GRAPHIC NOVEL REPORT: Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Title: Watchmen
Author: Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Copyright Date: 1995

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (Excellent)

Back Cover Description
The edition of Watchmen I read did not have a true back-cover description, so I am referencing the overview from Barnes and Noble (linked in the title section) 

It all begins with the paranoid delusions of a half-insane hero called Rorschach. But is Rorschach really insane or has he in fact uncovered a plot to murder superheroes and, even worse, millions of innocent civilians? On the run from the law, Rorschach reunites with his former teammates in a desperate attempt to save the world and their lives, but what they uncover will shock them to their very core and change the face of the planet! Following two generations of masked superheroes from the close of World War II to the icy shadow of the Cold War comes this groundbreaking comic story -- the story of The Watchmen.

Who watches the Watchmen. Someone does. Someone who's trying to kill them all, one by one. Time's running out for the Watchmen... .

My Thoughts
This is the second graphic novel I've read and I have to say that the genre is really growing on me.  I am just dipping my toes into comics for now but I'm quickly learning that everything is not all superheros and bad guys in the land of the colorful page.

While Watchmen is a traditional comic in that the main characters are masked vigilantes working for justice where the law cannot, it provides a couple of interesting twists.  

First, there isn't an obvious super-villain.  There is an ever escalating cold war between the US and the Soviet Union. The Watchmen, being simply normal people with good intentions, can't help to alleviate the tension in anyway;  they are useless now.  Their services just aren't needed or wanted anymore and the glory days are long gone.  So when someone starts picking off Watchmen, it falls on deaf ears.  

Second, the only true superhero, "Dr Manhattan", is completely agnostic to the human race.  He ignores them for the most part so that he can focus his time and energy studying the secrets of the universe.  This is in contrast to most superhero comics which use their powers to right all of the wrongs in the world to make it a better place.  The government does say, "The superman exists, and he's American" , but they really don't have any control of him.  Even if this ownership is in name only the Soviets don't know that and it is the only reason the cold war hasn't boiled over.  

Watchmen was the only graphic novel on the Times Magazine top one hundred novels of the twentieth century and I can see why after reading it.  The story line is layered and deep.  It weaves the original Watchmen of the forties with the next generation of masked heroes brilliantly.  The non-hero characters are deep and complex, each one bringing an added dimension to the tense world around them.  The story really makes you think about what you've read and I found myself wondering what I would do in some of these situations. 

I would definitely recommend Watchmen to anyone who wants a dark, action-filled,  thought-provoking read with memorable characters and an unbelievable ending.  

One last thing before I go,  I watched the Watchmen movie after I read the graphic novel and I thought it was good.  It was very true to the comic, but it obviously had to leave out several of the subplots.  The ending was changed dramatically from novel, so if you've liked the movie, but haven't read the book yet, pick it up and give it a read. You won't be disappointed. 

BOOK REPORT: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Title: The Name of the Wind 
           (Kingkiller Chronicles: Day 1)
Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Copyright Date: 2007

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars 
                    ( Entertaining )

Back-Cover Description

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

So begins the tale of Kvothe-from his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a difficult and dangerous school of magic. In these pages you will come to know Kvothe as a notorious magician, an accomplished thief, a masterful musician, and an infamous assassin. But The Name Of The Wind is so much more-for the story it tells reveals the truth behind Kvothe's legend.

My Thoughts
The Name of the Wind was a very entertaining read; it is very well written and action packed. At first glance however, it blatantly follows the same hero's journey template that Star Wars and Harry Potter use.  Let's see if this sounds familiar: a young boy, Kvothe, who is very gifted in seemingly every way, encounters a life altering tragedy and is forced upon a path of justice.  But as the story evolves, the journey starts to veer off the beaten path.

What sets The Name of the Wind apart is that the Kvothe isn't necessarily a hero; or to be more precise, we don't know whether he is a hero or not. He could be one. This is a personal  vengeance and in this context, we don't know his quest is for the betterment of everyone or just himself.  His ire is directed against at an unknown enemy, but the spotty evidence points to a strange group who only exist in folk tales as the foe of a mighty kingdom long gone.   

His quest is quite a ride to go along with and takes some unexpected turns which is nice.  My only issue with it comes from Kvothe's knack at being great at EVERYTHING.  It can get a bit tiresome when it only takes him a few tries to master a new skill;  the movie version of the book will have quite a few montage scenes.   

I really liked this book and will definitely read the next in the series once it comes down to paperback prices.  I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a page-turning adventure that mixes the epic medieval scenery of Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth with the classic magical hero's journey we all know and love. 

BOOK REPORT: Neuromancer by William Gibson

Title: Neuromancer
Author:  William Gibson
Copyright Date:  1986

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars ( ok )

Back-Cover Description
The edition I have doesn't have a back-cover description so I borrowed on from Amazon:

Here is the novel that started it all, launching the cyberpunk generation, and the first novel to win the holy trinity of science fiction: the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award and the Philip K. Dick Award. With Neuromancer, William Gibson introduced the world to cyberspace--and science fiction has never been the same. 

Case was the hottest computer cowboy cruising the information superhighway--jacking his consciousness into cyberspace, soaring through tactile lattices of data and logic, rustling encoded secrets for anyone with the money to buy his skills. Then he double-crossed the wrong people, who caught up with him in a big way--and burned the talent out of his brain, micron by micron. Banished from cyberspace, trapped in the meat of his physical body, Case courted death in the high-tech underworld. Until a shadowy conspiracy offered him a second chance--and a cure--for a price.... 

My Thoughts
When Neuromancer was released, it was something unique and different.  At least that's what I've been told.  Unfortunately, it is twenty-five years later and the genre has grown and matured since then.  

It was difficult for me to get engaged in Neuromancer.  I simply couldn't get my reading momentum going, and as a result, it took me a long time to finish.  I can trace this back to one simple reason.  I found William Gibson's writing style very difficult to deal with.  There wasn't a rhythm to the prose at all.  There were rambling sentences describing an action scene loaded with ambiguous pronouns. Cryptic incomplete sentences littered the pages.  I often found myself confused with what was going on in a scene and constantly having to go back to reread a few pages in an attempt to make some sense of what was going on. Most of the time I just gave up and pushed ahead hoping the loose strings would miraculously join together.  More often than not, the strings would finally come together later in the chapter, but I was usually annoyed by that point.

Once I got a bit more than halfway, I wised up to the fact that there was a comprehension phase-shift and I resigned myself to just be confused most of the time.  I just read the words as they were printed and gave up on trying to comprehend the story as it went and my reading pace and enjoyment picked up.

Looking back on Neuromancer, the basic story line wasn't bad at all, I just wish it was written better. Maybe if I read it when it was released, I would have received it with an open-mind and been wowed by cyberspace enough to ignore the writing. Or maybe it's just hard to go back to a classic in this genre, especially if you didn't catch it the first time around; I was ten so I missed that spaceship.  

BOOK REPORT: God Bless You, Dr Kavorkian by Kurt Vonnegut

Title: God Bless You, Dr Kavorkian 
Author:  Kurt Vonnegut
Copyright Date:  2011

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars ( short )


Back-Cover Description
In twenty-one trips down the "the blue tunnel to the pearly gates" strapped to a gurney, Vonnegut interviews Sir Isaac Newton, Clarence Darrow, James Earl Ray, Eugene Debs, John Brown, Adolf Hitler, William Shakespeare, and Kilgore Trout, among others. What began as a series of ninety-second interludes for WNYC public radio evolved into this provocative collection of questions and answers about who and what we live for, and how much it all matters in the end.

My Thoughts
God Bless You was a very short read.  Each account of a "visit" with a deceased person at the pearly gates was approximately three pages. Some were amusing, others were inspiring, others left me wanting.   

I found the interviews with people I was not familiar more enjoyable that the ones from people I knew about.  I think this is partly due to my expectations going into the story.  It was easy for me to simply read the interview and enjoy Vonnegut's unique take on this individual's contribution to mankind if I didn't have an preconcieved notions going into the story.  For the interviews for people I knew about, I had questions I wanted for Vonnegut to ask and discuss and he rarely came close to those topics.

Overall this was an entertaining read.  At times it was a bit predicable in its themes, but Vonnegut's witty writing makes up for any lack of depth in several of the interviews.

The Big Finale: The year of the book...

My thirty-fifth year has come and gone. I've surpassed my goal of twenty-five books in a year and I am very pleased with how the the Olio Scholar project went. I read a variety of material and in the process changed my lifestyle, hopefully for the better. Reading is now an important part of my routine and looks to continue that way after this project fades away.

So what does my thirty-sixth year of life hold for the Olio Scholar project?

• I plan to keep reading, although I don't have a set goal for the number of books I want to read this year. However, if don't reach at least twenty I will probably be disappointed. And please, visit the recommendations page and tell me what I should read next!
• I plan on continuing the book reports. This blog shall continue to be my reading home; these reports are a good way to keep me motivated. However, If I do miss a book report every so often, don't criticize me too much.
• I also plan to write some short stories this year to see how that works out. I have bits and pieces of inspiration laying around; a character here, a theme there, but no concrete story lines yet. I am a bit nervous about this goal actually. Considering how much work I put into these reports, constantly editing new drafts until it is satisfactory, I can only imagine how many iterations the stories will go through. And who knows if I will let anyone actually read them.

But enough about next year, it's the time we've all been waiting for: The first annual Olio Scholar Awards!

Best Novel

• Winner: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Other Nominees:Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Huckleberry Finn is a classic in every sense of the word, Good Omens was one of the most clever and funny books I've recently read and Jane Eyre exceeded my expectations enough to be considered as a nominee. But when it comes down to it, this wasn't much of a competition. The Book Thief was an amazing book. There wasn't a day that went by for months after reading it in which I didn't think about this book.

Best Non-Fiction

• Winner: The Forgotten 500 by Gregory A. Freeman
• Other Nominees: The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

I didn't read many non-fiction books during this year, but of the two that I did read, I enjoyed the The Forgotten 500 a bit more. I guess war stories are more engaging than stories about linguists.

Best Novella

• Winner: Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• Other Nominees: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

In a surprising upset, Picture of Dorian Gray won out over A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I rated the former four stars while the latter got a full five. However, in the voting, I found that A Christmas Carol has its appeal around Christmas. Reading it in July doesn't carry the same weight whereas Picture of Dorian Gray can be read all throughout the year and therefore got the nod.

Best New (to me) Author

• Winner: Neil Gaiman
• Other Nominees: Kazuo Ishiguro, M.T. Anderson, Markus Zusak, Pramoedya Ananta Toer

I thought Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett was a great book. Although the writing style is obviously Terry Pratchett, there is an edge to the story that his other stories didn't have. I was interested in seeing what Neil Gaiman's own books were like. I started to research which books I should read and found out three things: one, that his Sandman comic series got critical accolades from both the comic and non-comic critics, two, his books were wildly imaginative, with memorable characters and well written, and three, he has a very large cult following.  Well, after reading the entire Sandman series and The Graveyard book, I find myself part of the cult.  I will definitely be reading more of his books.  I also have him to thank for opening my eyes to the world of graphic novels.  I realize now that the comic book world is made up of more than just super heroes and damsels in distress.

Best Short Story

• Winner: "The Suicide Club" by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Other Nominees: "Markheim" by Robert Louis Stevenson, "Thrawn Janet" by Robert Louis Stevenson

All of the short stories I read this year were packaged as part of the Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde book. The Suicide Club was by far my favorite story line. It is actually three stories following a Prince visiting a suicide club for an adrenaline rush. All of the other stories just didn't have the entertainment value of that series and it made for an easy win in this category.  Please note, several of the individual Sandman comics could have been nominees in this category but I decided to keep each volume as an entity and not split them out.

Best Play

• Winner: "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett
• Other Nominees: None

I only read one play this year, so by default it is the winner.  Maybe next year there will be more potential nominees.

Best Graphic Novel 

• Winner: "The Sandman Vol 8: World's End" by Neil Gaiman
• Other Nominees: The Sandman Vol 3: Dream Country,The Sandman Vol 9: The Kindly Ones by Neil Gaiman

While I enjoyed most of the Sandman volumes, I really enjoyed the volumes which were collections of one-off stories.  Neil Gaiman's imagination really shined through in those particular comics. My favorite volume was World's End which was a collection inspired by Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The World's End is a Tavern/Inn where travelers from all over, including Fairies, Pixies, Humans, Immortals, et al. have to wait for a reality storm caused by Dream's depression to clear. To pass the time, they tell absolutely fabulous stories; many of which have other stories nested within them. The whole World's End volume was a treat to read.

To wrap things up, here is a list of everything I've read for fun this year. I've ordered them by my rating and within each rating category, I've tried to sort them again.  However, it was very difficult to sort the remaining books as the criteria depends on what you are looking for in a book at any one time. For example, I have Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov rated as a four-star book, but also The Hot Rock by Donald Westlake. Would anyone say that The Hot Rock is at the same "level" as Lolita? No. But I was entertained by David Westlake's crime caper and thought that, for its genre, it deserved four stars.

Novels

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (5 stars)
2. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (5 stars)
3. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (5 stars)
4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (4.5 stars)
5. One Hundred Years of Solidtude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (4.5 stars)
6. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (4.5 stars)
7. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (4 stars)
8. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (4 stars)
9. A Long Long Way By Sebastian Barry (4 stars)
10. Feed by M.T. Anderson (4 stars)
11. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (4 stars)
12. This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer (4 stars)
13. The Hot Rock by Donald E. Westlake (4 stars)
14. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (3.5 stars)
15. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (3.5 stars)
16. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (3.5 stars)
17. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (3.5 stars)
18. Animal Farm by George Orwell (3 stars)
19. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz By L Frank Baum (3 stars)
20. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo By Stieg Larsson (2 stars)
21. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain(2 stars)
22. At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien (2 stars)

Novellas

1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (5 stars)
2. The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens (4.5 stars)
3. Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (4 stars)
4. The Battle of Life by Charles Dickens (4 stars)
5. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (3.5 stars)
6. The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain by Charles Dickens (3.5 stars)
7. The Chimes by Charles Dickens (2 stars)

Short Stories

1. Lodging for the Night by Robert Louis Stevenson
2. The Suicide Club by Robert Louis Stevenson
3. Thrawn Janet by Robert Louis Stevenson
4. The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson
5. Markheim by Robert Louis Stevenson

Non Fiction

1. The Forgotton 500 by Gregory A. Freeman (4 stars)
2. The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester (3 stars)

Graphic Novels

1. The Sandman Vol 1: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
2. The Sandman Vol 2: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman
3. The Sandman Vol 3: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman
4. The Sandman Vol 4: The Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman
5. The Sandman Vol 5: A Game of You by Neil Gaiman
6. The Sandman Vol 6: Fables and Reflections by Neil Gaiman
7. The Sandman Vol 7: Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman
8. The Sandman Vol 8: Worlds End by Neil Gaiman
9. The Sandman Vol 9: The Kindly Ones by Neil Gaiman
10. The Sandman Vol 10: The Wake by Neil Gaiman
11. The Sandman Vol 11: Endless Nights by Neil Gaiman

Plays

1. Waiting for Godot by Samual Beckett (3.5 stars)

BOOK REPORT: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Title: One Hundred Years of Solitude 
Author:  Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Copyright Date:  1967

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars ( epic )

Probably Garcia Marquez's finest and most famous work, One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendia family.  Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad, alive with unforgettable men and women, and with a truth and understanding that strike the soul.  One Hundred Years of Solitude is a masterpiece of the art of fiction.

My Thoughts
I started to read One Hundred Years of Solitude on a whim. I picked it up while I was waiting for an evening meeting to start and I was engaged in the Buendia family immediately.  It wasn't until about a week later that I could start reading it however and during this hiatus, I found myself thinking about the book and where it might take me.

What I quickly found out was that Marquez was placing me in an epic tale that doesn't leave Macondo.  But it's the small details in this large story that make it so rich.  It is also the small details which make this an unexpectedly odd story. One Hundred Years of Solitude doesn't start out odd; the oddness evolves and grows throughout the book along with the town.  Just little things in the beginning really, a girl eating dirt here, a ghost there, maybe some blood flowing up hills on occasion. By the time I met the third generation of Beundias, nothing surprised me.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the title. I usually associate solitude with loneliness and depression, but Marquez portrays solitude as a driving force in life. It is woven it into every character's life, whether they were happy, sad, popular or a wall-flower. Many seek solitude as a way to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life, while others do anything they can to avoid it.

One Hundred Years of Solitude is a deep and complex story. I enjoyed it on my first read, but I rated it four and a half stars because I know there are elements that I missed. It is very possible that I will be able to up the rating to five-stars on my next read. 

GRAPHIC NOVEL REPORT: The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

I have a secret.

The twenty-eight books that I've read  this year are not the only things I've read.  I was sneaking in some other material.   "GASP!", you say.  "What could you be reading to keep it secret from the six people who follow your blog?"

I was cheating on my "word-books" with some comic books.  That's right, I read graphic novels.    I read the entire Sandman Series by Neil Gaiman.  You might remember Neil from such book reports as The Graveyard Book and Good Omens with Terry Pratchett. He is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

Neil's written hundreds of comics throughout the years, but his most famous comic series was The Sandman. It was a serial comic which ran monthly from 1988 to 1996 totaling seventy-five issues.

The Sandman series revolves around Morpheus, the King of Dreams.  Morpheus rules over everyone's dreams and is one of the seven 'Endless'.  They are not gods, they are older than them. The Endless are Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Despair, Desire, and Delirium (who used to be Delight) 

Morpheus the Dream Lord

The series is broken up into ten graphic novels (over 2000 total pages!).    A couple of the graphic novels are a collection of one-off stories, but most of them are dedicated to one story-arc in the series.

• Preludes and Nocturnes 
• The Doll's House 
• Dream Country 
• Season of Mists 
• A Game of You 
• Fables and Reflections 
• Brief Lives 
• Worlds' End   <my personal favorite >
• The Kindly Ones 
• The Wake 

There is also bonus novel which came out in 2003 which dedicates one story to each of the Endless.

• Endless Nights

The series starts off when a rich eccentric recluse who doesn't want to die finds a way to summon the Endless and capture them.  Trying to live forever he summons Death, but gets Dream instead.  After eighty years, Dream finally escapes to find that he is weakened and his kingdom is crumbling.

After Dream gets his kingdom back in working order, the story line evolves away from Morpheus as the main character.  Instead, he takes a back seat to other characters and stories.  These comics show how much influence Dream has in our waking world.  Dream has been around from the beginning, behind only Destiny and Death and he has seen it all.  Love, hate, power and greed all start with a Dream.

I really enjoyed these comics.  There is an element of horror in the series (especially in the beginning), but each comic was infused with mythology and folklore. Some story lines were better than others obviously; there will be natural up's and down's to a series this long, but  Neil Gaiman is such a great story teller that the realm of Dreams really comes alive.  

The Sandman is proof that comics have evolved away from the standard super-hero/villain template from our childhood. These are deep stories with real character development.  After I finished this series, I started researching the genre a bit more.  There is a whole world out there of  well regarded, non-superman/batman comics out there that piqued my interest and I will definitely be adding them into my rotation.