This was a collection of three very bizarre short stories, with a heavy dose of paranormal and horPublished in English as Record of a Night Too Brief.
This was a collection of three very bizarre short stories, with a heavy dose of paranormal and horror elements.
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Once I find a good slice of life story I have a tendency of going on this quest to gather everything its author has ever published... only to end up taking ages to read them. What if they're a one hit wonder? What if they're so good I'll be ruined for other authors? So I might as well preemptively prepare myself mentally, but also maybe stock up on a more varied "reading diet".
Although this volume has supposedly won a prestigious award, I can't help but feel as if it's a highly experimental one. And as with any experiment, some of it is great, some of it intriguing enough to let faults pass, but quite a bit is just plain bizarre and incomprehensible. Or well... so the theory goes at least.
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In practice, A Snake Stepped On brought to mind some of the more intriguing moralistic Chinese fairy tales I'd read as a child, where people would (unwittingly?) wed all manner of magical creatures without fully understanding the consequences. Missing gave off a similar vibe, but seemed to have overshot its mark. by keeping the moralistic feel, but muddling the actual moral somewhere along the line.
And finally there's Record of a Night too Brief, which is in essence a collection of 19 very short, unrelated(?) fantastical/paranormal stories, which just meandered on and on. I can't say I've liked them much, though I did enjoy the one with the guy that kept trying to revive his dead girlfriend. *insert crazed cackling*
Score: 3/5 stars
As an exercise in creative writing... it's a choice, I guess. I very much liked the writing style, not so much the content, though. I'm not avant-garde enough to see their award-worthy qualities, but then I've always been kind of a philistine when the art got too... artistic....more
Jory Keyes is living a lonely yet popular life: missing real love but adored by most everyone around. He basically spends his time either working, parJory Keyes is living a lonely yet popular life: missing real love but adored by most everyone around. He basically spends his time either working, partying or selflessly helping friends. Unfortunately it's this selfless nature, that finally gets Jory in trouble with the mob.
In true naive civilian style, Jory refuses protective custody or to even take any cautionary measures, which in turns attracts detective Sam Kage's exasperation and (not so) latent possessive tendencies.
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Mary Calmes cannot tell a linear story to save her life. All she had to do was come up with a sequence of events to gradually turn Jory from fiercely independent into a love-sick fool. Instead, she gets bogged down with a number of irrelevant details solely meant to send the protagonist into the hunky detective's path. A very problematic detective indeed, who chooses to conduct most of his conversations in literal roars. He also constantly forces people to see things his way or the highway. Except for Jory... who doesn't really get to choose the second option.
I suppose I can see the initial appeal in the story. A sort of wish-fulfilment fairy tale, where two crazy hot MCs meet in the worst possible circumstances yet still fall hopelessly in love. Any normal person would then expect them to bring out the best in each other, but the author decides to go the opposite way instead. Brave and somewhat original, but also a big fail as the relationship doesn't seem to have any redeeming attributes. I could only wonder what Sam Kage's appeal was to Jory, to voluntarily make him go through heartbreak over and over again.
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And for those asking: it has zero cautionary tale values, as it's clear to all and sundry that the author very much WANTS Jory and Sam to end up together. Then again, she also wants to throw last minute life-altering circumstances at them, so... a HEA ain't on the cards just yet.
Score: 0.55/5 stars
I definitely have way too much time on my hands for finishing this book. In my defence, it has that addictive train-wreck-like quality that makes you want to keep going, just to see where things end up. My Kindle notes have officially dropped dead of exhaustion, with the amount of snarky commentary and random exclamation marks I kept adding....more
Two scientists want to experiment with artificially increasing a horse's intelligence. Enter Buttercup (the horse), who suddenly finds itself (himselfTwo scientists want to experiment with artificially increasing a horse's intelligence. Enter Buttercup (the horse), who suddenly finds itself (himself?) with a box attached to its head, and a lot more awareness about his surroundings.
Predictably, the scientists are not prepared for their experiment getting much smarter than anticipated, so they continue adding more and more computing power to Buttercup's external brain, all while the horse barely just passes their IQ tests... allegedly. Until the scientists suddenly realize that it has, in fact, been eating the Internet, bit by bit...
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If I were to put this story in the most simplistic terms: think of it as a hero's quest to rid the world of evil monsters. Only most of the cool battle scenes are taken out, keeping just a few ones, where the hero and the chief monster are throwing veiled threats at each other. The remainder of the plot is taken up by the hero perfecting his increasingly sophisticated weaponry, in order to erm... conquer the monsters' world? Because by this time, he realizes that taking over the monster world is a much more efficient way to subjugate his foes.
I started out extremely enthusiastic, very much excited for a whimsical comedy, wherein a horse ends up mistakenly(?) kicking the end-of-the-universe button. And what an amusing tale the button creation was! Predictable? Maybe, but at least it's funny...
Instead, the novel took me on a crazy ride, involving the ethical aspects of animal experimentation, extraordinary technical advances, and some sort of twisted idea about what should make a story interesting. Or so I think. I wasn't 100% certain of... ugh... anything, by the end of it.
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Following Betty's dogged attempts in trying to mold Buttercup's IQ into a specific type of intelligence, certainly horrified me. And I definitely welcomed the horse's eventual rebellion. But when it came to the atrocities that followed the (first?) epic show down... I just didn't get it.
Am I one of those people, whose pitiful attention span can only process a single epic showdown? Entirely possible. Am I ashamed of it? Kiiiiiinda.... ? Do I want to know how it all ends? HELL NO! GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!
Score: 1/5 stars
My constant whining about the book's increasing weirdness not only put me off it, but my friends too. They went so far as to threaten to lynch me, should I continue with my self-imposed reading flagellation sessions.
So, you know, it was a matter of life and death, by this time.
Where do I even start? Should I open with a standard guilty disclaimer for disliking yet another childhood sPublished in English as Pippi Longstocking
Where do I even start? Should I open with a standard guilty disclaimer for disliking yet another childhood staple? How about a shameful admission that reading between the lines has never worked for me? Or perhaps a simple statement about being too old to enjoy children's books?
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First and foremost, we have the super-duper-awesome Pippi, who, despite being an orphaned 9-year old, is filthy rich, strong, independent, and does whatever the hell she pleases, albeit firmly within the boundaries of kindness. At the same time, our enterprising heroine's antics are almost always compared to her friends' complete rule-abiding behavior, making the latter seem a prerequisite of sorts.
The end result is a story made up of an odd mix of "eff the rules" vs "rules exist for a reason". Should children follow Pippi's lead in being more independent, thinking for themselves and always questioning authority before conforming? Or should they go the tried and true route, like Tommy and Annika did, and thus managing to seamlessly integrate into the adult society.
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I kept being baffled by Pippi's immediate hostility in non-threatening situations (being quizzed on her Math knowledge at school), or her default kindness in clearly threatening situations (serving cookies to burglars who just tried to rob her).
Most of the time however, it seemed impossible not to pity the poor girl: constantly being told that she lacked manners, yet never explaining the how and whys of them. Even the school teacher, otherwise the nicest adult Pippi comes in contact with, ends up suggesting that Pippi come back later, in lieu of learning to behave.
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Did she think Pippi was an unripe fruit, that'd "magically" gain manners after being left out in the sun for a bit?!
Score: 2/5 stars
I swear I tried to read up on reviews both favorable and unfavorable. Except for Manny's explanation regarding children's rights, or rather, lack thereof, none of them helped shed a light on the book's message.
For all that I'm not normally expecting to have a moral at the end of a story, Pippi's felt like it was trying to hit you over the head with one. If only I could figure out what exactly the anvil-sized lesson was meant to be all about......more
Well, this was rather boring. Not in a "throw my Kindle at the wall" kind of way, but rather in a "where's the good part??" form.
The story: An 80+ yearWell, this was rather boring. Not in a "throw my Kindle at the wall" kind of way, but rather in a "where's the good part??" form.
The story: An 80+ year-old widower decides to marry a much younger blonde bombshell, so he can get a bit of fun out of his remaining years. The official story, of course, is that he'd like to help out a poor oppressed Ukrainian soul. His daughters are understandably none-too-thrilled with the news, and spend the entire book plotting the blonde's demise. But never fear, said blonde gives back just as much as she gets.
My chain of reactions can easily be summed up as: 1.Meh 2. bored bored bored bored. 3. Eww... that is DISGUSTING. 4. Bored bored bored bored. 5. Oh that sounds almost interesting... 6. Nope, bored bored bored. 7. And that's how it ends?
In conclusion: waste of time. The only reason it even gets 2 stars is due to the writing style, which is quite good, although not enough to make the story funny, as advertised by the back cover....more
Ms. Smartarse
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