#177 V For Vendetta (1990)

Authors: Alan Moore & David Lloyd
Title: V For Vendetta
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 300
Origin: borrowed from Plymouth University library and read during July-August 2012
Nod Rating: 4 out of 5

The Worm confesses to developing an infatuation with Alan Moore in recent months. As can be seen in recent reviews, a massive 5 nods was given to his Watchmen graphic novel, whilst a further 3 nods was laid out for his short book on the art of writing for comics. Is this a sign that the Worm is becoming far too generous in his older age? The Worm stresses that these nods are for a fantastic writer who is always on the hunt of widening our imaginations in his story telling.

As such, the Worm thought it best to return to the near beginnings of Moore’s career: V for Vendetta. It is a dystopian story set in the near future, in the world of the late 1990s in which nuclear bombs have been set off, and power in Britain has been taken over by a fascist religious political party. Hidden behind a mask, and dressed in the sartorial style of Guy Fawkes, V is on a one-man quest to bring down the government and show everyone the existence of their chains; and more importantly, the power to break those chains to reclaim their liberty.

The story principally follows V in his underworld alongside his new sidekick, the naïve and uninitiated Evey; as well as the groups who pursue him with their own motivations and reasons. V is at odds with everyone in this nightmarish vision of the future: his love of poetry and good music is a rebellion against the dark skyline, drab coasts and kitchen-sink dramas played out in the city of London. V’s seemingly riddled and flowery prose may be slightly annoying at first, but as each page is turned they are increasingly seen as the light to behold against the dark forces that have taken control of old Blighty. In typical Moore fashion, the “good guys” and the “bad guys” are never clear cut: is V a hero or simply a psychotic murderer? It is up to the readership to decide. Alongside this ambiguity lies stylish and always interesting framing of the page; seen nowhere more clearly than at the beginning of Book Two: The Vicious Cabaret in which sheet music is displayed when connecting all of the various plot strands.

However, V for Vendetta is not an entirely accessible read. Beside the nature of the subject, many of which could find off-putting (in essence, an anarchist terrorist killing fascists), there is the actual storyline itself. There is a heady mix of convoluted plot and an array of characters – many of which are hard to distinguish from one another – which means that this is not a book to merely flipped through in a day. The Worm had the pleasure to read the story over the period of several weeks, continually dipping back towards the beginning, and thumbing through pages to link the various plots. It must be advised that other readers should take the same luxury of an amble walk, rather than power read.

In this handsome edition (containing the full comic strips, prefaces from both writer and artist, as well as extended essay on the genesis of V for Vendetta), Moore discusses just how badly his own predications shown to be: no, Thatcher was not removed from office in the 1983 election, and no, a socialist type government did not take control. Of course, the Falklands factor put paid to Thatcher’s ousting in ’83; but the story is not one based on concrete fact, but rather of ideas. These ideas – of freedom and liberty – remain imbedded within us; as are the threats that these ideas and beliefs face from forces all around us. In the character of V, Moore and Lloyd have created an eternal character that is used to rally the forces of liberty against her would-be destroyers: within the comic’s conclusion, as well as in real life. Such real life similarities can be seen in the choice of the group Anonymous and their V masks as a potent symbol.

Avoid the dull, tame movie from 2006 and instead go full flying into the original comic. It may not be to your political taste, but it will surely inflame and excite the bones in your body.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/V-Vendetta-Edition-Alan-Moore/dp/1845762274/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346093967&sr=8-1

Read the review for Watchmen right here:
http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.com/2011/11/watchmen-alan-moore-dave-gibbons.html 

#176 The Sign of the Four (1890) - Arthur Conan Doyle

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
Title: The Sign of the Four (1890)
Genre: Novel
Pages: 160
Origin: Read on Kindle during July 2012
Nod Rating: 3 out of 5

'Which is it to-day?... morphine or cocaine?’

And so begins this story about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and the book’s narrator, Watson. Dulled by a lack of events, Holmes has taken to a bit of recreational drug-use of the kind that would scare those in authority in today. Only the sniff of a good case and putting his deductive reasoning skills to the test will allow him to "just say no" to 'a second dose of cocaine’.

This is the Worm’s second foray into the world of Sherlock Holmes; more than one year ago the first instalment in the series – A Study in Scarlet – was reviewed and given scant applause (see below). The novel itself, as written by Watson, is alluded to in the beginning of The Sign of the Four by a critical Holmes: ‘Honestly, I cannot congratulate you upon it. Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science, and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner. You have attempted to tinge it with romanticism, which produces the same effect as if you worked a love-story or an elopement into the fifth proposition of Euclid.’

Watson retorts: ‘But the romance was there.’ Of course, this clearly shows the divide between Holmes and Watson; a conflict that has endured and delighted readers for more than a century. Much more than the recent movies or other incarnations of the pair, the original books offer so much more character development; as can be seen by Watson’s constant observation and analysis of Holmes: ‘More than once during the years that I had lived with him in Baker Street I had observed that a small vanity underlay my companion’s quiet and didactic manner.’ More strongly, is Watson’s later cry out: ‘You really are an automaton… There is something positively inhuman in you at times.’

The Sign of the Four - also popularly known as The Sign of Four - is the second novel to feature this dynamic duo. It charts the unfolding of a missing fortune, of double-crossing and revenge between an original foursome from the subcontinent of India. Holmes continues to spout his own philsopophy and way of working: ‘Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.’ Whilst Watson continues to inject the romance into the story, continually questioning his own role, Holmes’ methods, the love-interest (Mrs Morstan), and how the whole story hangs together. In wonderful fashion, all of the threads come crashing together with a final confession and extended flashback from the chief culprit (thankfully, the flashback does not consume more than a third of the book, as was the case with A Study in Scarlet).

Without wishing to spoil any of the main plot threads, the adventure ends as it begins, with Holmes reaching for the ‘cocaine-bottle.’ The novel is a more coherent whole than the earlier A Study in Scarlet; whilst a greater emphasis is added on the stereotypical Sherlock settings. Late Victorian London is detailed in fine Gothic style: ‘The whole place, with its scattered dirt-heaps and ill-grown shrubs, had a blighted, ill-omened look which harmonized with the black tragedy which hung over it.’ Two novels in, and already the legend is being formed; a legend that exists more than one hundred and twenty years later.

The Worm will return to the adventures of Holmes and Watson, and is intent on devouring all the books and short stories in Conon Doyle’s inventive and wonderful series.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sign-Four-Arthur-Conan-Doyle/dp/0241952964/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345745407&sr=8-1

A Study in Scarlet review:
http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/study-in-scarlet-sir-arthur-conan-doyle.html

The Top Ten Toughest Reads

This past week The Guardian printed a small article on the supposed ten most difficult reads. This list has been compiled by two book worms at the literary website, the Millions: Emily Colette Wilkinson and Garth Risk Hallberg. Admittedly a top ten would be difficult to nail down, however, the duo apparently took three years to reach the final selection. And here the tough ten:

Nightwood (1936)– Djuna Barnes
A Tale of a Tub (1704) – Jonathan Swift
The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807) – G.F. Hegel
To the Lighthouse (1927) – Virgina Woolf
Clarissa (1748) – Samuel Richardson
Finnegans Wake (1939) – James Joyce
Being and Time (1927) – Martin Heidegger
The Faerie Queene (1596) – Edmund Spenser
Women and Men (1987) – Joseph McElroy

The article writer – Alison Food – laid claim to having read two and a half of these books. The Worm can only meekly note a modest one: Woolf’s To the Lighthouse. Furthermore, little is known of many of these books. Of course, Joyce’s Finnegans Wake is a notoriously difficult read, with a group in New York regularly meeting up to dissect a couple of pages of text a time.

Some light research has revealed a world of possible marvels. Nightwood is a 1930s novel that is one of the earliest to deal with homosexuality; Swift’s A Tale of a Tub is a parody on religion; Clarissa lays claim to being a rather long novel; Spenser’s Faerie Queene appears to be warm applause in aid of Queen Elizabeth; Women and Time appears to be a very chaotic and intriguing book centring on New York of the 1970s; whilst the two philosophical works centre on Hegel’s critique of consciousness and Heidegger’s book on the purpose of a person. But as stated, these are only the basic impressions from some light reading. Needless to say, the Worm is hooked and wishes to find out more.

But what actually makes a tough read? The criteria for this top ten was the following: ‘books that are hard to read for their length, or their syntax and style, or their structural and generic strangeness, or their odd experimental techniques, or their abstraction.’ Readers of the Millions website appear to be scornful of the inclusion of To the Lighthouse (one particular comment: “If you think To the Lighthouse is a difficult read you shouldn’t be writing for a literary website”). The Worm cannot comment on the other reads, but has laid down a new challenge for the forthcoming book reading season: to read one further book on this list and to bestow upon it a nod fitting for its quality, and not its notoriety.


Read the review here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2012/aug/07/most-difficult-books-top-10

Visit the Millions here:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/book-news/tip-sheet/article/53409-the-top-10-most-difficult-books.html

2011-12 Season Review

Three, so they say, is the magic number. This blog has reached the grand old age of three years, with three fine book reading seasons now behind it. In the past twelve months, the Worm has read stories about rabbits and Star Trek, about love and polemics, of Batman and the Fantastic Four, from Orwell to Thatcher, of novels, histories, comics, politics and poetry.

In total, fifty-four books were devoured. Books on history – principally that on the Nazis (as ever popular), the Tudors, and the great country of Italy – came out top of the four eyed pops. They were closely followed by novels, as varied from Flaubert to Bret Easton Ellis. Fiction proved a big winner on the eyes, including short stories, plays – thank you, Mr Shakespeare – and poetry. But from this total of fifty-four, only five – yes, count them, five – were given the tremendous rank of “5 Nods”. They join a prestigious – although utterly meaningless – elite of other 5 nodders from book reading seasons gone by, bringing the total to seventeen out of a possible one hundred and seventy-five.

So, onwards to the Worm’s Top Ten Reads of 2011-2012:

1. The Drowned and the Saved (1986) – Primo Levi
Thoughtful, provoking and haunting; Levi’s book on coming to terms with the Holocaust was the Worm’s favourite and most riveting read of 2011-12. What he has to say is never easy to swallow, but it is a dish that the human race must all feed on. As Levi commented: ‘It happened, therefore it can happen again: this is the core of what we have to say.’ 5 nods.

Read the review here: http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.com/2012/01/drowned-and-saved-primo-levi.html


2. Love in the Time of Cholera (1985) – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A love story that spans decades and events, Marquez has combined talent of telling a story along with commentary on the changes of ideals and values in the modern world. 5 nods.

Read the review here: http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/love-in-time-of-cholera-gabriel-garcia.html


3. Watchmen (1987) – Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
This is the first graphic novel/comic to ever feature in the Worm’s Top Ten list; firmly deserves its place amongst other great reads. Moore and Gibbons’ cynical take on the cult of the superhero asks questions about what it is to be human; further enhanced by great storytelling techniques. 5 nods.

Read the review here: http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.com/2011/11/watchmen-alan-moore-dave-gibbons.html


4. Lord of the Flies (1954) – William Golding
A short book filled with emotion and reflection, of triumph of savagery over progress, of passion against reason, of the id over the ego. This famous story documents ‘the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart’, alongside the menacing mantra: ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’ 5 nods.

Read the review here: http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.com/2011/09/lord-of-flies-william-golding.html


5. Notes from Underground (1864) – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Attacks on aspirations of love, western philosophy, the bureaucracy of work, manners and social norms; this man from the underground has a large axe to grind. Riddles abound with Dostoyevsky’s riddles: ‘Gentlemen, you must excuse me for being over-philosophical; it’s the result of forty years underground!’ 5 nods.

Read the review here: http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.com/2011/10/notes-from-underground-fyodor.html


6. Down and Out in Paris and London (1933) – George Orwell
Insightful social commentary, with humorous characters and events. This is a younger Orwell to be enjoyed, the fruits of which go toe-to-toe with his later, fictional works. 4 nods.

Read the review here: http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/down-and-out-in-paris-and-london-george.html


7. God is Not Great (2007) – Christopher Hitchens
The most recently published book in this Top Ten list, and the winner of the Worm’s Thinker Award in this season’s “Noddies” (see below). The late – and of course, great – Hitchens is keen to emphasise the growing reasoning of society, whilst giving the Bible and religion both barrels. 4 nods.

Read the review here: http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/christopher-hitchens-god-is-not-great.html


8. Ceremonial Time (1984) – John Hanson Mitchell
15,000 years of history based on one square mile. An original book that comprises history, science, folklore, topography and emotion. Dig deeper into what it means to be human.

Read the review here: http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/ceremonial-time-john-hanson-mitchell.html


9. Lunar Park (2005) – Bret Easton Ellis
Many books reviewed – 3 previously in the past 2 seasons – and first time his name is on the Top Ten list. Ellis in great lampooning mood, finally bringing a degree of emotion and maturity to his writing. The same psychotic scenes, but tied deeper into the tradition of American literature of Poe and Gothic thrillers.

Read the review here: http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/lunar-park-bret-easton-ellis.html


10. The Course of German History (1945) – A.J.P. Taylor
Controversial and argumentative – this is what a historian should always be! It has dated, but remains a key work of the past one hundred years of a western interpretation of Germany.

Read the review here: http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.com/2011/11/course-of-german-history-ajp-taylor.html


These were the great, heart-warming reads of the past twelve months; but every journey has its victims and villains: and for the Worm, these were of the 1 nodder variety that have headed towards the sin-bin of doom. These included John Guy’s confusing history on 30s and 40s England, Julia Skinner’s cash-in book on Plymouth, as well as James Gairdner’s pointless history on Richard III.

Meanwhile, in terms of reading material, the Kindle began to flex its metaphorical muscles by consuming seven reads; but the top spot was a straight fight-off between second hand books (fifteen) and those borrowed from libraries (fourteen). As always, nothing beats an old musty book from a darkened corner; second hand books were once young beauties that were courted and initially treated well, and even years of neglect cannot completely destroy them.

Reviewing the past twelve months has allowed the Worm some reflection: far too much time was dedicated on books about Hitler and the Nazis. Despite some interesting reads (including Laurence Ree’s The Nazis: A Warning From History and Milan Hauner’s Hitler chronology), the Worm is now on a Nazi-embargo. No more books on Mr Hitler, none on the Second World War, and none on those swastika wearing henchmen of his. In fact, no pages written about the Second World War will be fingered (apologies, Winston).

In the months ahead the Worm will be expanding the blog to incorporate more than reviews of the good, the bad and the downright ugly. Reviews, rants and rumours of book shops will be reported, in the hope of celebrating many of the unsung book heroes on our high streets, and tucked away in the forgotten corners of our cities. Furthermore, insight, commentary and biased opinion – mostly biased opinion – will be noted on the world of books. There is too much gold out there regarding books to go untouched by the Worm. Of course, this is all part of the Worm’s plan to conquer the world by 2043… just one step at a time.

Three years of book reading have been completed, the fourth is now upon him. The Worm, then, marches forth.



The Third Noddie Awards:


Read of the Season: Primo Levi’s The Drowned and the Saved (1986)

Recommended Novel: Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Love in the Time of Cholera (1985)

Short Fiction: Edgar Allan Poe – Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1993)

Play: William Shakespeare – Henry VI: Part Three (1591)

Poetry: T.S. Eliot – Prufrock and Other Observations (1917)

History: John Hanson Mitchell – Ceremonial Time (1984)

Thinker Award: Christopher Hitchens – God Is Not Great (2007)

Political: David W. Orr – Earth In Mind (2004)

Graphic Novel: Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons – Watchmen (1987)



Largest Read: Stan Lee – Fantastic Four Volume 1 (550 pages)

Briefest Read: Alan Moore – Writing For Comics (50 pages)

Oldest Read: William Shakespeare – Henry VI: Part One, Two & Three (1591)

Shredder Award: Julia Skinner – Plymouth: A Miscellany (2006)

Once I Was a Washing Machine - Federation of Worker Writers

Federation of Worker Writers - Once I Was a Washing Machine (1989)
Poetry & Prose – 210 pages – my copy (paperback) bought from Oxfam Bookshop in Brighton during June 2012
#54 of 2011-12 / #175 of All Time
- 2 nods out of 5 -

Every once in a while in a book buyer’s life they will come across a golden title. Avid readers will browse the shelves of many book shops, pointing out names to one another that set off the funny bone; but rarely are book titles so instantly eye catching to propel the reader to open the chequebook. This book – Once I Was a Washing Machine – is one such instance when it had to be bought, no matter the content, the reading journey, or the final nod.

So, what is this book all about? As suggested by the heavy wording of the book’s editors – the Federation of Workers Writers – it is a collection of poetry and prose based on the real life experiences of those in the working class in Thatcher’s Britain. And is to be expected by a book published during the 1980s, much are complaints against the Tory government and inequality between the haves and the have nots.

The difference between the working class and other sections of society are continually referred to, in poems such as ‘Class’, and – of course – ‘Mrs Thatcher’. Here are a few sample first lines from poems: ‘I signed on the other day’ (from ‘Tweet Tweet’); ‘It’s all deserted now, redundant empty space. No welcome for the workers here – No welcome for them anywhere. Sold down the line to a giro’ (from ‘Turning the Tide’); ‘Sign on the dole, the queue as long as Sundays’ (from ‘Sign on the Dole’); ‘I am jobless, I am worthless, I am homeless. And you are not’ (from ‘Meat Sandwich’); and the rather gloomy: ‘Mother, you gave me life and rooted me, in the suffocation of a class system’ (from ‘Groping in the Dark’).

All of this – as can be expected – is rather depressing. Even when the class divide is not discussed, we have tales of broken love and families (as seen in the three line poem ‘Wedding Ring’: ‘Our love is like a circle / I turn to you / You turn away’). Much of the poetry is one dimensional; whilst many of the composers appear to be trying too hard with lines of pomposity, as can be found in ‘Our Precious Planet’ and in the words of ‘Tree’: ‘Listen to the whispering source / It spins dialectical cobwebs / Resilient as hawsers / It weaves re-creation / Listen!’

The prose on display (recollections from the past and stories) fare slightly better than the poems. The Worm enjoyed reading ‘Pub Ritual’ and ‘Where do we go from here?’, which notes the experiences of an illiterate man. But the Northern tint – as seen in poem titles such as ‘Barnsley 1984’ – repelled the Worm, rather than welcomed him. The Worm is no “southern fairy”, rather hailing from the westcountry, and therefore finds much of the north-south dialogue/argument rather tedious and tiring. However, there is enough on display to keep the reader interested, especially in a title like ‘An Unemployed Steelworker in the Middle of a Zebra Crossing Stealing A Diamond’ (surely, a contender to become title of the collection!).

As the Worm learnt – much to everyone’s annoyance – the reading aloud of these poems does little to gain applause. Many have not dated well (despite the clear links with today’s government and its blatant lie about us “all being in it together”). This was the Worm’s last read of his third book reading season; the content hardly justified this place as the last book before starting afresh once again. But as earlier noted, the title alone justifies its very presence on this blog and on the shelves of the Worm’s book collection.
Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Once-Was-Washing-Machine-Experience/dp/0906411025

Writing For Comics - Alan Moore

Alan Moore – Writing For Comics (2010)
Graphic Novel related – 50 pages – my copy (paperback) bought from Dave’s Comics in Brighton during June 2012
#53 of 2011-12 / #174 of All Time
- 3 nods out of 5 -

Through decades of interesting and innovative work in the comic book field, Alan Moore has risen to deity-like status. Earlier this year the Worm reviewed Moore’s Watchmen and came to the sound conclusion that it was a 5 nodder read, and worthy of everyone’s time, attention and eyes. It is fitting, then, that Moore should give advice to other comic book writer wannabes.

Originally written in 1985, and later updated with an afterword in 2003, this brief book covers the basic ground for giving birth to a tangible and worthwhile idea. The central chapters include ‘The Basic Idea: Thinking About Comics’, ‘Reaching the Reader: Structure, Pacing, Story Telling’, and ‘The Details: Plot and Script’. But Moore is keen to stress that he is not supplying a painting-by-numbers guide to writing comic books, but rather tackling ‘the broader issue of how we might actually think about the craft of comic writing’.

This broader issue is debated throughout each chapter, with Moore highlighting the need for a writer to explore deeper issues, their own humanity and the world around them to create something worthy of a reader’s time, rather than ‘tepid, barely readable shit’ printed on ‘the most sophisticated laser scan techniques available’. Moore argues for the need for the writer and artist to maintain their freedom and integrity: ‘Take risks. Fear nothing, especially failure…As for posterity, don’t drive yourself mad worrying about that shit. It isn’t up to you. And anyway, when the Universe ends in ten billion years time it really isn’t going to be that important who was famous for how long’.

Such is the quirky, humorous and thought-provoking style of Moore’s pen, the book is a pleasure to read. More importantly, it is writing that is honest at its attempt to get to the heart of the matter:

‘Analyse your own fears thoroughly enough and you might be able to reach some conclusions about the broad mass of human fear and anxiety. Be ruthless about this, and submit yourself to as much emotional pain as is necessary to get the question answered: What horrifies me? Pictures of little kids starving Africa horrifies me. Why does it horrify me? It horrifies me because I can’t stand the thought of tiny children being born into a world of starvation and misery and horror and never knowing anything but hunger and pain and fear, never knowing that there could possibly be anything other than needing food as desperately as a suffocating man needs air, and never hearing anything but weeping and moaning and despair. Yeah, well, okay, but why can’t I stand that? I can’t stand that because I like to perceive the world as having some form of just and fair order, without which much of existence would seem meaningless, and I know that for those children there is no possibility of them perceiving the world in those terms. I also know that were I to be in their situation I wouldn’t be able to see any unifying design above the hunger and misery, either. So does that mean that there is no order, no point to existence, above all no point to my existence? Is that what scares the shit out of me every time I see all those fly-specced bellies on the six o’clock news? Yeah. Yeah, probably it is. What scares me is probably not what’s happening to them but what it implies concerning me. That isn’t a terribly easy noble thing to have to face up to, but it’s the sort of wringer that you have to put yourself through in order to have any valuable understanding of the material that you are working with.’

In the brief space of these fifty pages, Moore’s dialogue comprises a history of comic books, of references to film, to the theatre, and other art work; whilst providing examples from his own work, including Swamp Thing and Superman. By doing this he constantly dispels myths of the trade, including the whole “sum up a character in 15 words”: ‘While it’s certainly possible to sum up the character of Captain Ahab in a well turned phrase like “This insane amputee with a grudge against a whale,” Herman Melville obviously thought it appropriate to take slightly longer over the job’.

Undoubtedly the industry has moved on and progressed since the mid-1980s; however, Moore’s book is a great read on how a writer – be it comic book, novelist, or screenwriter – constructs a story. Moore’s own judgement on reading his advice years later was a modest ‘not that bad’. The Worm is more ready to heap on praise. But, of course, in Moore’s long career, praise is the one thing not in short supply.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.com/Alan-Moores-Writing-Comics-Volume/dp/1592910122

Lunar Park - Bret Easton Ellis

Bret Easton Ellis – Lunar Park (2005)
Novel – 450 pages – my copy (paperback) bought from Waterstone’s on its paperback release in 2006
#52 of 2011-12 / #173 of All Time
- 4 nods out of 5 -

‘Hadn’t you once wanted to “see the worst”? the writer asked me.
Didn’t you once write that somewhere?
I might have. But I don’t want to anymore.
It’s too late, the writer said.’

Regular readers of this blog will by now realise the Worm’s attachment to the work of Bret Easton Ellis. Seemingly derided and applauded in equal measure, over the past three book-reading seasons the Worm has read three of Mr Ellis’ novels: his debut, Less Than Zero; his troublesome second novel, The Rules of Attraction; and his latest output, Imperial Bedrooms (see below for links to these reviews). With the current book-reading season soon coming to a close, the Worm could hear the gasps of a year spent without another Ellis review. But have no fear, Lunar Park is here.

Despite the Worm’s fondness for Ellis’s narrative style, previous reviews have been less than generous. Less Than Zero limped in with a severe 2 nods (something the Worm expresses regret about; surely a stable 3 nodder; although the concluding review comment was a supportive ‘Well worth the read’), whilst the other two novels hardly set this blog or the readers’ eyes on fire: and the Worm quotes himself on Imperial Bedrooms ‘a book of obvious limitations’; and on The Rules of Attraction a book best ‘left alone’. But Lunar Park is a different quantity altogether.

The novel is about the very writer himself, albeit in a parodied and hyped up version of himself. The first 50 pages surround his excess throughout the champagne days of the 1980s and 1990s: ‘There was also the money problem – I didn’t have any. I had blown it all. On what? Drugs. Parties that cost $50,000. Drugs. Girls who wanted to be taken to Italy, Paris, London, St. Barts. Drugs. A Prada wardrobe. A new Porsche. Drugs.’ Whilst there are humourus (fictionalised?) anecdotes from his Glamorama book tour: ‘E-mail memo #6: “15 miles southwest of Detroit writer was found hiding in back of stalled van on the median of a divided highway, picking at nonexistent scabs”…. E-mail memo #9: “Somehow writer has been tear gassed at anti-globalization demonstration in Chicago”… E-mail memo #13: “Berkley; angry drug dealer was found choking writer due to lack of payment in alley behind Barnes & Noble”…’

Ellis lampoons his own writing style and fame when discussing his latest working novel, Teenage Pussy. ‘Teenage Pussy would contain endless episodes of girls storming out of rooms in high-rise condos and the transcripts of cell phone conversations fraught with tension and camera crews following the main characters around as well as six or seven overdoses… There would be thousands of cosmopolitans ordered and characters camcording each other having anal sex…’ Such a description is surely the wet dream of Ellis’ legion of detractors.

This is all before he finds suburban security with a former (yes, fictionalised) lover, Jayne Dennis (Ellis even going as far as to commissioning a fake website for Dennis during the book’s initial publication). Middle age does nothing to quell Ellis’ grasp of the mania that surrounds him, especially the phobias in modern parenting and the angst of living in post 9/11 America:

‘…and there was something off about the obsession with their children that bordered on the fanatical. It wasn’t that they weren’t concerned about their kids, but they wanted something back, they wanted a return on their investment – this need was almost religious. It was exhausting to listen to and it was all so corrupt because it wasn’t making for happier children… These parents were scientists and were no longer raising their kids instinctually – everyone had read a book or watched a video or skimmed the Net to figure out what to do…. There were kids experiencing dizzy spells due to the pressure of elementary school and who were in alternative therapies, and there were ten-year-old boys with eating disorders caused by unrealistic body images. There were waiting lists filled with the names of nine-year-olds for acupuncture sessions with Dr. Wolper.’

But Lunar Park is so much more than a critique of society and culture; it is interesting in its interesting turn of events. The story becomes darker, with plot threads more akin to the genres of thriller, suspense, and horror. Such elements are rooted in American literary tradition; and nowhere more clearly than in the great work of Edgar Allan Poe: who himself had tales of disbelief, to make us question our surroundings and our selves. Ellis’ semi-autobiographical stance offers us this chance: ‘Regardless of how horrible the events described here might seem, there’s one thing you must remember as you hold this book in your hands: all of it really happened, every word is true.’

These plot strands surround a psychotic toy that kills horses, skins deer, and inserts itself into the anus of the family dog; a man who claims to be Patrick Bateman and is replicating murders from the book American Psycho; a menacing and ever present Porsche; and haunting images of his father, coming back from the dead. All of these surround Ellis’ very own neurosis and past; as Ellis writes: ‘this is what happened when you didn’t want to visit and confront the past: the past starts visiting and confronting you.’ All of this is woven into the book’s central relationship: that of father and son and grandfather; between Ellis, his father and his son – the fictional - Robby.

Yes, there are many negative features of this book: Ellis’ inability to show emotion and distress of characters other than have them cry (the fictionalised Ellis shedding tears continuously in almost every chapter in the second half of the book), as well as a sometimes awkward description style. But it is a triumph of ideas over the actual nuts and bolts of the words; as well as the author’s confronting of his own past to create a piece of work that doesn’t truly sit in any genre: fantasy, speculative, sci-fi, horror, autobiography. For this very reason, it is a book enthusiastically recommended for all readers to go out, buy and read. Step inside Mr Ellis’ world, “see the worst”, and “disappear here”.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lunar-Park-Bret-Easton-Ellis/dp/0330536338/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343424044&sr=8-1

Review of Less Than Zero:
http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.com/2009/07/proto-bateman-less-than-zero-by-bret.html


Review of The Rules of Attraction:
http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.com/2011/03/rules-of-attraction-bret-easton-ellis.html


Review of Imperial Bedrooms:
http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.com/2010/10/imperial-bedrooms-bret-easton-ellis.html

Star Trek: Countdown - Johnson, Jones & Messina

Mike Johnson, Tim Jones & David Messina - Star Trek: Countdown (2009)
Graphic Novel – 110 pages – read during June 2012
#51 of 2011-12 / #172 of All Time
- 2 nods out of 5 -

In 2009 Star Trek returned to the big-time. After the ignominy of a cancelled series (the dull and insipid Enterprise) and a flop of a last movie (the much maligned – and some of it cruelly - Nemesis) it appeared Trekkies/Trekkers (delete where applicable) were to ready themselves for the fallow years ahead. However, J.J. Abrams glare covered film was a hit at the box-office, and looks set to spawn countless more adventures with a rebooted cast of the original core of Kirk, Spock and McCoy.

And what better way than to cash in (cough-cough) on the rebirth of the “franchise” with a comic book run on a prequel to the events in the film. In four issues, Countdown relates just how the likes of the dastardly Nero ended up time-travelling to the past to fight a young Kirk. Beginning as an innocent miner who is concerned about an expanding super nova that threatens to destroy his home-world, he forms an unnatural alliance with an old Spock, and the Federation star-ship Enterprise that is now captained by Data. As happens with all plans, it goes horribly wrong, with Nero seeking vengeance for his destroyed planet, wife and – yes – unborn child. Meanwhile along the way, many of the main cast of the Next Generation make an appearance: Picard, who is now an ambassador on Vulcan; Worf is now a general of a Klingon ship, whilst Geordie LaForge is a star-ship designer (remember him, right?).

The writers of the comic – Tim Jones and Mike Johnson - noted their desire to tie in the two casts of the Original Series and the Next Generation. But rather than the passing of the baton, it shows as a passing along of the same old ideas and characters. Similar to many other Star Trek tie-ins (novels, comics, fan movies) storylines appear to suffer when they do not contain familiar faces, such as Kirk, Spock, Picard and Data. This is the very reason why the “franchise” (the Worm hates using this term) has returned to Kirk & Co. in the latest movie adventure, and the reason why this prequel series relies so heavily on Spock, on Picard, on Data, on Worf, and yes, even Mr LaForge.

Ultimately, these comics inspire little interest outside of the usual die-hard Star Trek anoraks. Not enough action and not enough drama: but of course, this is all to be saved for the film itself. And this is what it all boils down to, with this collection serving as a tie-in for financial gain, rather than a key story to tell. This shouldn’t detract from the art-work of David Messina, and the Worm admits the whole premise is a much better idea than the likes of a collaboration with Doctor Who in which Picard helps out to defeat the Cybermen; but ultimately, it all fails to enliven a sceptical Trekkie.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Trek-Countdown-Movie-Prequel/dp/184856435X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339109345&sr=8-1

Read the interview here:
http://www.filmcritic.com/features/2009/05/star-trek-countdown-interview/

On History - Eric Hobsbawm

Eric Hobsbawm – On History (1997)
History – 380 pages – my copy (paperback) bought from a Totnes bookshop sometime in 2007 and recently read in June 2012
#50 of 2011-12 / #171 of All Time
- 4 nods out of 5 -

At the grand age of ninety-five and with a great wealth of books behind him, Eric Hobsbawm is one of the world’s greatest living historians. Famous for his long held Marxist beliefs, as well as a tremendous series in world history (notably The Age of Revolution and The Age of Extremes, reviewed in this very blog two years ago), Hobsbawm’s great span of life itself has taken in many historical events of the past century: the rise and fall of the Nazis; the battle between the American and Soviet ideologies; the fall of Communism; the growth of terrorism; and the constant see-saw between boom and bust of the world economy.

It is fitting, then, for a historian well versed in history to publish a book on his thoughts on the subject of history. And so we have On History, a collection of essays gathered over a series of years and put into a collection in the 1990s. A dream come true, you may say, for a history buff. Let’s be clear, many articles have the power to send less enthused fans of history to sleep; most of these surround the question of economics, how historians can interpret and predict future economic events, as well as a dangerously high dose of Marxism. But with twenty-one essays on display, there is more than enough to compensate. These include Hobsbawm’s musings on how we picture the past (‘The Sense of the Past’), history’s role in helping society solve problems (‘What Can History Tell Us about Contemporary Society?’), on the commitment and bias of the historian (‘Partisanship’), interesting and enlightening commentary on the continent of Europe (‘The Curious History of Europe’), as well as a splendid and convincing debate about the possible of descent of “civilisation” into chaos (‘Barbarism: A User’s Guide’).

So, what snippets can the Worm glean from On History? In the space of 380 marked and poured over pages are debates on the key issues in history writing, including that on its abuses by present regimes misrepresenting the past in order to secure more support from the public (‘Outside and Inside History’). Later in the book, Hobsbawm writes: ‘History as inspiration and ideology has a built-in tendency to become self-justifying myth. Nothing is a more dangerous blindfold than this, as the history of modern nations and nationalisms demonstrates’. In a different essay, he comments: ‘history is a useful warning against confusing fashion with progress’. These are words of advice that would be well heeded by today’s society. Perhaps less than history, and more about philosophy of history: of change, of the past, the future, the present and how we represent all of these things in a bundle of paper for general readership. Hobsbawm is always searching to explain how mankind built society, how our civilisation became what it is, and how change will affect what we have.

For students, teachers and serious readers of history, this is a highly recommended read. This book, like so many other good books, offers a chance to pick the brains of one of the best in his field. You may turn your nose at this offering; but respect for Hobsbawm is universal.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/On-History-E-J-Hobsbawm/dp/0349110506

A Brief Gude to Star Trek - Brian J. Robb

Brian J. Robb - A Brief Guide to Star Trek (2011)
TV & Film – 280 pages – my copy (paperback) picked up from the Works in St Austell during May 2012 for £2.99
#49 of 2011-12 / #170 of All Time
- 2 nods out of 5 -

Trekkie or Trekker: what is the difference? For the “serious” fan of Star Trek – of which are in good company (see below) - the business of buying DVDs and fanzines is not one to be taken lightly. Trekkie is the mocking term; but Trekker is one in which the fan has the sleeves rolled up and is ready to leave the real world and enter the dimension to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Sci-fi has a long history of transfixing the Western world. A hundred years ago it was the novels of H.G. Wells; the 1950s spawned a generation glued to monster movies; whilst recent incarnations have become all the more sophisticated. Despite its now seeming comic beginnings, Star Trek has long prospered to stretch various TV series (the Worm recommends The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine), eleven and soon to be twelve Hollywood movies (recommended: The Wrath of Khan, The Undiscovered Country, and the recently rebooted Star Trek), as well as hundreds of novels and comics that have truly created a unique universe.

Modestly deemed ‘A Brief Guide’, this book actually spans close to three hundred pages. The author does a competent job of telling the story, from start to finish; beginning with the genesis of the idea in the brain of Gene Rodenberry, its shaky first series in the 1960s, cancellation, death and then rebirth via fan power in the 1970s. This revival explains the special relationship between Trekker and the “franchise” (the Worm apologies for using such a vacuous term), and why fans of the show have obtained a place in popular culture: either being celebrated, or as is much more likely, lampooned. All of the original cast movies are dealt with in an orderly fashion, with a chapter given to each succeeding series (The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and the ill fated Enterprise).

Orderly is the key word here. Despite a close connection with Star Trek stretching back many years – including serving as editor on The Official Star Trek Magazine – Brian J. Robb never peels away the layers of the story. For example, much of the information has been gleamed from newspaper reports, with minimal quotation from the central players. Direct interviewing, comment, and the nitty gritty of getting to the heart of the story was perhaps beyond the remit from the publishers when they set on their ‘Brief Guide’; but it all has the feel of reading a dry Wikipedia article, rather than glimpsing into an author’s true thoughts and feelings. Opportunity knocks with this book: written on the recent trend of Star Trek becoming officially cool once more with its blockbuster reboot from 2009. This is seen clearly in the book’s opening paragraph when the author writes in a world in which readers have already seen ‘J.J. Abrams blockbuster movie from 2009 or the sequel’: at this time of writing, in July 2012, the sequel has still not been released.

The future of Star Trek looks assured; a statement that would have seemed slightly far fetched in uttered a mere seven or eight years ago after the flops that were Enterprise and the last Picard film, Nemesis. More adventures will be told, and the knock on effects will be ever more reading material. This book will capture the interest of the serious fans – the Trekkers – without bothering the hearts of the many Trekkies. This is just as well; the world can keep its ‘Brief Guide’ as the Worm waits for something more substantial and bold.

* Trekkers are in good company. Fans of the show are an eclectic and rather fantastic bunch, including Frank Sinatra, Barack Obama, Tom Hanks, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Eddie Murphy, Stephen Hawking, Seth MacFarlane, Alex Salmond and Martin Luther King.

Buy it here:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brief-Guide-Star-Trek/dp/1849015147