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Book Review:  With The Old Breed - E. B. Sledge

War is brutish, inglorious, and a terrible waste.  Combat leaves an indelible mark on those who are forced to endure it.  The only redeeming factors were my comrades’ incredible bravery and their devotion to each other.  Marine Corps training taught us to kill efficiently and to try to survive.  But it also taught us loyalty to each other and love.  That esprit de corps sustained us.

Brought to life in 2011 by HBO’s 10-part miniseries ‘The Pacific’,  With The Old Breed is the incredible memoirs of a Pfc’s two campaigns in World War Two’s pacific theatre.  Eugene Sledge, an Alabama native, recounts his experience in the war, from the decision to join the Marines and bootcamp training, to mop-up duties and occupation stay in Peking China after 82 days of combat on Okinawa.  This honest and brutally moving account allows us to see a different side of the war, not the glossed over version of the history books or the glorified tales of decorated officers, but of an enlisted man that’s only though and want was to serve his country.

This book left me completely speechless.  I never knew much about the western front of WW2, but I feel as if now I know enough to last a lifetime.  I won’t lie, like many of you that have read this memoir, I only picked up the book after watching ‘The Pacific’.  Well, let me tell those of you that have not, Sledges’ portion of the story is almost word for word to the page.  Scenes from the show recounted themselves in my head as followed each sentence.  Some portions are even recounted in such detail,  that I had to close the book and set it aside for a day or two just to process what I had read.  As someone who is fascinated with all aspect of the second World War since childhood, I recommend this book in the highest regard.  With The Old Breed, published in 1981, has never been out of print in almost 40 years and is accredited as being one of the most incredible war stories ever put to paper.

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“Fata viem invenient.”

31 Days of Spooky/Scary Stories - Day 10: The Tree (1921) by H.P. Lovecraft

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Does anyone else ever just come to the realization, while looking at the decor/possessions around your room, that there may be a particular book or series that has just become such a part of who you are that you forget how exactly you came to discover it in the first place?

-L

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“Sometimes human places, create inhuman monsters.”

31 Days of Spooky/Scary Stories - Day 9: The Shining (1977) by Stephen King

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“When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old manservant— a combined gardener and cook— had seen in at least ten years.”

31 Days of Spooky/Scary Stories - Day 8: A Rose for Emily (1930) by William Faulkner

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“Sometimes I fancy age advancing upon me. One grey hair I have found. Fool! do I lament? Yes, the fear of age and death often creeps coldly into my heart; and the more I live, the more I dread death, even while I abhor life.” 

31 Days of Spooky/Scary Stories - Day 7: The Mortal Immortal (1833) by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

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“Ah! realize your youth while you have it. Don't squander the gold of your days, listening to the tedious, trying to improve the hopeless failure, or giving away your life to the ignorant, the common, and the vulgar. These are the sickly aims, the false ideals, of our age. Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing.”

31 Days of Spooky/Scary Stories - Day 6: The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) by Oscar Wilde

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“True! - nervous - very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will say that I am mad?! The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute.”

31 Days of Spooky/Scary Stories - Day 5: The Tell-Tale Heart (1843) by Edgar Allan Poe

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"It had a spell put on it by an old fakir," said the sergeant-major, "a very holy man. He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow. He put a spell on it so that three separate men could each have three wishes from it." 

31 Days of Spooky/Scary Stories - Day 4: The Monkey’s Paw (1902) by W. W. Jacobs

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“Certain it is, the place still continues under the sway of some witching power, that holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to walk in a continual reverie. They are given to all kinds of marvellous beliefs, are subject to trances and visions, and frequently see strange sights, and hear music and voices in the air” 

31 Days of Spooky/Scary Stories - Day 3: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820) by Washington Irving

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“His character was dreadfully vicious, for that the possession of irresistible powers of seduction, rendered his licentious habits more dangerous to society.”

31 Days of Spooky/Scary Stories - Day 2: The Vampyre (1819) by John William Polidori

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       “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;”

31 Days of Spooky/Scary Stories - Day 1:  The Raven (1845) by Edgar Allen Poe

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New Posts Announcement!!!!!

Starting Tuesday I will be beginning what is probably my favorite post series yet, “31 Days of Spooky Stories”.

Throughout the entire month of October I will be posting about a different horror story in anticipation for my favorite holiday, Halloween! But these will not be my normal read and review posts. These will all be moodboards that I have created while listening to audio recordings of the stories.

If there is a story anyone would like to see done let me know. I currently have only 17 of the 31 stories listed up. These also don’t have to be short stories, novels are welcome as well (since I’m listening to them).

LETS GET SPOOKY!!!!!

-L

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Fangirl Alert: Hitchhiker’s Guide is coming to Hulu

Confirmed today by Deadline, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is being made into a series for Hulu. I loved the movie so I can’t wait to see what they do with the series.

Check out the article from syfy.com for more info. And a big thank you to my irl bestie @expertprocrastinatr for bringing this to my attention.

-L

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Book Review:  Mercury and Me - Jim Hutton (with Tim Wapshott)

“Although I was busy working in the garden where he could see me, Freddie needed to hear from me more and more that I loved him.  So I got into the habit of flying upstairs and quickly sticking my head around the door.  

‘Hey,’ I’d say.  ‘I love you!’  

Then I’d run back down to get on with the gardening.  I knew it made him feel good for a few minutes at least.  Sometimes when I got downstairs again I’d look up at his window and he’d be there waiting for me to emerge outside; then he’d blow me a kiss.”

There is not much I can say about this latest book other that it is one of the most beautiful and sadly tragic real life stories of love I have ever had the good fortune to read.  Mercury and Me was written by one Jim Hutton (with Tim Wapshott) and published in 1994.  From a failed flirting attempt by a certain frontman at the end of 1983 to two years after the singers death from bronchial pneumonia, the book encompasses the relationship had between Hutton and Freddie Mercury.  Fights, holidays, celebrations, concert, and all are chronicled within this memoir of a relationship that spanned (if counting from ’83) eight years.

Since the release of the film Bohemian Rhapsody in November, a whole new generation of Queen fans has been spawned and I could not be happier of this fact.  I myself have been a Queen fan since my diaper days (born in September, shortly before the singer died in November of the same year).  The movie does, although historically inaccurate to how they met, touch on the topic of Freddie and Jim’s life together.  However, Jim accompanying Freddie to Live Aid was only the beginning.  Jim lived with and loved Freddie for the remaining six years of his life following the historic performance that was in fact Hutton’s first concert.

Honestly, I know it’s not much a review, but this book had me smiling and crying at the same time.  With each word you can feel the adoration that Jim had for the rockstar and the devastation he felt at Mercury’s passing and the aftermath of it.  I highly recommend this book to ANYONE, not just Queen fans (new and veteran) as it is not only a beautiful and intimate look into who this incredible star really was from one of the people who knew him best, but a wonderful and emotional tale of what I will defend to my death as true love.  I leave you with the final lines of the book, as they are ones that both put a smile on the face and bring a tear to the eye.

“I’m not very religious, but I reckon I’ll be reunited with Freddie one day, though I’ve no idea how.  When chatting with Joe [Fennelli] once, we touched briefly on death.  

‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘If I die before you I’ll tell him everything that’s been happening down here.’  

‘You won’t have to,’ I told him with a smile.  ‘He knows.’”

-L

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Book Review:  The Vampyre - John William Polidori

“He thought, in fine, that the dreams of poets were the realities of life.” -John William Polidori, The Vampyre:  A Tale

The Vampyre follows the story of Aubrey, a young societal man and the relationship he finds in Lord Ruthven, a rather mysterious individual that turns any event on its ear from arrival until departure.  The friendship leads to travels, first to Rome by both and then Greece by Aubrey alone.  While in Athens, Aubrey learns the legends of vampires and is perturbed by the striking resemblance that said characteristics have to Ruthven.

I don’t want to give too much more to the summary, as this is really a short story and not a novel.  However, I could give you more background on the writing of it than you probably wanted to know in your entire life (read as I let my Virgo show a little too much, and did way too much research on this), but I won’t bore you and just give you the basics.

Written by John William Polidori in 1816, and was borne from the same competition as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.  After the stay at Lake Geneva, Polidori had all but forgotten about the work until it was published in 1819 without his permission.  The tale appeared in the New Monthly Magazine, courtesy of Lord Byron’s publisher, falsely crediting Byron as the author.  Even with the adamant denial of authorship, the early booming success that the short saw was due to the mistake.  Lord Byron was stricken as author for the second edition of the printed book copies.  The writing, coupled with Bram Stoker’s Dracula (which was published 81 years after The Vampyre was written), are often viewed as the sources for vampiric folklore, but this tale alone is considered to the beginning of romantic vampire fiction. (Side eyes Stephanie Meyer while sarcastically mouthing “You’re Welcome”)

Following Frankenstein with this was an absolute no-brainer.  Also I’m on a massive Ben Hardy kick right now and he portrayed Polidori in the film I mentioned last post.  This was such a great, quick, compelling read.  In my personal opinion, it will be joining my “31 Days of Ghost Stories” list that I have started for October, along with the likes of Poe, Faulkner, and others, as it belongs among them as an amazingly chilling tale.  It is considered to be the predecessor to Dracula, and definitely lives up to that title.  Just like any other works from the 19th century, the language is a bit tricky in the beginning but once your in the swing or it, the small book easily became an huge page turner.  I definitely recommend this book to those that love their gothic literature or even just a good short horror story.

-L

P.S:  An interesting fact that I had not previously been aware of, John Polidori is the biological uncle of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood), one of my favorite painters and poets.

DISCLAIMER:  I am in no way dissing Twilight or the other works of one Stephanie Meyer or any current romantic vampire fiction writer.  I read the books, I thought they were okay, but I am much more of a traditionalist when it comes to my vampire literature.  ^^^ That is just my funny little way of emphasizing that without stories such as this, franchises such as Twilight may not have ever come into existence.  Don’t @ me.

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Book Review:  Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus - Mary Shelley

“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein

Frankenstein is the tale of a young and gifted scientist who, when he becomes infatuated with life and death, creates a creature that he intends to be a symbol of perfection.  Once alive however, Victor becomes appalled by the very thing he strove to achieve and cast it aside a monster due to the hideousness of its appearance.  The creature escapes and searches for the acceptance and love it was denied but is only met with much of the same reaction as its creator, pushing it toward rage and revenge upon the man who had given it breath. 

My mom and I both said the same thing the first day I put Frankenstein down at the breakfast table, “I thought it would be a much heftier book”.  It’s definitely not the weighty tome you would expect it to be, but this 24 chapter gothic horror classic was absolutely brilliant.  I will be completely honest with you; it took a bit to get into.  The older language and lead up into the story we know can seem a bit tedious at first (most people assume it begins at the creation of the creature, that’s not until the beginning of chapter 5), but once you make it through that the rest is an amazingly written piece of literature.  You feel for the creature, the lost and abandoned state of him, his inability to understand at first, to his longing for love and acceptance.  You can also understand the disgust and self-hatred that Victor expresses after realizing his mistakes in trying to play God.  There many moments in which my feelings toward the characters would flip flop (Yes that is the term I’m going with). One moment I just want to slap Victor for his narcissism and arrogance and cuddle The Creature, give him love and acceptance, and in the next it’s the reverse.  The duality within both is astonishing and gives them an amazing complexity.

Little known fact about your dear reviewer and blog administrator; I am a massive movie buff and NT Live fan.  I have seen, and love, the 1931 movie put out by Universal Pictures starring the one and only Boris Karloff.  The black and white film adds to the tone of the story (color film wasn’t introduced to movie making until 1935 before being shelved until after WW2 due to expense), and the incredible make-up work and acting skills are what many people today associate as the one true image of Frankenstein’s Creation.  I will, however, still stand by my absolute favorite adaptation being the National Theatre Live production, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller switching off in the roles of Victor and The Creature for each performance.  Both actors are equally amazing in each part, but I do favor Benedict’s Creature over Jonny’s.

I recommend this book for people that love classics, horrors, ghost stories, even those that are fans of science-fiction, as the means of creation for The Creature allows it to boarder into that genre.

-L

P.S:  If you are looking for a movie recommendation about the life of the author herself and how she came to write the novel, try Mary Shelley (2017) starring Elle Fanning and Douglas Booth.  I’m sure it is not 100% accurate to her story, but it is a very good movie nonetheless.