I started this blog with the intent of posting writing prompts and such stuff every once in a while. Perhaps some funny stuff, links, or news thrown in. I don’t know. Right now I’m pretty stumped. So for now I will just write about some books I have read recently.
The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand: I’ve heard a lot about Ayn Rand. The first time I heard her name, strangely, was in the jacket of my 2112 album, my favorite Rush album. Then, when I heard more, I liked what I heard — her ideas and thoughts on things, or at least what I read of them, sounded interesting and I liked them. When I saw at my school library some copies of her books for the first time, I glanced at them, but passed them by, but only because I was on the prowl for another author. Later, I picked up Anthem. It was pretty good but far too short for my taste. I liked it, it expressed some of what I heard about Ayn Rand, but not all. I moved on to other authors for a little longer. Then, just two weeks ago, browsing through the library, I saw Ender’s Game, a book I’ve been meaning to get for a long time, and The Fountainhead. I saw the latter before quite a few times in my many trips to the school and public libraries but never bothered to pick it up. I decided, since Ender’s Game was a short book, I should get this book for when I finish Ender’s Game. Just in case I needed it. After reading Ender’s Game I open this book up and skip through the foreword right into the story itself. I liked it, too, right from the beginning.
The characters — Roark, Keating, Toohey, Dominique, Wynand — all of them were fascinating in their own ways. The premise, man against world, was a classic but Ayn Rand knew how to do it better than most authors I’ve read. The book was written superbly, the story was captivating.
I suspect, however, if there was even a little more architecture, it might not have been so interesting. Though it is an art, I think architecture should be up there with archeology as one of the most boring professions a man can choose. I didn’t want the details of the art, I didn’t want to read endless paragraphs of drivel about this profession. I wanted to read about the characters, their dilemmas, their shortcomings. And I got what I wanted. Ayn Rand is an excellent author, and if you can find any of her books, I strongly suggest you pick ‘em up.
Cell, by Stephen King: I must say I’m more of a Dean Koontz person when it comes to suspense novels. I don’t think there is a Stephen King novel that can keep me up like Phantoms. But Stephen King is, in his own way, a very good author. I enjoyed It, I enjoyed Dreamcatcher, and I truly enjoyed The Green Mile. Cell is probably his best novel in recent memory, too.
It seemed a little strange at first — a zombie novel. By Stephen King. Interesting. Moving on.
I got the copy I own as a Christmas gift. Being an avid reader, I had no material save old GameInformer magazines. I started reading this book immediately in spite of my thoughts on the story. The thing is, they are not exactly zombies. They’re mindless husks of humans, but not zombies. It all starts as a virus somehow broadcasted to innocent cell phone users. Every person around the world at the same time instantly goes insane when they hear a signal that the main characters hypothesize was broadcasted by some hacker terrorists. They start attacking each other, eating themselves and each other, wreaking total havoc. It was later called the Pulse.
And that is how the book begins — with people going insane and two unfortunate, quite sane people in it. There are, of course, others who survive, others who didn’t use cell phones and who escaped the strange zombie-like people. I’m not going to tell much else of the story but it is very good. Definitely something to pick up. I don’t think this will be hailed as a masterpiece of horror in the coming years, but I suspect it will be remembered. Especially if you are a zombie lover.
The Source, by James A. Michener: Wow. Just, wow. This was the first novel I’ve read by this truly excellent author. And it was quite an introduction. It starts out with archaeologists at a dig, Tell Makor, and their findings, their relationships, discussions of religion, things like that. It was very well written and, to tell you the truth, that is the only reason I read through the first chapter. I didn’t see where a novel about archeology could go. But chapter two begins and it amazingly different.
It’s about a man named Ur, thousands upon thousands of years ago, chronicling the trials and failures of the people of Makor as one man and his family build the first true house and move out of the cave, and start agriculture instead of leaving their home to find food. It goes on for a bit telling this story.
The novel goes from the lives of the archaeologists to lives of the people in the times they are digging up — from 2900 B.C.E. to 1500 C.E., or Common Era. But the novel is not at all confusing. You know precisely when the scene changes, where and when it is, who the people are, and you care almost right away for these people. James A. Michener has a very rare talent both for characterization and storytelling. In this field of writing he is unrivaled. I don’t think there is any author out there that could pull off what Michener has done half as well as Michener did.
Well, that’s it. I’m only doing three books right now. More would be overkill. I think this might be too long already. Keep in mind I never said I’d review the books. I just wanted to voice my opinions.
Posted by Tallain 
