Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Release Date: September 1954
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Pages: 248
Buy the Book: Amazon
Book Rating: 2/5
In the end section of the edition I picked up at a thrift store Golding states that: "The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable." Now, I went into this under the base assumption that the book was essentially about the collapse of civilized behavior into barbarism; that the confines of society were traded for the savage human nature barely concealed by ethics and morals. However, I don't feel that the novel is doing as much as Golding is saying its doing and I felt that it was a long story to make a short point: when society changes, so does our idea of civilization.
Perhaps to clarify my grievances, I will try and go into more detail.........
The Scarlet Plague by Jack London
Release Date: 1912
Publisher: London Magazine / Macmillian
Audience: Everyone
Pages: 68
Buy the Book: Amazon
Download the Book: Project Gutenberg
Book Rating: 3.5/5
While technically a short story, The Scarlet Plague is still, nevertheless, a good read. A fairly straightforward story by Jack London, James Smith, one of the few survivors of a global epidemic half a century prior, sits down with his grandchildren and narrates the story as it happened to him. As he does this, he attempts to impart the wisdom of a bygone world to them.
While Smith narrates the story much like a news story, or radio broadcast (Think Welle's broadcast of War of the Worlds ) it is still a compelling story as you watch the collapse of modern civilization over the course of a few days. Written in 1912, it reads like much of the science fiction of the late 19th early 20th century in that it is, to modern readers, both futuristic and archaic in its description of civilization. It feels like the space age 1950s that brought us the Jetsons. Smith recalls the outbreak and 99.99% fatality rate of The Scarlet Plague and narrates his party's flight from the city towards the mountains. It also includes the renewal of tribal life as mankind is reduced, insofar as Smith knows, to around 200 people.
The story does recall The Last Man by Mary Shelley, but the author is less introspective, and the language is less flowery and dense. (It would kind of have to be given its page count ;) ). The thing I appreciate in this story, beyond the tale of survival, is the interaction between Smith and his grandchildren and how someone, who was a renowned scientist, deals with a world reduced to tribal rules and organization and is slowly becoming more superstitious and disbelieving of scientific discovery we take for granted today (germs being one of them for example).
A good read, and a shorter read, it is recommended. Unless your a sucker for the hard copy of books, I recommend downloading this from Gutenberg, or another service. I found mine on Kobo for my e-reader for free. I imagine it is available electronically for the Kindle, etc..
Title: The Mist
Genre: Horror
Directed by: Frank Darabont
Written by: Frank Darabont
Starring:
Thomas Jane
Marcia Gay Harden
Laurie Holden
Andre Braugher
Release Date: November 21st, 2007
Rating: 2.5/5
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Since I wrote a review of The Mist on Monday, I want to primarily talk about the differences between the book and movie.
My main problem with the movie is its need to be...well...cinematic. By that I mean that elements of the novel are translated into film language, to its detriment I think. One thing is the need to A. have the 'jump at you' scares and B. show off the creatures. To address the first complaint, earlier on before you see the creatures, it is more terrifying than when you do because you mind fills in the blanks and creates something far worse than the designers can create. (this is in no way to harp on Berni Wrightson's designs which are, as with all his work, awesome.) But they resort instead to have them jump out of the fog at the audience for cheap thrills rather than creating an atmospheric horror movie like The Thing.
This goes into the next part: showing off the monsters. Part of the terror is not seeing The Thing or the alien in Alien, but knowing it could appear at any moment, to keep you on the edge of your seat. In The Mist they are all over the place and, as such, when they do attack it is less terrifying and has less of an impact on the audience. In most horror movies, less is more is often a plus, and I feel they could have had less of the monsters with more of an impact.
The ending. I don't want to ruin either the book or movie, but lets just say the movie was extremely maudlin and heavy handed with its ending. I prefer the book's ending myself.
However, what is most important is the characters and their interactions and I think the movie is fairly successful in this regard. Much like the book, the film is very visceral with its characters and you either like the characters or hate them (you only have to look at youtube comments on the trailer to see this). Despite this, I can't get past the ending. I am in the middle of the road on this movie, I like parts, don't like others. So, if you are intrigued by the book, or the trailer, watching the movie adaptation certainly won't hurt.
The Mist by Stephen King
Release Date: 1980;1985;2007
Publisher: Signet
Audience: Everyone
Pages: 240
Buy the Book: Amazon
Book Rating: 4/5
Stephen King week! Why? Because I can!!! :)
Admittedly, I turned to this novel after watching the movie adaptation and the fact that my friend mentioned that the book ended differently than the movie. In short, The Mist follows David and his son as they becomed trapped in a grocery story with a number of other patrons. They soon find they cannot leave the store as strange creatues abound in the mist, killing those who venture forth from the store. Soon, the patrons, a la The Lord of the Flies or The Drive-In, begin to socially break down. Most end up following a prophet who emerges from the group, a prophet who believes a child sacrafice is needed to save them all: David's son. David, to save his son, must brave the mists.
The Mist is one of those books that, upon completion, you kind of get that 'I hate humans' feeling. In this book, Stephen writes a number of visceral characters that naturally rub against the reader and do a good job of making you hate them. Further, I enjoy the ambiguous nature of the novel, you are never sure exactly what is happening or where these mists came from. Further, you are not exactly sure what will happen next as the grocery store, as time passes, becomes a pressure cooker on the people living inside of it and anything becomes possible.
While the book suffers a little from what I call King-itis (the need for dozens of tertiary characters) it was a decent book with memorable characters. Further (a plus in my experience with Stephen King novels), it is fairly short. This seems to be a nod by King to a number of authors, including Golding, Lovecraft, and others like them. If you are looking for book with some atmosphere or a decent dystopian / horror I recommend checking this book out.
The Drive-In: A “B” Movie with Blood and Popcorn, Made in Texasby Joe R. Lansdale
Published: 1988
Publisher: Bantam Books
Audience: Mature
Pages 176
Buy the Book: Amazon
Book Rating: 5/5
Book Synopsis:
Friday night at the Orbit Drive-in: a circus of noise, sex, teenage hormones, B-movie blood, and popcorn. On a cool, crisp summer night, with the Texas stars shining down like rattlesnake eyes, movie-goers for the All-Night Horror Show are trapped in the drive-in by a demonic-looking comet. Then the fun begins. If the movie-goers try to leave, their bodies dissolve into goo. Cowboys are reduced to tears. Lovers quarrel. Bikini-clad women let their stomachs’ sag, having lost the ambition to hold them in. The world outside the six monstrous screens fades to black while the movie-goers spiral into base humanity, resorting to fighting, murdering, crucifying, and cannibalizing to survive.
Review:
If Amazon's summary doesn't have you clicking the 'add to cart' button, I don't know what will. Close to 200 pages, The Drive-In is a quick read and is a lot of fun. My brother tends to come across an eclectic variety of novels and loaned this to me and I read it in one sitting. The book, starting off like a coming of age story, quickly turns for the worse as the main characters, journeying to a huge drive-in, become trapped there with the rest of the patrons. Many theories are suggested but soon become moot as the people trapped in the drive-in slowly go insane. However, mere mortals are the least of the main characters worries as the people in the drive-in begin to worship a being called 'The Popcorn King'. Faced with dangers on all sides, the main characters must not only think of a way to escape the drive-in, but the Popcorn King and it's followers.
This book can appeal to the 'check your brain at the door' readers who want a good rollercoaster ride, but the book at times does explore the depth of human depravity and the quickness with which the thin veneer of society is rubbed away. Violent, funny, mad maxian, with monstrous creatures and possibly some aliens, this book is truly an homage to the 1950s scifi flick, monster movie, and slasher flick....and a coming of age for our main characters.
My brother only had the first novel in the trilogy and for his birthday I noticed on amazon that, to my surprise and pleasure, that the series had been compiled into one treasure replete with concept art for the now defunct movie of the book, and good forewords and introductions. So, I picked it up. Highly recommended. I plan to read the other two books in the trilogy soon.
