Book Review: Never Let Me Go

Last week I read the book Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, which was considered by Time Magazine to be the best book of 2005, as well as being short-listed for the Booker Prize and the Arthur C. Clarke Award. I've always found it a little funny that I keep coming across titles like these - books that have all sorts of critical acclaim and are in one of my favourite genres (the book is a Science Fiction novel), and it is only years after the fact I even hear about them.

The novel itself follows a woman named Kathy H. as she looks back over her childhood at a boarding school called Hailsham, a school for special children, and especially her friends Ruth and Tommy.

Without going into too many spoilers (which again, is kind of funny, considering I'm talking about a five-year-old book), I love how the book manages to introduce a feeling of anxiety and dread for the reader, while at the same time, slowly letting us know exactly what the students at Hailsham knew all along.

It's very rare I come across a Science Fiction book that fills me with a sense of incredible sadness like this book did, but don't get me wrong - I really liked it. It's kind of a gateway book, wherein fans of award winning literature may take a look at SF and fans of SF may start branching into books that win the Pullizer or the the Booker Prize.

A quick note: I'll be off camping on Wednesday, so I won't have another post up until Friday, but as it will be my 150th post, I'll try to do something special.

Things I've Noticed: Real World Benefits of Genre Reading

Over the last seven months I've written a lot about my love of Fantasy, Horror and Science Fiction, and due to the fact that I read a lot of the stuff, I will be going on about it for a long time. Today, however, I thought I would take a look at how my favourite genres actually benefit me in the real world.

Fantasy

If there is one thing in my life I can say the Fantasy genre has directly helped me in, it is a love of the outdoors. I've loved camping since I was a kid, when I could go on a hike and pretend I was Hansel, trying to find my way back home, or a knight of the round table searching for the Holy Grail. In my teen years it was more likely to be scenes from Dragonlance or Lord of the Rings that played in my mind while camping, and now as a parent, I can honestly camping has become one of my favourite activites, I like the quiet, the time with my wife and kids, and the view (seen above - Jasper, AB, Canada).

-Thanks Fantasy.

Horror

From a very early age, Horror helped define my as a boy. I was the only boy in a house of girls, so I naturally gravitated towards books that I felt were especially for boys (I don't think this any more, but come on, I was under 12 and looking for something I could call my own). In my mind, horror has lead the to the theory of breaking down any problem into its component parts and attempting to solve it - Horrible ghost steals your kid? Get a teeny tiny lady to help out - Horrible god from another dimension (pictured above) taking over your city and unleashing an army of ghosts? Get some friends together and take her down (but don't cross the streams). I've always enjoyed finding the solutions to problems, and the horror genre consistently shows me that even the most terrible things can be stopped - for now.

- Thanks Horror.

Science Fictiion

In my mind, one of the best real life uses for Science Fiction is its ability to prepare you for change. As virtually every story involves a cultural, scientific, or location change, a keen reader can pick up skills and strategies for change in their own life. The key aspect I've latched onto from my favourite characters in SF is the way they are always in a state of learning or exploration about their world - it's a big part of why I'm taking part time university courses in my world, helping me develop and grow - and also, if I want to become some sort of space-librarian (the view from my potential space-office, pictured above), I'm going to need more fancy initials after my name. In the end, the best SF is about exploration, and I think it has inspired me to explore my own life.

-Thanks Science Fiction.

There are tonnes of other real-world benefits from reading genre fiction (for example, preparing for a possible zombie apocalypse means doing a lot of cardio which is good for the heart, lungs, and whichever part of you the zombies would try to eat first), I've just listed the ones that most easily come to mind for me.

Things I've Noticed: I'm starting to by less new genre films on DVD

Looking over my DVD collection this morning, I realized that I'm not buying a lot of the new stuff in genre films lately. I mean sure, I've got The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Trilogy boxed set, but that came out back in 2001, 2002, and 2003. If you only go back 5 years, to 2004, and you take into account that a number of DVD's I get are for my kids (Harry Potter and Narnia), my genre films on DVD are pretty slim.

I do love genre movies, and have seen lots of them in theatres, rented lots more and even waited for the public library to get some because they don't deserve my rental dollars (Transformers). But looking over my stuff, I've be surprised if I have more than ten genre flicks from the last 5 years.

Taking into account that I'm only talking about films, not Television series, here's what I've got.

In Fantasy since 2004, I own Pan's Labyrinth, Mirrormask, Lady in the Water, and Stardust, all of which I've watched on DVD at least twice, most of which I've checked out the special features on. When I think of spending money on Fantasy films, I just find that a lot of it ends up going to stuff that would be perfect Christmas or Birthday gifts for my daughters.

In SF since 2004, I own Children of Men and Sunshine. I know that you can consider most Super Hero flicks to be SF, but as I buy most of them for my kids, they aren't really my collection. To be fair, since my BFF Mike is a huge SF and Super Hero fan, I can borrow these titles from him so there isn't as much of a need for me to purchase these.

In Horror since 2004, I've got Shawn of the Dead, Planet Terror and Slither. I am a pretty big horror fan, but even taking into account the 2009 horror films I'd like to own (Drag Me To Hell and Zombieland), I'm just not finding a big need to re-watch a lot of newer horror movies.

When I think about a movie that I might like to own, I have three filters that make sure I don't end up broke (pictured right).

1) Do I have somethings I'd rather do with this $20 bill?

2) As much as I liked it in theatres, will I ever re-watch this film?

3) Would I be embarrased if someone saw this on my DVD shelf?

I still by a lot of DVDs, but these days more of them tend to be hard-to-find classics and hidden gems of genre films. I hope that means I'm getting more discerning in my selections, rather than just being picky.

Top Five Horror Classics everyone should read

As a huge fan of horror fiction, I am often asked, "What's a good place to start?" and considering we are now in the month of October, I get asked this a lot. So here are my five top horror classics everyone should read. A big part of why I chose these particular books is that each of them are great starting points in multiple ways (massively influential, very scary and short), so here we go:

5. The Werewolf of Paris, by Guy Endore (1933)

Set in France during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), the novel follow Bertrand Caillet, a young man who suffers from a strange family illness and his attempts to escape his family curse. The book is full of dream imagery, sex, and violence. As Betrand falls under the family curse and finds what may be his only chance at true love his outbursts become bigger and more frightening. This book, the only one on the list most people may not have heard of, is a treat for the interested horror fan as it is a very readable book that asks the question right until the end - Is Bertrand actually a werewolf, or simply insane?

4. Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)

Many people see this book as the first true werewolf novel, as although Henry Jekyll does not transform into a wolf, the book does focus on a man attempting to escape the actions and consequences of his other self, a creature which leaves murder and destruction in its path. This book was a huge influence on the creation of both The Hulk and the Batman villain Two-Face. The story actually asks a lot of pretty deep questions: If man is a creature of both good and evil, and the evil side could be removed, should we? How much of who we are actually comes from this evil side? The book is quite short (it's a novella) and is totally worth the day or two it would take to read it.

3.Frankenstein or, the modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley (1831)

First thing first - this book, considered by many to be the first Science Fiction novel was written by an eighteen-year-old girl. Any time people suggest to me that horror or SF is for boys, I always remind them that one of the most influential, frightening stories in both those genres the world has ever seen came out of the mind of a young woman. The book follows a story-within-a-story format, wherein an Arctic travelling ship rescues doctor Victor Frankenstein and in that ship, the captain is told the doctor's story. You probably read it in high-school, but this book is completely worth a revisit, as are the two original Universal pictures based on it.

2. Dracula, by Bram Stoker (1897)

What can I say here, the book awesome. Fitted together as diary entries, news clippings, and letters between friends. Acting like a vampire itself, the novel sucks you right in from the beginning and doesn't let you go. There is a reason why Dracula has been adapted for the movies more than any other character from literature and you have to read this book to get it. It's greatest weakness is that its Victorian-era characters tend to go off on little speeches, but it's greatest strength is that the book is a little different than you might remember, especially if all you remember are the movies.

1. The Invisible Man, by H.G. Wells (1897)

Why do you ask, does this book beat out both Dracula and Frankenstein for me? Simple, Griffin, our main character, is just about one of the craziest, nastiest people I have ever read about. In the course of the novel he kills more people than any of the monsters in the other four books, and that doesn't even take into account the people he probably killed (for instance, he breaks into an old man's house, beats him nearly to death, ties him up and then throws him down a flight of stairs into an unheated basement - we never hear about the old guy again). Kevin Bacon actually said it best in one of my guilty pleasure horror film "Hollow Man" (2000) when he stated "It's amazing what you can do when you don't have to look at yourself in the mirror anymore."

So there you have it, five classic horror stories, none of them over 250 pages that will all do a pretty great job of giving you chills this Halloween season. Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

You Owe it to yourself #7: The Classics

When my daughter (not pictured to the left) was six-years old, she informed me that no good music (which to her meant boy bands) had existed before N*Sync. And it didn't matter how much I tried to explain that there were dozens of other popular boy bands who had existed before N*Sync that she might like (Yes - I'll admit I watched The New Kids on the Block Cartoon way too much in my early teen years, but that's beside the point) - she was not even willing to listen.

I've had people explain to me that no good movies existed before Star Wars - none, that somehow before May 25 1977 every other motion picture was simply a waste of film.

The problem is, as a boy band fan - unless you've listened to your Jackson 5 and Menudo, or as a Star Wars fan, seen your Lawrence of Arabia and The Hidden Fortress, you are missing out on the origins of whatever it is you are interested in.

If you love horror, take the time to check out the original five monster novels (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Invisible Man, and The Werewolf of Paris) If you loved 10,000 BC check out Clan of the Cave Bear and Quest for Fire. If you read lots of Science Fiction - Give the ABCs a Try (Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clarke)

No matter what kind of stuff you are into, the classics in that genre deserve your attention. You never know where checking them out might lead you (a few years back I got very interested in Demonic Possession stories and started reading everything I could find - Classic books full of demons? How about Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Jesus exorcizes all kinds of demons in those books!)

Eventually my daughter listened to enough boy bands that she became willing to try other music (thank god), and now she's got amazing and wide ranging taste in music. So check out the classics, everything that came after owes something to them, and admitting you are into the classics may help people forget that you said you used to watch The New Kids on the Block cartoon - I hope.

Things I’ve noticed: Dune really wrecked Science Fiction

Okay, first off, yes I like the book Dune, the story is engrossing, the characters are neat and the concepts are pretty freaking cool. My problem with Dune is not its endless sequels or any of the movie adaptations, it’s simply this:

I believe that since it was published in 1965, Science Fiction as a genre has suffered.

A little background, I’ve been spending the last few years reading a lot SF, I’m still very into horror and love a good fantasy, but my inner twelve-year-old loves to dig into a good SF novel and be blown away by all the cool ideas and characters (and ray guns). One of my favourite things about SF is that the sheer amount of stuff that those authors pack into these books is unbelievable.

Case in point: Double Star, by Robert A. Heinlein – in less than 200 pages Heinlein gives us space travel, political intrigue, thrills and chills, and the obvious inspiration for the Kevin Kline movie “Dave.”

Now Dune gives us a lot as well; space travel, economics, guilds, family drama, mysticism, desert people, sand worms, and martial arts. The problem, to do all of this Frank Herbert needed a lot of space, 517 pages of space, and to be fair, with the incredible amount of stuff Herbert put into the book, he needed all of it.

Now Dune went on to win all sorts of awards, and is credited by many SF fans as a personal favourite or even the book that turned them onto SF. My problem is the effect Dune had on SF as a genre. Basically, people looked at it and instead of saying, “Wow – you can have this kind of massive family drama/economic intrigue/war story/mystical journey all in the context of SF”, they said, “Dune must be awesome because it’s really long.”




So after 1965 all SF started to get really, REALLY, BIG. I mean, look at this – I've lined up my copy of Dune with three SF books that had been written in the previous decade (Double Star and Starship Troopers by Heinlein, and Mission of Gravity by Clement), all of them award winners, all of them critically acclaimed, and all of them barely adding up to the page count that is DUNE.



The trend of writing bigger SF books never stopped. Have you looked at the page count of recent SF? These things are monsters, often coming in at just under a thousand pages and the worst thing is a lot of it feels like filler, and I am not the only one to notice this.

In the end, people focused on the wrong thing – the comic industry made the same mistake after “The Dark Knight Returns” when they chose to focus on violence and grit rather than looking at the superhero mythos from another angle (which is done brilliantly by the way in both the film “The Incredibles” and the comic series “Astro City”)

Faulkner stated “kill your darlings” as advice for writers when revising their work. Seriously guys, I like reading a new book every couple of days and these SF novels are turning into one and two week long endeavors which any author in the fifties could have gotten down in less than 200 pages.

Give me back my pocket sized paperbacks!