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Wednesday, January 30, 2008
I can't begin the express the admiration I have for Stephen King. Reading his novels have been some of the greatest reading pleasures of my life. When I 'discovered' him, I was blown away and I read every book of his that was available. And I was rarely disappointed. At least up until a point.
Stephen King's 1985 novel, It, was a major event for me when it was released. I bought it in hardcover, which was unwise at that time of my life, and I devoured it in no time flat. After that...
Well, I still bought his hardbacks, but something seemed to change after it. I liked many of the books, but it seemed like something was....different. King attempted to get more ambitious with his fiction. And I admire the hell out of that. Sometimes he was very successful. Other times he was less than successful. At least to me.
But I never gave up on Stephen King and I always read his books as soon as they come out. Often I was quite satisfied, as with From a Buick 8, The Colorado Kid and Bag of Bones. As much as I loathe to say it, I couldn't stand some of them.
Duma Key is the latest novel from Stephen King and I'll waste no time in saying that it's incredible. For those that might have forgotten how damned good a horror novelist King can be, I urge you to read it. And yes, Duma Key is pure horror. I haven't been this blown away by a book of King's since...well, damned near ever. Christine has been my favorite of his books for many years, and Duma Key might not quite take its place in my number one spot, but it's close. Really close.
I won't waste a lot of time detailing the plot of Duma Key. It's surprises and secrets are too wonderful for me to spoil. But it opens with a successful construction contractor who suffers a near-fatal injury. He loses an arm, his hip is shattered and his head was badly hurt. Life, as he knows it, is over, yet he attempts to start over again in a mysteriously undeveloped piece of beachside real estate in Florida: Duma Key. As therapy he begins to draw and he is immediately overwhelmed by his passion, his obsession, with painting. He gradually learns that his work has a strange power. And when he meets his neighbors on the Key, an he is engulfed into a terrifying vortex of horror.
King does not write simple stories and Duma Key has various subtexts. Loss, recovery and the power of the creative process are examined in metaphoric detail, but those that simple want a great, scary story will be just as satisfied as those looking for deeper meaning.
Characters have always been one of King's greatest strengths and the people in Duma Key are among his finest creations. We come to know them and eventually love them. And that's when King tightens the screws on them and tears our own guts out in the process.
I love long novels and Duma Key is over 600 pages long. I also like short stories, but in a lengthy story, the author is able to really develop the characters and to weave a dense plot. The story here is brilliant and I don't think any short piece of fiction can come close to having the kind of effect on a reader as Duma Key did upon me.
If you've been unhappy with King's fiction in the last twenty years, as many individuals I know have been, I urge you, implore you, to read Duma Key. Not for me, not for King, but for you. It's the best horror novel I've read in the last decade.
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Sunday, January 13, 2008
I know it, I'm certifiable. I buy books. I spend a lot of money on them. And I realize that several months ago I said that I'd stop. But I can't. I won't.
Reading has always been my life preserver. My hold on to sanity. The light that guides me through the darkness. My first love. My passion.
People have complimented me lots of times in my life by saying that I am an intelligent person. I have this theory about that. I think that most of us, with the exception of a small percentage of tragically unfortunate people, are born with the ability to be intelligent individuals. We have the necessary tools to learn to reason and to be smart. But the sad thing is, the brain is a muscle and like any muscle, it must be used. Reading for pleasure isn't the only way to keep a healthy, active mind, but it's one of the good ways. Too many people, far too many people, let their precious minds decay. Like atrophied muscles in the body, an inactive mind grows weak. Television is the leading culprit in most cases, and other forms of media follow closely. Add in the dumbing down that most peer pressure leads to and the unending tedium that so many jobs inflict upon lives and you have a nation of nincompoops.
On the other hand, would a smart person spend so much on books?
Well, maybe. But I've stopped with the expensive limited editions. And I use the library whenever I can. But yeah, I buy a lot of books and I plan to continue to do so. It's what I do. It's what I will continue to do.
One of my biggest financial setbacks has been my obsessive habit of DVD collecting. I've spent a bloody fortune on them. Well, that's going to stop. Well, mostly stop. From now on I intend to cut that waaaay back.
I used to read all the time. Every night, almost. When I bought my first VCR, I almost completely stopped reading. And for years I read with a lot less frequency than I watched movies. That's going to change too. I'm sick of it.
Don't get me wrong...I still love movies. But I plan to see more at the theater than on home video. At least for a while. I intend to read more books in 2008 than in any other year of my life. The year isn't but a couple of weeks old, and I've completed two books. I want to do a lot better than that. And I will.
I'm excited about it. So much so that I've spent a lot of money this week on books. What have I bought? Uh...
Fools Rush In, by Ed Gorman. Trade hardcover.
Antediluvian Tales, by Poppy Z. Brite. Trade hardcover.
Snowbound/Games, by Bill Pronzini. Trade paperback.
Dark Delicacies 2, edited by Jeff Gelb and Del Howison. Trade paperback.
Seldom Seen in August, by Kealan Patrick Burke. Signed, limited chapbook.
With my apologies to the independent booksellers, I bought the books at Amazon, where I get a substantial discount. I want to support the genre, but I need to watch my own budget and it goes a lot further when I get discounts. Oh and I bought the chapbook direct from White Noise Press.
I put the challenge forth to you too. Read more. Fewer hours in front of the TV set. Not much time making small talk with uninteresting people. Let's raise our own personal bars of literacy and share it here.
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Thursday, January 03, 2008
I've always had eclectic tastes in music. Well, I call it eclectic, others have said that I like weird shit.
In my earliest memories of enjoying songs, I was drawn to novelty tunes. But that's not really much of a novelty unto itself...many, or even most kids like funny songs. It's just that I never stopped. This and that appealed to me, but when I first heard the music of the messiah of Gibson guitars, Frank Zappa, it was a revelation. If my memory serves, the album was Burnt Weeny Sandwich and I thought it was great.
I became the biggest Frank Zappa fan in town. I owned every damned one of them and I listened to them obsessively. I can feel the blush of embarrassment come up as I confess that I even had the long black hair, mustache and signature goatee that Frank had. Thankfully, that was a brief period.
Other bizarre acts became instant favorites when I heard them. The Bonzo Dog Band were and will always continue to be favorites of mine. When "Weird Al" Yankovic hit the scene, I was immediately enraptured.
I've always looked for new oddities to add to my list of whacked-out favorites. One great place to hear off-the-beaten-track stuff is the No Pigeonholes radio show, hosted by Don Campau. Don plays home recorded, underground music of all styles and genres and lots of it is humorous and decidedly offbeat.
One day, a few years ago, I heard a song on No Pigeonholes that really caught my ears. It was called The Pincushion Man and it sounded like it came from one of those cool old black and white cartoons. The artist was identified as The Rudy Schwartz Project. Intrigued, I did a quick Internet search and located the website of The Rudy Schwartz Project. I decided to order one of the CDs that were offered for sale and I simply chose the first one listed, which was called Bowling For Appliances.
It quickly arrived and I wasted no time in getting into my stereo. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I was shocked at what came out of my speakers that day. Bowling For Appliances is strange, funny, outrageous and slightly unnerving.
I liked Bowling for Appliances and if I was satisfied by it, then I was utterly blown away by the next one I ordered. Don't Get Charred....Get Puffy! is widely considered the finest release by The Rudy Schwartz Project and it is an astonishing piece of music. There is the obvious influence of Frank Zappa in it (and all of Rudy's music), but it is far from any sort of slavering imitation. Rudy Schwartz has his own warped mindset and his own political agenda.
There was no turning back after hearing Don't Get Charred...Get Puffy. I was thoroughly corrupted and I had no choice but to buy all of the other music. I've been a huge fan ever since. In fact, after numerous listens and continuing to be astonished by the music, I was forced to come to the conclusion that The Rudy Schwartz Project was my very favorite musical act. And, like with any other music I liked, I forced it upon everyone I know. Some were frightened off. Others were interested, but still intimidated. Others still saw what I saw in the songs and have become fans.
But what kind of music does The Rudy Schwartz Project play? Uh, that's like asking what kind of music that Zappa played, or Weird Al Yankovic or The Bonzo Dog Band. Like many of my favorite bands, The Rudy Schwartz Project is fiercely eclectic. You can't pigeonhole the music into one single genre, though the songs touch on most styles.
I don't know what kind of music you like. But if you are offended by what society considers to be obscene language, The Rudy Schwartz Project is not for you. If you are the kind that will be insulted by irreverent religious satire, you need to look elsewhere. If you like music that is easily definable and sits comfortably in a category in a record store, uh uh. But if you like complex arrangements and performances, laugh-out-loud humor and pointed criticisms of the bullshit in society, The Rudy Schwartz Project just might be your cup of poison.
So imagine my surprise when Rudy Schwartz contacted me and said that he liked Horror Drive-In and wished to write movie reviews for the site. I was stunned and extremely flattered and I gratefully agreed. He'll be doing reviews of mostly rare horror and SF movies and as I indicated before, he's a very funny man. Check out his reviews and I think you'll agree.
The first one is up here and there will (hopefully) be many more to follow.
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