Tremblay is an author that I'd really like to like, but I can't put my finger on why. He writes about his style as "ambiguous horror" which sounds unremarkable.

 

Many of these stories are remarkable, but they don't often go anywhere. Tremblay doesn't flinch at hard-hitting emotional trauma in his characters and certainly the children aren't safe, but there's a distance to the narration that keeps me from really caring at all about their fates. There's only so much ambiguity you can throw in a story and still have it mean anything. His novel 'Cabin in the Woods', on the other hand, was so much unrelenting darkness that it was hard to get through by the end. The imagery is good though. There was a 'Choose Your Own Adventure' style story that was interesting, too, but felt like that game where you try to write a sad limerick. The author's intention was clear, but it didn't quite succeed. I don't know. 

 

In any case, I'll probably pick up one of his books again. I was interested by what he had to say regarding characters from his novel 'Head Full of Ghosts'. Two stories used them: the title story of this collection was especially good; 'The Thirteenth Temple', on the other hand, felt like a waste of time. I'm pulled in two directions. Thanks, ambiguity.

This is a splendid take on the childhood favorite 'Choose Your Own Adventure' series. The 'A Date With Destiny' series only has one other title -  'Night of a Thousand Boyfriends'.

 

'Escape From Fire Island!' finds you and your narcissistic best friend Jose battling the weekend crowds to Fire Island only to have a zombie apocalypse break out almost as soon as you set out your towel.

 

First of all, let's get the bad stuff out of the way: some of the humor is dated. The jokes against drag queens and transsexuals can easily be taken the wrong way. There is a spirit of fun to the piece, but....urgh. On the other hand, the radioactive zombies' "tells" are a penchant for boas and calling you Mary as their press on nails slice open your throat, so some aggressive language against the queen zombies is to be expected.

 

The other problem I had was more mechanical, in several instances the exact page is duplicated: same text, same directions at the bottom, etc. Why not just have instructions go back to one page instead of wasting space? We could have fit in a couple more story threads with those pages.

 

Everything else about this book is amahzing. The cover design and interior illustrations call back to the original book series and it was a lot of fun seeing all the adventures to be had while saving Fire Island from Champagne Toast's zombie horde and/or President Bush's nukes. There were mermen, there were sexy secret agents, there were glory holes. It has everything.

 

I needed a good laugh, and you probably do too. This should do the trick.

I always finish Zafon's books thinking that I missed a bunch of things—in a good way. His stories are complex, but his characters are so well developed that they just jump off the pages. There's no doubt that some of his storylines are a little . . . weird. But I learn about about the Spanish mentality from his books, and he has a great gift for creating a sense of the place. (In this case, Barcelona.) They say that fiction is the willing susension of disbelief, and Zafon's books are just that for me. His author-view so unique that I thoroughly enjoy his work.

I'd call The Angel's Game a coming-of-age thriller story, and a twisted romance. I recommend it if you're looking for something off the beaten path.

Exquisitely written! Damnation and salvation inexorably interwoven. Dark, yet redemptive. Jekyll and Hyde. Translated from Spanish, this is the prequel to 'The Shadow Of The Wind' (which has an earlier publication date). It was about half a dozen years ago, at a book fair, a stranger who was browsing at the same table I was, recommended this author to me. I never got around to reading any of the works until now. For the most part, I feel that the book is metaphorical and archetypal. I’ve finished reading, but I haven’t fully digested it. Perhaps, I would get a clearer picture after reading the subsequent books (‘The Prisoner of Heaven’ is the third book). One could dissect and discuss the spiritual, philosophical, metaphysical, and other ‘-cals’ to no end – a tantalizing subject for a book club. But do not let this deter you from reading it, even if none of these are your interests – this is still a stellar masterpiece (superlative much?).

A passage from the book: “Every book, every volume you see, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and the soul of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.” This is true of all books, and the ones with stronger souls come to be known as classics, and in my perception, this book is one in the making.

Day 24: Book with multiple perspectives, family or group (Jazz)

 

Obviously I chose ASOIAF series. The books are told through multiple perspectives. I think there's been about 30 different narrators by the end of the fifth book.

 

It's the best way to tell the story, primarily because there is a lot going on and it allows you to see different things happening all over the world. Additionally, each character brings a unique perspective to the events, even though you generally only see an event from one character's viewpoint.