Devil May Care

“It was a wet evening in Paris.  On the slate roofs of the big boulevards and on the small mansards of the Latin quarter, the rain kept up a ceaseless patter.  outside the Crillon and the George V, the doormen were whistling taxis out of the darkness, then running with umbrellas to hold over the fur-clad guests as they climbed in.  The huge open space of the place de la Concorde was glimmering black and silver in the downpour.”

This is one of the newest books in the James Bond series – written by Sebastian Faulks, who is a famous modern novelist.  I am not an enormous Bond fan, but I do enjoy reading the books about him every once in a while.  Kind of like I enjoy a big cup of cider sometimes.  Not all the time, and just because at the time it sounds enjoyable.

This Bond novel finds 007 on a mandatory sabbatical after a rough assignment.  He is lounging around in Paris, trying not to work and very nearly failing.  When M calls him back after MI6 is alerted to a frightening new player in the illicit drug market.  Julius Gorner is a man with a passion for opium and all of its derivatives, not for personal pleasure but as a business investment.  Bond is assigned to learn as much about him as possible.  Along the way, 007 picks up a woman (of course) whose sister has been taken captive by Gorner – the lovely Scarlett Papava.  Unsurprisingly, what Bond learns about Gorner shows there is much more to be concerned about than simply the increase in opium sales.  Gorner has plans to change the face of the planet forever, and will kill anyone who gets in his way.  Which is precisely where 007 is standing.

It’s definitely not to be disputed that the 007 novels are cheesy in the best sense of the word; elaborate plots, cool gadget weaponry, beautiful and willing women, and a main character that oozes cool.  They are novels written for men and play to every weakness of the male gender.  This book is no different.  However, it was a bit rough for me to grasp that this was still taking place in the 1970’s.  I’m not sure if it was balancing between the new Bond movies set in the present and the book, or if it was the writing style of Faulks.  Something kept making me feel it was set in present day.  Other than this, Faulks’s homage to Fleming is flawless.  He completely understands Bond and can tell a dramatic suspenseful spy story with the best of them.  It’s slightly less tongue-in-cheek, with action every other page and a willingness to harm any and every character.  If you enjoy the rest of the novels about 007, you’ll enjoy this one.

“Devil May Care” was written by Sebastian Faulks and published in 2008.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

“It goes by many names: ‘The Crisis,’ ‘The Dark Years,’ ‘The Walking Plague,’ as well as newer and more ‘hip’ titles such as ‘World War Z’ or ‘Z War One,’ I personally dislike this last moniker as it implies an inevitable ‘Z War Two.’ For me, it will always be ‘The Zombie War,’ and while many may protest the scientific  accuracy of the word zombie, they will be hard-pressed to discover a more globally accepted term for the creatures that almost caused our extinction.  Zombie remains a devastating word, unrivaled in its power to conjure up so many memories or emotions, and it is these memories and emotions, that are the subject of this book.”

When it comes to the zombie section of sci-fi/horror, there is very little to entice me to want to have anything to do with it.  Everyone has that one thing that makes them a little nervous – or terrified – depending on our personality.  And for me, that thing is zombies.  However, since I do enjoy a good play of “Left 4 Dead” once in awhile, and I don’t hate “Shaun of the Dead,” I figured I could probably handle this book.  I’m not so sure that was a correct assumption, but I am still glad I read it. If only because it taught me how woefully unprepared my household is in case the dead ever rise to attack us and eat our brains.

This book is a conglomeration of stories from all over the world roughly 10 years after victory was declared over the zombie uprising.  From the early years and the vague mysterious source of the plague, to the ways it spread so rapidly, how it affected those in denial, our pathetically unprepared military systems, the ruthless methods used to weed out the infected from the safe and to protect those in power, and the steps certain individuals took to ensure the survival of the human race itself.  From a unscrupulous doctor to a commander of a Chinese nuclear submarine, to a movie producer and a blind man who killed hundreds of zombies while stranded in a national park – all of the stories weave together to portray as complete a picture of World War Z as one could ask for.

While it’s obvious this book is fiction, I happen to think that if for some reason there ever were a zombie uprising, it’s a fairly accurate representation of what the world would do.  Most people wouldn’t believe what was going on until too late, there would be criminals who took advantage of the situation, governments would respond with words and not enough power, or vice versa, and lots and lots of people would die.  The one place I believe this is lacking is covering the hundreds of thousands of people who play video games with zombie-killing that would respond enthusiastically by purchasing shotguns, making up molotov cocktails, and wielding baseball bats to take down as many undead fiends as possible.  And I can tell you that after this book, I’m definitely picking up another of Max Brooks’s works – The Zombie Survival Guide.

“World War Z” was written by Max Brooks and published in 2006.

Austenland

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a thirty-something woman in possession of a satisfying career and a fabulous hairdo must be in want of very little, and Jane Hayes, pretty enough and clever enough, was certainly thought to have little to distress her.  There was no husband, but those weren’t necessary anymore.  There were boyfriends, and if they came and went in a regular stream of mutual dissatisfaction – well, that was the way of things, wasn’t it?  But Jane had a secret.”

My best friend has been recommending this book ever since she discovered it.  She’s a librarian, so that was probably immediately after it came out two years ago.  She knows me pretty well, especially when it comes to books.  And she was dead on with this recommendation.

Jane Hayes has had (in her mind) 13 boyfriends in her life, none of whom have met her expectations as to what a boyfriend should be.  Unfortunately, her ideal man is none other than Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice.  And not only Mr. Darcy, but the Colin Firth version of Mr. Darcy.  She has a hidden copy of the mini series on DVD which she pulls out regularly to get her Darcy fix.  And she’s nearly resigned herself to the fact that she will never find Mr. Darcy and should just settle for whatever comes along next when a distant relative passes away and leaves her an all-expenses-paid trip to Pembrook Park.  Pembrook is an English resort which caters to the Austen-obsessed, fully immersing them in the world of Regency period England; complete with costumes and etiquette requirements.  Jane is face to face with her lifelong obsession with all things Darcy and, not sure what’s real and what isn’t when it comes to relationships at Pembrook, grows more and more exasperated with the men there.

This is every woman’s dream come true.  Well, every woman who has ever found themselves longing for their own Mr. Darcy (especially the Colin Firth Mr. Darcy!).   Jane provides the perfect everywoman as a character – the rational mind trying to outdo the emotional heart, second-guessing her every decision, and allowing her fancies to get the best of her at times.  We travel along with her as she tries to escape her obsession and relationship issues, finally coming to terms with her Darcy fetish.  All I can say, is that if you love anything Austen, you’ll want to grab this book.  I’m tempted to add it to my own personal collection, and consider myself a bit indebted to my friend for her fantastic recommendation.

Shannon Hale wrote “Austenland” and it was published in 2007.

Cold Comfort Farm

“The education bestowed on Flora Poste by her parents had been expensive, athletic and prolonged; and when they died within a few weeks of one another during the annual epidemic of the influenza or Spanish Plague which occurred in her twentieth year, she was discovered to possess every art and grace save that of earning her own living.”

This is one of those little treasures of a novel that I didn’t even know existed until I heard a brief mention of them somewhere out in internet land and it stuck in my brain just long enough for me to hit the library.  Sort of like what happened with Agnes Grey.  I heard a podcaster rave reviews about this book, even going as far as to design some knit socks after some of the characters and, my friends, in my world?  Having inspired knit wear is one of the highest accolades one can achieve.

Miss Flora Poste has been left to fend for herself in the world.  And, despite having gobs of friends and family who are willing to look after her, settles on moving to Cold Comfort Farm – home of her cousins the Starkadders.  Descending upon the Starkadders, Flora is startled and satisfied to find them properly backwards and insane.  There is Elfine, wild and beautiful and fairylike.  Seth the young man “brimming over with sex” who finds Flora amusing, and Amos – the hellfire and brimstone preacher.  Judith, who has an unnatural obsession, and of course the matriarch – Aunt Ada Doom – who remains in her room with her memories of “something nasty in the woodshed.”  Using her smart sense and knowledge of the modern world, Flora takes it upon herself to bring the entire family around to her way of thinking and ideas on what farm living should be like.

This book was groundbreaking as a parody – most noticeably of “Wuthering Heights” although the author claimed she was parodying other books published around the same time that have since fallen out of public awareness.  I, personally, have no problem reading a parody of “Wuthering Heights” considering I severely disliked the novel.  This novel has everything of “Heights” in it, without all the emotional overflow.  Instead of drama and sickly sweet anguish, Flora brings humor and sarcasm and wit into the picture – which is much appreciated.  It has clear inspiration drawn from Wodehouse – many of the characters take themselves way too seriously while the others see them for what they really are. I found much entertainment in it once I was able to slog through the first chapter until Flora gets to the farm itself.  And I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor once in a while.

“Cold Comfort Farm” was written by Stella Gibbons and published in 1932.

Woman in the Dark

“Her right ankle turned under her and she fell.  The wind blowing downhill from the south, whipping the trees beside the road, made a whisper of her exclamation and snatched her scarf away into the darkness.  She sat up slowly, palms on the gravel pushing her up, and twisted her body sidewise to release the leg bent beneath her.  Her right slipper lay in the road close to her feet.  When she put it on she found its heel was missing.  She peered around, then began to hunt for the heel, hunting on hands and knees uphill into the wind, wincing a little when her right knee touched the road.”

A short novel, most people have never heard of this Hammett work.  It’s the story of a young woman who wanders, wounded, out of the dark to a cabin.  She’s on the run and what’s chasing her soon follows and begins to hurt everyone who helps her.

This is a great example of Hammett’s work.  In fact, this story may rival both “The Thin Man” and “The Maltese Falcon” in my favorites category.  Probably because this is such a short story – it allows the author to do so little, yet the author does so much.  By the end of the tale, we have been properly terrified, horrified, and kept on the edge of our recliners in suspense.  He takes such simple sentences and uses them like deft brush-strokes to completely outline a character, a scene, and a plot.  You have no doubt about what a person is like, where they are, and what is going on – but if you look back over what you just read, there isn’t a whole lot to look back over.  Hammett is the master of blunt prose – as tough as Sam Spade but as descriptive and lovely as Nora Charles.

“Woman in the Dark” was written by Dashiell Hammett and published in 1933 in serial, and as a book in 1950.