Assassin’s Quest, L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories, V for Vendetta, and Old Man’s War
Haven’t felt much like writing reviews recently, but I have read quite a few very good books that I would highly recommend. So here’s my ratings and some “micro” reviews / comments. Continue reading Reading Updates: 4 Book Ratings
Friedrich Schiller, German poet & writer (1759-1805)
This poem, (despite its age and that it was written in a foreign language,) is one of my favorite bits of lyric writing. I wish I could “live” what it recommends (I can’t…) but I “feel” the truth in most of it. A small, somewhat altered part of it appears in the final “choral” movement of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. That symphony is also my favorite, and what got me interested in the poem.
When ever I hear that 4th movement or read this poem, it reminds me of my old, blind, now deceased dog, Buddy — who, despite everything, was the most joyful creature. At least he gave me joy…
Below is the entire text of the poem, in both the original German, and in an English translation. I have bolded the one verse that really jumps out at me whenever I read it (the one about Joy driving the wheels of “the Cosmos” (that’s how I read it, anyway 😉 ). Ironically that verse is not in Beethoven’s ninth (though a slightly altered part of the chorus of that verse does appear). I also really like the verse and chorus which precedes my favorite verse, (the one that starts “All creatures drink Joy”) Continue reading Ode To Joy
I wrote this “Twilight Zone”-like short story about a war diary handed down from soldier to soldier in 1989. This was shortly before I actually joined the military, so it’s attempt to communicate a soldier’s life is pretty much a product of my imagination and watching too many war movies. The very brief story and my inexperience may have made the characters some what shallow stereotypes, but my later experiences in the US Navy during the Gulf War and its aftermath make me think none of those stereotypes are too far off the mark.
As far as the writing goes… I had very little writing experience when I wrote it, but I had written enough at this point to make a fairly good job of it. That and the fact that the story cites two very powerful poems by actual soldier poets from World War I and World War II make it into one of the few bits of my writing that I am not completely embarrassed by sharing. I had gotten the original idea in a college poetry class probably back in 1987, and it had sat around in my notebook and in my imagination for a year or 2 before I actually attempted to write it.
You can download the story in an Adobe PDF document that you should be able to read on most computers, mobile devices and e-readers with the appropriate app. In the near future I hope to add epub and kindle formats too.
To download the ebook, right-click the link below and select, “Save Link As”, or simply click on the link to open the ebook in your computer’s Adobe Reader app.
“The story so far:
In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”
― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Richard Biggs as Dr. Stephen Franklin in Babylon 5
Dr. Stephen Franklin: “I realized I always defined myself by what I wasn’t… Always what I wasn’t, never what I was. And when you do that, you miss the moments. And the moments are all we’ve got… I can’t go back, but I can appreciate what I have right now. And I can define myself by what I am instead of what I’m not.”
Captain John Sheridan: “What are you?”
Franklin: “Alive. Everything else is negotiable.”
Babylon 5, S03E21 “Shadow Dancing” – written by J. Michael Straczynski
Hmmm… Something I happened to notice recently. The name Kovacs comes up a lot in “modern” noir stories. Besides being a cool sounding Hungarian name it means “forger” or “smith”. As in someone who “forges justice” in spite of the injustice of the world that hammers away at him? Anyway, I discovered these recently in reverse chronological order but I suspect the references were NOT accidental but tips of the hat to previous stories in the genre.., Though I guess it COULD be coincidence…
1. Takeshi Lev KOVACS (“Altered Carbon”, “Broken Angels”, & “Woken Furies” sci-fi novels) – a tortured war veteran and ex-envoy (a genetically engineered super soldier & spy) in the far future who often has to conduct investigations to solve mysteries in a very film-noir and neo-noir style, with numerous tips of the hat to Blade Runner and other futuristic neo-noir films & fiction.
2. Walter Joseph KOVACS, aka Rorschach (“The Watchmen” graphic novel & movie) – a tortured superhero (or more properly anti-hero) that is a very dark noir-detective type character with serious “psychological issues” but a iron sense of honor. Lives an incredibly violent life, delivering brutal violent justice, and absolutely unable to “bend the rules” in what he perceives as right even when it means his own certain death.
3. László KOVÁCS (“Breathless” movie, French: “À bout de souffle” “out of breath”) – alias of car thief Michel Poiccard in one of the first neo-noir films, a 1960 French film that modernized a lot of the older film-noir tropes while making obvious references to the earlier genre. For example, the Kovacs character styled himself after Humphrey Bogart’s screen persona. Ironically the alias László Kovács is itself a “in joke” and a tip of the hat to the Hungarian cinematographer László Kovács who is most famous for his award-winning work on Easy Rider (1969) and Five Easy Pieces (1970). An American version of this French film was made starring Richard Gere, but unfortunately his character was not named Kovacs.
If only another one of my favorite neo-noir characters was named Kovacs too. He does have a foreign name. Though his is Turkish, he does have it out for Hungarians. And while his name is not Kovacs, the fact that the name is so unique does make it stand out. That and the fact that he is such a diabolical bad ass and not your typical noir anti-hero, but just an very mysterious and genius villain. Who is this character you ask?….
….
….
Keyser Söze from “The Usual Suspects” movie, of course, as played by Kevin Spacey.
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
First Published: April 1996
Read from: July 4 to 11, 2014
Love This Assassin, Though I REALLY Want to Hate Him
Book Blurb:
Fitz has survived his first hazardous mission as king’s assassin, but is left little more than a cripple. Battered and bitter, he vows to abandon his oath to King Shrewd, remaining in the distant mountains. But love and events of terrible urgency draw him back to the court at Buckkeep, and into the deadly intrigues of the royal family.
Renewing their vicious attacks on the coast, the Red-Ship Raiders leave burned-out villages and demented victims in their wake. The kingdom is also under assault from within, as treachery threatens the throne of the ailing king. In this time of great danger, the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz’s hands—and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice.
The novel Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb is the sequel to Assassin’s Apprentice and the second book in the Farseer Trilogy. This book continues the story of it’s main character Fitz Chivalry, a bastard son to a now deceased prince of the royal family of the Six Duchies. As such he has been taken in, raised and trained, and now secretly works for the King as an assassin (hence the name). Despite this character’s seemingly “evil” occupation he is quite a likable, interesting and realistically written character. The character, the world, and the story really grabbed me, pull me in and enthrall me… But it also really frustrated me. Read My Full Review →
BioShock Infinte Release Date: Mar 2013 Genre: First Person Shooter Developer: Irrational Games
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
BioShock Infinite delivers one hell of a punch.
So I finally finished the Xbox version of the game BioShock Infinte this “weekend” and I must say the ending of the game’s intense story truly delivered a punch to my gray matter that left me reeling in much the same way as the movies Twelve Monkeys, Seven and Fight Club did. (Hmm? Just noticed that all 3 of those movies star Brad Pitt. Very weird.)
I definitely enjoyed the game-play, the “world”, the FPS action, and the intense story. I don’t fault the ending (which I will NOT reveal here) as I think it fits the story-line and genre and is pretty cool to be honest… But STILLthe ending did leave me feeling a little betrayed. Read My Full Review →
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” Trade Paperback by Marvel Comics – Chris Claremont, John Byrne & Terry Austin View book info on GoodReads
Overall “Book” Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars First Published: Trade Paperback published July 2013, collecting 7 comic book issues originally published in 1981 Read from: Jun 27 to July 12, 2014
Better Than the Movie, But…
I checked this Trade Paperback out from the library after watching the “meh” movie VERY loosely based on in it, (see my review of that movie here,) as I did not recall having read the original comic story “back in the day”. I guess I was expecting more of a graphic novel, or a longer story, so I was initially disappointed when I first started to read this collection of “classic” X-Men… Especially after reading the first story of the bunch, which is pretty darn poor. The actual “Days of Future Past” story line really only takes up 2 of the 7 comics included in this collection. While the “DOFP” story line is fair to good, a few of the other comics in the collection are actually better than this “title” story.
I have rated, reviewed & provided brief synapses of each “issue” included in this trade paperback below. With most of the stories I have provided more details for those who are curious. The spoiler-laden details are hidden in “spoiler tags” so those who want to read the TPB without ruining anything can still read on, as long as they don’t click through to the spoiler contents… Read My Full Review →
Diary of Forget-Me-Nots by Jeffrey Beaty
Download Diary of Forget-Me-Nots
1. Takeshi Lev KOVACS (“Altered Carbon”, “Broken Angels”, & “Woken Furies” sci-fi novels) – a tortured war veteran and ex-envoy (a genetically engineered super soldier & spy) in the far future who often has to conduct investigations to solve mysteries in a very film-noir and neo-noir style, with numerous tips of the hat to Blade Runner and other futuristic neo-noir films & fiction.
2. Walter Joseph KOVACS, aka Rorschach (“The Watchmen” graphic novel & movie) – a tortured superhero (or more properly anti-hero) that is a very dark noir-detective type character with serious “psychological issues” but a iron sense of honor. Lives an incredibly violent life, delivering brutal violent justice, and absolutely unable to “bend the rules” in what he perceives as right even when it means his own certain death.
Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
5 out of 5 stars 
BioShock Infinte
4 out of 5 stars
So I finally finished the Xbox version of the game BioShock Infinte this “weekend” and I must say the ending of the game’s intense story truly delivered a punch to my gray matter that left me reeling in much the same way as the movies Twelve Monkeys, Seven and Fight Club did. (Hmm? Just noticed that all 3 of those movies star Brad Pitt. Very weird.)
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” Trade Paperback by Marvel Comics – Chris Claremont, John Byrne & Terry Austin
3.5 out of 5 stars
