different. Often art is the good that comes from the most depressing of realities and delusions. To create is to channel the good and move forward, connecting the quiet within to the nastiness on outside.

The high points in Bukowski's story are mostly about getting in fights and peeping on his neighbors, masturbating in the bushes. And one who can make others feel happy for them in such moments must have a gift. That's my piece on Bukowski. You've heard of him and you already have an opinion.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Here's another one that seems like everyone has read except for me. From the kid-loving empath, Lois Lowry, this is the story of a utopian society and the dark side of it. I guess the lesson is that not everything is as it seems. Life without pain and rain often goes without joy and rainbows.

Every kid and every person is generally the same, with their occupations chosen for them at age twelve. Jonas is chosen for a special job, though. He is to be the Receiver, the receiver of all memories of life before their safe community where everyone's granted a bike and nobody steals anything. Jonas is given the right to lie, which nobody ever does, but he has to because he's given all of this secret knowledge from the former receiver. The Giver.

That's probably enough spoilers for you. It's a pretty good, short little book. It's for kids after all. And I got through it pretty easily, without the shock and awe I might have felt in the early to mid 90s. Still I'm happy to have joined the Giver party I'd been missing all these years.

Hear the Wind Sing by Haruki Murakami

Here is a classic coming-of-age tale, set in the 1970s, in Kobe Japan. Our unnamed narrator, whom I assume is Murakami, has just finished his third year of college. It was a tough spring for our hero, so he spends his summer drinking as much beer as possible, with his friend The Rat.

The Rat is a good friend, the best blent of privately rich, reckless, and ready to sink some cheap beers. But he's depressed. College is over for him, and he's deciding to become a writer, a tall order for the self. So Murakami makes the best of his situation, and happens to meet a couple women who equate his listless melancholy. But they don't stick in his life. Everything changes, even his favorite bar.

But the memories stick around, like the western rock tunes cited in frequent epigraphs, in rotation with bits from the local radio host. These are the things that stuck with our hero, not the memory of remembering. So would I recommend this book to you? Sure. It's short and it's a classic, with an understated, beige poeticism. Hear the Wind Sing will make you think of your own life, and remember how the hard times were far from the worst times.

A House-Boat on the Styx by John Kendrick Bangs

On paper, this is an interesting books. It's about a clubhouse (boat) where all the important past figures hang out in the afterlife. You might imagine the types of ridiculous arguments they get into. And that's the type of reading we have, here. There's nothing exciting about it, though it might be really sweet to those with a special interest in history. On a personal level, I was barely ammused.

The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart

Earlier this year, I talked to my friend Matt, who said he was reading this book. His girlfriend recommended it, so I thought I'd check it out, giving us something to talk about. Back in 1971, this was likely the cool, edgy book of its time. It's the story of a new york psychologist who gets bored with his life, and decides to let a roll of the dice determine the rest of his decisions, for the rest of his life.

This causes him to do a lot of crazy things, experimenting with sex, rape, and all manner of taboos. This dice life allowed him to let go of his ego and anxiety, and live without regret, despite the consequences. So it's a pretty interesting story, written in a way that's exciting. That being said, this book isn't for anyone who's especially sensitive or especially critical of Men as people. The character Luke does some pretty awful things, with the genuine, female-objectifying male narrative of its time.

A Room of One's Own by Virgia Woolf

You might consider this Woolf's original (pre)feminist manifesto, originally used in lectures at the few women's colleges of the time. Even today, I think this could be an adequate foray into feminist ideas, especially for someone who has never thought about the work that has gone into patriachy, for patriarchy. Though I don't think Woolf used such terminology, mostly talking about the (then short) history of women in literature, and perhaps inventing the concept of Shakespeare's brilliant sister.

Woolf also had some very forward-thinking, though probably not applicable today, ideas about gender fluidity, seeing the writer within as a woman. That's why men were so threatened by women, superior writers, in fiction. However educational, I don't think this is the ideal book for any who seek empowerment while oppressed by today's weird world.

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

For those of you who have only seen the film adaptations of the Jungle Book, you will be surprised to notice this book isn't all about Mowgli trying to escape Shere Khan. In the book, the arrogant man cub makes out really well with his courage and animal wisdom.

And aside from that, Kipling tells the story of other heroic animals like Rikki Tikki the mongoose and Kotick, the white seal. You might have seen a seal at a beach or at the zoo, but have you ever wondered where they can go and what amazing things they can do? Maybe you do now. If so, you should read The Jungle Book.

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

I had a really good week, thanks this high fantasy classic. While immersive and perfectly paced, The Last Unicorn satisfied every itch. Every sentence gripped my heart and wrung from it emotions I couldn't will myself to feel. Someplace between tragedy, hilarity, beauty, and wonder lies The Last Unicorn. It doesn't matter what kind of thing you like to read. This book will probably revive your love of the fantastical.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

I think Ursula LeGuin recommended this classic in her Steering the Craft book on writing narratives. I wonder if people who take British Literature have to read Jane Eyre. Maybe I should find out. I think it was a good read, so far as I could tell. You might call her prose Aristocratic, and I think it was all somewhat goth. Perhaps the greatest aspect of it was in Brontë's incredible vocabulary.

Jane, modeled after her writer, went to a very strict school for girls, and came out very religious and disciplined, probably a better person for it all. Then comes the love story, which is fine as far as love stories go. It's hard to approve of Jane's choice of man, since her story takes place in a time when most men were probably worse for their disposition. But he was an extremely eloquent guy, nearly as verbose as Frankenstein's monster.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

My older sister had to read this over the summer, before her first semester of college. I went to the same school, but don't remember being assigned anything. They probably just forgot to tell me. Shelley's Frankenstein isn't the monster mashing romp I had expected it to be, though I did see the movie, so the book didn't throw me for a total loop.

The story mostly focuses on Victor, the man named Frankenstein. He hates his creation, because it is ugly, so ugly it is rejected by all society. If not for his appearances, you'd think the monster would be able to easily integrate himself into society. He's remarkably loquacious for a monster, with deep opinions about the popular books of his day, and is a master of watercraft. I won't spoil you with details over which blank characters get mashed in what order. You will probably forget, anyway.