Over the last week or so, I've been reading Ken Kesey's 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. After watching the movie and reviewing it a few months ago, I found it curious that Kesey despised the movie so much due to the changes made from the novel. Well that, and he didn't make any money off the film. Anyway, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is based off of Kesey's experience working in an insane asylum, and is set, naturally, in an insane asylum in Oregon. The story is narrated by an inmate of the asylum known as Chief Bromden, a 6'7" Native American who is thought to be a deaf mute. Because of his 'condition', the Chief is able to hear nearly everything that goes on in the ward, as since he's thought to be deaf, everybody around him talks as if he's not there. But the Chief's life, and everybody else's at the ward, is changed by the arrival of R.P. McMurphy, a petty criminal and a gambler who seemed to fake his way into commitment at the mental hospital because he was tired of being imprisoned at a work farm.
Before McMurphy's arrival, the ward was under complete control of Nurse Ratched, a battleaxe of a woman who always had a smile on her face, but used passive aggressive techniques and establishing an environment of fear by threatening patients with electric shock therapy and lobotomies if they refuse to follow her strictly set routine. The patients fall in line 'like rabbits', but McMurphy will not submit so easily. At first it seems like McMurphy is only challenging the nurse's authority as a way to kill time and win a bet with the other patients, but over time the problems between the two escalate into an all-out war, as Ratched becomes determined to break McMurphy's hold on the patients and establish complete dominance over the ward once again. The Chief looks at Ratched as the agent of the 'Combine', the force designed to keep men in line and control the world as a whole. As such, Ratched isn't really portrayed as a character but instead as the cold, calculating face of authority, whose one purpose in life isn't to help the patients with the problems but rather mold them into another mechanical part of society, or keep them out of society.
On the other side of the coin is McMurphy, a man that seems to resent authority of all kinds and sees right through Nurse Ratched's facade of therapy for what it really is, complete control over the patients in the ward. McMurphy's will power and sense of humor make him an intriguing character, a rebel who begins to take up a cause as he fights for the freedom of the other patients against Nurse Ratched's oppressive reign. Eventually, he starts to make some ground, as he starts a basketball team and somehow gets a lot of the patients to come on a fishing trip with him (along with the doctor of the ward), allowing the patients to experience something they hadn't in a long time, freedom.
This tale of the rebels vs. the establishment is seen all through the eyes of Bromden, a man that served in WWII but developed extreme anxiety after coming home and seeing his father become a weak alcoholic after the government took away his land. Bromden, to be frank, doesn't see the world the same way as most of us, as he has hallucinations that include seeing a thick fog where nothing is there and one of the patients being opened up by a team of robot workers. In crafting Bromden's hallucinations, Kesey drew back on his experience taking mind-altering drugs as part of a CIA project, and the results are that the reader is taken through the mind of someone that isn't 'all there', so to speak. But there always seems to be some sort of truth in the Chief's visions, as if he sees things more clearly than those around him. Kesey further explores the character of Chief Bromden to various flashbacks, resulting in the reader getting a clearer picture of the Chief's mindset and perspective of the situation he has found himself in.
The movie adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest differs in quite a few ways. For one, Chief Bromden becomes a minor character in the movie, as the movie focuses more on McMurphy vs. Ratched than any other aspect of the story. Also, the orderlies in the movie were seemingly just a group of guys doing their jobs as told, but in the book they are presented as more vicious, even sadistic, in their handling of the patients. Some of the other characters are different in the movie, as Harding had a larger role in the book as it delved more into the problems he had with his wife, whereas in the movie he was just a guy that complained a lot. Also, Tabor was a former patient in the book that became a current patient in the movie, although his role is rather minor in both circumstances. There's more deaths in the book as well, but I won't spoil it too much.
Overall, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is quite a tale. Yes, it starts with the basic story of the rebels vs. the establishment, but Kesey is able to make most of the characters three dimensional, each with their own personalities, and even though you know deep down that McMurphy is kind of a louse, you can't help but to root for him in his struggle against Ratched. Overall, I'd give it an 8.6 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this book then feel free to leave a comment. Also, if you have ideas for future posts, then send them over to me via e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Canon Book Review: Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps
Last week, I picked up Dancing With the Stars contestant Chris Jericho's second book, Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps. Jericho's first autobiography, A Lion's Tale, is regarded as one of the best wrestling books ever written (I'd say it's the best, but that's just my opinion), and many people were eagerly waiting for his second book to drop. Undisputed picks up where A Lion Tale's ends, with Jericho making his debut promo for the WWF in 1999. From there, Jericho details his first run in the WWE, as well as the trials and tribulations of making it in the music business with his band Fozzy and his foray into acting.
While Jericho came into the WWE with a lot of fanfare, things didn't go to well for Y2J when he first arrived. Jericho details the struggles he had with adapting to the WWE style and the politics of the WWE locker room. Jericho also had a feud with Chyna that wasn't exactly a career highlight for him, and even got vehemently berated by Vince McMahon, who said that Jericho wasn't worth the paper his contract was written on. Eventually, Jericho would adapt and become one of the biggest superstars in the industry. In Undisputed, Jericho details some of the classic matches he had with superstars such as Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, The Rock, John Cena, Hulk Hogan, and Triple-H, among others. Jericho also delves into the backstage shenanigans of the WWE locker room, including his complicated relationship with WWE head Vince McMahon and his backstage fight with Goldberg in 2003 (in which Goldberg comes across as a bit of a wimp).
The other part of the book is about Jericho's metal band, Fozzy, which actually started out as a joke before rising to semi-prominence in the world of heavy metal. Fozzy's evolution from a gimmicky cover band to a legitimate metal band with their own material is covered in great length in Undisputed. In many ways, Fozzy's tribulations are quite similar to the same problems that Jericho had when he first became a wrestler, as Fozzy would sometimes play a gig in front of sparse audiences that didn't exactly have the warmest reception for Fozzy. But Fozzy did have their share of highlights, including stealing the show in front of 25,000 people at a metal festival in Germany and opening for such bands as Motorhead. I've heard some criticism over all the focus on his music career instead of his wrestling career in this book, but personally I found all the tales of Fozzy and the music industry quite entertaining, and it didn't take away from the book at all.
Readers of A Lion's Tale will know that Jericho has a great sense of humor, and that humor is on full display here in Undisputed. There are many, many instances where I laughed at some of the crazy stories presented here in this book, and it helps that Jericho is not someone who takes themselves seriously. Also, much like his fellow wrestler Mick Foley (who has never beaten Jericho in a wrestling match, as Jericho points out many times in this book), Jericho is not afraid to drop a name or two, and the book details all sorts of celebrity encounters Jericho had. From meeting big-time stars such as Wayne Gretzky (who called him Jeff Jericho) and Bruce Willis, to talking about ring ropes with Jon Lovitz and punching former pitcher Scott Erickson in the face, Jericho recounts each of these encounters with a sense of amusement. Jericho's attempts to break into Hollywood are also recounted here, including his appearance as a contestant of Celebrity Duets, where he was the first voted off. Hopefully, that's not an omen for his upcoming Dancing with the Stars stint.
While most of the book is filled with humor, Jericho also delves into some of the personal struggles he's gone through over the years, including his drunk driving arrest and the deaths of his mom and his close personal friends Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. Jericho devotes an entire chapter to his mother in the book and it's a very poignant part of the book. He also devotes an entire chapter to the Benoit murder-suicide and how he dealt with the feelings of such a shocking event. While Jericho was one of Benoit's best friends and a man who considered Benoit a mentor, he also paints a realistic picture of Chris Benoit the man, who was a little eccentric at best. It's a very interesting and revealing look at the feelings Jericho was dealing with after the unspeakable tragedy committed by one of his best friends.
Overall, Undisputed is a worthy successor to A Lion's Tale and will probably go down as one of the best wrestling autobiographies out there along with Foley's Have A Nice Day and Bret Hart's Hitman: A Life in Tights. If you are a fan of wrestling and looking for something to read, I suggest you pick up this book as soon as possible. I'd give it a 9.25 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you any ideas for future posts, or thoughts about this post, than either leave a comment on the blog or send them to me at e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
While Jericho came into the WWE with a lot of fanfare, things didn't go to well for Y2J when he first arrived. Jericho details the struggles he had with adapting to the WWE style and the politics of the WWE locker room. Jericho also had a feud with Chyna that wasn't exactly a career highlight for him, and even got vehemently berated by Vince McMahon, who said that Jericho wasn't worth the paper his contract was written on. Eventually, Jericho would adapt and become one of the biggest superstars in the industry. In Undisputed, Jericho details some of the classic matches he had with superstars such as Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, The Rock, John Cena, Hulk Hogan, and Triple-H, among others. Jericho also delves into the backstage shenanigans of the WWE locker room, including his complicated relationship with WWE head Vince McMahon and his backstage fight with Goldberg in 2003 (in which Goldberg comes across as a bit of a wimp).
The other part of the book is about Jericho's metal band, Fozzy, which actually started out as a joke before rising to semi-prominence in the world of heavy metal. Fozzy's evolution from a gimmicky cover band to a legitimate metal band with their own material is covered in great length in Undisputed. In many ways, Fozzy's tribulations are quite similar to the same problems that Jericho had when he first became a wrestler, as Fozzy would sometimes play a gig in front of sparse audiences that didn't exactly have the warmest reception for Fozzy. But Fozzy did have their share of highlights, including stealing the show in front of 25,000 people at a metal festival in Germany and opening for such bands as Motorhead. I've heard some criticism over all the focus on his music career instead of his wrestling career in this book, but personally I found all the tales of Fozzy and the music industry quite entertaining, and it didn't take away from the book at all.
Readers of A Lion's Tale will know that Jericho has a great sense of humor, and that humor is on full display here in Undisputed. There are many, many instances where I laughed at some of the crazy stories presented here in this book, and it helps that Jericho is not someone who takes themselves seriously. Also, much like his fellow wrestler Mick Foley (who has never beaten Jericho in a wrestling match, as Jericho points out many times in this book), Jericho is not afraid to drop a name or two, and the book details all sorts of celebrity encounters Jericho had. From meeting big-time stars such as Wayne Gretzky (who called him Jeff Jericho) and Bruce Willis, to talking about ring ropes with Jon Lovitz and punching former pitcher Scott Erickson in the face, Jericho recounts each of these encounters with a sense of amusement. Jericho's attempts to break into Hollywood are also recounted here, including his appearance as a contestant of Celebrity Duets, where he was the first voted off. Hopefully, that's not an omen for his upcoming Dancing with the Stars stint.
While most of the book is filled with humor, Jericho also delves into some of the personal struggles he's gone through over the years, including his drunk driving arrest and the deaths of his mom and his close personal friends Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. Jericho devotes an entire chapter to his mother in the book and it's a very poignant part of the book. He also devotes an entire chapter to the Benoit murder-suicide and how he dealt with the feelings of such a shocking event. While Jericho was one of Benoit's best friends and a man who considered Benoit a mentor, he also paints a realistic picture of Chris Benoit the man, who was a little eccentric at best. It's a very interesting and revealing look at the feelings Jericho was dealing with after the unspeakable tragedy committed by one of his best friends.
Overall, Undisputed is a worthy successor to A Lion's Tale and will probably go down as one of the best wrestling autobiographies out there along with Foley's Have A Nice Day and Bret Hart's Hitman: A Life in Tights. If you are a fan of wrestling and looking for something to read, I suggest you pick up this book as soon as possible. I'd give it a 9.25 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you any ideas for future posts, or thoughts about this post, than either leave a comment on the blog or send them to me at e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Canon Book Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Today is the conclusion of the reviews of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter saga, with the review of the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The 768 page book was later the basis for two separate movies, one that was released a few weeks ago, while the second movie is to be released in July, 2011. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, along with his friends Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger, decide to forgo their seventh year of Hogwarts in order to look for Horcruxes which contain parts of Lord Voldemort's soul and destroy them before Voldemort can finally succeed in his mission to kill Harry Potter and become the most powerful wizard on the planet. Meanwhile, Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters, seem to have the world by it's tail, leaving behind a trail of fear and despair as they take over the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts itself. Along the way, Harry, Ron, and Hermoine learn of three sacred objects that together are called the Deathly Hallows. Eventually, Harry and Voldemort have their faceoff, and everybody dies except for Seamus Finnegan and Professor Sprout. Well, not really. A few thoughts about this book, and yes there are SPOILERS, so you have been warned.
- You know, for a book series that was originally meant for kids, a lot of characters die in this book. Even from the beginning, many characters that have become well known in the series are bumped off rather unceremoniously. Actually, the whole book takes a more mature turn, as in this book there are characters cursing and numerous kidnappings and all sorts of stuff like that. I didn't have a problem with this too much, especially when you consider that the readers who grew up with the series were more mature by the release of Deathly Hallows and could accept this change in tone, but still, it is somewhat jarring to see how this story evolved from its beginnings.
- Since Harry and his cohorts are away from Hogwarts for most of the year, and out on their own, the story narrows its focus dramatically. Also, since there are a lot of times where the three are just out in the woods waiting for their next move, there's a lot of down time in this book where nothing happens other than some bickering among the three of them or they take forever to argue about their next move before finally coming to a decision. One of the things I liked most about this series was the wide array of characters that would either be introduced or greatly evolve throughout the series, but in the Deathly Hallows, there are very few characters being introduced, and we really only learn more about Dumbledore and Snape. Oh, and I guess the goblins. Everybody else either makes a token appearance or two or changes for the worse (i.e. Lupin). Except for Neville, as he finally stepped out of Harry's shadow to become a key part of the story, even though his role was rather short.
- After reading the seven Harry Potter books, I must say that I'm not impressed with Ron Weasley's performance. Or Ron in general, to be honest. Actually, he wasn't so bad in the first three books, but starting with the Goblet of Fire, Ron just gets more and more annoying. In this book, Ron really turns it up a notch, as he spends a lot of the book pining over Hermoine to the point where he becomes a lovesick mess who lost whatever charm he had possessed throughout the series. What really ticked me off is when he decided to leave his two friends, the only people who had put up with his constant bursts of immaturity and insensitivity, to fend for themselves. One, it really seemed kind of forced, as someone with the perpetrated bravery of Ron wouldn't just cut and run like that, and two, I understand that he was under some sort of negative force due to the locket, which of course raises the issue of why the three decided it would be a good idea to wear a cursed object like that around their necks in the first place. I guess at the end of the day I just have a hard time finding what it is Ron brings to the table. He's not particularly smart and tends to turn his back on his friends without warning. Harry's the chosen one, Hermoine supplies the ideas and logic, so what does Ron do, keep the drinks on ice?
- It was once observed by Professor Snape that "[Harry Potter] has fought his way out of a number of tight corners by a simple combination of sheer luck and more talented friends." Well, after the events of the Deathly Hallows, it's kind of hard to disagree with Snape about Potter's remarkable luck. Heck, he escapes time and time again from certain doom through an improbable series of events, and is only able to complete his task of destroying Horcruxes with the assistance of Neville and others. Then again, this is not anything new, as Harry once pulled a giant sword out of a hat and also was able to go back in time to save, well, himself. But in those other books, at least Harry had to show off some semblance of skill to accomplish his goal. In the Deathly Hallows, it seems like Harry became way too reliant on luck and other people's mistakes more than any skills he possessed, or maybe it's just me.
- Voldemort may be an all-powerful wizard and all, but he needs a new team of accomplices, as the Death Eaters usually suck. Even when they accomplish something, they usually screw things up so badly that things are worse than they were before. Yes, Bellatrix may be some sort of dark arts genius and the rest of the Death Eaters are fearful in their own way, but they seem to be so interested in serving Voldemort that all logic escapes their brains, so they do stupid things like leaving a bunch of wizards unattended in a prison cell. Actually, Voldemort seems to have a few brain farts himself throughout the book, as his arrogance seems to work against him in many ways throughout the series. I wonder if Voldemort is really that good, or the rest of the wizardy world (the ministry, Dumbledore, etc.) is really just not very good at their tasks.
Overall, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows had a few problems. There were a few plotholes, some things went unacknowledged or under acknowledged, and there's a lot of time in this book where nothing happens. However, as a whole. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows isn't too bad of a book, although not quite up to the level of the first four books. Overall, I'd give Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows a 6.43 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
- You know, for a book series that was originally meant for kids, a lot of characters die in this book. Even from the beginning, many characters that have become well known in the series are bumped off rather unceremoniously. Actually, the whole book takes a more mature turn, as in this book there are characters cursing and numerous kidnappings and all sorts of stuff like that. I didn't have a problem with this too much, especially when you consider that the readers who grew up with the series were more mature by the release of Deathly Hallows and could accept this change in tone, but still, it is somewhat jarring to see how this story evolved from its beginnings.
- Since Harry and his cohorts are away from Hogwarts for most of the year, and out on their own, the story narrows its focus dramatically. Also, since there are a lot of times where the three are just out in the woods waiting for their next move, there's a lot of down time in this book where nothing happens other than some bickering among the three of them or they take forever to argue about their next move before finally coming to a decision. One of the things I liked most about this series was the wide array of characters that would either be introduced or greatly evolve throughout the series, but in the Deathly Hallows, there are very few characters being introduced, and we really only learn more about Dumbledore and Snape. Oh, and I guess the goblins. Everybody else either makes a token appearance or two or changes for the worse (i.e. Lupin). Except for Neville, as he finally stepped out of Harry's shadow to become a key part of the story, even though his role was rather short.
- After reading the seven Harry Potter books, I must say that I'm not impressed with Ron Weasley's performance. Or Ron in general, to be honest. Actually, he wasn't so bad in the first three books, but starting with the Goblet of Fire, Ron just gets more and more annoying. In this book, Ron really turns it up a notch, as he spends a lot of the book pining over Hermoine to the point where he becomes a lovesick mess who lost whatever charm he had possessed throughout the series. What really ticked me off is when he decided to leave his two friends, the only people who had put up with his constant bursts of immaturity and insensitivity, to fend for themselves. One, it really seemed kind of forced, as someone with the perpetrated bravery of Ron wouldn't just cut and run like that, and two, I understand that he was under some sort of negative force due to the locket, which of course raises the issue of why the three decided it would be a good idea to wear a cursed object like that around their necks in the first place. I guess at the end of the day I just have a hard time finding what it is Ron brings to the table. He's not particularly smart and tends to turn his back on his friends without warning. Harry's the chosen one, Hermoine supplies the ideas and logic, so what does Ron do, keep the drinks on ice?
- It was once observed by Professor Snape that "[Harry Potter] has fought his way out of a number of tight corners by a simple combination of sheer luck and more talented friends." Well, after the events of the Deathly Hallows, it's kind of hard to disagree with Snape about Potter's remarkable luck. Heck, he escapes time and time again from certain doom through an improbable series of events, and is only able to complete his task of destroying Horcruxes with the assistance of Neville and others. Then again, this is not anything new, as Harry once pulled a giant sword out of a hat and also was able to go back in time to save, well, himself. But in those other books, at least Harry had to show off some semblance of skill to accomplish his goal. In the Deathly Hallows, it seems like Harry became way too reliant on luck and other people's mistakes more than any skills he possessed, or maybe it's just me.
- Voldemort may be an all-powerful wizard and all, but he needs a new team of accomplices, as the Death Eaters usually suck. Even when they accomplish something, they usually screw things up so badly that things are worse than they were before. Yes, Bellatrix may be some sort of dark arts genius and the rest of the Death Eaters are fearful in their own way, but they seem to be so interested in serving Voldemort that all logic escapes their brains, so they do stupid things like leaving a bunch of wizards unattended in a prison cell. Actually, Voldemort seems to have a few brain farts himself throughout the book, as his arrogance seems to work against him in many ways throughout the series. I wonder if Voldemort is really that good, or the rest of the wizardy world (the ministry, Dumbledore, etc.) is really just not very good at their tasks.
Overall, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows had a few problems. There were a few plotholes, some things went unacknowledged or under acknowledged, and there's a lot of time in this book where nothing happens. However, as a whole. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows isn't too bad of a book, although not quite up to the level of the first four books. Overall, I'd give Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows a 6.43 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Canon Book Review: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Continuing on with the reviews of each book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter saga, today I review the sixth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. At 652 pages, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince isn't as long as the previous two books, but it's lengthy enough to cover what needs to be covered. In this book, Harry is back for his sixth year at Hogwarts, along with Ron and Hermoine and Seamus and all his Hogwarts friends. More personnel changes take place, as Hogwarts has a new potions teacher in Horace Slughorn, who replaces Severus Snape. But don't fret about Snape, as he finally realizes his lifelong dream of becoming the new defense against the dark arts teacher. But not all is well as Hogwarts, as Harry's arch rival Voldemort and his Death Eaters have risen to power, causing chaos in their wake, and Harry, along with Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore, spend much of the year preparing for the eventual showdown with Voldemort which, as has been prophesied, will leave one of the two dead. A few notes about Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and I'm going to try to not spoil too much in the story, but there are due to be some SPOILERS, so be careful.
- In the last book, I felt that Harry and others, including Hermoine, had become a bunch of self-important cranks. Well, a year seems to have made a difference with Harry, as although he still has a few moments of immaturity, he seems a lot more focused and less likely to snap at everybody in sight this time around. However, it seems as if Ron and Hermoine once again spend most of the book angry at each other about all sorts of things. Then Ron gets a girlfriend, which makes things much much worse, and Hermoine's various dates with others doesn't help matters, so basically you have Harry's two best friends feuding with each other for half of the book, which is probably not the thing Harry needs to deal with, what with his upcoming battle with the most powerful dark wizard of all time and all. Harry is not spared by Hermoine's wrath either, as Harry uses an old potions book written in by the mysterious Half-Blood Prince to become the top student in potions class, much to Hermoine's chagrin. Although, I must say, I do kind of see her point, as Harry just happened to find the right book while Hermoine does all her work the old-fashioned way.
- In the previous years at Hogwarts, a certain pattern developed. Something traumatic happens, Harry gets involved, and everybody starts to pile on Harry. Well, not this time, as the events of the previous book have made Harry a modern day folk hero. The same newspapers that sought to destroy his reputation now call him 'the chosen one', the same Ministry of Magic that tried to get Harry expelled now ask for his help, the same group of students that once mocked and ridiculed Harry now treat him as if he's up on a pedestal (well, except for the Slytherins). To Harry's credit, he doesn't rub it in everybody's faces by telling them 'I told you so' or some other nonsense, although he also is rather skeptical of his newfound acceptance, and wants little or nothing to do with the same people that nearly destroyed him in the last book.
- In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it seems as if half the book is spent with Harry and Dumbledore learning about Voldemort's past through memories stored in Dumbledore's pensive. That's all well and good, as it gives both Voldemort and Dumbledore's characters more depth, the scenes also make the rest of the book's events seems boring in comparison. It's as if the Voldemort-Dumblerdore chapters are the ones that end up being of importance, while most of everything else that happens in the book (excluding Harry's scene with Slughorn at Hagrid's, and the ending sequence) kind of filler. Even when Ron Weasley, one of the main characters in the book, was in grave danger after being poisoned, it didn't seem to have the same impact as it should have, because the telling of the story gave more weight to Dumbledore's time with Harry than anything else, if that makes any sense.
- There aren't too many new characters introduced in this book. Yes, Slughorn is new, and plays a big role in the story after all. Slughorn isn't a particularly bad guy, however, he tends to favor those students who he feels would exceed in the future, and therefore, Slughorn can leech off of their fame in the future. It'd probably be mildly annoying for those that weren't the chosen few of Slughorn, I would imagine. Heck, I've had a couple of teachers like that before, and it's not too fun being on the other side of that equation. We also get acquainted with Voldemort's family, and considering what type of people they are, it's not hard to see how Voldemort could become so evil with people such as that being his blood.
- Once again, Draco Malfoy is back as Harry's foil at Hogwarts. But this time, Draco seems to have taken a turn. Not only is he more competent in his battles with Potter, breaking his nose at one point, but his smug self-nature seems to have been deflated some, as his pop's in prison and Voldemort has given Draco a seemingly impossible task. Somehow, even though it takes him all year, Draco puts together a plan that leads to this task being done, although you'll have to read the book to see what it is.
Overall, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is better than the previous book, but still falls slightly short of the previous four books in the saga. Other than the demise of a major character at the end, it seems as if the sole purpose of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is to build up to the final book in the series, where everything will come to a head. Even the title plot with the Half Blood Prince gets lost in the shuffle, and the revelation of said Prince doesn't have as much impact as other events towards the end do. Also, characters such as Neville and Hagrid kind of get shuffled to the background, as the book mainly focuses on Harry and Dumbledore. Still, it's not a terrible book by any stretch of the imagination, and it does build up a lot of suspense to the conclusion. Overall, I'd give Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince a 6.5 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading. Remember, if you have any ideas for future reviews, or comments about this or previous reviews, then send them to me either by e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com or by leaving a comment on the blog.
- In the last book, I felt that Harry and others, including Hermoine, had become a bunch of self-important cranks. Well, a year seems to have made a difference with Harry, as although he still has a few moments of immaturity, he seems a lot more focused and less likely to snap at everybody in sight this time around. However, it seems as if Ron and Hermoine once again spend most of the book angry at each other about all sorts of things. Then Ron gets a girlfriend, which makes things much much worse, and Hermoine's various dates with others doesn't help matters, so basically you have Harry's two best friends feuding with each other for half of the book, which is probably not the thing Harry needs to deal with, what with his upcoming battle with the most powerful dark wizard of all time and all. Harry is not spared by Hermoine's wrath either, as Harry uses an old potions book written in by the mysterious Half-Blood Prince to become the top student in potions class, much to Hermoine's chagrin. Although, I must say, I do kind of see her point, as Harry just happened to find the right book while Hermoine does all her work the old-fashioned way.
- In the previous years at Hogwarts, a certain pattern developed. Something traumatic happens, Harry gets involved, and everybody starts to pile on Harry. Well, not this time, as the events of the previous book have made Harry a modern day folk hero. The same newspapers that sought to destroy his reputation now call him 'the chosen one', the same Ministry of Magic that tried to get Harry expelled now ask for his help, the same group of students that once mocked and ridiculed Harry now treat him as if he's up on a pedestal (well, except for the Slytherins). To Harry's credit, he doesn't rub it in everybody's faces by telling them 'I told you so' or some other nonsense, although he also is rather skeptical of his newfound acceptance, and wants little or nothing to do with the same people that nearly destroyed him in the last book.
- In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it seems as if half the book is spent with Harry and Dumbledore learning about Voldemort's past through memories stored in Dumbledore's pensive. That's all well and good, as it gives both Voldemort and Dumbledore's characters more depth, the scenes also make the rest of the book's events seems boring in comparison. It's as if the Voldemort-Dumblerdore chapters are the ones that end up being of importance, while most of everything else that happens in the book (excluding Harry's scene with Slughorn at Hagrid's, and the ending sequence) kind of filler. Even when Ron Weasley, one of the main characters in the book, was in grave danger after being poisoned, it didn't seem to have the same impact as it should have, because the telling of the story gave more weight to Dumbledore's time with Harry than anything else, if that makes any sense.
- There aren't too many new characters introduced in this book. Yes, Slughorn is new, and plays a big role in the story after all. Slughorn isn't a particularly bad guy, however, he tends to favor those students who he feels would exceed in the future, and therefore, Slughorn can leech off of their fame in the future. It'd probably be mildly annoying for those that weren't the chosen few of Slughorn, I would imagine. Heck, I've had a couple of teachers like that before, and it's not too fun being on the other side of that equation. We also get acquainted with Voldemort's family, and considering what type of people they are, it's not hard to see how Voldemort could become so evil with people such as that being his blood.
- Once again, Draco Malfoy is back as Harry's foil at Hogwarts. But this time, Draco seems to have taken a turn. Not only is he more competent in his battles with Potter, breaking his nose at one point, but his smug self-nature seems to have been deflated some, as his pop's in prison and Voldemort has given Draco a seemingly impossible task. Somehow, even though it takes him all year, Draco puts together a plan that leads to this task being done, although you'll have to read the book to see what it is.
Overall, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is better than the previous book, but still falls slightly short of the previous four books in the saga. Other than the demise of a major character at the end, it seems as if the sole purpose of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is to build up to the final book in the series, where everything will come to a head. Even the title plot with the Half Blood Prince gets lost in the shuffle, and the revelation of said Prince doesn't have as much impact as other events towards the end do. Also, characters such as Neville and Hagrid kind of get shuffled to the background, as the book mainly focuses on Harry and Dumbledore. Still, it's not a terrible book by any stretch of the imagination, and it does build up a lot of suspense to the conclusion. Overall, I'd give Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince a 6.5 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading. Remember, if you have any ideas for future reviews, or comments about this or previous reviews, then send them to me either by e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com or by leaving a comment on the blog.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Canon Book Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Canon Review's series of reviews on the Harry Potter series continues with the fifth book in the saga, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The book is once again written by J.K. Rowling and is the biggest in the series at a massive 870 pages. It's Harry and the gang's fifth year at the wizardry school Hogwarts, and things have never been worse for Potter. Not only is his nemesis Lord Voldemort back in power, Harry also has to endure a smear campaign spearheaded by the Ministry of Magic, who denies that Voldemort is back in power. To make matters worse for Harry, a new teacher comes to Hogwarts whose sole purpose seems to be to punish Harry Potter, and Potter finds himself more and more alone, as Hagrid and Dumbeldore have bigger problems on their hands. He even gets into a feud with Seamus Finnegan, which ticked me off because Harry was slightly in the wrong there. But enough about that, here are a few notes from the book, and yes there are SPOILERS, so be careful.
- After witnessing the revival of his arch-rival Voldemort, the death of one of his fellow students, and not only enduring a smear campaign but also a plot to have him expelled from Hogwarts from the Ministry of Magic, well it's safe to say that Harry Potter is just a bit angry in this book. Naturally, he does what most people do in situations like these and takes out his frustration on those unfortunate enough to be close to him. It seems like half the book is spent on Harry yelling at whoever he happened to be talking to at the moment, whether they deserved it or not. The other half of the book is usually Harry either wallowing in self-pity or making the dumbest decision possible at every turn. While this may be the way that most teenagers would act in this situation, it does make Harry a lot less sympathetic in this book than in any of the previous titles.
- Then again, Harry's not the only person that has seemingly taken a turn for the worse. His two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger, seem to not be able to go more than five minutes without bickering at each other about even the smallest little thing. Granger in particular becomes more and more annoying, as she seemingly can't wait for any opportunity to boss her friends around. Even some of the adults of Hogwarts change for the worse, as head master Dumbledore seems to make a concentrated effort to have as little contact with Harry as possible (although it is later revealed that he had a good reason for this behavior), Snape becomes more and more hateful of Harry (although Harry certainly did not help himself in that matter), while Hagrid crosses the line between being a bit reckless and irresponsible to becoming a downright health risk for his friends to be around. At least Neville Longbottom actually changes for the better in this book, as he shows signs of being more than just a clumsy wizard, but rather a quite capable wizard, at least in a few subjects.
- Since there's another year at Hogwarts, there is also a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. This time it's a particularly nasty woman from the Ministry of Magic named Delores Umbridge. Umbridge doesn't seem to be too interested in Defense Against the Dark Arts, rather, her main goal is to gain enough power to take over Hogwarts. Umbridge also has a secondary role, to make Harry Potter's life a living hell. Umbridge is very successful in her goal of tormenting Potter, to the point where it gets tiresome. After a while, you can start predicting just when Umbridge comes in to foil whatever plan Harry and his friends have going on at the time. Also, it's never really made clear why Umbridge hates Potter so much, to the point where she orders Dementors to attack Potter and even attacks his owl, Hedwig. But, there's never a reason given as to why Umbridge is so strongly against Potter other than he may be a threat to her power. Surely, there is some deeper reasoning behind Umbridge's behavior.
- Like all the previous Harry Potter books, we are introduced to quite a few new characters, which is a good thing because it takes up time which otherwise would be spent on Harry being grouchy and/or Hermoine being an unbearable pest. Most of these characters are part of the titular Order of the Phoenix, which is a group put together to fight off Voldemort, although some of the members like Mundungus seem more interested in their own personal desires than fighting off Voldemort. The only one of these characters that were remotely interesting was the metamorph auror Tonks, and she only has a minor role in this book. The most fascinating new character is a fellow Hogwarts student named Luna Lovegood, who has a very different outlook on life than anyone else. It's actually somewhat refreshing to have someone with a different outlook on things for once, as Luna adds a new element to the story and is one of the few endearing characters in this story.
- Once again, Harry Potter and his Quidditch team (with Ron as goalie) takes on Draco Malfoy and his team and once again, Harry gets the better of Draco by catching the snitch first. Shouldn't somebody point out how bad Draco is at Quidditch the next time he insults Harry or the Weasleys or whoever? In fact, Draco is seemingly more inept than ever, as the only time he can seem to do anything right is when Umbridge tells him what to do. You would think that with Draco's lack of success against Harry Potter, he would learn to lay low and not antagonize his rival as much as he does, but considering the events at the end, I don't foresee that happening.
- Also, once again, some unpleasant news or events happen to Harry Potter, and once again, the student body of Hogwarts turn their back on him nearly en masse. Of course, the story of Harry's narrow escape of Voldemort isn't really told until the middle of the book, but even so, considering how many times Harry and his pals have saved the school from certain doom, wouldn't you think they would cut him some slack? But no, the newspaper with a habit for sensationalizing stories is knocking Potter, so he must be a lying buffoon who is worse than Stalin. Yet once again, Harry is proven right, and only Seamus seems to be a big enough person to apologize.
Overall, this was by far the least enjoyable book in the Harry Potter series thus far. Most of the characters spent most of their time either yelling at each other or doing mind-numbingly stupid acts, the over reliance of Umbridge as Potter's new foil became rather tiresome, and there were quite a few plotholes in this book which I'm not going to spoil here, but still rather annoyed me. The book probably would have been better if it were at least 200 pages shorter, and the big revelation at the end was nothing that most readers probably didn't figure out after the first book. It wasn't a terrible book, but it wasn't all that good either. Overall, I'd give Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix a 5.045 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
- After witnessing the revival of his arch-rival Voldemort, the death of one of his fellow students, and not only enduring a smear campaign but also a plot to have him expelled from Hogwarts from the Ministry of Magic, well it's safe to say that Harry Potter is just a bit angry in this book. Naturally, he does what most people do in situations like these and takes out his frustration on those unfortunate enough to be close to him. It seems like half the book is spent on Harry yelling at whoever he happened to be talking to at the moment, whether they deserved it or not. The other half of the book is usually Harry either wallowing in self-pity or making the dumbest decision possible at every turn. While this may be the way that most teenagers would act in this situation, it does make Harry a lot less sympathetic in this book than in any of the previous titles.
- Then again, Harry's not the only person that has seemingly taken a turn for the worse. His two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger, seem to not be able to go more than five minutes without bickering at each other about even the smallest little thing. Granger in particular becomes more and more annoying, as she seemingly can't wait for any opportunity to boss her friends around. Even some of the adults of Hogwarts change for the worse, as head master Dumbledore seems to make a concentrated effort to have as little contact with Harry as possible (although it is later revealed that he had a good reason for this behavior), Snape becomes more and more hateful of Harry (although Harry certainly did not help himself in that matter), while Hagrid crosses the line between being a bit reckless and irresponsible to becoming a downright health risk for his friends to be around. At least Neville Longbottom actually changes for the better in this book, as he shows signs of being more than just a clumsy wizard, but rather a quite capable wizard, at least in a few subjects.
- Since there's another year at Hogwarts, there is also a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. This time it's a particularly nasty woman from the Ministry of Magic named Delores Umbridge. Umbridge doesn't seem to be too interested in Defense Against the Dark Arts, rather, her main goal is to gain enough power to take over Hogwarts. Umbridge also has a secondary role, to make Harry Potter's life a living hell. Umbridge is very successful in her goal of tormenting Potter, to the point where it gets tiresome. After a while, you can start predicting just when Umbridge comes in to foil whatever plan Harry and his friends have going on at the time. Also, it's never really made clear why Umbridge hates Potter so much, to the point where she orders Dementors to attack Potter and even attacks his owl, Hedwig. But, there's never a reason given as to why Umbridge is so strongly against Potter other than he may be a threat to her power. Surely, there is some deeper reasoning behind Umbridge's behavior.
- Like all the previous Harry Potter books, we are introduced to quite a few new characters, which is a good thing because it takes up time which otherwise would be spent on Harry being grouchy and/or Hermoine being an unbearable pest. Most of these characters are part of the titular Order of the Phoenix, which is a group put together to fight off Voldemort, although some of the members like Mundungus seem more interested in their own personal desires than fighting off Voldemort. The only one of these characters that were remotely interesting was the metamorph auror Tonks, and she only has a minor role in this book. The most fascinating new character is a fellow Hogwarts student named Luna Lovegood, who has a very different outlook on life than anyone else. It's actually somewhat refreshing to have someone with a different outlook on things for once, as Luna adds a new element to the story and is one of the few endearing characters in this story.
- Once again, Harry Potter and his Quidditch team (with Ron as goalie) takes on Draco Malfoy and his team and once again, Harry gets the better of Draco by catching the snitch first. Shouldn't somebody point out how bad Draco is at Quidditch the next time he insults Harry or the Weasleys or whoever? In fact, Draco is seemingly more inept than ever, as the only time he can seem to do anything right is when Umbridge tells him what to do. You would think that with Draco's lack of success against Harry Potter, he would learn to lay low and not antagonize his rival as much as he does, but considering the events at the end, I don't foresee that happening.
- Also, once again, some unpleasant news or events happen to Harry Potter, and once again, the student body of Hogwarts turn their back on him nearly en masse. Of course, the story of Harry's narrow escape of Voldemort isn't really told until the middle of the book, but even so, considering how many times Harry and his pals have saved the school from certain doom, wouldn't you think they would cut him some slack? But no, the newspaper with a habit for sensationalizing stories is knocking Potter, so he must be a lying buffoon who is worse than Stalin. Yet once again, Harry is proven right, and only Seamus seems to be a big enough person to apologize.
Overall, this was by far the least enjoyable book in the Harry Potter series thus far. Most of the characters spent most of their time either yelling at each other or doing mind-numbingly stupid acts, the over reliance of Umbridge as Potter's new foil became rather tiresome, and there were quite a few plotholes in this book which I'm not going to spoil here, but still rather annoyed me. The book probably would have been better if it were at least 200 pages shorter, and the big revelation at the end was nothing that most readers probably didn't figure out after the first book. It wasn't a terrible book, but it wasn't all that good either. Overall, I'd give Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix a 5.045 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Canon Book Review: The Rebel League
Today, I finished reading Ed Willes's 2004 book, The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association. As you might expect, this book is about the World Hockey Association, a professional hockey league in the 1970s which tried to compete with the NHL, and ultimately ended up with four WHA teams, the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets, being absorbed into the NHL. The WHA may have only lasted seven seasons, but it still managed to have a huge impact on the game, as the talent wars between the WHA and the NHL causes salaries to skyrocket as well as bringing in a number of Eurpoean players and introducing North America to a different style of hockey. Many of hockey's greatest legends, such as Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, and Wayne Gretzky, played part of their careers in the WHA. While the WHA had a lot of skilled hockey players, it also had a bit of flair to it, as the league employed some of the craziest characters to ever lace up the skates. What Willes attempts to do with the Rebel League is to not only chronicle the zaniness of the World Hockey Association, but also the impact the WHA had on the game of hockey as a whole, and to be honest, he does quite a good job of it. A few notes about this book.
- Even from the start, the World Hockey Association was something quite different in the world of professional sports. The World Hockey Association basically came about because the creators of the American Basketball Association (another startup league around this time), Dennis Murphy and Gary Davidson, were bored. So they decided to start a hockey league even though they had no knowledge of the game whatsoever. Remarkably, they rounded up enough investors to field 12 teams in the WHA's inaugural season. Even though Murphy and Davidson were the creators of the WHA, they didn't last very long, as the duo then turned their attention to the less successful World Football League.
- One of the key chapters in The Rebel League was the chapter dealing with the subject of signing players away from the NHL to play in the WHA, the key player being Bobby Hull. Hull, at the time one of the marquee players in the NHL, signed a contract with the Winnipeg Jets for 5 years, nearly 3 million dollars, and included a 1 million dollar bonus up front. In modern terms, it would be as if Kobe Bryant left the NBA to sign in a new basketball league. Hull's signing not only caused oodles of controversy, but also legitimized the WHA, as scores of NHL players followed Hull's path into the great unknown. The defections also led to the destruction of the NHL's reserve clause, which not only gave players more freedom and increased salaries, but also became the first step to the establishment of free agency. So, even before the WHA even played a game, the league managed to change the game of hockey forever.
- Another change the WHA brought to the table was the signing of teenage players straight from the junior leagues. Before the WHA came around, players were not eligible for the draft until they reached the age of 20, and players basically were indentured to the various junior associations they played for. The players even had agents hand-picked by the Canadian junior hockey association to represent them, although they would usually not have the players' best interest at heart. One of the things the WHA did was sign players before they were eligible for the NHL draft to huge contracts. While this practice landed the WHA some premier talent, including Wayne Gretzky, it also was a mixed blessing for the youngsters who landed these big money contracts. As the author illustrates in the book, some players, like Dennis Sobchuk and Pat Price, got too much money too soon, and ultimately the players were too immature to handle all of the money and the expectations that followed. However, the practice of signing young players did eventually lead to players now being drafted at age 18, and also loosens the grip that the junior leagues had on their young players.
- Of course, the WHA is also remembered for its cast of some of the most intriguing characters to ever play hockey, and the author does a splendid job of presenting these characters in an entertaining manner. Players like goalie Gilles Gratton, who believed he was reincarnated several times and once missed a game due to an injury he claimed happened over 300 years ago. Also there was the Carlson brothers, Jack, Scott and Jeff, who were the inspiration for the Hanson Brothers in the movie "Slapshot" (Scott and Jeff actually starred as the Hanson brothers, along with fellow goon Dave Hanson. Not to mention Bill Goldthorpe, perhaps the wildest man to ever play hockey, a man that practiced Martial Arts in the locker room and would wrestle many an unsuspecting fellow, no matter what the situation. There was Frankie Beaton, who once escaped Cincinnati police by being placed in an equipment bag after a warrant was issued for his arrest, and many, many more characters whose exploits were profiled here.
Overall, this is quite an entertaining read. Willes uses first person accounts with key figures such as Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Harry Neale, and others, and weaves those accounts into an entertaining tale about one of the most tumultuous times in hockey history. From tales of failed franchsies and sub-standard hockey arenas, to the excellence of the Hot Line in Winnepeg and the Howes in Houston, to the constant attempts to merge with the NHL, only to end up with a merger that provided little help to the merged teams, to all of the changes that the WHA brought to professional hockey as a whole to shape today's game, the Rebel League tells it all, and does so in an entertaining yet informative manner. While not quite on par with Loose Balls, Terry Pluto's account of the ABA, The Rebel League is definitely a worthy read for any hockey or sports fan. Overall, I'd give The Rebel League an 8.6 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
- Even from the start, the World Hockey Association was something quite different in the world of professional sports. The World Hockey Association basically came about because the creators of the American Basketball Association (another startup league around this time), Dennis Murphy and Gary Davidson, were bored. So they decided to start a hockey league even though they had no knowledge of the game whatsoever. Remarkably, they rounded up enough investors to field 12 teams in the WHA's inaugural season. Even though Murphy and Davidson were the creators of the WHA, they didn't last very long, as the duo then turned their attention to the less successful World Football League.
- One of the key chapters in The Rebel League was the chapter dealing with the subject of signing players away from the NHL to play in the WHA, the key player being Bobby Hull. Hull, at the time one of the marquee players in the NHL, signed a contract with the Winnipeg Jets for 5 years, nearly 3 million dollars, and included a 1 million dollar bonus up front. In modern terms, it would be as if Kobe Bryant left the NBA to sign in a new basketball league. Hull's signing not only caused oodles of controversy, but also legitimized the WHA, as scores of NHL players followed Hull's path into the great unknown. The defections also led to the destruction of the NHL's reserve clause, which not only gave players more freedom and increased salaries, but also became the first step to the establishment of free agency. So, even before the WHA even played a game, the league managed to change the game of hockey forever.
- Another change the WHA brought to the table was the signing of teenage players straight from the junior leagues. Before the WHA came around, players were not eligible for the draft until they reached the age of 20, and players basically were indentured to the various junior associations they played for. The players even had agents hand-picked by the Canadian junior hockey association to represent them, although they would usually not have the players' best interest at heart. One of the things the WHA did was sign players before they were eligible for the NHL draft to huge contracts. While this practice landed the WHA some premier talent, including Wayne Gretzky, it also was a mixed blessing for the youngsters who landed these big money contracts. As the author illustrates in the book, some players, like Dennis Sobchuk and Pat Price, got too much money too soon, and ultimately the players were too immature to handle all of the money and the expectations that followed. However, the practice of signing young players did eventually lead to players now being drafted at age 18, and also loosens the grip that the junior leagues had on their young players.
- Of course, the WHA is also remembered for its cast of some of the most intriguing characters to ever play hockey, and the author does a splendid job of presenting these characters in an entertaining manner. Players like goalie Gilles Gratton, who believed he was reincarnated several times and once missed a game due to an injury he claimed happened over 300 years ago. Also there was the Carlson brothers, Jack, Scott and Jeff, who were the inspiration for the Hanson Brothers in the movie "Slapshot" (Scott and Jeff actually starred as the Hanson brothers, along with fellow goon Dave Hanson. Not to mention Bill Goldthorpe, perhaps the wildest man to ever play hockey, a man that practiced Martial Arts in the locker room and would wrestle many an unsuspecting fellow, no matter what the situation. There was Frankie Beaton, who once escaped Cincinnati police by being placed in an equipment bag after a warrant was issued for his arrest, and many, many more characters whose exploits were profiled here.
Overall, this is quite an entertaining read. Willes uses first person accounts with key figures such as Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Harry Neale, and others, and weaves those accounts into an entertaining tale about one of the most tumultuous times in hockey history. From tales of failed franchsies and sub-standard hockey arenas, to the excellence of the Hot Line in Winnepeg and the Howes in Houston, to the constant attempts to merge with the NHL, only to end up with a merger that provided little help to the merged teams, to all of the changes that the WHA brought to professional hockey as a whole to shape today's game, the Rebel League tells it all, and does so in an entertaining yet informative manner. While not quite on par with Loose Balls, Terry Pluto's account of the ABA, The Rebel League is definitely a worthy read for any hockey or sports fan. Overall, I'd give The Rebel League an 8.6 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Canon Book Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
I don't know if you've heard, but this weekend the new Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 was released. As you might expect, it did quite well at the box office this weekend, as every Quidditch loving muggle went out and saw their man Harry and his pals battle the forces of evil or something. I don't know, I'm not that far into the Potter saga. I did not go and see this movie (although my sister did), so you may be wondering why I'm even mentioning Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1. Well, it's for the hits that come along with mentioning a popular topic like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1.
Now that that's out of way, today's review is actually of the fourth novel in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter saga, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In this novel, Harry Potter doesn't actually touch the Goblet of Fire, but it dramatically changes his life and nearly gets him killed anyway. Yes, once again, poor Harry tries to go through another year at Hogwarts, a school for wizards, without causing too much trouble, but trouble has a funny way of finding Harry Potter and his friends. For one, his wand gets jacked at the Quidditch World Cup, and is later used to summon the Dark Mark of Voldemort, the most evil wizard in the world and the man that killed Harry's parents. Also, this year at Hogwarts, an old tradition is restarted with the revival of the Triwizard Cup, a competition between a wizard or witch from three rival schools, Hogwarts being among them. Even though the competition is limited to students over 17, Harry somehow gets picked by the Goblet of Fire. This comes as a surprise to Harry, considering he didn't try to enter the tournament. So, in addition to all of his troubles with mastering magic, Harry now must compete in a tournament that requires him to complete tasks that are quite advanced for any wizard, much less a fourth year student at Hogwarts, and figure out who entered him in the tournament, as he has a feeling that once again, somebody wants Harry dead. All that, and more, can be found in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. A few notes about this book, and there are SPOLIERS ahead, so proceed with caution.
- The first thing I noticed about this book is that it is a lot longer than the previous three. At 754 pages, this book is nearly as lengthy as the previous two books in the series combined. However, like the previous three books, this book only covers one year in time. It just so happens that a lot more seems to happen this year than in the other three years.
- In the Goblet of Fire, there are many other subplots going on along with the main narrative (which is basically Harry vs. Voldemort) which expand the Harry Potter universe. For example, there's the Quidditch World Cup, which is pretty much like soccer's World Cup only without vuvuzuelas and concealed to most of the public by an insane amount of magic. Plus, there's the introduction of two new wizardry schools, Beauxbatons, which seems to be a French school, and Durmstrung, which seems to be a Russian or Eastern European school. This, I felt, was a welcome change to the story, as it showed that the world of magic is not just merely confined to Hogwarts. If anything, I would have liked a bit more information about these two schools, particularly Beauxbatons and their competitor in the Triwizard tournament, Fleur Delacour, as there really wasn't any depth to her character.
- There are many new characters in The Goblet of Fire. One of which is a nosy newspaper report for the Daily Prophet named Rita Skeeter. Skeeter is the worst kind of journalist, one that isn't above bending the truth or using espionage in order to write a more compelling story. Skeeter causes a lot of problems for Potter, particularly when Draco and his fellow Slytherins start feeding her information. If I were an ameteur psychologist, I'd say that the creation of Skeeter was the result of the author's frustration over her coverage by the media, but I'm not and besides, Rowling denied that notion. Still, I do wonder.
- Also, Hogwarts once again has a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. This time it's a former auror (basically, an investigator and capturer of dark wizards) named Mad-Eye Moody. Why do they call him Mad-Eye, you ask? Well, it's because he lost an eye during his career as an auror, and decided to replace it with a magically enhanced eyes that can rotate 360 degrees and see through anything, walls, invisibility cloaks, a dragon's belly, whatever. Perhaps an airport should hire Mad-Eye Moody as their security officer so they don't have to violently pat down passengers anymore.
- This book not only takes a turn in the length of the book, but also seems to take a more adult turn in general. For the first times, relationships and romance become a theme in the book, particularly with Hermoine and Ron. Harry and his cohorts act more like teenagers in this book rather than kids, and there are times where Harry feels uneasy about being so heavily protected, as if he thinks he knows all the answers like any other teenager. Also, there are more disturbing scenes in this one, such as, well basically everything that happens after the third stage of the tournament begins. Also, this was really the first Potter book that ended on a definite down note.
- One thing that kind of annoys me about the Harry Potter books is that most of the student body at Hogwarts seem to have a short memory. Once again, Harry finds himself in a perilous situation not of his doing, and once again, most of the school hates him for it. Never mind that Harry's saved their sorry butts on more than one occasion. This time, even Ron gets into the spirit, as his jealousy over Harry rears its ugly head after Harry is announced as the fourth member of the tournament. Sure, Harry could have handled himself better in their mini-feud, but is it too much to ask for a little understanding, Ron? In fact, even when they were getting along, Ron grated on my nerves for most of the book, as his new favorite hobby seemed to be complaining.
Overall, this wasn't too bad of a story, although I did find a couple of plotholes, and everything just seemed to wrap up a little too conveniently, if you will. Nevertheless, the story itself was very suspenseful, and kept me wanting more. Overall, I'll give Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire a 7.02950 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Now that that's out of way, today's review is actually of the fourth novel in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter saga, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In this novel, Harry Potter doesn't actually touch the Goblet of Fire, but it dramatically changes his life and nearly gets him killed anyway. Yes, once again, poor Harry tries to go through another year at Hogwarts, a school for wizards, without causing too much trouble, but trouble has a funny way of finding Harry Potter and his friends. For one, his wand gets jacked at the Quidditch World Cup, and is later used to summon the Dark Mark of Voldemort, the most evil wizard in the world and the man that killed Harry's parents. Also, this year at Hogwarts, an old tradition is restarted with the revival of the Triwizard Cup, a competition between a wizard or witch from three rival schools, Hogwarts being among them. Even though the competition is limited to students over 17, Harry somehow gets picked by the Goblet of Fire. This comes as a surprise to Harry, considering he didn't try to enter the tournament. So, in addition to all of his troubles with mastering magic, Harry now must compete in a tournament that requires him to complete tasks that are quite advanced for any wizard, much less a fourth year student at Hogwarts, and figure out who entered him in the tournament, as he has a feeling that once again, somebody wants Harry dead. All that, and more, can be found in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. A few notes about this book, and there are SPOLIERS ahead, so proceed with caution.
- The first thing I noticed about this book is that it is a lot longer than the previous three. At 754 pages, this book is nearly as lengthy as the previous two books in the series combined. However, like the previous three books, this book only covers one year in time. It just so happens that a lot more seems to happen this year than in the other three years.
- In the Goblet of Fire, there are many other subplots going on along with the main narrative (which is basically Harry vs. Voldemort) which expand the Harry Potter universe. For example, there's the Quidditch World Cup, which is pretty much like soccer's World Cup only without vuvuzuelas and concealed to most of the public by an insane amount of magic. Plus, there's the introduction of two new wizardry schools, Beauxbatons, which seems to be a French school, and Durmstrung, which seems to be a Russian or Eastern European school. This, I felt, was a welcome change to the story, as it showed that the world of magic is not just merely confined to Hogwarts. If anything, I would have liked a bit more information about these two schools, particularly Beauxbatons and their competitor in the Triwizard tournament, Fleur Delacour, as there really wasn't any depth to her character.
- There are many new characters in The Goblet of Fire. One of which is a nosy newspaper report for the Daily Prophet named Rita Skeeter. Skeeter is the worst kind of journalist, one that isn't above bending the truth or using espionage in order to write a more compelling story. Skeeter causes a lot of problems for Potter, particularly when Draco and his fellow Slytherins start feeding her information. If I were an ameteur psychologist, I'd say that the creation of Skeeter was the result of the author's frustration over her coverage by the media, but I'm not and besides, Rowling denied that notion. Still, I do wonder.
- Also, Hogwarts once again has a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. This time it's a former auror (basically, an investigator and capturer of dark wizards) named Mad-Eye Moody. Why do they call him Mad-Eye, you ask? Well, it's because he lost an eye during his career as an auror, and decided to replace it with a magically enhanced eyes that can rotate 360 degrees and see through anything, walls, invisibility cloaks, a dragon's belly, whatever. Perhaps an airport should hire Mad-Eye Moody as their security officer so they don't have to violently pat down passengers anymore.
- This book not only takes a turn in the length of the book, but also seems to take a more adult turn in general. For the first times, relationships and romance become a theme in the book, particularly with Hermoine and Ron. Harry and his cohorts act more like teenagers in this book rather than kids, and there are times where Harry feels uneasy about being so heavily protected, as if he thinks he knows all the answers like any other teenager. Also, there are more disturbing scenes in this one, such as, well basically everything that happens after the third stage of the tournament begins. Also, this was really the first Potter book that ended on a definite down note.
- One thing that kind of annoys me about the Harry Potter books is that most of the student body at Hogwarts seem to have a short memory. Once again, Harry finds himself in a perilous situation not of his doing, and once again, most of the school hates him for it. Never mind that Harry's saved their sorry butts on more than one occasion. This time, even Ron gets into the spirit, as his jealousy over Harry rears its ugly head after Harry is announced as the fourth member of the tournament. Sure, Harry could have handled himself better in their mini-feud, but is it too much to ask for a little understanding, Ron? In fact, even when they were getting along, Ron grated on my nerves for most of the book, as his new favorite hobby seemed to be complaining.
Overall, this wasn't too bad of a story, although I did find a couple of plotholes, and everything just seemed to wrap up a little too conveniently, if you will. Nevertheless, the story itself was very suspenseful, and kept me wanting more. Overall, I'll give Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire a 7.02950 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Canon Book Review: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Today I continue with the review of the Harry Potter series as suggested by reading Maggie W. by reviewing the third book of the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. In Harry Potter in the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry is back for his third season at the famous wizardry school Hogwarts. Once again, things just can't go smoothly for Harry, as a man named Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban, the prison where wizards that have committed crimes go. Azkaban is a dark place run by dementors who prey on human happiness, and up until now, no one had ever escaped. To make matters worse, it is believed that Black, a supporter of Voldemort, has escaped for one reason and one reason only, to kill Harry Potter. A few notes about this book, and yes there are SPOILERS.
- It seems that as in the real world, the subject of fortune telling is also regarded as little more than a joke in the world of Harry Potter, as the divination teacher, Professor Trelawney, is not taken very seriously, even as she repeatedly predicts the demise of Harry Potter. Even Hermoine, whose thirst for knowledge has seemed to take an obsessive turn for the worst, by the way, starts to question Trelawney's credibility and eventually snaps after yet another prediction of Harry's impending doom. Come to think of it, Hermoine changed a good bit during the events of this book, becoming more aggressive (smacking Draco, for one) and more willing to rebel against authority when need be.
- There are a few new characters in this book, the most interesting being the new Professor of Defense of the Dark Arts, Professor Lupin. At first, Lupin is presented as just another teacher, although one that is quite a favorite with the students and with a mysterious illness. As it turns out, Lupin ends up taking a huge role in the main narrative involving Sirius Black, and it's interesting how Rowling works Lupin in and out of the main story and adding to the depth of his character.
- One of the more interesting aspects of this book is that we learn what type of person Harry's father was before meeting his demise. As it turns out, James Potter and his crew were masters of mischief. As it turns out, Harry becomes even more willing to bend and break the rules to fit his needs, an attitude that gets him in trouble with Professor Snape, and their feud deepens. For the most part, Snape takes over Draco's role as Potter's main nemesis, as Draco is little more than a harmless foil whom Potter is able to best easily on multiple occasions, especially on the Quidditch field. Anyway, back to Snape, even though he seems to despise Potter, Rowling does not portray him as an evil madmen. Rather, every action Snape takes against Potter and anyone else seems to be done for the best of Hogwarts, at least in his mind. After reading more about Snape's problems with James Potter while both were at Hogwarts, and the events of this book, I must say that I am interested in what role he will play in the next few books, and besides Potter and Dumbledore, I find Snape to be the most compelling character in the first three books of the Potter saga.
- If there is one fault that I have with the book, it is with the pacing. The book started out with a bang, but seemed to drag for the next 200 or so pages until finally the book reaches the climax. It seems as if some scenes, such as Harry hiding under the table at the bar in Hogsmeade, just took forever to go through. Also, although the final part of the book was filled with tremendous plot twists and suspense, the ending itself did seem to be too perfect, if you will. Then again, it is a book meant for younger readers, so I guess I can see why Rowling decided to give the book a mostly happy ending where the good guys prevail over impossible odds.
Overall, even though I heard more good things about this book than the first two, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was probably the least favorite of the three so far. The story took a while to get going, and too much time was focused on silly plots such as the fighting between Ron and Hermoine and the whole professor Trelawney story. However, the book was still more good than bad, and for the most part I found the book to be an entertaining read. Overall, I'd give Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban a 6.739 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
- It seems that as in the real world, the subject of fortune telling is also regarded as little more than a joke in the world of Harry Potter, as the divination teacher, Professor Trelawney, is not taken very seriously, even as she repeatedly predicts the demise of Harry Potter. Even Hermoine, whose thirst for knowledge has seemed to take an obsessive turn for the worst, by the way, starts to question Trelawney's credibility and eventually snaps after yet another prediction of Harry's impending doom. Come to think of it, Hermoine changed a good bit during the events of this book, becoming more aggressive (smacking Draco, for one) and more willing to rebel against authority when need be.
- There are a few new characters in this book, the most interesting being the new Professor of Defense of the Dark Arts, Professor Lupin. At first, Lupin is presented as just another teacher, although one that is quite a favorite with the students and with a mysterious illness. As it turns out, Lupin ends up taking a huge role in the main narrative involving Sirius Black, and it's interesting how Rowling works Lupin in and out of the main story and adding to the depth of his character.
- One of the more interesting aspects of this book is that we learn what type of person Harry's father was before meeting his demise. As it turns out, James Potter and his crew were masters of mischief. As it turns out, Harry becomes even more willing to bend and break the rules to fit his needs, an attitude that gets him in trouble with Professor Snape, and their feud deepens. For the most part, Snape takes over Draco's role as Potter's main nemesis, as Draco is little more than a harmless foil whom Potter is able to best easily on multiple occasions, especially on the Quidditch field. Anyway, back to Snape, even though he seems to despise Potter, Rowling does not portray him as an evil madmen. Rather, every action Snape takes against Potter and anyone else seems to be done for the best of Hogwarts, at least in his mind. After reading more about Snape's problems with James Potter while both were at Hogwarts, and the events of this book, I must say that I am interested in what role he will play in the next few books, and besides Potter and Dumbledore, I find Snape to be the most compelling character in the first three books of the Potter saga.
- If there is one fault that I have with the book, it is with the pacing. The book started out with a bang, but seemed to drag for the next 200 or so pages until finally the book reaches the climax. It seems as if some scenes, such as Harry hiding under the table at the bar in Hogsmeade, just took forever to go through. Also, although the final part of the book was filled with tremendous plot twists and suspense, the ending itself did seem to be too perfect, if you will. Then again, it is a book meant for younger readers, so I guess I can see why Rowling decided to give the book a mostly happy ending where the good guys prevail over impossible odds.
Overall, even though I heard more good things about this book than the first two, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was probably the least favorite of the three so far. The story took a while to get going, and too much time was focused on silly plots such as the fighting between Ron and Hermoine and the whole professor Trelawney story. However, the book was still more good than bad, and for the most part I found the book to be an entertaining read. Overall, I'd give Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban a 6.739 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Canon Book Review: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
This book review comes from a request from Canon Review reader Maggie W. A couple of months before this, Maggie had asked me to read and review the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which you can find right here. Well, after that, Maggie requested that I review the second book, and some two months later, here we are. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the tale of Harry's second year at the wizardry school Hogwarts. Just like his first year, there's a terrible evil that is on the verge of being released and possibly destroying Hogwarts forever, and once again, it's up to Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger to save the whole world from that terrible evil. A few thoughts about this book, and yes there will be SPOILERS, so be careful.
- This book is actually a little darker than the first one. You have key characters turned into stone, Draco Malfoy openly wishing for Hermoine's death, which was kind of a shock to me, as in the first book Draco's not much more than a jealous twit. In this book, both he and his father are dang near evil. Also, Harry's adopted family, the Dursleys, seem a lot more violent in this book than in the first book. Not to mention the whole underlying tone of discrimination, as pure-bloods tend to look down upon those with any 'muggle' blood in their family. Yes, this is a kid's book, but I do wonder about how kids younger than 9 or 10 would handle this book.
- Speaking of Draco, he seems to have some serious jealously issues with Potter. It seems as if Malfoy spends every waking second trying to get rid of Potter or show him up or something. This constant pestering of Potter and his friends backfires on Malfoy on more than one occasion, which is all in all just, but part of me actually kind of feels for Malfoy, as despite all of his wealth and the respect of his Slytherin housemates, he still obsesses over Potter to the point where any reader can tell he has serious issues of feeling inadequate compared to the famous wizard. Then again, it is only fiction, and perhaps I'm wasting my time by playing amateur psychologist.
- There are a few new characters introduced in the story, such as Dobby the House Elf, who's constant attempts to save Harry Potter usually involve getting Harry badly injured. Also, there's a new defense of dark arts teacher, one Gilderoy Lockhart. Lockhart is the stereotypical overbearing man who insists on telling everyone around him how he did this or fought off that or whatever. For some reason, Lockhart is kind of a big deal in the wizard world, authoring many books and having legions of fans. At more than one point, Lockhart uses his tutelage of Harry Potter as another way of making himself look more famous. At first, it was kind of entertaining, but after a while you just started to wish that Lockhart would fall into a giant well or get eaten by a snake or something. At least he got some sort of comeuppance at the end, as he turned out to be quite a nasty fellow.
- You know, for a bunch of wizards in an enchanted world, the people around Harry seem awfully close-minded and judgmental. When people start turning into stone, everybody's first reaction seems to be blame it on Harry Potter because he defeated Voldemort and therefore, he must be evil or something. When Harry shows the talent to talk to snakes, everybody continues to freak out even though he saved their butts from getting snakebit. Yet at the end of the day, it's Potter that once again saves their sorry selves from getting killed by the stare of a giant snake. I'm sure in the next book something will happen and everyone will call Harry evil again and all of that. You kind of feel for Harry, as in one world, he's treated like the proverbial red-headed step child, while in the other, with the exception of a few people, he's either regarded as a quasi-celebrity or the cause for everyone's faults, depending on the collective view of Hogwarts at the time.
- Then again, Harry kind of treated his new admirer, a first year student named Colin Creevey, like an irritating gnat. Sure, Colin seemed to be a bit overbearing, but Harry seemed to be a little cruel towards Colin, if you ask me.
Overall, I must say that unlike most sequals, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets lives up to the excellence of the first book. Sure, I would have liked a little more focus on some of the ancillary characters like Neville and Sheamus, and the reveal of Slytheren's heir was kind of disappointing, as it basically was the same deal as the first book. But nevertheless, this was quite an entertaining read that I had no trouble zipping through, as I couldn't put the book down. Overall, I'd give Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets a 7.35 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
- This book is actually a little darker than the first one. You have key characters turned into stone, Draco Malfoy openly wishing for Hermoine's death, which was kind of a shock to me, as in the first book Draco's not much more than a jealous twit. In this book, both he and his father are dang near evil. Also, Harry's adopted family, the Dursleys, seem a lot more violent in this book than in the first book. Not to mention the whole underlying tone of discrimination, as pure-bloods tend to look down upon those with any 'muggle' blood in their family. Yes, this is a kid's book, but I do wonder about how kids younger than 9 or 10 would handle this book.
- Speaking of Draco, he seems to have some serious jealously issues with Potter. It seems as if Malfoy spends every waking second trying to get rid of Potter or show him up or something. This constant pestering of Potter and his friends backfires on Malfoy on more than one occasion, which is all in all just, but part of me actually kind of feels for Malfoy, as despite all of his wealth and the respect of his Slytherin housemates, he still obsesses over Potter to the point where any reader can tell he has serious issues of feeling inadequate compared to the famous wizard. Then again, it is only fiction, and perhaps I'm wasting my time by playing amateur psychologist.
- There are a few new characters introduced in the story, such as Dobby the House Elf, who's constant attempts to save Harry Potter usually involve getting Harry badly injured. Also, there's a new defense of dark arts teacher, one Gilderoy Lockhart. Lockhart is the stereotypical overbearing man who insists on telling everyone around him how he did this or fought off that or whatever. For some reason, Lockhart is kind of a big deal in the wizard world, authoring many books and having legions of fans. At more than one point, Lockhart uses his tutelage of Harry Potter as another way of making himself look more famous. At first, it was kind of entertaining, but after a while you just started to wish that Lockhart would fall into a giant well or get eaten by a snake or something. At least he got some sort of comeuppance at the end, as he turned out to be quite a nasty fellow.
- You know, for a bunch of wizards in an enchanted world, the people around Harry seem awfully close-minded and judgmental. When people start turning into stone, everybody's first reaction seems to be blame it on Harry Potter because he defeated Voldemort and therefore, he must be evil or something. When Harry shows the talent to talk to snakes, everybody continues to freak out even though he saved their butts from getting snakebit. Yet at the end of the day, it's Potter that once again saves their sorry selves from getting killed by the stare of a giant snake. I'm sure in the next book something will happen and everyone will call Harry evil again and all of that. You kind of feel for Harry, as in one world, he's treated like the proverbial red-headed step child, while in the other, with the exception of a few people, he's either regarded as a quasi-celebrity or the cause for everyone's faults, depending on the collective view of Hogwarts at the time.
- Then again, Harry kind of treated his new admirer, a first year student named Colin Creevey, like an irritating gnat. Sure, Colin seemed to be a bit overbearing, but Harry seemed to be a little cruel towards Colin, if you ask me.
Overall, I must say that unlike most sequals, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets lives up to the excellence of the first book. Sure, I would have liked a little more focus on some of the ancillary characters like Neville and Sheamus, and the reveal of Slytheren's heir was kind of disappointing, as it basically was the same deal as the first book. But nevertheless, this was quite an entertaining read that I had no trouble zipping through, as I couldn't put the book down. Overall, I'd give Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets a 7.35 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Canon Book Review: Countdown to Lockdown
Before I begin this review, I'd first like to plug my good friend Sonny Bone's new website, http://www.axebombermag.com. The website is the result of all of the positive feedback from the digital magazine Axe Bomber Magazine, and instead of waiting three months to release another issue, it has been decided by the powers-that-be that a website would be more prudent. That way, any breaking news on wrestling video games and other related topics will be covered right away. Already, there is a preview of the newly announced Fire Pro wrestling game for the XBox 360 to be released in the near future. So check it out, and be on the lookout for new articles, including some by yours truly, relating to wrestling video games at axebombermag.com.
Now for today's review. Recently I was fortunate to get my hands on an advance copy of Mick Foley's 4th autobiography, Countdown to Lockdown. I'd like to thank my friend Dickson S. for providing me with a copy of the book. See, Dickson works at a TV station, and the station was sent an advance copy of the book a couple of weeks ago. For whatever reason, they gave the book to Dickson, who then proceeded to give me the copy of the book so I could have the rare opportunity of reviewing something on this site before it was released to the public. So thanks again, Dickson, and I hope you enjoy this review of Mick Foley's Countdown to Lockdown, which will be available in stores on October 1st.
As previously mentioned, this is the fourth biography written by wrestler Mick Foley (Have a Nice Day, Foley is Good, and The Hardcore Diaries being the other three). This book is written in a similar style to The Hardcore Diaries in that a large portion of the book is a journal detailing the buildup and events leading up to a big match. In this case, Foley is chronicling the events leading up to his big steel cage match with his old rival Sting at TNA's Lockdown 2009 event in Philadelphia, PA, the home of many a Mick Foley classic match in the past. The book differs from The Hardcore Diaries in that, this time, Foley seems to have complete support from the TNA creative team, as he's able to offer suggestions and basically carry out the angle with Sting the way he sees fit. Because of that, Foley seems to be more upbeat than he was while writing The Hardcore Diaries. However, Foley also struggles with self-doubt over his physical condition and whether or not he can deliver a high quality match with Sting in the main event of a TNA pay-per-view.
In between journal entries, Foley writes about the events that took place between the completion of The Hardcore Diaries and the writing of this book, including Foley's announcing career, which eventually would lead to his departure from WWE due to a series of disagreements with Vince McMahon. Also, Foley details his charity work and his travels to Mexico and Sierra Leone, his family's venture into reality television (which, unfortunately, never aired), and his celebrity encounter with Tori Amos, whose music has been a constant source of inspirtation to Foley. Also, Foley tackles serious subjects such as the large amount of wrestlers dying young and the use of steroids in wrestling and sports.
Throughout the book, Foley writes about the conflicts he had with Vince McMahon and the WWE brass. To his credit, Foley often takes the high road when dealing with the events that led to his resignation with the WWE, choosing not to bury Vince and the WWE. Unlike some other wrestlers, Foley does not use his book as an opportunity to settle scores or bury other people he may of had a problem with. Well, he did kind of go off about his old dog Pom Pom, although in that case I could definitely see why. Like his last books, Foley is not afraid to drop a name or two, which can get annoying at times, but heck if I had met a bunch of famous people I might do the same thing.
Overall, Countdown to Lockdown is not a bad read by any means. Yes, it's not as good as Foley's Have a Nice Day, and to be honest, the book is kind of hard to get into at the beginning, at least to me. But as a whole, the book is an entertaining read that will interest any wrestling fan and will provide readers with laughs as well as something to think about. Overall, I give Countdown to Lockdown a 7.5 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any ideas for future reviews, or comments about this review, then share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com
Now for today's review. Recently I was fortunate to get my hands on an advance copy of Mick Foley's 4th autobiography, Countdown to Lockdown. I'd like to thank my friend Dickson S. for providing me with a copy of the book. See, Dickson works at a TV station, and the station was sent an advance copy of the book a couple of weeks ago. For whatever reason, they gave the book to Dickson, who then proceeded to give me the copy of the book so I could have the rare opportunity of reviewing something on this site before it was released to the public. So thanks again, Dickson, and I hope you enjoy this review of Mick Foley's Countdown to Lockdown, which will be available in stores on October 1st.
As previously mentioned, this is the fourth biography written by wrestler Mick Foley (Have a Nice Day, Foley is Good, and The Hardcore Diaries being the other three). This book is written in a similar style to The Hardcore Diaries in that a large portion of the book is a journal detailing the buildup and events leading up to a big match. In this case, Foley is chronicling the events leading up to his big steel cage match with his old rival Sting at TNA's Lockdown 2009 event in Philadelphia, PA, the home of many a Mick Foley classic match in the past. The book differs from The Hardcore Diaries in that, this time, Foley seems to have complete support from the TNA creative team, as he's able to offer suggestions and basically carry out the angle with Sting the way he sees fit. Because of that, Foley seems to be more upbeat than he was while writing The Hardcore Diaries. However, Foley also struggles with self-doubt over his physical condition and whether or not he can deliver a high quality match with Sting in the main event of a TNA pay-per-view.
In between journal entries, Foley writes about the events that took place between the completion of The Hardcore Diaries and the writing of this book, including Foley's announcing career, which eventually would lead to his departure from WWE due to a series of disagreements with Vince McMahon. Also, Foley details his charity work and his travels to Mexico and Sierra Leone, his family's venture into reality television (which, unfortunately, never aired), and his celebrity encounter with Tori Amos, whose music has been a constant source of inspirtation to Foley. Also, Foley tackles serious subjects such as the large amount of wrestlers dying young and the use of steroids in wrestling and sports.
Throughout the book, Foley writes about the conflicts he had with Vince McMahon and the WWE brass. To his credit, Foley often takes the high road when dealing with the events that led to his resignation with the WWE, choosing not to bury Vince and the WWE. Unlike some other wrestlers, Foley does not use his book as an opportunity to settle scores or bury other people he may of had a problem with. Well, he did kind of go off about his old dog Pom Pom, although in that case I could definitely see why. Like his last books, Foley is not afraid to drop a name or two, which can get annoying at times, but heck if I had met a bunch of famous people I might do the same thing.
Overall, Countdown to Lockdown is not a bad read by any means. Yes, it's not as good as Foley's Have a Nice Day, and to be honest, the book is kind of hard to get into at the beginning, at least to me. But as a whole, the book is an entertaining read that will interest any wrestling fan and will provide readers with laughs as well as something to think about. Overall, I give Countdown to Lockdown a 7.5 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any ideas for future reviews, or comments about this review, then share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Canon Book Review: The Hardcore Diaries
Before I begin, I would like to mention that my new side project, The Western Movie Project, is up and running. We've already had one review on our first movie, Raging Bull, and more are to come in the very near future. So, if you want, check it out and tell us what you think. Now on to today's review, which is Mick Foley's third autobiography, The Hardcore Diaries. In case you are unfamilar with Mr. Foley, he is, or was, a professional wrestler who wrestled under the names Cactus Jack, Mankind, and Dude Love. Foley is a three-time WWE World Champion, and wrote two previous autobiographies, Have a Nice Day and Foley is Good. Both of his previous autobiographies spent a week as the number one bestseller on the New York Times Bestseller List. I have read both of Foley's previous autobiographies, and they are great reads, probably two of the top five books about wrestling that I've ever read. The Hardcore Diaries was released in 2007, and for whatever reason, I just wasn't terribly interested in picking up the third book when it first came out. But eventually I got it real cheap off of amazon.com and, after only four months, I finally cracked it open and finished reading The Hardcore Diaries in about three days. A few thoughts about the book:
- The Hardcore Diaries is based primarily around the buildup and the match that Foley had at One Night Stand, 2006, where he teamed up with Edge and Lita against Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk, and Beulah McGillicutty. The book is written in diary form and details each step in the storyline, from Mick's pitch to the WWE creative team to the various interviews and promos building up the match to all of the problems Mick had with the creative team constantly changing his ideas and finally concluding with the match itself. When the book begins, Foley is full of hope and vigor, and his writing shows it, as he is very positive and upbeat. As the events progress, doubts begins to creep in and Foley starts to lose hope, and his writing reflects that very much, so the last half of the book is basically Foley wallowing and pity and wondering just where everything went all wrong.
- The main storyline of the book, while interesting on it's own, really is not enough to justify 375 pages worth of material. So in between entries in his diary, Foley sprinkles in tidbits on what he had been up to in the five years since his last book came out, which, apparently, is really not a whole lot. Sure, Foley's been traveling around the world and doing charity work, and that's all well and good, but it's seems as if 1/4 of the book is dedicated to Mick Foley meeting famous people like Reggie Jackson and George Steinbrenner. That's all well and good, but after the 15th or so celebrity encounter it gets kind of tiresome.
- On one hand, Foley is quite willing to criticize the WWE when he disagrees with something they're doing, even the big names like Triple-H and Vince McMahon, which is quite unlike most WWE published biographies (Ric Flair's book might as well have been a 500-page love letter to Vince McMahon, for example. On the other hand, it seemed as if he was only critical of the WWE whenever they disagreed with one of his ideas. If the WWE let Foley do what he wanted, than he was quite complimentary of Vince and company. Maybe that's just human nature. Anyway, I am glad that the WWE did not edit out the most scathing parts of Foley's criticism.
- I must say, Mick Foley is a man that really likes his pornography. Heck, he spends a lot of the book talking about appearing on a radio show hosted by a famous female pornstar and about his relationship with said pornstar. He also devotes a lot of time and energy to detailing his relationship with various 'divas' such as Melina, Candice Michelle, and Trish Stratus. That probably did not go over too well at the Foley household, I'm guessing.
Overall, I would say that a lot of parts about this book, such as Mick detailing the events leading up to One Night Stand, and his description of his 2004 feud with Randy Orton, is entertaining for wrestling fans. Although some readers did not like Foley's constant talk of his charitable contributions or his family, I found those sections to be interesting myself. There is a lot of good stuff to be found in The Hardcore Diaries, to be sure, but I have two main issues with the book. One, the book, being in diary form, is not in any sort of chronological order, so it's hard to follow what exactly Foley is talking about from chapter to chapter since he skips around so much. The other issue is, well, the book's material itself is not particularly memorable. The buildup to Foley's match at One Night Stand was full of rather unremarkable moments (mainly due to the fact that the WWE seemed to have little faith in Funk or Dreamer, but still) and so, what you end up with is a story about an angle which very few people would find remarkable in any way. The match at One Night Stand was rather memorable, and Foley's promo on the show before One Night Stand would rank amongst one of the best of the decade, easily. Other than that, this is a book about a wrestling storyline that isn't exactly Foley's best work, which isn't necessarily his fault. It's a daring idea, but perhaps it would have been better for Foley to just write a third autobiography in chronological order instead of what is basically a 370 page blog.
Perhaps I am being a bit too harsh. After all, this is not exactly a bad book, and a lot of it was quite enjoyable. But overall it seemed to be missing a certain spark, if you will. I'll give The Hardcore Diaries a 6.45 out of 10. Thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this post or ideas for future posts, than send them this way either by commenting or by e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
- The Hardcore Diaries is based primarily around the buildup and the match that Foley had at One Night Stand, 2006, where he teamed up with Edge and Lita against Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk, and Beulah McGillicutty. The book is written in diary form and details each step in the storyline, from Mick's pitch to the WWE creative team to the various interviews and promos building up the match to all of the problems Mick had with the creative team constantly changing his ideas and finally concluding with the match itself. When the book begins, Foley is full of hope and vigor, and his writing shows it, as he is very positive and upbeat. As the events progress, doubts begins to creep in and Foley starts to lose hope, and his writing reflects that very much, so the last half of the book is basically Foley wallowing and pity and wondering just where everything went all wrong.
- The main storyline of the book, while interesting on it's own, really is not enough to justify 375 pages worth of material. So in between entries in his diary, Foley sprinkles in tidbits on what he had been up to in the five years since his last book came out, which, apparently, is really not a whole lot. Sure, Foley's been traveling around the world and doing charity work, and that's all well and good, but it's seems as if 1/4 of the book is dedicated to Mick Foley meeting famous people like Reggie Jackson and George Steinbrenner. That's all well and good, but after the 15th or so celebrity encounter it gets kind of tiresome.
- On one hand, Foley is quite willing to criticize the WWE when he disagrees with something they're doing, even the big names like Triple-H and Vince McMahon, which is quite unlike most WWE published biographies (Ric Flair's book might as well have been a 500-page love letter to Vince McMahon, for example. On the other hand, it seemed as if he was only critical of the WWE whenever they disagreed with one of his ideas. If the WWE let Foley do what he wanted, than he was quite complimentary of Vince and company. Maybe that's just human nature. Anyway, I am glad that the WWE did not edit out the most scathing parts of Foley's criticism.
- I must say, Mick Foley is a man that really likes his pornography. Heck, he spends a lot of the book talking about appearing on a radio show hosted by a famous female pornstar and about his relationship with said pornstar. He also devotes a lot of time and energy to detailing his relationship with various 'divas' such as Melina, Candice Michelle, and Trish Stratus. That probably did not go over too well at the Foley household, I'm guessing.
Overall, I would say that a lot of parts about this book, such as Mick detailing the events leading up to One Night Stand, and his description of his 2004 feud with Randy Orton, is entertaining for wrestling fans. Although some readers did not like Foley's constant talk of his charitable contributions or his family, I found those sections to be interesting myself. There is a lot of good stuff to be found in The Hardcore Diaries, to be sure, but I have two main issues with the book. One, the book, being in diary form, is not in any sort of chronological order, so it's hard to follow what exactly Foley is talking about from chapter to chapter since he skips around so much. The other issue is, well, the book's material itself is not particularly memorable. The buildup to Foley's match at One Night Stand was full of rather unremarkable moments (mainly due to the fact that the WWE seemed to have little faith in Funk or Dreamer, but still) and so, what you end up with is a story about an angle which very few people would find remarkable in any way. The match at One Night Stand was rather memorable, and Foley's promo on the show before One Night Stand would rank amongst one of the best of the decade, easily. Other than that, this is a book about a wrestling storyline that isn't exactly Foley's best work, which isn't necessarily his fault. It's a daring idea, but perhaps it would have been better for Foley to just write a third autobiography in chronological order instead of what is basically a 370 page blog.
Perhaps I am being a bit too harsh. After all, this is not exactly a bad book, and a lot of it was quite enjoyable. But overall it seemed to be missing a certain spark, if you will. I'll give The Hardcore Diaries a 6.45 out of 10. Thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this post or ideas for future posts, than send them this way either by commenting or by e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Canon Book Review: The Machine
Yesterday, I finished reading the book The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-Stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds by Joe Posnanski. Posnanski's an excellent writer, in fact he's one of the few writers that I make a point to read on a regular basis. Plus, any book about baseball, particularly about baseball in the 1970s, will pique my interest, so I figured I would give this one a shot. The Machine is about the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, a.k.a. The Big Red Machine, one of the most remembered and best teams in the history of baseball. The team was full of superstars such as Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Johnny Bench, and was managed by Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson. The '75 Reds won 108 games in the regular season, swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS, and won one of the most thrilling World Series of all-time in seven games against the Boston Red Sox. A few notes about this book:
- The book is about the team as a whole, but the story is primarily driven by the team's four superstars (Rose, Bench, Morgan, and Tony Perez) and manager Sparky Anderson. The divide is made clear in a story from spring training of that year, where Sparky made it clear that the four superstars were going to be treated differently from the rest, and that everyone else on the team were 'turds'. I'm 99 percent sure that if a manager called his players turds in today's game, there would more than a few complaints and trade demands and other problems, but such was the game back then.
- Sparky Anderson, to me, was the most interesting man in the book. On one hand, he was a gruff fire-breathing manager who demanded respect from his players and made damn sure that everyone knew he was in charge. On the other hand, there were a few times where he would appease the large egos of his superstars (for example, asking Pete Rose if he would like to play third base instead of demanding he do so). On one hand, he wasn't afraid to go against the grain on the baseball diamond, such as relying on his bullpen more than any other manager in his time would do. On the other hand, he was such an old-fashioned man that he refused to speak to his son for over a year due to his long hair. On one hand, Sparky was a confident man who would make public statements such as "This is the best team in baseball", but on the other hand, he spent every moment until the end worrying about his job, to the point where he would be kept up at night with ulcers. Sparky seemed to me to be a man of many contradictions, and a man who is rather hard to place in one simple category, if that makes any sense. Which, I suppose, is what made him so fascinating to read about.
- One of the themes throughout the book is that the team would constantly needle each other about all sorts of things. For example, Joe Morgan would rag on Pete Rose and Tony Perez if they happened to be in a slump, and when Joe Morgan made a comment about needing a rest, he found a pillow and a sleeping bag in front of his locker. Anderson would try to get them to stop all the jokes, but on the rare occasions they did, it seemed as if they played worse. So the needling, led primarily by Perez, would continue. Most of it was good-natured, although a couple of players didn't always find it so funny.
- Of the four superstars, Perez comes across as the best person of the bunch, as he seemed like a friendly guy with a sense of humor and was so respected that to a man, every person on the team cited Perez as the leader of the clubhouse. Pete Rose has had a rather star-crossed life, as you may know, but in this book he seems like a decent enough person who was driven by one thing and one thing only, to play baseball each and every day as hard as possible. Pete was, and is, a little too full of himself, but the game would be better off if more players played the way Pete did. Joe Morgan comes off as quite an arrogant person, as those people that watch him commentate on ESPN may have figured, but then again, it's hard to be humble when you're the best player in the game.
- To me, Johnny Bench came across in this book as an arrogant jerk who for whatever reason, seemed to resent the fact that Rose was more beloved in Cincinnati than he was. Bench seemed like the type of person you meet who just can't wait to tell you how awesome he is. He seemed to be addicted to fame, yet would never sign autographs for fans. He and Rose seemed to have a strong rivalry to the point where when Joe Morgan got to Cincinnati, he was warned that he could only be friends with Johnny or Pete, not with both (btw, Morgan chose Pete). Some of hie teammates, like Ken Griffey, did not seem to have a high opinion of Mr. Bench as well.
- Speaking of Griffey, one of the most fascinating things to come from this book was that Griffey felt as if he was cheated out of stardom by the Reds due to a variety of factors. Griffey was told by Anderson not to steal because the player hitting behind him, Morgan, did not like players running when he was trying to hit. According to Griffey, he could have stolen 70-80 bases if allowed to run. I find it a little dubious, since Griffey never stole more than 34 bases in a season, but that's what he believes. Griffey was also frustrated by the numerous occasions where he would get a big hit to win a game for the Reds, including the game-winning hit in game 2 of the World Series, only to see one of the bigger names like Bench get all the glory. He might have something there.
- Throughout the book, Posnanski dedicates a few lines here and there to other events taking place in 1975 (i.e. the end of the Vietnam War, Bruce Springsteen producing and releasing Born to Run). While these tidbits are interesting, they really didn't seem to fit in with the rest of book, and I felt as if he just included them just to pad out the book some instead of linking those events to what was happening with the Reds at the time.
Overall, there are a couple of minor issues, like the one I just mentioned and the feeling that Posanski didn't devote enough space to other members of the machine such as George Foster. But overall, this is a rather entertaining read that kept my interest from beginning to end, and really captured what the Big Red Machine was all about. I would give it a 7.7 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this post or other previous posts, or ideas for future posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
- The book is about the team as a whole, but the story is primarily driven by the team's four superstars (Rose, Bench, Morgan, and Tony Perez) and manager Sparky Anderson. The divide is made clear in a story from spring training of that year, where Sparky made it clear that the four superstars were going to be treated differently from the rest, and that everyone else on the team were 'turds'. I'm 99 percent sure that if a manager called his players turds in today's game, there would more than a few complaints and trade demands and other problems, but such was the game back then.
- Sparky Anderson, to me, was the most interesting man in the book. On one hand, he was a gruff fire-breathing manager who demanded respect from his players and made damn sure that everyone knew he was in charge. On the other hand, there were a few times where he would appease the large egos of his superstars (for example, asking Pete Rose if he would like to play third base instead of demanding he do so). On one hand, he wasn't afraid to go against the grain on the baseball diamond, such as relying on his bullpen more than any other manager in his time would do. On the other hand, he was such an old-fashioned man that he refused to speak to his son for over a year due to his long hair. On one hand, Sparky was a confident man who would make public statements such as "This is the best team in baseball", but on the other hand, he spent every moment until the end worrying about his job, to the point where he would be kept up at night with ulcers. Sparky seemed to me to be a man of many contradictions, and a man who is rather hard to place in one simple category, if that makes any sense. Which, I suppose, is what made him so fascinating to read about.
- One of the themes throughout the book is that the team would constantly needle each other about all sorts of things. For example, Joe Morgan would rag on Pete Rose and Tony Perez if they happened to be in a slump, and when Joe Morgan made a comment about needing a rest, he found a pillow and a sleeping bag in front of his locker. Anderson would try to get them to stop all the jokes, but on the rare occasions they did, it seemed as if they played worse. So the needling, led primarily by Perez, would continue. Most of it was good-natured, although a couple of players didn't always find it so funny.
- Of the four superstars, Perez comes across as the best person of the bunch, as he seemed like a friendly guy with a sense of humor and was so respected that to a man, every person on the team cited Perez as the leader of the clubhouse. Pete Rose has had a rather star-crossed life, as you may know, but in this book he seems like a decent enough person who was driven by one thing and one thing only, to play baseball each and every day as hard as possible. Pete was, and is, a little too full of himself, but the game would be better off if more players played the way Pete did. Joe Morgan comes off as quite an arrogant person, as those people that watch him commentate on ESPN may have figured, but then again, it's hard to be humble when you're the best player in the game.
- To me, Johnny Bench came across in this book as an arrogant jerk who for whatever reason, seemed to resent the fact that Rose was more beloved in Cincinnati than he was. Bench seemed like the type of person you meet who just can't wait to tell you how awesome he is. He seemed to be addicted to fame, yet would never sign autographs for fans. He and Rose seemed to have a strong rivalry to the point where when Joe Morgan got to Cincinnati, he was warned that he could only be friends with Johnny or Pete, not with both (btw, Morgan chose Pete). Some of hie teammates, like Ken Griffey, did not seem to have a high opinion of Mr. Bench as well.
- Speaking of Griffey, one of the most fascinating things to come from this book was that Griffey felt as if he was cheated out of stardom by the Reds due to a variety of factors. Griffey was told by Anderson not to steal because the player hitting behind him, Morgan, did not like players running when he was trying to hit. According to Griffey, he could have stolen 70-80 bases if allowed to run. I find it a little dubious, since Griffey never stole more than 34 bases in a season, but that's what he believes. Griffey was also frustrated by the numerous occasions where he would get a big hit to win a game for the Reds, including the game-winning hit in game 2 of the World Series, only to see one of the bigger names like Bench get all the glory. He might have something there.
- Throughout the book, Posnanski dedicates a few lines here and there to other events taking place in 1975 (i.e. the end of the Vietnam War, Bruce Springsteen producing and releasing Born to Run). While these tidbits are interesting, they really didn't seem to fit in with the rest of book, and I felt as if he just included them just to pad out the book some instead of linking those events to what was happening with the Reds at the time.
Overall, there are a couple of minor issues, like the one I just mentioned and the feeling that Posanski didn't devote enough space to other members of the machine such as George Foster. But overall, this is a rather entertaining read that kept my interest from beginning to end, and really captured what the Big Red Machine was all about. I would give it a 7.7 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this post or other previous posts, or ideas for future posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Canon Book Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
This review idea comes from Canon Review reader Maggie W., who is a big fan of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and wanted me to read and review the first book of the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Before I read this book, I must admit that I had very little knowledge of Harry Potter and his world. Sure, I heard the names Harry Potter and Voldemort and Quidditch and the like, but my knowledge on the subject was sparse. To be honest, I just had no interest in the whole Harry Potter saga. For all I knew they all flew around on brooms and turned each other into frogs, which, actually, wasn't too far from the truth. However, that's only really part of the story. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter in the beginning is just a poorly treated kid who lives with his aunt and uncle who are his only living relatives. He sleeps in a closet, gets treated like dirt by his aunt and uncle and is constantly picked on by his spoiled cousin and his posse. One day, a letter is addressed to Harry that will change his life forever, as he learns that he is a wizard, like his parents, and is taken to Hogwarts school to learn the skills to become a great wizard. However, Hogwarts proves to have its own hurdles to climb for the young Potter. A few notes about this book, and I am warning you in advance that there are SPOILERS ahead:
- There are two different titles to this book, which is kind of strange. The original book was titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but for reasons beyond me, it was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone when the book was first sold in America. Anyway, just to clear up any confusion, I'm going to keep referring to this book with the Sorcerer's Stone title, because that's what my copy of the book says.
- The Harry Potter saga, so to speak, has taken some criticism from religious types for promoting witchcraft and for having Satanic undertones. To that I say hogwash. The idea that Harry and his friends could be seen as some sort of Satanic cult was the furthest thing from my mind after finishing the book. This book is a fantasy story, full of magic and wizards and other things beyond the realm of possibility, not a Wicca guidebook or some sort of religious text. But I guess some people just think that anything that doesn't fit their strict, buttoned-down philosophy just has to be evil. Go figure.
- Harry's life before discovering his magic skills really sucks hard. He lives in a closer under the stairs and is treated as an afterthought by his aunt and uncle, the Dursleys. Interestingly enough, the Dursleys are portrayed as the type of people who would complain about a book like Harry Potter being evil and what not, as the Dursleys are the ultimate conservative family unit, looking down at anything different. Their son Dudley actually reminded me of a couple of people I knew, as he's a big spoiled brat who bullies people, including his doting parents, to get what he wants. Then again, if I had the misfortune of being named Dudley Dursley, I'd be a miserable person to be around as well. Anyway, back to Potter, whose life sucks because he lives in a closet and the only things he had are things Dudley can't use anymore. Even though the Dursleys seem to treat Potter as a third-class citizen, they take extreme measures to ensure that Harry never learns of his magic skills (which are only significant enough to nearly destroy the baddest wizard of them all, Voldemort, after he fails to kill a then two-year old Harry). You would think they would have been happy to rid themselves of Harry for nine months out of the year, but due to their fear of the unknown, the Dursleys go to great extremes to keep Harry from receiving his acceptance letter to Hogwarts.
- One problem I have with the story, and it may be just me being picky, but I wonder why it took the main villian in the story, whose name I won't mention so as not to spoil to story, so long to come up with a plan to steal the Sorcerere's Stone in order to free Voldemort. I mean, it took him until the last week of school to finally decide to go after the stone. Surely he could have come up with a way to get past the various protection devices to get the stone in less than nine months. Or maybe not, I don't know. I will say that Rowling did a great job of concealing that character's main intentions, as the story led you to believe that it was another person trying to steal the stone, so the reveal came as a huge surprise to me.
- Rowling mixes in a lot of familiar aspects of the common concept of wizardry, such as wearing robes, using magic wands, and flying on broomsticks, but she also throws in a few original ideas of her own in there. One of them is the sport of Quidditch, which as best as I could tell is a bizzare mixture of soccer, basketball, and dodgeball played on brooms in mid air. The person with the hardest job in Quidditch has to be the goalkeeper, who must defend three different goals at different heights against four other people, all the while trying to dodge two heavy balls hit by the game's 'beaters'. The beaters can't score, but they do get to hit the crap out of heavy balls with clubs, so that would probably be pretty fun. Harry eventually joins his house's Quidditch team as a seeker, whose lone purpose is to catch a small, elusive golden ball called the snitch, which only seekers can touch. Catching the snitch not only scores 150 points (regular goals are worth 10 points) but also ends the game. Seekers are usually the fastest players on the teams, however, they also are the person most likely to take a severe beating in the game due to the importance of catching the snitch. Well, I guess the game makes sense to them, because I could barely make heads or tails of what was going on during the Quidditch parts of the book. Seems like it would be mass chaos in mid-air and one hard game to officiate.
- One of the things that I think made this story so popular is that, even though this is a school and land of wizards and magic, the characters are all relatable in some way. There's the know-it-all overachiever (Hermoine), the rich snob who bullies those he considers 'under' him (Draco), the clumsy, but likable oaf (Neville), and the extremely strict teacher that all the students hate (Snape). Rowling does a great job of making these seemingly larger-than-life characters seem like regular people, making the story easily accessible to both kids and adults reading the book.
Overall, I'm surprised to say that this was quite an entertaining read. It is an engaging story that kept me interested from beginning to end. It's not very long, so one can read it in a few hours. Even though it's considered a kids book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is a book that can be enjoyed by all readers from 8 to 800. I'll give the book a 7.3 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
- There are two different titles to this book, which is kind of strange. The original book was titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but for reasons beyond me, it was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone when the book was first sold in America. Anyway, just to clear up any confusion, I'm going to keep referring to this book with the Sorcerer's Stone title, because that's what my copy of the book says.
- The Harry Potter saga, so to speak, has taken some criticism from religious types for promoting witchcraft and for having Satanic undertones. To that I say hogwash. The idea that Harry and his friends could be seen as some sort of Satanic cult was the furthest thing from my mind after finishing the book. This book is a fantasy story, full of magic and wizards and other things beyond the realm of possibility, not a Wicca guidebook or some sort of religious text. But I guess some people just think that anything that doesn't fit their strict, buttoned-down philosophy just has to be evil. Go figure.
- Harry's life before discovering his magic skills really sucks hard. He lives in a closer under the stairs and is treated as an afterthought by his aunt and uncle, the Dursleys. Interestingly enough, the Dursleys are portrayed as the type of people who would complain about a book like Harry Potter being evil and what not, as the Dursleys are the ultimate conservative family unit, looking down at anything different. Their son Dudley actually reminded me of a couple of people I knew, as he's a big spoiled brat who bullies people, including his doting parents, to get what he wants. Then again, if I had the misfortune of being named Dudley Dursley, I'd be a miserable person to be around as well. Anyway, back to Potter, whose life sucks because he lives in a closet and the only things he had are things Dudley can't use anymore. Even though the Dursleys seem to treat Potter as a third-class citizen, they take extreme measures to ensure that Harry never learns of his magic skills (which are only significant enough to nearly destroy the baddest wizard of them all, Voldemort, after he fails to kill a then two-year old Harry). You would think they would have been happy to rid themselves of Harry for nine months out of the year, but due to their fear of the unknown, the Dursleys go to great extremes to keep Harry from receiving his acceptance letter to Hogwarts.
- One problem I have with the story, and it may be just me being picky, but I wonder why it took the main villian in the story, whose name I won't mention so as not to spoil to story, so long to come up with a plan to steal the Sorcerere's Stone in order to free Voldemort. I mean, it took him until the last week of school to finally decide to go after the stone. Surely he could have come up with a way to get past the various protection devices to get the stone in less than nine months. Or maybe not, I don't know. I will say that Rowling did a great job of concealing that character's main intentions, as the story led you to believe that it was another person trying to steal the stone, so the reveal came as a huge surprise to me.
- Rowling mixes in a lot of familiar aspects of the common concept of wizardry, such as wearing robes, using magic wands, and flying on broomsticks, but she also throws in a few original ideas of her own in there. One of them is the sport of Quidditch, which as best as I could tell is a bizzare mixture of soccer, basketball, and dodgeball played on brooms in mid air. The person with the hardest job in Quidditch has to be the goalkeeper, who must defend three different goals at different heights against four other people, all the while trying to dodge two heavy balls hit by the game's 'beaters'. The beaters can't score, but they do get to hit the crap out of heavy balls with clubs, so that would probably be pretty fun. Harry eventually joins his house's Quidditch team as a seeker, whose lone purpose is to catch a small, elusive golden ball called the snitch, which only seekers can touch. Catching the snitch not only scores 150 points (regular goals are worth 10 points) but also ends the game. Seekers are usually the fastest players on the teams, however, they also are the person most likely to take a severe beating in the game due to the importance of catching the snitch. Well, I guess the game makes sense to them, because I could barely make heads or tails of what was going on during the Quidditch parts of the book. Seems like it would be mass chaos in mid-air and one hard game to officiate.
- One of the things that I think made this story so popular is that, even though this is a school and land of wizards and magic, the characters are all relatable in some way. There's the know-it-all overachiever (Hermoine), the rich snob who bullies those he considers 'under' him (Draco), the clumsy, but likable oaf (Neville), and the extremely strict teacher that all the students hate (Snape). Rowling does a great job of making these seemingly larger-than-life characters seem like regular people, making the story easily accessible to both kids and adults reading the book.
Overall, I'm surprised to say that this was quite an entertaining read. It is an engaging story that kept me interested from beginning to end. It's not very long, so one can read it in a few hours. Even though it's considered a kids book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is a book that can be enjoyed by all readers from 8 to 800. I'll give the book a 7.3 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Canon Book Review: Tip-Off: How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever
Recently, I finished reading the book Tip-Off: How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever by Filip Bondy. This book is surprisingly about the 1984 NBA Draft and how the players selected changed the sport of basketball forever. The 1984 Draft featured arguably four of the top 25 players in NBA history; Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton. The first three players were picked in the top 5 of the draft, while Stockton, a little-known point guard from Gonzaga, was picked by the Utah Jazz with the 16th pick. Bondy, an NBA beat writer for many tears, tales the tale of the 1984 Draft focusing on six players, the four greats along with Sam Bowie and Sam Perkins, and how they ended up with the teams they did. A few thoughts about this book:
- One thing that I found interesting was just close that teams such as the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and Philadelphia 76ers were to drafting Michael Jordan, only the best basketball player of all time. For example, the Mavs owned the Cleveland Cavaliers' first round pick that year, and the Cavs finished exactly one game ahead of the Bulls. If one game had been different, than the Mavericks would have the third pick in the draft, which is the pick the Bulls used to select Jordan. The same goes for the 76ers, which had the San Diego Clippers' first round pick. The Clippers finished one game ahead of the Rockets that year. If the Clippers lost one or two more games, Philadelphia would be guaranteed one of the first two picks of the draft due to the Clippers having the worst record in the Western Conference. As for the Rockets, the Bulls considered an offer which would send the third pick in the draft to Houston for Ralph Sampson, who at the time was considered a can't miss prospect at center. If the trade had gone down, the Rockets would have Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon on the same team, and who knows how many titles the team would have won. Wisely, the Bulls decided to keep the pick.
- So Houston selected Olajuwon with the first pick, which was a no-brainier because not only was he a can't miss big-man prospect, but also because Hakeem played his college ball at the University of Houston. The Rockets, behind last year's number one pick Sampson and Olajuwon, instantly became a dangerous team, making the playoffs in Olajuwon's rookie year and the NBA Finals in his second year. Of course, Sampson was brought down due to injuries and other players on that team lost much of their careers to drug use, but Hakeem remained in Houston, and was the main man on two NBA Championship teams. Some pundits may say that Houston made a mistake in taking Hakeem over Jordan, but I don't see how it's a mistake to pick one of the four of five best centers in history, even if you do pass on Jordan. As the book illustrated, the Rockets brass at the time was tickled pink that they landed the big man, and Olajuwon proved to be everything a 1st overall pick is supposed to be and more.
- The big mistake, and probably the most famous missed draft pick in NBA History, was perpetrated by the Portland Trailblazers, a team that needed a center at the time, and felt that Bowie was the man that would push them over the top. Before we get into all of that, keep in mind that the Blazers were a playoff team that year, and had the second pick because of an ill-fated trade with the Indiana Pacers three years prior, for which Indiana got one season out of journeyman center Tom Owens. Nobody brings this up, and really the only person in this book to bring it up was Stu Inman, Portland's general manager at the time. Basically, the Pacers traded the chance to draft the greatest player of all-time for one year out of an average center. With hindsight being 20/20 in all, that has got to rank among the worst trades in NBA history.
- Of course, the Blazers didn't make the right call either, as they selected Sam Bowie. The prevailing wisdom at the time said that you always pick a very good big man over a great guard. Well, that wisdom changed not too long afterwards. Bowie actually seems like a good guy, and in the book he takes his particular place in history in stride, not seeming bitter or anything like that. Sam Bowie's problem was not his play, it was that his body just couldn't handle the strain of being a top-level NBA player. Of course, the Blazers probably should have realized this after Bowie missed two seasons of college ball with a serious shin injury. Or maybe the fact that they needed a seven-hour medical exam to clear Bowie medically before the draft should have been a red flag. But Portland needed a center, and was set at the shooting guard position with Jim Paxson and future Hall-of-Famer Clyde Drexler, so Bowie was their man. In his first year, Bowie played well enough to make the All-Rookie team, but things quickly fell apart from there, as Bowie reinjured his left shin and fractured his right shin twice over the course of three years. In a four year stretch from the 1985-86 season until 1988-89, Bowie played a grand total of 63 games. The Blazers gave up and traded Bowie to the Nets, where he stayed relatively healthy for a few years and played decently, but not at the same level of Jordan or Olajuwon.
- Throughout the book, people defend Inman's decision to draft Bowie over Jordan by saying that nobody was quite sure of Jordan's potential. Well, that's all fine and dandy, but I'm just not buying it. For one, both Dallas and Philadelphia offered major trades to get the third pick, Dallas offering Mark Agguire, who was only the second leading scorer in the NBA the previous season, and Philadelphia owner Harold Katz offering the legendary Julius Erving, perhaps one of the three most famous basketball players on the planet at the time and still a great player, straight up for the third pick in the draft. Adding the Sampson for Jordan rumor (although in the book, the Rockets claim that it never was a serious trade offer), and it was pretty clear that a lot of NBA executives knew that Michael Jordan was a special ball player. Hell, watch the video of Michael Jordan being drafted by the Bulls, and listen to the announcers gush over his potential.
The book also touches on Charles Barkley, who was selected by the 76ers with the fifth pick. Barkley was a larger-than-life character who was considered a bit of a question mark due to his height (listed at 6'6" but closer to 6'4", short for a post player) and weight (somewhere around 300 pounds). Barkley showed up at the 1984 Olympic team tryouts, along with Jordan, Perkins, Stockton, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Joe Dumars, Jon Koncak, and every other major college player at the time excluding Olajuwon (not a U.S. citizen at this time) and Bowie (who turned down his invitation to focus on the draft). From all the accounts given in the book, Barkley was, other than Jordan, the best player at the camp, which raised his draft status immensely. According to the book, Barkley's goal wasn't to make the team, but dominate the first two weeks when NBA scouts were watching in order to improve his draft stock, and coast from there. That makes a lot of sense considering that the coach was Indiana University's Bobby Knight, who was not easy on any player, to be sure. Knight wanted Barkley to come in at 215 pounds, which was a ridiculous request to make, all things considered, and Knight was a hard-ass on everyone, even Jordan. To be honest, Knight comes across as a cranky man who was never satisfied, and picked players he could control (such as Vanderbilt's Jeff Turner and Indiana's Steve Alford), over more talented players like Barkley and Stockton, who also made quite an impression during the camp. The 76ers' thought process is also dissected in this book, as the team really didn't want Barkley, but due to the needs of the roster and his immense talent, could not pass on him.
- Sam Perkins and John Stockton are also profiled in this book. Perkins and Stockton came from opposite spectrums of college basketball, as Perkins was an All-America center at North Carolina, winning national championship and spending most of his college career in the limelight, while Stockton was a point guard at little known Gonzaga, playing in relative obscurity. Oddly enough, they both seem to share a lot of qualities, as both men were humble and praised for their loyalty. Perkins was a starter for many seasons who was considered too laid-back to lead a team, but he definitely contributed and worked as hard as any other player, while Stockton became the all-time assists leader through a mixture of talent, durability, and basketball smarts.
Overall, this book is a fine read, but it doesn't really go into how the draft changed the NBA until the very end of the book, where a few pages are devoted to it. Even then, I'm not sure if it was the draft that changed the game or Michael Jordan that changed it. Either way, it is an interesting look back at the events and the people that shaped up what would become maybe the most important draft in NBA History. Because of the Rockets and other teams "tanking" games to gain draft position, the NBA Draft Lottery was put into place the next season. Because of Jordan's success, the idea of drafting a big man over a guard every time was no longer in vogue, and largely due to Jordan's success, the game has evolved from a battle of the big men into a game where players such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Dwyane Wade can dominate the game just as much, if not more, than centers such as Dwight Howard. Today, a Sam Bowie type player would never be selected over a Michael Jordan type, no matter if the team selecting needed a center and was set at guard. Now, 26 years later, Jordan, Barkley, et. al have all retired, but their impact on the game is still being felt today.
If you are a fan of the NBA, than this book will prove to be very interesting to you. My only complaint is that the book kind of skimmed through the actual draft itself, focusing more on the actions of the teams and players before the draft. It also didn't go into a whole lot of depth on other stars selected such as Otis Thorpe and Kevin Willis. But these are minor complaints, so overall I'll give the book a 7.9 out of 10. Thanks for reading, and remember if you have any ideas for future reviews, than send them to me at KtheC2001@gmail.com and I'll see if I can fulfill your request.
- One thing that I found interesting was just close that teams such as the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and Philadelphia 76ers were to drafting Michael Jordan, only the best basketball player of all time. For example, the Mavs owned the Cleveland Cavaliers' first round pick that year, and the Cavs finished exactly one game ahead of the Bulls. If one game had been different, than the Mavericks would have the third pick in the draft, which is the pick the Bulls used to select Jordan. The same goes for the 76ers, which had the San Diego Clippers' first round pick. The Clippers finished one game ahead of the Rockets that year. If the Clippers lost one or two more games, Philadelphia would be guaranteed one of the first two picks of the draft due to the Clippers having the worst record in the Western Conference. As for the Rockets, the Bulls considered an offer which would send the third pick in the draft to Houston for Ralph Sampson, who at the time was considered a can't miss prospect at center. If the trade had gone down, the Rockets would have Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon on the same team, and who knows how many titles the team would have won. Wisely, the Bulls decided to keep the pick.
- So Houston selected Olajuwon with the first pick, which was a no-brainier because not only was he a can't miss big-man prospect, but also because Hakeem played his college ball at the University of Houston. The Rockets, behind last year's number one pick Sampson and Olajuwon, instantly became a dangerous team, making the playoffs in Olajuwon's rookie year and the NBA Finals in his second year. Of course, Sampson was brought down due to injuries and other players on that team lost much of their careers to drug use, but Hakeem remained in Houston, and was the main man on two NBA Championship teams. Some pundits may say that Houston made a mistake in taking Hakeem over Jordan, but I don't see how it's a mistake to pick one of the four of five best centers in history, even if you do pass on Jordan. As the book illustrated, the Rockets brass at the time was tickled pink that they landed the big man, and Olajuwon proved to be everything a 1st overall pick is supposed to be and more.
- The big mistake, and probably the most famous missed draft pick in NBA History, was perpetrated by the Portland Trailblazers, a team that needed a center at the time, and felt that Bowie was the man that would push them over the top. Before we get into all of that, keep in mind that the Blazers were a playoff team that year, and had the second pick because of an ill-fated trade with the Indiana Pacers three years prior, for which Indiana got one season out of journeyman center Tom Owens. Nobody brings this up, and really the only person in this book to bring it up was Stu Inman, Portland's general manager at the time. Basically, the Pacers traded the chance to draft the greatest player of all-time for one year out of an average center. With hindsight being 20/20 in all, that has got to rank among the worst trades in NBA history.
- Of course, the Blazers didn't make the right call either, as they selected Sam Bowie. The prevailing wisdom at the time said that you always pick a very good big man over a great guard. Well, that wisdom changed not too long afterwards. Bowie actually seems like a good guy, and in the book he takes his particular place in history in stride, not seeming bitter or anything like that. Sam Bowie's problem was not his play, it was that his body just couldn't handle the strain of being a top-level NBA player. Of course, the Blazers probably should have realized this after Bowie missed two seasons of college ball with a serious shin injury. Or maybe the fact that they needed a seven-hour medical exam to clear Bowie medically before the draft should have been a red flag. But Portland needed a center, and was set at the shooting guard position with Jim Paxson and future Hall-of-Famer Clyde Drexler, so Bowie was their man. In his first year, Bowie played well enough to make the All-Rookie team, but things quickly fell apart from there, as Bowie reinjured his left shin and fractured his right shin twice over the course of three years. In a four year stretch from the 1985-86 season until 1988-89, Bowie played a grand total of 63 games. The Blazers gave up and traded Bowie to the Nets, where he stayed relatively healthy for a few years and played decently, but not at the same level of Jordan or Olajuwon.
- Throughout the book, people defend Inman's decision to draft Bowie over Jordan by saying that nobody was quite sure of Jordan's potential. Well, that's all fine and dandy, but I'm just not buying it. For one, both Dallas and Philadelphia offered major trades to get the third pick, Dallas offering Mark Agguire, who was only the second leading scorer in the NBA the previous season, and Philadelphia owner Harold Katz offering the legendary Julius Erving, perhaps one of the three most famous basketball players on the planet at the time and still a great player, straight up for the third pick in the draft. Adding the Sampson for Jordan rumor (although in the book, the Rockets claim that it never was a serious trade offer), and it was pretty clear that a lot of NBA executives knew that Michael Jordan was a special ball player. Hell, watch the video of Michael Jordan being drafted by the Bulls, and listen to the announcers gush over his potential.
The book also touches on Charles Barkley, who was selected by the 76ers with the fifth pick. Barkley was a larger-than-life character who was considered a bit of a question mark due to his height (listed at 6'6" but closer to 6'4", short for a post player) and weight (somewhere around 300 pounds). Barkley showed up at the 1984 Olympic team tryouts, along with Jordan, Perkins, Stockton, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Joe Dumars, Jon Koncak, and every other major college player at the time excluding Olajuwon (not a U.S. citizen at this time) and Bowie (who turned down his invitation to focus on the draft). From all the accounts given in the book, Barkley was, other than Jordan, the best player at the camp, which raised his draft status immensely. According to the book, Barkley's goal wasn't to make the team, but dominate the first two weeks when NBA scouts were watching in order to improve his draft stock, and coast from there. That makes a lot of sense considering that the coach was Indiana University's Bobby Knight, who was not easy on any player, to be sure. Knight wanted Barkley to come in at 215 pounds, which was a ridiculous request to make, all things considered, and Knight was a hard-ass on everyone, even Jordan. To be honest, Knight comes across as a cranky man who was never satisfied, and picked players he could control (such as Vanderbilt's Jeff Turner and Indiana's Steve Alford), over more talented players like Barkley and Stockton, who also made quite an impression during the camp. The 76ers' thought process is also dissected in this book, as the team really didn't want Barkley, but due to the needs of the roster and his immense talent, could not pass on him.
- Sam Perkins and John Stockton are also profiled in this book. Perkins and Stockton came from opposite spectrums of college basketball, as Perkins was an All-America center at North Carolina, winning national championship and spending most of his college career in the limelight, while Stockton was a point guard at little known Gonzaga, playing in relative obscurity. Oddly enough, they both seem to share a lot of qualities, as both men were humble and praised for their loyalty. Perkins was a starter for many seasons who was considered too laid-back to lead a team, but he definitely contributed and worked as hard as any other player, while Stockton became the all-time assists leader through a mixture of talent, durability, and basketball smarts.
Overall, this book is a fine read, but it doesn't really go into how the draft changed the NBA until the very end of the book, where a few pages are devoted to it. Even then, I'm not sure if it was the draft that changed the game or Michael Jordan that changed it. Either way, it is an interesting look back at the events and the people that shaped up what would become maybe the most important draft in NBA History. Because of the Rockets and other teams "tanking" games to gain draft position, the NBA Draft Lottery was put into place the next season. Because of Jordan's success, the idea of drafting a big man over a guard every time was no longer in vogue, and largely due to Jordan's success, the game has evolved from a battle of the big men into a game where players such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Dwyane Wade can dominate the game just as much, if not more, than centers such as Dwight Howard. Today, a Sam Bowie type player would never be selected over a Michael Jordan type, no matter if the team selecting needed a center and was set at guard. Now, 26 years later, Jordan, Barkley, et. al have all retired, but their impact on the game is still being felt today.
If you are a fan of the NBA, than this book will prove to be very interesting to you. My only complaint is that the book kind of skimmed through the actual draft itself, focusing more on the actions of the teams and players before the draft. It also didn't go into a whole lot of depth on other stars selected such as Otis Thorpe and Kevin Willis. But these are minor complaints, so overall I'll give the book a 7.9 out of 10. Thanks for reading, and remember if you have any ideas for future reviews, than send them to me at KtheC2001@gmail.com and I'll see if I can fulfill your request.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Canon Book Review: The Bronx Zoo
Recently I bought and read The Bronx Zoo, which is New York Yankees' pitcher Sparky Lyle's day-by-day account of the 1978 season. After winning the Cy Young Award in 1977, Lyle, a relief ace, was expected to be once again amongst the top pitchers in the game, but 1978 proved to be a struggle for Lyle, and a lot of different factors played into his struggle. Also, the Yankees that year had an incredible season, coming back from 14 games back to win the AL East after a one game playoff with the Boston Red Sox, than beating the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers on their way to a second straight World Series title. So with all of that going on, you would expect this to be a very interesting book. Fortunately, it is, although the book does have a few flaws.
One thing the book does have going for it is the author, Sparky Lyle. Lyle's an interesting person who is unafraid to speak his mind. This quaility makes for a more interesting book than it would have been had Lyle held back to appease management. Lyle lets his feelings known about a lot of topics, from his own playing time being diminished, to the seemingly never-ending feud between owner George Steinbrenner and manager Billy Martin, to the antics of superstar outfielder Reggie Jackson, who seems to spend every waking moment dreaming of ways to draw attention to himself. Steinbrenner is a puzzle all to himself, as he's a man that not only wants total control over his team, but he wants everyone to know that he has total control and that all the Yankees' success is do to him. His constant overreactions and meddling is a theme throughout the book, and he puts Martin under so much pressure that when Martin finally resigns (although he basically resigned just before he was to be fired, due to a derogatory comment towards Steinbrenner), it's almost seen as an act of mercy more than a punishment.
Lyle's portrayal of his teammates seem to be fair. With the exception of Reggie Jackson, Lyle has a lot of respect for his teammates, speaking highly of pitchers Ron Guidry, Dick Tidrow, and Catfish Hunter, along with third baseman Graig Nettles (whom Lyle calls the best third baseman in the game) and catcher Thurman Munson. Lyle also has nothing but good things to say about Goose Gossage, which is interesting because Gossage basically took Lyle's job after signing a contract that paid him a lot more than what Lyle is making. But to his credit, Lyle never takes out his frustrations on Gossage, and is actually quite supportive and complimentary of him.
With a name like The Bronx Zoo, you would think the Yankees would have some big time characters, and boy do they ever. There's Reggie, the egomaniac superstar, Steinbrenner, the egomaniac owner who does not hesitate to criticize his ballclub for every little thing to the newspaper writers, and Billy Martin, a man who normally doesn't take crap from anyone, but takes his fair share from Steinbrenner in order to keep the only job he ever wanted, to manage the Yankees. There's also Mickey Rivers, the speedy centerfielder who's brash and outspoken and seems to spend every free moment at the horse track, and Lou Pinella, the outfielder who throws a tantrum (as well as his batting helmet) after every out he makes. Some players settle right into the chaos, like the humorous Nettles and the laid-back Hunter. Others, like backup catcher Cliff Johnson, struggle to find their place amongst the madness surrounding them.
One criticism about this book that I've heard is that Lyle spends too much time moaning and whining about his lack of playing time. Well, he does, which part of me can't blame him for because he was coming off of a season where he had won the Cy Young Award and was a large part of the Yankees Championship team that year, and then he becomes an afterthought the next year. However, his attitude and antics (refusing to come into games, walking out one night after a snag in his contract negotiations) do not help matters, and often makes Lyle look like an unprofessional ass. Also, his situation actually harms the book, as by August it was clear that Lyle just wasn't as interested in the project, or his pitching, as he had been earlier in the season. This attitude is shown at the end of the book, where Lyle spends a whole two pages talking about the 1978 playoffs, and seems to write as little as possible about the Yankees' run in September, with the exception of the Yankees' one game playoff with Boston and an interesting take on then Indians manager Jeff "Style Master" Torborg.
Despite those flaws, The Bronx Zoo is an entertaining book for any hardcore baseball fan, especially a fan of the Yankees and of 1970s baseball. It's not for all audiences, as the book has strong language and some lewd situations, so I would hold off letting the children read this book. Overall, I'll give The Bronx Zoo a 7 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any recommendations for future posts, than send them to me either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
One thing the book does have going for it is the author, Sparky Lyle. Lyle's an interesting person who is unafraid to speak his mind. This quaility makes for a more interesting book than it would have been had Lyle held back to appease management. Lyle lets his feelings known about a lot of topics, from his own playing time being diminished, to the seemingly never-ending feud between owner George Steinbrenner and manager Billy Martin, to the antics of superstar outfielder Reggie Jackson, who seems to spend every waking moment dreaming of ways to draw attention to himself. Steinbrenner is a puzzle all to himself, as he's a man that not only wants total control over his team, but he wants everyone to know that he has total control and that all the Yankees' success is do to him. His constant overreactions and meddling is a theme throughout the book, and he puts Martin under so much pressure that when Martin finally resigns (although he basically resigned just before he was to be fired, due to a derogatory comment towards Steinbrenner), it's almost seen as an act of mercy more than a punishment.
Lyle's portrayal of his teammates seem to be fair. With the exception of Reggie Jackson, Lyle has a lot of respect for his teammates, speaking highly of pitchers Ron Guidry, Dick Tidrow, and Catfish Hunter, along with third baseman Graig Nettles (whom Lyle calls the best third baseman in the game) and catcher Thurman Munson. Lyle also has nothing but good things to say about Goose Gossage, which is interesting because Gossage basically took Lyle's job after signing a contract that paid him a lot more than what Lyle is making. But to his credit, Lyle never takes out his frustrations on Gossage, and is actually quite supportive and complimentary of him.
With a name like The Bronx Zoo, you would think the Yankees would have some big time characters, and boy do they ever. There's Reggie, the egomaniac superstar, Steinbrenner, the egomaniac owner who does not hesitate to criticize his ballclub for every little thing to the newspaper writers, and Billy Martin, a man who normally doesn't take crap from anyone, but takes his fair share from Steinbrenner in order to keep the only job he ever wanted, to manage the Yankees. There's also Mickey Rivers, the speedy centerfielder who's brash and outspoken and seems to spend every free moment at the horse track, and Lou Pinella, the outfielder who throws a tantrum (as well as his batting helmet) after every out he makes. Some players settle right into the chaos, like the humorous Nettles and the laid-back Hunter. Others, like backup catcher Cliff Johnson, struggle to find their place amongst the madness surrounding them.
One criticism about this book that I've heard is that Lyle spends too much time moaning and whining about his lack of playing time. Well, he does, which part of me can't blame him for because he was coming off of a season where he had won the Cy Young Award and was a large part of the Yankees Championship team that year, and then he becomes an afterthought the next year. However, his attitude and antics (refusing to come into games, walking out one night after a snag in his contract negotiations) do not help matters, and often makes Lyle look like an unprofessional ass. Also, his situation actually harms the book, as by August it was clear that Lyle just wasn't as interested in the project, or his pitching, as he had been earlier in the season. This attitude is shown at the end of the book, where Lyle spends a whole two pages talking about the 1978 playoffs, and seems to write as little as possible about the Yankees' run in September, with the exception of the Yankees' one game playoff with Boston and an interesting take on then Indians manager Jeff "Style Master" Torborg.
Despite those flaws, The Bronx Zoo is an entertaining book for any hardcore baseball fan, especially a fan of the Yankees and of 1970s baseball. It's not for all audiences, as the book has strong language and some lewd situations, so I would hold off letting the children read this book. Overall, I'll give The Bronx Zoo a 7 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any recommendations for future posts, than send them to me either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Canon Book Review: Ring of Hell
Sorry I didn't post over the past two days. Work has been a little crazy this week, so I haven't had too much time to devote to this blog. But today is another day, and I will try my best to at least have something up for people to read. So here goes. Recently, I read the book Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit & The Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry by Matthew Randazzo V. While the fall of the wrestling industry seems to have been exaggerated, it is still an introspective and often times revealing look at the life and death of one of pro wrestling's greatest performers, Chris Benoit.
The main theme of the book that Randazzo seems to be focused on is how the buisness of professional wrestling, with its non-stop travel and rampart drug and steroid use, was the primary reason for Chris Benoit's descent into madness. Growing up, Benoit was a quiet kid from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada who became such a huge fan of the wrestler The Dynamite Kid that his devotion bordered on worship. From an early age, Benoit decided to mold himself and his body after The Dynamite Kid, determined to follow his idol into the pro wrestling business. In order to accomplish this, Benoit started doing steroids in order to get his physique like The Dynamite Kid, and willingly underwent harsh and often times humiliating training both at the infamous Dungeon of Calgary, Alberta, Canada and the New Japan dojo, whose students are worked half to death on a daily basis and expected to deal with all sorts of punishment as proof of their devotion towards becoming a pro wrestler.
The book goes on to depict Benoit's wrestling career and the issues he and other wrestlers faced in each spot. From wrestling in Japan, where the Yakuza has a huge influence over the business and the style is often stiff and hard-hitting, although the money and accommodations are usually first-class, to the totally foreign style of lucha-libre wrestling in Mexico, which Benoit struggled to adjust to. We then read about Benoit's time in ECW, which is the promotion that actually comes off looking the best in this book despite a looker room so full of drug use that it was said that "If you pass a drug test in ECW, you're fired!" But ECW was largely free of the politics and backstabbing that plagued Benoit both in his early days in Stampede and later in WCW and the WWE. Benoit later went into WCW, which basically served as a vanity promotion for Hulk Hogan during his time there, and also rewarded wrestlers like Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, wrestlers that weren't nearly as devoted to the buisness as Benoit and his best friend Eddy Guerrero. To make matters worse, Benoit became embroiled in a bitter feud with booker Kevin Sullivan, whose wife Nancy eventually became Benoit's wife largely due to some idiotic attempt by Sullivan to "work" the other wrestlers by having Benoit and Nancy act as if they were having an affair. Ultimately, fiction became truth and Nancy ended up with Benoit, which didn't exactly endear Benoit in his boss's eyes.
Benoit, Guerrero, and a few other wrestlers would eventually leave WCW after Sullivan was rehired as head booker in 2000. While free of the political minefield that was WCW, as the book states, Benoit had other problems. For one, his best friend seemed to be fighting a losing battle with drug addiction, and it was often Benoit that took care of Guerrero and made sure he lived to see another day. Another problem was the demands put on the wrestlers by Vince McMahon, which, along with Benoit's insistence to work a highly dangerous style night in and night out, led to severe spinal injury and surgery in 2001. The author uses testimonies from former WWE staff members and writers to spin a tale of a company that is ran by a coked-up bodybuilding obsessed megalomaniac in his McMahon and his daughter Stephanie, who comes off as unqualifed for her position and highly defensive of both her intelligence and her job, often dismissing any percieved threat to her job and keeping less-qualified writers just because they tow the line. Not to mention the influence of wrestler Triple-H, who seems to have as much power as anyone due to his marriage to Stephanie, a marriage which some people wonder is a sham. The result is that Benoit finds himself working for a company where, in his own words, it's better to keep your mouth shut in order to keep your job instead of speaking out and losing your job.
Benoit enjoyed some success in WWE, including a world title reign, but ultimately he was still depressed. Things really got bad in 2005, when his best friend Guerrero passed away. The untimely death of his friend, as well as the death of close friend Mike "Johnny Grunge" Durham, left Benoit feeling alone. Whether or not it was due to the concussions, Benoit, not exactly the most stable individual before, became increasingly withdrawn, depressed and paranoid. Eventually, Benoit snapped one weekend, which led to the tragic events of that June weekend in 2007.
The book is not just a portrayal of Benoit, who comes across as a singularly devoted man to his craft, who seemed like a great father according to all of those around him and a decent guy that had a wicked side when it came to young wrestlers. That trait seems to have been influenced by his treatment in Stampede Wrestling as well as the influence of The Dynamite Kid, who was despised for his mean-spirited "pratical jokes". Benoit also seemed to never quite accept himself, as even as he was being hailed as the best wrestler in the world, Benoit would often be in a funk and would punish himself for even the smallest mistake by doing an unfathomable number of Hindu Squats or Push-Ups or Squat Thrusts or whatever exercise in order to punish his body. Meanwhile, the wrestling business as a whole does not come off as a good way to make a living, as Randazzo paints a picture of a business where unhealthy amounts of steroids and painkillers are part of the job, where personal freedom is sacrificed for glory, and where many men are "chewed up and spit out" by an unforgiving business, which has left many young men either dead or crippled before the age of 50.
Randazzo is not a fan of pro wrestling, rather he is a true crime writer who seems to specialize in books about crime syndicates. As a result, the book comes across as a bitter, often jaded look at pro wrestling as a whole, and the author does not spare punches in expressing his opinion about pro wrestling. So if you're somebody that's a huge fan of wrestling, you might become angry about the various attacks on the business that the book makes. It didn't bother me, though. Randazzo did a lot of research for this book, but I do question the validity of some of his sources, including watching a bunch of shoot interviews, which often are one-sided affairs in which the wrestler is obviously biased and attacks certain individuals in order to make themselves look better. These interviews often should be taken with a grain of salt, so I was surprised that the author would rely so heavily on these sources. Another thing I found odd is that, for a story about Benoit and the crimes he committed, a majority of the book is devoted to other people. I'm guessing that was just to establish the type of business Benoit was in, but in a way, it seems like Benoit is just a background character in a story about his own life, to the point where the murders and suicide Benoit committed is almost treated as an afterthought at the end of the book.
Ultimately, this is a book worth reading, but it does have it's flaws. For one, while there is a lot of information, and Randazzo did a lot of research, he seems too willing to accept the words of anybody with a take as the truth. So while I believe most of it to be accurate, I have my doubts about a few things since many of his sources seem to have an ax to grind. Another thing is that, in blaming pro wrestling for Chris Benoit's actions, I don't think he assigns enough blame on Benoit himself, as he just stops short of painting Benoit as a victim of a buisness that swallowed him whole. I could see that if Benoit was found dead of a heart attack like his friends Guerrero and Brian Pillman, but let's face facts here. This was a man who over the course of three days, murdered both his wife and his son, and more than likely considered making a plane flight so he could wrestle the next day, to the point that he even rescheduled his flight. The author seems to believe that Benoit was not in his right mind due to the multiple concussions and massive painkiller use, but I don't think that should be an excuse for his actions. If you want to blame pro wrestling for the deaths of Guerrero, Pillman, Owen Hart (which was not a result of drugs, but a poorly conceived stunt gone horribly wrong) and others, well I have no real issue with that, and I'd even agree with that sentiment. But to paint Chris Benoit as a victim, and Randazzo is far from alone in this approach, btw, is wrong.
Bottom line, Ring of Hell is a deep expose of a business that, frankly, is screwed up in a lot of ways. The book provides a lot of new information and you will be shocked at what you learn about Benoit and the job that he chose. The book has some flaws, yes, but ultimately it's worth reading, even if you should take some of the information presented with a grain of salt. I'll give it a 6.5 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any ideas for future reviews about anything at all, from your favorite episode of In the Heat of the Night to the top 5 movies directed by Michael Bay, or whatever, than send me your ideas either by leaving a comment or by e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com
The main theme of the book that Randazzo seems to be focused on is how the buisness of professional wrestling, with its non-stop travel and rampart drug and steroid use, was the primary reason for Chris Benoit's descent into madness. Growing up, Benoit was a quiet kid from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada who became such a huge fan of the wrestler The Dynamite Kid that his devotion bordered on worship. From an early age, Benoit decided to mold himself and his body after The Dynamite Kid, determined to follow his idol into the pro wrestling business. In order to accomplish this, Benoit started doing steroids in order to get his physique like The Dynamite Kid, and willingly underwent harsh and often times humiliating training both at the infamous Dungeon of Calgary, Alberta, Canada and the New Japan dojo, whose students are worked half to death on a daily basis and expected to deal with all sorts of punishment as proof of their devotion towards becoming a pro wrestler.
The book goes on to depict Benoit's wrestling career and the issues he and other wrestlers faced in each spot. From wrestling in Japan, where the Yakuza has a huge influence over the business and the style is often stiff and hard-hitting, although the money and accommodations are usually first-class, to the totally foreign style of lucha-libre wrestling in Mexico, which Benoit struggled to adjust to. We then read about Benoit's time in ECW, which is the promotion that actually comes off looking the best in this book despite a looker room so full of drug use that it was said that "If you pass a drug test in ECW, you're fired!" But ECW was largely free of the politics and backstabbing that plagued Benoit both in his early days in Stampede and later in WCW and the WWE. Benoit later went into WCW, which basically served as a vanity promotion for Hulk Hogan during his time there, and also rewarded wrestlers like Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, wrestlers that weren't nearly as devoted to the buisness as Benoit and his best friend Eddy Guerrero. To make matters worse, Benoit became embroiled in a bitter feud with booker Kevin Sullivan, whose wife Nancy eventually became Benoit's wife largely due to some idiotic attempt by Sullivan to "work" the other wrestlers by having Benoit and Nancy act as if they were having an affair. Ultimately, fiction became truth and Nancy ended up with Benoit, which didn't exactly endear Benoit in his boss's eyes.
Benoit, Guerrero, and a few other wrestlers would eventually leave WCW after Sullivan was rehired as head booker in 2000. While free of the political minefield that was WCW, as the book states, Benoit had other problems. For one, his best friend seemed to be fighting a losing battle with drug addiction, and it was often Benoit that took care of Guerrero and made sure he lived to see another day. Another problem was the demands put on the wrestlers by Vince McMahon, which, along with Benoit's insistence to work a highly dangerous style night in and night out, led to severe spinal injury and surgery in 2001. The author uses testimonies from former WWE staff members and writers to spin a tale of a company that is ran by a coked-up bodybuilding obsessed megalomaniac in his McMahon and his daughter Stephanie, who comes off as unqualifed for her position and highly defensive of both her intelligence and her job, often dismissing any percieved threat to her job and keeping less-qualified writers just because they tow the line. Not to mention the influence of wrestler Triple-H, who seems to have as much power as anyone due to his marriage to Stephanie, a marriage which some people wonder is a sham. The result is that Benoit finds himself working for a company where, in his own words, it's better to keep your mouth shut in order to keep your job instead of speaking out and losing your job.
Benoit enjoyed some success in WWE, including a world title reign, but ultimately he was still depressed. Things really got bad in 2005, when his best friend Guerrero passed away. The untimely death of his friend, as well as the death of close friend Mike "Johnny Grunge" Durham, left Benoit feeling alone. Whether or not it was due to the concussions, Benoit, not exactly the most stable individual before, became increasingly withdrawn, depressed and paranoid. Eventually, Benoit snapped one weekend, which led to the tragic events of that June weekend in 2007.
The book is not just a portrayal of Benoit, who comes across as a singularly devoted man to his craft, who seemed like a great father according to all of those around him and a decent guy that had a wicked side when it came to young wrestlers. That trait seems to have been influenced by his treatment in Stampede Wrestling as well as the influence of The Dynamite Kid, who was despised for his mean-spirited "pratical jokes". Benoit also seemed to never quite accept himself, as even as he was being hailed as the best wrestler in the world, Benoit would often be in a funk and would punish himself for even the smallest mistake by doing an unfathomable number of Hindu Squats or Push-Ups or Squat Thrusts or whatever exercise in order to punish his body. Meanwhile, the wrestling business as a whole does not come off as a good way to make a living, as Randazzo paints a picture of a business where unhealthy amounts of steroids and painkillers are part of the job, where personal freedom is sacrificed for glory, and where many men are "chewed up and spit out" by an unforgiving business, which has left many young men either dead or crippled before the age of 50.
Randazzo is not a fan of pro wrestling, rather he is a true crime writer who seems to specialize in books about crime syndicates. As a result, the book comes across as a bitter, often jaded look at pro wrestling as a whole, and the author does not spare punches in expressing his opinion about pro wrestling. So if you're somebody that's a huge fan of wrestling, you might become angry about the various attacks on the business that the book makes. It didn't bother me, though. Randazzo did a lot of research for this book, but I do question the validity of some of his sources, including watching a bunch of shoot interviews, which often are one-sided affairs in which the wrestler is obviously biased and attacks certain individuals in order to make themselves look better. These interviews often should be taken with a grain of salt, so I was surprised that the author would rely so heavily on these sources. Another thing I found odd is that, for a story about Benoit and the crimes he committed, a majority of the book is devoted to other people. I'm guessing that was just to establish the type of business Benoit was in, but in a way, it seems like Benoit is just a background character in a story about his own life, to the point where the murders and suicide Benoit committed is almost treated as an afterthought at the end of the book.
Ultimately, this is a book worth reading, but it does have it's flaws. For one, while there is a lot of information, and Randazzo did a lot of research, he seems too willing to accept the words of anybody with a take as the truth. So while I believe most of it to be accurate, I have my doubts about a few things since many of his sources seem to have an ax to grind. Another thing is that, in blaming pro wrestling for Chris Benoit's actions, I don't think he assigns enough blame on Benoit himself, as he just stops short of painting Benoit as a victim of a buisness that swallowed him whole. I could see that if Benoit was found dead of a heart attack like his friends Guerrero and Brian Pillman, but let's face facts here. This was a man who over the course of three days, murdered both his wife and his son, and more than likely considered making a plane flight so he could wrestle the next day, to the point that he even rescheduled his flight. The author seems to believe that Benoit was not in his right mind due to the multiple concussions and massive painkiller use, but I don't think that should be an excuse for his actions. If you want to blame pro wrestling for the deaths of Guerrero, Pillman, Owen Hart (which was not a result of drugs, but a poorly conceived stunt gone horribly wrong) and others, well I have no real issue with that, and I'd even agree with that sentiment. But to paint Chris Benoit as a victim, and Randazzo is far from alone in this approach, btw, is wrong.
Bottom line, Ring of Hell is a deep expose of a business that, frankly, is screwed up in a lot of ways. The book provides a lot of new information and you will be shocked at what you learn about Benoit and the job that he chose. The book has some flaws, yes, but ultimately it's worth reading, even if you should take some of the information presented with a grain of salt. I'll give it a 6.5 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any ideas for future reviews about anything at all, from your favorite episode of In the Heat of the Night to the top 5 movies directed by Michael Bay, or whatever, than send me your ideas either by leaving a comment or by e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com
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