A surprise skip-the-line I wasn't expecting, and much better than Practical Magic in my opinion—although I LOVE the movie with Nicole Kidman and SandrA surprise skip-the-line I wasn't expecting, and much better than Practical Magic in my opinion—although I LOVE the movie with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock.
This book has everything you could want from a book about magic: Strong women, love, animal familiars, long journeys, challenges overcome, and beautiful settings in historic times.
Rare case in which I’m actually glad I watched the AMC series first.
Timing plays such a large part in how much I enjoy a book, and The Terror ended uRare case in which I’m actually glad I watched the AMC series first.
Timing plays such a large part in how much I enjoy a book, and The Terror ended up being a perfect "in-between" book for me. I was very sick over the weekend, and it provided the perfect escape/distraction to a far off arctic expedition.
At times, the book was a little slow and I feel the classification of "horror" for this book is a bit of a stretch. More like mild suspense/mystery. Yes, there is a creature killing off the men as they are stuck in the ice, but it wasn't a scary read at all. The screen adaptation did a nice job playing up the intensity, although I didn't find the show particularly scary either, just creepy and bloody.
The very last portion of the book dealt more with traditions/beliefs of the native people of the Arctic Circle and was probably my favorite part. Overall, I feel The Terror could have been a five star book if it had clocked in at 500-ish pages instead of 769—still, it was entertaining.
*Based loosely off the true story of the 1845, Sir John Franklin Expedition.*
My favorite quote of the book wasn't actually Simmons at all, but a quote from Herman Melville's Moby Dick:
"This elusive quality it is, which causes the thought of whiteness, when divorced from more kindly associations, and coupled with any object terrible in itself, to heighten that terror to the furthest bounds. Witness the white bear of the poles, and the white shark of the tropics; what but their smooth, flaky whiteness makes them the transcendent horrors that they are? That ghastly whiteness it is which imparts an abhorrent mildness, even more loathsome than terrific, to the dumb-gloating of their aspect. So that not the fierce-fanged tiger in his heraldic coat can so stagger courage as the white-shrouded bear or shark."
[image] Man Proposes, God Disposes: an 1864 oil-on-canvas painting by Edwin Landseer inspired by the search for Franklin’s lost expedition which disappeared in the Arctic after 1845.
(view spoiler)[The Tuunbaq is a monstrous spirit bear which appears both in the novel and AMC TV series The Terror: [image] (hide spoiler)]...more
What can I say? This book is unique and unlike anything I've ever read!
For the first half of the book, I kept having to double check the title, I thoWhat can I say? This book is unique and unlike anything I've ever read!
For the first half of the book, I kept having to double check the title, I thought it was MR. Hancock. A slow reveal, the mermaid is also not quite what you're probably expecting.
Which is great! Set in 1785 the book is very atmospheric. Lots of ladies of pleasure, petticoats, and lifestyle elements.
The magical, ephemeral writing laces an intricate tale, guaranteed to entertain.
"Touch me again with your speaking. The hectic crowded feeling of being: I would drink it all in. Brimming with things that swell, and make me flip over on myself: elation and jealousy and spasms of love."
"First I sink, Then I trickle, Then I rush. I am here; and here; and here. I touch this surface and also that. I mingle, I quiver with a thousand voices, and all these voices my own. I am a great tumble of motion which torrents all in unison. And learning and knowing are the same, and I am a mite, and we are all the space allowed to us. And if I am made of grief, well! Here is joy, and if I am made a fury, here is peace. Rush, rush, we rush, a sparkling stream through rock and moss, deep in the cold stone of the earth. No daylight here, no dying breaths to catch up. We rush young and bright, and ever-widening, and these bitter atoms are lost in new-minted freshness. We hasten, hasten, onward to the boundless sea." ...more
Guaranteed to induce nostalgia for elementary school afternoons spent playing Oregon Trail in the computer lab.
Fort Laramie, fording the river, brokeGuaranteed to induce nostalgia for elementary school afternoons spent playing Oregon Trail in the computer lab.
Fort Laramie, fording the river, broken axels, and carrying food back to camp — this reads like the book version of the video game, with Stephen King spice, and the Donner Party all tied together.
Tamsen Donner is at the center of the story, a mysterious woman with secrets and in-depth knowledge of herbs and homemade remedies. She was intoxicating and enigmatic.
"Her fingers were cool on his cheek and smelled of a wild perfume he couldn't name, like crushed flower petals and the wind through the prairie."
Katsu uses all the real names of the actual Donner Party, and succeeds in anchoring the story in an atmospheric time capsule.
Overall a *fun* (?) take on a historical tragedy, with some hints of otherworldly monsters, driven by a hunger they cannot control.
"—and he found in that second not a sense of freedom and release but a sense of falling backward."...more
*2020 UPDATE* — Have been thinking about this book lately for some reason, it's almost like a James Bond movie. Might have to revisit this one (and al*2020 UPDATE* — Have been thinking about this book lately for some reason, it's almost like a James Bond movie. Might have to revisit this one (and all of Clavell's books) at some point. ____________
I read this one last, and it took me a long time to really get into it. Set in Iran, I was a little put off ... until I caught on about the helicopters, lovers, spies, fanatics, revolutionaries, friends and betrayers — another carefully woven masterpiece....more
History rich, a deeper look into the Western presence in Japan, 1862. Dangerous, lots of blood, samurais, spies, prostitutes - another well crafted maHistory rich, a deeper look into the Western presence in Japan, 1862. Dangerous, lots of blood, samurais, spies, prostitutes - another well crafted masterpiece. The building tension between the Japanese and the foreigners ... couldn't put it down the last half. ...more
To be honest, this was my least favorite James Clavell book. Set in a WWII POW camp ... it's easily the darkest of all his books, although each are peTo be honest, this was my least favorite James Clavell book. Set in a WWII POW camp ... it's easily the darkest of all his books, although each are permeated with their own sadness or tragedy.
However, if I'd bothered to know that the book is "—a description informed by Clavell's own three-year experience as a prisoner in the notorious Changi Prison camp. One of the major characters, Peter Marlowe, is based upon Clavell's younger self." -- I may have appreciated it more. ...more
Slightly biased towards this book as it was recommended to me while I live in Taiwan, and was my first James Clavell read. Went on to read every one oSlightly biased towards this book as it was recommended to me while I live in Taiwan, and was my first James Clavell read. Went on to read every one of his books after this first introduction.
Historic pirates and their intricate lives in the Orient. ...more
Epic. I teared up a little, but I have in all Clavell's books. This one is definitely at the top, and also one of Tim Ferriss's favorite books. Epic. I teared up a little, but I have in all Clavell's books. This one is definitely at the top, and also one of Tim Ferriss's favorite books. ...more
"For a moment everything was clear, and when that happens you see that the world is barely there at all. Don't we all secretly know this? It's a perfe"For a moment everything was clear, and when that happens you see that the world is barely there at all. Don't we all secretly know this? It's a perfectly balanced mechanism of shouts and echoes pretending to be wheels and cogs, a dreamclock chiming beneath a mystery-glass we call life. ... A universe of horror and loss surrounding a single lighted stage where mortals dance in defiance of the dark."
11/22/63, Steven King
A bit macabre, but hands down the best book I've read yet this year; rounding out the list with "The Martian," and, "The Girl on the Train."
Loading...
