Let the Old Dreams Die (2005)

Author: John Ajvide Lindqvist | Translator: Marlaine Delargy | Page Count: 518

“…as I stood there, I don’t know why, but I became more and more convinced that if… if she turned around… she wouldn't have a face.”

A collection of eleven short stories from the Swedish author, most of which were originally published in his homeland as Paper Walls (2005).  The English language edition added the titular Let the Old Dreams Die, which takes place after Lindqvist’s full-length novel, Let the Right One In (2004).  Similarly, the last story in the book, The Final Processing, is a sequel to the full-length Handling the Undead (2005) novel.  The remainder of the shorts are standalone but some could be called spiritual successors in other ways.*

Some will appeal to people with a twisted, grisly imagination, but some will only really make sense to individuals who've felt isolated, distanced or uncomfortable in their own skin or in familiar surroundings.

A lot of the protagonists are in a position whereby they fear the truth of a situation because it will invariably cause some kind of gulf to open and separate them from their safe, routine existence.  The situations start normal but the observations fantastical; together they create a strange believability, even when logic says that those kinds of things really couldn’t happen… I hope.

I've never had such difficulty in choosing a quote to use on a post.  I had a dozen or more jotted down, each as good as the other but for very different reasons and evocative of equally different emotions.  If the endings had been as perfect as the singular observations, the book would've been even better.

3½ meaningful lyrics out of 5

*The US edition appears to be missing Paper Walls, whereas the UK edition lacks Tindalos.  Mine’s the UK edition so I have no idea what Tindalos is about but I can say with certainty after having read it that I’d not want Paper Walls to be absent.

Boy (2007)

Author: Takeshi Kitano | Translator: David James Karashima | Page Count: 185

‘He probably couldn't run fast enough and had been caught.  I suddenly became really worried.  I was completely alone.’

Takeshi Kitano is best known as a filmmaker, but in Japan he’s also a famous comedian, writer, critic and painter among other things.  It seems as if he’ll turn his hand to whatever best enables him to communicate with an audience.
Boy was the first time any of his fiction was translated into English.  It was published in Japan many years ago as Shonen (1987), so it wasn't a new work.

Two of the three stories are told first person and revolve around something I know a lot about: having a brother.  My own brother was a huge inspiration and defining presence in my life as a child.  I’d not change a thing about our time together, even the bad times, because they helped me become who I am.  That same connection is part of the glue that binds the first two stories together.

All three utilise a specific aspect of adolescence as a foundation.  There’s a school sports day that’s memorable for more than just the runners.  There’s a shared, inherited interest that gives two brothers a deeper understanding of each one’s nature.  And finally, there’s a tale that explores the tentative first steps of a youth experiencing the duality of love for the first time.

The language used is simplistic and beautiful; there’s nothing wasted.  The urge to fill the narrative with more complex allusions must have been difficult to quell.
However, that same simplicity may disappoint readers hoping for something closer to his violent film work.  If I had to compare it to one of his films it’d be Kikujiro (1999) but even that is far off the mark.

What the two mediums do have in common is an understanding of the value of expression.  Kitano is a ‘show-don't-tell’ kind of filmmaker and he uses that same principle in his writing.  Little gestures filled with deeper meaning are littered throughout and may go unnoticed if you don’t pay careful attention.

2½ bars of magic chocolate out of 5

Note: You can find spoiler-free, mini-reviews of some of Takeshi Kitano’s films at our sister site, In a Nutshell.

The Dark Tower: Book I: The Gunslinger (1982)

Author: Stephen King | Page Count: 212

'No one ever really pays for it in silver, he thought. The price of any evil – necessary or otherwise – comes due in flesh.'

Book One is your introduction to Roland Deschain, also known as Roland of Gilead, the titular gunslinger. Roland is a man obsessed. His obsession carries him across Mid-World, the land of his birth. Mid-World is a familiar amalgamation of our own recorded history and a romanticised version of the same. It's the type of fictional reality that fans of King's other works will feel right at home in.

Now would be a good time to say that this isn't a Horror novel. It's Fantasy merged with the old-fashioned Western, but it's still populated with the kind of well-defined characters that the author is so very good at. Love him or loathe him, you can't deny his strengths.

Later books in the series take too damn long to get to where they're going (some could do with at least 100 pages trimmed off the beginning), but this one is more focused. There's no unnecessary waffle. There are flashbacks to earlier times at opportune moments but they aren't whimsical, they offer a deeper insight into the present situation and help explain why Roland acts like he does. You may find him hard to connect with initially, but as his story deepens so too does his depth of character and his principles become less obtuse.

The book was written over a period of twelve years (when time allowed between other projects) and originally published as five short stories before being collected together. The progression in the writing is clear to see. If you compare the earliest part with the later parts, you'll see a huge difference in quality.

You should know before you even begin that the series, originally planned to reach approx 3000 pages in length, swelled to eight books that if collected together would be a whopping 4250 pages long.* Also, that's assuming King has finished with the series. I suspect he's got some more Dark Tower in him, so that figure could increase in the future. That's not to say it's unfinished. It did get an ending, but there are stories that could be told within the existing framework, as evidenced by the interquel, The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012).

3½ gateways out of 5

*That figure is obtained from my own copies, which are a mix of paperback and hardback. King revised the first book in 2003. The listing on amazon gives a 304 page count for it. That would add another 92 pages to the tally.

I, Robot (1950)

Author: Isaac Asimov | Page Count: 256

"People say 'It's as plain as the nose on your face.' But how much of the nose on your face can you see, unless someone holds a mirror up to you?"

I, Robot is one of Isaac Asimov's most famous works. If you were to poll a number of dedicated book readers, you'd likely find that a fair percentage of them have heard of it even if they haven't actually read it - especially if they happen to be science-fiction fans also. It's a collection of nine short stories written over a ten year period that are loosely tied together by a frame narrative. It introduced Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, which were designed to be unbreakable:

1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2) A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Making them unbreakable didn't stop him spending the rest of his career bending them, or finding new ways to interpret them. That's where Dr. Susan Calvin comes in. Susan is a robopsychologist. When something goes wrong with a robot that can't be attributed to mechanical error, it's her job to figure out why. Was the order given in conflict with the Three Laws? Or was it open to misinterpretation by the robot? They are thinking machines after all, they need to be able to function autonomously, but are they given too much free will?

The prose style is simple and direct, which is an asset to the story as it lets you engage fully with the concepts without losing the narrative thread.

Albert Einstein reportedly said, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." Even though Asimov's technology is fictional, he understands it completely. He explains complicated scenarios in simple terms, without it ever feeling diluted. Mostly they're puzzles that need to be figured out, sometimes by connecting the dots, and sometimes by creating the dots from scratch. Once the puzzle is solved, there's an abrupt ending each time.

4 positronic brains out of 5

Dandelion Wine (1957)

Author: Ray Bradbury | Page Count: 281

'He stood at the open window in the dark, took a deep breath and exhaled.

The street lights, like candles on a black cake, went out.

He exhaled again and again and the stars began to vanish.'

Like much of Bradbury's output, the book is about childhood, the magical time, but it's also about the fading of that time, making it a bitter-sweet experience. It captures the essence of what we all know and fear, that nostalgia for childhood can help you appreciate it more fully but can only be birthed posthumously.

It takes place over one summer in 1928, in the fictional Green Town, Illinois, a place Bradbury returns to in later books. In that year, in that summer, Douglas Spaulding and his younger brother Tom live life to the fullest. For Doug, the summer is his time. Every day will bring something new. Every day he'll fill to the brim with experiences; he'll collect them and they'll become a part of him.

He begins by helping pick the dandelions that are the primary ingredient of the titular wine. The dandelion, with its ability to be considered weed or flower, to exist as a thing of contrasts, is at the heart of the novel; beyond that it's a metaphor that I won't spoil. The book is bursting with such metaphors, some of them overly-sentimental but they never overshadow the narrative.

It's a novel but it's made up of short stories that were written over a number of years. They're arranged in such a way that they become Doug's story, the story of the people he knows, and of the people they know.

They're also records of the people Bradbury knows, or knew. It's one of his most autobiographical works. Douglas is his actual middle name. The character in the novel is an amalgamation of his own boyhood memories, and his fanciful and fertile imagination. Spaulding is his father's middle name. Green Town is a pseudonym for his childhood home of Waukegan. Knowing how personal it is enriches the work; it becomes two stories in one, with a little bit of magic in both.

5 bottles filled with sunshine out of 5

20th Century Ghosts (2005)

Author: Joe Hill | Page Count: 304

“You know someone for a while and then one day a hole opens underneath them, and they fall out of your world.”

20th Century Ghosts was billed as a horror collection even before the truth of Joe Hill's lineage was revealed. However, not a collection of spooky tales as much as a book of stories, some of which might scare you. Several of the stories fall short of their potential, and a few are simply lackluster, but the ones that shine are so good they make the whole book worth reading.

The best of the bunch is Pop Art, a story about the friendship between an ordinary boy and an inflatable one.    There's so much about the story that could be problematic - the obvious metaphors or the strange premise it asks you to swallow - but it's incredibly effecting from start to finish. I knew I was going to love this story before I finished the first page, and I was in tears by the time it ended. It's among the greatest shorts I've read in years, and I can recommend the collection on the strength of this story alone.

Also impressive is My Father's Mask. The tale it tells is vague enough that it can be frustrating, but it's all the creepier for it. As I read it, Lynch-esque imagery popped into my brain, and it left me feeling both haunted and fascinated long after I'd put the book aside. This story isn't as satisfying as Pop Art, but it's both chilling and intriguing, which is a potent combination.

The rest of the stories offer enough variety to keep the interest of most readers. The titular tale does indeed involve ghosts, but is more of a love story than a scream fest. Stories like The Black Phone and Abraham's Boys have a cinematic thriller quality that help pick up the pace after slower moving tales, and the final stories wind things down nicely. Whether you're a fan of Stephen King's short stories or you just appreciate a good short in general, 20th Century Ghosts is a book worth reading.

4 dead girls who love movies out of 5

A Pleasure to Burn: Fahrenheit 451 Stories (2010)

Author: Ray Bradbury | Page Count: 389

This is a companion piece to Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (1953).  It really should come with a warning on the cover but it doesn’t.  I’ll give it:  DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU'VE ALREADY READ FAHRENHEIT 451.  It'll spoil that novel for you completely if you do.  It has 14 shorts and 2 novellas.  They all echo or inform the 451 novel in some way, some are tenuously linked and others could almost be a part of it.
Editors Donn Albright and Jon Eller should be ashamed for the lack of information they give about the works.  Were they written before 451?  After?  Do they pave the way, or reflect upon it?
I’m a long time fan so know that all but two of the shorts (‘Bonfire’ and ‘The Library’) have been printed before in previous collections.  The novellas, both also previously published are ‘Long After Midnight’ and ‘The Fireman’.  Both are early versions of 451; they’re well written but the plot is almost identical to the novel, and the two stories are almost identical to each other.  With no explanation from the editors the casual reader will be confused.

If you’re thinking of buying the book for the two new pieces I mentioned, you may be disappointed.  They feel like they were abandoned midway.  The ideas were later integrated into other works.
Every writer has these kinds of things lying around in an ideas drawer; they're extended notes, disembodied scenes, ideas given form but crude and severely underdeveloped.  I don’t believe they were intended to be stand-alone works.  Bradbury isn't that shoddy, ever.  The cynic in me says they're simply used to sell more books.  I wonder what the author would think of their inclusion?

I love Bradbury.  I believe he's the finest living American author and I will shed real tears when he leaves us.  I mean no disrespect to his name but I don’t feel this book is of the usual high standard that we've come to expect.  It’s repackaged reprint by editors that aren't fit to wipe the old man’s ass; reprint that offers little in the way of variety for the reader.  Its only real merit is Bradbury’s poetic voice and his words that settle into the mind like treacle.  My score reflects that aspect of it not the collection which is insulting to the long time fan, and ruinous for the newcomer.  Seek out the original.

2½ kerosene canisters and controlled freedoms out of 5

Ghost in the Shell : S.A.C : Revenge of the Cold Machines (2006)

Author: Junichi Fujisaku | Page Count: 204 Pages

'Kusanagi's body soared through the air.  She crashed through the lounge's glass wall, tumbling out into the sky.'

The second in a trilogy of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex tie-in novels.
This time we get three short stories that are thematically tied together; they also tie in with episode 6 of the GitS: SAC: 2nd GIG anime TV series (episode titled: Excavation) but it’s not necessary to have seen it to read the book.  The three stories are stand alone but when viewed together tell a larger story.  The middle one is a Tachikoma story, told from their POV.  It’s fun.  The two that bookend it are more suited to being an actual episode starting point.

The work is a lot less cold and technical than the previous book which makes it easier to read but also highlights how empty the prose is at times.
It sets out to give fans some new Section 9 adventures and it succeeds but don't sell your grandma to afford it because it's not that essential.

2½ sorry I ruined your little Minipat out of 5

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Lost Adventures (2011)

Author: Various | Page Count: 229

With Nickelodeon being a multi media company and all, it’s understandable that they’d release original creator content from their cartoons in their various printed and digital outlets.

Such is the case for Brian Konietzko & Michael Dante’s epic martial arts fantasy series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The Lost Tales is a compilation of every comic strip that appeared in Nickelodeon Magazine as well as a few others.

The comics have been organized in chronological order with chapters corresponding with the show’s 3 seasons. And while many of the tales are just a page or two long there are a few that can go on for 5 pages or more. The stories themselves can easily be tucked between scenes and episodes of the series with no continuity conflicts whatsoever. Most are just a fun romp but a few of them fill in some story and plot points only skimmed over in the show. It’s nothing monumental or game changing, but they’re still fun little adventures nonetheless.

There are well over twenty different artists and writers who contributed to the making of these tales. And while Justin Ridge, Johane Matte, & Gurihiru’s artwork is the most show accurate and attractive. The rest is great at best and not too bad at worst. One of my favorite things about this is the lively facial expressions. Almost every page has a hilarious reaction image on it. Aang, Katara, Sokka, & Toph are just as cute and funny in this as they should be.

For what it is, Lost Tales is an enjoyable little anthology featuring some very lovable characters.

4 panels that looks like Katara is giving head but I’ve yet to see any shops of it for some reason out of 5

The Atrocity Exhibition (1970)

Author: J. G. Ballard | Page Count: 184 

'The blitzkriegs will be fought out on the spinal battlefields, in terms of the postures we assume, of our traumas mimetized in the angle of a wall or balcony.'

The Atrocity Exhibition is one one of the finest examples of the English experimental novel. There's no obvious start/middle/end structure. You can flick to any page and start reading to get an immediate feel for the overall style and perspective of the work; doing just that is something Ballard recommends.

The thematic merging of sexual excitement, death of celebrity, architecture and the evils of consumer society are explored as only he could, without deference to the social consciousness or exhibiting shame.

It's an obtuse book that'll only begin to make sense the more you begin to adopt his point of view and look at your own life as the protagonist views his. I'm not saying you should get your jollies watching automobile crashes or the removal of the top of Kennedy's head - I mean appreciating the minutiae of life, being aware of the lack of difference in things at their most basic level.

The protagonist, Talbert, Travis, Talbot, Traven (his name changes frequently, depending on where he is or what he's doing) looks upon a poster of a dune but the anatomist in him sees as an outsized female pudenda; the point where two walls merge can be a sexual thing; central nervous systems have been externalised as roads; the assassination of Kennedy encapsulates everything that's wrong and right with the world - not from a political point of view, but from a universal constant. It's complex but also equally rewarding, particularly the second half, if you can set aside your teachings and embrace its unique structure.

If you've ever enjoyed the works of William Burroughs or Anthony Burgess, then maybe Ballard will fit into your life and onto your shelf.

Note: I recommend the Fourth Estate edition published by Harper Collins, it has extended notes by the author that offer extra insight into the creation of many of the stories, and much of it is even more interesting than the novel.

5 roads that lead to celebrity death out of 5

A Thousand Years Of Good Prayers (2005)

Author: Yiyun Li | Page Count: 205

'They were put into satin dresses … and were each fed a cup of mercury. The mercury killed them instantly, so their peachy complexions were preserved when they were paraded in sedan chairs before the coffin.'

If it hadn't been on sale price and I wasn't desperate for something to fill a long journey I’d not have given A Thousand Years a second glance. There were a number of titles I could've chosen that day but something made me purchase Yiyun Li's début. I can’t explain why, because the blurb made it sound like a troubled romance novel and that's not my idea of a good read.

It mixes existing socio-political Chinese history with observations and personal insight in order to explore how cultural identity and familial upbringing influence our decisions and affect our lives. Li strives to highlight the consequences to the individual in a State where weakness is to be avoided and individuality can be seen as a precursor to insurrection. I know that sounds really heavy reading, at times it is, but all of that is secondary to the human story, the personal reasons people do the things they do rises to the surface with a resounding thump in each of the character studies on offer. Her work is about cause and effect, and about following or denying your heart. That’s distilling it to something barely worthy of the text, but is all I can manage in a short space.

Li writes in English and while her prose style is obviously influenced by her Chinese teachings her technique strips the text of all unnecessary chaff, leaving behind the essential and truthful voice of an author inching into greatness.

4½ eunuchs get a bad deal out of 5

Haunted (2005)

Author: Chuck Palahniuk | Page Count: 411 Pages

"So, my friend, he buys milk and eggs and sugar and a carrot, all the ingredients for a carrot cake. And Vaseline.

Like he's going home to stick a carrot cake up his butt."

Chuck Palahniuk is, for me, an author who becomes less impressive the more you read of him. When I first discovered him as a teenager, I was enthralled. I copied quotes from his novels onto the back of notebooks, and I read his stories over and over. But the more of his work I consumed, the more obvious his formulas became, and the less I enjoyed his stories. There are Palahniuk novels I still thoroughly enjoy to this day- Invisible Monsters is a favorite- but I can't shake the feeling that he's been writing the same book over and over again for years.

This is why I was so interested and excited by Haunted. A short story collection would force him to break away from his usual form and would let me appreciate the black humor and colorful characters that lead me to enjoy his work in the first place. However, none of the stories were particularly impressive, and the story that connected each tale together was fairly poor. There are poems to compliment each chapter of the book, but they come across as tacked on and, much like Palahniuk's novels, feel like he's writing the same thing over and over again.

The most famous story in this collection is "Guts", which gained attention after repeated incidents of vomiting at public readings. Read "Guts" here, go throw up on something, and give this book a pass.

1.5 skinny Saint Gut-Frees out of 5.