as only Cormac McCarthy can do

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A nicely written story of searching, love, determination, and moving on, wonderfully told as only Cormac McCarthy can do. Looking to see the Matt Damon / Penélope Cruz movie now. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0149624/

View all my reviews

Happy Birthday Linus!

OMG love these!

https://goo.gl/GnKphM

more frightening and sobering than ever

Animal Farm by George Orwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As we approach the changing of the guard in the US, and the new and very disturbing Trump administration, i thought i'd take some of my reading time to revisit some classic dystopian tales from my early years. I have not read Animal Farm since i was in high school, over 40 years ago. Reading it today is more chilling than ever. Looking back on my life, and the events of the past 40+ years, it is quite easy to see that we in the US have not escaped the fate that the prophecy of Animal Farm portrays. Rather, we are settling comfortably into it, as dull witted to it as the "lower animals" were in this brilliant story. And as we move into 2017, it is clear that the pigs at the top are much more equal than the rest of us. A classic, prophetic, brilliant tale, more frightening and sobering than ever before. Now to get my hands on a copy of Nineteen Eighty-Four, another on my high school reading list.

View all my reviews

another must-read

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, i really enjoyed this book! The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger is on many "must-read" lists, so i picked it up at the last Library book sale. This is the fast moving, non-stop account of about four days events told by prep school student Holden Caulfield. There are many twists and turns, ups and downs, as Holden shares every thought, experience, and detail of these few days. It is amazing how deeply the reader is drawn into the person of Holden, so as to experience the events almost as if him. The tale is fast paced, outrageous at times, emotionally wrenching at times. As odd a character as Holden is, one can't help but feel what he feels, and pull for him to make it through these challenging tough few days. I loved the story, wanted to read it in one sitting. I see why it is on must-read lists, it is a must-read. :)

View all my reviews

The rise of dark populism

I have read Maharidge's book "Journey to Nowhere", the one that inspired Bruce. Really important facts, thoughts and ideas.

"TRT World spoke to Maharidge, who lives in New York City and has studied and written about poverty in the US for more than 40 years. His work inspired American rocker Bruce Springsteen, himself a native son of a New Jersey working class town, to write The Ghost of Tom Joad and other songs about poverty and social injustice."

article:

I just donated to Wikimedia

I just donated to Wikimedia Foundation for the first time.

https://donate.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:FundraiserLandingPage&country=US&uselang=en

had to read Vol 2

The Matrix Comics, Vol. 2 by Lana Wachowski
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had to read Vol 2 - some good stories in here too. I like the Neil Gaiman story in Vol 1 the best.

View all my reviews

Awesome storytelling

The Matrix Comics Vol 1 by Geof Darrow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is volume 1 (of 2) of a really cool collection of graphic and essay stories set in world of The Matrix. These are short side stores that could have been in the movies. These were originally published on the Internet at the site TheMatrix.com, but were then moved to whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com only to be removed (why?!?). They can now be viewed at:
http://web.archive.org/web/20040616090810/http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/ .
They are all quite good, but by far the best is an essay story entitled Goliath by Neil Gaiman, which is in my view was the best. Awesome storytelling, you can read it here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20040616032506/http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rl_cmp/rl_neil_g.html

View all my reviews

Good riddance!

Well, it was clogged for a while, but this turd finally went down the drain. Good riddance!

Ghost in the Shell

Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

With the upcoming (2017) release of the live action film version of this story, i decided to read this manga beforehand. Ghost in the Shell is an interesting tale, somewhat hard to follow, and a little dated. But it does explore some interesting concepts of existence and reality, individuality and society. Some cool stuff to think about, for sure. Next, i'm going to watch the 1995 animated version of the story to see how closely the two story lines align. Good stuff.

View all my reviews

ghost wisdom

Santa Baby....

"Born to Run" read by Bruce himself!!! Santa Baby, make this a Bruuuuuuce Xmas!!!
https://smile.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1508224226