Author Archives: Lopaka

Different Seasons

16 Wednesday Feb 2022

Posted by in Fiction, Reading

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Different Seasons by Stephen King
1982 / 527 pgs Fiction

Different Seasons is a collection of four Novella’s that depart from the horror world that has made Mr. King infamous. The first three novels have a minor link between them. The last one is a good shock-an-ah horror-ish story. Interestingly, all four have been adapted into movies.

Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption      
The movie The Shawshank Redemption has all the highlights in this story. The plot from both is almost the same. Unlike most books, more is added to the movie to build the story. The story is still a good read even if you’ve seen the movie, as there are details in the story that are not in the film. Also, I prefer some parts of the film, like what happens to Capt Hadly and Sam Norton, over how they end up in the book. 

Apt Pupil
Todd, an inspiring teenager, all A’s in school, confronts an elderly gentleman that, through research, has discovered he is a former SS man that was a concentration camp commandant. Todd demands that to keep his secret; the SS man must tell him all the details about the camps that are not in the history books. This sends them both down a path that they will never return.

This story has one of the best scenes I’ve read that made me sit up and think, WOW…    

“Unless there were dreams. The thought shocked him. Dreams? Please God, no. Not those dreams. Not for eternity, not with all possibility of awakening gone. Not— In sudden terror, he tried to struggle awake. It seemed that hands were reaching eagerly up out of the bed to grab him, hands with hungry fingers. (!NO!) His thoughts broke up in a steepening spiral of darkness, and he rode down that spiral as if down a greased slide, down and down, to whatever dreams there are.” – King, Stephen. Different Seasons: Four Novellas (p. 308). Scribner.

The Body
Another movie classic for the teens of the ’80s, Stand by Me, is based on The Body. Four young teens travel down a rail track to see a body of a dead teenage boy that was hit by a train. This is a coming-of-age story. 

The Breathing Method
A lawyer is invited to attend a club with just a few members. At the club, there are drinks, conversation, and books. Members play pool and chess. The highlight is that a member will tell a story ranging from weird to disturbing macabre. The story on Thursday before Christmas is always the highlight of the year. An elderly doctor tells a story about a young pregnant single woman who he teaches the Breathing Method to assist with the birth.  

All four stories are great reads! I enjoyed each one. Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and The Body show that Mr. King can write more than just horror. I would count this collection as a classic that I would recommend. 

Enjoy a good cup of coffee and a good book!

Lopaka

The Gunslinger

29 Saturday Jan 2022

Posted by in Dark Fantasy, Reading, Western

≈ 1 Comment

The Gunslinger: I The Dark Tower by Stephen King
1982 / 300 pgs Dark Fantasy-Western

The Dark Tower is Stephen King’s seven-volume epic. In Volume One, we follow the Gunslinger (Roland Deschain) as he follows the Man in Black (Walter). Roland will do anything to catch up with the Man in Black as he has the answers to the question that Roland is seeking, what is the path to the Dark Tower. 

Through a collection of five stories, we learn that Walter manipulates the environment around Roland; why this is, is truly never revealed. In the first story, Roland narrates to Brown about the town of Tull, which Roland walked into following the Man in Black. Walter brought back from death an addict and put a spell on him that when the number 19 is said, he will attack and kill who said it. Walter gives Allie a note stating the secret is 19, which she knows eventually, she will want to speak like a child wants to when you say they can’t have anything. Walter also impregnates the local priestess with a demon. All this, eventually, encapsulates into the town attacking Roland, causing him to gun down everyone.

The Gunslinger befriends a lost boy, Jake. The boy doesn’t know how he got into the middle of the desert. Through hypnosis, it’s revealed Jake was killed in Manhatten by being pushed in front of a car. The Man In Black allowed Roland to find Jake in the desert, although it’s not mentioned how Jake arrived in the desert. Jake is the death needed for Roland and Walter to start their palaver, a symbol that Roland will do anything to finish his oath. During their palaver, Walter revealed was also a wizard/consort to Steven, Roland’s father. Also, he was the lover of Roland’s mother.

King is starting to build a world and uses narration, like Tolkein, to show much of this different world. There is a mention of Mid-World and another language, High Speech. Another thought is things mentioned during Jake’s narration that we would understand. However, Roland states he doesn’t know them, like subways. Is this a different earth? Maybe future earth? Or another plane of the earth as Jake has already died in the story when Roland meets him. Nothing is spelled out; however, there are six more novels…oh, the suspense!

In the end, the reader still doesn’t know why Roland is trying to get to the Dark Tower or what it is; only the Crimson King rules it. This I remember as the Beast; however, it was changed to the Crimson King in 2003 revisited edition of the Gunslinger for later continuity with the series.     

The Gunslinger is a great appetizer that leads the narration into the Drawing of the Three, Part II of the series.    

Enjoy a good cup of coffee and a good book! 

Lopaka

The Dark Tower Series Volume I-VII

I – The Gunslinger
II – The Drawing of the Three
III – The Waste Lands
IV- Wizard and Glass
V – Wolves of the Calla
VI – Song of Susannah
VII- The Dark Tower

Other stories from the Dark Tower
The Little Sisters of Eluria (Short in Everything’s Eventual)
The Wind Through the Keyhole (Between Vol IV-V)

All that reading in 2021!

27 Thursday Jan 2022

Posted by in Reading

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A look back at the reading of 2021, WOW. I can honestly say that is the most books that I’ve completed in one year. It’s more books that I’ve completed in the previous two years combined. As I look back on all the reading, I can say that I kept my hour-a-day goal and more. Some days, the hour changed into 3-4 hours as I kept reading. Or those rare days when it was short, 32 minutes as I finished the book and hadn’t chosen the next one to read yet.

The list is one that I reflect on and smile as I see some of my “bucket lists” complete, like A Night to Remember, The Guns of August, and The Time Machine. Many more are on my list lined up this year, ready for devouring.

I’ve learned that it’s not the number of books you finish; it’s the fact that you completed them that matters. Thirty-six books in one year are more than many read in 10 or 20 years. I don’t plan to finish more or reach 40 books this year as that would be easy; just read shorter novels. At the end of 2021, if I wanted to obtain the 40 books in one year, I wouldn’t have started The Two Towers for the final two weeks of the year. 

I hope you enjoy the adventure as I review this year’s selection of novels. For those who want to start reading and are wondering if you can also finish 36 novels in one year, I suggest reading just 1 hour a day. You would be surprised how much you can finish in a year.

Well, dear reader, enjoy a good book and a cup of joe!

Lopaka      

2022 Reading List

26 Wednesday Jan 2022

Posted by in Random Thoughts of a Wandering Mind

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  1. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
  2. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
  3. The Gunslinger: I The Dark Tower by Stephen King
  4. Different Seasons by Stephen King
  5. The Black Widows by Alex Taylor
  6. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer
  7. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
  8. Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
  9. American Government: Roots and Reform by O’Connor, Sabato, and Yanus
  10. American Government 2e by Krutz, Glen
  11. Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
  12. All The Presidents Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
  13. The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells
  14. Rage by Stephen King
  15. Christine by Stephen King
  16. 1776 by David McCullough
  17. Truman by David McCullough
  18. Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King
  19. John Adams by David McCullough

The Return of the King

26 Wednesday Jan 2022

Posted by in Epic Fantasy, Reading

≈ 3 Comments

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
1955 / 416 pgs Epic Fantasy

The conclusion of the epic, The Lord of the Rings, doesn’t disappoint! Picking up from the end of The Two Towers, Book V moves along with Gandolf and Pippen riding into Minas Tirith. Tolkien describes the city and every layer of it, giving the reader a wonderful picture of this vast city with seven layers and meanings. The current Steward, Denethor, was slowly going mad. Boromir was his favorite son and set to take his chair; what is not understood until later is that Denethor was using a Palantir. As the story slowly but interestingly builds in narrative, Tolkien uses Book V to continue world-building. Several chapters are just conversations between characters giving background information about past times or even the city’s rules. The Battle of the Pelennor Fields is epic, yet only one chapter; however, it is a chapter! This chapter made my hair stand when I read,

 “But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my Lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.” – Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings.

After this chapter, much of the rest of Book V is about the eventual rise of Aragon to King Elessar. Also, the great debate, the attack at the Black Gate that will divert Sauron’s attention from Frodo and Sam. Leading into Book VI, focused on Frodo and Sam and the eventual fall of the Ring into Mount Doom. After the fall of Sauron, the narrative brings the remaining members of the Fellowship back together for the crowning of the King. Then, as the Fellowship breaks upon their various paths, the Hobbits have one last quest to take back the Shire. 

Once the narrative picks up in The Two Towers, this is an epic tale that goes. The details and world-building are stunning! The aspects you don’t see in other books make it extraordinary. For example, Gandolf, naturally, is known by many names depending on the region he is dwelling. While residing at Minas Tirith, they called him Mithrandir.  Even the appendix has a vast world-building, including the language used.

Naturally, I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone. It is stunning. I would forewarn, get past Tom Bombadil in The Fellowship of the Ring, as the narrative starts slow; however, as it picks up, it goes, and you don’t want to put it down. When I started The Two Towers, I wanted to finish the whole series, not to have it completed, because it was that good! Also, I would recommend having the soundtrack to LOTR or The Hobbit playing in the background sometimes; it makes the scene you are reading very interesting.

Enjoy a good cup of coffee and a good book! 

Lopaka

The Lord Of The Rings
I The Fellowship of the Ring
II The Two Towers
III The Return of the King

The Two Towers

26 Wednesday Jan 2022

Posted by in Epic Fantasy, Reading

≈ 3 Comments

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
1954 / 352 pgs Epic Fantasy

Part two of the epic, The Lord of the Rings, doesn’t disappoint! Picking up from the end of the Fellowship of the Ring, the broken Fellowship continues the quest on their separate paths. Aragon, Gimli, and Legolas hunted down and found Pippen and Merry, who Orcs took prisoners. During their travels, they find the Riders of Rohan and also Gandolf the White. The party then goes to Rohan, and the great battle of Helms Deep is fought between the forces of the West and East. 

Merry and Pippen go into Fangor and start their adventure with the Ent’s and meet Treebeard. After informing him about the current events in the East, the Ent’s gather and attack Isengard and tear down everything around it. Trapping Saruman in the Tower, they eat and smoke while the party with Gandolf arrives. They retell the story of how the Ents tore apart Isengard and isolated the wizard in the Tower. 

Interestingly, book three is the first half of the Two Towers. Book four is about Frodo and Sam and their adventure into Mordor. With Gollum guiding them, they eventually reach the black gate, double back, and go into the forest where Shelob resides. Frodo is stabbed, and Sam takes the Ring. Frodo is found by Orcs and brought into a fort. This is the end with Sam believing Frodo is dead.

The pace of this book is fantastic. I didn’t want to put it down. It was thrilling, definitely making the completion of The Fellowship of the Ring worth the work. There isn’t only action in this book. As Tolkien takes many pages to build the back story and world-building, it’s not monotonous or boring in the entire read. I would absolutely recommend this book, as it was a fantastic section of the Lord of the Rings.

Enjoy a good cup of coffee and a good book! 

Lopaka

The Lord Of The Rings
I The Fellowship of the Ring
II The Two Towers
III The Return of the King

The Running Man

30 Thursday Dec 2021

Posted by in Dystopian Future, Reading

≈ 1 Comment

The Running Man by Stephen King
1982 / 416 pgs  Dystopia

The Running Man, a game show set in a dystopian world like The Long Walk, entertains the masses. Benjamin Richards enrolls himself in the gaming network to earn money for his 18-month-old daughter suffering from pneumonia. In this time, the poor can’t afford simple doctor visits nor any medication that would take care of any disease easily remedied today. Richards can’t find work and his wife moved to prostitution to gain some income to try and survive each day.

After the physical, Richards is chosen for the marque event The Running Man—a game that he could make a lot of money for each hour he isn’t caught. After being given a 12-hour head start, he is on the run, with the whole nation hunting him down. It’s no-holds-barred. Anyone can be killed—the more deaths; even law enforcement is fair game, the more money Richards makes. Also, if a citizen catches or identifies Richards leading to his death, they receive a money reward. As everyone can make money off this game, naturally, this is the main game for the network.

The subplot is interesting as the top rich own the influence and power over the poor. The government and industry are destroying the environment and using the games as entertainment to cover up what is truly happening. Yes, as I read this, I thought this had a familiar ring today. During daily recordings, Richards tries to inform the people of the truth of what the government and network are doing. However, the network edits his videos to prevent the message from being broadcast.

I truly enjoyed the narration of this story. Although, it felt as though we went back to a familiar plot told from another game show that allows destitute people money in a dystopian world, The Long Walk. However, the message and how the game plays out are entirely different. What is more interesting is the chapters are a countdown starting from 100. Allowing the reader to question what will happen, “I know that X-many chapters remain. This is going to get interesting.” 

I enjoyed the ending; although predictable, the twist is what I expected since this is a King novel, although I was hoping it would go a different path. I truly enjoyed it and would recommend it.
      
Enjoy a good cup of coffee and an excellent book!

Lopaka

A Study In Scarlet

17 Friday Dec 2021

Posted by in Detective, Reading

≈ 1 Comment

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
1887 / 176 pgs.  Detective

Our first introduction to the super gumshoe Sherlock Holmes was the story that started it all.  A Study in Scarlet, which was the name of the case that he investigated in this story.  Also, our first background on how Dr. John Watson, a veteran of the Anglo-Afghan wars, is Holmes’s confidant.  Through Watson, Holmes gives his enigmatic thoughts, allowing the reader to see inside Holmes’s line of deduction.  Watson is the narrator, chronicler of Holmes cases.

How they end up living together is detailed in this story.  All the juicy elements that we know of Holmes, smoking the pipe, the violin, and even the infamous use of the magnifying lens when investigating a scene are on full display.  This narration is the first and excellent image of Sherlock Holmes.

Even the format of the story is exciting.  We are first introduced to Dr. Watson, who is looking for a place to live after returning from the War.  He is presented to Holmes, who requires a roommate to share the rent at 221B Baker Street.  After introductions and moving in, Dr. Watson discovers Holmes is a consulting detective.  His study of past murders, his infamous observations, attention to minute details, master of forensics, and even knowledge of past murders shows up in his logical reasoning for the who done it.  A case came to Holmes that he initially didn’t want because detectives Gregson and Lestrade always receive the credit for Holme’s work is what this story leads into.  After probing from Dr. Watson, Holmes picks up the case and correctly arrests the killer in the first seven chapters. 

Section two is where the story takes a twist because for the following six chapters; it’s the background of the murderer, the why.  Instead of a cold-blooded killer, this is a revenge story for lost love.  After the murderer finishes his story, in the last chapter, Holmes explains to Watson how he discovered the murderer with all the clues that he deducted from the crime scenes.  Dr. Watson naturally chronicles every detail in his journal as he finishes the narration of the story,      

A Study in Scarlet is a short and fast read—exciting and simple fun.  Never did I feel that the story drone on.  When section 2 started, I thought it was another story. I wondered if it was a Holmes story, only to see the bigger picture once the key characters were introduced.  Overall, it’s a delicious tale that I would recommend.  It isn’t the most famous Sherlock Holmes book, The Hound of the Baskervilles, but it is a great introduction.                         
Enjoy a good cup of coffee and an excellent book!

Lopaka

Cujo

13 Monday Dec 2021

Posted by in Horror, Reading

≈ 1 Comment

Cujo by Stephen King
1983 / 309 pgs.  Horror

Another Mr. King classic.  Many know the story. A lady and her son get stuck inside a broken-down Ford Pinto. Outside watching them, a rabid Saint Bernard named Cujo is ready to attack.  A famous scene from the movie of the mother and son inside the car with a large dog slamming the door, trying to get inside the car and kill them.

Like all Stephen King stories, this will not end the way you hope.  That, for me, is what makes reading Mr. King so interesting. You honestly don’t know how the book will end as they don’t end on a bright spot many times.  This story is no different.  What is fascinating is the narration from inside the dog’s thoughts. Mr. King takes us inside Cujo and tries to understand why the dog is attacking and killing the people he once loved. 

At times, the story does drag on, although I did love the ending and not because I reached the novel’s end.  Many times in the book, I kept looking at my time, wondering how much longer I had to read.  The different plots were necessary for the overall story; sadly, the book drone on for many passages.   The best subplot central to the book is with Donna, her husband, Vic, and their son Tad.  Donna and Tad are stuck with a large dog waiting outside in the car.  Also, Vic and his work partner Roger are also pivical to the story as it builds the human element.  It changes the perspective of what is essential and not. The other subplot brings no meaning to the story; this is of Charity and Brett, who owns Cujo.  Although much of the book is about them, there is no importance to the main plot; this is the drag on the whole book, the parts that made me look at the clock.  The rest of the book is incredible.  The entire segment of Donna, Tad, and Cujo is outstanding.  It hits hard if you have kids of your own.  It makes reading the narrative worth it.    

Overall the story is good when you can bear through the rough sections. It’s not on my top 5 King books; however, it’s still a good read.  I wouldn’t say avoid it.  Understand, there is a lot of fluff in the book.  If one can survive reading Moby Dick, one can enjoy Cujo!     

Enjoy a good cup of coffee and an excellent book!

Lopaka

Moby Dick

02 Thursday Dec 2021

Posted by in Classic, Fiction, Reading

≈ 2 Comments

Moby Dick by Herman Melville
1851 / 378 pgs.  Classic Fiction

“Call me Ishmael,” the infamous beginning of Moby Dick.  The great American classic in literature.  Countless great quotes come from this single book.  Iconic characters that today play tropes in today’s entertainment.  Specifically, Ahab, the monomaniacal Captain of the whaling ship Pequod.  An individual is so focused on finding and killing the whale that he is willing to sacrifice everything, the ship, crew, and even his own life.  Today, many people who have an obsession for anything at the cost of all are Ahab’s trope. 

Many famous lines come from this classic novel, “Aye, aye! and I’ll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition’s flames before I give him up.”.  While reading this line, my inner geek remembered Khan and his variance of the quote “He tasks me! He tasks me and I shall have him! I’ll chase him ’round the moons of Nibia and ’round the Antares Maelstrom and ’round Perdition’s flames before I give him up.”.  However, the keen eye knows he read this book because it can be seen on the Botany Bay book shelf.  Yes, Star Trek II, is a modern telling of Moby Dick.

To write all the quotes would be my entire review.  However, that is not why you are here, dear readers.  Moby Dick is a narration by Ishmael, a sailor that desires to experience the Whalers’ life.  In the beginning, Ishmael tells his story as a sailor and how the sea is always calling to him.  Throughout his narration, he gives the story of many of the characters on the ship.  The most infamous is Ahab, and how Moby Dick took his leg, and this is the seed for the fire that burns inside the Captain to hunt down the white whale obsessively. 

Like many classics of the time, Melville describes and brings the reader into the world of whaleship warts and all in long narration.  He describes in nauseating detail how a whale is dismembered, what parts are the most important, and those discarded after the grisly task is complete.  It even goes into minute details about how a whaleship is run and the crew’s make-up.   
Enjoy a good cup of coffee and an excellent book!

Lopaka

NOTE:  A little-known fact, Melville built the foundation for this book from the true story of Essex.  That story is even more dark and gruesome than Moby Dick.