The Format of Presentation as Part of the Art

The vehicle which transmits a particular media can itself be part of the artistic expression–secondary, certainly, it isn’t on equal footing with the creator or artist but rather subtly intertwined with the expression itself as an added layer of entertainment. This is not always the case either, because the vehicle of transmission is often totally irrelevant. But when it is part of the entertainment package, the vehicle of transmission enhances the experience of a particular media item wonderfully albeit sometimes imperceptibly.

Two particular things got me thinking about this concept specifically at this time. First, I recently took a beach vacation and before going I stopped by a few local used bookstores to stock up on cheap paperbacks. Now the ideal beach read, at least for me, has to be something that is fast-paced, exciting, and page-turning and not to dense or hyper-literate yet without being dumb, poorly written or overly cliched. Thus a good beach read is by someone like Michael Connelly who detours “literary fiction” without becoming a James Patterson and does so by writing creatively and, well, “good.” Anyway, it had been a long time since I had bought fiction paperbacks; typically the sort of thing I’d want in a fiction paperback is something I’d try to find at the library; I’d resort to buying it if I couldn’t find it there, but any fiction item I purchase typically is something by a favorite author I know I’ll want to re-read and keep or something I’ve read before and know is a classic that I want to hold onto, in which case I want a nice, presentable softcover TPB or Hardcover; if a classic work of literature, I want it in an even nicer format if I can find a deal on it.  Anyway, since I was in the process of moving and thus in between libraries, because I wanted specific authors and books, and because I knew there was a high-probability that what I read on a beach would get sandy and water-logged, my best bet was purchasing these books myself.  So armed with a stack of Lee Child, Michael Connelly, and Graham Joyce paperbacks I made way to the beach. Down by the water each day, I realized that there’s no better companion to a shady beach chair, a cooler of drinks, and a fifteen minute dip in the ocean every hour or two than a great paperback thriller or mystery. Certainly the story itself has to be good–the author has to suck you in, get you flipping the pages, and never drag on to bore you out of the forward momentum. You have to be dying to know what will happen next, otherwise you’ll just throw it down and zone out in the sun. But the paperback format itself adds to this enjoyment tremendously; looking around to see what other beach-goers were reading I spotted the occasional Kindle and I just kept thinking that I would be continually nervous that the water dripping off of me, the waves rolling in, the sun beating down, and the sand everywhere would have me constantly nervous that my electronic device would go kaputz and not only would I be out a hundred or more bucks, I’d be without a read for the day. Armed with a 2 or 3 dollar used paperback, I could fold the pages, toss it in the beach bag, read it while covered in sand and not be overly concerned with its overall condition–it just had to hold up for me to finish reading it. If I fell in love with the book and wanted it for my library, I could hunt it down later in hardback. Even off the beach, the perfect format for a thriller you only need to read once is the used paperback; it’s fun and perfectly sized for reading wherever you want and easily portable. I suppose the Kindle could replicate this experience better than many other reading experiences if and when the price per item is comparable but until that is a reality I’ll hold out.

The other thing that made me think of this format as part of the art argument came from a few Yahoo news story. One story was the rehashed filler they pull out every month or so, the “businesses that are as good as dead”article which names video rental stores, costume stores, etc. Record Stores made the list, with the same old reasoning that people download, and when they do buy CDs they do so cheaply in big box stores. The article said that despite what hipsters, DJs, and collectors want to believe, the indie record shops are largely on the way out except for the ones who’ve managed to adapt and adopt business methods that work in the digital economy. Conversely, there was a story a day or two later that talked about how many record shops that struggled when the bottom fell out of the CD business were gaining enough ground to level off by switching to vinyl for the bulk of their sells. Indie stores in big cities and college towns around the country now devote more of their sales floors to LPs and 45s than to CDs  and the annual “Record Store Day” event in which artists release limited edition vinyl releases directly through independent music retailers was another huge hit this year. Vinyl sales were up more in 2010 than in any year since Soundscan began taking numbers in 1990. New albums by established artists and up and coming indie acts release their albums not only on CD and download, but on at least 500-1000 vinyl pressings; vinyl reissues of albums by The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Who sell very well each and every year. Such stores in areas like Charlottesville VA, Cincinnati, OH and Louisville Ky have begun stocking high quality turntables because they were tired of turning away the teenagers and college kids stumbling into their stores to buy vinyl but needing the system to play it on. Now, vinyl collectors and audiophiles have kept vinyl in business and popular for years (this even made it to film in the classic 1990s comedy “High Fidelity” based on the Nick Hornby book), but the popularity among indie rock fan teenagers and twenty-somethings has helped it boom out more than ever to such a point that artists as mainstream as Taylor Swift make sure to press vinyl editions of their new work. Of course it’s still a niche market and the price of new vinyl coupled with the limitations and requirements it poses to mass consumption will never make its sells a drop in the bucket compared to legal and illegal digital downloads. But it is interesting. The part of this prompting the argument I am making here comes largely from the comment-thread in that last story. Every time there is a “vinyl is booming” new-story, there are dozens of people commenting things like “Huh? Why?” and dozens of audiophiles posting about the superior sound quality of vinyl vis-a-vis digital. These comment threads explode into over-the-top arguments as people seem to find each others arguments completely incomprehensible. Both have their points but both miss a key aspect of this hobby too. Vinyl does offer a warmer, fuller sound when the record is clean and well cared for, the turntable is of good quality, and the amp and speakers are the correct components. The clicks and pops won’t be there on new cared-for LPs (contrary to the arguments of those never having heard a new vinyl) and on older items a few introductory pops are indeed pleasantly nostalgic. The sound on a vinyl copy of, say,  “Abbey Road” compared with every CD pressing before last year’s remastering overhaul was miles ahead–I had no idea there were as many instruments and notes in the background as there were because of digital’s habit of maxing every sound to its top volume and then leveling it flat in a digital sample onto CD. Vinyl has a particular sound, one that jazz, blues, and classic rock built itself to suit for many years so of course a Charlie Parker, Bob Dylan, or BB King record from the 1960s will sound miles ahead of its CD pressing. Yet the digital folks have their point to; properly mastered CDs sound great on the right system, are more portable and sound great cars. MP3s are enervated a bit every time they are opened to a certain extent but aren’t susceptible to human sound warping through scuffs and scratches and are the height of portability thus far. They do limit the sound by compressing it more than any format before (LPs give off sound waves, CDs sample soundwaves, mp3s compress those samples even more), but now high-quality 320 and up kpbs digital tracks are available that in most cases catch the quality of a sound recording the way it was supposed to be; the fact that sometimes that results in a high-gloss sheen that sounds “artificial” to some in comparison to the “warmth” offered by vinyl is due more to aesthetic and nostalgic sensibilities than fact. What both sides of this (admittedly to the outsider rather pointless and arbitrary) argument don’t give priority to nearly enough is the format-as-part-of-the-art fact: it certainly isn’t just sound that draws collectors and hipsters to vinyl. If I just want to hear a new album, a download is the most efficient way to get to do so, often cheap or free; I can carry it around with me and hear it in my car or with headphones. If I want a better sounding copy to carry with me most anyplace that also offers me the intended packaging, there’s CD. For me, I preview and listen and can love albums that I download but once I truly find a great one (or know beforehand it will be a great one), I don’t feel I have it in the proper format until I get it for my turntable. Not just for sound–for presentation, collection, and process. It sounds good on an old fashioned home stereo; it requires my involvement in that I place it on the turntable and put the needle to it. I hear the first and last track of the first side, which especially in vinyl-era releases was the result of a deliberate sequencing decision and then I flip it to side two and repeat the process. It requires my care in that I keep it clean and safe. It gives me a giant cover with full-size artwork and an inner sleeve, often liner notes and extras tucked within. It gives me a collectible to place on the shelf and pull down when I want to. The vinyl hobby itself sends me to new and used and out of the way places in the towns I live in or bargain hunting on line. There’s nothing better than getting a record never pressed on CD or sampled digitally or one you’d never have thought to get and getting it for a few dollars only to find out you love hearing it spin on your turntable.

Great art is great art regardless of how it is presented. Yet the vehicle of transmission can add to the joy of the experience one has when consuming such art. Certain movies look great on the big screen and are a joy to see collectively in a theater and seeing them alone at home on the TV often cannot match that. A visually stunning movie looks excellent on a a Blu-Ray player with a proper screen and sound-system and can be much more fun that trying to squint your eyes at your smartphone to watch it. A classic jazz record sounds best on the turntable; a nineties hip-hop album sounds best on CD in a car with great bass speakers. A great comic-arc reads best in a nice and carefully presented Omnibus but a one-off fun short story comic works best as a single issue. A thriller works best as a cheap paperback, a dense erudite work is best in a hardcover sewn volume. I would argue that a newspaper still reads best via newsprint but those days are almost gone. So sure, this involves primarily matters of opinion and personal taste and I’m sure there’s an entire generation of kids growing up right now who will find no problem digesting every bit of their media with a handheld device. Perhaps by then every bit of media will be created and be tailored for display on such a device and thus be unfit for presentation in any other way. But for now, in the supposed last days of physical media there are still things that work best in the format they were created in and for; and hey, if the digital pulse ever comes knocking out all RF, satellite and wi-fi signals those of us with any digital media at all might be able to use our collectibles as widespread currency ala “The Book of Eli.”

Full Dark, No Stars – Stephen King (book review)

“From the start…I felt that the best fiction was both propulsive and assaultive. It gets in your face. Sometimes it shouts in your face. I have no quarrels with literary fiction, which usually concerns itself with extraordinary people in ordinary situations, but as both a reader and a writer, I’m much more interested by ordinary people in extraordinary situations.”

So writes Stephen King in the afterword to his latest four-novella collection, “Full Dark No Stars.” His afterword in this volume is actually quite brilliant in itself, making me wish that it was longer and expounded on more of the details of the creative process of each of these tales. King has released a few of these four-novella collections before–stories too long to be included in a short story collection but too short to stand as a novel. His previous ones were good (“Different Seasons” and “Four Past Midnight”) and some pretty great film adaptations came out of some of those long-form stories (“Stand by Me,” “Shawshank Redemption,” “Apt Pupil”). I’m not sure that any of these stories would (or should) produce such and adaptation–if any were  fit, it would likely be the first of these, “1922″. But on the merits of these stories as they are and how they fit together in this particular volume, I (at least at the moment) think this is the best of these ventures so far.

These are dark stories. “You may have found them hard to read in places. If so, be assured that I found them equally hard to write in places,” King tells us after we finish these sordid tales. The protagonists in these tales are in horrid situations which are sadly realistic–tales that no doubt have actually occurred in one way or another throughout this country, at least in a good amount of their details. These characters faced with such dire circumstances react to them violently, and in the end, someone gets what they arguably deserve.

“1922″ gives us a stark, pre-depression, early twentieth-century Nebraska. The setting is painted vividly, as are the characters. The lead confesses the crimes he has committed–when we meet him, he’s a selfish, prejudiced, hateful person in many ways (though likely not that different than many from his context), but the actions he takes to save his land lead him down an ever-increasing spiral which sucks so many along with him until his supernatural (?) judgment. “Big Driver,” gives us a protagonist suffering an all too likely sexual assault that is difficult to read (which makes this a story I would likely pass on if adapted to film), but her battle to “right” things is captivating and “just,” at least within the context of this story. “Fair Extension” is the story that defies the setup of the rest of the book on the surface–it’s a modern day deal-with-the-devil (who takes no stock in the “devalued” souls of the 21st century) story that turns conventions on their head. It’s a dark satire of such a set-up which I sadly think says far too much about modern life and personalities if only I could fully unravel its moral! “A Good Marriage” closes things out with a wife who finds out her husbands dark secret and attempts to right things herself.

These are well-written stories with real characters and great settings. “Big Driver” would be vile trash in the hands of any splatter-punk writer but King gives it heart, soul, and “biblical” justice. The imagery your mind is apt to create as you read the building tension of “1922″ is scarier than any film you’ll ever see, and it’s a tale that builds up and even delivers through with its ending. The reverse-Faustian deal is so cynical and silly that it reaffirms goodness by default, if that makes any sense at all. “A Good Marriage” finds horror, love, duty, and secrets in plausibly horrific discoveries.

Great stories. King is hitting yet another creative peak this far into his career, which is good to know. As he writes, “I have little patience with writers who don’t take the job seriously, and none at all with those who see the art of story-fiction as essentially worn out. It’s not worn out, and it’s not a literary game. It’s one of the vital ways in which we try to make sense of our lives, and the often terrible world we see around us. It’s the way we answer the question, ‘How can such things be?’ Stories suggest that sometimes-not always, but sometimes–there’s a reason.”

**all quotations from King are taken from the afterword to this collection.

The Buddhist “Myth of Self” and the Christian “Passionless Love of God”

Love in the way we typically think of it in the 21st century is quite a bit different than most generations of people thought of it. Today when Christians talk about God’s love, or say “God is Love,” they may likely be picturing something a bit different than say, Augustine or Aquinas. If God loves creation, it’s a “passionless” love in the emotional sense (passionless in a positive way though). To truly “be in love” with someone you  “need” something from them, you are in a sort of dependant emotional relationship. Even the best marriage or romantic partnership rarely approaches anything of the “purest” love that a Creator or Presence could possibly have for creation. For when we love our partners, our emotions are in gear; we are enthralled with them. Yet God needs nothing if God is perfect. So the love God feels must be something short of passionate, for God can’t require or desire love, or change “feelings.” So when our love for our partner approaches the purest love, the “Godstuff” so to speak, it’s remarkably “passionless” and it’s a type of love we can feel for all of creation and all other people–it’s a love that is regardless of particularity, a love that loves the other for no quality of their own.

Which brings me to the Buddhist “Myth of self.” Often, people assume Buddhism and Christianity are diametrically opposed down to their very world view and core. In many ways this is true; yet while reading Bhante Henepola Gunaratana’s work “Mindfulness in Plain English,” I was struck by how what appears to be “passionless” (in the negative sense) and detached is very much like that “Godstuff.” Gunaratana guides his readers through Vipassana meditation which, he says, aims at “chipping away” at the facade around us to peer through to pure reality. A Buddhist yearns for liberation most of all, and passion must be shed to experience that true liberation. If life is a series of ups and downs, if even at our best moments we can’t allow ourselves to be truly happy because we fear our next down, then the Buddhist depiction that “life is suffering” is very practical and far from just “cynical.” In Gunaratan’s view, it refrains from being cynical in that it holds that something can be done about the situation, and the ability to do as such resides in each individual–that is far less cynical than even much of the classic Christian theology that holds that for some people, nothing can be done about their suffering, now or later.

Gunaratana may be more “this life oriented” than much of classical Buddhism in that he is practical about attacking problems now for the benefit of this lifetime, not just later (another parallel to many Christian theologies which have made such evolutions as well). Vipassana is a method to pull out of the ups and downs and to truly live in the moment. It is supposed to result in how you see the entire world–when you look at somone you are to see them as they truly are, void of any hatred, passion, or prejudice. If you look at someone as being no different than you and you truly lose the concepts of “me,” “you,” etc, what really results is a pure and untatinted love. Godstuff.

Christians seek to follow the way of Jesus. Jesus reflected and showed humans Gods love in a way that a One removed Source and Creator could not for those who needed to see this love in the flesh. Jesus did not love out of passion, did not love out of particularity or preference. Jesus loved all and served all simply because of the God they reflected as creations of God.

I am struck when I find these edifying parallels that converge and heighten tensions in two faiths when they arise so unexpectedly. The idea that God is by definition love, but love of  a pure and passionless sort that shows no preference can appear cold without a reflection of what it looks like in the flesh–for Christians it looks like the ministry of Christ, for Jews it looks like the righteousness lived out in covenant for the betterment of the whole world. Seeing the world and life as merely suffering which needs to be broken through can be a very cold idea as well, but what it looks like in practice is not–if prejudices and misplaced desires are shed so that all look like the same essence as you, the love you treat everything with will certainly be warm.

Romantic love is a wondeful thing but it hinges on particularity and self, so the good it delivers is only for the two involved, though when it betters both parties it is good for the world. World Changing love, “Godstuff” as I’ve termed it here, is bigger, bolder and harder to pin down than that. It’s a love that can lead to peace, harmony, change, and nonviolent revolution. Though the language and many of the goals may be vastly different, there is a striking core of shedding false realities, of pulling out of empires, of looking at the world and its inhabitants in a bold new way, and of great care and service found in both Buddhism and Christianity- and both traditions can learn more about that from each other.

10 (of the) Best Horror Novels

A few years ago at Halloweentime, I posted a blog with my 10 Favorite Horror Films. This year I have 2 new posts for the season, starting with this, 10 (of the) best horror novels. I’m stressing the “of the,” here, because there are several newer titles (past 10-15 years) that certainly would be outranked by certain classic horror works (some of which are also found here); this list is not “authoritative” or all-encompassing, it just consists of 10 novels that are pretty terrifying in different ways, most of which are pretty literate to boot.

10) The Store – Bentley Little

Little’s books are a bit preposterous. He takes everyday concepts–moving into a gated community, getting an insurance policy, and in this case, shopping at the newly opened mega-mart in town–and blankets them with creeping horror that becomes exceedingly worse until it reaches epic proportions. The build-up in such tales make these books page-turners, but with such constant “one-ups” in the narrative process, Little is never quite able to deliver an ending worthy of all that has come before it. I always close his novels feeling a bit let down because of that; but the process leading up to that ending usually makes it worth the read. That being said, “The Store” is my favorite work of his, probably because I hate Wal-Mart so much. The citizens of a small Arizona town are at first ecstatic over the newly opened “The Store” mega-mart, but as it begins to push out all of the local businesses and recruit all of the thus-unemployed workers, things get increasingly dark. The Store begins to ask odd demands of its workers and to provide dangerous products for its customers.

9) Endless Night – Richard Laymon

First off, I have to issue a warning– Laymon’s books are not for everyone. Despite a seemingly general consensus of support and acclaim from within the horror-writers community (from indie writers to King and Koontz), there’s a reason some critics labeled the work Laymon did as “churning porno-violence,” (as one memorable reviewer put it). At his worst, Laymon is not worth your time and probably not good for your soul (skip his short stories, most of which remove all wit to leave only mindless gore). At his best, though, as “Endless Night” showcases, Laymon can truly terrify you more than any other writer. “Endless Night” opens with a home invasion–a group of teenage boys armed with hatchets and spears, dressed in clothes made out of flesh break into a house for the sole purpose of murder. Teenage Jody, who is sleeping over with the daughter of the family, escapes with the family’s 12 year old son. From there, the story races along at practically break-neck speed, pausing only to focus on the back-story of the murder club and how they began (scenes which rank with the scariest of the book). “Endless Night” works where other Laymon books do not, partly because the protagonist is likable. Many of his works focus on leads that are so corruptible that you cease to want to root for them–when they turn out to be like their opponents, it’s simply too nihilistic. Granted, he wasn’t usually gifted in full character development, but it works well enough here to propel the story along. Another worthwhile book of his is “In the Dark,” a great mystery like scavenger hunt with a charming lady librarian as protagonist.

8. Horns – Joe Hill

I reviewed this book here earlier this year when it first came out. It’s a bit new to add to a “best of list,” but it’s so good and Hill is such a fresh talent that I can’t help myself. His characters work wonderfully, his setting seems real, the suspense keeps the pages turning, but the substance of the story is what sticks with you and keeps you pondering it afterward. A dark love story and fantasy, a Shakespearean drama in many ways–a really excellent horror novel that bursts out of the genre in the right ways but stays within in the right ways as well.

7) Off Season – Jack Ketchum

Ketchum’s “Off Season” and Laymon’s “The Woods are Dark” have a very similar history–both focused on a surviving tribe of cannibals that time forgot, living in America and encountering vacationers. Both books received cult praise but were faced with publishing difficulties resulting in edited and misshaped versions hitting the shelves in the states to lackluster reviews while the full versions (or closer approximations to them) hit in the UK and Europe, resulting in a bigger fanbase abroad for the authors while they were unknown at home. Both novels were eventually pieced back together and published as originally intended this past decade. Ketchum’s is  a much more fulfilling and terrifying work. Ketchum is a real writer, which makes his scares all the more scary. He works at the reader both viscerally and psychologically, getting into the inner workings of his characters.  I think more than any horror writer, Ketchum shares much more with classic noir and pulp writers like Raymond Chandler in that you get the sense that a literary writer is “slumming it” in the “lower” genres. His attention to detail sends each jolt over the top but not in a forced or non-genuine manner. “Off Season” presents us with a survival race from a group of people who should be unbelievable but who are painted so well that we feel they could very well exist. (I also recommend Ketchum’s “The Girl Next Door,” a book that will stick with you longer than you wish it to. Its tale of hideous evil done by “ordinary” people, mostly youth, would be hideous were it played for exploitation value, especially since the story is based on fact. Yet Ketchum works it into a non-glorifying meditation on evil–which is worse, that which is done or that which is allowed to happen without an effort to halt it? And what does that do that type of evil do to the community, those goaded into it, those victimized by it, and those that survive it?

6) The Hellbound Heart – Clive Barker

Barker was the standout talent to emerge from the aftermath of the “splatterpunk” movement of horror writers–those balls-to-the-wall, in your face, shocking, blood dripping writers. Barker has a mind built for dark fantasy and a talent that is equal parts literate and obscene. “The Hellbound Heart” at it’s 130 some odd pages was the inspiration for countless “Hellraiser” films due to the gripping imagery of the main baddies present here, the cenobites (of which “Pinhead” is one). “The Hellbound” heart is a great short novel with truly great (but horrific) prose. It’s about desire that knows no bounds, about betrayal, sin, corruption and violence. It’s a warning to those that chase the “highest pleasures” without grounding a foot in reality, and it’s a modern day Faustian fable of (practically) unequaled parallel.

5) Ghost Story – Peter Straub

I’ve babbled about “literate” qualities in quite a few of these entries, but Straub takes the cake in that regard–he’s truly like the old generation of horror writers, those who worked squarely in “literature,” whose work probed terror areas yet delivered artistic work and prose, developed characters, and cemented immaculate settings. This isn’t quick, flashy, or violent horror. This is creeping, supernatural revenge horror. It’s much more like Hawthorne than Koontz or Laymon. It’s a modern classic novel that just happens to be a horror novel that takes its time to settle into you for scares that come with thought.

4) Pet Sematary -Stephen King

I’ve argued for King’s literary respect before; I’ve always felt that, despite his glowing popular reviews and massive sells (and somewhat because of those factors), King has often been slighted by the more “upper-end” literary critics. “Pet Sematary” is not his absolute best work–that honor could belong to “The Stand,” “The Dark Tower” series, or “Bag of Bones,” among others–but it is his scariest tale, his most stream-lined horror story. The only competition in that area would be his massive “It” tome, but what “Sematary” lacks in epic scale against “It,” it makes up in morbid yet oddly sentimental meditations on subject matter often swept under the rug in modern Western society. “Pet Sematary” is about death, and the statement made by a character in it (Jud) that “sometimes dead is better” is its theme. King’s own fear of losing his son (which didn’t happen) inspired this close look at what could have happened (well, until the part where the resurrected Gage comes back in worse shape).

3) Lord of the Flies – William Goulding

You might try and say that “Lord of the Flies” isn’t horror, that it’s literature…but you’re kidding yourself. This tale of “civilized” private school children resorting to ruthlessness in their own constructed society when marooned on a desert island is a horror classic.

2) Dracula – Bram Stoker

“Dracula” may not bet the best vampire story of all time, but in Stoker’s original presentation of it, it’s certainly on the short list and every vampire tale to come after owes a nod to it whether it follows from it or reacts back on it. It’s epistle style narration works very well for the story and learning of the neurosis that Stoker had and the history behind the real “Vlad” only adds to the reading of the work itself.

1) Frankenstein – Mary Shelley

Shelley’s novel is a milestone even if the distortions and over-use of the “Frankenstein” monster character inadvertently attempt to dilute the importance and artistry of the original story. So, forget everything you’ve ever read or seen regarding this myth and pick up the original novel. It’s deeply literate and gothically romantic–not in the love story sense but in the passion-more-than-intellect, feel-more-than-think trajectory of events. This is a sad book; a heartbreaking terror story, each moment of scares is tempered with the overall tragedy of affairs. Yet it’s so nicely written that it’s joyful, in a dark way. The depth of this work really comes in the philosophical realm–is this man creates monster a dark mirrored version of the Creation myth in Genesis? No doubt that’s a blasphemous thought for many to entertain, but in a more “positive” religious sense, is this what happens when humanity plays at being Godlike? Yet the monster is the tragic hero, despite the violence he gives to the world in “Frankenstein”–he wanted only love and did not receive it even from his creator–he wanted a companion and was denied it. He lashed out in violence and his story became the best modern monster tale and the blueprint for every good horror story to follow it.

The “Horns” Book Review

Joe Hill is quickly shaping up to be one of the best modern fiction writers of any genre. “20th Century Ghosts” and “Heart Shaped Box” proved him a lock for the best new voice in horror and dark fantasy, and although “Horns” is undeniably another horror rooted work, it’s just one more piece of evidence that Hill is a top-notch writer surpassing any genre limitation.

“Horns” is suspenseful, intriguing, heart-breaking, comedic, scary, thought-provoking, disturbing, vibrant…it’s a breath-taking thrill ride from start to finish, with an ever-layering yet plausible mystery at its core. The characters really drive the story. Ig Parrish and his lost love Merrin Williams are a relatable, realistic, captivating couple. Their romance, its gruesome demise and its nostalgic highlights jump off of the page.

Give “Horns” a read. It’s bound to startle you, pull you in and keep you wondering how it will all turn out until the very end. The ending might cause you to feel angry that certain things don’t work out as you had hoped. But after wrapping it up, think back to the part where Merrin says “I’m away from it and into the treehouse” and think about that “wedding.” I’m being vague, because I don’t want to ruin it, but I think that the Rolling Stones song that’s referenced in the book, “You can’t always get what you want” works out very thematically in the ending. I hate to use a cliche, but I think the ending truly is bitter-sweet upon reflection. Something about it makes sense and is satisfying in its own way, and the more I mentally fill in the blanks, the more I think Ig might have worked out things as best as he possibly could.

After you read “Horns,” if you haven’t checked out “20th Century Ghosts” or “Heart Shaped Box,” do so. “Pop Art” in 20th Century Ghosts is one of the most oddly profound short stories I’ve read in years. If you’re a comic fan, check out “Lock and Key,” the montly series Hill writes for IDW.

Peace.

Summer Plugs

On a more trivial note, I suppose, I have to plug a few things. I haven’t posted on new albums and things in awhile, so I’ll take a few lines to spread the word on some notable releases.

First of all, if you’re a Drive By Truckers fan (and if you aren’t you should be), it’s a pretty good time to be one. Patterson Hood, co-founder and one of the lead singers/guitarists for DBT released his second solo album two weeks ago, “Murdering Oscar (and other love songs)” and CNN is already calling it the best record of the year so far. It’s a great album, backed by a full band on most tracks (unlike the at home solo recordings of Hood’s last non DBT outing). All are great sounding fully formed songs that are lyrical character studies of a wide range of humanity. Great music with good lyrics. Pick this one up the old-fashioned way (you know, at a record store), because the packaging is nice and the liner notes are very insightful. The record should hold you off until July’s CD/DVD combo release of DBT’s “Austin City Limits” live show and the upcoming fall release of a DBT B-sides, rarities and outtakes compilation

Also noteworthy recent music albums are the great power pop rock songs from French rockers Phoenix’ third album, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.” Also, for seriously bouncy perfect pop music check out “Manners” by the band “Passion Pit,” a throwback to 80s synth pop that remains sounding fresh. And, Morrissey’s latest album “Years of Refusal” may very well be the best and most cohesive work he’s put out since leaving the Smiths almost two decades ago.

In other mediums, if you are even a casual comic or graphic novel fan and you aren’t reading writer Jason Aaron and artist R.M. Guera’s excellent “Scalped” series from Vertigo/DC, you are sorely missing out. It’s available in 4 collected volumes (Indian Country, Casino Boogie, Dead Mothers, Gravel in Your Guts) and new single issues come out every month. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever read, a completely new and wholly American noir tale. The only thing giving “Scalped” a run for it’s money on intensity, depth and originality is the relatively new “Unknown Soldier,” another Vertigo title by writer Joshua Dysart and artist Alberto Ponticelli. “Soldier” is a thoroughly researched and eerily visceral take on Uganda and Congo political, war and civilian issues complete with child soldiers, violent civil wars and the re-imagining of the old DC character, the soldier clothed in full bandages. It’s available monthly, the first collected trade is scheduled to come out on September 1st, so mark your calendar and earmark your ten bucks because it’s more than worth it.

Last of all, with movies like “Star Trek,” “Wolverine,” “Angels and Demons,” “The Hangover” and “Transformers 2” raking in dough hand over fist, (good as some of them may be) it’s evident that the months of big, dumb, summer movies are upon us as the critical darlings are held back for the fall and winter. These big flicks are usually fun popcorn fare (Wolverine and Hangover were, I can’t speak for the others I haven’t yet seen them), but if you’re an indie, old-school horror or ‘80s underground film fan don’t forget to show director Sam Raimi a little love for “Drag Me to Hell,” his messy grand return to B horror schlock. I’m catching it this weekend hopefully, we owe him a bit of support for the “Evil Dead” films (even if he did drop the ball on a few aspects of the Spider Man films when he went big budget).

That’s all for now.

Guns, God, Government

In America, especially in the south, if you want to anger someone those above 3 topics pretty much are a way to do so. Perhaps in many areas, guns most of all.

A startling piece on Sunday nights “60 Minutes” profiled the brother of a girl who was shot and killed at VA Tech. The brother, to make a point, attended a Virginia gun show and within an hour had purchased a dozen guns, many of them assault weapons, without having to provide an ID or go through a background check. Virginia is a state with few gun sell restrictions, and the gun show loop even allows people in the parking lot of gun shows to sell weapons directly from the trunk of their cars. The brother of the VA Tech victim was asked if he was even once asked to show identification. He responded that it happened a few times, but each time he refused and was told that for 50 dollars more (or a trip to the parking lot to purchase the gun outside) they would go ahead with the sell.

The sells of guns have shot up dramatically this year. Due to the recession say some, and to the Obama presidency say others. In past recessions, people have stocked up on canned goods and blankets. This time around it’s guns. Gun lobbyists have stated that people are right in thinking that were there a complete economic meltdown, there would be nothing better than guns to get them prepared to survive and gather food (quite a bit of Doomsday Prophecy). As to the Obama presidency, conservatives fear he will bring back the Clinton ban on assault weapons and seek to close the gun-show loophole.

The gun lobby fiercely argues against  bringing back the ban on assault weapons that was in place under Clinton and repealed under Bush. As for waiting periods, that gun show loophole that allowed the VA tech brother to purchase multiple weapons without waiting was responded to by a NRA spokesman in VA with “the second amendment doesn’t say anything about a waiting period before your right to bear arms.” No, the second amendment doesn’t mention waiting periods, or the right to bear assault weapons, nuclear bombs or hazardous material for firebombing either.

A great book on this subject is “Out of Range: Why the Constitution Can’t Win the Battle Over Guns”  by Mark V. Tushnet.  It’s really quite a balanced book, written by a Law Professor at Harvard who claims to be rather disinterested in the debate on personal levels, feeling it’s not a priority on his list of national concerns. He debates both sides and ultimately concludes that each has winning and losing arguments and that the debate must be resolved outside of the constitution, with information and decisions based on further sources because the constitution  doesn’t fully answer this question for us in this day and age. We thus have to look at court precedents, modern interpretations, changing atmospheres as well as original intent.

What truly seems like common sense though, is that regardless of whether the founding fathers intended the right to bear arms with a well armed militia for personal, state and national protection to extend to a personal, private ownership of any citizen at any time or if the original intent is currently fulfilled by having an established national guard and technological advances that negate the necessity, there are a few factors that fall outside of the second amendment when it comes to guns.

No matter what, common sense should tell us that had the forefathers predicted AK47’s in inner cities being used by street gangs or in drug cartels moving throughout the world, there may have been some warning and restriction. There should be no argument against bringing back the ban on assault weapons—at least no logical, sensible, compassionate argument. Military grade weapons have no place in the hands of a private citizen. They exist only to destroy large numbers of people in short spans of time. As for increased background checks, extended waiting periods and closing the gun show loop? Yet again there is no decent argument against these things. Someone going to a gun show should have to provide ID and undergo a background check, the same as they would if they were to go to a gun shop. As for folks to be able to legally sell weapons out of the trunk of their car in the parking lot at such gun shows, it’s almost enough to make one feel lawgivers in Virginia simply aren‘t thinking clearly.

The problem is, as Tushnet points out, for many people this issue is bigger than just guns. Many feel it is a part of the “culture wars,” liberals vs. conservatives, cities vs. rural areas and so on. We need to get past that and make solid judgments in regards to issues that affect the health and safety of everyone living in this country.

Oddly many of those in the south who want no gun restrictions and pride themselves on carrying concealed weapons also are deeply religious, or at least historically so. I understand hunting, especially to provide food. I understand target practicing as a sportsman. Beyond that, carrying weapons with the intent to use them if necessary on another human being is however a form of violence. I’m sure that’s a comment liable to make many angry, yet I have to stress I don’t feel that such an action makes someone a violent person. I completely understand the feelings, emotions and drives that cause many to carry a weapon or keep one in their home solely for “home protection” and to, in theory, keep their loved ones safe (the stats show that simply keeping a gun in your home increases your chances of dying by gunshot dramatically, but that‘s another story). I also know that many jobs require people to carry weapons strictly for the protection of self and others with the intention to shoot to kill if necessary. Yet to invoke the God aspect from the title of this article, carrying, buying or owning a weapon for any reason other than to hunt for food or target practice for sport is a, albeit possibly subtle in some cases, form of violence. Christianity is rooted in nonviolence, so it’s simply odd that many Christians are so vocally pro-gun. Regardless of the actions of the church in low-points in history and the attitudes of many who call themselves Christians, Jesus spoke of complete non-violence yet many of those that praise his name today follow it with “pass the ammunition,” at least metaphorically. I understand self-preservation, defense and a desire to be prepared. Yet can’t those that want guns for that reason view them almost as a necessary evil and not be so enthusiastic about them? Can’t we all agree that restrictions on the sell of and type of guns can be imposed to help curb needless violence? Yes there are many factors that lead to the violence that permeates society, American society in particular. Yes, there are other avenues that must be explored. Yet a step in the direction of moving guns to the area of hunting, emergency and sensibility only is direly needed.

Many notable advocates for non-violence have addressed the issue of the limits of pacifism. A future article on this site will be concerned with how various leaders in the field, Gandhi, MLK and the Dalai Lama have dealt with this issue. That’s it for now.

Celebrating Mediocrity

My brother commented on one of my articles recently suggesting I make a list of hit films, books and songs that, although very popular, are not good in the artistic or critical sense; in other words, what’s my top ten hit media items that I feel are really just crap?

Well, this isn’t really that. This isn’t a countdown of what’s the worst popular junk in systematic dissection, this is more an article about the enthusiasm for mediocrity as a whole.

There’s a recent TV commercial for McDonald’s, a company I loathe almost as much as Wal Mart. In the commercial two young guys are in a traditionally “trendy” looking coffee shop. Both are wearing glasses, one is reading a book. Both speak in low, stereotypical “pretentious” voices. One says to the other “did you know McDonald’s sells coffee now?” The other says “well what are we doing here then?” He whips his glasses off saying he doesn’t really need them. He says he’s tired of sitting in coffee shops and talking about “films” and that he really just enjoys “sitting and watching football.” The other agrees but concedes he actually does need his glasses.

So really, this commercial is showing that there is no need to go to a trendy independent coffee shop where poetry readings and acoustic open mic sessions are  held and where people discuss art, film and philosophy. No, now you can go to McDonald’s and get a dollar cappuccino and take it home to sit on your couch and watch football till your brain drips out your ear from the numbness of average, ordinary mediocrity.

I’m not going to get into a criticism of football. I’ve written about baseball often on this site, if you click on “baseball” at the bottom of the page and read back at all of my baseball articles from last year you’ll even see at least two that comment on why I feel baseball is a superior sport to football on various levels. That’s not something to get into yet again here. I don’t loath football, I’m just not a fan. Perhaps it’s somewhat silly for me to equate baseball as a symbol of positive American values and football as a symbol of negative American values, but it’s mainly just for fun in my case. No, I’ve been known to watch a super bowl occasionally (I’ll definitely tune in to the halftime show this year because Bruce Springsteen is my favorite musician of all time). Not everyone who watches football is a symbol of mediocrity, but the idea that there’s nothing better for the average guy than to sit on his couch and watch football all day, possibly eating fast-food, is a bit of mediocrity celebration.

On a smaller scale, much of what is incredibly popular is insanely mediocre. Your typical active rock radio station plays the most uninspiring new rock imaginable (Nickleback anyone?). Hip Hop stations play the same club jam and pop rap hit like “Live Your Live,” “Apple Bottom Jeans” (Re-Remix), or a mash up between Justin Timberlake, Akon and Bow Wow. Country stations wallow in mediocrity. Alt-country, classic country or even slightly edgy country will not be on the radio–instead get ready for Toby Keith, Big & Rich or any number of other brain numbing works. A slew of mediocre books were turned into mediocre films over the past months ( Marley and Me, He’s Just Not That Into You, Confessions of a Shopaholic). I’ve mentioned authors that churn out sub-par work on a regular basis that manage to sell truckloads worth of books (James Patterson post-the first five Cross novels, Nicholas Sparks, many would say “Twilight” ).

The point is, quite often very unintelligent, unoriginal, and utterly crappy material becomes very successful, be it music, movie or book. I can list a lot but there’s really no point. Why do such things appeal to so many people? Many would say that they are safe, middle of the road affairs that appeal to the lowest common denominator so that they can reach the widest group of people. Typically such things don’t require too much thought, too much absorption and concentration or any measure of taste cultivation. Really, the best of any medium quite often requires the reader, listener or viewer to participate in the process a bit by thinking, involving themselves in the field to better understand the author or artist. So what makes this troublesome is not that people like “crap.” People are different, they can like anything they want to. What’s problematic is that the better work is too often buried underneath mediocrity, pushed out of stores to make room for the top selling garbage, and ignored by the radio stations, TV stations and book stores.

An Appreciation of Stephen King

Stephen King released “Just After Sunset” this past year, his latest collection of short stories. It’s a mature, literate work. King is a master of introducing characters so viable that you are able to care about them within a page or so in a short story, care enough to involve yourself in the dilemma that awaits them over the span of 10 to 30 pages. Much different from King’s first such collection, 1979s “Night Shift.” “Night Shift” was macabre, gory borderline shock horror. Here, the tension and terror is often more subdued or realistic. When supernatural territory is approached it’s not always in the horror sense, such as the ghosts that inhabit “Willa” and “The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates” Rather than a scary experience, although there are moments of terror (the psycho chase through “The Gingerbread Girl” or the OCD Lovecraftian monsters of “N.”

I took quite a few creative writing and literature classes in my early college years and I usually found that the professors of such courses typically viewed Mr. King with disdain. Some of this I attribute to personal jealousy, in that many of these professors were aspiring writers themselves. But I think a lot of it goes along with the idea most critics hold, be they informed, balanced reviewers or snobs, and that is that someone who sells so many books can’t be technically or artistically great. It’s the literary equivalent of a middle of the road multi-platinum crap band, like Creed or Nicleback. Sure they sell millions of records and concert tickets, but anyone with real taste or knowledge of music rarely thinks they’re a very talented, bold, artistic or serious band. It’s somewhat understandable, judging by other millions-selling authors—James Patterson, Danielle Steele, Nicholas Sparks, and other like minded novelists who sell boatloads of books featuring recycled characters, inane dialogue, bad prose and predictable plots. Such books are pop fiction that fail to resonate critically or artistically. But, simply because a novelist writes pop fiction or sells millions of books doesn’t automatically place them in the same category as the prior mentioned writers. The same goes for music or any other medium. The Beatles may be one of the few music groups that managed to simultaneously be the best at what they do and the most popular in their field, but later artists managed to balance popularity that resulted in sold out shows and platinum record sells with artistic credibility and critical approval: Springsteen, U2, Outkast. In literature, what was pop fiction in its day enjoyed by the general reading public was later considered classic literature: Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, “The Lord of the Flies,” etc.
Which brings me to Stephen King. He deserves to be considered one of the preeminent popular authors of the 20th century (and he’s still writing into the 21st!). He’s written an avalanche of novels, most of which have sold millions of copies as well as have received pages of praise from diverse publications. Just a list of solid, entertaining and well received novels he’s produced in his career are worth noting: Carrie, Christine, The Shining, Pet Sematary, Misery, Cujo, Hearts in Atlantis, The Tommyknockers.

Above and beyond those solid novels are the examples of books he’s released that have transcended genre and can hold their own in a list of best novels of the 20th century.
“The Stand” is King’s crowning achievement. The best apocalyptic multi-genre epic modern popular fiction has to offer. Large in scope, full of entertaining characters readers grow attached to and it stands up to multiple readings.
“IT” was rightfully called “The Moby Dick of horror novels.” For a novel that sticks to the horror genre very closely “IT’ still opens itself up to great characters and large scope. It’s the best and scariest strictly horror novel King has ever written, possibly one of the best horror novels of all time in its own right.

”The Dark Tower” series that has consumed King for most of his career is the best epic fantasy series since “Lord of the Rings.” Ranging from western to crime, horror to sci-fi, romance to comedy and breaching into meta-fiction by introducing King as a character himself in the later volumes, The Dark Tower series is a bold, creative and uncompromising work that is a joy to read. All seven volumes add up to make this a multiple thousand page adventure, and none of it is wasted. For die-hard fans, an added plus was always that many of the non-Dark Tower novels and short stories that King wrote during the years he was working on the series included references to and nods to the Dark Tower series. So that even one of the only novels that has ever really “flopped” as far as ambition and creative success for King, “Insomnia,” is much more appreciated when read by a Dark Tower fan.
In his later years, King has produced many books outside of the normal area he typically has covered. “Dolores Claiborne,” “Hearts in Atlantis,” “Lisey’s Story,” “Rose Madder,” and “Bag of Bones” all are emotionally deep novels that, although some do possess supernatural aspects, do not rely on the fantastic to resonate with meaning and capture attention. They are simply mature, developed novels.

In addition to novels and short stories, and screenplays, two notable nonfiction books have been written by King: “Danse Macabre,” a great nonfiction overview of the horror genre covering excellent books and films and personal anecdotes in their regards, was released fairly early in Kings career. “On Writing” is a terrific book that’s part autobiography and part guide for new fiction writers. Both are classic works in their respective focus.

All in all, I just realize that despite mainstream popularity and a fair amount of critical snobbery, Stephen King may very well be looked back on as a classic writer someday. As my home library grows in the size of nonfiction and reference works that I keep on hand I’ve begun to downsize much of my fiction. Typically I get most books from the library if I can find them there. If it’s a nonfiction book that I find will take me awhile to fully absorb or one I will need to re-read and reference in the future, I make a note to own a copy, but most fiction is unnecessary to own. I like nice editions of graphic novels, nice copies of classic novels and personal favorites, but most modern authors don’t produce novels I feel the urge to own nice copies of and return to for further readings in the future. There are a few exceptions: John Irving, Dennis Lehane, Sinclair Lewis, and especially Stephen King. I’ve read King since I was 13 years old, and it’s nice to revisit his books occasionally, and the more I downsize my fiction collection, I always find room for his work.

Best Books (that I read) 2008

My “Best Books of 2008” is misleading, I’ll inform you up front. I was able to make such a list in regards to music and comics, my film list noted the few exceptions and kept the ordering out of it until a later date, but as for books, this time around it’s far too difficult for me to rank the best print had to offer in 2008. Ideally, I would list from 10 to 1 the best in fiction and the best in nonfiction. Well, although I did a lot of reading this year I can count on two hands the great fiction books I read (and on one hand the ones of those that were actually first published this year). In nonfiction, quite a few of my favorites were published this year, but towards the end of the year I began reading in depth in a few certain areas and most of those books weren’t published in 2008. So, what follows here are a few of the notable books I read and recommend from the 2008 publishing year, and the rest are books I read that were published in years past that I read for the first time this year and also recommend.

So, presenting the best books (that I personally read in) 2008 (unranked and in no particular order):

* Case of a Lifetime: A Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Story by Abbe Smith
I think for every reader that has treaded through “Gideon’s Trumpet” as an assignment in a journalism or law class should follow it up with “Case of a Lifetime.” “Trumpet” is a wealth of knowledge concerning the workings of the Supreme Court, trials and trial lawyers but it’s also dry and a bit plodding in narrative structure. Smith doesn’t produce anything startlingly ground-breaking with “Case of a Lifetime” but it is very engagingly written and it’s highly informative concerning what makes a good trial lawyer, the typical cases and daily work such a lawyer is apt to face, and it’s also a heartbreaking study in the ways in which the system is apt to fail and let people down. A phrase like “Case of a Lifetime” evokes an image of once in a lifetime, make or break success. Smith flips that on its head and uses is very literally–in this book it’s a case she spent her entire career working on in one form or another. It’s an approachable work that is told from someone who knows what they’re talking about, and for anyone who wants a non-fiction yet readable account of the legal system a typical worker is likely to face, I’m sure you could do much worse than this one.

*Somebody Scream!: Rap Music’s Rise to Prominence in the Aftershock of Black Power by Marcus Reeves
Reeves, a lifelong music journalist, released one of the best hip hop history books of all time this year with “Somebody Scream…” Each chapter is an essay on a specific group or artist that best defined and excelled at a particular time. The first chapter covers the early days, followed by a Run DMC chapter leading all the way through to an Eminem chapter at the end of the book. Reeves focuses each essay most heavily on the artists earliest and most important work, thus progressing the book chronologically, but each chapter does cover each artists full career as well. Reeves does a good job of balancing his work, neither going too easy on much of hip hop’s less positive aspects nor berating it too hard unnecessarily. This book makes me wish Reeves would delve deeper and release a weighty, genre defining tome for hip hop much the way Gioia did for Jazz and Guarlnick has done for roots, country and rock and roll.

* The Fall of the Evangelical Nation by Christine Wicker
Wicker has spent a  career covering religious issues for several newspapers. She grew up in an evangelical church and uses this book as a balanced exploration of the faith, what drives it, what it has to offer, and profiles many of the good hearted and well meaning members such faith contains, as well as what factors are not so great in the modern Evangelical church and how some of those factors are leading to a coming decline and/or “fall” of the large mega-churches.

*The Power of Progress: How America’s Progressives Can (Once Again) Save our Economy, our Climate and Our Country by John Podesta
Podesta, a Clinton cabinet member, early Hillary supporter and now Obama’s transition chief, released this book early this year detailing the history of progressive politics, his own family history with it and profiles of many leading progressives like both Roosevelts and Clinton.

* Money Shot by Christa Faust
Hard Case Crime is a book label that publishes out-of-print or hard to find 50s paperback novels as well as new noir tales written by new authors.  Christa Faust penned the best new noir novel Hard Case released this year with “Money Shot.” For 5.99 you get a nonstop thrilling suspense novel with a gritty pulp cover, that’s hard to beat.

* Gandhi: The Man, His People, and the Empire by Rajmohan Gandhi
A dense, comprehensive tome. Granted, my brief library borrow only gave me time to grace the surface; it needs to be a book to own and spend time with to fully appreciate.

*Just Before Sunset by Stephen King
Just now picked up a copy, the first few tales show promise of yet another great King short story collection.

Other top rated books I’ve read this year, though not published in 2008:

*The Last Week by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan
“The Last Week” is a detailed account of Jesus’ last week in Jerusalem from his arrival to his crucifixion. This was one of the most enlightening and inspiring theology books I read all year. By far the best historical Jesus overview I’ve read, and I read nearly a dozen along those lines this year.

*The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions by Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright
Borg and Wright follow a point-counterpoint series of essays in which Wright presents a more traditional yet intelligent interpretation of Jesus while Borg presents a more revisionist, liberal and “modern” interpretation. Very insightful and entertaining.

*The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley
Decades old yet still just as powerful. I just now read the book in its entirety for its first time this year, and the article it inspired is back a few pages on this site, “We Like Our Icons Clearly Defined.”

*20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
The best modern collection of short stories I’ve read in years, from terrifying to absurd, heartfelt to moving.

Well, those are just a few I recommend.