The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells 1896 / 153 pgs. (43,183 words) Sci-Fi, Fiction
A classic by H. G. Wells. Pendrick, a biologist, is found after a shipwreck by Dr. Montgomery. Dr. Montgomery helps Pendrick gain strength as he is transported to an island. After arriving at the island, Dr. Montgomery takes his cargo with the animals and heads out to the island. Pendrick is kicked off the boat by the captain and drifts onto the island. This is where he is introduced to the Island of Dr. Moreau and his nightmare creations.
Dr. Moreau is a vivisectionist that was banned from practice in England. He came to the island to continue his experiment. The creations from his experiments inhabit the island, and Pendrick encounters them as he is confronted with several living beings. They are a blend of different animals that have human instincts, including speech and thought.
The book is a narration of Pendrick and his brief time on the island and escape. It is a fascinating insight that almost feels like a youth trying something that he wants to do but does not want to ask if he should.
This is a fast read; it only took me a few hours to read. It would not be the first H. G. Wells novel that I would recommend. That is The Time Machine.
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.
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.
The Forward Collection by Various Authors 2019 / 272 total pgs. Fiction
The Forward Collection is six short stories written by authors from an idea thought of by Blake Crouch. Amazon shows them as six different books. The longest story is 74 pgs, and the shortest is 27 pgs. They are all quick reads. For the sake of brevity, I’ll post them as one book. Also, I won’t give away the whole plot. Ark by Veronica Roth 39 pgs
The Earth is near the end as an Astroid is about to collide with it. Only scientists that are identifying plants from the seed stations are left. At the final minute, they will depart with the last two rockets and seeds from the stores. Only one of them has a different plan.
Summer Frost by Blake Crouch 74 pgs
During the development of the video game Lost Coast, a minor NPC starts to act independently and think beyond its original programming level. Its creator, Sam, wants to explore its potential and what could be the first true A.I.
Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin 32 pgs
Many years ago, humanity left the Earth because it was becoming inhabitable. Now, one has come to a planet with a special mission to collect cell samples needed back on the new Earth.
You have arrived at your Destination by Amor Towles 45 pgs
Sam and Anne need an IVF to have children. Sam is given three different presentations with future potential plans at the clinic to choose their ideal child.
The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay55 pgs
You wake up not knowing where you are or why you are there. A lady walks in and starts helping you in your recovery. You have many questions, and she has a few answers.
Randomize by Andy Weir 27 pgs
A husband and wife come up with a scheme using computers to win over $700,000 in Kino.
Overall, these short stories were fun to consume. Ark, Summer Frost, and Emergency Skin were exciting. You have arrived at your Destination was interesting, not thrilling. Last Conversation and Randomize were O.K. It’s a beautiful collection to get introduced to new authors. I will be interested in Crouch, Jemisin, and Towles books in the future.
The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck 1942 / 188 pgs Fiction
The Moon is Down is not one of Steinbeck’s best-known classics. It starts with the end of an invasion by an Army in a small town. The invaders are a small force. However, because the invaded nation enjoyed peace for the last 400 years, they didn’t have a military response. The entire story is focused on the small town. The invading force states to the Mayor they are there for only the coal that is needed. They wish for peace and just require the town citizens to mine the coal.
The Colonel leaves the Mayor in a title role to show that the people are in charge. A traitor in the small village wants the Mayor’s position for himself, so he helped the invading army before they arrived with intelligence. Throughout the story, he connives his way, including going over the Colonel, talking to the Capital to gain authority that he feels he deserves.
During the invasion, an officer is killed ordering a citizen to work in the mines. This causes the invaders to hold a trial they want the Mayor to preside over. This is a tactic used to show that the Mayor is in charge and order should be kept in the town. The Mayor doesn’t comply but shows the convicted his support as his death sentence is carried out.
Citizens escape to England, and help is asked for as resistance is started to make the task impossible for the invaders. When the resistance begins, the Mayor and town doctor are arrested, and the Mayor is led away for his execution. The Colonel understands that this is an endless cycle as you kill one leader; another will step-up as long as people resist.
As I read this, I kept thinking that this book was written in the second world war about the resistance. I discovered that this book was read by French’s Resistance (Norway, Spain, Netherlands, and more). After understanding the impact, I believe that this short story should be read as a book that inspired many to resist the juggernaut that occupied their nation.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely. It is a short read. Only took me about 3 hours to complete. It’s not close to a masterpiece as his other works. However, understanding what it was saying at the time really shows the importance of literature.
The Dead Zone by Stephen King 1979 / 515 pgs Science Fiction Thriller
When I started this book, I thought it was going to go in a different direction. I did not research the book, figuring with ESP and The Dead Zone, it would be a horror novel. The assumption was a significant error on my behalf. Additionally, it took a different turn than I was expecting. At the beginning of the book Johnny Smith takes his girl on a date to the fair. They are heading out at the close of the fair when a Wheel of Fortune game is closing and hoping to get a few last bucks; the hosts ask them to take a chance. While playing, Sarah notices Johnny has an odd look when the wheel goes around and lands on his bet. She starts to get sick, and Johnny takes her back to her place. Then, catching a cab home, he is in an auto accident and put into a coma for the next four ½ years. This is the first sixty pages of the book.
I honestly thought that the next chapter would be Johnny waking up and rediscovering everything that he missed for many pages. Including Sarah getting married and having a kid. Using his ESP powers to take out the husband and get Sarah back, which fails in the end horribly. Wrong! The next fifty-five pages are what is going on around him and how it impacts his parents and Sarah. His mom is a bible-thumping evangelical that will do and believe anything that will bring her son out of his coma. In these pages, we are introduced to the two main baddies that will further develop the plot.
Page 115, Johnny awakens and then joins the world as he and they discover his power of clairvoyant visions. Johnny, when he touches someone or something, sometimes has visions of what is about to happen. For him, it is a curse, as naturally, people either think of him as a snake-oil salesman or a gift from God that can answer the mysteries from their lives. Many thinks of him as a freak and do not want him to touch them as they do not want him to see anything about him. For many visions, there are many things he cannot see, he says those are in The Dead Zone.
Eventually, the plot builds as Johnnys asked to help a serial killer case. Then a vision after touching a politician that shows they become President of the United States will cause the U.S. to go into a Nuclear War. The philosophical, moral question asked, if you could go back to 1932 Germany, would you kill Hitler? From here, the plot twists start, and one can only hope that Johnny makes the right decision for himself and the fate of millions.
The Dead Zone does not grip you like It. It has an easy pace that makes it a challenge to figure what is happening, and then page 458 makes the reader think….no way. From here, you must finish it because you cannot believe that King would do this to Johnny. It is the classic build-up that leaves you in suspense until the climactic moment.
Would I recommend The Dead Zone? It’s not on my OH YEAH list like The Shining or It. It is a steady read, not horrible or boring. It is not horrific like The Eyes of the Dragon. I would say sure. However, it is not on my King recommendation list.
nyghteulen 