I would like to think that I read this book to gain an insight into the horrors of war, and walked away with a understanding that changed my outlook on violence and how senseless it can be. Unfortunately I am far to jaded for that so at most this satisfied my schadenfreude and left me with a slight impression of "That was a fucked up story." It feels wrong to say that I enjoyed the book, however I can't think of a appropriate synonym.......maybe appreciated......oh well.
For the uninitiated this is a book about one soldier that is injured in World War I, however in the light of his injuries, the word seems to pall in comparison to the reality of what happened to the protagonist. The extent of his injuries I will let the reader explore, however it is suffice to say that it has left him cut off from the world he knew, and he now has much time and more for his thoughts. This for me was not a book about war, it was as much a book about a castaway (honestly as the story plays out castaway is a very good word for what happens to the main character.) This is a story of slow madness, and horrific realizations. If you were to go looking for this book you will find what happened
right out in the description, however I believe that took some of the
impact away from the realization. This is first person story so I was numbed somewhat to elements of the story as I had already known of them. If possible read this book with no prior knowledge other than the time frame, I believe it will make a better experience for you.I highly recommend it, however it may not be for the faint of heart, the concept of what happens is a shock and it is hard not to imagine what you would do in the same situation.Now that I think back on reading this book, it encouraged me to read more; in case this ever occurred to me I want a library that I can access any time.
I would recommend this for reading when the sun is out and on a beautiful day, anywhere or anytime else will just leave you in a bleak state of mind. Go get your gun, just be prepared for the bang.
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin
First let me start with a warning, this review will most likely contain spoilers, if I get into a groove about part of the story I may let something slip. So if you have not read all five books thus far of the series, continue at your own risk..... And now for the review, books 2-5 of A Song of Ice and Fire George R. R. Martin.
I am doing this review as one because at this time its a little hard to separate the novels plots in my mind completely. Part of this is because like many I have come to the party a bit late, motivated by the HBO series Game of Thrones, I set out to read these books. You may have noticed that I am only reviewing books 2-5, this is because after seeing the first season I could read the first book, all the suspense and build up was ruined. So I carried on and went to the second book, and thus I plowed through the entire series and a couple of months and since there was no space of years between the books its all one unending story to me. To give you an idea of what my opinion is of this series let me first state, Read this series! Just coming out and saying it, this series is fantastic! Really it has something for every reader, fantasy, political intrigue, action, mystery, all is in this series. It contains some of the most complex characters that I have ever read. Usually first impressions of characters tend to stick with me to become my opinion of them. However most of the characters in this save a stubborn few have revealed different aspects of themselves that have reshaped mt opinions of them. From the beginning to the end this series is not one to miss.
The first piece of advice that I would give is to not become attached to any characters, Martin tends to yank the rug out from under you in this respect as soon as you become attached to a character, the body count of characters with extensive back-stories is staggering. Take the pater familias that is Eddard Stark, he was a favorite of mine in the series and how shocked was I that he was then executed. Thus began the series of deaths that made me cringe with the erasure of these characters future hopes, especally for the Stark family. This does lend to the feeling of being a witness to events of the series however, so that you can not form a likely narrative in your own mind on how or where the story will progress, I personally like feeling this off balance, to not know in fiction is a novelty that I rarely come upon these days. The books are filled with events that carry you off balance and keep you wanting more, and I suppose that it would be best to speak on them all individually.
A Clash of Kings : This is a great follow up to A Game of Thrones. Picking up immediately, it follows the war that the realm has brought upon itself. I love the increased role that Tyrion Lannister has in this novel, he has become my favorite character. This book introduces some new characters of course such as Davos Seaworth, the Onion Knight. The events in this book are amazing and the jockeying for position that happened in and around Kings Landing are enough to make you forget who is the enemy to those involved and who is a friend. Ending on a great battle that leaves you wanting more. As a note to those that have only seen the HBO series, I give my strong recommendation, nay, plea to read this book. It goes into so much more detail key events that have either been glossed over or rewritten entirely. I am not happy with the second season of Game of Thrones, they took liberties with the source material that made no logical sense to me. I can understand if it was time, or impossible due to show vs describe, but they made changes that could and should have been shown , talked about , or described in the series. Please read this book if you like the series, the motivations of the characters becomes so much more clear.
A Storm of Swords : This is my favorite book of the series. So much happens in it to allow one to become completely hooked with where the story is going to go. Much of this unbalance is to do with the final realization that no one in this series is safe from the Reaper. We finally get to see some more of characters that become larger portions of the story, and the narrative is so much better for it. This is also the novel whee my opinions about some characters I thought were utter bastards are reshaped. I began to really understand the motivations and empathize with their place in this world and their lives. I was made both very happy and very sad by the events of this book, and few stories can cause such emotional dissonance, thus as I said this my favorite book of the series thus far. This is not to say however that it is all down hill, the other books are great, just this is my favorite.
A Feast for Crows : If the last book was my personal high for the series, then this is my low. The series has so many virtues that the complaints I have seem more whining than anything else, however they nag me a bit and I cant recommend something with out full disclosure of my experience. The books are long, and that enables the development of complex characters and plots that I mentioned earlier, and allows for a living breathing world to be described. However some characters are less essential and this book is full of them. For the most part this book is centered around a squabble on Pyke, it really doesn't hold my interest, it sets up some new characters that then only a fraction of which do anything of import. Martin stated that this is a story that is to be read as if it is the first part of a novel, with A Dance with Dragons fleshing out the other half. I can not get invested in most of this book. There are opinions that this can be skipped as a book, I say that it still needs to be read but upon repeated readings it can be skipped, or at least skimmed. So I would say read it and get onto the next installment.
A Dance with Dragons : This is a definite improvement over the last book. We finally get to reconnect with those characters that we have been worried about all this time. The events in this are fantastic, however for myself I was enthralled by everything that happened at or north of the wall. The story that is outlined here brings many conclusions from earlier into question. Also the ending is a cliffhanger that makes me sympathize with those that have been waiting for books for all these years. I am now one of the legion of fans that are early awaiting the next installment.
As I have stated this is a great series! Read it at once if you are able and find out why the rest of us have gone crazy for it. Another word on the series, please read these books before viewing the show. The direction the show is going it will be a seperate story soon, the people in charge seem to be making changes for no particular reason that I can decern and show no sign of stopping. I wish you luck in reading all these, hopefully before the next season. I would read them quick Winter is Coming...
I am doing this review as one because at this time its a little hard to separate the novels plots in my mind completely. Part of this is because like many I have come to the party a bit late, motivated by the HBO series Game of Thrones, I set out to read these books. You may have noticed that I am only reviewing books 2-5, this is because after seeing the first season I could read the first book, all the suspense and build up was ruined. So I carried on and went to the second book, and thus I plowed through the entire series and a couple of months and since there was no space of years between the books its all one unending story to me. To give you an idea of what my opinion is of this series let me first state, Read this series! Just coming out and saying it, this series is fantastic! Really it has something for every reader, fantasy, political intrigue, action, mystery, all is in this series. It contains some of the most complex characters that I have ever read. Usually first impressions of characters tend to stick with me to become my opinion of them. However most of the characters in this save a stubborn few have revealed different aspects of themselves that have reshaped mt opinions of them. From the beginning to the end this series is not one to miss.
The first piece of advice that I would give is to not become attached to any characters, Martin tends to yank the rug out from under you in this respect as soon as you become attached to a character, the body count of characters with extensive back-stories is staggering. Take the pater familias that is Eddard Stark, he was a favorite of mine in the series and how shocked was I that he was then executed. Thus began the series of deaths that made me cringe with the erasure of these characters future hopes, especally for the Stark family. This does lend to the feeling of being a witness to events of the series however, so that you can not form a likely narrative in your own mind on how or where the story will progress, I personally like feeling this off balance, to not know in fiction is a novelty that I rarely come upon these days. The books are filled with events that carry you off balance and keep you wanting more, and I suppose that it would be best to speak on them all individually.
A Clash of Kings : This is a great follow up to A Game of Thrones. Picking up immediately, it follows the war that the realm has brought upon itself. I love the increased role that Tyrion Lannister has in this novel, he has become my favorite character. This book introduces some new characters of course such as Davos Seaworth, the Onion Knight. The events in this book are amazing and the jockeying for position that happened in and around Kings Landing are enough to make you forget who is the enemy to those involved and who is a friend. Ending on a great battle that leaves you wanting more. As a note to those that have only seen the HBO series, I give my strong recommendation, nay, plea to read this book. It goes into so much more detail key events that have either been glossed over or rewritten entirely. I am not happy with the second season of Game of Thrones, they took liberties with the source material that made no logical sense to me. I can understand if it was time, or impossible due to show vs describe, but they made changes that could and should have been shown , talked about , or described in the series. Please read this book if you like the series, the motivations of the characters becomes so much more clear.
A Storm of Swords : This is my favorite book of the series. So much happens in it to allow one to become completely hooked with where the story is going to go. Much of this unbalance is to do with the final realization that no one in this series is safe from the Reaper. We finally get to see some more of characters that become larger portions of the story, and the narrative is so much better for it. This is also the novel whee my opinions about some characters I thought were utter bastards are reshaped. I began to really understand the motivations and empathize with their place in this world and their lives. I was made both very happy and very sad by the events of this book, and few stories can cause such emotional dissonance, thus as I said this my favorite book of the series thus far. This is not to say however that it is all down hill, the other books are great, just this is my favorite.
A Feast for Crows : If the last book was my personal high for the series, then this is my low. The series has so many virtues that the complaints I have seem more whining than anything else, however they nag me a bit and I cant recommend something with out full disclosure of my experience. The books are long, and that enables the development of complex characters and plots that I mentioned earlier, and allows for a living breathing world to be described. However some characters are less essential and this book is full of them. For the most part this book is centered around a squabble on Pyke, it really doesn't hold my interest, it sets up some new characters that then only a fraction of which do anything of import. Martin stated that this is a story that is to be read as if it is the first part of a novel, with A Dance with Dragons fleshing out the other half. I can not get invested in most of this book. There are opinions that this can be skipped as a book, I say that it still needs to be read but upon repeated readings it can be skipped, or at least skimmed. So I would say read it and get onto the next installment.
A Dance with Dragons : This is a definite improvement over the last book. We finally get to reconnect with those characters that we have been worried about all this time. The events in this are fantastic, however for myself I was enthralled by everything that happened at or north of the wall. The story that is outlined here brings many conclusions from earlier into question. Also the ending is a cliffhanger that makes me sympathize with those that have been waiting for books for all these years. I am now one of the legion of fans that are early awaiting the next installment.
As I have stated this is a great series! Read it at once if you are able and find out why the rest of us have gone crazy for it. Another word on the series, please read these books before viewing the show. The direction the show is going it will be a seperate story soon, the people in charge seem to be making changes for no particular reason that I can decern and show no sign of stopping. I wish you luck in reading all these, hopefully before the next season. I would read them quick Winter is Coming...
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