Category: Blog Series Page 218 of 230

Believe it or not — this was almost a lot longer, but I trimmed a lot to hopefully make it better.
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Empire Falls

by Richard Russo

Hardcover, 483 pg.
Knopf, 2001

A few years ago, my parents took a trip through New England in the Fall to look at the leaves — I know, not an original idea, but for people from the Northwest, it’s not as common as it is for others. One of the places they drove through was Empire Falls and were telling me about some HBO series/book based there — I was vaguely aware of the book, having recently finished Russo’s Straight Man and told them that they’d probably enjoy it. I don’t think either of them gave it a shot (I could be wrong).

A few months later, I got around to reading it myself — wow. It so different in style and content from Straight Man, but it took me a long time to read, and (best of all) it was fantastic. It sent me reeling and made me want to read more by Russo. Sadly, the next book I read by him just about killed that (That Old Cape Magic). A couple of years go by and I decide to read all of his novels in order. When I get to Empire Falls, I skipped it. I just couldn’t do it again. I really didn’t enjoy about half of Russo’s novels, but I couldn’t deny the power of them, nor his skill. Nobody’s Fool, for example, I really didn’t enjoy — but here I am a couple of years later, and I still find myself thinking about a couple of characters and scenes at least three times a month. That’s staying power. (no, I haven’t gotten to the sequel that came out this year, for reasons I don’t fully understand)

Incidentally, I liked That Old Cape Magic better the second time around — actually, I think that was true for Straight Man, too. Liking Cape Magic was almost a given (would be hard to like it less), but I really enjoyed Straight Man the first time out — the second time I loved it. Both of those books deal with a different kinds characters than the rest of his books (including Empire Falls, which I’m getting to — I promise). Most of his books are about small towns and their citizens, usually dealing with economic hardships on the municipal and individual level. Frequently, cafes and bars are used to get the characters to interact with each other and there’s typically one guy who drinks too much, is fairly unreliable, yet everyone likes and enables. There’s humor, tragedy, history (actual and fictional), mixed with character and family struggles. Empire Falls checks every single box on the “what makes a Richard Russo novel” list, but does it bigger. If you’ve read Empire Falls, you’ve read almost every one of his books — which is not to say you shouldn’t read the rest (especially Straight Man and Bridge of Sighs) — but you’ll get a good idea what kind of things Russo typically deals with and how he does it.

Richard Russo is what Jonathan Tropper, Nick Hornby and Matthew Norman (and many others, probably, but these are the three I’m most familiar with) could easily become if they got a little more serious and a little darker. On the whole, the latter three are more entertaining (and funnier) — but Russo can pull that off when he wants to. You could also say that Russo is what Jonathan Franzen could be if he lightened up and got less pretentious. But mostly, you can say that I’m a giant fan.

Why am I blathering on? Mostly trying to give context for this post, but partially because it is just daunting to try to talk about this book — especially in something that’d make a decent-length blog post and not a full-fledged dissertation. But I’d better suck it up and get to it.

Empire Falls won Richard Russo his (seemingly) inevitable Pulitzer Prize in 2002 and stands as one of the greatest achievements in his storied career. It is at once a story about a town and a man, microcosms for the state and the nation; it’s both sweeping and epic while being personal and intimate.

The story centers on Miles Roby, manager of the Empire Grill in Empire Falls, ME. He has an ex-wife (who I truly despised), a daughter (who I wanted more of), an ex-mother-in-law that seems to like and respect him a lot more than her own daughter, s (even if they don’t see eye to eye much lately). But more importantly he has a patron — the town matriarch, owner of the Empire Grill, and most of the various places of employment in town. She’s a patron, a would-be surrogate mother (for a select few), and petty tyrant over the city. It’s one of those small towns where the mayor/council/etc. have real power, but it’s only the power she lets them have, you know? Francine Whiting isn’t evil — well, I’ll let you decide for yourself — but at the end of the day, she thinks she’s doing what is right for Empire Falls, the Whiting legacy and her daughter — whether or not anyone wants what she thinks is best. She still could be evil, I guess, and I could very likely made a case for it. Anyhow, let the reader decide.

The trials and dreams and efforts of Miles and his family as he tries to do something different with his life are the core of the novel — but they’re not all of it. The town is full of interesting people — many aren’t vital to the overall story (but you can’t know until the end who those are), but they all add flavor. Most are so fleshed out that you could imagine a short story/novel centered on them. While reading Song in Ordinary Time a few months back, I kept asking myself what made the people in that novel so unlikeable when in many ways they reminded me of Empire Falls‘ cast. I came to this conclusion (and have since reconsidered and still think it’s basically right): Russo uses the flaws in his characters to emphasize their humanity, Morris uses the flaws to emphasize their flaws.

But I come not to bury Morris (again), but to talk about Empire Falls, so let me focus on this a bit more: the flawed humanity isn’t pretty, it’s frequently ugly, people who make mistakes (some tragic, some dumb) are usually trying to do the right/moral/noble thing and it doesn’t work. But it’s real. This could all be real. Even Janice, Miles’ ex, is a well-developed character — and I think I’ve met a handful of people just like her — and I wouldn’t dislike her as much as I did if Russo hadn’t nailed the writing.

There’s an event towards the end — one of the two or three that you ultimately realize the whole novel has been leading up to — that in 2001 would’ve been truly shocking (shocked me a few years ago), but in many ways it’s de rigueur now. 2016 readers might be bored by it, but I can’t imagine that many readers in 2001 were. I’m not going to say more — just if you read this, put yourself in the shoes of readers from 15 years ago when you get to that bit.

Yes, Empire Falls is slow (sometimes), ponderous (sometimes) but it’s also inspiring (sometimes), heartwarming (sometimes) and many other things that I could parenthetically qualify. But every negative about it is utterly worth it for the positives.

What I learned about Maine: (haven’t done this in awhile, whoops). It’s a beautiful state, filled with people who could be better educated, who aren’t vocationally ready for what’s coming for them thanks to the technological shift in jobs. It’s a state where people, nature and industry who have been damaged by reckless policies and practices. It’s a state where nature exerts itself every now and then to remind people how powerful it is. Basically, Maine’s just like every other state in the union — just a little different.

One more thing, not that this’ll surprise many, but I’d advise skipping the HBO miniseries — yeah, it’s a fairly faithful adaptation, it just doesn’t have the heart.

I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t read this book for this series of posts — breaking a personal resolution. There were 3 reasons for this: 1. Time; 2. I really wasn’t up for the emotional punches this delivers, and 3. I didn’t need to — I still remember it well enough to discuss at a length greater than I have despite being 4 years and change since I read it. That right there should tell you something about the book — hundreds of books later and I almost feel like I read it a couple of weeks ago. I’m not sure that this is the Russo novel I’d tell people to start with (probably Straight Man), and I don’t think it’s his best (probably Bridge of Sighs (tells a story almost as epic in scope, with greater economy and greater depth when it comes to individual characters), but there’s no denying the talent on display here, the greatness of the execution, the vibrancy of the characters, or the impact it has on the reader. No brainer, 5 Stars from me.

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5 Stars

Reread Project: Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams

By HCNewton

On August 19, 2016

In A-B, Authors, Douglas Adams, Fiction, Reread Project, Science Fiction, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Mostly Harmless

by Douglas Adams
Series: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy, #5

Hardcover, 278 pg.
Harmony Books, 1992

Read: July 7 – 12, 2016

I was dreading this one — typically, like X-Men: The Last Stand, or The Highlander sequels, I prefer to pretend this doesn’t exist. It’s the only one of the series that I haven’t bought my son, and I don’t plan on changing that. Which doesn’t mean I couldn’t be won over — after 4 or 5 tries, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency finally clicked with me, I keep hoping this will.

But it didn’t this time (I think my 5^th reading).

Which is not to say there aren’t some parts that don’t deserve to be celebrated — almost everything Ford does (for example) is great. There’s a little bit with Trillian, a bit of Tricia McMillan (no, really, I meant to list those separately) and a smidgen of the Arthur material that’s okay. But not much. Don’t get me started on Random.

There’s some really clever bits here and there, some great lines — and some bits that are clearly attempts to recapture the spirit/zaniness of the earlier books, but without the heart. The narrative as a whole (after such a huge leap forward with So Long) was worthless, the story didn’t work. And the ending? Flummery. It was like Adams was just trying to get away from the series and put it in his rearview mirror. Which I get, I absolutely understand, he wanted to do something other than just crank out another Hitchhiker’s after another after another. But this was not the way to do it.

Just avoid this one, don’t bother. But if you think I’m wrong — tell me why! I’d love to be convinced that Adams couldn’t write a bad book.

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United States of Books – Independence Day (Audiobook) by Richard Ford, Richard Poe

By HCNewton

On August 15, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, United States of Books

Independence Day

by Richard Ford, Richard Poe, Narrator

Author: Serena at Savvy Verse & Wit

Synopsis from Goodreads – A visionary account of American life–and the long-awaited sequel to one of the most celebrated novels of the past decade–Independence Day reveals a man and our country with unflinching comedy and the specter of hope and even permanence, all of which Richard Ford evokes with keen intelligence, perfect emotional pitch, and a voice invested with absolute authority.

Entertainment Weekly said, “The second of four books to feature Frank Basscombe, a sportswriter-turned-Realtor who’s the perfect sarcastic resident of that great big suburb called New Jersey.”

Independence Day by Richard Ford, narrated by Richard Poe, is one of those novels in which readers can be frustrated, as the main character, Frank Basscombe, often scurries along tangents just when the narration appears to be going somewhere relevant. Poe does a good job of narrating this character. He’s a divorced man who lives alone in his former wife’s house in Haddam, N.J., and he’s entered the real-estate game. He barely sees his children, still wants to hang onto his newly married ex-wife, but also says that he loves his girlfriend.

Basscombe tells the truth as he sees it in that moment, but from moment-to-moment that truth can change. He’s not steady in his beliefs, and much of that is because he’s clearly in the midst of a crisis. He’s unsure of his own direction and his own place in life and in his family. On a trip with his son to the Basketball and Baseball Halls of Fame, Basscombe makes a concerted effort to be someone to at least one somebody — his son. However, like him, his son is going through a period of unease, as he’s unsure how to be and act, and he’s trying on different hats — some of which raise concern with his mother about his mental stability.

In many ways, Basscombe and his son’s inability to stand firm and find their own peace in the world mirror the wishy-washy perception of New Jersey — which ET calls a suburb. The view of New Jersey can be its industrial gas and oil farms or the fact that it is the neighbor of New York, a place where those who work in the city come to escape the fast-paced life and find some green.

It’s hard to believe that there are four books about this character, given his disinterest and disdain for everything. Independence Day by Richard Ford, narrated by Richard Poe, is one man’s search for a final independence — he’s looking to free himself from the ties that bind him to his ex-wife, trying to carve out a new career, and to find some direction for his own life without being hampered by the past.

RATING: Tercet (3 stars)

About the Author:

Richard Ford is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel The Sportswriter and its sequels, Independence Day and The Lay of the Land, and the short story collection Rock Springs, which contains several widely anthologized stories.

United States of Books – The Known World by Edward P. Jones

By HCNewton

On August 8, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, United States of Books

The Known World

by Edward P. Jones

Author: Laura at 125 Pages

This week takes us to Virginia with The Known World by Edward P. Jones. Entertainment Weekly says – This award-winning examination of man’s ownership of man refuses to succumb to the calcifying effect of history, presenting Virginia’s past as raw, urgent and human.

Synopsis from Goodreads – One of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, The Known World is a daring and ambitious work by Pulitzer Prize winner Edward P. Jones.

The Known World tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can’t uphold the estate’s order, and chaos ensues. Jones has woven a footnote of history into an epic that takes an unflinching look at slavery in all its moral complexities.

Review

1/2 Star

The Known World by Edward P. Jones is a read that made me question. It made me question if editors actually read the whole book. It made me question if the Pulitzer judges read the whole book. It made me question if I had picked up the wrong book, because this could not be the book with all of those rave reviews. This novel won a National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2004. In 2005 it won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and it was a finalist for the 2003 National Book Award. In 2009, the website The Millions polled 48 critics, writers, and editors; the panel voted The Known World the second best novel since 2000. The book I read was a disjointed mess. No seriously, I can read difficult books. I like non-linear time lines and twisty prose but this took it to a whole new level. The synopsis tells us that this is the tale of Manchester County in Virginia during the antebellum era and a black former slave who is now a slave owner himself. This sounds like a deep and thought provoking read right? It would have been if it was actually readable.

There were approximately 80 characters, so I had no idea who anyone was.

The white man at the front door was from the Atlas Life, Casualty and Assurance Company, based in Hartford, Connecticut. His talking to Calvin at the door was what kept Bennett so long. Calvin eventually came back with Bennett and when Moses told him, Calvin went back and returned with Caldonia, followed by Maude, and Fern Elston.

The time line skipped back and forth often times decades in the future to tell what happened to just one person or object and then skipped back.

This series was Anderson’s most successful, and nothing was more successful within that series than the 1883 pamphlet on free Negroes who had owned other Negroes before the War between the States. The pamphlet on slaveowning Negroes went through ten printings. Only seven of those particular pamphlets survived until the late twentieth century. Five of them were in the Library of Congress in 1994 when the remaining two pamphlets were sold as part of a collection of black memorabilia owned by a black man in Cleveland, Ohio. That collection, upon the man’s death in 1994, sold for $1.7 million to an automobile manufacturer in Germany.

There was so much unnecessary description.

Clarence sat beside his wife and after a time he put a hand, the one not stained with milk, to the back of his wife’s head and rubbed her hair. The cow swung its tail and chewed its cud. It farted.

His horse, Sir Guilderham, was idling two or so paces behind his master. And just as the horse began to wander away, Robbins turned and picked up the reins, mounted. ‘No more visits for a month,’ he said, picking one piece of lint from the horse’s ear.

Seriously, I do not care about lint on a horse and a cow farting. This really detracted from the story for me. The Known World by Edward P. Jones could have and should have been a powerful read. Instead I got bogged down in the minutia and was not able to process the tale.

I had originally picked this up at the library and then, when I found the style to be so odd, I got the Audible version. I really want my credit and the 14 hours I spent listing to this back.

A Few Quick Questions With…Cathy Kennedy

By HCNewton

On August 4, 2016

In A Few Quick Questions With..., YA/MG/Children's Books

I just posted my thoughts on Cathy Kennedy’s Meeting of the Mustangs, and now I’m glad to present her first interview-ish thing. Hope you enjoy — I probably chuckled more at these answers than I have any of the other Q&A’s I’ve done.

What initially prompted this story (if you can recall, that is)? Why did you come back to it years later?

My dad gave me an Olivetti electric typewriter and a ream of nice, thick paper. I rolled a piece of paper into the typewriter and just started typing. After moving away from that house in the country where we owned horses, the story was abandoned. That was about a hundred years ago and I still have that old manuscript.

Coming back to it was very difficult. I was dealing with a nasty case of writer’s block. Even though for years I knew in my head (mostly) how the story would end, I just couldn’t get it into words. I eventually moved back to the country and now have horses for neighbors. That helped tremendously, and once I got going again, I was okay.

I suppose I should also give some credit to my sister, who never left it alone ~
“Are you working on your book?”
“Are you working on your book?”
“Are you working on your book?”
etc., etc., etc…

What kinds, if any, of specific research did you do?

There wasn’t much research involved, really. The one thing that sticks out to me was looking at a map of the United States. I wanted to have the horses traveling through more than one state and tried keep the original manuscript as intact as possible. I had to look at the map to find where several states were in close proximity so the horses wouldn’t get too tired.

What’s the one (or two) book/movie/show in the last 5 years that made you say, “I wish I’d written that.”?

Oh, no. I’m kind of an old soul. I don’t watch or read much of anything new.

Do commercials count? I like the Neosporin commercial where the little girl is telling her friends about how she jumped the rapids on her bike. That’s really cute writing.

What was the biggest surprise about the writing itself? Either, “I can’t believe X is so easy!” or “If I had known Y was going to be so hard, I’d have skipped this and watched more TV”.

Okay, that one’s easy. If I had known marketing was going to be so hard, I’d have skipped this and watched more TV. Ugh. Let’s just say I have a new respect for successful salespeople that I’ve never had before this. Getting an unknown author’s story into the hands of readers is an ongoing struggle. /td>

What’s next for Cathy Kennedy, Author?

Well, I’ve had more than one person tell me they’d like to see a sequel. Please don’t tell my sister.

United States of Books – A River Runs through It by Norman Maclean

By HCNewton

On August 1, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, United States of Books

A River Runs Through It

by Norman Maclean

Author: Elisha at Rainy Day Reviews

Entertainment Weekly says – In his semiautobiographical story collection, Maclean paints a sumptuous portrait of the state’s beauty.

Summary from Goodreads:
Just as Norman Maclean writes at the end of “A River Runs through It” that he is “haunted by waters,” so have readers been haunted by his novella. A retired English professor who began writing fiction at the age of 70, Maclean produced what is now recognized as one of the classic American stories of the twentieth century. Originally published in 1976, A River Runs through It and Other Stories now celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary, marked by this new edition that includes a foreword by Annie Proulx.

Maclean grew up in the western Rocky Mountains in the first decades of the twentieth century. As a young man he worked many summers in logging camps and for the United States Forest Service. The two novellas and short story in this collection are based on his own experiences—the experiences of a young man who found that life was only a step from art in its structures and beauty. The beauty he found was in reality, and so he leaves a careful record of what it was like to work in the woods when it was still a world of horse and hand and foot, without power saws, “cats,” or four-wheel drives. Populated with drunks, loggers, card sharks, and whores, and set in the small towns and surrounding trout streams and mountains of western Montana, the stories concern themselves with the complexities of fly fishing, logging, fighting forest fires, playing cribbage, and being a husband, a son, and a father.

My Review

Firstly, I did not know this was turned into a movie. Now that is on my list.

The writing in this book was smooth, cohesive, eloquent, and smart. This novella was mixed with sadness of real life as well as the joys. This story has more than one level, at the surface, it is a good and well written story about Maclean and his father and brother; his family. They all have a shared bond of fishing, it is like the air that they breathe, what seems to hold them to hold them together.

However, going beneath this well-crafted story, I think the moral, the reason behind this book is: relationships that we have, memories that we create with those we hold dear, and the bonds that are made. I think the saddest but truest message to take is, from all that we can learn from this book is, those that are the ‘last survivor’ of those memories, those bonds that were made during the yesteryears, and the relationship that were made before it all changed and while it all changed.

I can definitely see why this is a classic. I’d recommend this to all.

Party with a Plan Book Tour

By HCNewton

On July 29, 2016

In Book Tour, Non-Fiction

Welcome to our Book Tour stop for Party with a Plan. In addition to this blurb about the book and author, I’ve got a an interview with the Author, Randy Haveson. I haven’t read the book (yet), but you know what? It seems like a good idea — I like the approach here. Look into it.

iRead Tours

Book Details:

Book Title: Party With a Plan
Author: Randy Haveson
Category: Adult nonfiction, 63 pages
Genre: Health & Wellness, Self-help
Publisher: RISE Publishing
Release date: May 2016
Content Rating: PG-13 (Since this is a book that teaches people how to drink alcohol in a low-risk manner, it’s not really appropriate for kids.)

Book Description:

Finally! Here is a proven, practical way to drink alcohol and lower your risk for problems. Up until now, there have been two primary messages when it comes to drinking alcohol. One is “just say no,” which for the majority of the population is not an option. The other is to “drink responsibly.” But what does that mean? If you ask five random people to define responsible drinking, you will most likely get five completely different answers. This invalidates the term because it can be defined in so many different ways. Party with a Plan® gives a concise and research based formula that teaches people how to drink and lower their risk of negative consequences. It’s like creating a speed limit for drinking. If you stick to the speed limit, your chance of problems is minimal. However, the more you go over the speed limit, and the more often you go over the speed limit, the more you put yourself and others at risk. This book is long overdue!

Book Trailer:

Author’s Bio:

Randy Haveson knows addiction. As an alcoholic in long-term recovery (May, 1984), he has dedicated his life to helping others make more empowered choices in their lives. He is a 25 year veteran in the substance abuse field with extensive experience as a counselor, Director of Health & Alcohol Education at highly accredited universities, and speaker on over 100 campuses, speaking about harm reduction, self-esteem, leadership, and supporting students in recovery.

Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

iRead Tours

A Few Quick Questions With…Devri Walls

By HCNewton

On July 28, 2016

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Fiction

Devri Walls was kind enough to participate in a Q&A with me along with providing me a copy of her book The Wizard’s Heir (see my thoughts on it from earlier today). I asked her a little bit about the book, what’s next for her, and her writing in general. In addition to Heir, she’s got a YA series and another one on the way — I’d recommend checking at least one of those out.

What’s the one (or two) book/movie/show in the last 5 years that made you say, “I wish I’d written that.”?

The Hollow City concept was genius and so fun! I would’ve loved to have come up with that and been able to work a story around those incredible pictures. Also, The Mortal Instrument Series. To be the one to have come up with Shadow Hunters… oh man! So much fun would’ve been had!

In the writing of The Wizard’s Heir, what was the biggest surprise about the writing itself? Either, “I can’t believe X is so easy!” or “If I had known Y was going to be so hard, I’d have skipped this and watched more TV”.

I’ve written enough books, and enough drafts of books, that I can usually predict where my trouble spots will be. While annoying in their consistency, it’s not usually a surprise. On the other hand, I’m almost always surprised by a character. I’ll add a new one, intending them to play a small, meaningless part, and then fall in love and alter the plot to include them as a larger player. It’s always the best thing that could’ve happen to the story, but still a surprise.

In The Wizard’s Heir it was, Asher. Everyone, including myself, really connected with him. He was a bit of a throw away character until I added the scene where he goes to the boat to pick up supplies, and that was it, I loved him immediately and gave him a much larger role to play. The Wizard’s Heir is a stand alone novel but I’ve been approached several times about writing a second book in that world, while I don’t have one officially in the plans, if I ever did it would be written with Asher as the main character.

Who are some of your major influences? (whether or not you think those influences can be seen in your work — you know they’re there)

I’ve been influenced by Cassandra Clare, Dean Koontz, Stephen King and Cinda Williams Chima to name a few. I also pick up a little good with any great book I read. There are always little nuggets that I try to make note of to improve the next book.

I’ve often heard that writers, or artists in general, will forget hundreds of positive reviews but always remember the negative — what’s the worst thing that someone’s said about one of your books, and has it altered your approach to future books?

The worst thing? Oh man, something about, “this story would’ve been good if an author with talent had written it.” Lol. Nice, right? Negative reviews did alter my writing in the best way possible. I realized fairly quickly that the things one person complained about, someone else loved, and vice versa. In addition, where some people hate my work… with more vehement than perhaps necessary, others love what I write with a passion far and above what it probably deserves. I could write the Pulitzer prize winning novel and someone would still write a review that it was the worst pile of drivel they’d every read. Once I realized that, those negative reviews became freeing, I do the absolute best I can at the time and that’s all I can do. I push myself, hard. And I rewrite until I throw my hands up and say, I really can’t do any more.

It looks like your next book is on the verge of release, what can you tell us about that — and what comes next?

Yes! My Venator series is getting close to the release of book one. I’m always hesitant to give a date until I have return commitments from the editors but I am hoping for late August, early September.

I’m really excited about this series. I’m still working on the official blurb but it’s the story of two teenagers who cross through the St. Louis arch to an alternate dimension where everything you’ve ever read about exists—Fae and Vampires, Werewolves and Dragons. Seriously, nothing is off limits and it is so much fun to work with. I think my readers who were missing the environment of The Solus Series will be especially pleased with this. The Venator series is slated for multiple books, so that’s where my brain is at right now, but I have a whole notebook full of story ideas that I will get to eventually.

Since I don’t have an official blurb in hand yet, can I give your readers a sneak peek of the cover?

Nice looking cover! Thanks for your time, and thanks for The Wizard’s Heir.

United States of Books – The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

By HCNewton

On July 25, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, United States of Books

The Sound and the Fury

by William Faulkner

Paperback, 321 pg.
Vintage, 1929

Wow, it took like 2 minutes for me to remember just how much work this guy is to read. This is not the kind of book you take to the breakroom at work for a few minutes during lunch. The Sound and the Fury, like all of Faulkner that I can remember, takes work. You have to think — especially here in Part 1. Don’t get me wrong, Part 2 is no walk in the park, but Benjy’s narration is just so difficult to wade through given his cognitive ability.

Maybe I should back up a bit — this is the story of the fall of the Compson family — a great Southern family from Jefferson, MS, through (primarily) various stream of consciousness points of view. Part 1 is told through the point of view of Benjy. Benjy is 33 year-old developmentally disabled man, and his section is almost impossible to follow. There’s no chronological sense to it, it’s impossible to follow on first read as Benjy talks about a variety of events over the course of his life. Which is not to say there’s not a certain poetry, a power to it. But man . . .

Part 2 is possibly more difficult to understand, honestly, despite being told from Benjy’s older brother’s POV. But I don’t want to talk about the details — I just hate spoilers (even if you’ve had around 90 years to catch up). There are other POVs (including — thankfully, an omniscient third-person).

The plot is one thing — the experience of reading the novel is another. You want to know the power of the English language? Read William Faulkner. I don’t know what else to say. I’m not sure I’m equipped to talk about this, really — P.I.s, wizards, werewolves, dogs? Sure. The kind of thing that wins Nobel Prizes? That’s just beyond me. This is the stuff of history — of legend, really.

There is horrible language used throughout — the kind of thing that gets books banned from schools and classrooms, so if you’re easily offended, skip this. But it’s how people talked (still do), it’s honest, it’s brutal, it’s ugly, it’s human.

This is not my favorite novel by Faulkner — nor is it something I recommend to someone who’s never read the man before (maybe, As I Lay Dying?). That said, it’s full of fantastic writing, insights into the human condition, strange southerners, tragedy, and complexity that I cannot describe. Faulkner, as always, stands so far above the pack that it’s almost not fair to other books. Of course, 5 stars, how could it be anything else?

—–

5 Stars

A Few Quick Questions With…Tiffany McDaniel

By HCNewton

On July 21, 2016

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

I’ve really enjoyed my email correspondence with Tiffany McDaniel — she’s charming, friendly, and can laugh at herself. Even if I didn’t spend a couple of days under the spell of her words, I’d want her to find success with this first publication. Here’s a lil’ Q&A we did this week. As usual, I kept it short and sweet, because I’d rather she work on her next book than take too much time with me.

1. Tell me a little about your road to publication.

It was a long road, twisty and dark with the type of rocks perfectly-sized to leave a billion wounds to scar over on my soul. Perhaps too dramatic, but I wrote my first novel when I was eighteen-years-old. I wouldn’t get a publishing contract until I was twenty-nine for The Summer that Melted Everything, which isn’t my first written novel. So it was an eleven-year struggle, hence the dramatics. With all the rejection, I came to believe I would never be published. I thought I’d leave this world with my ghost moaning in defeat. I know I’m very fortunate to be in the position I am now, about to see my book on the shelf. It’s been moving through the publishing house for two years, so with all the years added up, I’ve been waiting thirteen long years to see one of my books on the shelf. July 26^th is going to be a very special day indeed. I feel as if I might sprout wings, or something equally magical will happen. Truly I’ll probably just spend the day in the bookstore, staring at my book and smiling.

2. What’s the one (or two) book/movie/show in the last 5 years that made you say, “I wish I’d written that.”?

There are so many books I love. Not necessarily in the last five years. Coming to mind, Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. But what makes these books, and every book special is the fact that they were written by these very people. Every book has its true author. The stories and characters belong to them. There’s no book I wish I would have written, because their true author has already written it so much better than I ever could.

3. I know that most authors would say that names of characters are important — but yours seem more important than usual, and steeped in meaning. Can you talk a little about your naming process? Alvernine, Grand, Dresden, Fielding — all are great. Be as general as you want, except for Autopsy, I’ve got to know, beyond the meaning — why name someone that?

For me, my characters are real people. These are their true names. They are their names long before I’ve put them down on paper. My job as the author is to listen to the characters. In the case of Autopsy’s name, I had seen the word “autopsy” that day I was trying to know him. I really do feel like these are the hints to me from the characters. Autopsy was telling me his name. As they all do. I just have to listen. I always say I’m surprised myself how the story comes out. That’s true. So when Autopsy was typed there on the page, I didn’t yet know how massive a theme that was going to be in the novel. I had yet to see for myself . . .

4. I don’t want to ask where you get your ideas, but how did you get to the point where you said, “You know what I want to write about? Satan’s summer vacation.”

First off, I love that last line of yours: “Satan’s summer vacation.” Perfect.

I always say my ideas come from the elements that make me. That somewhere in the chaotic clouds swirling in my atmosphere to the calm rivers coursing down my soul, there exists the source of my ideas. As it exists for every author. That’s a rather intense answer. But creativity is intense. It’s chaos and order, a big bang and a small tap. All these things turning, turning, until the wheel is rolling, the story rolling with it, getting to the point when the story is ready to come out.

5. I know you’re neck deep (at least) in promotion for this book, but what’s next for Tiffany McDaniel?

I have eight completed novels. I’m currently working on my ninth. The novel I’m hoping to follow The Summer that Melted Everything up with is When Lions Stood as Men. It’s the story of a Jewish brother and sister who escape Nazi Germany, flee across the Atlantic Ocean and end up in my land of Ohio. While here they create their own camp of judgment where they serve as both the guards and the prisoners. It’s a story about surviving guilt, love, and the time when lions did indeed once stand as men.

Thanks so much for your time, and I hope your launch week meets with a lot of success.