Chuckabilly's Literary Lollapalooza October 2010 Edition (Halloween in late November, Yay!)

This month we celebrate Halloween with a slew of horror tales, old and new, and a tale of Australia’s greatest outlaw…

This is Literary Lollapalooza, October Edition.

Books Read This Month:

A True History of the Kelley Gang by Peter Carey

John Dies at the End by David Wong

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

World War Z by Max Brooks

The Walking Dead Books 1 and 2 by Robert Kirkman

Books Acquired:

Fiction: Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock, The Ghost Writer by Robert Harris, Great House by Nicole Krauss

Non-Fiction: The Forever War by Dexter Filkins, Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen, and God’s Middle Finger by Richard Grant

E-Books: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Books Borrowed: A True History of the Kelley Gang by Peter Carey, John Dies at the End by David Wong, World War Z by Max Brooks, and The Walking Dead Books 1, 2, and 3 by Robert Kirkman

Currently Reading: Sunset Park by Paul Auster, The Walking Dead Book 3 by Robert Kirkman

Reviews of This Months’ Books:

A True History of the Kelley Gang by Peter Carey

I was turned onto Peter Carey by my friend Josh, who loaned me this book. While perusing books at a small bookstore in Adams Morgan, Josh located a book by Carey that he hadn’t read. “Have you read this guy?” he asked. I told him no, hadn’t heard of him. “He’s great. True History of the Kelley Gang. Good stuff.”

Thanks, Josh. This book is an Australian “western” all about Aussie’s famous outlaw Ned Kelley. Written first-hand as a journal by Mr. Kelley it recounts how he came to reach his final destination, that is, shot full of bullets by the police.

Written in Australian accent and vernacular, it takes a moment to adjust to the narrator’s tone, but just like Shakespeare, after a few moments you adjust and everything makes perfect sense.

Young Ned Kelley is oldest of a clan of 7; his father coming from Van Diemen’s Land is imprisoned in jail for most of his young life. His mother, a hardworking spitfire manages to sell moonshine and create a manageable living for her brood. Following a daring rescue where Ned saves a young child from drowning, the child’s father has Ned’s Da released from jail, but he is a shadow of his former self. Listless and without the motivation to leave the house, Mr. Kelley soon wastes away leaving the family even more alone and forlorn.

Ned’s ma begins a series of dalliances with suitors, one of which is semi-famous outback outlaw. As a favor, he takes Ned under his wing, teaching him ways to survive in the wilderness and procure a living by robbing others. Ned takes to this lifestyle exceptionally well, but soon tires of his mentor’s abuses. He strikes out on his own, always trying to do the right thing, but always coming down on the wrong side of the law.

The unfolding story follows Ned Kelley’s attempts to make an honest living while constantly fighting against the class system and the bad name he has inherited. As lively a western melodrama as McMurtry’s “Lonesome Dove”, this novel based on real situations is a fantastic read. Readers become entrenched in the lives of the characters, rooting for Kelley even when one knows the inevitable outcome. Funny, fresh and absolutely riveting, this is a hell of a read. Highly recommended.

John Dies at the End by David Wong

This book has been on my radar for awhile now. I keep my eye on the horror section always, trying to look for the next book that will scare my socks off. This one has a striking and original cover art featuring a severed hand scribbling warnings to the reader not to read this book. Clever that. Like I could resist that temptation?

John Dies at the End is probably one of the most original novels I have read in ages. The narrator, one David Wong, recounts the horrors that have befallen him and his friend Dave since encountering a drug that opens a doorway to other dimensions. The rest is literally all downhill from there.

This book is crazy. It is scary, and gory, and creepy, and hysterical. A book that refuses to take itself seriously, it unfolds horror upon horror with increasing amounts of dread and night-black humor. The thing is, David just a regular guy who finds himself in way over his head, and John…well, let’s just say John is the guy that takes the tab, smiles, and then asks what it was.

I laughed as much as I cringed, but then again I think death can be pretty funny. The humor here is as pitch-black as it comes, and the scares are real. Evoking images of Lovecraft, this book manages the seemingly impossible: it scares the pants off you even while you’re laughing at the ridiculous situations David and John find themselves in.

I can’t recommend this book enough. If you are a fan of horror, or just someone like me with a sick, sick sense of humor then this book is for you. I passed this on to a coworker and had the pleasure to sit at lunch while she laughed out loud repeatedly while reading the first few pages. (She thanked me for recommending it after finishing the book, btw.)

Oh, and DOES John die at the end? Sorry. You’ll have to read the book to find out. (Heheheh.)

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein. It speaks volumes just saying the title. This book is so entrenched in our collective psyche that everyone knows the story even if they haven’t read the book or seen any of the movie adaptations.

I have always wanted to read this book, but never really found the right time. I have of course seen the classic films and the Kenneth Branagh directed opus that is much more faithful to the source material. But after reading Stiff by Mary Roach (see September’s ‘Palooza) the need to read this piece of gothic horror was refreshed in my mind.

I am glad to report that Frankenstein is as good a horror novel as any other I’ve read. (I was tainted on gothic horror after trying to read the awful claptrap that is Dracula.) Well written, with restraint and empathy, this is great storytelling.

A half-mad, and near dead Dr. Victor Frankenstein is discovered by a sailing expedition in the Arctic. While being nursed back to health he tells his harrowing tale, and what emerges is the great archetypal story we all know. The scientist who overreaches his bounds and creates life, without understanding the consequences. The monster, unaware of why he exists and why all humans shriek and run from his hideous appearance.

This is heartbreaking shit. A classic examination of the nature/nurture argument, the monster wants only to be loved and cared for, and when repeatedly jilted by society he lashes out with violence. Is he evil because he does bad, or has society turned him into a monster?

A great read that was heightened by the Halloween season; I read this on my Sony eReader and enjoyed this free eBook immensely. Another great benefit of the eReader? Free books. Oh hell yeah. I am so there.

World War Z by Max Brooks

I started reading this book the week of Halloween. To be absolutely clear I started this book the night of the downtown Silver Spring zombie walk, a tradition that consists of hundreds of people dressing up as zombies and staggering their way through downtown Silver Spring en route to a screening of Night of the Living Dead at the AFI Silver Spring.

So, in the midst of my very own zombie apocalypse I did what any self-respecting survivor would do: I boned up on zombie survival. I read World War Z by Max Brooks.

World War Z is the essential zombie novel. The one zombie novel you have to read if you were so inclined to read a zombie novel. Max Brooks, son of famous daddy Mel Brooks, is the pre-eminent scholar on all things zombie, having previously published The Zombie Survival Guide and the numerous offshoots of that particular cash cow. Here he turns his zombie fascination into a real-life tale of terror and desperation.

The book is an oral history of the zombie war: a collection of anecdotal interviews recounting the zombie uprising and ensuing death, destruction, and ultimate victory of the human race as told through the eyes of those on the ground. What results is a magnificent imagining of a real-life zombie apocalypse and the human response to such a threat. A global masterpiece that manages to place a zombie uprising amid significant global politics and policies, making each country and each society its own special case. China is not the U.S., and France is not Africa. Each country is unique in how it responds to a threat of utter annihilation, and Brooks captures each voice perfectly, displaying an amazing breadth of imagination and wisdom.

In what very easily could have been a throw-away zombie novel of the semi-humorous variety, Brooks does the opposite by making this very real, very visceral, and very important. I have to say I was surprised by this book. I expected fun, but what I got was so much more engaging. Thought-provoking zombie fiction? You must be kidding? Nope. This is it.

The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman

Zombie fever continues with this incredible comic book series by Robert Kirkman. Now an original series on AMC created by Shawshank Redemption wunderkind Frank Darabont, this collection of monthly zombie comics follows in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse.

The main character, Rick, awakes from a gunshot wound induced coma, to find himself alone in a zombie wasteland. He must survive, must find food, supplies, his family. He must be vigilant against the “biters” that are constantly a threat.

The comic book and the series follow the characters of Rick and the other survivors as they attempt to rebuild a life in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. It is gruesome, and scary, and beautifully rendered in black and white illustrations by Charlie Adlard. The covers by Tony Moore are even more amazing. This is an ongoing comics series that publishes monthly, but I am late to the game so I am catching up by reading the beautiful hard bound collections numbered by Books. Each volume contains every full color cover and additional sketches.

I would also recommend picking up the Compendium that collects the first 48 issues together into one big, fat paperback edition.

And watch the AMC series! It is groundbreaking TV, unlike anything that has ever been offered by a network of cable entity. Frank Darabont is a genius and his handling of this comic book series is extremely well done.

That ends things for this very special Halloween edition of Literary Lollapalooza. A zombie nightmare of epic proportions, I hope yours was just as gruesome. Go and prepare yourselves for the zombiepocalypse! Happy Halloween! (Late!)