Online Read Books

Posts Tagged ‘Literature’

The scariest story I’ve ever read is not a horror story at all. Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451″ is the story of a world where books are illegal. They’re burned by firemen who wear the number “451″ on their uniforms because that’s the temperature at which books burn. Its science fiction at its best, but to an avid reader like me the thought of a world without books is truly horrifying.

Bradbury’s original short story was reworked and published as “The Fireman” in the February 1951 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. He created a future where the government keeps everyone happy by destroying anything that might cause debate or conflict. Literature is forbidden. It is thought to be a source of discord, disorder and disturbance. Special task forces composed of firemen are sent out to search and burn illegal books, such as literature by Whitman and Faulkner, historical texts and the Bible.

Guy Montag is a fireman. At first he enjoys his work, but after talking to Clarisse, his seventeen year old neighbor, her free thinking, inquisitive nature makes him question what he’s doing. He realizes he’s unhappy with his personal life as well. His wife is addicted to tranquilizers and television, refusing to face reality.

One day while searching an old woman’s house for books Guy reads a line that catches his eye and he steals the book. The woman will not leave her house or her books. She lights the kerosene herself and burns with them. Guy is disturbed by her suicide and he takes sick leave. The fire chief visits him and explains that society in its search for happiness and political correctness prompted the government to suppress literature. Guy continues to hoard books and hides them in his own house. Betrayed by his wife, he is ordered by the chief to destroy them. Guy makes a choice that turns him into a fugitive and has him running for his life.

Although the story seems to center around censorship another prevailing theme is the decline of reading due to television. In Bradbury’s dystopian world mass media has taken the place of reading, leading to a society where individual thinking is destroyed. It’s easy to spot the resemblance between his world and ours. His vision is prophetic in the light of today’s media consciousness with easy access to television, movies and the internet. These are valuable tools, but should be used to encourage reading, not replace it.

This is an entertaining story with memorable characters. It’s also a thought provoking read that ends with redemptive hope for the future – a true classic that has stood the test of time.

Publisher: Ballantine Books (August 12, 1987)

ISBN: 978-0345342966

Pages: 208

Price: $6.99

The Devil’s Elixirs is predominantly a first person narrative related by the Capuchin monk Medardus. Although the majority of the action is related from the viewpoint of this monk, the immediate difficulty for the reader is that Medardus is perhaps the most unreliable narrator in the whole of European fiction. He is ignorant of his family history and is only dimly aware of his own childhood; while what he does know is based upon fragments of memory and a few events his mother has explained to him. He seems at times unable to distinguish a work of art from a real person or differentiate reality from dreams and mental aberrations. He seems uncertain in his own mind whether his actions spring from divine or diabolical motives. His ability to lie convincingly to others frequently leads him to deceive himself. He dissociates himself from his crimes to such an extent that he becomes convinced that they were committed by someone else, while he is able to rationalise away other acts of wickedness on the most specious of arguments. He has a tendency to form a hostile opinion of others very rapidly if they disagree with him, often ascribing a paranoid malice to their motives. When he discovers that he has erred in his judgement, he is apt to form an opposite and equally unreliable opinion of them based on his own remorse. He does not write this manuscript of his own free will, but as an act of penance and this too colours the manner in which he presents himself.

One would scarcely trust such a monk to read the evening sermon, never mind letting him loose on compiling an authentic account of his own life. It is impossible to rely on either his interpretation of events or even at times the events themselves so much are these distorted by his own idiosyncratic personality. Although a large proportion of his historical circumstances and family history are revealed throughout the course of the novel via independent corroboration or by individuals who have a more ready grip upon the world, many specific and discrete episodes defy definite explanation.

The Devil’s Elixirs, therefore, maintains a highly sophisticated narrative position, which plays subtle games with the reader’s expectations and reactions. This requires a close and continual engagement with the text to unravel the various threads which are being wound together. A novel related in the first person nearly always encourages sympathy for and understanding of the central character but it is perhaps one part of the seductive and human nature of this book that despite perceiving Medardus to be such an evidently flawed and imperfect individual, this ultimately makes his plight more credible and endearing. Medardus’s superior at the monastery is all too aware of the cracks in the monk’s psychological make up, but this does not mean that he shuns him from the order. Rather, to recognise these imperfections and subsequently to achieve control over them is a fundamental part of man’s struggle with evil in the fallen world.

There is so much to learn and to know about Florida that even the not-so-recent newcomers and residents of several years like me rejoice when they find “The Florida Handbook 2005-2006″ in their hands. This book’s 820 pages have been compiled by Allen Morris (now deceased) and Joan Perry Morris, both Florida historians and authors.

From the members of The Executive Branch of the State of Florida to noted residents and people who wrote or had anything to do with the history of Florida, all biographies and photographs are meticulously put together throughout the book. In addition, information on major state agencies and Florida’s budget are offered in detail. I was surprised to read the clearly written main points of the Sunshine Amendment and the Sunshine Law.

For those who may be curious, Sunshine Amendment provides a right of access to governmental proceedings at both the state and local levels. It gives a constitutionally guaranteed right of access to residents and the Sunshine Law applies to all discussions or deliberations as well as the formal action taken by a board or commission. Almost all state and local public bodies are covered by the open meetings requirements with the exception of the judiciary and the state Legislature.

After the Executive Branch, the book continues with the Judicial System and the local governments of the state, followed by Artists Hall of Fame, Great Floridians, Symbols of the State, Florida forts, Native Americans, Early Florida Cemeteries, Floridians at War, Florida Counties, Florida Literature, Everglades, Exotic Plant and Animal Species, Climate and Weather, Sports in Florida, Florida Forests,State Parks, Citrus Production and Processing, Florida Mineral Industry, Fish and Wildlife, General Farming (Trucking, Crops, and Livestock), Public Education, Highways (Trails to Turnpikes), Notable Bridges, Scenic Drives, Size and Structure of Florida, People, Economy, Utilities, Motor Vehicle and all related services, Elections and a few lists and charts.

To the end of the book, Florida’s Constitution with all its articles and amendments are added. The book has an index as well.

It was interesting to read that Florida became a state on February 11, 1845, and the county I live in–St. Lucie–was accepted as the 25th county on March 14, 1844. Then it was accepted again, after its creation for the second time, as the 46th county on May 25, 1905. Floridians, surely, have a special way of doing things.

Inside the book, all the noted individuals of the state are given detailed biographies with photographs. As a bonus, some wonderful old and new photographs decorate the book in black and white.

From a personal standpoint, my attention was directed to the section on Florida literature written by Helen Muir. The first known work written in Florida is “Fontaneda’s Memoir” in fifteenth century. In this section, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Hemingway, Audubon, John Muir, Henry James, Stephen Crane, W.C. Bryant, J.F. Cooper, Harriett Beecher Stowe, Kirk Monroe, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, Zola Neale Hurston, Michael Shaara, Joy Williams, Laurence Shames and the writers and journalists who came after them and who have had anything to do with Florida are given their places. In 1994, Robert Frost Poetry Celebration was established, and The International Book Fair in downtown Miami is celebrating its 23rd opening in November 2006. As the writer says, “As Florida grows, so grows its literature.”

I came across this book in a Borders bookstore. When I wanted to send it as a Christmas Gift to a friend from online, I couldn’t find it in Amazon or in another online bookstore. The book as the 30th Biennial edition is published by Peninsular Publishing Company with ISBN 0976584603.

The Florida Handbook 2005-2006 can be a fine edition to any school, home, or public library because of its meticulously compiled information and priceless photographs.

Author Lesley Hal Creates a Page turning Scandal. Shameful Secrets, Adulterous Affairs, Murderous Truths. And You Thought Desperate Housewives had Drama!

Lesley Hal’s dramatic writing style has been praised by loyal followers, book clubs, and authors who are demanding a sequel to her debut novel. She has been dubbed the Queen of Suburban Drama. Blind Temptations takes you into the lives of suburbanites Chante Michaels, Michelle Ramsey, and Karissa Waters. Decisions, delusions and denials mixed with the right amount of ecstasy makes the perfect recipe for this page turning dramatic tale.

Chante Michaels lives in a fantasy world. She has the perfect job and the perfect family. That is until her husband, Alex Michaels, step out on her with a Tyra Banks look alike, Paris, who has a little secret of her own that will unleash all kinds of hell.

Karissa Waters would love nothing more than to be accepted by her mother that disowned her when she was only eleven. She meets the heir to a multi-billion dollar estate Andre Williamson who wants to give her a lifetime of love and happiness. Except Karissa won’t marry him without her mother’s blessings; a woman who makes Mommy Dearest look angelic.

Michelle Ramsey is in love with the devil himself Brandon Thomas. She’s a master at hiding what she doesn’t want people to see like the abuse she endures at Brandon’s unloving hands. Greg Wallace is the man she needs but won’t give a chance because her heart belongs to only one man…Brandon.

Lesley is currently working on her second novel “Pleasure and Pain” Seducing the Seductress. This book will be released under her pseudonym Ms. Le Diva. You can get a glimpse into Bianca’s world by reading the short story Stormy Weather which was featured in Noire urban erotica bestselling author of G-Spot online magazine in October 2006. Lesley is also being featured in Zane’s Chocolate Flava2 anthology coming out in August 2007 where her short story Riding the Friendly Skies was penned as one of the crème de la crème.

For more information the excerpt to “Blind Temptations” the Seduction o Sex, Lies & Betrayal can be viewed at [] Order it online today at Amazon or Barnes & Nobles $15.00. To schedule an author/event/interview contact the author at Lesley_Hal2000@yahoo.com
or visit…. []

Everyone is talking about the new HBO miniseries The Pacific. While it is well scripted, brilliantly performed, and visually realistic, what really has critics’ attention is its jumbled storyline. Herein, they say, lies the series’ real strength. So why is it that when we have no overarching narrative, we get bad marks in creative writing, but when Tom Hanks does it, he gets his own miniseries?

Historically, war stories have been told from a zoomed-out perspective that focuses on major events and overall movements. This is a tidy, logical, and totally misleading way of representing war. Just ask any veteran. With time, however, war stories have become increasingly fragmented, switching from the historian’s perspective to the combatant’s. With this trend comes a heightened awareness of – and ambiguity toward – the morality of individual actions during war.

With technological developments immensely increasing our capacity for destruction, the last century has forever changed the way the world looks at combat. WWI started with the assassination of one man and spiraled out of control into a thirty/plus-nation massacre. WWII had an unprecedented fifty million civilian casualties – many of whom were not simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s no wonder that the way war stories are told increasingly reflects a frustrated, absurdist point of view.

Joseph Heller’s 1961 novel, Catch-22, is one of the finest examples of war satire. It follows – if you can justify using that word – a Captain Yossarian, who is hell-bent on getting out of fighting in WWII because he thinks “every one of them” is trying to kill him. Every one of whom? Them. His dream is to get discharged on grounds of insanity, but obviously he can’t request to leave outright. After all, only sane people would want to stop fighting, which means the only people qualified to leave are the ones who want to be there in the first place. Now you see why the novel coined the term “catch-22″.

Heller’s novel is filled with enough circular reasoning to give Lewis Carroll a run for his money. If the idiocy of the plot itself isn’t enough to drive the point home, the plot structure certainly will: its forty-two chapters shuffle through time unannounced and incessantly, leaving us readers just as disoriented as the soldiers themselves. Mercifully, Catch-22 is hilarious, which seems to suggest that sometimes, there’s really nothing you can do but laugh.

Another WWII novel in this vein is Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, which he published in 1969 based on his experience as a prisoner of war during the Allied bombing of Dresden. Its protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, is an optometrist who is woefully unprepared for the war. At one point, he is saved from extremely friendly fire by the fortuitous arrival of German soldiers, who take him and his would-be assassin prisoner. Because they are locked safely away in a Dresden slaughterhouse, Billy and the other prisoners miraculously survive the demolition of the city.

If this all sounds unsatisfactorily straightforward to you, you’ll be happy to hear that Billy is also involuntarily time-tripping between different moments in his life, taking you, the reader, along for the ride. Among these moments is his future life as an abductee on the planet Tralfamadore, where he lives in captivity with another abductee, also from Earth, who happens to be a female porn star. Living with the Tralfamadorians teaches Billy that because there’s no such thing as linear time, there’s also no free will, which keeps Billy from getting too worked up about the whole thing.

So, the next time you sit down to watch a dizzying installment of The Pacific, keep in mind that it’s books like Catch-22 and Slaughterhouse-Five that inspired its unusual piecemeal structure. After all, who wants to stay focused on the big picture when there doesn’t seem to be one.