The Dream of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Palmer

This Book is incredible.

Dexter Palmer's Dream of Perpetual Motion captures the disillusion of living among machines. In about 350 pages that feel like a complete and fantastic lifetime, Palmer gives us an alternate history of the early 20th century, where gears and levers work with electricity to create a familiar-yet-different world- where computer technology doesn't exist, only the intricate clock-maker's wheels and cranks to drive mechanical men and automated aspects of every-day life. It is a classic, yet realistic hero's journey, following the struggles of would-be hero Harold Winslow (the name is intensely perfect) and the inventor-genius villain Prospero Talgient.
I haven't read The Tempest but Prospero is the mad Magician, Miranda is his daughter, and Caliban is enslaved by Prospero. They are stranded, not on an island, but in a giant tower. Ah Ferdinand also plays a part! (Thank you Wikipedia)
Apart from that the story is genius, the world is realistic, the writing is awesome, and the characters are believable. Perhaps Palmer is gifted with a story-teller's mind but I'm sure his doctorate in literature helped him quite a bit as well. Thank god for education. Thank god for Dexter Palmer. I can't wait for his next work to hit the shelves.

Here is a picture of me reading this book.


5/5!

The Passage by Justin Cronin

The Passage by Justin Cronin has received a lot of hype and for very good reason. Before it was release a movie deal was already in the works. Also, it is said to be the first in a trilogy which makes my blood boil with excitement. (Read Summer of 2010)

The Passage tells the story of biological-warfare gone wrong, genetically mutated zombie/vampires, and the effect they have on the world over a couple hundred year span. It's been a while since I read it but it was insanely good and I devoured it's near 800 pages in a fervor. Here is a picture of me reading the book.

5/5

The Complete Tales of Ketzia Gold by Kate Bernheimer

Kate Bernheimer is my brain with different experiences. She embodies the frail, starving white girl lost in her insecurities/intellect. It is genius on paper, poetic, moving, fantastic, imaginative, and wonderful.

Here is a picture of me reading this amazing work.


8/5

Horse, Flower, Bird by Kate Bernheimer

5/5

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Magical world inside magical world inside the real world. Lev Grossman's The Magicians tells the story of a young intelligent boy and his curious education. I enjoyed the fact that in this magical universe there is no good vs. evil, only the personal battle for finding happiness and overcoming boredom. Good and evil exist in a complex interweaving, as they do in the real world- not as a singularly good thing vs. a singularly bad thing. This was a SUPER story and written very well. Lev Grossman has his masters in Comparative Literature and though I've never heard of this particular degree, it must be a good one. I look forward to reading his other novel Codex.


5/5

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow may best be described by it's genre. It is written in the style of modern female literature, almost in the same tone as a biography, with light overtones of science fiction and a heavy religious overtone. If I owned a bookstore I would be tempted, if not forced to place this book in Religion over Fiction. That is how heavy the religious overtones are. Its not a preachy book, more of a deep look about the legitimacy of God.
The story itself was great -when she got around to telling it. I won't be reading the sequel.

3.5/5

Paul Auster Invisible

Paul Auster is a literary bad ass. I wasn't sure what to expect with Invisible after digesting New York Trilogy (5/5). It wasn't as good as NYT but then again, I wasn't disappointed. Invisible follows the story of a young man in 1967. It was never very clear to me why the book was called Invisible- maybe the young man, who dies telling his story, feels as though his life has been invisible. I have a strange attraction to the title because it causes me to think of the word "indivisible" which is very different indeed. I like comparing the two words with the actions and demeanor of the character because he was both. It was a story of intense dedication to a set of morals, while really going off track of the morals of society. Basically, I think Auster could wipe his boots on a piece of paper and it would be worth reading, he's just that good.
It's not the first Auster I'd recommend, as it has some old-man musings that most white male authors get when they start to get old. But I would never turn someone away from it.

4/5