In the House of the Worm is a short story by George R. R Martin, author of Game of Thrones. Set in the underground world of the yaga-la-hai, In the House of the Worm is the story of Annelyn's quest to bring down the Meatbringer. Annelyn, your typical popular guy (with an atypically feminine name), is humiliated by the Meatbringer at one of the community's grandest events. Throw in the fact that the Meatbringer steals Annelyn's lady love and you have the perfect recipe for revenge-seeking. Annelyn gathers his pals Vermyllar and Reiss and they venture into the dark, tunneling deep underground where they join up with Groff...involuntarily. What ensues is a search and victory story that is more search and less victory. After a rather long (for a short story) journey, Annelyn achieves his goal but rather anti-climatically. There is not much action in this story but GRRM's narrative skills will have you engrossed. The creatures in the story are not very well defined, save for the grouns, allowing for the readers imagination to take over.
In the House of the Worm lends itself to book clubs and discussion groups. There are clear themes surrounding the separation of classes, including the upper class' lack of knowledge useful for survival. Does Annelyn become like the Meatbringer he was trying to eliminate? Is hatred passed on by mythology so much that the yaga-la-hai and the grouns live in unnecessary enmity? This short story has plenty to offer the literary reader.
For anyone looking to venture into fantasy fiction, this may be just the book for you. In the House of the Worm couples one of the foremost fantasy writers with brevity. It is also a great book for fantasy lovers who are short on time. The electronic version of the book is available at a low price and seems to be the only version currently available.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Second Son - Lee Child, 2011
Second Son by Lee Child is a short story about his character, Jack Reacher, at 13. This is an opportunity for fans of Jack Reacher to peer into his childhood during the tumultuous year of 1974. Jack's father, Stan, is a Marine sent to Okinawa on a top secret mission. Upon arrival, Reacher and his brother Joe find themselves in a neighborhood dominated by a fat, nameless bully with a boil on his neck. Both Reacher boys are physically intimidating and do not doubt their ability to deal with the bully. Joe is a worrier and gives the bully an opportunity to cause trouble, while Jack has been mollified by his mother, Josie, to remain passive in the face of such threats. While Child builds this boyhood struggle for dominance, Stan loses a top secret code book while Josie leaves to see her elderly, dying father in Paris. Jack, always called Reacher, has to step in, juggle the obstacles, and save the day. The author deftly sets up the characters and the conflict in a short space, getting to the climax and resolving it with minimal contrivance. The story is cleverly written, the dialogue is interesting and even occasionally funny. Given the story length, it is impressive how well the author is able to develop each character using dialogue, their inner monologue, and the views of other characters regarding each other. For those established Reacher fans, the story may be too short and may
not provide an in depth view into Jack Reacher. However if you keep in
mind that it is just a glimpse into young Jack Reacher then you may find
it enjoyable. If you are looking for a quick read that will keep you engaged the whole time, Second Son is a must read.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Welcome to the Dancing Bookshelf!
In these terribly busy days, who has the time to waste on a book that's not worth reading? The Dancing Bookshelf reviews a variety of books and encourages discussion amongst serious readers. No one likes the feeling of letting a book go unfinished so let's all help each other avoid the dreadful guilt. Do you agree or disagree with a review? Add a comment! Opinions from readers with a variety of tastes will only help other readers decide if they would enjoy a book or not. Here's to more time spent reading books you will enjoy. Happy reading!
The Power of Positive Thinking - Norman Vincent Peale
Positive thinking is a way of life of for me. I strongly believe that we can be transformed by our thoughts. The principles laid out in Dr. Peale's book are in line with several well-known strategies for positive living. While I agree with the content, there are a few issues with the presentation that readers should be wary of:
1. The book is based on Biblical/Christian principles therefore people of different religious beliefs may find it difficult to connect to the content.
2. Dr. Peale portrays positive thinkers as viewing everything as rosy. Positive thinkers are not immune to anger, disappointment, and other negative emotions. They instead use positive thinking to overcome the negative. In the chapter "Power to Solve Personal Problems", Peale tells a story of a couple, Bill and Mary, wherein Bill gets passed over for a promotion after several years of working for a company and essentially having been promised the job. Mary is raging mad and wants Bill to act out. Peale prays them through the issue. Bill remains calm the whole time but Mary has to force herself to come to a more positive state. I know I was supposed to gravitate to Bill but I tended to gravitate more to Mary. She had to work at being positive. It didn't just come to her and this seemed more realistic to me.
3. Many of the stories are one-off encounters. What happens to the people after they have their kumbaya moment? Positive thinking is typically not a one-time deal; one has to work at replenishing their reserves.
4. Many of the stories are based on encounters with the author. It may take time to notice because it is masked in prayer and Bible passages but several of the stories take the form of "life was crappy, then they met me, I prayed with them, and then life was great." While prayer does transform lives, there are several people that can serve as conduits for its power. I guess the author has to speak from encounters he has had, however it seems (I didn't actually count) that there are fewer stories of people reporting changes to him and more of him leading them to change.
5. Majority (if not all) of the stories have a happy ending. I believe that true positive thinking is demonstrated when stuff does not go well. People lose loved ones, jobs, relationships, people have illnesses that are incurable...this stuff happens. How we chose to deal with it, rather than whether or not we can make it go away, is where the rubber meets the road.
6. Many of the stories are told in the two extremes - life was crappy, I failed at everything, then I started thinking positively and everything went well. Even negative thinkers get some things right and sometimes positive thinkers fail repeatedly or never make it out of crappy situations. Life rarely plays out in extremes. There is good and bad and positive thinking is about choosing to focus on the good.
Like I said, I do agree with the general content but the presentation feels more like the author is trying to sell something. This book came out in 1952 and at the time was quite controversial. Several members of the mental health community disagreed with Peale saying that it was hard to prove that positive thinking was as life-changing as claimed. When faced with having to sell one's ideas in that climate, it would almost seem necessary to sugar coat things a little bit. It is hard to prove that people's lives are better because they think more positively since it could be argued that maybe they just think their lives are better than they actually are. At the end of the day, you have to be the judge. Do the strategies in this book work for you? If they do, then it doesn't matter what others think or how the author presented them.
1. The book is based on Biblical/Christian principles therefore people of different religious beliefs may find it difficult to connect to the content.
2. Dr. Peale portrays positive thinkers as viewing everything as rosy. Positive thinkers are not immune to anger, disappointment, and other negative emotions. They instead use positive thinking to overcome the negative. In the chapter "Power to Solve Personal Problems", Peale tells a story of a couple, Bill and Mary, wherein Bill gets passed over for a promotion after several years of working for a company and essentially having been promised the job. Mary is raging mad and wants Bill to act out. Peale prays them through the issue. Bill remains calm the whole time but Mary has to force herself to come to a more positive state. I know I was supposed to gravitate to Bill but I tended to gravitate more to Mary. She had to work at being positive. It didn't just come to her and this seemed more realistic to me.
3. Many of the stories are one-off encounters. What happens to the people after they have their kumbaya moment? Positive thinking is typically not a one-time deal; one has to work at replenishing their reserves.
4. Many of the stories are based on encounters with the author. It may take time to notice because it is masked in prayer and Bible passages but several of the stories take the form of "life was crappy, then they met me, I prayed with them, and then life was great." While prayer does transform lives, there are several people that can serve as conduits for its power. I guess the author has to speak from encounters he has had, however it seems (I didn't actually count) that there are fewer stories of people reporting changes to him and more of him leading them to change.
5. Majority (if not all) of the stories have a happy ending. I believe that true positive thinking is demonstrated when stuff does not go well. People lose loved ones, jobs, relationships, people have illnesses that are incurable...this stuff happens. How we chose to deal with it, rather than whether or not we can make it go away, is where the rubber meets the road.
6. Many of the stories are told in the two extremes - life was crappy, I failed at everything, then I started thinking positively and everything went well. Even negative thinkers get some things right and sometimes positive thinkers fail repeatedly or never make it out of crappy situations. Life rarely plays out in extremes. There is good and bad and positive thinking is about choosing to focus on the good.
Like I said, I do agree with the general content but the presentation feels more like the author is trying to sell something. This book came out in 1952 and at the time was quite controversial. Several members of the mental health community disagreed with Peale saying that it was hard to prove that positive thinking was as life-changing as claimed. When faced with having to sell one's ideas in that climate, it would almost seem necessary to sugar coat things a little bit. It is hard to prove that people's lives are better because they think more positively since it could be argued that maybe they just think their lives are better than they actually are. At the end of the day, you have to be the judge. Do the strategies in this book work for you? If they do, then it doesn't matter what others think or how the author presented them.
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