BOOK JONES REVIEW

The Obdurate Past: a review of the audio book version of 11/22/63 by Stephen King

2012-02-05T16:15:00.000-05:00

It is refreshing to witness growth in an artist. I can think of a few I've had the pleasure of watching mature and expand their talents in public: Elvis Costello, Lou Reed, Frank Zappa, Woody Allen, Jonathan Lethem, and Leonardo DiCaprio. After listening to 11/22/63 I can finally add Stephen King to that list. I say "finally" because for years I've been cheering him on to write more mainstream

The Ultimate Music List (Minus The Beatles)

2012-01-18T09:01:00.000-05:00

Over on Spotify, I've recently completed a mammoth bucket list of diverse recordings entitled 1001 Recordings You Ought to Listen to Carefully Before You Kick. The list includes all types of music genres, comedy, and spoken word. But there are some conspicuous omissions, namely Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles. Why? Obviously the music is unlicensed, even though The

The Best Books of 2011

2011-12-28T16:26:00.000-05:00

A quick review of my reading history for the past year reveals 42 volumes have passed my purview. However, less than half (19) were published in 2011 Here are my top five along with two honorable mentions: The Tiger's Wife: A Novel by Téa Obreht: A finalist for the National Book Award, Obreht's first novel thrilled critics and consumers alike. She uses Magical Realism to relate her tale

Voices In My Head

2011-11-30T09:39:00.001-05:00

In last Sunday's NYT Book Review, I read the essay Wired For Sound by the paper's national legal correspondent, John Schwartz.. In it, Schwartz explains how he and his wife are at odds when it comes to audiobooks; she won't dare listen while he prefers audio to paper. Schwartz says It's because he "absorbs" the material better by listening to it than by actually reading it. His wife on the

Everyone's A Critic

2011-11-21T21:10:00.000-05:00

Pauline Kael, bygone titan of film criticism at the New Yorker, once said, "I regard criticism as an art, and if in this country and in this age it is practiced with honesty, it is no more remunerative than the work of an avant-garde film artist. My dear anonymous letter writers, if you think it is so easy to be a critic, so difficult to be a poet or a painter or film experimenter, may I

The 2011 National Book Awards Announced

2011-11-17T09:10:00.001-05:00

Last night at Cipriani, an elegant bistro about two blocks away from where Occupy Wall Street protesters reconnoitered, John Lithgow presented the 2011 National Book Awards. Winners included: Fiction: Salvage the Bones: A Novel by Jesmyn West Non-Fiction: The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt Poetry: Head Off & Split: Poems by Nikky Finney Young People's Literature:

Janáček's Sinfionetta in 1Q84

2011-11-15T16:30:00.001-05:00

If you have not read Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 yet, you may not be familiar with this piece of music entitled Sinfionetta by Czech composer Leoš Janáček. The novel's main characters, though linked in many ways, share a special affection for this piece. In 1Q84, as in many of Murakami's books, music plays a large role; he casts it as a conduit to greater understanding and enlightenment. Listen to the

Book Excerpt of the Week: Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville

2011-11-13T11:33:00.001-05:00

In homage to the on-going occupation of Wall Street, this week's book excerpt is Herman Melville's masterful novella, Bartleby the Scrivener. It's the tale of an ex-postal worker whom the narrator, an elder lawyer, has recently taken on as a scrivener in his firm. Bartleby is a common, yet uncommon fellow. He is a beaten man, who, when called upon to perform certain duties of his new

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-09T15:50:00.002-05:00

Aground Does this photo evoke any stories, thoughts, songs, art....?

Book Excerpt of the Week: The Thin Red Line by James Jones

2011-11-06T15:59:00.000-05:00

James Jones: author of From Here to Eternity and The Thin Red Line Next Friday is Veteran's Day, an underplayed holiday if their ever was one, a time to pay tribute to our valorous veterans who have sacrificed life and limb for America. But let's remember not just the dead (that's what Memorial Day is for) and wounded, but also those soldiers who have returned from war with PTSD, disease, or

Book Excerpt of the Week: Stories by H.P. Lovecraft

2011-10-29T22:04:00.000-04:00

Just in time for Hallowe'en here is an excerpt from one of the masters of horror, Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

Music, Myth and Metaphor in Murakami's Kafka on the Shore

2011-10-24T11:56:00.000-04:00

cover image: Vintage There has been a lot of buzz recently about Haruki Murakami all due to, I'm sure, the fact that his new novel, 1Q84, is about to be released in the US in a week or two. The fresh work, which is already a best-seller in Japan, has been lauded by critics and hyped to death, yet I can't help but be piqued by a book deriving it's title from the seminal work of George Orwell.

Book Excerpt of the Week: We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

2011-10-22T13:32:00.000-04:00

Yevgeny Zamyatin This week I've gone with a current read to share. First published in the US in 1924, We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is a precursor to Huxley's Brave New World and Orwell's cautionary tale, 1984. It is a satirical look at the future, a logical projection, from the author's perspective, of the recent Russian revolution told ala the relatively nascent genre of science fiction. From

Book Excerpt of the Week: The Trial by Franz Kafka

2011-10-16T12:45:00.000-04:00

Young Franz Kafka w/ huge pompadour I've chosen The Trial by the Austria-Hungarian novelist, Franz Kafka as the first Book Excerpt of the Week because of its influence on countless authors, among them Japan's Haruki Murakami, whose novel, Kafka on the Shore, I've most recently finished. Kafka is noted for his Existentialist themes, such as alienation, persecution, hopelessness, and

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T11:46:00.000-04:00

SKY Original painting by Maureen Jones

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-05T09:29:00.003-04:00

Image by Mo Riza Reminds me of The Third Policeman. How about you?

The Nobel Prize for Literature: What are the Odds?

2011-10-04T17:38:00.001-04:00

Adonis, AKA Ali Ahmad Said Asbar Robert Zimmerman According to the British gambling website Ladbrokes, the frontrunner for this year's Nobel Prize for Literature is the 81 year old Syrian poet, Adonis (alt: Adunis). Bob Dylan, who was languishing with a 50-1 handicap a week ago has shot up to second place on the odds board. Apparently there was some sort of sympathy shift responsible for

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-28T06:50:00.000-04:00

image by Rick Forgo What book or song does this photo remind you of? There is no correct answer, by the way. Wordless Wednesday pics are also not limited to evoking books or music. Use your imagination. Write a story about the picture or paint a painting or just let the photo release some long forgotten memory.

Beetle Mania: a review of Boxer Beetle by Ned Beauman

2011-09-25T15:20:00.001-04:00

cover image: Bloomsbury USA Eugenics, the socio-biological movement/applied science which was popular in the early part of the 20th century, lies at the heart of Ned Beauman's eccentric, inaugural novel, Boxer, Beetle. The practice, which was adopted by the Nazis under Hitler, Fascists, and other extremists, found its roots in Social Darwinism which emerged in the UK in the 1870's. Its

GIVEAWAY A Widows Story by Joyce Carol Oates

2011-09-24T08:35:00.000-04:00

THE BOOK JONES REVIEW A Widow's Story GIVEAWAY! Here's your chance to win a free advanced reading copy of Joyce Carol Oates' poignant and intimate memoir, A Widow's Story. From Publishers Weekly Early one morning in February 2008, Oates drove her husband, Raymond Smith, to the Princeton Medical Center where he was admitted with pneumonia. There, he developed a virulent

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-21T07:14:00.000-04:00

What book or song does this photo bring to mind?

For Your Edification: Free Video Lectures

2011-09-20T13:31:00.004-04:00

As it turns out, YouTube has a wealth of college level lectures and courses available for your free consumption. Now you can glean infinite knowledge from guest speakers and eminent professors at institutions like Harvard, Yale and MIT. All gratis. Here's a small sample. Enjoy. Ray Bradbury on good writing The Works of David Foster Wallace

Word of the Week

2011-09-17T11:34:00.003-04:00

XANTHOMELANOUS: Xan`tho*mel"a*nous\, a.(Ethnol.) Of or pertaining to the lighter division of the Melanochroi, or those races having an olive or yellow complexion and black hair. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. Cite This Source I came across this colorful word while reading Boxer, Beetle by Ned Beauman (check for my review in the coming days), a refreshingly

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-14T15:42:00.000-04:00

What book, for you, does this photo evoke?

BBAW: Book Bloggers Appreciation Week

2011-09-12T11:29:00.004-04:00

This week, September 12th thru the16th, is Book Blogger Appreciation week. As part of my appreciation and in response to the first blogging topic of the week, I will list a few of my favorite book blogs: BibliOdyssey is not your classic book review blog, but rather a book art appreciation blog. It features wonderful etchings, woodcuts, engravings, lithographs and the like from 17th through

BOOK JONES REVIEW

The Obdurate Past: a review of the audio book version of 11/22/63 by Stephen King

The Ultimate Music List (Minus The Beatles)

The Best Books of 2011

Voices In My Head

Everyone's A Critic

The 2011 National Book Awards Announced

Janáček's Sinfionetta in 1Q84

Book Excerpt of the Week: Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville

Wordless Wednesday

Book Excerpt of the Week: The Thin Red Line by James Jones

Book Excerpt of the Week: Stories by H.P. Lovecraft

Music, Myth and Metaphor in Murakami's Kafka on the Shore

Book Excerpt of the Week: We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

Book Excerpt of the Week: The Trial by Franz Kafka

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

The Nobel Prize for Literature: What are the Odds?

Wordless Wednesday

Beetle Mania: a review of Boxer Beetle by Ned Beauman

*GIVEAWAY* A Widows Story by Joyce Carol Oates

Wordless Wednesday

For Your Edification: Free Video Lectures

Word of the Week

Wordless Wednesday

BBAW: Book Bloggers Appreciation Week

GIVEAWAY A Widows Story by Joyce Carol Oates