Revisiting Book Reviews Again

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I couldn’t help but enjoy the noir-like tone. Fischer can really entertain with his raw-boned and gritty point of view. It’s his voice that kept me most interested. And he keeps this up throughout as he tells his story to another character. Who? You’ll have to read until the end to find out.

Don’t hesitate to pick this one up.

This book labels itself as literary horror. I’m not quite sure I agree with this. Don’t get me wrong, you will spend a lot of time inside a character’s head. There are many events that happen that are important only to that character. But there are also public stakes that affect the town and, possibly, the world itself. The troubles will eventually reach farther than just Christopher.

What you may find interesting are the many biblical and moral themes woven throughout–questions of what is right and wrong, elements of the Book of Job, references to Mary and Jesus and so on. I feel that the author does a good job of applying them. I’m not a religious person but I do think the themes are appropriate considering who the main antagonist is. It makes for an interesting approach to age-old stories and lessons. And I had no problem completing the Imaginary Friend as it wasn’t preachy.

There are a few reasons why a reader may not want to pick this book up:

1. It’s really long. I feel that it could have been shortened but the author writes well enough to keep you interested. (Well, except towards the end when several characters keep shouting out, “Noooo!”)
2. There are a lots of character names to keep track of. And the author moves in and out of their point-of-views frequently. If you prefer stories with only three or four characters to follow, stay away from this book.
3. At about 2/3 of the way in, there is a story twist that may jar you out of the story. The author spends time explaining it afterward but I don’t feel like it was setup that well to be convincing. The twist is a biggie so you may find yourself critiquing the rest of the story. Or frustrated with the time spent reading so far. I chose to overlook, accept and move on.

Still, I can think of many shorter books that didn’t warrant my time as much as Imaginary Friend. If you’re curious, you should give this one a try.

** spoiler alert ** 

The villain is boring and weak. Rose the Hat and the other members of the True Knot complain, scream and threaten frequently. But little comes of it as they’re easily defeated. A lot of buildup for no payoff.

And top all of this off with a driving inconvenience for the bad guys—they’re dying from measles. Hundreds of years of existence without vaccines and I’m expected to believe this sudden shortcoming no matter the explanation. A sickness should have happened to the good guys but then it would read more like The Stand without a grand apocalyptic scope.

There are better novels by King to read.

I believe that Stephen King’s The Shining was greatly influenced by Robert Marasco’s work. It shows. But while King’s story is more event driven and gives ongoing small tastes of sometimes unmemorable actions, this book must be savored. The tension and suspense build to an ending that lingers in the reader’s mind.

Rothfuss has created an interesting way to frame a story that hits the fantasy genre beats and draws in the reader with an empathetic character.

Not every story resonated with me, but I had no problem enjoying the anthology all the way through. There are pros and cons that could be said for everything in The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, like driving a classic car. For any reader considering this book, resist the temptation to deconstruct King’s work and just let him take you for a ride.

Stranded on another merchant spaceship Nomad in space and surviving on his animal and human cunning to survive within a large locker, Gully plots his revenge: Get off the wrecked ship, find Vorga (a ship that did not rescue him), and blow it up.

Gully’s burning desire for destruction and revenge is all-consuming. Gully is nothing more than a beast. And this beast-like quality is reflected in a poem that he repeats to himself while stranded on the destroyed spaceship Nomad:

Gully Foyle is my name
And Terra is my nation
Deep space is my dwelling place
And death's my destination.

The deck is stacked against Gully, yet he succeeds reaching his goals, again and again. Fighting the dangers of open space, cults, entrenched corporation clans, and colluding governments, he succeeds through drive, cunning, innate skills, and an underlying intelligence that develops over the story. And as Gully’s intelligence begins to shine, as his understanding of himself and the world grows, Gully becomes more human.

It is Gully’s humanity and final wisdom that are his true destination. His desire to commit an act of revenge evolves from the simple act of blowing up a ship to the desire to murder the ship’s captain, to absolution, to introspection, and to a cosmic insight of where and who Gully is within the universe. When Gully finally returns “home” to the Nomad’s space locker, he recites this poem to himself:

Gully Foyle is my name
And Terra is my nation
Deep space is my dwelling place
The stars my destination.

By today’s reading expectations, there are a few problems with the book. Bester wrote it in the 1950s, so a number of corporate players are no longer recognizable to younger readers. And the dialogue and slang is a bit dated.

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My book review philosophy

I don’t believe in using a numbering system when it comes to art of any kind–visual, audio, text and so on. (And that goes for numbered stars or any other type of symbol.) When it comes to a critique of fiction, what I’m really doing is expressing my interest in the story and attempting to explain why I did (or did not) enjoy the read. This is my expression and you may or may not agree with my opinion. How can a ‘3.5 stars’ quantify this with any real meaning?

Numbers are used to describe a physical phenomenon quantitatively, called a physical quantity. Your height is a physical quantity. Humans use units of quantity to measure and we both can agree–more or less–to the result. But can we both agree to a work of fiction’s personal impact and for the same reasons? Not likely. And don’t even try to convert a book review score to SI units.

So how do I write a book review? This is how I sum up a book:

• Couldn’t Finish It–Something about this book annoyed or bored me and I eventually put it down. Maybe I made it through a chapter. Maybe I got about halfway through it or more. But the story couldn’t compel me to finish to the last page.
• It’s Okay–Well, I did finish the story. It was difficult to do so, I was eventually disappointed or I don’t remember much of what happened. Whatever the reason, this is not a book that made a lasting impression.
• Good Read!–Loved the book from page 1 to completion. Couldn’t put it down and I enthusiastically recommend it.