The Collector...NOT a How-To-Guide

So butterflies and a lock of hair and a key...yup, all the things a burgeoning serial killer needs. I think this novel must have influenced Thomas Harris somewhat. The novel, written in 1965, is the story of an obsessed man who decides to collect a beautiful girl. The first third of the book is interesting as we get a delusional narrator who attempts to explain his plight.  He loves her, therefore he must capture, imprison, and look at her. And that's really as far as it goes...looking, as he is incapable of the act itself. The middle third (more really) is from Miranda (the captive's voice) and I am hear to tell that John Fowles does not capture the female voice like, say, S. E. Hinton does the teen male voice in The Outsiders. In fact, Miranda is wholly unlikable, judgmental, holier than thou, and a bit of a jerk. Maybe that's the point...I did not feel sorry for her until the end, an end I will not ruin here. Fowles, is no Nabokov that's for sure.

Poets, Artists, Writers...in times of need they are all we have.



I can't explain 9/11 any better than you can. I can't explain Trump America any better than you can. I will leave it to the poets, and the writers, and the dancers, and the singers, and the composers, and the film makers...no one will get it right, but at least it's a start. As such, this book of poetry attempts to do just that. And for the most part succeeds. 

The Lost Highway...an interesting book, that might be better than I think

Ok, so his Mirimachi Trilogy of books are great and always about horribly destructive families and their ridiculous decisions. In fact, one has my favourite title of all time in For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down. In fact, I think I  will reread the trilogy because unlike YA trilogies each book stands alone AND they are not about vampires or dystopian nightmares. That being said, this book is good, though not great because of the protagonist's philosophical musings and his all around annoying nature. The best character is  Amy (a minor character that I feared for the whole time).

Moby Dick...Finished

This is a huge, difficult, long, intense novel. However, that being said, I will read it again one day. For now I will just leave you with my favourite image from the last 200 pages. Ahab, his new harpoon, and instead of tempering it with water he uses the blood of his HARPOONERS. Brilliant. Also. I am looking forward to reading critical essays describing what it all means, as I am sure there are a lot of them.

A Bit of a Cheat, But Later it Will all Become Clear

This is well deserving of the Giller Prize. I loved the idea of giving dogs human consciousness and winding them up and watching them go. Apollo and Hermes open and close the novel. They made a bet. Anyway, aside from that this means I have to read Alexis' novel Pastoral (2014) and his new The Hidden Keys (2016) because, according to Maclean's, "Alexis has passed the halfway mark of his planned quincunx, five linked novels, and the series is clearly going to be a tour of (almost) abandoned genres" OK, one QUINCUNX is a sick new word for me, and two, this all reminds me of the abandoned genre McSweeney's that I have yet to finish. It's really too bad that I don't teach Creative Writing anymore. Ah well. 

One Fine Story, That...

Thomas King is a great writer, and an excellent storyteller as this collection of Massey Lectures displays. He is at his best when telling stories about stories and story telling. He never preaches, and his emphasis on oral tradition and its ability to save First Nations culture is important. He bogs down sometimes when he becomes political...some of it is obvious, some of it is dated. All in all though, this is a great little book for writers and readers alike.