Tag: Contempo Lit

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Funny, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Pride Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame Smith

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: Pride Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame Smith

The satirical novel by Seth Grahame-Smith and of course Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, has been gaining a very large cult following of readers. I was very hesitant to read this novel as I worried the zombies element would somehow desecrate the timeless tale.

I have read many other PP spinoffs over the years and often found myself disappointed. I had to go into this book with an open mind and know that it would NEVER be the same as the original and was really meant to be something more light-hearted and funny rather than a serious novel.

There has lately been a huge resurgence in the interest of zombies (like so many other supernatural characters)—I have enjoyed many hours of the Plants vs. Zombies video game and confess hearing the zombies chant ‘brains’ and growl is nothing short of hysterical. So in essence I was intrigued and decided to pick up the book and being with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised by the entire tale. Continue reading “Review: Pride Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame Smith” →

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Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

by The Lit Bitch6 Comments on Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

I was wondering through Borders quite some time ago and when a colorful, bright orange book cover with a curious upside-down dog cut out in the middle of the book caught my attention.

I picked it up and read the back cover and decided to buy it and put it in my ‘to read’ stack. Well I couldn’t ignore the book any longer, the orange cover beckoned me.

I have to say this is one of the best books I have read in a long time. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon bordered on the odd, eccentric side but that’s what made it so great.

The story begins with the death of a neighbors dog (Wellington) and is told from young Christopher’s perspective. Christopher knows every prime number, all the countries in the world, he hates being touched and hates the color yellow and above all he relates better to animals than people.

It took me a while to understand what was going on here, at first I thought Christopher was just a young child but he is really autistic. The story is brilliant and told with such unique insight into the human psyche, it is truly a smart and ingenious read!

For me the little details of the novel were what made it really shine. Every chapter is a prime number and the little pictures, diagrams, and schedules which are drawn/written by Christopher really demonstrate his perspective. The reader is immediately drawn into this poor boy’s mind and uses Chrisopher’s reasoning to try and make heads or tails of what ‘murder’ of the dog Wellington. His perspective is so logical it is difficult to NOT identify with the narrator easily and use his rational. Eventually though (almost before you know it) the audience realizes what is going on around them and begins picking up on the subtle social cues that Christopher cannot which is what makes the story that much more moving. Continue reading “Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Rooftop Soliloquy by Roman Payne

by The Lit Bitch4 Comments on Review: Rooftop Soliloquy by Roman Payne

I just finished reading Roman Payne’s novel Rooftop Soliloquy and I have to say I had great expectations for this book. Payne was selected by Literature Monthly Magazine as one of the top five up and coming- out of the mainstream- authors and his new book RS sounded really interesting.

As some of you might have guessed, I have a flair for the eccentric so this sounded right up my alley and I looked forward to reading it. The opening sentence of the book  made me really want to read it as it sounded intriguing and tantalizing.

As I began the book I was transported back to various locations in Paris that I had the pleasure of visiting this summer. The story reads in a very poetic and lyrical manner, it’s like reading an epic poem like Beowulf or something by Homer. The ‘chapters’ are actually called a soliloquy in stead which I thought was a great little detail which really made the novel authentic. It’s about a writer/composer who is working on a hero’s tale while living in Paris and searching for his muse.

Linguistically and mechanically, the novel is flawless and beautiful- very pleasurable to read. However the story itself, characters, and over-all point of the novel left much to be desired. Continue reading “Review: Rooftop Soliloquy by Roman Payne” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Drood by Dan Simmons

by The Lit Bitch5 Comments on Review: Drood by Dan Simmons

I recently picked up this book (Drood by Dan Simmons) in anticipation for Halloween. I wanted to read something that was scary and suspenseful with a historic Victorian London flair. This book started as a generally promising suspense/horror story but ended up being a huge disappointment. I’ll admit when I first started it I was completely hooked and into it but sadly as the weeks went by I had to force myself to finish it.

The book is written from the famous English author Wilkie Collins (famous works include The Woman in White and The Moonstone) perspective. Collins often collaborated with the famous Charles Dickens in real life. The witty humor which the Collin’s character brings to the novel is great, I often found myself LOL-ing all over the place and I especially loved the ‘Other Wilkie’ interaction (or lack there of) throughout the novel.

Simmons definitely nailed the Victorian writing style which added a sense of authenticity to the story as his sentences were long, wordy, and with a flair for the eccentric. He also seemed to really ‘get’ Collins’ character and used lots of Gothic fiction elements (ghosts, psychological breakdown, impending doom, drug use etc).

Simmons does a fantastic job recreating a gritty, dirty, creepy, horrifying turn of the century London. When Dickens and Collins venture out into the city slums looking for Drood, the imagery and description is by far one of the best I have read. I really felt like I was there walking right a long side Collins. The suspense and psychological cluster (*(^ that follows though it a little hard to sort out. Continue reading “Review: Drood by Dan Simmons” →