Quote. Alan Isler

(My cousin Joachim was to give a leg and an eye for the Kaiser, receiving in return an Iron Cross and a small pension. The Nazis, when they came to power, took back both, and then took the rest of him.)

from The Prince of West End Avenue 

Carrie (3)

by Stephen King

Here, now, is the final installment of my review - Prom Night.

But first, to give us a little understanding of how crazy Margaret White is, guilt-tripping her child by self-mutilation...

Her mother reached up and pinched her own face. It left a mark. She looked to Carrie for reaction, saw none, hooked her right hand into claws and ripped it across her own cheek, bringing thin blood. She whined and rocked back on her heels. Her eyes glowed with exaltation.

Carrie, standing her ground, goes to the fateful prom anyway. While she is preparing for Tommy to pick her up, doubtful, thinking that he may not come and that would be the trick they play on her this time, Billy is preparing for the big revenge. For him, it does not actually matter who sits on the throne of the kind and queen of the prom. He just wants to dump the pigs' blood he collected on somebody.

For Carrie, however, the night starts off magically. Tommy comes and tells her she is beautiful and when they arrive, nobody is making fun of her but treat her like everyone else and even make nice comments about her home made dress. This, of course, lasts only until the announcement that Tommy and Carrie had been voted prom king and queen. The book does not specify how the vote was manipulated, but only that it was. There is no replacing the ballots, merely a second - very close - vote because two couples are in dead lock.

Then they are on stage, sitting on the throne, while the collective bands play the school song - the sign for Chris and Billy, hiding under the stage, to dump the blood. For a while, nothing happens, because people don't know how to react to this, and at first nobody really notices that Tommy was knocked out by a metal bucket. Then it starts...

It was either laugh or cry, and who could bring himself to cry over Carrie after all those years?

What follows then, Carrie's path of destruction, has been altered for the film in time line and in levels of gore. Carrie runs out of the gym, covered in blood and tripping along the way, because someone finally does stick a foot out for her to fall over. The final decision to go back and make them all pay for years of bullying is made while lying on the grass outside. So suddenly she is back at the gym doors, but on the outside, keeping them shut with her mind. The sprinklers go off, electric wiring comes lose and before the explosions and the fire, there is a mass electrocution.

The path of destruction goes from the high school all the way to her own house, with fire hydrants popping open, making it hard for the fire fighters to get the water pressure they would need to stand any chance against the inferno along the streets. This is the manner of destruction - explosions, fires, electrocution.

Then at home, with Momma, who has been sharpening a knife to finally kill Carrie - something she failed to go through with after Carrie was born and then again when she was a 3 year old, raining ice and stones on the house. As Carrie, in desperate need of some comforting, but also aware that she came home specifically to kill Momma, falls into her mother's arms, she gets stabbed in the back. Here in the film comes the awesome scene with silverware flying at Momma, pinning her to the door frame. Not so in the book, here Carrie slows down her heart until it comes to a final halt. Not as exciting for film making, that.

Carrie's final stretch brings her to where Chris and Billy are. She ends up facing their car and - as Billy accelerates to run Carrie over, the car veers off the road and catches on fire. Then finally Carrie, whose ability of telekinesis puts her heart under strain whenever she uses her power, breaks down in the street. Sue Snell, knowing where she is, is there so that she does not have to die alone, at least.

They've forgotten her, you know. They've made her into some kind of a symbol and forgotten that she was a human being, as real as you reading this, with hopes and dreams and blah, blah, blah. Useless to tell you that, I suppose. Nothing can change her back now from something made out of newsprint into a person. But she was, and she hurt. More than any of us probably know, she hurt.

Stephen King's writing style
(with the inserted thoughts in the middle of a sentence)
is already very obvious.

A great, great book.

8/10

Stephen King Loves Books

Quote. Antonio Colmenero

 The Receipt is this.

To every 100. Cacaos, you must put two cods of the Chileslong red Pepper, of which I have spoken before, and are called in the Indian Tongue, Chilparlagua; and in stead of those of the Indies, you may take those of Spaine which are broadest & least hot. One handful of Annis-seed Orejuelas, which are otherwise called Pinacaxlidos: and two of the flowers, called Mechasuchil, if the Belly be bound. But in stead of this, in Spaine, we put in six Roses of Alexandria beat to Powder: One Cod of Campeche, or Logwood: Two Drams of Cinamon; Almons, and Hasle-Nuts, of each one Dozen: Of white Sugar, halfe a pound: of Achiote enough to give it the colour. Anf if you cannot have those things, which come from the Indies, you may make it with the rest.

from Chocolate; Or, An Indian Drinke
By the wise and Moderate use whereof, Health is preserved, Sicknesse Diverted, and Cured, especially the Plague of the Guts; vulgarly called The New Disease; Fluxes, Consumptions, & Coughs of the Lungs, with sundry other desperate Diseases. By it also, Conception is Caused, the Birth Hastened and facilitated, Beatuy Gain'd and continued.

Written Originally in Spanish by Antonio Colmenero of Ledesma, Doctor in Physicke, and faithfully rendred in the English, by Capt. James Wadsworth

Carrie (2)

by Stephen King

Carrie is home after the 'incident' in the shower and her mother is blaming her daughter, because there are so many ways in which she may have deserved the curse of the blood...

She may have committed the Sin of Lustful Thoughts. She may have been listening to rock 'n roll music on the radio. She may have been tempted by the Antichrist.

We realize that Margaret White is actually scared of her daughter while still trying to keep the upper hand on her. But over the years she must have come to understand what Carrie capable of. She may, however, not get the enormity of the 'talent' Carrie has, she is too delusional and utterly enthralled in her beliefs.

Meanwhile, the girls that had been throwing sanitary pads at Carrie in the shower get punished, but not the punishment Ms. Desjardin had intended - that they all be forbidden to attend the prom. They have to put in extra gym classes...with Ms. Desjardin. Most girls accept it grudgingly. Not so Chris Hargesen, arrogant snob that she is she skips the classes and consequently is expelled from the prom. She sends in daddy for the rescue, who is a lawyer and faces off with principal Henry Grayl in a pretty good scene with threats of lawsuits and counter-lawsuits - with the principal coming out the victor.

Sue Snell, goody two-shoes and half of the high school's golden couple (they all have one of those, don't they?), feels so bad about everything that has transpired that she talks her boyfriend Tommy Ross, pretty grade-A students and jock all at the same time, into taking Carrie White to the prom as a date. And Tommy, nice guy down to the bone, agrees. When he asks Carrie, he is initially surprised that she doesn't look as awful up close as he would have expected.

Chris Hargesen, of course, is not taking any of this sitting down. She is 'going' with Billy Nolan, who had to repeat a class and would 'murder for her'. In many ways he is the anti-Tommy. Attributed to one of his friends (or, one of the boys he runs around with, Billy does not seem like the kind of guy that has friends) is this:

He was not sure he could recall ever having seen Billy Nolan smile before. There had not even been rumors.

She sends her boyfriend, Billy Nolan, and his buddies off to collect pig's blood for the prank that will cost them all so dearly.

From My Name Is Susan Snell (p. 23):
They finally even made a movie about it. I saw it last April. When I came out, I was sick. Whenever anything important happens in America, they have to gold-plate it, like baby shoes. That way you can forget it. And forgetting Carrie White may be a bigger mistake than anyone realizes....

Next up is part two of the book, simply titled 'Prom Night' (part one is called 'Blood Sport'). We all know what's coming.

To be continued...

Carrie (1)

by Stephen King

Inspired by the ongoing re-reading of all Stephen King books by one James Smythe over at The Guardian (for his latest entry, Skeleton Crew, go here) I picked up the very first book Mr. King ever published, Carrie. This time around I want to read King's books more consciously, whereas the first time I practically ate them up. I will post this in parts, rather than at the end of each book, mostly because I think I might go into more detail than usual.

Here goes...

It is impossible to now read Carrie without having Sissy Spacek in mind. The (original) film version was so brilliant and my favorite book-to-screen translation of any Stephen King story (The Shawshank Redemption is the better film, granted, but almost more ambitious than the novella it was based on, so I think the two films are in different wheelhouses entirely). Also, I am pretty sure I am not the only one for whom the book Carrie has taken on the look of the film Carrie, even though in writing she is described as being chubby (obviously a problem film Carrie does not have).

The book kicks off with the infamous shower scene, followed by the uncomfortable talk with school personnel. However, before the first face-off with Margaret White (and yes, I picture Piper Laurie), we get a few flashbacks that the film left out, like Carrie as a pretty 3-year-old girl getting in trouble because she talked with the 'slutty' neighbor girl. This then led to ice and stones raining down on the White residence. Also, we read of the moment that made Carrie the laughing stock she would remain for the rest of her brief life - her first day of school.

She could still remember that day, the stares, and the sudden, awful silence when she had gotten down on her knees before lunch in the school cafeteria - the laughter had begun on that day and had echoed up through the years.

What a sad, sad childhood Carrie must have led, under the ever watchful eye of an oppressive religious zealot (and her deceased father was no better, apparently). And when she has the chance to finally connect to regular people doing something that she imagines to be normal turns her into a social pariah.

In the house she can only really escape when going to school, two to three hour worship sessions - held by Momma on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays - are the norm and her changing body and sexuality are never discussed, only 'dirtypillows' get an occasional mention. Good girls don't have them, of course, and Momma grew hers only after she had sinned (fornication!).

After her traumatic experience in the shower, with nobody to turn to with any questions about what is going on - her phys ed teacher could have talked to her, but opts to send her home instead - she now gets scolded, beaten and called a sinner by her mother. For now she is a woman.

"Get up, woman. Let's us get in and pray. Let's us pray to Jesus for our woman-weak, wicked, sinning souls."

That scene is where I am in the book at the moment. At this point, I have already stumbled upon two things that have recurring appearances in King works:

"Hey Jude" is playing in the background during an interview with Estelle Horan (the slutty neighbor girl from Carrie's childhood). The Beatles song is very prominently featured in The Dark Tower series.

The "Black Man", although rather abstract in this, gets a mention. Some version of him appears in many, many works by Stephen King.

To be continued...

Owen King and Joe Hill on Their New Novels, Sibling Rivalry, and Stephen King's Shadow

I know, I know...I am posting a lot today but this I could not ignore.

Owen King and Joe Hill on Their New Novels, Sibling Rivalry, and Stephen King's Shadow

And yes, I do have a copy of that book they are holding. It is Owen King's new one, called Double Feature.

Schulz: Why I Despise 'The Great Gatsby'

The Vulture features an article (previously published in New York Magazine) about The Great Gasby (the novel, not the film).

Schulz: Why I despise The Great Gatsby

In the forum below the article the writer - along with assumingly all of us that didn't enjoy the book - repeatedly is told that she "doesn't get it". Because one obviously cannot not like the lauded novel, unless one is an imbecile.

Really, how dare she have an opinion that may differ from your own?

The Story of Little Black Mingo

by Helen Bannerman

This is a children's book from 1901. It is the follow up to Helen Bannerman's The Story of Little Black Sambo, which became rather controversial due to the fact that the term "Sambo" has come to be derogatory.

The setting of Mingo, though not specifically mentioned, is probably south India or Tamil, where the author lived.

Black Mingo, an orphan, lives with the mean Black Noggy (again, this is 1901, people), who one day sends her off to get water from the river. When she gets there, she comes upon a mugger (a crocodile) and drops the chatty on her head out of fright and runs back home. But she gets scolded and sent right back with an even bigger chatty to carry.

There, she gets snapped up by the mugger, which swims off to an island where all the animal's eggs are collected. Mingo is destined to be fed to the little muggers to be born the next day. She is left alone and can't escape because she doesn't know how to swim. Along comes a mongoose, about to drown near the shore. Mingo comes in save the animal, which repays the favor by starting to crack open the eggs and eat what's inside.

When the big mugger returns and finds the mountain of eggs diminshed it wraps around the remaining ones to protect them, but when it falls asleep the mongoose comes back to eat some more. To save the last few eggs, the mugger retrieves the big chatty to hide the eggs under. Mingo and the mongoose now use the chatty as a boat to return to Mingo's home, with the mugger chasing after them.

The fugitives lock themselves into the hut, and when Black Noggy returns from the market with kerosene and matches, she gets swallowed whole by the mugger. Unaware of what happened she lights a match to explore her surroundings. The kerosene tin has been punctured by the animal's teeth and

BANG!

explodes, mugger, Black Noggy and all. This is cause for celebration for Mingo and the mongoose.

5/10

No Country for Old Men

by Cormac McCarthy

It is not often that I read a book after I've already seen the film based on it (unless it's Stephen Kind, I'll always read Stephen King). In this case my calculation was great film = great book. And I had never read any McCarthy before, so it was high time, anyway.

Firstly, I had to get over the writing style. I'm not good with anything reading in slang. Any slang. In this case the gerund 'g' disappeared (no ' to replace it, either), "don't" became "dont" etc. But once I got over that I fell right back into the story. So deep in that I once missed my subway stop. This never happens.

It is amazing how close the Coens stuck with this text. They really did the book justice. Obviously, there were changes in the transition from book to film. The ending was cut, when the book went on quite a ways after the climax. In the book, there is no question whether Chigurh killed Calra Jean after the coin toss.

I realize that this is not much in terms of an actual review (it's rather messy).

Anyway...read this!

8/10

Caught Reading Banned Books

Quote. Thomas J. Murray

Toast is very palatable and digestible when properly prepared. Many seem to think that they have made toast when they brown the outside of a slice of bread. Have they?

The object in making toast is to evaporate all moisture from the bread, and holding a slice over the fire to singe does not accomplish this; it only warms the moisture, making the inside of the bread doughy and decidedly indigestible. The true way of preparing it is to cut the bread into slices a quarter of an inch thick, trim off all crust, put the slices in a pan or plate, place them in the oven - which must not be too hot - take them out when a delicate brown, and butter at once.

For my own use I dry all home-made bread in this manner.

from Breakfast Dainties

Dear Everybody

by Michael Kimball

Dear Everbody is compiled of letters to everybody that touched the writer's life - in good or bad ways. The recepients range from his parents to the Tooth Fairy. It also includes newspaper clippings, discussions between father and son, diary entries, a eulogy, etc.

A while back, I had an unpleasant reading experience with a novel made up entirely of e-mail correspondence between to people. It was a massive success in the German-speaking world. I thought it was horrible. Not so much because of the structure but the writing felt fake. Nobody writes like that. (The writer himself confesses to not having the patience to read novels, let alone write them.)

So I initially was a bit wary of this one, but hey, if both Stephen King and Dave Eggers plug it, how bad can it be?

I really, really liked it. It helped, of course, that the topic at hand is something that appeals to me (to read about only, mind you). The letters are suicide notes of sorts, mostly apologetic, some accusing. Through them, the main character tells about his difficult life. His mental state (diagnosed as depression) is addressed by doctor's reports, his mother's diary and a eulogy by his ex-wife.

It's a sad book not because of the suicide so much, but because of the devastating family life with a father that was both, neglecting and violent, and never wanted his son in the first place.

8/10

Diary of the Hitler Diary Hoax/"Der Führer wird immer mitteilsamer"

The New Yorker ran an article on April 25 about the fake Hitler diaries:
Diary of the Hitler Diary Hoax

The German article published in Die Zeit, as referenced in the New Yorker piece can be found here:
Hitler Tagebücher: "Der Führer wird immer mitteilsamer"
(This one is in German, only. Sorry.)

On that note, may I also recommend the wonderful film (and Foreign Language Oscar nominee) mentioned: "Schtonk!".

The Other

by David Guterson

The Other is the story of a male friendship that starts with two teenagers doing stupid things together, like steal change from a wishing fountain to emptying a parent's drinking cabinet to getting lost in the widely unexplored forests of Washington state. The path it takes, however, after each have gone off on their pre-college road trips differs widely from a normal course a life takes.

Whereas one, the narrating Neil Countrymen, goes into a regular profession, the other, John William Barry, goes off to live away from society. Neil, having given up his dreams of becoming a writer and doing the next best thing - teaching literature -, goes to visit John William regularly, bringing supplies and reading material. He is persistent even when his friend chides him for being a loyal citizen of what he refers to as 'Hamburger World' and he keeps going after marrying and becoming a father. Neil even goes as far as helping John William go off the grid by driving his car down south to have people believe that he disappeared in Mexico. His only confidant over the years is his wife Jamie and the two are the only people that know the truth of where John William is.

Over time Neil notices his friend withering away, becoming skinnier and more and more unkempt. But instead of giving his location up to authorities so that he can get some proper (if unwanted) help, he only ever suggests John William return to society on his own account. This, of course, he never does. One day, Neil comes to where his friend lives to find his body. He wraps him up in a mat and puts him in a cave the two have dug into the limestone years before. It is only years later that human remains are discovered and identified as John William.

Neil expects to get blamed for keeping secrets or hiding the body but what he surprisingly gets, instead, is an inheritance of $ 440 million, making him the nineteenth richest person in Washington State. The story is told in flashbacks after the fact and touches not only on the troubled mind of John William but also on his parents' ineptitude and the guilt that both, Neil and John William's father, feel about having failed.

No exciting things happen in this novel, yet it is an intriguing read. Beauty and serenity rather than flashy story.

7/10

Quote. David Sedaris

The iPhone 2 led to the 3, but I didn't get the 4 or 5 because I'm holding out for the 7, which, I've heard on good authority, can also be used as Taser. This will mean I'll have just one less thing to carry around. And isn't that technology's job? To lighten our burden? To broaden our horizons? To make it possible to talk to your attorney and listen to a Styx album and check the obituaries in the town where your parents continue to live and videotape a race riot and send a text message and stun someone into submission all at the same time?

from Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls

Literary LOL

The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder

by Donald H. Wolfe

First of all, I love the cover design of the book. It looks like a pulp novel and some of it fittingly reads like a gangster story.

There have been other books about the Black Dahlia murder, the advantage that this book has over earlier volumes is that the author had access to documents that were not available to writers tackling the subject for previous publications, simply because - back in the day - the LAPD files were still sealed.

This book now tells a fascinating story of the entanglement of Hollywood, the Mob, the media, and law enforcement. Since so many people seemed to be in cahoots in the 1940s, the murder (and other crimes, obviously) remained unsolved and the person(s) responsible were never persecuted.

The conclusion is, then - and there seem to be evidence and witness statements to support it -, that Elizabeth Short (for that is the victims name) was killed by Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegler and three of his henchmen, possibly orchestrated by media mogul Norman Chandler, who the Dahlia was rumoured to be pregnant by. The body was put on display near the residence of Jack Dragna, who headed the mob for a big portion of the city, in an attempt to frame him. Dragna's name never appeared in any files (thanks to his connections to the LAPD) and he in return had Bugsy Siegler killed five months later, again an "unsolved" crime.

A really good read.

7/10