Reading Response

Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 Disturbing psychology of what makes a vampire a vampire. The novel presents as a case file of Dr. Philip Outerbridge. Dr Philip is terrified by the case of George and hopes to present his findings to the colonel who wants to know what made George so angry that he hit his commanding officer. The possibilities explored are tremendous.Some of your blood is a vampire psychological novel that examines the matriculation of evil from birth to the age of twenty three.
Theodore Sturgeon does a great job looking at developmental physiologically and especially keen observation o the Havelock Ellis Principal. The Havelock Ellis principle states:"That any mutual act - any one, providing only that it was not forced by one upon the other, and was an expression of love is moral." Sturgeon yields a command of psychology as a tool.
From the tool he asks the following terrorizing questions: Is it possible to create a vampire by defining social norms which would reward the blood sucking event? What would happen if love was connected to the harm of the giver? George learns to seek the comfort of blood because his mother sacrifices herself.
Sturgeon further examines: What if the social conditioning and the pain from punishment came with crimes or no crime committed, would this create a psychopath? What is role of punishment? What should punishment's role be in society? How do the first two years socially construct an individual? Is an individual beyond the ability to be reconditioned from a traumatic childhood? How much are we products of our parents and the environment we are born into?
The book was terrifying . The middle section, George's story, might get a reader bogged down, but blast through that part and you will find a blood red orange.
This was my first book by Theodore Sturgeon I have read, and am interested in reading more by the author.


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Haiku Review of the Wasteland by Stephen King

Haiku Summary of the Wasteland by Stephen King:

Choo Choo Engine,
stood before Roland the Brave
asking mean riddles.

Believe me there is more to this book than that, because there is nothing quit like Stephen King. He grabs a hold of you and will never let go. He uses the mythic structure of the Heroes Quest, while keeping the form current by not letting the work go into the drawers of cliche.
The dark tower is the subterranean river that flows beneath all of his books. When we jump into the adventure of the Ka-tet, we are seeing the strands of King's other works being tied up and completed. He has created a universe that will keep you awake at night.

Movie Review: Black Death

In an age of darkness one man will face the ultimate battle against evil.

But what is Hope? Nothing but the paint on the face of existence, the least touch of truth rubs, it off and when we what a hallow-cheeked harlot we have got hold of.- Lord Byron

Viewed	2.28.2012
Genre	Horror
Language	English
Rated	R:Strong brutal violence, and some language
Parent Advisary	Parents should be careful as this movie is brutal and questions a number of Christian Ideas. It is important that you have a discussion with your child after viewing this movie.

I found this movie listed on Netflix, in their new release section, and felt it was a tremendous movie.   Black Death illustrates the terrible effects of the bubonic plague.  Superstition filled the time.  The church ran everything.  And anyone outside of the norm could be branded and burned a heretic.

   This movie could easily be missed, as it was produced by Europe, Germany and England, and was released in Ireland, so the "American Media" did not advertise it.  But if you were to miss it, that would be a shame. 
Why spend the time on a movie set in a far past?  This movie embraces a time of uncertainty.  This movie illustrates a historical period where the elite grasped control over its citizens. The movie looks at woman who dare survive a time that they are made the enemy.    The movie then looks at death.   Death is a very difficult thing to look at truthfully.   We often avoid the topic because death is painful. The movie explores necromancy, and answers why one may desire to raise the dead from an untimely end.
Stephen King said in an interview with the Paris Review that horror explains the cult of fear and confusion in an uncertain time.

"In every life you get a point where you have to deal with something that's inexplicable to you,"

  The message is a warning against a nation or a people allowing fear to rule them.  

Director	Christopher Smith
Prodcued By	Egoli Tossell Film (presents) HanWay Films (presents) Zephyr Films (in association with) Ecosse Films Post Republic, The (in association with)
Released	UK 26 May 2010
Special Awards or Noted Where	aired in the BBC FILM 4 Fright Fest
Locations	Blankenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany (Castle Blankenburg)		Burg Querfurt, Querfurt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany		Torgelow, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany (Ukranenland)

Novel Reivews:

Review-Stephen King's 11.22.63

 

 11/22/63 by Stephen King

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


As Stephen King said repeatedly in 11.22.63, “The past harmonizes”....and so does this book.  11.22.63 shows King traveling in the time streams between 2011 and 1958 United States.  I agree with Time Magazine when they said that this book is a great travelogue back to the 1950’s American Landscape.   However, this book is much more than just a mere nostalgic kick down Route 66.
 
The main character, Jack Epping, thinks he must go back in time and stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald.  He, like many, feels that if just John F. Kennedy was not shot then the world would be a much better place.  But we find that changing the strings of time is never for the better no matter the intentions.  And you can’t stop God’s hand in our storied time; there is no legislation to do away with earthquakes, or tornadoes.

This book was tremendously researched, and because of this one comes away with a sense that this really could be true.   King used his historical research and connected the strands into one epic masterfully.  He is a master at pinpointing the zeitgeist for our age; he understands the times and the people better than the talking heads over at C.N.N. and Fox News. I might even say that Stephen King is our current United State's Charles Dickens.

Be careful for time traveling with King has the possibility of creating jet leg without stepping across a time zone.  The end of the book is a stunner.

Readers who liked this book can also check out Jack Finney’s Time and Again and From Time to Time.
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Library Notes

I am currently reading the Stand and now that this will take me a long time.   The book has a great following and one group of Stand fans twittered a version of the book.  It's rather cool, check it out now.  The site also plays a soundtrack that is connected to the book.