"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
Unsolicited opinions on books, movies, TV shows, consumer products
The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier Stories for and about adolescents follow certain established conventions. Brave young boys and girls stand up to social and peer pressure, buck conformity, and do the right thing. They look bullies in the eye and the bullies back down. The bad guys lose. The good guys experience adversity but […]
“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.” – William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984) The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, by Reif Larsen The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet is an engrossing, impossible-to-put-down story of discovery and redemption, told by a child prodigy, a master cartographer at the […]
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” — Humphrey Bogart (as Rick Blain), Casablanca (1942) The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008) Something about this movie bothers me. No, it isn’t that it plunges me into shame, anger, despair, horror, and sadness. No, it isn’t […]
Last month I decided to read some banned books. I gave myself a year to finish the project. I’m sandwiching these books in with my regular reading, rather than tackling them all at once. One month in, I’ve finished four controversial books for children: And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell Looks […]
“It was beauty killed the beast.” — Robert Armstrong, King Kong (1933) Shine a Light (2008) I think the idea was that Martin Scorsese would turn a concert film into cinematic magic, and I must say the photography and staging is brilliant, but really it’s just another concert film and not all that memorable as […]
“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed into a giant insect.” – Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis (1915) The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz I didn’t finish it, I’m slightly ashamed to say. It’s sort of a Dominican version of Catcher in the Rye. Four or five […]
“I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it.” — Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront (1954) The Ramen Girl (2008) The Ramen Girl is like a prettily-wrapped gift box with nothing but tissue inside. There isn’t enough here to […]
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” – George Orwell, 1984 (1949) A Most Wanted Man, by John le Carré You know what you’re going to get with a John le Carré novel, much as you know what you’re going to get with an Elmore Leonard novel . […]