Thursday, April 30, 2009

Day Thirty

4/30

The Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

ISBN: 978-1-59308-311-3

Suggested By: Rebecca Mitchell

Where: Home

When: 3-3:40P

Music: None

Company: Alone

Pages: 758- 817 (58)


The Lead In: Today I will finish my first Dickens. It’s been both better and worse than I expected. Way too many characters and, at times, a little predictable.  But other times I was surprised by its modernity, with little phrases and descriptions.  


The 411 on the 55: Well, well, the story ends today. Jarndyce changes his mind quickly and surprisingly and tells Esther to marry Mr. Woodcourt. The case is settled and all the lawyers’ fees have eaten up the estate. Richard almost dies, but makes it out of his funk. The End


The 20/20: Pretty good book overall. Well worth the read. Dickens is a master story-teller and ingenious in his manner of character creation. It was complicated to read at times, but I am glad to have pushed through to the end.


Line of the Day: “...what shall we find reasonable in Jarndyce and Jarndyce! Unreason and injustice at the top, unreason and injustice at the heart and at the bottom, unreason and injustice from beginning to end-if it ever has an end-” pg759


The Fact on the Fiction: The entire book of Bleak House is available on google books. Google



Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Day Twenty-Nine

4/29

The Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

ISBN: 978-1-59308-311-3

Suggested By: Rebecca Mitchell

Where: Home

When: 2-2:35P

Music: None

Company: Alone

Pages: 702-757 (55)


The Lead In: Bleak House is much better the further in I am. The story line is still predictable I guess, but, every once in a while, Dickens surprises me. I am one day away if I stretch my reading tomorrow.


The 411 on the 55: The gig is up everyone knows what Lady Dedlock has done and she flips out and runs away from the house leaving a suicide note. Lord Dedlock has an apparent stroke just after and hires Bucket, after resurfacing from the stroke, to go after her. There is a touching scene where he declares her love for her, claiming that no matter what has happened he will not punish her in any way.


Bucket grabs Esther to help him find Dedlock. Almost 30 pages of driving around, a little draggy if you ask me. Eventually they find her at the grave of the old Captian/scribe Nemo, her lover and Esther’s father, and she’s, OF COURSE, dead. Of what? Who knows? Only in Victorian novels does one spontaneously combust or die of shame. Didn’t like that. Face your shame, kill yourself if you can’t live, but you don’t die of sadness.


Line of the Day: “My Dear,” he returned, “when a young lady is as mild as she’s game, and as game as she’s mild, that’s all I ask, and more than I expect. She then becomes a Queen, and that’s about what you are yourself.” pg 747 (Bucket to Esther)


The Fact on the Fiction: Ok, I know this is too awesome to believe, but apparently there is a Dickens Tribute band! “Tulkinghorn was this lawyer who, tried to destroy her, He was shot by a disgruntled maid.” Actual lyric!  On Myspace Wards in Jarndyce If you happen to go, give em a shout out from 55pages!



Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Day Twenty-Eight

4/28

The Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

ISBN: 978-1-59308-311-3

Suggested By: Rebecca Mitchell

Where: Home

When: 9:30-10P

Music: None

Company: Alone

Pages: 646 - 701 (55)


The Lead In: So I am in my final Realism class tonight and I mention to Dr. Mitchell that I am reading Bleak House, the book she put on the list, and she says, “Oh? Well, I figured you would love it because of Kafka.” Apparently Kafka loved it. 


The 411 on the 55: Esther discovers that Ada has gone behind her back and married Richard. Not too surprising. Esther is a little slow on the uptake sometimes.


Mr. Bucket begins digging into the murder and through several long-winded speeches nails his culprit, the french maid. I enjoyed this part of the book. Mr. Bucket is highly amusing. And his speeches were good times. Of course, the French woman did it, with her ridiculous accent and hilarious lines, the perfect murderer


Line of the Day: Two awesome lines today: 1)  “Now, What’s up?” pg 683,

2) “When I went up-stairs to bed, our house being small and this young woman’s ears sharp, I stuffed the sheet into Mrs. Bucket’s mouth that she shouldn’t say a word of surprise, and told her all about it. pg 691


The Fact on the Fiction: The novels of Charles Dickens were translated into German shortly after their English publication. They were very popular. Franz Kafka in the main admired Dickens’ writing. This admiration shows through in Kafka’s own novels, themselves written in German. On reading The Trial or The Castle one is struck by parallels with Charles Dickens’ novels, particularly Bleak House. David Wheldon This is a rather good article, though a bit long.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Day Twenty-Seven

4/27

The Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

ISBN: 978-1-59308-311-3

Suggested By: Rebecca Mitchell

Where: Home

When: 9:40-10:20P

Music: None

Company: Alone

Pages: 590 - 645 (55)


The Lead In: Ah, Death visits our poor son of the streets today, as I write this a little way in to today’s reading. Swine flu is on the loose in Mexico and poor Jo is dying in England. Sad days are upon us.


The 411 on the 55: Mr. Woodcourt, friend and admirer of Esther, passing through the poor part of town, runs into Jo. He is freaked out and hounded by the people seeking information on Nemo. He is taken to Mr. George’s firing range, but dies soon after. Touching scene actually. Best use of poetic style by Dickens up to this point.


Lady Dedlock sends her maid away, to protect her from the impending doom of her secret being revealed and, in response, Mr. Tulkinghorn threatens to tell everyone. He leaves the estate, but someone shoots him in the night at his apartment. The next day, Mr. George is arrested for the murder. Nice twist there.


Caddy has taken sick and Esther begins visiting her daily. Her situation looks bleak and Mr. Jarndyce recommends switching doctors, to Mr. Woodcourt. ( I can see where this is headed.) He brings Caddy back to health. 


The last section of today’s reading focuses on Ada. She seems to be keeping some secret work, which I surmise to have something to do with Richard, who is a bag of dog crap.


Line of the Day: “Dead, your Majesty. Dead, my lords and gentlemen. Dead, Right Reverends and Wrong Reverends of every order. Dead, men and women, born with Heavenly compassion in your hears. And dying thus around us every day.” pg 610


The Fact on the Fiction: In Bleak House, Mr. Krook dies due to suspicious circumstances, leading people to assume that he combusted. Spontaneous human combustion (SHC) is the burning of the human body without an external source of ignition. There is speculation and controversy regarding SHC. There are about 200 cited cases worldwide over a period of around 300 years; however, most of the alleged cases are characterised by the lack of a thorough investigation, or are based on hearsay. In many of the more recent cases, where photographic evidence is available, it is alleged that there was an external source of heat present (often cigarettes), and nothing occurred 'spontaneously'. Wikipedia

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Day Twenty-Six

4/26

The Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

ISBN: 978-1-59308-311-3

Suggested By: Rebecca Mitchell

Where: Home

When: 8:45-9:30P

Music: None

Company: Alone

Pages: 532- 589 (57)


The Lead In: Having been consumed all day with writing a paper on Huckleberry Finn, I am having trouble bringing my mind from the American South to Victorian England. Both societies were full of hypocrisy though. Eh, well


The 411 on the 55: Lady Dedlock is confronted by the lawyer, Mr. Tulkinghorn, with her infidelity and daughter. She wants to leave and desert her husband, but he blackmails her with her husband’s health and standing in society. She is forced to remain in her position. After the meeting, Dedlock’s old maid comes to Tulkinghorn to threaten her ex-boss and, in turn, he threatens her with prison.


Mr. Jarndyce, though he is old enough to be her father, gives a letter to Esther, asking her to be his wife. She creepily accepts. A bit disgusting.


Mr. Vohles, Richard’s lawyer, shows up and informs them that he is having a tough time and is in debt up to his ears. They are all sad and Esther goes to see him. They try to give him money, but he assumes it to be an attempt to buy him off of the suit. He refuses.


Line of the Day: “the law is despotic here” pg 556

 

The Fact on the Fiction: No note today, just a neat article on a ship from that period, preserved in Portsmith, England. The type of ship Richard would have served on. Wikipedia



Saturday, April 25, 2009

Day Twenty-Five

4/25

The Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

ISBN: 978-1-59308-311-3

Suggested By: Rebecca Mitchell

Where: Home

When: 9:00-9:50P

Music: None

Company: Alone

Pages: 476 - 531 (55)


The Lead In: In this section there is a meeting between Esther and her mother, Lady Dedlock. Dedlock basically confesses to the fact, but then goes on to say that she will change nothing. How sad. But further, Esther agrees to this and promises to tell no one that she knows. WHat? The nobility of Esther is a little difficult for me to swallow. This woman desereted you at birth, why do you feel the need to protect her reputation?


The 411 on the 55: Esther recovers from her illness, but her face is scarred now. She is embaressed but bears it with her typical grace. She meets her mother, referenced earlier and decides to ignore the whole matter as the rest of the world is concerned. With this in mind, she travels to London to meet with Mr. Guppy to tell him to back off. He has been working hard to discover the secret of who her mother is, to win her affection, but agrees he will leave the matter alone now.


Richard returns to England, but is in serious debt and tells Esther that he cannot be responsible. Beyond this, he is friended up to Skimpole, who is milking him. Esther tries to get them seperated but  Richard can only think about the suit ending and the money he will get. He has even turned against his cousin, Mr. Jarndyce, so focused on the matter of law. After this meeting, Richard site down with his lawyer, Mr. Vohles, and is told that things are going to be protracted. He’s sad, expecting it to be over soon.



Line of the Day: “Whereas, now, I do declare to ou that he becomes to me the embodiment of the suit; that, in place of its being an abstraction, it is John Jarndyce; that the more I suffer, the more indignant I am with him; that evert new delay, and every new disappoinment, is only a new injury from John Jarndyce’s hand.” pg 523

 

The Fact on the Fiction: Throughout the course I make clear that, when my students become practitioners, they will have to cope with the lawyer-hatred that has pervaded Western culture since Jesus of Nazareth declared, “Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade [*314] men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers….  Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered” (Luke 11: 46, 52 [King James Version]).  Lawyer-hatred is as constant a force in American culture, indeed in the culture of most Western nations, as what the eminent legal historian John Phillip Reid calls law-mindedness.  In that light, Arthur R. Miller remains as right now as he was in that classroom in 1978--BLEAK HOUSE is the one indispensable book.  It is the ultimate indictment of law, lawyers, and the legal system in the English language. From R. B. Bernstein’s intro to Bleak House

Friday, April 24, 2009

Day Twenty-Four

4/24

The Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

ISBN: 978-1-59308-311-3

Suggested By: Rebecca Mitchell

Where: Home

When: 12:00-12:45A

Music: None

Company: Alone

Pages: 419 - 475 (56)


The Lead In: Super Sleepy, bear with me


The 411 on the 55: Well, quickly: Esther gets sick and almost dies. Mr. George gets pinched over an old debt to get ahold of his letters written by the dead captain. The gentleman keeping the captain’s notes from his apartment apparently combusts for no reason.


Line of the Day: “In gold?” says Mr. Bagnet. I’ll tell you what. The old girl’s weight - is twelve stone six. Would I take that weight - in any metal - for the old girl? No. Why not? Because the old girl’s metal is far more precious - than the preciousest metal. And she’s all metal!” pg 456

 

The Fact on the Fiction: Victorians worship success and money. The dream of businessmen is to join the aristocracy, but first they aspire to send their children to public schools, to acquire country houses and to marry into the landed gentry.

In 1850, the middle class is a fairly small group of professionals, factory owners, businessmen, merchants and bankers. There is a deep gulf between this group and the working classes. As Mrs Isabella Beeton's 1861 Book of Household Management shows, you need lots of servants to prepare lavish meals, clean houses heated by filthy coal and generally work with few labour-saving devices. Time Traveller’s Guide to Victorian Britain

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Day Twenty-Three

4/23

The Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

ISBN: 978-1-59308-311-3

Suggested By: Rebecca Mitchell

Where: Home

When: 6-6:45p

Music: None

Company: Alone

Pages: 362 - 418 (56)


The Lead In: Trying to maintain a more open mind is helping. Today’s reading was much better. I was discussing this book at work with a gentleman and we discussed how conventions used in really old books shouldn’t be looked down upon simply because everyone else ripped them off. In their time, they were significant. And, considered in their natural habitat, should be considered good regardless.


The 411 on the 55: Mr Smallweed and Dedlock try to get Mr. George to turn over some information he has about Nemo, who turns out, was actually Captain Hawdon. And, through a couple of twists, though Smallweed and Dedlock do not know the whole story, I believe, we find out that Lady Dedlock is Esther’s mother with Captain Hawdon. (I came dangerously close to typing Hardon there. Now that’s uncomfortable.)


Caddy and Prince get married but a pretty much ignored by her mother. Her fathers advice to her is not to find a “Mission” (like her mother’s Africa). Apparently Prince’s father is going to live with them. Esther and her maid, Charley, find Jo, he’s sick and they decide to nurse him back to health.


Pretty good flow today, interesting and not too ridiculous. I find if you skim just a little, glaze the eyes a dash, the words begin to flow easier and the book is less tedious.


Line of the Day: “Oh my child, my child! Not dead in the first hours of her life, as my cruel sister told me; but sternly nurtured by her, after she had renounced me and my name! O my child, O my child!” pg 395


The Fact on the Fiction: The most life-threatening hazard facing city-dwelling Victorians is cholera, closely followed by typhoid fever and typhus. Four epidemics of cholera – in 1831/32, 1848/49, 1853/54 and 1866 – kill about 140,000 people, with more than 60,000 perishing in the second epidemic alone. The main problem is ignorance. The medical establishment believes that diseases are spread by 'miasma' (bad air) rather than by infected water. Time Traveler’s Guide to Victorian England  (Really a great site. Interesting and well-put together.)

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Day Twenty-Two

4/22

The Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

ISBN: 978-1-59308-311-3

Suggested By: Rebecca Mitchell

Where: Home

When:12A-1:00A

Music: None

Company: Family

Pages: 306 - 361 (55)


The Lead In: I had neglected my reading all day, and, after getting out of work, finally got to it. I am drowsy but will complete it.


The 411 on the 55: An inspector is looking into the matter with Joe and the woman who wanted to see where Nemo was buried. Mr. Tulkhinghorn was involved with the inquest.


The french maid comes to Esther for employment but she turns her down. Soon after, Richard comes and discusses his money woes, and is debating joining the army. Caddy asks her to help Prince tell his father they are engaged, and she does. But when Mrs. Jellyby hears the news she blows it off and continues writing letter for Africa.


Richard gets himself a commission in the Army, but because of his instability, Ada calls off her love with him. Snagsby’s wife suspects he might be the father of Jo (the beggar kid), due to his constant charity towards the boy.


Mr. Smallweed visits George’s shooting gallery.


Side note: This style of 411 has got to change, its too damn boring. I will try and not just list what happened, but rather focus on interesting aspects of the reading.


Line of the Day: “Behind dingy blind and curtain, in upper story and garret, skulking more or less under false names, false hair, false titles, false jewellery, and false histories, a colony of brigands lie in their first sleep.” pg. 352


The Fact on the Fiction: Heavy, persistent fog is not something that tends to lift spirits and brighten faces. In a story, such a fog may even serve as a symbol of institutional oppression and human confusion and misery. The fog that Dickens creates for Bleak House serves him in exactly that way. And yet it is not, after all, a real-life fog, but a verbal description of the real-life thing. How that depiction is managed—in other words, "expression"—becomes the crucial point, the real issue. Cliffsnotes

Day Twenty-One

Internet was down last night, so I am posting this as soon as I could.

4/21

The Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

ISBN: 978-1-59308-311-3

Suggested By: Rebecca Mitchell

Where: Home

When:9:00-10:00p

Music: None

Company: Family

Pages: 148 - 305 ()


The Lead In: Tonight, I began to get frustrated with this book. Don’t tell me that this book is a great book, unless adding character upon character makes a book great. It’s impossible to follow, and I will be honest in saying that I am completely lost.


The 411 on the 55: Esther goes to church and sees Mrs. Dedlock and recognizes her from her past, though she isn’t sure from where. When she speaks to her later on, Dedlock is rude to her.


Guppy hangs out with two of his friends while eating and gets on of them to take over the room where Nemo died in, though the point of why is missed by me. On top of this, there is a 10 page scene of Mr. Smallweeds family, all bickering and griping at each other.


Today was horrible. I feel lost.


Line of the Day: “Mr. Chadband moves softly and cumbrously, not unlike a bear who has been taught to walk upright.” pg 262


The Fact on the Fiction: The scenes from the court room should have a real feel to them, as Dickens served as a court’s clerck early on in his life.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Day Twenty

4/20

The Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

ISBN: 978-1-59308-311-3

Suggested By: Rebecca Mitchell

Where: Home

When:9:00-9:45p

Music: None

Company: Family

Pages: 192 - 147 (55)


The Lead In: This week is really squeezing me between school and work. But I will push through this and enjoy the streak when I am further along.


The 411 on the 55: Jarndyce and Esther meet Caddy’s (Jellyby’s daughter) fiance and his father, who lives off his son and complains about how society is devolving. Afterwards the swing by Mrs. Flite’s house and look at her birds.


Richard is not doing well as a doctor and has decided to be a lawyer instead, though later he struggles with that as well. He’s kind of a tool. Jarndyce tells Esther all he knows about where she came from: how a stranger as him to care for her when she was twelve. A servant is sent from Mr. Dedlock’s house to see where Nemo lived and where he is buried (though in actuality, he isn’t buried, he’s tossed onto a pile of other dead vagrants.


Line of the Day: “He replied with a high-shouldered bow. ‘Where what is left among us of Deportment,’ he added, ‘still lingers. England - alas, my country! - has degenerated very much, and is degenerating every day. She has not many gentlement left. We are few. I see nothing to succeed us, but a race of weavers.’ pg 198


The Fact on the Fiction: Jarndyce and Jarndyce is, of course, the court case that serves as the background for the novel. The case concerns the fate of a large inheritance. It has dragged on for many generations prior to the action of the novel, so that, by the time it is resolved late in the narrative, legal costs have devoured nearly the entire estate. The case is thus a byword for an interminable legal proceeding. Dickens used it to attack the chancery court system as being near totally worthless, as any "honourable man among its [Chancery's] practitioners" says, "Suffer any wrong that can be done you rather than come here!" Wikipedia


Sunday, April 19, 2009

Day Nineteen

4/19

The Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

ISBN: 978-1-59308-311-3

Suggested By: Rebecca Mitchell

Where: Home

When:7:45-8:30p

Music: None

Company: Family

Pages: 136 - 191 (55)


The Lead In:  You know a book is too complicated if you must constantly refer to the first page of the book where there is a list of all the characters. I dunno about Dickens.


The 411 on the 55: Today’s reading opens with a scene in which a poor copier dies. His name was Nemo and he overdoses on Opium. Mrs. Dedlock shows much interest in hearing the story of his death, implying some connection to it.


Richard decides to become a surgeon and becomes an apprentice. Before leaving, much to the happiness of everyone involved he admits to loving Ada, who states the same. Jarndyce is extremely thrilled. Later, while traveling in London, Miss Jellyby admits to getting engaged to the dance instructor’s son on the sly. Jarndyce and Esther give their disapproval. 


Line of the Day: “And, all the night, the coffin stands ready by he old portmanteau; and the lonely figure on the bed, whose path in life has lain through five-and-forty years, lies there, with no more track behind him, that any one can trace, than a deserted infant.” pg 151


The Fact on the Fiction: Hablot Knight Browne, known as Phiz, was illustrator of most of Charles Dickens’ works including Bleak House.  Here is an example of his work: 


Saturday, April 18, 2009

Day Eighteen

4/18

The Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

ISBN: 978-1-59308-311-3

Suggested By: Rebecca Mitchell

Where: Home

When:10:30-11:15p

Music: None

Company: Family

Pages: 79 - 135 (56)


The Lead In:  Ok, clarification, yesterday I described Ada and Richard as as siblings. Wrong. They aren’t related, just good friends. One tough thing about Dickens is his constant addition of characters. Its hard to tell which ones are important and which ones aren’t. Needless to say, as romance seems to be in the air between Ada and Richard, I needed to point out that I was mistaken as to the state of their relation.


The 411 on the 55: Everyone is happily living with Mr. Jarndyce and Esther has been appointed housekeeper. There are several characters which make appearances at the house, and the primary purpose for everyone’s visit or correspondence is money. People want it, Jarndyce has it.


A courier for one of the lawyers proposes to Esther which freaks her out. She tosses him out but later cries about it.


Two interludes I must reference:


an old woman tells a ghost story which was interesting, yet at this point has no connection to the main story as I can tell, though there is some foreshadowing about shame coming to a family. Lots of orphans...maybe someone screwed the maid? I’m not sure just yet.

a visit by a do-goer visitor to Mr. Jarndyce leads the girls (Ada and Esther) to a brickmaker’s house. They live in squalor and there is sickness, abuse, and malnourishment. However, the man of the house is, from a literary point of view, amusing. I think also, it raises questions about how the poor view handouts.


Line of the Day: An’t my place dirty? Yes, it is dirty - nat’rally dirty, and it’s nat’rally onwholesome; and we’ve had five dirty and onwholesome children, as is all dead infants, and so much the better for them and for us besides.” pg 116


The Fact on the Fiction: Outside of 4 years of education, Dickens was entirely self-taught. Dickens Page

Friday, April 17, 2009

Day Seventeen

4/17

The Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

ISBN: 978-1-59308-311-3

Suggested By: Rebecca Mitchell

Where: Home

When:8:00-8:45p

Music: None

Company: Family

Pages: 23-78 (55)


The Lead In: Ah, my first Dickens. And finals are upon me and I have ignored them all semester. This will be a complicated time.


The 411 on the 55: The background is a huge court case, Jarndyce and Jarndyce, which has gone on forever. Everyone in London is involved in some way or another. Has been going on without pause for years and seems to be headed towards many more.


Into this scene step three adult orphans, Esther (who has received training as a housekeeper/maid/nanny) and two siblings, Ada and Richard (who are well-trained and well-educated for orphans). These three are brought by their unknown cousin, John Jarndyce to live together with a family in London, the Jellyby’s. Mrs. Jellyby is so fascinated with her study of Africa that she ignored her entire family.


However, after several days, a coach is sent for the orphans and they are carried to Mr. Jarndyce’s home.


Line of the Day: “Your mother, Esther, is your disgrace, and you were hers.” pg 32


The Fact on the Fiction: Bleak House was actually published in twenty monthly installments in 1852-53. Wikipedia

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Day Sixteen

4/16

The Book: The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont

ISBN: 978-0-7432-8785-2

Suggested By: Robert Lopez

Where: B&N Cafe

When:12:30-1:20p

Music: Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust

Company: Alone

Pages: 316 - 367 (51)


The Lead In: As I finished this book today I had an awesome coincidence. Just as the effects of a grande house blend were striking me, the book was wrapping up and it was perfectly timed with one of Sigur Ros tunes that stirs you up. It was nice. I started tapping my foot and smiling, grinning, actually. It was a nice experience. Doesn’t often happen, all those things at once, but when it does, it almost gives you that movie experience.


The 411 on the 55: The wrap up. Zhang Mei has saved one can of the gas and is going to use it on the Chinese in New York City, but only after he kills the Chinese consulate. He succeeds in doing this, by decapitation, and is about to strike the canister with the sword, but is stopped by Gibson, who managed to drink an antidote (concocted by a chemist using Lovecraft’s notes). As the gas escapes slowly, the room clears and Gibson is left with Zhang Mei, holding the gas in with their hands, though Mei’s intentions aren’t clear.


Of course, all the good guys survive, this is pulp, right? And now Dent and Gibson are great friends. Sweet ending.


Line of the Day: “Let me strive every moment of my life to make myself better and better, that all may profit from it. Let me think of the right, and lend all my assistance to those who need it. Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens, and my associates in everything I say and do. Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage. Let me do right to all and wrong no man.” (The Doc Savage Oath) pgs. 345-6


The 20/20: A really fun read. Well-worth the time and research. I really think that a book like this is best read with a computer next to it, to research the names and events mentioned. I don’t say that in detraction, but rather as an encouragement. This is a good book, well-researched and interesting.


The Fact on the Fiction: Lester Dent, who wrote most of his adventures, described his hero – Clark “Doc” Savage Jr. – as a cross between “Sherlock Holmes with his deducting ability, Tarzan of the Apes with his towering physique and muscular ability, Craig Kennedy with his scientific knowledge, and Abraham Lincoln with his Christliness.” ThePulp.Net



Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Day Fifteen

4/15

The Book: The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont

ISBN: 978-0-7432-8785-2

Suggested By: Robert Lopez

Where: Home

When: 8:40-9:20p

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 237 - 315 (78)


The Lead In: I guess this thought comes after reading today, but I will use it to preface my writing. This book is good. Really good. It’s fun and I have enjoyed it very much. Today I hit a 10 line stretch where I really disliked the writing. It was weird. It was out of character from the entire rest of the book. It wasn’t witty, it was stilted and bad. If you happen to read this book, you will see it on page 294 and it involves monkeys.


The 411 on the 55: It was a bit of a rush, and rather than looking back into the book to see what happened, I will retell it as it comes to me. Hubbard and Driftwood are drinking and are approached by Lovecraft. He is dying (of course, everyone assumed he was dead) of gas poisoning and is trying to find Gibson. Sadly, Gibson is now in the clutches of his Chinese Shadow, Zhang Mei, and has begun to smoke opium (Yeah, that sentence is funny to me as well). Instead they go to Dent with the whole story and they decide they have to go to the Island were the gas was stored originally.


When they arrive, they discover lots of gas, zombies and a cowboy, Lew. His ship was highjacked and he was left on the island. Returning to New York, they see the ship and it is being loaded with money, stolen (with the aid of the poison gas) from the monetary printing press, by the Chinese, led by Zhang Mei. He has Gibson in tow but is about to kill him. Instead, the crane operator is shot by Lew and the gas erupts in the ship. Many of the Chinese die or become flesh-craving zombies. Zhang Mei escapes.


Dent rescues his writing nemesis, Gibson, and returns him to his apartment, where Gibson apologizes for the story mix up that led to their falling out in the first place. While this is happening, Otis is attacked on the ship full of gas by a rogue Army colonel who has worked to give this gas to the Chinese (to defeat the Japanese), but Lew saves the day again and they leave the colonel to be eaten by zombies. We find that Otis’ real name is Bob Heinlein. 


A lot happened today. Sort all slung together in a big pot of pulp madness. Good stuff though. Well, except for the monkey crap on page 294. Not literally monkey crap, of course.


Line of the Day: “He knew that he was about to die and suddenly all he craved was the sight of one more dawn.” pg 291


The Fact on the Fiction (today you get two!): “Once Manchuria (and neighboring Korea) were fully in their control, around 1930+/-, Japan began pushing into China proper. By 1934 this was a full blown war with huge resources being devoted to the conflict. The war was brutally fought with much slaughter of civilians involved. Gradually it seemed Japan was gaining control of more and more of China and it appeared inevitable that they would eventually conquer the whole country.” WikiAnswers


Eighty years after the guns fell silent [from WWI] the bomb disposal squad from this area [France] is still finding and then defusing or destroying hundreds of tons of unexploded ammunition every year. BBC News

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Day Fourteen

4/14

The Book: The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont

ISBN: 978-0-7432-8785-2

Suggested By: Robert Lopez

Where: Home

When: 9:30-10:20p

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 177- 236 (59)


The Lead In: One thing about this book that continues to catch my eye is the consistent reference to actual writers and stories from this time. While I am no expert on the time period or genre, they seem to ring true. It is well-researched and intricately connected.


The 411 on the 55: When the train arrives back in New York, Gibson spots the Chinese Man he called the Shadow. He sends a tail to follow him and later spots him in a newsreel on political developments in China. He eventually meets up with him in an opium bar and proposes that he write his memoirs, just like he did for Al Capone.


Dent, on the other hand, is congratulated by the owner of the Chinese restaurant for helping out and is inducted into a ceremonial fraternity (of sorts), his wife, however, is barred from entering. She is becoming enthralled with a golden statue she saw the night of her attack and discovers that it is a statue of death (or the Chinese equivalent).


Joe Kavalier’s name got dropped today. Neat.


Line of the Day: “It’s about the lie. The big lie. That’s what our audiences want from us, Walter. From you and me they want the big lie. They want the big stories about the great things. Not for us the little tales of simple people. We have to tell the big lie. The bigger the better.” pg 197


The Fact on the Fiction: At their peak of popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, the most successful pulps could sell up to one million copies per issue. Wikipedia

Monday, April 13, 2009

Day Thirteen

4/13

The Book: The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont

ISBN: 978-0-7432-8785-2

Suggested By: Robert Lopez

Where: Home

When: 8:15-8:50p

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 116 -176 (60)


The Lead In: Been watching season 3 of Lost before reading tonight, so the air of suspense and danger is all over the house. The dog keeps messing with me, but I am still reading on the couch. I hope this book is going somewhere, I feel the plot is meandering a bit.


The 411 on the 55: Gibson and Hubbard arrive for the funeral and meet an out of work grave-digger, Otis Driftwood. He is intelligent and gets along well with them, as well as attends the funeral. Afterwards they visit Lovecraft’s aunt who informs them that he was murdered and hadn’t died of cancer. While Driftwood and Hubbard decide to go drink, Gibson decides to go to the medical lab where Lovecraft worked to poke around.


In a bar next to the lab he is warned to watch out for the watchman. On the dock, he is assaulted by two sailors but is rescued by a Chinese man who he mistakes for the Shadow. After this assault, he stumbles into the lab and finds 7 dead bodies, 6 dead from some gas recently unsealed from WWI. The 7th has been killed with a sword. At this point, Gibson is attacked by a ghoulish watchman, who is dripping flesh and calling one of the dead bodies daddy. Gibson ends up killing him with the sword. He relates all this to Driftwood and Hubbard on the train later on, though they question whether of not it’s pulp.


There is a side story sprinkled between the chapters of political intrigue in China. I haven’t figured out the connection to the story just yet.


There is a brief interlude to Dent and his wife eating Chinese food and arguing with a cop about taking money out of the “Defend Beijing” donation pot. Dent 1, Cop 0.


Line of the Day: “The night watchman stank like a tidal pool at low tide, like rotting crustaceans and seaweed.” pg 175


The Fact on the Fiction: Beyond creating the Shadow for pulp writing, Walter Gibson wrote more than 100 books on magic, psychic phenomena, true crime, mysteries, rope knots, yoga, hypnotism and games. He served as ghost-writer for books on magic and/or spiritualism by Harry Houdini, Howard Thurston, Harry Blackstone, and Joseph Dunninger. Wikipedia

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Day Twelve

4/12

The Book: The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont

ISBN: 978-0-7432-8785-2

Suggested By: Robert Lopez

Where: Home

When: 8:45-9:30p

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages: 59-115 (56)


The Lead In: This book is making me feel dumb. There is a character called the Flash, who I am relatively certain is L. Ron Hubbard, but he goes by the Flash. I feel dumb for being confused about it. Eh, oh well. On another note, I was confused on another point yesterday, I was complaining about a section on Hubbard struggling with madness. My bad, that was about Lovecraft. Hence my confusion, wrong person.


The 411 on the 55: Well, what happened today... Dent is having trouble with his marriage is rough because his wife has miscarried 4 times but when they visit a Chinese restaurant they stop in an old boarded up theatre to research an old story that Gibson and he both tell. Dent is sure he can figure out the ending of the story and scoop Gibson. Instead, his wife is attacked by a chain-wielding Chinese man but escapes.


Gibson takes Hubbard on a train with him to go to the funeral of Lovecraft who apparently has died of stomach cancer. Gibson is struggling with motivation, writing about the Shadow.


Line of the Day: “She didn’t want to cook. She wanted to see.” pg 97


The Fact on the Fiction: In a letter to James F. Morton in 1923, HP Lovecraft specifically points to Einstein's theory on relativity as throwing the world into chaos and making the cosmos a jest. And in a 1929 letter to Woodburn Harris, he speculates that technological comforts risk the collapse of science. Indeed, at a time when men viewed science as limitless and powerful, Lovecraft imagined alternative potential and fearful outcomes. Wikipedia

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Day Eleven

4/11

The Book: The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont

ISBN: 978-0-7432-8785-2

Suggested By: Robert Lopez

Where: Home

When: 9:30-10:20p

Music: None

Company: The Family

Pages:1-58 (58)


The Lead In: They say to never judge a book by its cover and I think that that is a ridiculous thing to say. How else could you cull through the stacks of books in a bookstore without eyeing the covers to eliminate that which will bore you? This book has a great cover, it hints of pulp writing.


The 411 on the 55: The story is set in the 20s or 30s (?), and focuses on two (up to this point anyway) pulp writers: L. Ron Hubbard and Walter Gibson. It opens in a bar where Gibson, a seasoned writer of pulp (creator of the Shadow), is discussing stories and having Hubbard, an up-and-coming writer, guess what aspects of the story are pulp. The story wraps up when it is interrupted by another writer, Dent, who has clashed with Gibson some time in the past over a story, though that is left hanging as the chapter ends.


The next section focuses on Hubbard, and to be honest, confused the hell out of me. He appears to be struggling with madness and is faking stomach cancer (?). He is attacked by someone else in the hospital and is barely saved from asphyxiation. He is focused on a past trip he made to an island, but only hints at what that might mean.


From there, Gibson is watching a magic trick and is called up onto the stage to play a role in the act. It is later revealed that he is having sex with the woman in the act and through this, she knows aspects about his life that she uses in the act.


Line of the Day: “I will tell you what makes pulp. Of course there’s blood, cruelty, fear, mystery, vengeance, heroes and villains. That’s just a good foundation. To make true pulp, really great stomach-churning, white-knuckle, turn-your-hair-white pulp, you have to fill it with a pack of outright lies.” pg 17


The Fact on the Fiction: “The name "pulp" comes from the cheap wood pulp paper on which such magazines were printed. Magazines printed on better paper and usually offering family-oriented content were often called "glossies" or "slicks." Wikipedia

Friday, April 10, 2009

Day Ten

4/10

The Book: Jamaica Inn by Daphne DuMaurier

ISBN: 978-0-380-72539-7

Suggested By: A Fellow Graduate Student

Where: Home

When: 2:30-3:20p

Music: None

Company: Alone

Pages:183- 302 (119)


The Lead In: I will finish this book today. I don’t care that it will eat up all my free time before work, it will be done.


The 411 on the 55: Mary sneaks away while the men are luring the ship into the coast, but is caught and beaten. The ship wrecks and the men loot until dawn. With first light, they realize they will be caught this time (why isn’t really well-explained) and they all begin to freak out. Mary and her uncle get back to the Inn and prepare for the coming law, while her uncle hints at some higher power that was giving him orders.


Her uncle decides he will escape that night, so Mary sneaks off to get the vicar but he is out, from there she goes to the sheriff, but he is out, headed to Jamaica Inn to get her uncle. She heads that way and, beating the posse, discovers her uncle and aunt dead. The vicar offers his place to rest, which she accepts.


The next morning, the vicar spills the beans and implicates himself as the mastermind and murderer of her aunt and uncle. He is splitting town and taking her with him. They are almost out of the area when the fog rolls in and they have to stop. During the night, Jem and another group of men catch up and kill the vicar. The last chapter wraps up with Jem taking Mary into his cart to ride the country and live like gypsies. 


The 20/20: I hated it. It was bad, predictable and typical of its genre. This calls into question the entire idea of a reading list based off other people’s tastes. If this is what other people read, why am I wasting my time?


Line of the Day: “Mary knew this, too, but she had not lost her fear, like the spider.” pg 246


The Fact on the Fiction: “As a young child Daphne had read avidly boys adventure stories such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and she clearly wanted to write an adventure story in that style. The storyline itself was brewed from an outing that had taken place some years previously when Daphne and her friend Foy Quiller Couch (daughter of the famous writer and scholar Sir Arthur Quiller Couch) were staying at Jamaica Inn and went riding on Bodmin Moor. They were lost in bad weather conditions and apparently sheltered for some time in a derelict cottage on the moor but were eventually led back to Jamaica Inn by their horses. During that stay at Jamaica Inn Daphne also met and talked to the parson from the nearby church at Altarnun.” Dumaurier.org