Read in 2012  (from October 10, 2011 to March 11, 2012)

I would have to agree with myself as a person who read King's Cell that King is a completely mediocre writer. The fact that he's appreciated by the reading community so much makes all of this even more ridiculous. I assume that his kind of writing is only acceptable to children who are still afraid of ghosts and ghouls.

Fiction is art. And a difficult art indeed. And every horror book writer should know that fear is a very complex feeling and it's degrading for the fear itself to be portrayed in such a simple manner through vampires. 

The writer should know that fear comes from inside and that fear as such should be described from the perspective of a mind twisted with fear. Clearly describe to the reader the mental instability that fear causes, no matter what causes the fear itself. But if the fear is caused by supernatural beings, I believe that they should be described deeply. And for God's sake, don't use the word 'indescribable'.

Anyway, I believe that only Edgar Allan Poe knew how to present fear to the reader and that is why I consider him an inviolable master of the genre.

Read in 2011  (from August 8 to 22)

It's kinda hard to rate this book. I liked it when I read it for the firs time but there are a lot of flaws in contrast to the nice message the book sends. The message is religious, it calls for belief in God but it is also a little pathetic and cheesy.

The story tells you about a man's suffering due to loss of his daughter which caused his loss of faith. I consider the idea to be decent, useful and maybe even interesting, but it could have been shown in a different way and a lot better. Young introduced too much fantasy for the book to be very good.

Anyway, the main character goes to the shack where his daughter was murdered and meets God (who send him a written message to go there). God is and old African woman making pancakes, the Holy Ghost is an Asian woman etc. I assume this was arranged in order to break religious stereotypes which many have.

As the man spends his time in the shack, he regains his faith, which gradually leads the reader to reconsider his attitude towards religion and look at things in the way the writer does. 

That is one of the good points in this book but also one of he worse, because it thinks instead of the reader. These are simply some things that an intelligent person should already understand. 

I really don't like those type of books. It's the same reason I dislike Coelho so much. But unlike Coelho, Young does have something to say.

Read in 2012  (from July 24 to 27)

I rarely find a good fiction novel because I have a few demands on reading fiction. First of all it should convince the reader in it's verity. It should be interesting, intelligent and have wisdom laced through it. Of course, any book should have these items, but it's much harder to combine them with fiction.

Anyway, this book is an example of good fiction. It's unpredictable, very creative and occupies your attention. There are marvelous descriptions of time bending and different dimensions where the writer shows his extraordinary imagination. Lots of amazing ides about physics and math which contribute to the truthfulness of the story.

Read in 2012  (from August 15 to 18)

It took me a while to see if I liked the book or not. I did not initially liked the writing style. He seemed arid and vulgar. On the other hand, I see a lot of truth in it. Bukowski describes 'his' life as it is, without false embellishment.

He skillfully mixes humor into tragedy and creates enjoyment for the reader. He plants his wisdom on every page so many of his book are life lessons. He finds beauty in people from the margins drunks, whores etc. and describes them with a tender emotion.

The aesthetics of ugliness...

Read in 2011  ( from August 25 to 28)

First of all, this has nothing to do with The Sex And The City. It's a completely average teenage novel. I suppose they are trying to milk Sex And The City as much as possible and therefore writing these sequels. 

Fans of Sex And The City, mostly mature girls and woman, may find the book immature. It's certainly not what a  Sex And The City fan would expect. I did watch the series and found it entertaining but nothing more. Anyway, to get back to the book. The story is completely ordinary, you probably read a number of them that are much of a muchness:  teenage girl has trouble with boys, friends and school. She struggles through high school, discovering herself on the way and alas arriving to New York.

You can probably read it for entertainment unrelated to Sex And The City, but it left me totally indifferent.