Still Life With Woodpecker

Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
This book took a long time to get my interest and never got me to that point where I wanted to know more of the story. Mostly all I wanted was to finish it so I could read something else, but, I did finish it. That is more than I can say for some other books. At least it was good enough to finish.

It was overly descriptive of everything. This could have been a 100 page book, but describing minute details of things in five or six different ways each ballooned the word count. 277 pages of overly descriptive, overly philosophical, obviously cocaine inspired word play. The ideas and theories behind all those words must have been thought up while under the influence. :-)

The story itself was interesting. It had an exiled king and queen living in Seattle, a coming-of-age princess, a "worldly" love interest who just happens to be a terrorist, sheiks, outlaws, redheads, aliens, pregnant cheerleaders, CIA, revolution, conservation, social activism, prison, etc etc. So many of the elements of a good story, and it was a good story. It was a good story that was polluted with wordiness.

An example (just one of a zillion):
This is from page 50 of the book. Here the author is describing tequila.
"Now, tequila may be the favored beverage of outlaws, but that doesn't mean it gives them preferential treatment. In fact, tequila probably had betrayed as many outlaws as has the central nervous system and dissatisfied wives. Tequila, scorpion honey, harsh dew of the doglands, essence of Aztec, creme de cacti; tequila, oily and thermal like the sun in solution; tequila, liquid geometry of passion; Tequila, the buzzard god who copulates in midair with the ascending souls of dying virgins; tequila, firebug in the house of good taste; O tequila, savage water of sorcery, what confusion and mischief your sly, rebellious drops do generate!"

It is a nice descriptive picture of tequila. Now imagine every page having this same type of stuff done for a pack of cigarettes, a banyan tree, an attic, a blackberry bush, a boat, the scent of lovemaking, the moonlight shining in a window. Description after description. Ugh.

Between that and the psychological parts where people are thinking up all kinds of crackpot theories for the meaning of life, the purpose of the moon, how to make love stay, and the origin and real reason for pyramids made it hard to read at times.

Something good? OK, the main characters were redheads (hence the Woodpecker). They spoke many times about the superiority of the redheads, and described it in thousands of words. LOL

Driver #8 - Dale Earnhardt Jr.

I forgot about reading this one some time in 2007. It was recommended by my father after he finished it.

I was a bit surprised. I always thought Dale Jr got his ride because of his name and that he was just some spoiled rich kid. I learned some things about the man. He is a very grounded individual who takes his fame in stride. He did not get a big ego.

I learned to like Dale Jr. I like him even more now that he drives for Hendrick Motorsports.

Should you read this book? Well, if you are a NASCAR fan then it would be a fun read for you. If you don't know squat about racing I am sure there are better books for you to read.

The Communist Manifesto

Yes the real Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx.

Isn't that just a lovely piece of work?

Well, I figured I read the US Constitution enough times, but I never read this. So, now I have. The deed is done.

Into The Wild - John Krakauer - Dec 08

Wow. I mean really, wow.

This was a true story. I remember when I was living in Maryland, just outside of DC, from 1987 to 1993. I recall the news reports and the printed articles about this story. The family was living in Virginia and Maryland at the time and so it was considered a local story. I had no idea that this book was about he same incident and family from that time. It quickly brought back the memories of that time.

I did not know all these details back then. Chris McCandless was an amazing person with an amazing story. I can't believe anyone was able to piece it all together like John Krakauer was able to do.

So...on to me...this book made me think of my own desire to go "Into the Wild", sort of. I have spoken a bunch of times with my wife about wanting to go for a walk. I have this desire to just sell my stuff and go walk around the country. I want to meet people, get a stupid job in a small town until I feel like moving on and then hit the road again. Just keep on going until I get sick of it. Chris McCandless took that much further than I desire too. I would never burn my money. I don't want to disconnect from my family. I just want to go out there and "explore". (BTW...my wife gets upset when I talk about doing this because she thinks I am not happy at home or something. That is not the truth and home has nothing to do with the desire to explore.)

In some ways Chris McCandless is my hero, except for the starving to death part. I know I would have gone better prepared. I would have had a map and compass at least. But, he did what he wanted. He chased his dream. He actually went into the wild!

Let It Snow - John Green/ Maureen Johnson/ Lauren Myracle - Dec 08

"Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances"
This book has three authors: John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. All three are young adult fiction writers with many books of their own.

This story is actually three different stories in one book with all three stories originating and ending in the same place with the same characters (Is that called framing?). I found it very interesting how each of the authors would write the story from a different perspective and still include glimpses into the other stories as the characters ran into each other while it all played out.

Also...in case you care...this book gave me a warm fuzzy of Christmas cheer. It really did. I read the book in two or three days and when I was done I felt all gooey and teenagery for a while. I came home and hugged my children and wife. :-)

I will read this book again next December...and hope to see it made into a movie some day. It would be like a modern day Miracle on 34th Street meets the Breakfast Club.

Lord of the Flies - William Golding - Nov 08

A classic book. Another of the books I was supposed to have read in school but failed to complete it at the time. Now I can honestly say my homework is complete. :-)

The book itself was excellent. It is interesting how the kids on the island sunk further and further into a state of anarchy where they would all have eventually died or killed each other.

Anyway, I am sure this book has been reviewed enough that I couldn't possibly give anyone any new insight. I will just say that I liked it and am glad I finally read it.

Paper Towns - John Green - Nov 08

Paper Towns is the third novel written by Nerdfighter John Green, a young adult fiction writer. There was a lot of buildup in the Nerdfighter world about the release of this book. I picked it up about two weeks after it's release and read it in a matter of two days.

This story has some elements of the other books he has written. The main characters are yet again the less than popular group of high school kids. There is the girl, this time Margo Roth Speigelman, who is super alluring everyone loves her type that has deep seeded problems that create turmoil for everyone.

There is a ton of detective work and clues to follow throughout this story. Some of these clues are so buried that it is amazing they were thought of, let alone found. There is the obligatory road trip to reach the climax of the story.

Again, John Green is a master at creating characters that are interesting and seem to be like real people. He writes his books in a way that people can see themselves in the role in one form or another.

It is a very enjoyable read.

An Abundance of Katherines - John Green - Oct 08

John Green's second novel. The characters are again the less than popular kids, but they go on a road trip. Right after graduation the main character and his best friend hit the road. Why? Because Colin has been dumped by his girlfriend, Katherine the 19th. Yes, he has been dumped by 19 girlfriends...all named Katherine.

So, Colin just happens to be a child prodigy and he tries to create a mathematical formula which will predict the outcome of a relationship based on factors of each parties personalities.

It is a good story with some youthful adventure. Math is used in the story. Math which is way over my head. It does not matter much really. The math does not create or define the story at all. It is just part of the story. Math can be fun.

Also, the author has the main character have the ability to anagram very easily. Colin can come up with a list of anagrams for anything on the spur of the moment. In case you care, an anagram is when you take the letters in a word or phrase, rearrange them, and come up with a new word or phrase.

This is the first fiction book I have ever read that had footnotes throughout. The footnotes are used to explain things that are not part of the story, but they are used as backup information which enhances the story. It is quite interesting how that was done.

So, combine youth, intelligence, heartbreak, guts, mathematical theory, anagrams and footnotes...take it all on a road trip...mix in some love interest and some conflict...what do you get? A pretty darned good book.

Looking For Alaska - John Green - Aug 08

This is the first novel by John Green. He is a writer of young adult fiction and is a co-founder of the whole Brotherhood 2.0 vlogs and the nerdfighter "movement" on You Tube,

This coming-of-age novel is about a group of less than popular kids at a private school in Alabama. The main character, Miles, likes to memorize the last words of people. They keep coming up throughout the novel. He, and many others, are intrigued, if not in love, with a girl named Alaska Young. Miles is in search of what Francois Rabelais called "the Great Perhaps". Rabelais' last words were "I go to seek the Great Perhaps."

The book is divided up into chapters labeled "before" and "after" the major tragic event that the story hinges upon. It is an interesting way to give it all a sense of time passing.

The story is very interesting and the characters make you want to know more about them. Something I really liked about this book is that it does not have a feel good happy ending. All the characters learn to deal with tragedy on their own terms. It does not culminate all neatly wrapped in some fake "everyone will be OK" ending.

I enjoyed the book. I am not sure if I enjoyed it because it is a really good book, though I think it is, or if it is because I know who the author is. :-)

The word is that this will book will be made into a motion picture by Paramount. The screenplay is being worked on. The title will be changed to "Famous Last Words". I suggest you read the book now, before the movie ruins the story for you. They usually do.

Read the book and THEN go to the movie. That is my strategy.

This one blurb keeps coming up in every review of this book I have found...so I should probably include it here. "The spirit of Holden Caulfield lives on. -- Kliatt"

This book won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award presented by the American Library Association.

John Green - Hank Green - Maureen Johnson and Nerdfighters

This last spring I stumbled upon these videos on YouTube made by a couple of brothers named John and Hank Green. They called themselves the vlog brothers and had a project they called "Brotherhood 2.0". In this project the two brothers had sworn off of all text based communications (mail, email, im, faxes, etc) for the entire year of 2007. They swore to communicate with each other through a daily video log put on youtube.

I watched all these videos. So did many people. Their video following grew and became a community. They called themselves the Nerdfighters. They were mostly teens that liked to read.

John Green and Maureen Johnson are both authors of books for young adults.

The videos are hilarious and I recommend them to anyone with the time.
http://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers?ob=4

Since watching the videos and taking part in some Nerdfighter "events", I decided to read the novels written by John Green and Maureen Johnson. I have finished all of John's. I am starting Maureen's in 2009.