Reviews and Comments

t o d d w a r n e r

tw@bookwyrm.social

Joined 2 years, 4 months ago

I farm. I write. I am. I hope to be.

— "The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress." —Philip Roth

My favorite books: errantruminant.com/blog/favorite-books/

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Bram Stoker, Joan Acocella: Dracula (Hardcover, 2010, Everyman's Library) 4 stars

It tells the story of Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England so he …

Love. Like. WTF!

4 stars

I kind of had a love/like/WTF relationship with this book. It's so darn clever and yet ridiculous at the same time. The characters are exaggerations and silly. And the dialogue, Gah!

On top of that, the "rules" for this whole vampirism thing make no sense at all, and there are no explanations for how they figured out those rules. The good doctor just knows from some dude who told him and assumed it all to be true, no matter how far fetched.

But still, Dracula is an enjoyable romp that explores some interesting themes that I'm unsure the author knew were even there.

This Everyman Library edition (they are always the best editions) includes an introduction by Joan Acocella who concludes with "Dracula is like the work of other nineteenth-century writers. You can complain that their novels are loose, baggy monsters, that their poems are crazy and unfinished. Still, you …

finished reading Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

James Baldwin: Giovanni's Room (Hardcover, 2016, Everyman Publishers) 4 stars

Giovanni's Room is a 1956 novel by James Baldwin. The book focuses on the events …

Stunning. Magnificent. Easily one of the greatest books I have ever read.

This is the story of a man in search of himself who keeps all those he loves, or wants to love, at arms length and the consequences that follow. It's a story of the same internal struggles with which we all contend. A tortured tale beautifully rendered by James Baldwin.

Paul Lynch: Prophet Song (Hardcover, 2023, Oneworld Publications) 4 stars

On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front …

blown away by this fever dream

5 stars

Wow.

It took me a minute to sink into the third person present PoV and the lack of paragraphs and dialogue marks and the certain Irishness of the prose. And then ... suddenly … I found myself swept away by this fevered dream of a mother struggling to scrape out a bit of sanity in an insane and tragic world, mama-bearing her way through as best she can.

Wow.

You have never read a story like this and will never again. I highly, highly recommend this.

Wow.

Oh, by the way, this won the Booker Prize in 2023.

Jayne Anne Phillips: Night Watch (Hardcover, Knopf) 4 stars

From one of our most accomplished novelists, a mesmerizing story about a mother and daughter …

It won the Pulitzer. I can see why. The prose is spectacular. Night Watch is a story of how trauma is experienced in so many ways and how, in the end, we cope. This book was a four star for until the wrap up. SPOILER? It felt like the author struggled and … forced THE ending. Otherwise, an impressively created story.

Steve Cushman: Fracture City (Paperback, Main Street Rag) 5 stars

A collection of short stories.

Thoughtful. thought-provoking, and heartfelt

5 stars

"The night was loud with frogs and cicadas competing for space."

That line from this volume is, perhaps, an apropos characterization of the swirling thoughts, feelings, and conflicted actions and intentions that then highlight the beats of our lives.

I love a good short story collection and this one did not disappoint. Cushman writes with such earnestness. He writes with a yearning for understanding and meaning in a crazy world of relationships forged by serendipity and an effort to make it all work.