You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'book' category.
I do most of my reading at night just before turning out the light. The Exorcist is best read while alone and undisturbed. It is even better if your house makes a lot of random, unexplained noises. I’m all about the atmosphere.
A movie star comes to believe that her young daughter Reagan is possessed. A young priest, battling his own demons of guilt and doubt, is called upon to help. An old priest arrives to face his ancient enemy one more time.
The story is ultimately about faith. The mother is an athiest. The old priest has complete faith. My favorite character was that of Damien Karras, the younger Jesuit priest and psychiatrist. Damien struggles between faith and doubt, and he seeks proof one way or another.
The detective investigating a death that occurred in the house is perhaps one of the most irritating characters of any book I’ve read. There would have to be some reference to an investigation into the possibility of foul play, but I could have done without his presence. His gimmick was acting dumb in order to catch someone off guard with a sharp question. It got old, and I kept wishing one of the other characters would call him on it.
The strange activity and behaviors are treated without fanfare. It simply is. That simplicity is what makes the situations more disturbing. Obviously there is something very wrong with Reagan. The situations only worsen as doctor after doctor can offer no answer. The mother is at a breaking point as she is both concerned for her daughter and terrified by the “Reagan-thing.” This desperation leads her to beg for an exorcism.
In the end Father Karras finds his answers and perhaps even his purpose. He is the only character in whom the reader can see a definitive change. The others are left without any neat resolutions. They have only questions.
My male dog has become impossible for me to walk the last few months.
Our problems first began with increasing excitement when he saw the leash. He’d soon calm down and be ready to walk.
Then he began getting aggressively excited at the site of the leash. He would reach back and snap at it when I was clipping it to his collar. This turned into a game of tug-and-war. I refused to play with him and wouldn’t move until he calmed down. He’d then be ready to walk.
I thought not playing his game would curb the behavior, but it simply escalated until he would not stop until the leash was removed. I couldn’t even get him outside before he started pulling and growling again. He’s a strong dog, and if he wants he can pull me around the yard. And he did.
I stopped trying all together. The last visit to the vet revealed a 10 lb gain. Something’s got to give.
Cesar Millan is the star of Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic Channel. I knew of him, but I’d never even seen his show until after I picked up his book. He’s quick to state that he is not a dog trainer. Instead, he says he uses his principles of dog psychology to rehabilitate unbalanced dogs. His show is not about simple training. He helps owners with out-of-control dogs and their potentially dangerous behaviors.
The goal of Be the Pack Leader is to strengthen the pack relationship between humans and animals. The owner must understand the primal needs and instincts of the “animal” in the dog and respond appropriately to correct the out-of-control behavior. In other words, the owner has to quit humanizing the dog and its behaviors. It is first and foremost a dog, not your baby or a little person. Secondly, the owner should be aware of the specific needs of a particular breed. For example, my dog is a heeler. He has high-energy levels and requires plenty of exercise and challenging activities. If those needs are not met, there will be problems.
While reading this book I found that combined my two dogs had nearly every issue that Millan listed: aggression (towards other dogs), hyperactive energy, fixations (leash), phobias (thunder/lightning), obsessive barking. Millan stated that what people often write off as personality traits are actually issues that need to be addressed. He goes on to say that all of these issues can be resolved with his “three-part fulfillment formula.” This formula consists of exercise (the walk), discipline (rules,boundaries, and limitations), and affection. He emphasizes that they must be in that order. I think that I’ve been primarily using affection. Therefore, I lose the lead in our household’s pack.
One of the key points in all of his teaching is something Millan calls “calm-assertive energy.” Without it the owner will not be in control of his or her pack. Dogs will reflect the energy of their owners. In his case studies, Millan will point out the behaviors of the owners that are causing behavioral issues with their dogs. This point reminded me of an article I read some years ago that the reason that dogs are man’s best friend is that they are able to read us so well and respond to our nonverbal communication. Millan writes that animals respect and relax around the calm-assertive energy.
My first goal is to master the walk. Millan states that a minimum of two 45 minutes walks in the daytime is the best. (Our previous walks tended to be no more than 30 minutes, and they took place after dark.) Once we master the walk, I’ll work on increasing their walk time. This regular long walk will be the hardest part, for it’ll require serious commitment from my brother and I.
To be continued….
We walked! We walked! He started the same aggressively excited behaviors again when I got the leash, but this time I stood still with the leash and kept turning away from him (no eye contact). We probably did this for about five minutes. I just kept turning away from him, and if he pushed against me I would push him back. He finally relaxed and lay down at my feet. At this point I clipped the leash on. He started to turn back to bite it, but not nearly as strongly as before. I said, “No” and grabbed the back of his neck (not hard) with a claw hand (to mimic another dog’s mouth). He immediately stopped. He tried again, and I reacted the same way. He stopped. I walked him to the door, then I made him stay back to let me go first. That took a little longer as he kept trying to push around me. I simply used my body to claim my space and kept pushing him away until he sat. The walk was great. He’d always been good about walking next to me and not pulling on the leash. A few times he got a little too excited about a passing car or a dog behind a fence, but the claw hand and a “No!” did the trick.
This is not a step-by-step manual to training dogs. Rather, it teaches you how to communicate in your dog’s language. I understand that there is a lot of controversy regarding Millan’s methods. I am no expert and cannot give a truly informed opinion. I can only say what worked for me and for my dog.
I love Cesar Millan and his crooked little goatee. Or is it his crooked little smile that makes his goatee look crooked? I can’t decide.
I woke up crying the morning after I started reading this book. The dream was forgotten, but the searing loneliness remained.
An unnamed catastrophe has left the world a different place. Humanity has lost out to savagery. A father and son are on a difficult journey in the hope of finding something better in the ash and smoke.
It is a silent book. A quiet evisceration. Horrific scenes play out without melodrama. They are just two souls struggling to survive in the midst of stark brutality. Struggling to survive the cold that can crack rocks. Struggling to find food in a gray world. Struggling to elude the animals that man has become.
We’re going to be okay, arent we Papa?
Yes. We are.
And nothing bad is going to happen to us.
That’s right.
Because we’re carrying the fire.
Yes. Because we’re carrying the fire.
Their story is not about destruction and death. It is about a father’s love for his son. It is about a dying father with the impossible task of teaching his son how to survive this lifeless world alone while not killing the boy’s humanity.
Is it real? The fire?
Yes it is.
Where is it? I dont know where it is.
Yes you do. It’s inside you. It was always there. I can see it.
It is about a man keeping alive the hope of the world.
I saw the show first. I was fascinated by the point of view of a serial killer, and I thought that, by their very nature, the books would provide more insight into Dexter’s mind.
I like the TV series better. Watch the show. If I didn’t have Michael C. Hall to be my own personal narrator in my mind, I would have given up after 50 pages – my magical number after which I allow myself to quit a book. (100 pages if I really want to like it.) The writing is just that bad, but the ideas are still there.
Dexter is taken in by Harry, a cop, after being found in a gruesome crime scene as a small child. Dexter is not a normal child, and Harry recognizes him for what he is. Instead of putting Dexter away in an institution, Harry trains him to carry out justice against those who hurt innocents. “Choose what… or who.. you kill. There are plenty of people who deserve it, Dex.”
The basic tenets of the Code of Harry: 1) Blend in. 2) Control and channel the urges. 3) Be absolutely sure of the target’s guilt. 4) Leave no traces behind.
Dexter, working as a blood splatter analyst, lives a life of manufactured normalcy with big waves and even bigger smiles. All of his rules for living can be summed up into one: imitate life. When he has two or more options, he chooses the “human” choice. What Would Average Joe Do? By night he lets loose his “Dark Passenger” on those deserving souls.
His expertise on human behaviors keeps him below the radar. That expertise allows him to see though others who are also faking humanity, and he senses a connection with those people. Like Vince.
“There was something just slightly off in Vince’s bright, Asian smile. Like he had learned to smile from a picture book… He kept making all the correct ritual gestures, but he always seemed to be faking. That’s why I liked him, I think. Another guy pretending to be human, just like me.”
Throughout the novel he is (professionally and personally) pursuing another serial killer whose style he admires. He is delighted by the art of the body displays, and he soon sees messages to himself. He can read this mystery guy so well that he begins to question whether this is actually another being or his own Dark Passenger taking over.
The ending is a complete disaster, and not worth another comment.
While not a book or, I predict, a book series I would recommend, I was able to look past the flaws and enjoy Dexter’s world. He is so damn logical and cold that the emotions and irrational behaviors he encounters mystify him. The same behaviors that he copies while not understanding them. Each day is another day to put on the appearance of being human.
I find myself intrigued by his interpretation of “human.”
***I’ll be reading the rest in the series for the same reason I am now regretting the surplus Halloween candy.
Update 11/05: I can’t do this anymore. Not the candy. If this were the Cannonball Feed, I’d be killing it right now. The books. Every time I pick up the second book, I have to go back a few pages to remember what is happening – or, rather, not happening. Last time a book did this to me, I was trying to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I think I made it. I just don’t remember anything about them.
Moral of this story: Watch the show.
I need this.
In the first grade I went through all the books my teacher had, so she had to borrow from others. That summer my mother started taking us to the public library every week. I got hooked on the Bobbsey Twins. My mom saw this new love forming, and she did what she could to encourage it. When second grade began, my mother went to the school librarian to see if the school had the series. They did not, but the librarian introduced me to Nancy Drew. Rows and rows of Nancy Drew. It was on.
My grandfather gifted me the Chronicles of Narnia when I was eight. My mother put them up on top of the fridge, and I wasn’t allowed one until my chores were done. Reading had completely taken over. I was in the library every morning before school to get a new book, two or three if it was the weekend.
Family life was rough, and I truly believe those books saved me. They took me far, far away from all the screaming and fighting. They kept me quiet and still so that I didn’t trip my father’s temper. They gave me a glimpse into families who didn’t act like mine, so that I knew this wasn’t the way it had to be.
The pace slowed by the time I reached high school. College nearly put an end to it. I was still reading a lot, but it was all for class. The joy was gone. And now? There’s always something in the way. The same book has been sitting on my nightstand for five months.
Enough already.
No one should be without this. No one.
*making an addition to my Christmas list*
I was browsing in Barnes & Noble when I came across Making a Literary Life: Advice for Writers and Other Dreamers by Carolyn See – a novelist, memoirist, critic, and creative writing teacher.
This book is a wonderful starting point if you want to write but aren’t sure where to begin. The advice is obvious – write. Every day. Sorry to disappoint, but that’s the big secret. And yet, sometimes we need someone we trust to tell us what we already know.
Carolyn See lays out a plan for the novice to follow. It’s quite simple, but it takes discipline and self-motivation. These are two qualities every writer must develop in order to achieve any semblance of literary success.
The core of her ingenius plan :
“1. A thousand words a day – or two hours of revision – five days a week for the rest of your life.
2. A charming note (that does not ask for a favor) to a writer, editor, or agent you admire – five days a week for the rest of your life.”
There are seven other steps, but these are the most crucial. Carolyn See also goes on to walk the beginning writer through the entire process – from first deciding to write to finally getting published. Her words of experience and wisdom are encouraging to anyone wanting to pursue a career as a writer.
As a budding novelist, I’m attempting to stick to the plan. It is hard at first, but sooner than you’d expect it becomes a daily habit. Reaching your word count for the day is very satisfying, but even more thrilling is a personal reply from a favorite author.
You’ll be dropping names in no time.
