Superintendent Battle is a repeating character? Really? He's so nondescript. I prefer him to Poirot because at least he's not annoying. The main charaSuperintendent Battle is a repeating character? Really? He's so nondescript. I prefer him to Poirot because at least he's not annoying. The main character of this book is far more interesting and does far more towards solving the mystery than the inspector does. I'm curious to see how he's handled in later books. Perhaps he develops more? This particular mystery is shot through with AC's particular form of romance--a gal and guy who fall in true love in an unconventional way....more
I enjoyed AC's first four novels very much, but this collection of short stories I did not. It stuns me that she can be so masterful at novels yet so I enjoyed AC's first four novels very much, but this collection of short stories I did not. It stuns me that she can be so masterful at novels yet so inept at the short form. It doesn't help that I really don't Poirot. He is not so annoying that he's amusing. He's just annoying to me. That also stuns me. Her other characters are so real and human and poignant, while Poirot is flat and simple and not engaging. If this had been my first AC experience, it would have been my last. Some of the stories are intriguing, but by and large they are flimsy mysteries without enough development for the reader to do much but wait for Poirot to make everyone feel like an idiot. Poirot could do with less gray matter and more personality....more
This silly stupid romance novel is an early feminist piece that accurately represents the misguided movement. Like racism, fascism, and the like, femiThis silly stupid romance novel is an early feminist piece that accurately represents the misguided movement. Like racism, fascism, and the like, feminism contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction. As I read about this spoiled little rich girl and her supposed travail, against Chopin's intent, I empathized with her of all those servants at her beck and call, her neglected children, and her hard working husband. Edna finds the logical end to feminist philosophy in the end of the novel. She literally follows feminism to its appropriate conclusion. May the feminist movement sink as swiftly as Edna did....more
Atwood prefers a real America in which millions of unborn girls are slaughtered like cattle while still in the womb over a fantasy she envisioned in wAtwood prefers a real America in which millions of unborn girls are slaughtered like cattle while still in the womb over a fantasy she envisioned in which a few thousand abortionists are killed. What makes this cautionary tale even more irrelevant and awkward is that she is warning us of society that really exists in the Middle East (in Iraq and Syria and elsewhere), one that can never exist here where she lives in safety and freedom to write average poetry and awful novels. If she had either courage or talent or insight, she would skewer real Islam instead of her fantasy Christians, but cowards do tend to stay in their ivory towers. The real cautionary tale here is that one should not bother with reading an average poet's attempt at novel writing. An example of why: "they seem to have faded, grown dingy, like dead butterflies or tropical fish drying on land." At least have the courage to pick a simile a stick with it within one sentence. Not this unsure poet. What a waste of six hours....more
I just finished the entire Lensman series, all seven books in seven weeks. It was a rollicking good ride. Pure pulp space opera. It reminds me of JackI just finished the entire Lensman series, all seven books in seven weeks. It was a rollicking good ride. Pure pulp space opera. It reminds me of Jack Kirby's Fourth World, in that the plots are unpredictable in a good, mind blowing way. It has the snappy dialogue like Hammett. It reminds me of Star Wars Episode IV, with its bickering romance of Han and Leia. It reminds me of Heinlein's powerfully unique characters who talk like no one really talks, but who cares because it's entertaining. It reminds me of PKD's wonderfully unpolished, almost amateurish writing that ignores half of the established conventions of narrative and just tells its crazy plot the way the author wanted to tell it, v with reckless abandon, joyfully ignoring what a staid editor would have wanted to fix. It reminds me of these things and many more, but how could that be when it predates all these things? It's more accurate for me to say that the Lensman series informed all these things, spawned them into our cultural consciousness. This last of the series is unique in that it makes the Lensman secondary characters. Instead the story is more grounded in a relatively normal Joe's POV, seeing the Lensman universe more like us readers would if we were in that weird, wacky, wonderfully unpredictable world that grew out of the feverishly fertile brain of E.E. "Doc" Smith. I'm sad the ride is over....more
The previous book's energy and ability to surprise lagged somewhat, but this book saves the series from losing its momentum. How many stories have a lThe previous book's energy and ability to surprise lagged somewhat, but this book saves the series from losing its momentum. How many stories have a loving husband and wife and their responsible children saving the galaxy? I lost track of which daughter was which, but their snappy patter and interplay make this an entertaining and worthwhile continuation of the LENSMAN series....more
This is the first of the series that lags a bit. The plot repeats much of what has been done in previous books. There are a few stunning twists and suThis is the first of the series that lags a bit. The plot repeats much of what has been done in previous books. There are a few stunning twists and surprises, a few chapters I had no idea what was going to happen, but not as reliably as previous volumes. Still fun, rip roaring, bare knuckled space opera!...more
More good space opera. My favorite part of this one was when Kim went under cover as a hardcore meteor miner. Hilarious and entertaining, possibly theMore good space opera. My favorite part of this one was when Kim went under cover as a hardcore meteor miner. Hilarious and entertaining, possibly the best of the LENSMAN books I have read thus far....more
This is space opera at its purest, the fiction that inspired STAR WARS. I love that this book's chapters are ten pages each, and each tells a discreteThis is space opera at its purest, the fiction that inspired STAR WARS. I love that this book's chapters are ten pages each, and each tells a discrete story, a mini-short story that make up a larger work, because this was originally published as a serial in science fiction magazines. The prose is purple and filled with strange aliens, bizarre planets, and bare-knuckled, brainy heroes fighting alongside busty, vivacious, brilliant heroines....more
This is very fun pulp fiction. Some chapters take the reader to alien planet mines, filled with gritty details, others are filled with interstellar esThis is very fun pulp fiction. Some chapters take the reader to alien planet mines, filled with gritty details, others are filled with interstellar espionage, and others with enormous space battles involving thousands of ships, each building an amazing adventure tale. I love the snappy repartee, the broad sense of wonder, and the crisp characters. I got the same feeling reading this book that I did when I saw STAR WARS in 1977....more
If you want pulp-era space opera, this is what you read. This is the stuff that George Lucas grew up on. Reading this book is like experiencing Star WIf you want pulp-era space opera, this is what you read. This is the stuff that George Lucas grew up on. Reading this book is like experiencing Star Wars in novel form in the 1940s. The prose is purple, the heroes are manly, the heroines are beautiful and emotional and smart and brave and strong. The science is soft, but the action is slam-bang. The scope of the story is galactic, and yet Smith takes us in for a close look at the gritty action. You get dreadnought spaceships colliding in battle, and bare-knuckled soldiers punching their way through the (usually) alien bad guys. I look forward to the rip-roaring adventure of FIRST LENSMAN....more
Every kid should read this before they take their first high school literature course. This very clearly explains how and why one interprets the meaniEvery kid should read this before they take their first high school literature course. This very clearly explains how and why one interprets the meaning of literature. Every well written work helps one experience the next one more deeply and completely. The author says the book could have been twice as long, and he's right, so why write half a book? Also the practice story "The Garden Party" should be more explored in the text and done so in a more organized fashion--as it is, the author flits about the meanings of the story like a butterfly, never landing long enough to complete a point deeply enough, which is the problem one gets when one writes what one admits is half a book....more
I put off reading this for about 15 years, partly because I wanted to read about Galileo before I read about his daughter. My mistake. This book is abI put off reading this for about 15 years, partly because I wanted to read about Galileo before I read about his daughter. My mistake. This book is about him, but as seen from his daughter's perspective. This is my second book by Dava Sobel, the first being LONGITUDE, another wonderful read. I learned from this book what awful tyranny has been exercised by the Catholic Pope and his cardinal henchman. I am Christian and am ashamed of how Galileo was treated. Galileo expressed himself more ably as a follower of Jesus than did Pope Urban VIII, and Galileo's daughter Maria Celeste outshone them both....more