All posts by Carl V. Anderson

Book Reviews, Fantasy

The Magicians ~Lev Grossman

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The Magicians ~Lev Grossman

–published 2009
–Viking Penguin
–402 pages
–5/10 stars

From Amazon:

“Mixing the magic of beloved children’s fantasy classics (from Narnia and Oz to Harry Potter and Earthsea) with the sex, excess, angst, and anticlimax of life in college and beyond, Lev Grossman’s Magicians reimagines modern-day fantasy for grownups.”


Lev Grossman’s novel, The Magicians, is a book with a cover image that I have burned with lust for ever since its release, but the premise (the one I gathered from bits and pieces of conversation, not the one I quoted above) was not sufficient enough for me to give in to those desires. On a recent visit to Barnes and Noble I saw several pristine hardcover copies of non-remainder-marked publishers overstock copies for $5.98. I was undone. With my discount I paid a little over $5 for this beautiful book. And it is not just a beautiful cover. The book itself is graced with hand-drawn maps for end pages and has the kind of uneven cut edges that inexplicably excite me. I went right home and started reading it, burning through it in a matter of days.

Somewhere along about the middle of the book, the cover illustration started to lose its luster. While I can still look at it and see its promised beauty, the gorgeous cover unfortunately houses a book that is everything it was advertised to be, this reader was just too far seduced to read the fine print. Had I read that above quote from Amazon.com I would not have heeded the siren call. And you might be surprised to know that it is the words “angst, and anticlimax of life…” that would have told me that this book, while a looker, was not for me.

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Film

Jane Eyre Film Review, 2011

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When looking for the quintessentially gothic tale, one need look no further than Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel, Jane Eyre. For one hundred and sixty-four years Bronte’s novel has captured the imagination of readers the world over. In addition to its social commentary and moody, atmospheric romance, Bronte’s novel survives and thrives because of the strength of its eponymous heroine. As with many of the lasting works of 19th century female authors, it is to be expected that every so often a new set of writers and film makers will bring their own interpretation of it to the big screen. Don’t misunderstand me, I couldn’t be more happy. I like a good period film.

I had every intention of seeing this film in theaters when it was released in March, but the road of good intentions did not lead me to the box office. And so the family made an extremely rare trip to the local video store on Friday night to bring Jane home for visit.

It was a wise choice.

Jane Eyre is a starkly beautiful, moody film overflowing with an atmosphere of gothic romanticism. The nuanced performances are subtly effective in building sense of unease and foreboding, even for those well-versed with Bronte’s plot.

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Book Reviews, Fantasy, Gothic/Horror, Mystery, Poetry, Short Stories

Fragile Things Group Read, Week 1

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“I think…that I would rather recollect a life mis-spent on fragile things, than spent avoiding moral debt.”

“Stories, like people and butterflies and songbirds’ eggs and human hearts and dreams, are also fragile things, made up of nothing stronger than twenty-six letters and a handful of punctuation marks…But some stories, small, simple ones about setting out on adventures or people doing wonders, tales of miracles and monsters, have outlasted all the people who told them, and some have outlasted the lands in which they were created.”

It is my great pleasure to be hosting a group read of Neil Gaiman’s short story collection, Fragile Things. 32 stories (including the Introduction and its special surprise)–Four stories each week for Eight weeks. I like the symmetry of that. I also like that it is a manageable task set amidst all that one has to fit into a 24 hour day. Short stories are best savored slowly, a lesson I have yet to properly learn, being a person who tends to gobble them up like sweets.

The expectations are few: read the stories and share whatever you want about them, good or bad, simple or profound, erudite or concise. The idea is not to limit yourself to non-spoiler conversation, so I’ll caution those who follow along here and elsewhere. If you plan to experience these stories for yourself it may be best to do so before reading these posts.

For those who are participating and those who have read these stories before and those who just feel inspired because of the conversation, please share whatever you so choose. I look forward to talking Neil Gaiman with you over the next eight Sundays.

Let us begin.

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Book Reviews, Fantasy

The Fellowship of the Ring Group Read, Part 1

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“Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
Then world behind and home ahead,
We’ll wander back to home and bed.”

This past Sunday morning dawned with a near 30 degree change in the high temperature and a taste of autumn on the wind. It was at that moment that my commitment to participate in the Lord of the Rings group read solidified. I grabbed my copy of The Fellowship of the Ring, went out in the chill air to sit on the back deck, and began my journey. By days’ end I was nearly half way through the book and realized I needed to stop and set it aside so that I could stay on course with the reading schedule so that the chapters being discussed would be fresh in my mind.

Andrea, one of the hosts, had mentioned this was her first time to read through the books. I mentioned, with utter conviction, just how cumbersome and at times difficult the first quarter or so of The Fellowship of the Ring was for me the first time I read it and encouraged her to not be dissuaded by this. And it was the complete truth. I did not enjoy the effort I was making trying to get into this book when I read it almost 10 years ago. I expected the same to be true this time and was determined to soldier on until I got to “the good part”.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered I was in “the good part” right from the prologue! I’m not sure why, maybe because I have matured in my knowledge of and appreciation for what Tolkien accomplished with his life’s work, but this first section of the book practically sang to me. There were revelations and pleasant surprises on nearly every page. I found a wickedly clever sense of humor, a number of seeds planted that will grow into bigger story elements later on, and found that I actually enjoyed spending this time with just the Hobbits by themselves, before Aragorn comes into their lives and their journey takes a decidedly downward turn.

It is my great pleasure to be posting this first of three discussions on The Fellowship of the Ring. There will undoubtedly be spoilers ahead, so please be warned.

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Book Reviews, Mystery

Dead Lagoon: An Aurelio Zen Mystery ~Michael Dibdin

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Dead Lagoon: An Aurelio Zen Mystery ~Michael Dibdin

–published 1994
–Vintage Books
–297 pages
–7/10 stars

In this fourth novel featuring Criminalpol detective Aurelio Zen, Michael Dibdin sends his gritty sophisticate back to his native Venice, ostensibly to investigate alleged attacks against an aged contessa, an old family friend. Zen’s real motivation is to dig into the disappearance of a wealthy American whose case has been closed and declared unsolvable. That is no barrier to Aurelio Zen, for he is motivated by that which sets all things into motion–money.


I became enamored of Venice-born Aurelio Zen thanks to the BBC adaptations of the first three of Michael Dibdin’s novels, which aired here in America back in July courtesy of Masterpiece Mystery on PBS. Actor Rufus Sewell played the part of this upscale, Rome-based police detective whose famed reputation for integrity seemed at odds with the choices he made in order to get the job done. When I heard that the series was cancelled and at this time no more of Dibdin’s novels are set to be adapted, a sad fact that I hope changes soon, I decided I wanted to know more about Aurelio Zen and I picked up a copy of the next book in the series.

Michael Dibdin passed away in 2007 and thus had no hand in the adapting of his works. Knowing the liberties that are often taken with novel to film adaptations, I had no idea what to expect.

While I had no trouble picturing Rufuss Sewell as the “urbane and skeptical Aurelio Zen”, the detective that Michael Dibdin unleashed in Dead Lagoon was as unlike the films’ version as often as they were mirror images of one another. It made for an interesting read.

If you are expecting a formulaic mystery in which the bad guys are all bad and the good guys are all good and everything is tied up with a neat bow at the end, I can tell you right now that Aurelio Zen is not for you. If, however you are looking for a detective novel that at times reads like a work of literary fiction with a protagonist who is hell bent on doing things his way in a world that is becoming increasingly more legalistic and regimented, then I would recommend you give Dibdin’s series a try.

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