"You can't build a car that violates the laws of physics. Same goes for a time machine. You can't go just anywhere, only to places it will let you go. You can only go to places that you will let yourself go."
...
"
But the reason I have job security is that people have no idea how to make themselves happy. Even with a time machine. I have job security because what the customer wants, when you get right down to it, is to relive his very worst moment, over and over and over again."
I want to read more books like this one -- philosophical, humorous, a little 'techy,' and demonstrating a great use of the English language. I really loved it. It reminded me a lot of how much I loved Rivka Galchen's
Atmospheric Disturbances
, also a NYT Notable book. But, just as with Galchen's novel, this one won't appeal to everyone.
It's really so difficult to even describe what's going on in this story. Guy works at a job fixing time machines. Not only does he fix time machines, but while he does it, he's in a time machine so he can travel to wherever the problem is. His operating system, TAMMY, and his not-really-alive dog, Ed, are the only ones to keep him company. He's been living in the time machine for a long time. Some incidents happen (don't want to spoil it), and he gets caught in a time loop. While in the time loop, he waxes philosophical about his parents, in particular his father, and just life in general. The book has all kinds of crazy diagrams and intended blank spaces to illustrate his points. (See pics below)
I really, really loved this book. I borrowed this from the library, so I plan on buying it when it comes out in paperback just so I can mark it up like crazy. Highly recommended for fans of offbeat, philosphical fiction.
Heaven Is for Real
is about a small town, Christian, 4 year old boy's near death experience as told by his father, Todd Burpo. I saw this book on the bestseller list on Amazon and wanted to read it for several reasons. First, I grew up less than 40 miles from Burpo's hometown in Imperial, Nebraska, and that town is even mentioned in the book. Second, I have had a close family member who had a NDE and saw himself/herself lying on the operating table. Third, I am a Christian as well so I was interested in this perspective. And, I do believe heaven is very real.
It is an amazing story, but I do have questions about it. That doesn't really mean I believe or disbelieve the story as I'm not sure how I feel about it and probably never will be sure. I hesitate to express any doubts about the story because I know it has given several Christians hope and a renewed faith. Also, and most importantly, if it is true I wouldn't want to go against God in any way, shape, or form. However, after thinking about it, I decided to go ahead and write a review of the book detailing my questions.
First, the background. Colton gets very very ill (I don't want to spoil the reason why) and nearly dies. Several months after his recovery, Colton begins saying things about his time in the hospital that make his family believe that he has, in fact, been in heaven. The details don't come all at once but over a course of months and even years. Colton not only gives descriptions of heaven, but also of family members he should know nothing about. The tale is inspiring and amazing if true, but the questions I have about the story are these:
This is a minor mistake, but in the book Mr. Burpo stated that North Platte was 3 hours from Denver and 8 hours from Omaha. Not true -- I've driven I-80 and I-76 along this route many many times. It's more like 3.5 hours from Denver and 4 from Omaha. On the map below, you can clearly see that North Platte is almost directly halfway between the two cities. This mis-statement was the first that raised a tiny red flag in my mind. If he was wrong about this, could he be wrong about other facts?
Colton said that in heaven Jesus still had the holes in his hands, feet, and side. I don't dispute that that may well be the case. However, there is some debate in Christian circles whether the nails were actually in Jesus' hands or his wrists. I don't know the correct answer to this, but Colton pointed to his palms when describing them. I'm just saying that some Christians would have a problem with this.
Colton said he remembered clearly what Jesus looked like. He would always say that all the pictures he saw of Jesus were wrong, until he saw one painted by Akiane Kramarik, another child who states she has seen visions of heaven. However, the painting is of a 'Western' Jesus, where in reality, Jesus was Jewish and should have Jewish/Middle Eastern features. Then, when I went to Akiane's site and blog, it appears she's not really Christian in the sense that most Christians consider themselves to be Christian. She talks about goddesses of earth and water and her opinion that we can find heaven on earth now. Both are views that most Christians would surely deny.
Also, it bothered me a little bit that actual people's names (other than the family's) were used. Maybe they gave their permission, but I know that most people in very small towns wouldn't want that. I wouldn't, but that's me.
It's not for me to determine if the story is true, only God can know that. The story is interesting, and I'm sure it has given a lot of people comfort and hope. It has to be up to every reader to decide.
.
.
Here is the map I talked about:
.
Denver, North Platte, and Omaha. Imperial is circled southwest of North Platte.
He first came to the Iris one day just before the beginning of the summer season.
I was really excited when I received
Hotel Iris
from Picador in the mail. I hadn't requested it, but because I loved
The Housekeeper and the Professor
so much last year, I knew I would want to read this one. The problem was, though, that I didn't know what it was about. It has a very different 'love story' -- one that didn't appeal to me at all.
Mari is a seventeen year old girl working at the front desk of her mother's hotel when she meets a middle aged man whose voice and manner intrigue her. As they get to know each other, it leads to a sexual relationship involving SM. It wasn't extremely graphic, but still just not my cup of tea nonetheless.
I still enjoy Ogawa's writing style and the translation was great, but I just didn't like the subject matter so unfortunately I was extremely disappointed. However, I'd still read another Ogawa novel -- I just would learn more about the storyline first.
I read this book for the read-a-thon, and I must say it was an excellent choice as it was quite a page turner. This book is taking the internet by storm, and while I did enjoy it, I didn't quite love the book.
I'm not going to go through the plot as quite a few people have read it, or if they haven't, there are plenty of sources to find that information. I will say that the plot was, in my view, the best part of the book. As I said above, it's quite a page turner, but although I didn't think the writing was bad per se, I didn't feel it was up to par with
The Giver
by Lois Lowry or
The House of the Scorpion
by Nancy Farmer. The romance angle in the book irritated me a bit. I understand to a degree why it was necessary to the plot, but I thought it could have been a little more well done. Another minor irritation was the naming of the characters in the book. I suppose it was done on purpose, but I felt it distracted me from the story every time I came upon a strange name. I've never really noticed it in books like
Lord of the Rings
, etc., but in this book the names just seemed a bit silly.
Even with all that said, I did like the book quite a bit and plan on reading the entire trilogy. I hate to be too negative when I actually enjoyed it, but since it's received so many rave reviews, I just thought I'd explain why my rating was a little lower.
2008, 374 pp.
Disclosure: I purchased this book for my personal library.
I don't remember where I heard or read this story, so it might not be true, but I heard that when Joe Hill was trying to get this book published, he didn't tell anyone until he signed the contract that he was Stephen King's son. I was so impressed by that. He really could have used that to his advantage and instead he chose to try to make it on his own first. Kudos. [Edit: Okay, I did find a source of this from
USA Today
]
But can he compete with his famous father? In a word, yes. I used to love Stephen King when I was in high school and have read several of his books. I can't take much horror at all now, but I was really curious about Joe Hill's writing and the book seemed like it had an interesting premise. At an online auction site, a guy buys a suit that's supposedly haunted. The guy that buys it, Judas, is an older rock star who collects all sorts of crazy stuff so he's unable to resist the suit when he's prompted to do so by an email. Turns out, it's a bad decision.
This book was creepy. Very creepy. I listened to it on audio CD, and I could only listen to it in the daytime. It was perfect for the R.I.P. Challenge, but it was a little too gritty for my tastes -- otherwise I probably would have rated it 4 stars instead of 3.5. If you don't care about such things and like Stephen King's writing, there is almost no doubt you will like Joe Hill's as well.
2007, 384 pp.
[Disclosure: I obtained this book from my local library.]
I don't know why I'm so interested in dystopian literature, but I am. Interested may be too mild a word. I am fascinated by books with dystopian themes and at least like most of the books I read in this genre.
I listened to
House of the Scorpion
on audio CD with my two teenage sons. Wow, what an incredible book! I didn't love it as much as I loved
The Giver
by Lois Lowry, but it was still really powerful. There are so many issues to discuss in this book. My sons were anxious to talk about everything the book presented as well. Words cannot describe the satisfaction I get from listening to or reading the same books at the same time as my kids. I feel it's even more important, not less, as they move into their middle teens. I highly recommend it.
It's really difficult to describe the plot of this without giving too much away. I didn't know much about the book when I picked it out for us to listen to -- just that it was dystopian lit, so I'm hesitant to spill the beans on this one because I loved discovering it 'fresh' so to speak. Suffice it to say it's an excellent YA dystopian book, and I will definitely be looking into more of Nancy Farmer's work.
2002, 380 pp.
[Disclosure: I checked out this audio CD from my local library]
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (
John 13:34-35
,
ESV
)
"You can't build a car that violates the laws of physics. Same goes for a time machine. You can't go just anywhere, only to places it will let you go. You can only go to places that you will let yourself go."
I read this book for the read-a-thon, and I must say it was an excellent choice as it was quite a page turner. This book is taking the internet by storm, and while I did enjoy it, I didn't quite love the book.
I don't remember where I heard or read this story, so it might not be true, but I heard that when Joe Hill was trying to get this book published, he didn't tell anyone until he signed the contract that he was Stephen King's son. I was so impressed by that. He really could have used that to his advantage and instead he chose to try to make it on his own first. Kudos. [Edit: Okay, I did find a source of this from
