Books

As most of you probably remember, I wrote a review on Jurassic Park a while ago.  Its author, Michael Crichton, passed away on November 4, 2008. 

When I heard the news, I was devastated.  Mr. Crichton was one of my absolute favorite authors.  He wrote dramatically while being simple.  He was scientific yet understandable.  His books are suspenseful and engrossing.  His characters are alive and believable. 

I have read the following Crichton books: The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Airframe, Next, Prey, and Sphere.  Each book was stuffed to the brim with relevant technology that transported me to a setting where the story he was telling was probably fiction…but…it could just maybe happen…

I found The Andromeda Strain to be the most scientifically engrossing but the least exciting plot-wise.

Jurassic Park is one of my favorite books of all time.

The Lost World was a disappointment to me.  I view it as a publicity stunt to match the movie sequels. 

Airframe is a fabulous book.  Business mixes with science mixes with corruption and intrigue.

Next was not my favorite.  The characters were wonderful but I did not enjoy the plot of the jumpiness of the scenes.

Prey was terrifying and not altogether pleasant to read, but thrilling.  When I was done reading it, I wasn’t sure whether I liked it or not, so I read it again.

I am currently re-reading Sphere in memorium.  It is one of my favorite Crichton books; a true psychological thriller coupling fantasy with imagination. 

Even though I personally did not like a few of his books, every single one had characteristics common to Crichton’s writing.  Every single one contains his unique style of dialogue.  Every single one has the escalation points which compel the reader to grip the book in her hands and push her eyes to read faster.  Every book by Michael Crichton redefines the “thriller” genre.

I encourage you to share with me your favorite Crichton books and why.  Tell me which ones to read, and share in my tribute to this amazing author. 

Hailed as “the greatest love story of our time,” (according to the back cover) Gone With the Wind is an intimidating, 1024-paged book dealing with the mishaps and misadventures of Scarlett O’Hara in Civil-War era Georgia.             

Scarlett is spunky, cool, and calculating.  She is the belle of three counties with uncountable beaux (get used to that word; it comes about once a chapter at least) and the envy of every girl in the state.  She is used to getting what she wants, so it comes as a huge surprise to her when her object of infatuation, Ashley Wilkes, becomes engaged to another girl.           

The mindless lusts of a teenager provoke the internal conflict that Scarlett faces throughout all 1024 pages of the book.  Her obsession can get tiring at times, especially with the entrance of the dashing Rhett Butler (I dare you to show me a girl who is not hopelessly in love with him by the end of the book).             

Mitchell’s story is a wonderfully painted picture of Civil War era Georgia, with its aristocracy, sprawling plantations, fierce kinships, and personalities of the time.  I thoroughly enjoyed her description of the tough old ladies whose devotion to the Confederate cause never dies.  The book is both absorbing and instructive—I consider myself an expert on a Southerner’s view of the Reconstruction now.           

I don’t know if boys will like Gone With the Wind as much as girls will…but I encourage all young adults to read it!!           

Besides, Twilight fans will need something to keep their minds off the upcoming movie (and no, I am not going to see it).

Even though summer is over, it’s not too late to find a good beach book and read it.  TTYL is one such book, comfortably airheaded and delightfully sincere, that provides everything a good beach book is. 

Myracle writes in the manner of instant messaging, which provides her characters with frank personalities and attitudes.  One thing I love about this book (series, actually.  TTYL, TTFN, and L8R, G8R) is how each character is individual and real in herself.  Angela (SnowAngel) is spunky, boy-crazy, and sparkly.  Maddie (madmaddie) is tough, independent, and rebellious.  Zoe (zoegirl) is quiet, introverted, and ambitious.  These three “Winsome Threesome” are diverse enough to appeal to any range of readers.

Throughout the book, each girl gets herself into a series of scrapes.  Battling boys, teachers, and the “Queen Bee,” Angela, Maddie and Zoe learn that friendship is tough, but being friendless is tougher.  This sort of story makes me want to curl up with a bowl of ice cream and tell all my friends how much I love them.  Be warned: Boys may not appreciate this series as much as girls will. 

For added fun, read it out loud with two of your bestest buds.

In response to the many, many, many, many comments I have received about my harsh review of Twilight, I decided to read and review The Host by the same author.  I expected, from the first few pages, to be bored with melodramatic actions and clingy heroines.

I was almost right.  The melodramatics are very present in The Host, but the characters are real enough to distract me from that.  I read over 200 pages in an hour and a half, and came up for air breathless.  I was shocked to find that, as hard as I pretended that I didn’t, I was enjoying the book.

It is long.  It is very long.  619 pages, a full 2.5 days to read, and really no good place to put it down to pick up in the morning.  Even the boring parts (and there are long stages of boring parts) have an undercurrent of electricity running through them, just enough to make me keep turning the pages.

I finished the book this morning, after staying up past 1 for the last 2 nights to read.  Needless to say, I am very tired.  However, I am not too tired to point out the book’s flaws.  Meyer has grown as a writer since penning Twilight, but she is still overly dramatic and emotional.  In this book, that works, because when a book is over 600 pages long, a little excitement is necessary to keep the reader interested.

The pretense is interesting enough, and her character development is superb.  I’m not turning into a Stephenie Meyer über fan, but I am willing to suspend my doubts about her for the time being. 

The Host was good.

For the more fantasy-inclined but less Lord of the Rings inclined, I have a series that is both engaging and complicated.  Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series consists of five books: Over Sea, Under Stone, The Dark is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, and Silver on the Tree. 

While the books deal with the rather trite metaphysical battle between Light and Dark, Cooper’s look at it varies somewhat from the likes of Harry Potter vs Voldemort, Good vs Evil.  For Cooper, the Light is as hard a master as the Dark, and there is no imminent reward for joining the Light.  The two sides can never ultimately triumph over each other, and the war between them costs lives, property, and time.

Cooper’s novels focus on four characters: three siblings, Barney, Jane, and Simon, and Will Stanton, the last of the Old Ones, an ageless branch of people destined to battle the dark.  Barney, Jane, and Simon are mortals drawn into the battle by their own curiosity and a family friend, Merriman Lyon, who is of the same kind as Will.  (They call him “Merry” for short, so say “Merry Lyon” five times fast and see what you come up with.)

The Dark has…well…dark characters on its side, from the sinister Rider to the ancient power of the Brenin Llywd.  However, these characters never inspire the utter hatred of their readers, for their humanness reacts with their agelessness to inspire a confusing sort of feeling, both of disgust and pity.  Doomed to be creatures of the Dark, yet full of a passion for their destiny, both the enemy and the protagonists are caught in the swirling winds of fate.

Cooper’s writing style can drag on a bit.  The books are older, written in the 1970’s, and take place in England.  Cooper enjoys description, especially of battles and such, which can be tiresome when all the reader wants is a swift battle, not a three page description of the lightning and the flood.  She does tend to drag some points across the page, but the real beauty of her words comes in the fleeting expressions of her characters: a look of longing on Merriman’s face, the confusion between being a normal boy and an Old One for Will, the innocence of the children.  Through this, Cooper makes her characters alive and living, even those who have no age.

If you couldn’t guess the wordplay behind Merriman’s name, “Merry Lyon” sounds like “Merlin” if you say it right.