On my Goodreads, I should have ratings of each of these books, but here I thought I would provide a short review of each of them. I'm not a fan of simply grading a book or a film and leaving that as a review, so I hope to answer some questions about my thoughts on each book. These will be incredibly brief, though, so don't expect anything too extensive unless the review calls for it.
Zen in the Art of Writing - Ray Bradbury
This was a perfect book to start the year with. Bradbury has compiled a small collection of essays that work to inspiring prospective writers into sitting down and work on their craft. The book isn't very technical, which may turn some people away, but only because its purpose is to invigorate the reader and excite them about writing, which is precisely what the book did for me. Parts of this book act as a semi-autobiography, where he retell his story in order to better present the lessons he wishes to teach. While some of these passages may come off a little boastful on Bradbury's part, his heart is always in the right place. The final chapter is comprised of poems that he wrote which also play into the theme of writing and being a writer. It isn't an enormous book, and it shouldn't take anyone very long to finish, but that just means its more worth the read if you're interested in writing. A perfect starting point.
The Shadow over Innsmouth - H.P. Lovecraft
I'm not at all very familiar with Lovecraftian lore, but over the past year I've become an immense fan of the video game Bloodborne, which is inspired by the cult classic horror stories, with this story in particular inspiring the plot of the game's DLC. So I ordered this small collection of stories in order to understand where the lore of the game arose, as well as to open a gateway into a new section of literature that I am unfortunately ignorant of. The collection includes a few other stories that supposedly all make a small part of the Cthulu mythos. After finishing the publication, I am definitely interested in learning more about the mythos in order to have a clearer picture of the over-looming mystery, but I can't say that any of the stories truly excited me. They were definitely creepy, and their imagery was terrifyingly specific and interesting, but I think I was simply turned off by how he writes these stories. In the title story, there is a 3-4 page block of the history of Innsmouth (a town) explained by an old drunkard that the protagonist was recommended to meet. The story of the town was such a creepy and intriguing story, but I had trouble simply reading it. The drunkard talked like an old sailor with missing teeth, which is fine and I actually admire that Lovecraft was able to write his dialogue in this way, but it went on for too long and I had to reread every sentence several times to fully comprehend what the man was saying. This is a small example, and in no way am I suggesting that he is a bad writer, but little decisions like that do build up, and eventually I became tired of reading it. The story and background is amazing and one that I'm still eager to dig into, but it was definitely a rougher start for me.
A Poetry Handbook - Mary Oliver
This year, I've started focusing my university studies partially on poetry, meaning that a lot of my free time will be taken up by poetry for classes and possibly leisure. I had planned on finishing Edward Hirsch's How to Read a Poem (and Fall in Love with Poetry) but I unfortunately left it at home when I left for school. So until I'm able to finish that one, I decided to focus on this quick read. It is really refreshing when reading a book on poetry from someone who truly loves the subject themselves, and I really do get that feeling from Mary Oliver (and the same could be said for Hirsch, and I daresay even moreso). This really brief introduction into the technicalities of poetry was something I'm very glad to have read at the beginning of the year. I don't have much more to say on the book itself, other than if you are interested in studying poetry, this is a fine book to start with and one I recommend to anyone. It is brief, so there is nothing incredibly comprehensive or lengthy, but there are other books for a deeper look into any aspect of poetry. This only serves as an introduction and a base in which to start with and refer back to every now and again.
The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury
Seeing as I received multiple Bradbury books for Christmas, I think I've accepted the current Bradbury binge that I seem to be in. Fahrenheit 451 is definitely one of my favorite books of old time, and The Illustrated Man has some of the elements that will later inspire Bradbury's well known masterpiece. That being said, I don't find myself falling in love with these stories. The publication is a collection of science fiction stories set in the future, with the colonization of other planets, space travel, and aliens are pretty much assumed, and they all are told through the over-arching story about a man whose tattoos move and tell stories when he perspires. (The story actually ends in a way that I think was meant to be comical, but comes off fairly lacking in my opinion.) There are some very well told stories in here, such as Kaleidescope, about a rocket ship that explodes, spiraling its crew out into open space where they reflect on their lives as they drift farther apart (even typing this now gives me chills), or The Visitor, about a man exiled to Mars from an incurable disease who is then visited by a man who is able to use hypnosis to manipulate the world around him. Bradbury has a talent for creating some deviously clever plots and setups, but there are some cases where it seems the stories never reach farther than just the idea, such as The Highway, where nothing feels entirely complete. But those are on the minority, and the majority of these stories stand just fine on their own. I don't know, its not something that really hooked me, but I can say honestly that I enjoyed them.
So these turned out much longer than anticipated. I'm glad I was able to write this much about them, even if it still isn't a lot. Next month will have more reviews, and you can follow my progress on Goodreads below.
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/38778018-michael-quigg
