1987, 1988 Pocket Books edition
Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Firebrand
Bought newish for $8.95
Very worn paperback
C
While there were aspects of this book I liked, mostly the visits to Colchis, I found this much weaker than Mists of Avalon. It's from the perspective of Kassandra, although since she's psychic, we often get modified POVs from other characters, mostly her thoroughly unlikable twin Paris. I didn't really care about the Trojan War, so that was part of the problem. (And, yes, I've read The Odyssey, The Iliad, and The Aeniad. I was an English major after all.) I actually got much more enjoyment and information total in the few pages Richard Armour wrote on The Iliad in The Classics Reclassified.
Kassandra was definitely a less interesting character than Morgaine, although I found some of the supporting female characters intriguing, not just the Queen of Colchis, but Helen and Andromache, so that's an improvement over Gwyn-however-she-spelled-it in Mists. The male characters are less memorable than in Mists, except for the deeply annoying attempted-rapist Khryse. (It's not just that he's hardly punished for attacking Kassandra, it's also that he keeps stalking her and she ends up deciding she likes him platonically.) This would've been a C+ if he were banished early on. Oh, and there are a lot of timeline issues, especially with Troilus's age.
This book has some of the same problems with "fate" as in Mists, although perhaps more justified in the Ancient Greek culture than the Celtic. I will say, Kassandra, although she does kill a few men in battle, is not the headcase that Morgaine was. Ironically considering legend, she's pretty sane, although few believe her prophecies even before Apollo curses her.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Just as Long as We're Together
1987, 1988 Yearling edition
Judy Blume
Just as Long as We're Together
Possibly bought newish for $3.50
Very worn paperback
C+
At the time this book came out, I was older than Katherine in Forever, and it's possible that I didn't even read it till my 20s. As such, I have no nostalgia for it, and I find that it's not even as interesting a glimpse of the '80s as Paula Danziger's two "Woodstock" books. Yes, the main character, 12-year-old Stephanie, sleeps with a Richard Gere poster over her bed, and there are some references to '80s fashion and hair, as well as a subplot of her kid brother (10 years old but coming across more as 8) having nightmares about nuclear war, but otherwise it's pretty vague. The RL (reading level) is 4.9 and the interest level is 8 to 12, and yet the book talks about body hair, menarche, "making out," "sexual experience," divorce, and adultery, so it's definitely more of a preteen book than one for 8-year-olds.
I thought the first half of the book was weaker than the second half and, despite the title, the friendship aspect is the least well done. Part of the problem is that, although I can see similarities between myself and smart perfectionist Rachel, she's pretty unsympathetic, without any of the endearing qualities of Hermione Granger. In fact, I thought that Stephanie's other best friend, Alison, was going to be a sort of Luna Lovegood, since she's introduced as weird and barefoot, but she turns out to be a giggly "popular" girl. Stephanie's own characterization is inconsistent, since she claims to be an optimist but spends the entire book worrying (except about nuclear war).
There are some cute moments, but the story feels forgettable compared to Blume's '70s books, and I don't think that's just generational bias. Nonetheless, I went on to buy Here's to You, Rachel Robinson, which is coming up in 1993.
Judy Blume
Just as Long as We're Together
Possibly bought newish for $3.50
Very worn paperback
C+
At the time this book came out, I was older than Katherine in Forever, and it's possible that I didn't even read it till my 20s. As such, I have no nostalgia for it, and I find that it's not even as interesting a glimpse of the '80s as Paula Danziger's two "Woodstock" books. Yes, the main character, 12-year-old Stephanie, sleeps with a Richard Gere poster over her bed, and there are some references to '80s fashion and hair, as well as a subplot of her kid brother (10 years old but coming across more as 8) having nightmares about nuclear war, but otherwise it's pretty vague. The RL (reading level) is 4.9 and the interest level is 8 to 12, and yet the book talks about body hair, menarche, "making out," "sexual experience," divorce, and adultery, so it's definitely more of a preteen book than one for 8-year-olds.
I thought the first half of the book was weaker than the second half and, despite the title, the friendship aspect is the least well done. Part of the problem is that, although I can see similarities between myself and smart perfectionist Rachel, she's pretty unsympathetic, without any of the endearing qualities of Hermione Granger. In fact, I thought that Stephanie's other best friend, Alison, was going to be a sort of Luna Lovegood, since she's introduced as weird and barefoot, but she turns out to be a giggly "popular" girl. Stephanie's own characterization is inconsistent, since she claims to be an optimist but spends the entire book worrying (except about nuclear war).
There are some cute moments, but the story feels forgettable compared to Blume's '70s books, and I don't think that's just generational bias. Nonetheless, I went on to buy Here's to You, Rachel Robinson, which is coming up in 1993.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Black Athena, the Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization
1987, 1991 Rutgers University Press edition
Martin Bernal
Black Athena, the Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization: Volume I, The Fabrication of Ancient Greece 1785-1985
Bought new for $15.95
Worn paperback
C+
This book has a lot of flaws, although what bothered me about it is apparently not what bothers other people. Let me start with what I thought was best. His examination of the racist reasons behind celebration of Ancient Greece as the inspiration of Europe (and eventually of the U.S.) contains fascinating quotes, although I believe that similar material is handled much better in Ewen & Ewen's Typecasting (which I'll get to in 2008). Whether or not what he calls the Aryan model (as opposed to "the Ancient Model" in which the Ancient Greeks themselves claimed to be inspired by the Egyptians and the Phoenicians) is plausible in light of more modern scholarship, it was launched at least partially for bad reasons. (As was the concept of evolution, as Bernal points out.)
The worst part of the book is the first fifth, because of the confusing and dubious linguistics, which is ironic since Bernal is a linguist. In fact, although he taught at Cambridge (U.K.) and Cornell, his grasp of English is shaky at times. Not just phrases like "to the conclude" and "his conclusions are inconclusive," but a misuse of big words, from "numerate" (which does not mean "numerous") to "antidisestablishmentarianism." (He says that a counter-revolutionary fought that concept, when in fact that would make the man a counter-counter-revolutionary.)
Unfortunately, most of Bernal's "evidence" for the Ancient Model is linguistic, so this is, not unlike Reign of the Phallus, most interesting for reasons other than the author intends, and I wish I could read a book about Ancient Greece that goes against the dominant images but is well researched, clearly written, and plausible.
I'm now on the next shelf, but since the books are going to have to be shifted around if and when I add 1991 to this bookcase, the divisions are temporary.
Martin Bernal
Black Athena, the Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization: Volume I, The Fabrication of Ancient Greece 1785-1985
Bought new for $15.95
Worn paperback
C+
This book has a lot of flaws, although what bothered me about it is apparently not what bothers other people. Let me start with what I thought was best. His examination of the racist reasons behind celebration of Ancient Greece as the inspiration of Europe (and eventually of the U.S.) contains fascinating quotes, although I believe that similar material is handled much better in Ewen & Ewen's Typecasting (which I'll get to in 2008). Whether or not what he calls the Aryan model (as opposed to "the Ancient Model" in which the Ancient Greeks themselves claimed to be inspired by the Egyptians and the Phoenicians) is plausible in light of more modern scholarship, it was launched at least partially for bad reasons. (As was the concept of evolution, as Bernal points out.)
The worst part of the book is the first fifth, because of the confusing and dubious linguistics, which is ironic since Bernal is a linguist. In fact, although he taught at Cambridge (U.K.) and Cornell, his grasp of English is shaky at times. Not just phrases like "to the conclude" and "his conclusions are inconclusive," but a misuse of big words, from "numerate" (which does not mean "numerous") to "antidisestablishmentarianism." (He says that a counter-revolutionary fought that concept, when in fact that would make the man a counter-counter-revolutionary.)
Unfortunately, most of Bernal's "evidence" for the Ancient Model is linguistic, so this is, not unlike Reign of the Phallus, most interesting for reasons other than the author intends, and I wish I could read a book about Ancient Greece that goes against the dominant images but is well researched, clearly written, and plausible.
I'm now on the next shelf, but since the books are going to have to be shifted around if and when I add 1991 to this bookcase, the divisions are temporary.
Monday, March 18, 2013
TV Turkeys
1987, undated later edition, from Perigee
Kevin Allman
TV Turkeys: An Outrageous Look at the Most Preposterous Shows Ever on Television
Bought new for $9.95
Worn paperback
B-
Allman was friends with the Medveds, so he not only applies their term of "turkeys" to the small screen, but he suffers from Medveditis in that sometimes his puns and other wording are a bit forced. Nonetheless, I think this book does have more merit than the Cult TV book. For one thing, Allman has a better grasp of his subject, although it is arguable that Chuck Barris is over-represented (five shows). On the other hand, just as the late great jumptheshark.com understandably had a page dedicated to Ted McGinley, it's only fitting that McLean Stevenson is the "Mr. Television" of bad TV. Allman's conclusion that despite all the flops, "some brave programming executive will no doubt be looking for a perpetually exasperated father character for some domestic sitcom and Stevenson's phone will ring," was prescient, since Stevenson appeared as the father on Dirty Dancing, during the 1988-89 season.
Allman of course could not predict that Jerry "Son of My Mother the Car" Van Dyke would be redeemed on Coach (four Emmy nominations in the early '90s), or that the "aspiring actress whose star rose brightly and briefly in 1985 with a one-minute role in Bruce Springsteen's 'Dancing in the Dark' video," the year after her role in Misfits of Science, would go on to be one of the highest paid TV actresses of all time, as Monica on Friends. So, yeah, part of the fun rereading this book now is rich irony unavailable a quarter century ago.
Kevin Allman
TV Turkeys: An Outrageous Look at the Most Preposterous Shows Ever on Television
Bought new for $9.95
Worn paperback
B-
Allman was friends with the Medveds, so he not only applies their term of "turkeys" to the small screen, but he suffers from Medveditis in that sometimes his puns and other wording are a bit forced. Nonetheless, I think this book does have more merit than the Cult TV book. For one thing, Allman has a better grasp of his subject, although it is arguable that Chuck Barris is over-represented (five shows). On the other hand, just as the late great jumptheshark.com understandably had a page dedicated to Ted McGinley, it's only fitting that McLean Stevenson is the "Mr. Television" of bad TV. Allman's conclusion that despite all the flops, "some brave programming executive will no doubt be looking for a perpetually exasperated father character for some domestic sitcom and Stevenson's phone will ring," was prescient, since Stevenson appeared as the father on Dirty Dancing, during the 1988-89 season.
Allman of course could not predict that Jerry "Son of My Mother the Car" Van Dyke would be redeemed on Coach (four Emmy nominations in the early '90s), or that the "aspiring actress whose star rose brightly and briefly in 1985 with a one-minute role in Bruce Springsteen's 'Dancing in the Dark' video," the year after her role in Misfits of Science, would go on to be one of the highest paid TV actresses of all time, as Monica on Friends. So, yeah, part of the fun rereading this book now is rich irony unavailable a quarter century ago.
The Silent Twins
1986, 1987 Ballantine edition
Marjorie Wallace
The Silent Twins
Possibly bought newish for $3.95
Worn paperback with spine about to break
B-
Wallace tells of two identical British girls, of West Indian background, who were elective mutes, never speaking to most people, including their parents and older siblings. They shared a rich but strange fantasy life, including writing novels, and eventually became petty criminals, before being put in an institution for the criminally insane. Wallace follows their lives till they're about 20, then rushes through the past three years (at that point). As such, there's definitely no feeling of closure. The girls had an agreement that if one died, the other would begin to speak. Wikipedia says that Jennifer willed herself to die in 1993, with a sudden inflammation of the heart. June has become more communicative since then.
Wallace does her best to be objective, but I'm left feeling that no one-- Wallace, therapists, family-- knew why the girls wouldn't speak. Their story is both frustrating and heart-breaking, so this definitely isn't a fun read, although there is a lot of irony.
Marjorie Wallace
The Silent Twins
Possibly bought newish for $3.95
Worn paperback with spine about to break
B-
Wallace tells of two identical British girls, of West Indian background, who were elective mutes, never speaking to most people, including their parents and older siblings. They shared a rich but strange fantasy life, including writing novels, and eventually became petty criminals, before being put in an institution for the criminally insane. Wallace follows their lives till they're about 20, then rushes through the past three years (at that point). As such, there's definitely no feeling of closure. The girls had an agreement that if one died, the other would begin to speak. Wikipedia says that Jennifer willed herself to die in 1993, with a sudden inflammation of the heart. June has become more communicative since then.
Wallace does her best to be objective, but I'm left feeling that no one-- Wallace, therapists, family-- knew why the girls wouldn't speak. Their story is both frustrating and heart-breaking, so this definitely isn't a fun read, although there is a lot of irony.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse
1986, 2001 Sunburst edition
George Selden
Illustrated by Garth Williams
Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse
Bought new for $5.95
Slightly worn paperback
C+
As the title suggests, this is a prequel, although the sixth of seven in the series published. It's much shorter and not as good as Cricket in Times Square or even Tucker's Countryside, but it is interesting to see how Harry and Tucker met, became friends, and eventually found a home in Times Square. The illustrations are a little weak-- Harry in particular is a victim of anthropomorphism, as when he stands on his hind legs and shows off his muscles-- but I've seen Williams do worse, like in some of the Little House books. This is, by the way, the last of his books I've got and he certainly contributed much to the children's literature of the 20th century. Despite his flaws, I'll remember him fondly, and know that even in his weaker efforts, he can produce touching pictures, like the one on pages 38-39 of the two animal friends camped out under a pier.
George Selden
Illustrated by Garth Williams
Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse
Bought new for $5.95
Slightly worn paperback
C+
As the title suggests, this is a prequel, although the sixth of seven in the series published. It's much shorter and not as good as Cricket in Times Square or even Tucker's Countryside, but it is interesting to see how Harry and Tucker met, became friends, and eventually found a home in Times Square. The illustrations are a little weak-- Harry in particular is a victim of anthropomorphism, as when he stands on his hind legs and shows off his muscles-- but I've seen Williams do worse, like in some of the Little House books. This is, by the way, the last of his books I've got and he certainly contributed much to the children's literature of the 20th century. Despite his flaws, I'll remember him fondly, and know that even in his weaker efforts, he can produce touching pictures, like the one on pages 38-39 of the two animal friends camped out under a pier.
The Official Dr. Science Big Book of Science
1986, possibly first edition, from Contemporary Books
Dr. Science with Rodney
The Official Dr. Science Big Book of Science
Original price unknown, bought used for $3.95
Worn paperback
B-
This most reminds me of How to Regain Your Virginity (1983), with its parody of science and the 1950s illustrations (actual or similar). I used to really enjoy the Dr. Science TV show (I've never heard the still running radio show), but I think this suffers a bit from not hearing his voice. I kept being on the verge of laughter but never quite made it. Still, the book provides a lot of smiles. Also, it's got to be the first of my books to mention "cellular phones."
Dr. Science with Rodney
The Official Dr. Science Big Book of Science
Original price unknown, bought used for $3.95
Worn paperback
B-
This most reminds me of How to Regain Your Virginity (1983), with its parody of science and the 1950s illustrations (actual or similar). I used to really enjoy the Dr. Science TV show (I've never heard the still running radio show), but I think this suffers a bit from not hearing his voice. I kept being on the verge of laughter but never quite made it. Still, the book provides a lot of smiles. Also, it's got to be the first of my books to mention "cellular phones."
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