Drew's #8 - Dracula by Bram Stoker

 

Most poeple think they know the story of Dracula by Bram Stoker, but I'm not sure how many have read the unabridged version.  If you have you know what I mean; theres a good deal that is left out of the "readers digest" version.   To save a good many people a great deal of time:  don't bother!  Here it is important that I point out quickly, the movie by the same name is almost, but not entirely unrelated.  That is, I don't mean to say its not worth reading but  in my opinion (be it ever so humble), the weight of the flourish and unnecissary detail measured against the "value added" material found therein is disproportionate.  To the point, I think, that the sinister and macabe nature of the story is diluted.  That said, there's a reason Dracula is a house-hold name.

The story follows the lives of several charicters though their various letters and journal entries, neatly shiftin the point of of view to the first person account of the whole adventure, as they are faced with and must combat an evil Transilvanian vampire.  The count is a truely wicked creature in the book and entierly self serving and vicsious.  I mention this as I've heard many people over the years refer to the story of Dracula as a "love story".  I can only assume such people saw the movie directed by Francis F. Copala in the early '90s.  His wicked schemes and exploits, in fact, are what draws the major players together to hunt down and kill the count.  The story, though told in real time from several points of view, follows the count's blood trail and takes its twists in turns in real-time.  This is, incidently, why the reader could be spared a great deal of superfluous detail, ponderous asides, and melencholy lements contained through-out the book.  While in some places these do give a broader perspective or deeper developement to a character's motives here and there, the majority serve only, it seemed, to blunt the plot and add a soap opera-esque feeling to the overall story.

Still, its worth a read.  Good story, clear imagery, and I love the affect of telling a story through journal entries, headlines, and correspondance between characters.  The story works seamlessly between the experiences of the characters and brings them all together neatly.  Again, just spare yourself some victorian melodrama and read the abridged version--meat and potatos hold the overabundance of parsley, we'll say.

JRF's #8 - Towards Spiritual Maturity by William Still

I had never heard of Scottish pastor William Still but three things attracted me to this book:

1. - It was short
2. - I liked the title
3. - Sinclair B. Ferguson recommend it with these words, "He remains the person whose ministry has made the deepest impression on me."

I am glad I picked it up.  I had been unaware of how I had let my confidence in God's sovereignty allow me to drift into a lazy apathy.  Still called me back to the battlefield and showed me how God's sovereign work on the cross was both the reason I am at battle as well as the power against the enemies within and without that rage against my soul.  The Cross of Christ wages war against my sinful flesh and protects me from the very real Satan.

I particulary appreciated Still's chapter entitled The Military Training of the Christian Soldier which laid out the truth that at times we need to know how and to what Refuge we are to retreat from evil, at times we are able to stand firm against the onslaught of the Evil One, and how and when we are to advance against the forces of Darkness with the Truth and Life of the Risen Savior.

I will be chewing and digesting this one for years to come.  I encourage you to dig in yourself.

JRF's #7 - The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

This is the Temple of Doom of the John Carter series.  Dark, creepy, adventurous and awesome.

Picking up ten years after A Princess of Mars ended, John Carter is finally transported back to Barsoom (Mars), eager to be reunited to his beloved princess, Dejah Thoris.  Yet when he wakes up he is in a dark corner of Barsoom that he has no knowledge of.  He soon finds that he must battle his way out of the very center of the holiest city on Mars, the headquarters of the diabolical cannibalistic false deity that holds the planet under her spell.

Action packed and ending with a heart-wrenching cliff hanger, this book makes for an entertaining read.

I'm not one to try to read too deep into these kind of books but at many times I wondered if Burrows was making a subtle attack on religion in general through this book.  A Princess of Mars seemed to be critiquing communism at times, an ideaology which was gaining a lot of traction at the time of its writing.  I could see the theme of exposing false mythologies and traditions in The Gods of Mars as Burroughs way of commenting on the modernization of his era.  Again, these are only my conjectures.

Mark's #18 - Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss

From the back of the book:

A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons.

'Why?' asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

'Well, I'm a panda,' he says, at the door. 'Look it up.'

The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. 'Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.'

Who knew there could be a witty, engaging, and entertaining book about punctuation?  This is that book.

Author Lynne Truss, a self designated grammar 'stickler ', helps readers learn the proper use of all those different points of punctuation in the english language.  Along the way, she points out some of the most common errors and their grammatically tragic consequences (see Panda illustration above).

This book is a rallying call for a return to proper punctuation usage in an internet and texting age that seems to be racing to destroy thoughtful and grammatically consistent use of the english language. There is even a Punctuation Repair Kit included, which is full of stickers of commas, colons, semicolons, and question marks for sticklers to correct public punctuation errors.

*I realize I probably misused some punctuation in this post... Sticklers, feel free to point these out.

Mark's #17 - Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton

This relatively short Crichton book is unique and engaging.  Chrichton sets up the book to be an ancient travelogue manuscript in the year 922 A.D. from an arab courier of the caliph of Baghdad.  As inspiration, Chrichton used both the story of Beowulf and  Ahmad Ibn Fadlans personal account of his actual journey north and his experiences with and observations of Vikings.

As a muslim, Ibn is appalled by filthy and barbaric vikings who conscript him into their journey northward to battle the 'eaters of the dead' - a terror that plagues the men of the north, a near-human (Neanderthal men by Chrichtons account)  army of creatures that invade each evening when under the cover of darkness and mist.  For several weeks, and several battles and adventures, Ibn is transformed into a warrior like his viking counterparts.

While not Crichton's best work, the books unique perspective and short length make this a worthwhile summer read by the pool or beach.

Mark's #16 - Time and Again by Jack Finney

Simon Morely was an illustrator for a local ad agency in New York City when he was approached by a government agent with "the opportunity of a lifetime".  The top-secret government program which enables Simon to step into New York City 1882.  While there, Simon gets caught up in uncovering a historical mystery as well as a romantic interest.

I'm a fan of time travel movies and books. As such, I discovered that many people consider Jack Finney to be the preeminent author in the genre (he's written several books and short stories about time travel).  Naturally, I was excited to read this 'classic' time travel book...

I was disappointed at first.  The story seemed to move slowly and the time-travel details seemed vague, if not nonexistent (I like the theories and details).  However, I persevered and continued to read... I'm glad I did.  The strength of this book is found in the story of Simon's life in 1882.  The author does an excellent job of transporting the reader to what New York City must have been like in 1882.  Along the way,  there are several illustrations and photographs provided by Simon to help the reader 'see' NYC.

While the time-travel details, conundrums, and paradoxes are a bit scarce, the plot, characters, and surprises make this book an enjoyable and rich experience.