Beloved – Cannonball Read #21

Beloved by Toni Morrison.

Beloved is the story of Sethe, an ex-slave. She has escaped slavery and settled down in her mother in law’s house. The house is haunted and we find over the course of the novel that the poltergeist is the spirit of her daughter Beloved, whom Sethe killed when she though they would be taken back to a life of slavery. Beloved shows up at Sethe’s house one day. The novel is an emotional portrait of Sethe who is scarred by the horrific acts that the deep love for her children drove her to.

I was unimpressed with the book.  The prose was almost indecipherable for the first couple of chapters. I could barely make out the plot. I couldn’t tell if Morrison was deliberately trying to confuse the reader or if she just lacked the skill to carry off the writing style she was attempting. After the opening chapters the prose became easier to comprehend but the narrative was completely predictable. The method of Beloved’s death is hinted at for two thirds of the book but I knew immediately what had happened.

My experience of Beloved was tainted by the seminal  nature of the book. Before it was published there was no widely available, critically acclaimed novel illustrating the psychological impact of slavery. Because Beloved was so widely acclaimed it has entered the public subconscious. It had nothing new to tell me because its message has so permeated the culture I inhabit.  Beloved gets credit for paving the way for serious novels about slavery, for making a huge impact on modern American thought about the experience of slavery for black women.  It just doesn’t get credit for being an enjoyable read.

-fh

New Moon, Eclipse & Breaking Dawn- Cannonball Read #6, #7 & #9

New MoonEclipse Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer, the second, third and fourth books of the Twilight Series.

If you call it a saga, I will cut you.  Spoilers abound. Continue reading New Moon, Eclipse & Breaking Dawn- Cannonball Read #6, #7 & #9

SonicFyre Episode 5

A podcast recorded, edited and published in less time than it takes to gestate an elephant. Rejoice!!

>> 00:00 Intro and Game Demo Reviews. We tried out Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, Supreme Commander 2 and Just Cause 2.
>> 16:00 Fyre completed her first run through of God of War III. Get ready for the love!
>> 26:00 SonicRob gives an update on Shadow of the Colossus, the current selection for Make Me Play Videogames and JRPG weirdfest Persona 4.
>> 36:58 A digression regarding amphibians and Fyre adds to the list of forbidden handles for What’s My Name?
>> 39:15 SonicRob speaks to The Girl Who Played with Fire and the movie of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
>> 45:14 Rob continues hogging the mic to talk about KickAss. We talk about HitGirl and what’s wrong with her.
>> 54:48 Fyre reviews Clash of the Titans and notes an odd similarity between two previews.
>> 1:08:25 We talk about Snow Crash and wind up the show!

SonicFyre Episode 5 MP3 1:12:36 66.4MB

How to Knit a Love Song – Cannonball Read #11

How to Knit a Love Song by Rachael Herron. A fantastic, smart romance. Lots of super accurate knitting and fiber detail.

Full disclosure.  I have been reading Rachael’s blog for several years. This in no way obliges me to like her book. The fact that her book was awesome obliges me to like it.

Continue reading How to Knit a Love Song – Cannonball Read #11

Shade’s Children – Cannonball Read #8

Shade’s Children by Garth Nix. Sci-fi dystopian young adult thriller.

In Shade’s Children the planet has been taken over by mysterious beings. Every person over the age of 14 at the time of the takeover disappeared and humans are bred, aged 14 years and then become “meat.” The book follows a groups of young rebels who manage to escape captivity and are led by Shade, the last adult human on the planet.

Onward – to spoilers.

Continue reading Shade’s Children – Cannonball Read #8

The American Way of Death Revisited – Cannonball Read #10

The American Way of Death Revisited by Jessica Mitford.  Gleefully sarcastic muckraking expose of the American funeral industrial complex.

I have read books that scared me, made me laugh or made me cry. This is the only book I have ever read that gave me a panic attack.

Continue reading The American Way of Death Revisited – Cannonball Read #10

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies – Cannonball Read #5

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies – by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

The premise of this book is incredibly hipsterific. Pride and Prejudice with zombies!  Awesome! Elizabeth Bennett, expert zombie killer? How cool will that be?

Not very.

Continue reading Pride & Prejudice & Zombies – Cannonball Read #5

Sonic Fyre Episode 4

Someday we really need to find a way to turn one of these podcasts around in less than a month. This podcast was originally recorded in the second week of December 2009. It was then burned to a series of wax records, placed in a steamer trunk and covered in concrete, thrown from the Golden Gate Bridge, buried in Pacific sediment, fossilized, left to sit for a geographic age, excavated by paleontologists, exhibited in the National Museum, and then stolen and placed on the Internet for your amusement. Enjoy.

>> 00:30 Benediction and movies talk. Fantastic Mr Fox. Sherlock Holmes pre-watching jitters. Everyone hates Avatar without ever seeing it.
>> 08:17 Books. Fyre talks about the Cannonball Read. Rob saw Twilight, which was based on a book.
>> 13:14 Recapping events at Ümloud.
>> 20:14 Games of the month. We talk TF2 and the Dante’s Inferno demo. Fyre tries to be Hater of the Week. Analog gaming is briefly mentioned.
>> 43:25 Rob talks about Madden NFL 2010 for ten Goddamned minutes straight. Rob earns the Hater and Lover of the Week titles simultaneously.
>> Music for this episode is “Fakeout” by Derek K. Miller

SonicFyre-Episode-4 MP3 57:52 70.4 MB