This book is an update to the original Money, which I first bought and read when it came out in 1990, but which I spotted in the library and so thoughThis book is an update to the original Money, which I first bought and read when it came out in 1990, but which I spotted in the library and so thought I'd take another look at to see what had changed in the past 25 years.
Since the bulk of the book is historical, most of the layout remains unchanged; i.e., same photos in the same places.* But the text throughout the whole book has been both slightly enlarged and massively dumbed down, an apparent concession to today's generally dumber readership and lower educational standards. A few "before and after" examples:
Original text:
"This demon-dispelling Chinese coin sword was hung above the bed of a sick person to ward of eil spirits. Sometimes a coin-shaped exorcism charm (top right) was used instead. In Britain, monarchs gave sick subjects a gold coin (center) to help cure them. In Germany, silver medals like to one to the right were thought to protect a persona from the plague."
Updated text:
"This Chinese coin sword was meant to ward off evil spirits. British monarchs gave sick subjects gold coins to cure them. In Germany, silver medals prevented the plague."
Original text:
"Corfu and the other Ionian islands were for a long time the only parts of Greece to escae Turkish Ottoman rule. From 1402 until 1797 they were ruled by Venice, then passed briefly through the hands of France, Russia, Turkey and France again until 1815, when Britain took control. In 1863, they finally became a part of Greece."
Updated text:
"For a long time, Corfu and the other Ionian islands were the only parts of Greece to escae Turkish Ottoman rule. From 1402 until 1797 they were ruled by Venice. They became a part of Greece in 1863."
And so it goes for the whole book.
The new "Money for Dummies" text aside, there are a few major updates. The pages on how coins and banknotes have been updated, as there have been a lot of technology changes, particularly in banknotes (adding security threads to paper and/or going to plastic notes), and many of the pages on individual countries' money have been updated, largely to reflect the introduction of the Euro, (the overall books remains depressingly Western-centric, with 22 pages dedicated to Europe and the Americans, while Asia/Africa/Australia get a total of six).
If read by itself, this book remains a good introductory resource to the fascinating (to some at least) world and history of money. But when compared to the original, it represents another (albeit miniscule) sign of the overall decline of civilization.
* The only place where I spotted a swapped-out picture was next to a caption asking "Are you a miser?", because - the only reason I can think of - is the original illustration looked...maybe too Jewish? Anyway, found this an amusing bit of political correctness....more
First read this (and saw the Academy Award-winning movie) nearly 50 years ago, but then recently saw my son in a community theatre production down in First read this (and saw the Academy Award-winning movie) nearly 50 years ago, but then recently saw my son in a community theatre production down in New Market, Virginia (where he played Charlie's father) and was surprised by how much I had forgotten, and so thought i'd revisit the book.
While the larger story of Charlie Gordon is as touching and ultimately tragic as ever, parts of it haven't aged particularly well. The frequent use of "retard" and "moron" by the scientists themselves is jarring to today's ear; Charlie's rather bizarre explorations of his burgeoning sexuality seemed (to me at least) overly melodramatic if not downright bizarre; and the whole middle section seemed to be more preachy than dramatic.
But with the entire book presented as Charlie's self-written "progress reports," the first section where he morphs from a severely handicapped young man to a full on genius is well-handled, and then the final section where he loses it all again is genuinely heart-breaking. So while I don't feel this has held up as well as other books of that period dealing with similar subjects (I'm thinking right now of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), it probably still deserves its standing as a genuine classic. And so I'm leaving my original 4-star rating (based solely on my half-century-old memories) rather than drop it down to the 3 stars it probably more realistically deserves.
Merged review:
First read this (and saw the Academy Award-winning movie) nearly 50 years ago, but then recently saw my son in a community theatre production down in New Market, Virginia (where he played Charlie's father) and was surprised by how much I had forgotten, and so thought i'd revisit the book.
While the larger story of Charlie Gordon is as touching and ultimately tragic as ever, parts of it haven't aged particularly well. The frequent use of "retard" and "moron" by the scientists themselves is jarring to today's ear; Charlie's rather bizarre explorations of his burgeoning sexuality seemed (to me at least) overly melodramatic if not downright bizarre; and the whole middle section seemed to be more preachy than dramatic.
But with the entire book presented as Charlie's self-written "progress reports," the first section where he morphs from a severely handicapped young man to a full on genius is well-handled, and then the final section where he loses it all again is genuinely heart-breaking. So while I don't feel this has held up as well as other books of that period dealing with similar subjects (I'm thinking right now of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), it probably still deserves its standing as a genuine classic. And so I'm leaving my original 4-star rating (based solely on my half-century-old memories) rather than drop it down to the 3 stars it probably more realistically deserves....more
UPDATE: Just as funny the second time around, mainly because I'd forgotten pretty much everything, (since just like with movies, books really only stiUPDATE: Just as funny the second time around, mainly because I'd forgotten pretty much everything, (since just like with movies, books really only stick with me after a second reading).
West's skewering of some of America's most cherished movies - The Rock, Harry Potter, Terminator 2, Face/Off, Titanic - are consistently brutal but universally spot-on, (even accurately ripping those films that receive her highest rankings -"10 out of 10 DVDs of The Fugitive" - such as Jurassic Park, topped only by nonsensical 11/10 and 13/10 to Shawshank Redemption and The Fugitive respectively).
YES - Maverick is totally the villain in Top Gun, (where Iceman is the sole voice of professionalism and reason); and Back to the Future doesn't have a clue how genetics works, much less time travel!
An absolute must for any fan of cinema or inappropriate humor - let's just hope there's a sequel in the works!! _________________________________
ORIGINAL REVIEW: Funniest book I've read in a LONG time - thanks, Bookslut!
West is obviously of a different generation (and gender), so several of the movies reviewed - Garden State, Reality Bites, Twilight, even American Pie - are ones I've never seen (and the first two, never even heard of). But after reading these hilarious (and foul-mouthed) reviews, I'm sure gonna watch them all now!...more
Good, almost-standalone (you definitely need to read The List novella first, but don't really need to know "greater Slough House" - although I'm sure Good, almost-standalone (you definitely need to read The List novella first, but don't really need to know "greater Slough House" - although I'm sure this is no one's first exposure to Mick Herron) addition the world of the Slow Horses. Not quite sure where it fits in the overall chronology…will have to wait until one of the characters here inevitably arrives at Aldersgate Street, and then slot it in there.
Nicely plotted, but like the best le Carre, just a bit too complicated for my simple (or maybe just less devious) mind. I can pretty much wrap my head around double agents, but triples? "Wait a minute…so he/she is working for this team now, but really working for this one and just pretending to…okay, wait a minute…"
Do hope that in some of the future books, Herron lets his team get out of England and see a bit of the world - even River Cartwright's brief trip to France in Spook Street was a welcome respite from London, London and more London. But then I'd probably need at least 6 stars to rate those books. Anyhoo…I have to start rationing myself on these, or like any addict I'm gonna be pretty strung out when my source ultimately dries up…...more
UPDATE: Getting ready to read the next book in the series, so thought I should at least skim through this to refresh myself on just where we left off.UPDATE: Getting ready to read the next book in the series, so thought I should at least skim through this to refresh myself on just where we left off. But then, once I started I just had to read the whole thing again - or at least all the dialogue, which is some of the consistently sharpest and funniest in contemporary crime/spy fiction. Jackson Lamb is SUCH an a-hole...but also just a wonderful character, and Gary Oldman captures him perfectly in the Apple+ miniseries - hard to believe the same actor also played George Smiley just a couple of years ago!
ORIGINAL REVIEW: Mick Herron and his Slow Horses are at it again with yet another great combination of brilliant characters, razor-sharp dialogue and clever (if occasionally too clever) plotting. There's a great what the fuck?? surprise around the 50 page mark, and another big (though slightly less satisfying) one about 200 pages later. But there are also just a few too many convenient coincidences to give this the full 5 stars that so many of his other books have earned, as well as a second (after Dead Lions) over-reliance on "remnants of the Cold War" driving the plot.
"Slough House," Martha Wells' "Murderbot," and James S.A. Corey's "The Expanse" are the best fiction series presently out there IMHO; and both Slough House and The Expanse were adapted brilliantly to the small screen. Let's just hope Murderbot isn't far behind!
NIGGLING COMPLAINT: No points off, but listening to Spook Street as an audio, it wasn't until I read someone else's review that I realized the new SH is named "J.K. Coe," not "J.K. Ko" - which I initially thought was a second major Asian character with poor interpersonal skills, (not cool). Why in the world would Herron give two characters rhyming names, especially knowing that this would be unclear to audio listeners? Just seems unnecessary and very-easily avoidable…...more
UPDATE: On a bit of a re-read kick, and couldn't remember why I wasn't more impressed with this, having just thoroughly enjoyed Barry's Lexicon. So gaUPDATE: On a bit of a re-read kick, and couldn't remember why I wasn't more impressed with this, having just thoroughly enjoyed Barry's Lexicon. So gave it a quick run-through focusing on the multiverse plot sections* (and skipping the chapters where Madison gets repeatedly killed, since we all know how they're going to end), and it was better than I remembered. So instead of rounding up to 3 stars, I now give it 3.5 and round down - so overall rating unchanged, but overall impression considerably elevated. ORIGINAL REVIEW: Mildly disappointing story, especially after Barry's excellent Jennifer Government and almost-as-good Providence. Think there have just been a few too many similar portal/multiverse stories lately - The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, et al - and so this doesn’t really break any new territory…or at least not in the way his earlier books did. Also, each time our two protagonists pop up in a new world, Barry feels the need to add enough detail about their new lives to make it seem like they're someplace different - most of which is skimmable if not downright skippable.
Still, a nice and unexpected "coda" at the very end that earned it enough smiles to round up to a just-deserved 3 stars. _________________________________
* BTW, around pages 96-100 there's a nice quasi-academic (if unconvincing) discussion of how multiverse travel might wo, if anyone wants to just grab this at B&N for ten minutes or so - always fun to watch people try to explain the impossible....more
So far (i.e., only three books into the series), Herron has done an excellent job coming up with endlessly entertaining yet wildly differeOutstanding.
So far (i.e., only three books into the series), Herron has done an excellent job coming up with endlessly entertaining yet wildly different plotlines within what would appear to be relatively limited parameters - a half dozen or so disgraced (yet obviously still competent) MI-5 fuckups "going rogue" on the fringes of the British domestic intelligence service. In addition to his clever plots, each character is distinctly drawn and surprisingly sympathetic - although I have to say that nominal lead character Jackson Lamb is veering dangerously close to caricature, as he is here an even bigger slob, racist, sexist and - as seen in his final appearance with Katherine Standish - all-around shit than ever. (Of course, Herron's caricature of Boris Johnson - who was Foreign Secretary at the time - as evil Home Secretary "Peter Judd" was delightful and spot on, and I look for his continued appearance in future stories.)
The first two books could probably serve as stand-alones, but as this story ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger, I would strongly recommend reading them in order, (as well as just strongly recommend reading them period).
MINOR SPOILER: Towards the end, another main character escapes certain death at the hands of the same baddie twice due to unnecessary (if fairly short-winded) monologuing. Lesson here: in fiction as in life, when you have the shot, TAKE THE SHOT....more
Genuinely enjoyed this sequel, but couldn't quite give it four stars since that's what I gave the first book - The Murders of Molly Southbourne - whicGenuinely enjoyed this sequel, but couldn't quite give it four stars since that's what I gave the first book - The Murders of Molly Southbourne - which I couldn't quite give five, because...well, because.
While Murders worked as a stand-alone story (as all first stories should), this one definitely read as the second book in a planned trilogy - Thompson's "The Tamara Strikes Back," as it were. But that's not a bad thing, as it makes me really look forward to what in a perfect world should be the finale, The Legacy of Molly Southbourne (aka "Return of the Mollys"), due out in May 2022....more
Starts off with a great premise and held Really enjoyed Thompson's full length Far from the Light of Heaven, so was happy to find this one so quickly.
Starts off with a great premise and held my attention throughout, since as with Heaven, you never really knew where this was going next. However, IMHO the ending was just a little rushed and didn't quite nail its landing. That said, I've upped my original review to four stars, as I just finished the "although-not-quite-as-good-as-the-first-one-it-still-deserves-a-three" sequel....more
ORIGINAL REVIEW: Another solid story from Max Barry, who I had never heard of before reading his equally strong Jennifer Government. With Providence,ORIGINAL REVIEW: Another solid story from Max Barry, who I had never heard of before reading his equally strong Jennifer Government. With Providence, Barry gives us a 21st Century update on old-school science fiction, the type that plows right past the impossible physics of wormhole-type “skipping” and instantaneous communications between Earth and deep space so it can get right to the meat of the story - space war against lizard/bug alien hordes!
Barry avoids one of the dumbest and most common mistakes in such tales – the unbridgeable gap between unevolved and uncommunicative alien critters who basically run around naked going ”Ack! Ack!” (or in this case, "Pak! Pak!"), yet have somehow still developed the advanced space and weapons technologies to pose a threat to the galaxy – by keeping his “salamanders” decidedly low- or even no-tech. They are simply a primitive but murderous race whose hives float through space destroying whatever they come across. As such, these are no “different-but-equal-and-so-we-only-have-to-understand-them” insectoids (as in Ender’s Game or the film “Alien Mine”); no, these are the “so-different-we-need-to-destroy-them-all” kind found in “Starship Troopers,” “Independence Day,” and the “Alien” movies.
Unlike Jennifer's large and globe-hopping cast, Providence's enormous yet claustrophobic ship holds a crew of just four, whose personalities, behaviors and backstories continue to develop throughout the book in ways that are both believable and yet ultimately surprising. The unnamed ship* itself serves as the book’s fifth main character – but to say more would have to include major spoilers.
While not contributing anything genuinely new to the genre – seriously, how often can that still be done? - Providence, like Jennifer, was an exciting, escapist and unputdownable joyride. Highly recommended for fans of Star Trek, Star Wars and other “pew! pew!” sci-fi.
RE-READ UPDATE: After a few disappointing space operas recently, I very much wanted to read something I knew would be good, and this book DID NOT DISAPPOINT. In fact, I liked it even better this time around; and so going against my normal rule I'm actually bumping it up to the full five. Not only was it a straight-up (if old school) page turner, but the character development was really well planned out, so that (view spoiler)[despite frequent questioning of why these particular four persons were selected as a crew by the massive AI that dominates much of the story, by the end each character became exactly the person they needed to be in order to do what they needed to do. (hide spoiler)]. A real tour de force of anticipatory - but not clumsily foreshadowed - plotting. Just outstanding. _________________________________
* Unlike what some reviews claim, the ship is not named "Providence;" it is one of several "Providence-class" ships built to defeat the salamanders. Pak! Pak!!...more
I'm sure it's intentional at this point: Martha Wells is having a lot of fun deciding what type of story to stick our favorite SecUnit Murderbot, P.I.
I'm sure it's intentional at this point: Martha Wells is having a lot of fun deciding what type of story to stick our favorite SecUnit into next. If Artificial Condition was structured like a classic Western, and Rogue Protocol played out like a multi-level videogame, then Fugitive Telemetry is her (largely successful) attempt at a "whodunit" murder mystery. As such, this book has less real action than the previous stories - but that makes it even more of an "ohboy-ohboy-ohboy" moment when on page 122, Murderbot finally says:
Yeah, not we, me. I said, "This is the part that's my job."
That said, despite the 4 stars this was one of my least favorite books in the series. Murderbot's "voice" -what made him such a unique character in the first place - is beginning to sound forced or at least overused here. The endless sarcasm, too frequent parenthetical asides (inside other parenthetical asides (inside still MORE parenthetical asides)...), etc., at times take you out of the story rather than draw you further in. But this being Murderbot, being my "least favorite in the series" doesn't mean this isn't still a great story.
Chronologically, Telemetry takes place after Exit Strategy but before the novel-length Network Effect. As such, I am still waiting for the true "next" Murderbot story, which hopefully will expand on the open-ended situation and new characters (Amena, Three, even 2.0) in Network. So overall, Telemetry was filler - great, popcorn-movie filler - but now it's time to get on with the real show!...more
UPDATE: Am getting deeper into and really enjoying the Netflix show, which mid-Season 1 is already mixing in storylines from both the first and secondUPDATE: Am getting deeper into and really enjoying the Netflix show, which mid-Season 1 is already mixing in storylines from both the first and second books. Very helpful to have reread all three books at this point; but I gotta say, this third volume is my least favorite of the three - too many different plot threads, too much bang-bang-zoom-zoom-punch-punch, and too big a cliffhanger without giving us Volume 4 a full three years later. But still good, and I'm looking forward to watching the full series, (which I understand already goes way beyond the books).
ORIGINAL REVIEW: I'd never heard of these books much less the Netflix show (already two seasons in), but our library recommended the first book so I got into that one and...well, here I am, like four days later, done with all three volumes and confused out of my fuckin' mind.
As there are only three books so far, I thought this would wrap up nicely as a limited series, but this last book didn't finish anything AT ALL. So I'm hoping a new one comes out at some point - if by whenever that is I'm still interested.
The "UA" world is kind of like an R-rated DC universe, or maybe The Avengers on LSD. Anyways, this thing is just bizarre - it starts out with Zombie Robot Gustave Eiffel and gets stranger from there - and at least to my reading, kind of disjointed. Every time I turned a page I had to make sure I wasn't turning two, because it usually seemed like there were things going on that I should probably know about, but obviously don't. Maybe this is just a generational thing, and my linear boomer thinking just can't follow this kind of scattershot storytelling. (I was also binging HBO's excellent "The Watchmen" this week, so between the two my head is really spinning...)
My favorite characters in the books (and apparently Netflix fan favorites as well) are the very Jules & Vincent-esque "Hazel and Cha-Cha," hip black-suited psycho killers* who just happen to look like blue and pink furries instead of Jackson and Travolta. Sadly, their role is far too limited - but they definitely deserve their own spinoff.
[image]
Final note - realizing that author Gerard Way was also the frontman for the band My Chemical Romance helped make some sense of things, especially after I'd rewatched the music video for "Welcome to the Black Parade" - I can at least now see where the books' frenetic energy comes from. Anyway, if you haven't seen it in a while (or ever), enjoy! (BTW, this has to be one of the last videos shot in the old 4:3 format, rather than widescreen like everything else since then)
Didn't remember a thing about these books, but as multiple people tell me "you have to watch the Netflix show!," thouSee combined review at Book #3...
Didn't remember a thing about these books, but as multiple people tell me "you have to watch the Netflix show!," thought I should reread these first. And while I don't see a lot of similarity between the show's plot and the books' yet (I'm only four episodes in), at least I'm understanding the stories a little better this time around!...more
(Re-read - again - as pre-read for the new System Collapse, with which I plan to start the new year. Still great, if still a bit confusing with the va(Re-read - again - as pre-read for the new System Collapse, with which I plan to start the new year. Still great, if still a bit confusing with the various Central System, DockSecSystem, targetContact and targetControlSystem entities - but that's robots for ya!)
RE-READ UPDATE: Made more sense the second time around, and considering that it brings back a favorite character from the past and introduces THREE great new characters (and note that only one of those four is human), am upping my rating to the full 5.
Would definitely recommend any Murderbot fans similarly re-read this one before the November release of the next book, System Collapse, as it looks to be another full-length novel (vs. the earlier novella format) that is a direct sequel to Network Effect. In fact, if you look at the cover of System, that giant spidery thing in the background looks like one of the "ag-bots" which features in Network.
INTERESTING GENERAL OBSERVATION: Didn't notice this earlier (I can be slow that way), but Wells' frequent incorporation of ancient and little-understood "alien remnants" and "strange synthetics" in her stories (without ever actually encountering aliens) seems very Strugatsky-esque. Not sure if intentional, but I can't imagine it NOT being... __________________________________
ORIGINAL REVIEW: There is almost nothing you can say about the story here that isn't a spoiler on some level; so I will only say that while the plot (pretty much by necessity) once again involves a surly Murderbot saving more "stupid humans," Wells does so with her usual combo of brilliant dialogue and fully-developed cast (both human and otherwise), bringing back some fan favorites as well as introducing some wonderful new characters - one of whom only appears in the third act but delightfully reminds us why we loved Murderbot in the first place.
While the plot isn't overly original, Wells does enjoy playing with story construction here, offering some apparent back-and-forth time cuts (that only make sense at the end) and introducing multiple narrators (also near the end). So it really pays off to read at least the last third pretty slowly to make sure you really follow what's going on, especially when things start getting a little bogged down in software hacks and virus attacks.
Next book in the series, Fugitive Telemetry, comes out in April, and I can hardly wait. Network ends with a bit of a new direction for Murderbot, so hopefully that will help avoid the usual pitfalls of "series fatigue." But at the same time, I also hope we haven't seen the last of Amena, Three, and maybe even 2.0!
ORIGINAL REVIEW: Very cool concept and great writing/storytelling for the first two-thirds, before sadly sinking into "Mad Max/Magnificent Seven" postORIGINAL REVIEW: Very cool concept and great writing/storytelling for the first two-thirds, before sadly sinking into "Mad Max/Magnificent Seven" post-apocalyptic Western cliché for a disappointing third act. But up to that point, a solid 5 stars, and so am gonna round the whole thing up to a generous 4.
Don't think I've ever read a book that was ALL robots before, not a human in sight (except for a few sad flashbacks). Cargill does a good job creating a range of personalities for his various bots - perhaps too good at times, as they start sounding more and more good-ol-boy human and less convincingly AI as the story goes on.
Midway through, there's a fascinating chapter (10101; they're numbered in binary) that lays out a scarily convincing argument of why Artificial Intelligence in some form is the inevitable next step in "human" evolution. To summarize (albeit poorly), it concludes that biological mankind will always be confined to the Earth or its immediate neighbors due to (among other things) bio-killing cosmic radiation, and so the only way we can ever reach the stars before we completely exhaust our limited terrestrial resources is to move towards non-organic "life" that is immune to the ravages of both age and deep-space radiation. Of course, the corollary of this is that any alien life already out exploring the universe must then by definition also be artificial; and so if we are ever to interact with (or stand up to) it, we need to become that ourselves. Makes a pretty (if depressingly) sound case for humanity being just a mid-point on the way to realizing our true "God-nature," and well worth a read in itself.
Don't know why I've dove so deep into robots lately - I've been rereading all the Murderbot novellas in preparing to tackle the stand-alone novel, and also just watched the surprisingly good (if stupidly titled) new Terminator movie, "Terminator: Dark Fate," (great fun watching both Arnold and Linda Hamilton back in charge). Which made me realize that Sea of Rust could actually take place in a "Terminator" or "I Robot" universe in which the robots actually win for once - kinda neat.
Oh, and also a cool cover!!
UPDATE: Wow, had exactly the same response this time around - down to both the "Mad Max/Magnificent Seven" comparison and my thoughts on the depressing but increasingly-unavoidable conclusion that AI is the future of mankind, as humans continue to exhaust the planet's resources and yet ware seemingly physically unable to really ever reach for the stars. Book is worth reading for that section alone...
Listened to it this time rather, but frankly enjoyed the print version more - but the narrator (Eva Kaminsky, I think) was just too perky for both the character of Brittle and the overall feel of the story....more
From its wryly ironic title and clever first-person “mystery” narrator through the various horrific (yet somehow matter-of-fact) “therapy group” revelFrom its wryly ironic title and clever first-person “mystery” narrator through the various horrific (yet somehow matter-of-fact) “therapy group” revelations, this was one delightfully disturbing little shop of horrors. In fact, the first 150 pages were so shockingly unique that its concluding “action movie set-piece” couldn’t help but be somehow a little too mainstream by comparison. But still, a slashing good time, and I’d be happy to read further stories starring any one of Gregory’s bizarre group of misfits....more
UPDATE: Much to my relief, just as good the second time around. Am finally ready for the sequel, Interference, but thought I should reread this first UPDATE: Much to my relief, just as good the second time around. Am finally ready for the sequel, Interference, but thought I should reread this first - and very glad I did, because I had forgotten so many of the story details. If you're into reasonable length, world-building sci-fi, then do yourself a favor.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: Another outstanding, character-driver entry from Tor, increasingly the go-to publisher for new and great science fiction, (i.e., Murderbot).
Other reviews go into plot and Burke's excellent world-building, (which certainly is impressive). But what I don't see mentioned anywhere else is how - at least to me - this seemed like almost an homage-like update of Ray Bradbury's classic Martian Chronicles, in that at least the first half of the book is a series of separate-yet-connected stories/chapters on the human settling of an alien world, with each story separated by time, characters and theme (a social drama, an adventure, a murder mystery!). The second half is then one long tale, but here again each chapter is narrated by different characters as either the emphasis changes or a narrator is killed off.
So yeah - excellent, excellent book and a solid 5-star recommend. So good in fact, that now I'm almost afraid to read the sequel, as I'm not sure if it will live up to the original or be more of a "Matrix Revolutions" or - God forbid - "Reloaded."...more
UPDATE: Finally got Netflix, and so finally got to watch the movie version of "Bird Box," and so made me want to reread Malorie, since I frankly rememUPDATE: Finally got Netflix, and so finally got to watch the movie version of "Bird Box," and so made me want to reread Malorie, since I frankly remembered very little of the plot.
Will stick with my original review below, but am more guardedly optimistic than I was at the time (pre-2020 election), as hopefully we now have the sort of responsible (if still frustratingly divided) leadership neeeded to bring the still-ongoing pandemic to some sort of resolution.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: Nice 3.5 star page-turning sequel, although a few too many coincidences of timing to give it the same 4 stars as the original. What really sent chills up my spine, however, was just how much this book is unintentionally relevant to our current situation:
"She wants so badly to be sixteen like sixteen used to be. It sounds like it was once an incredible thing, a magical thing, being a kid. Hanging out with other kids your age."
...and...
"Malorie would say that so long as the creatures remain here, the world must wear a blindfold. But Tom would argue that eventually someone is going to figure out a way to beat them."
Swap out "virus" for "creatures" and "mask" for "blindfold," and you have COVID-19. A world forever changed, fading memories of a lost innocence that will probably never be fully recovered. So depending on how well you're dealing with America during coronavirus, this is either a book you may really want to read or really want to avoid.
In the story, Malorie has worn a blindfold for sixteen years - sixteen years! Will we be wearing masks that long? Personally, I believe not: I believe in the science, I believe if we look for a solution - and elect some responsible leadership - we will beat this pandemic, (although not without some indelible scars).
I will wear my mask as long as necessary. But I refuse the blindfold....more
Man, this was bleak. Depressing to learn that Australia has an equally unforgivable past in how it treated its indigenous people as we have here in thMan, this was bleak. Depressing to learn that Australia has an equally unforgivable past in how it treated its indigenous people as we have here in the States. This book also includes two of the most purely evil characters I can ever remember reading about; the one almost seductive in his charming devilry, and the other even worse since his own particular evil is so banal and obliviously self-centered. You'd really have to read the book to understand them - although I'm reluctant to actually recommend it to anyone in these complicated times, because again, it is just DARK.
But that said, beautifully written, and with an excellent narration by David Linski, who manages to make each Australian accent still sound unique. So would definitely consider reading whatever Howarth comes up with next - as long as it's even just a little lighter in tone....more
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