Reviews

Apr 25 2011

The Great Fire of Rome by Stephen Dando-Collins

One of the most famous stories to come out of ancient Rome is the one that tells of Emperor Nero playing his fiddle and singing while Rome burned.  Was this true?  Did Nero start the fire in order to rebuild Rome in a more magnificent display of his power?  These and other questions have been debated by historians.  Stephen Dando-Collins adds his interpretation of the fire and the four years of Nero’s reign (his last years) following the fire in his book The Great Fire of Rome: The Fall of the Emperor Nero and His City.

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By Jeff Grim • Featured, Reviews • 1 • Tags: , , , ,

Apr 18 2011

The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde (Chris Beatrice, illustrator)

Once upon a time I had an idea to post reviews of books I like to read my children. Alas, like so many of my ideas it never quite took off. But in this case it did pay off in at least one way.  It seems Dan Goeller stumbled upon that review and thought I might be interested in his project.

Goeller, a composer, was part of a new rendition of the Oscar Wilde classic The Selfish Giant but this one a musical as well as literary effort:

Oscar Wilde’s classic fairy tale springs to life in this imaginative adaptation for symphony orchestra and narrator.  Composer Dan Goeller’s captivating music captures the humor and poignancy of Wilde’s story. For example, one can hear the sweet singing of the birds in the flutes or the sound of the growling Giant in the tuba. Both children and adults will delight in the superb narration of celebrated English actor Martin Jarvis. The symphonic score is perfectly complemented by the illustrations of award-winning artist Chris Beatrice.  His skillful use of light and color adds an enchanting quality to his stunning visual portraits of Wilde’s imaginative world. This perfect union of art and music is sure to inspire children of all ages for generations to come.

After having a chance to look and listen to the story, I have to say it is well done. A joy to listen to and read.  For more and a video example see below.

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By Kevin Holtsberry • Featured, Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , , , , ,

Apr 14 2011

Dream Life by Michelle Herman

I stumbled upon the work of Michelle Herman in a Borders store that is now closed.  Her short novel Dog caught my eye and I noticed that she was from Columbus. So I decided to read the book and look into the possibility of a Q&A. I ended my exploration with an appreciation of her work and, after the interview, an appreciation for her as a person.  And in many ways her fiction and non-fiction make you feel like you know her as a person not just as an artist.

Dream Life is part of Amazon’s Kindle Singles (“Compelling Ideas Expressed at Their Natural Length”). Here is the blurb:

Why do we dream? Why do we dream what we dream?

Novelist and essayist Michelle Herman looks at dreams and dreaming every which way: from ancient dream interpretation to Freud, from the way birds dream to the way babies do, from Jung to contemporary sleep and dream scientists, from her own dreams to the dreams of everyone she knows. In this mash-up of science, cultural history, psychoanalysis, and autobiography, she reckons with the art, the purpose, and the meaning of our dreams.

I am not really all that interested in dreams to be honest. I don’t have dreams that I remember and I don’t find the subject all that fascinating – neither Jung nor Freud nor sleep science. But I think Michelle is a talented writer and I wanted to see what she had to say and how she said it. Plus, it was $2 – what is the worst that could happen?

It turned out to be an interesting read. A deeply personal take on a unique subject – creative non-fiction that uses a subject as a jumping off point for more. More after the jump.

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By Kevin Holtsberry • Featured, Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , , ,

Apr 12 2011

Hitler’s Master of the Dark Arts by Bill Yenne

When I think of pure Evil in this world, one of the groups of people that comes to mind is the Nazis.  This group of men and women took control of Germany and transformed the country.  The hate they preached was foul and disgusting.  Among the many who stood beside Hitler was his primary henchman – Heinrich Himmler – head of the SS.  In Hitler’s Master of the Dark Arts: Himmler’s Black Knights and the Occult Origins of the SS Bill Yenne chronicles Himmler’s rise to power and how Himmler led the Nazis into the Dark Arts.

Through Himmler’s rise to power, Yenne explores the bizarre world of the Nazis’ connection with the occult.  Since its creation, the Nazi Party was heavily influenced by the occult.  The Party leadership embraced the idea that the Aryan Race was far superior to the other races and they spent vast sums of money exploring the world and science to prove their warped view.  This exploration was influenced by an ancient pagan Norse religion combined with nineteenth-century spiritualism.  At the head of this exploration was Hitler’s “witch doctor,” Himmler and his SS.

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By Jeff Grim • Featured, Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Apr 4 2011

The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi

I picked up this middle grade focused story because I have a hard time resisting well packaged books that offer creative art and imaginative story lines. The The Search for WondLa certainly fits the bill. A great sci-fi/fantasy adventure with elements of the graphic novel thrown in.

Publishers blurb? Publishers blurb:

When a marauder destroys the underground sanctuary that Eva Nine was raised in by the robot Muthr, the twelve-year-year-old girl is forced to flee aboveground. Eva Nine is searching for anyone else like her, for she knows that other humans exist, because of an item she treasures—a scrap of cardboard on which is depicted a young girl, an adult, and a robot, with the strange word, “WondLa.” Tony DiTerlizzi honors traditional children’s literature in this totally original space age adventure: one that is as complex as an alien planet, but as simple as a child’s wish for a place to belong.

Breathtaking two-color illustrations throughout reveal another dimension of Tony DiTerlizzi’s vision, and, for those readers with a webcam, the book also features Augmented Reality in several places, revealing additional information about Eva Nine’s world.

As is often the case where more than one book is planned, this book introduces the characters and explores the world they find themselves in without always revealing all the details or developing secondary characters fully.

The pace and tension don’t necessarily ratchet up but instead move in fits and starts. But the main character, Eva Nine, and her quest to understand the circumstances of her life keep the story moving forward. DiTerlizzi’s artwork adds to the joy of the story and to the underlying mystery.  The world DiTerlizzi has created is captivating and mysterious enough that you want to keep reading; not just to see the next illustration but to dig a little deeper into the mystery.

As you move along the ground shifts in subtle and not so subtle ways and as you are soaking up the details you are trying to get a handle on the bigger picture (Where exactly are we? What happened to the humans? What exactly is going on with a planet that seems like an ocean without the water?). This sense of unknown adds its own kind of tension and supsense.

With all of this the tone and style were rather interesting. It was in many ways a bright and cheery story – Eva is remarkably upbeat for the most part and the story has little violence and few dark undertones (I never really felt like Eva was in real danger – too integral to the story for that – but Rovender and Muthr are a different story). But Rovee adds a stoic or semi-tragic perspective and the overall arc of the story gives the sense that life for Eva will never be the same. This seemed like a nice balancing act given the audience (although I understand kids these days read all sort of dark stories).

The ending, however, certainly elevates the tension and leaves readers wanting to read the next book immediately if not sooner. And so we wait for the second book …

By Kevin Holtsberry • Featured, Reviews • 1 • Tags: , ,

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