The Remedy of Books

Blackbeard (Edward Teach) Let's face it, this isn't his scariest pose.

Happy 2015 to everyone! The holidays gave me a much-needed chance to sit down and finally finish reading this book. It's another one I received from Blogging for Books, though, unlike the last one, this is a bit more within the genres I generally enjoy.

I was intrigued by the description on the website which included a mention of Elizabeth Báthory. For those who have never heard of "The Blood Countess" she is said to have brutally tortured and killed hundreds of girls for her own inscrutable reasons (most likely because she was a complete nutter) in the late 1500s / early 1600s. She's one of history's most famous and most bloodthirsty female serial killers. I find her rather fascinating in a morbid way and was excited to see how the author, Rebecca Alexander, would weave her history into this novel.

The narrative switches back and forth between first-person narration in 1585 by Edward Kelly, assistant to Dr. John Dee, and a third-person narrative following the activities of Professor Felix Guichard and Jackdaw Hammond in 2013.

Both sets of people are finding their lives intertwined in somewhat magical activities that extend the "living" existence of the dead. Kelly and Dee are commissioned by the king of Poland to save his dying niece Elizabeth Bathory by whatever means they can, while hundreds of years later Guichard is aiding in the investigation of mysterious deaths of young girls, and Jackdaw is herself a formerly dead person now trying to save the life of another dying girl.

I really liked the idea behind this book. Showing how Bathory became a monster/murderer and linking it to present day events lent intrigue and depth to the story. However, the narratives didn't always mesh well. I would have liked to see a stronger link between them throughout rather than just passing mentions of John Dee and the final Bathory link solidifying at the end. The issue was that the narratives were basically two separate stories. It might have been a stronger novel if, as the present-day characters discovered things about Bathory or about the history of revenants, that Kelly's narrative revealed them at the same time.

Unfortunately, though I found the book interesting, it had what I feel are numerous flaws which detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book. The character development was rather flat and the romance was heavy-handed. A lot of interesting material was hinted at in both narratives but wasn't explored--making it feel like the plot was under-developed. And lastly, a half-cooked attempt to explain how supernatural events are possible was thrown in near the end which really should have been left out. I don't feel that readers need to be walked through how supernatural things are possible--that's the point of them being supernatural.
Ultimately, I felt the novel fell short of what it could have been.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

I am a big fan of The Princess Bride--it's been one of my family's favorite movies since we first watched it about 20 years ago. So, when I heard there was going to be a book about the making of the movie, I knew I had to read it.

Let me start with what I loved about this book.
I loved reading the anecdotes of things that happened on-set and learning details about what was going on before and after (and sometimes during) some of the most memorable scenes of the movie.

I loved that it wasn't just Cary Elwes' perspective but that there were snippets from others in the cast and crew interspersed throughout the book.

I loved hearing about what each actor was like off screen and how well everyone got on.

I loved the pictures, though I wish there were more "behind the scenes" shots rather than pics that looked like screenshots of the movie or were just the cast posing.

Okay, now for what I didn't love. Honestly, if I had to sum this book up in one word it would be "gushy."

Elwes makes it abundantly clear how much he admires Rob Reiner, William Goldman, et al. by sounding like an over-excited fanboy. I was barely a chapter in when I already wanted to shout at the book "WE KNOW! GET ON WITH IT!" but I carried on (Caryed on?) and hoped that it was just the intro of each cast/crew member that would be filled with gushing protestations of how amazing and talented he or she was. Alas, it was not to be. If you were to go through this book and cut out all but the initial praise of each person, I have no doubt that it would be 1/3 shorter. (taking out the phrase "just the nicest person you'd ever want to meet" alone would probably cut out a full page of the book)

It was a bit of a frustrating read in this respect, because I got the feeling from the writing that Cary Elwes genuinely admires the rest of the cast, loves their work, and is an all around humble guy--but I don't think it came off the way he intended.

The writing, in fact, was all around bad. The beginning chapters have tons of wooden recreated dialogue, and readers are walked through every.step.of.every.action. Lines like "I thanked him and bid him good night before hanging up." are just not necessary.

Then there was the the repetition. Not just the repetition of each person's praises, but of facts, feelings, and even events. It really does surprise me that the book was not developed and edited more professionally. Cary Elwes is an actor, not a writer, and that's fine--but he co-wrote the book with someone who IS a writer, and presumably they also had a separate editor. Did neither Joe Layden nor the editor realize that the writing was so repetitive and mediocre and the tone was so fawning?

I don't want to be too down on the book, because I love The Princess Bride and Cary Elwes, but I get so disappointed when something that could have been SO great ends up just being okay.

When I looked up other reviews on Amazon and Goodreads I saw most of the reviews are 4-5 stars (clearly they weren't rating the editing of the book) but I also noticed that a lot of the reviewers had listened to the audio book read by Cary Elwes. That might have made a difference in the tone and even the annoyance of the repetition but as a print book it came off as  mostly dead.

Generally I'm not a re-reader. I know some people have favorite books they read again and again and there are even some (somewhat obsessed) people like Christopher Lee who religiously re-read the same book every year (Lord of the Rings, for the record). It's not that I don't read some awesome books that are well worth re-reading, it's just that if I find myself with time to read, I'd rather embark on a new adventure than one I've already been on.
That said, I do have a few long-time favorites that I have read multiple times and enjoyed just as much each time. I think for someone who is generally not a re-reader, that says something about these books.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
I first read this book as part of a Robert Louis Stevenson collection (which included his less-famous but still good Black Arrow) and though I liked it, I think my image of the book was heavily shaped by the various movie adaptations I'd seen (the best of which remains Muppet Treasure Island) and I didn't digest it as well as I could have. However, several years ago I re-read it in preparation to teach it to my high school class. I am convinced there is nothing so good as studying a book to help one to appreciate it like-new. Sitting down and examining to characters, their development, the plot flow, etc. all gave me a completely new view. I've since read it again, and likely will in the future. It is the quintessential pirate book (treasure, adventure on the high seas, mutiny, hostages, ghosts, gun fights, murder, maroonees!) and even more than 120 years later I think the story appeals to adventurous people of all ages.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
When I was a very young child my dad read these books to me and my older brother. We got them from our church library one at a time, and he would read a couple chapters to us each night. Let me tell you, having to wait until the next day to find out what happens in the next chapter was both agonizing and fun. But I was too young to read them myself and imagining what might happen next was part of the fun. I don't think much of the stories themselves sunk in for long. They took on a specialness due to my dad's excitement as he read them, but I was left with good if fuzzy memories of the books.
It was many years later (I was probably 12 or 13) that I re-discovered the books. A friend gifted me with the whole set and I read through them in record time. They remain some of my favorite books and some of the easiest to re-read when I need something magical in my life.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Firstly, let's get the travesty that is Miyazaki's interpretation of this book out of the way. The movie took characters and elements from Jones' wonderful book, and, as much as I generally like Miyazaki I have to say, he completely ruined them.
Now the book on the other hand is one of my all-time favorites. I've both read it multiple times as well as listened to it brilliantly read by Jenny Sterlin (great Welsh accent) and enjoyed it just as much each time. Something about Diana Wynne Jones' writing makes me happy. Her stories always have a fun magical atmosphere and keep you reading--I usually finish her books quite quickly because I enjoy the worlds she creates so much that each time I pause my reading (for something mundane like going to bed, or going to work) I want to get back to them as soon as I can.

Dracula by Bram Stoker
I've read other writing by Bram Stoker and have to say that based on his other writing it almost seems that Dracula must have been written by someone else. The other books and stories are rather a mess. The biggest puzzle to me was The Lair of the White Worm which not only appears to have been written by someone with multiple personalities, but also while they were on drugs.
However he did it though, Stoker really struck gold with Dracula. One of the older vampire books (though not the first) Dracula is wonderful at making vampires not only scary but truly evil. Stoker's brilliant use of religious imagery corrupted and distorted into something evil makes for the creepiest and best vampire book I've ever read.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

I think part of what makes Alice such a re-readable and beloved book is that you can get as much out of it as you like. If you read through quickly and focus on it as a story you get to adventure through some very strange places and meet some truly ridiculous characters. If you read through with a bit more concentration you get to appreciate Carroll's wordplay, puns, and wit. He was rather brilliant and liked to try out words in many different ways as he could. I definitely missed a lot the first time I read through it (I was rather young as well) and the second time I read it I realized how much he was playing with words and phrases linguistically.
The book is great for quotations as well...

"'Take some more tea,' the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
'I've had nothing yet,' Alice replied in an offended tone, 'so I can't take more.'
'You mean you can't take less,' said the Hatter: 'It's very easy to take more than nothing.'"

I won a free copy of the audio book at the Brooklyn Book Fair this past September and am in the middle of listening to it. Jim Dale is very good as the narrator, but I do find his Cheshire Cat voice quite creepy.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

This book is SO good. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman are two of my favorite authors and are my hands-down favorite living authors. Each time I read this book it's just as funny as the first time. As with many books in which Pratchett has had a hand, there are so many cultural references and in-jokes you're sure to find new ones each time you read; I've had many "oh, that's what that's from!" moments.
It's currently being made into a radio play (due out this Christmas) and I couldn't be more pleased.

This is a mini-review for a mini-book. I read this book in one sitting, in about half an hour. Still, it was enjoyable enough that I felt it deserved a review.

I bought this book at last month's Brooklyn Book Festival which, by the way, is definitely worth checking out if you're in the area next September. My husband Simon and I had gone mostly to browse around and listen to some panels, not with the intention of buying anything (despite nearly 100 tempting booths and pop-up stores selling books of all genres).

This one caught my eye though. On his website, author Ali Almossawi says, "The cover is inspired by one of my favorite games growing up: LucasArts' Monkey Island series. The title's typography and the general feel of the whole scene borrow a bit from Monkey Island and a bit from Indiana Jones." That must be why I was drawn to it amongst the gazillion (yes, gazillion) other books at the festival.

Guilt by Association Illustration by Alejandro Giraldo

An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments is a charmingly easy-to-understand guide to errors in reasoning which are often used in arguments. If you are one of those ever-hopeful people who engages in online arguments or "discussions" then you'll love this book as it equips you to recognize and avoid (or point out) faulty logic. Each page spread gives a short explanation of a specific type of bad argument (straw man, appeal to fear, equivocation, etc.) along with an illustration showing it in action.

I actually bought this book with my younger brother in mind since he has strong opinions and seems to get into online debates fairly often, but I don't think he reads this blog so I might pretend that I totally didn't read this gift before giving it to him.

A bonus that I only discovered later is that the entire book is shared under a Creative Commons BY-NC license. Which basically means the book is available in its entirety online for free, and you are allowed to share it, provided you give proper credit.
I do recommend donating if you enjoy it though, or even buying the print edition as it makes a fun book to flip through.

I bought this book on a whim from a library used-book sale. It had an intriguing title and description and I seemed to remember a friend mentioning it to me a few months earlier—though I couldn't remember if she’d liked it or not.

If I had to sum up The Thirteenth Tale in a sentence I’d say it was a compelling story badly executed. I love over-the-top Gothic tales that involve completely unbelievable combinations of dramatic elements like people wasting away from grief, insanity, secret love affairs, secret children, murder out of love, people driven mad by love, houses crumbling to pieces around a family deserted by their servants etc. and The Thirteenth Tale had all of it.

The book opens with our main character, Margaret, getting a letter from a famous but mysterious author, Vida Winter, telling her that she wants Margaret to write her one true biography. Throughout her life Vida has told many fanciful but obviously fake versions of her life story, but as she is now ill and dying she’s decided it is time to tell someone the truth. The book flips back and forth between Margaret’s life and her chats with Vida Winter, and Vida’s own story. Vida’s story starts more than 70 years in the past, before her own birth, in a large house called Angelfield. It involves all the above-mentioned Gothic elements and more—governesses, incest, twins, ghosts.

It took me a couple months to finish this book because I kept putting it down in exasperation, or stopping to angrily read bits to my husband because I couldn't believe the level of bad writing. The main issues I had with this novel were twofold: the heavy-handed writing and the at-times completely unbelievable characters.

One expects a certain level of unbelievability in Gothic characters—the nature of the genre lends itself to exaggeration. However, in the, perhaps 1/3 of the book which takes place in the *present* (which I believe is meant to be sometime around the 1950s, though I don’t think it’s ever stated) the characters were very hard to believe or connect with. So many times I couldn't stop saying out loud “nobody would act that way!” For instance when Margaret stumbles across a man hanging out in the ruins of Angelfield, they have a conversation, eat something together, and go on a walk before she bothers to ask him what he was doing there. These sort of things, when they occur many times in a novel, are very distracting to a reader.

I could have dealt with the issue of the characters, but not the heavy-handedness. There were times when one could tell the author was pleased with her own knowledge or turn of phrase and wanted to make sure the reader DIDN’T MISS IT. Certain story elements were so over-stated or repeated so many times it was completely exasperating to try to get through the section of writing. It was as if the author was peering over my shoulder saying, “Did you get it? Did you get it? Do you see what I did there? Wait, let me say it again a little differently. Wasn’t that profound? Don’t worry, I’ll come back to it and say it again in case you missed it.” I wish she had a little more faith that her readers would pick up on things. Certain metaphors or pieces of the prose were beautifully written. And then written again slightly differently. And then again, and again. This author comes off as one of those people who likes to hear themselves talk or who couldn't decide on the best way to say something, so she said it all the ways. Setterfield could have used a better editor to help guide her through slimming down some sections and stating her main points more subtly.

The book does have some things going for it though. Part of the reason I was so upset by the writing was that I found the story compelling and wanted it to be delivered better. At times I found myself reading much later into the night than I had intended. The twist at the end, while not 100% unexpected was still very good. To sum up, I would recommend this book if you’d like to read a good Gothic story and don’t mind trudging through some very silly writing.

Where to get audio books for free