Review # 5: just wait.....
I have a bit of a back story to this one. When I was a teenager, I read Go Ask Alice for an English essay. I wasn't much of a reader believe it or not, and my best friend chose to do this book and told me about it after the guy at the book store had recommended it. Somehow, our teacher let us both cover the same book, so I bought myself a copy as well. At this point I had already had a strange fascination with drug addiction, and this book took me even further. I then tried to soak up as much as I could on the subject, and after some research, came across Junky by William S. Burroughs. After finishing his book, I became enthralled. I wanted more, I needed to know all about his life and anyone he knew. I came across Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe and that looked really exciting, but I never ended up finding a copy and sort of forgot about my search. A couple of years back when I started dating my boyfriend, one of the things that first captivated me about him was that not only did he love to read (with the guys I meet, this is rare) but he also loved the same type of books as me. He told me all about Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and how it revolved around Ken Kesey (the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and his band of Merry Pranksters as they go on a journey across the country in their school bus named Further, while doing LSD and other psychedelic drugs. Kesey and his Pranksters were "too young to be beatniks, and too old to be a hippies" in Kesey's own words, but they definitely looked up to the beatniks. William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and none other then the famous Neal Cassady. Cassady actually travels with the Prankster's, driving the bus Further across country from L.A. to New York, where they meet up with Kerouac and Ginsberg. My boyfriend at the end of his high-school career, was so inspired by this story, that he actually went out and bought his own school bus to drive from Ontario to BC. That's a story I may talk about another time, we'll see. But the point is, this era captured him. I decided before I should get too into this world, I should go back a little in time and read On The Road. And if you've been paying attention, I did mention my next book review had a movie coming out, toward the end of May, which now I am really excited about.
On The Road by Jack Kerouac
I would definitely say this is my boyfriends favourite book. On a side note, I actually found this really cool site Out of Print Clothing, which is exactly what it sounds like. They sell t-shirts, tote bags, notebooks, coasters, greeting cards, iPhone cases, e-reader cases - all with out of print book covers printed on them. They are SO cool. Every time you buy, they donate a book to a community in need in Africa, which makes me even more excited. So through browsing, I found a t-shirt of On The Road, with a cover I have NEVER seen, obviously - it's out of print. But it was also the coolest thing I have seen. I had to buy it for Sean. His birthday was a few days ago and he LOVED it. He shows everyone and is so proud of his neat gift.
So figuring not only was this my boyfriends favourite book, but that I had for quite some time now, wanted to get back into these books like Junky, which I loved so much, and that there is a movie coming out, how could I go wrong?
^^This is the book cover shirt they sell on Out of Print.
Kerouac's classic novel of freedom and longing defined what it meant to be "Beat" and has inspired every generation since its initial publication more than forty years ago.
A quote I've always loved is, “It's not the destination, but the journey, that matters”. This describes On The Road perfectly. While we know Sal's destination is to make it to San Fransisco, the stuff that really matters is the journey. At first I didn't much care for our character, and when first being introduced to Dean, he seems very all over the place. I learned quickly to love Sal, but at times felt like the protective older sister I am, when he seems to get in trouble with Dean, just out of simple carelessness. He lets Dean lead the way too much, and you definitely get the feeling that not many people care for him either. Sal is very much a go with the flow person, and Dean takes advantage of that. This book covers so much, that it's hard to even begin to talk about it. You must read it for yourself. His journey is well worth the ride and I can not wait for the movie. Although...... they put Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams and Kirsten Dunst in it. I've never heard of any of the men, but that's because I'm out of touch with pop culture. I was hoping for no name actors, I guess I can deal with Amy Adams, and Kirsten Dunst in a role like this probably won't be that annoying, but Kristen Stewart? Really?! Jack would be rolling in his grave.....
Review #6: The Dinner by Herman Koch
From Indigo:
It's a summer's evening in Amsterdam, and two couples meet at a fashionable restaurant for dinner. Between mouthfuls of food and over the polite scrapings of cutlery, the conversation remains a gentle hum of polite discourse -- the banality of work, the triviality of the holidays. But behind the empty words, terrible things need to be said, and with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened.
Each couple has a fifteen-year-old son. The two boys are united by their accountability for a single horrific act; an act that has triggered a police investigation and shattered the comfortable, insulated worlds of their families. As the dinner reaches its culinary climax, the conversation finally touches on their children. As civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple show just how far they are prepared to go to protect those they love.
Tautly written, incredibly gripping, and told by an unforgettable narrator, The Dinner promises to be the topic of countless dinner party debates. Skewering everything from parenting values to pretentious menus to political convictions, this novel reveals the dark side of genteel society and asks what each of us would do in the face of unimaginable tragedy.
As mentioned, this book takes place over the course of one night, with 4 adults out to dinner, whom we learn quickly are two brothers, and their wives. The two 15 year old boys being cousins. My first thought was, how could one write an entire book only taking place over the course of one meal? Once you get into this book, the answer to that question is the least of your worries. It is very intense. Of course the author wanders on his thoughts to other times, and the main focus of the story. It seems at times that he is rambling for filler, but every line is as interesting as the last. I flew through this book, reading half of it in one sitting. It was SO good. It's not often that I am so interested that I literally will not put it down. It's hard to even get into talking about this book without giving anything away. I'll just say this: it definitely keeps you reading. Especially if you know something disturbing is coming and you just want to get there to find out what it is. I will also be completely honest: the disturbing thing that happened, in my opinion, wasn't all that disturbing. Clearly my boss and myself have very different opinions on what disturbing is. As if disturbing to her would be a little boy pulling the legs off of a spider, and disturbing to me is any of the Saw movies. To me, it was just sort of messed up. But still good. That was a bit of a disappointment, and the only other thing that bothered me was the unanswered questions. They weren't that important to the story line, but I don't like closing a book and not knowing small details, which the author obviously left out. Let's just say this: one or more of the characters has some sort of psychological disorder, but the author doesn't tell you what they are. Putting a name on something like that isn't really all that important to me, but if there were a name put on it, it would be a lot easier to understand all the ins and outs. You leave the story knowing some people are messed up in the head, but that is all. You don't know why they are messed up, or how messed up. I've never closed a book so frustrated. At first I thought it was just something small I was obsessing over for no reason. I then thought maybe I missed it at some point. I then spoke to other people who had read it, and they agreed that it was annoying not to know. So I didn't miss it, and I wasn't obsessing over something small, it bothered them too. Unless it was something subtle that I just didn't pick up on, prepare to be a bit irked if you decided to pick this one up. Other then the small annoyances, it is WELL worth the read.