Doug

A Bullseye for Writers (& Other Short Stories)

Revisado: 06-19-23

I’m a bit of a sucker for writing books, and I don’t know why because I rarely walk away with a genuinely new perspective. Someone on YouTube recommended Mr. Butler’s book, and I dutifully bought it with tempered expectations. But wow! The first quarter of the book provided such a rich understanding of writing fiction that broke away from the orderly, “structural” discussions of organizing fiction, just as it steered clear of ethereal fiction writing mysticism so popular these days. ‘From Where You Dream’ stays grounded. And yet, Mr. Butler builds out a fully articulated view of the human psyche and the relationship between subconscious imagination and the realities of writing fiction. It’s a different take and perhaps, one of the most important takes on creative writing I’ve heard in years.

The book also contains multiple short stories in their full form as well as transcripts of classroom discussions. While I wished for more straight discussions from the author direct to me, the change of pace mostly worked. Why? Because I bought into the core ideas of the book and so, I enjoyed the relevant explorations and exercises the book takes in the later chapters.

Either way, I think fictions writers need to hear Mr. Butler’s firm grasp of the elusive skill that creatives sometimes abandon or fail to cultivate. My mind changed early on in the reading. Quick aside: I wrote my first novel a few years ago and then switched to non-fiction for my next book. I’ve had a difficult time returning to fiction and now I know why. This book gave me the exact perspective that I needed to return to the source of all my most powerful creative impulses….that place where archetypal designs emerge in their raw forms, that place deep down from where you dream.

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A Banquet of Nightmare and Fantasy

Revisado: 07-23-20

'The Sandman' is an absolute triumph for the audiobook genre. Dramatizations used to a bit gimmicky and not worth choosing over an actual narrative novel. But this effort expands completely on the possibilities opening up for audiobooks as a powerful form of entertainment. The voice acting is a gold standard and the stories themselves, read by Neil Gaiman, are chilling, dark, and magical. I also found the original soundtrack music to be a perfect bullseye, adding to the experience like a third column.

Dirk Maggs is reinventing the audiobook. I absolutely loved this one!

Listen with the lights out--if you dare.

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Like a Beautiful Henna Pattern...

Revisado: 07-06-20

Wow! This is what I look for in historical fiction. Immersive and compelling. Intimate and harrowing. Sincere and sweeping. It's becoming so rare that a book completely shifts my perspective and cultural center so easily as this novel did. The cruelty of misfortunes both earned and unearned take quite a toll on the reader and yet, the quiet nobility of the lead character, complete with many flaws, is the one note that rings true by the end. The story takes on many issues still at play today. I'm a big fan of great women in fiction, especially within a serious historical context and The Henna Artist will now be among my all-time favorites. Thank you, Alka Joshi!

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Space Race Revivalism

Revisado: 06-14-19

I recently saw the 2019 documentary 'Apollo 11' and have been utterly inspired by the Apollo stories. As a Gen X-er, my domain had always been the Space Shuttle era. It was my parents that got all misty-eyed when speaking of the lunar landing. And, yes, like everyone else in the world, I've seen the black and white grainy footage of Neil Armstrong's first step. But the documentary brought July of 1969 into 4K and breathed high-resolution life into that moment in time. I watched the lunar landing in the full and vivid colors of today. I wanted more.

So, when I saw a book with the same title, I pounced. I wasn't disappointed. The author compliments my growing fascination with the Apollo missions. The opening of the book details humanity's ancient first thoughts about the moon and moves into the origins of rocketry, mainly from 19th Century German and Russian elites. You see how World War 2 brought rockets onto the human stage with devastating consequences. The full gravity and scope of Apollo 11 struck me with a much deeper sense of amazement. How many centuries, how many brilliant minds, how many cultures and languages were carried on the backs of three astronauts when they landed on the moon? For me, hearing about all those smaller streams of human thought and effort that came down from our past, converging in the 20th Century, and then feeding into the extraordinary momentum of Apollo 11 was a gift to read about.

Secondly, the book toggles back and forth between the American and Soviet space programs as they play out on the world stage in chronological order. The book left me admiring more the Soviet cosmonauts and scientists who had the same adventurous pulse but were undermined by a tragically inept government. That said, when you read this book, you'll get a powerful appreciation of the American space program. They didn't just "beat" the Soviet Union, they did it right. They were professionals about it. They were open about it. They hired armies of brilliant men and women to support the entire operation. You'll realize how much of a one-sided affair the space race was in the end. You'll come to appreciate the American astronauts and flight controllers much more than you already do. If you get a chance, look up Eugene Kranz's "tough and competent" speech after the Gemini disaster. It really hit me hard...

The book does a great job of including its history through the conversations of those involved. The downside is that while the book succeeds at providing some new perspective, it gets dry here and here. At a few points, the narration slides into an uninspiring catalog of events and details. Other than that, the book was a fantastic read. I'm glad I read it!

With a new space race on the horizon in the 21st Century, I anticipate everyone will want to brush up on their knowledge of the Apollo missions. There really seems to be a revival in American interest what NASA achieved back then and what accomplishments are just around the corner. I think this book is part of fresh revival. in our greatest pioneering spirit

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Stays Frosty

Revisado: 05-31-19

For two hours, this is awesome entertainment. The opening ten minutes, in which Bishop recounts the ending to Aliens, complete with sound effects, sets the best possible tone. I was in my car, heading to work and hit play. After a few minutes, I hear the blaring klaxons of LV-426 and a female voice announcing "You now have two minutes to reach minimum safe distance." I can't lie. I felt a jolt of pure, almost boyish exuberance.

There are some downsides. The actual story is lacking in terms of scope and plot. Ripley is sleeping through the whole story and Newt, although definitely present, is shipped back to earth. Those are the biggest character arc problems I had with this version. Also, Alien III runs with the plot premises that made Alien Covenant so bad. Namely, airborne alien DNA can just recreate the Alien species. I think the queen-egg-chest gestation is still the most horrific biological construct ever, and I don't know why this franchise insists on moving away from it.

The upsides are here too. The new characters are actually pretty good, in my opinion, and the sound effects & production work excel. But there are two things that make this worth the purchase in full. One, Michael Beihn. Every time I heard the real Hicks giving a command, I smiled. It's Hicks, man! We never saw him again after Aliens, so it was instant pleasure to have him alive and well on this audiobook. Two, the book/script is rich with Alien-Aliens lore. The writer understands the Aliens universe and keeps that universe fresh in the settings and dialogue. Alien III "feels" like a true follow up to Aliens. I'll add that while Lance Henriksen doesn't blow me away, he's still an awesome compliment to the story in his reprisal of Bishop.

If you're like me...someone who is still waiting and chasing the thrill of 1986 Aliens...buy the audiobook. It has a little bit of that magic we've all been looking for and haven't found in a long time.

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Tedious. And then boring...

Revisado: 01-30-18

Since 'The Martian' was a breakout, I assumed 'Artemis' would give me the sci-fi fix I needed. As a new release, the novel was sure paraded around a lot. It was marketed like a guaranteed future Hollywood blockbuster. And Rosario Dawson out in front of this at the audio book level...? Has to be a winner, right?

But the book simply isn't very good. In line with current trends, 'Artemis' falls into the Multiculturalism Trap, where characters have diverse races (with matching names), but in a kind of random way that felt more devised, rather than authentic. Rosario Dawson absolutely rocks the lead character, Jazz Bashara, but then attempts some cringe-worthy foreign accent (and each character has a different accent). Tough to fault her, though. Overall, she delivers.

Why the book fails - In 'The Martian,' deep scientific concepts were integral to the drama and hearing them articulated became fascinating in an exotic survival setting. Here, though, it doesn't work at all. Imagine if, while watching an Indiana Jones flick, you had to hit pause every couple seconds to hear a forensic ballistics expert explain how every single action maneuver is scientifically possible. Yeah, count me out.

Plot-wise, the story truly bogged down. I labored to the end.

Andy Weir is a talented author, so I'm sure he'll be back. And we'll still be here waiting to see what he comes up with next.

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If You Love Writing...

Revisado: 11-01-17

….read the book. There’s the ‘Elements of Style,’ there’s Stephen King’s ‘On Writing,’ and here, I add ‘Bird by Bird’ to the list. This book helped me to fall in love with writing again, and out of love with the mind-bending pursuit of just getting published. Perhaps more accurately, I reassessed my priorities…writing comes first, getting published, second. More than that, Anne reminded me of all writing can be, the power of a voice, a deeply embedded desire to articulate something just right, to say it in a way that others recognize as just right.

And the narrator is phenomenal. You’ll find it hard to believe that the narrator didn’t write the book. Susan Bennett reads the book with such spontaneity and such sincerity that you’ll sometimes forget that she’s reading at all. Often, you’ll feel like you’re listening to a voice in a dream, one that says all the right things, that mixes stealthily with your own stream-of-conscious thoughts, a voice that’s distant, but undeniably on your side. In short, listening to the book is an experience.

Highly recommended.

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Libertarian Socialism

Revisado: 10-30-17

The author, Dr. Richard Thaler, won a Nobel Prize recently for his work, which is outlined in this book. He labeled his School of Thought as ‘Libertarian Paternalism’ in that his models for economic behavior protect choice, hence ‘libertarian,’ and that there’s a ‘father-knows-best’ attitude in protecting people from their own irrational selves, hence ‘paternalism.’ The big new idea here is that markets are irrational. Throughout most of the 20th Century, economists marveled at the successes of the free market and assigned these successes to individuals making rational choices in the marketplace, or ‘acting in their own best interest.’ This ‘self-interest’ was a loathed, but rational mechanism that, when spread over millions of private decisions, by millions of people, each acting prudently, an invisible hand crystallized to steer society in the best direction. Oddly, Dr. Thaler doesn’t dispute the superior overall results of a free market system, but he attempts to discredit it nonetheless.

I believe Dr. Thaler discovered what we already know: human beings make poor long-term decisions in favor of instant gratification. In nearly all the book’s examples, human choices appeared flawed when the consequences of those choices were delayed in the future. The time component confused our decision-making. If a child chooses cake over an avocado & turkey sandwich, that decision is deemed ‘irrational.’ When faced with labyrinthine health care plans, where the services, quality and actual medical costs all occur in the future, people seemed to make ‘irrational’ choices. The overarching principle for ‘Nudge Theory’ is that if academics design better menus, then people can make better choices for long-term decisions.

But I must say, Dr. Thaler hasn’t debunked the basic rationality of the free market. To this day, regular people make highly rational decisions in the marketplace when long term effects aren’t the only concern. If I want to buy a house, and there are two competing homes, one costs $200,000 and the other costs $220,000. If there is nothing to justify the extra $20,000 in the second home, then I’ll buy the first home. This Principle of Substitution lets me compare options and prices and allows me to act prudently and in my best interest. These basic value decisions occur constantly and drive the market. Whether I can afford the house or whether I bought it right before the housing market collapsed is where you’ll find Dr. Thaler shaking his head in academic frustration.

One thing about Dr. Thaler that must be commended at all costs, is that he is a problem solver. Many books exalt themselves in their criticism of the world as it is, but here, the esteemed economist focuses his time and energy in providing measurable solutions. When I read, I want to hear solutions. Tell me how to make the world better. Whether or not Dr. Thaler is on the right track can and should be debated. But the fact that he’s out there, boldly presenting his ideas to the world is what counts. I like the idea of nudging for some investment security and I like the idea of nudging where safety is concerned. Beyond that, nudging serves the nudgee’s preconceived notions of ‘the good’ for the individual and for society.

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Awful

Revisado: 07-09-17

For a book that's only one hour and 33 minutes long, there's almost no substance. I was 36 minutes in and the book was still selling me on the reason to buy the book. It's a case study in trying to create paragraphs that simply rehash the title of the book.

I'll paraphrase the whole book: If you get published, people will pay more attention to you. If I can do it, you can to, says the author.

That's it.

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Original. Relevant. Perhaps Brilliant...

Revisado: 02-02-17

I was unfamiliar with Bernard-Henri Levy until now. Stylistically, I have read few, if any, books that beam with both intellectual weight and aesthetic language throughout. It is clear that Bernand-Henri loves France and has seemingly come to appreciate his Jewish heritage only more recently. Perhaps this book is the result of his unexpected fascination with Judaism and a need to reconcile the modern problems with religion (any religion) and a belief in God to the flourishing to secular ideals. It's beautiful.

The substance of the book delves into a stunning and brilliant analysis of Anti-Semitism. He notes the very specific forms and expressions of Anti-Semitism throughout history from an almost anthropological perspective. Perhaps one of the most profound discussions in the book is his speculation...and warning...of a new kind of Anti-Semitic construct forming today. He observes that charged language must become socially-acceptable, accusations of Jewish wrongdoing must become popular, and open violence must be intellectually defensible, even as we tepidly condemn it. This new strain of hostility will be perfectly suited to the spirit of the age and therefore, difficult to see, harder to stop...just as it was each time in the past.

You will also find a meaningful and in-depth analysis of the situation in Libya. His personal experiences and conclusions are laid out for us in detail. He urges compassion and action for Muslims who are suffering around the world. He sees their struggle as our struggle.

Finally, Barnard-Henri grapples with the conclusion (and namesake) of the book. He tries to create an intellectual framework that bridges a secular world view to an ancient tradition of monotheism. He believes he found the secret. However, it is unclear to me whether the author has truly discovered the one genius of Judaism, or merely the genius of Bernard-Henri Levy as he attempts to build this bridge. Even if you disagree with him, the book is faultless in its sincerity.

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