Book Review: Grave Descend by John Lange

[This is an old review I've moved over here that uses my short-lived and now defunct rating system and review format. It's been modified just a bit but mostly retains its old format.]

Grave Descend by John Lange

Publisher: Dorchester Publishing Company
Release Date: November 2006

ISBN: 9780843955972
Original Publisher: Constant c Productions; 1970
Format: PaperbackPage: 203
Genre: Mystery
Source: GoodReads swap
Time to Read: 2 hours
aStore Link (Real Book): Grave Descend

aStore Link (Kindle Book): Grave Descend

| Enjoyability: 4 | Readability: E | Characterization: 4 | Overall: A- |
(Traditional Rating: 4 Stars)

Synopsis (from Amazon)

SOMETHING’S GOING DOWN OFF THE COAST OF JAMAICA
Diver James McGregor is used to being hired to explore sunken ships. But there’s something strange about the wreck of the luxury yacht Grave Descend. No one who was aboard tells quite the same story about what happened. Then there’s the matter of the mysterious cargo they were carrying…
In one of the most beautiful places on Earth, a sinister plot is about to unfold. And if McGregor’s not careful, he may find himself in over his head.

Background

My favorite author since adolescence is Michael Crichton ever since I watched Jurassic Park and read The Lost World.  By the time I graduated high school, I had read everything he had printed in his own name to that point.  However, I had only read one of his pseudonymous works and really did not know what else he had written.  Thanks to GoodReads, I was able to get a quick list of everything attributed to Crichton and even put them on a wish list so, when someone was ready to swap out their copy, I would have a chance to get it.

Grave Descend was the first book to become available to swap from another GoodReads reader, and I jumped at the chance. (Unfortunately, the swapping feature of GoodReads has since been discontinued.)  This was a very quick read and pretty easy to follow.  Crichton had written this book while in medical school, and it was published in 1970.  That year it was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original. The printing I read was the first reprint ever of the book (from my research), which was published for the Hard Case Crime series.

My Reaction

This was a very quick and enjoyable read. It reactivated that part of my brain that had enjoyed the Hardy Boys stories as I tried to figure out the mystery as it was unfolding. The main characters were easy to cheer on, rather reminiscent of the hero of an action movie.  The antagonists were complex enough to be believable, but still somewhat larger than life. I guess you get that from these stories where espionage and coverup are involved.

There were times when I got a bit confused by some of the action and which character was whom, a problem I think would be somewhat unavoidable in this specific story. I had to read the last chapter twice to figure out what did finally happen to the relationships of the main characters.  Overall, the book was a nice distraction from doing things not related to reading and is something I could easily pick up and read a couple more times.

For more information about this book:

Author's Website

Amazon  |  Kindle

Book Review: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

[This is an old review I've moved over here that uses my short-lived and now defunct rating system and review format. It's been modified just a bit but mostly retains its old format.]

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Publisher: Longmans, Green, and Co., 7th ed.
Release Date: 1886
Format: e-Book
Pages: 141
Genre: Gothic mystery; Classic
Source: Google Books
Time to Read: 3 hours
aStore Link: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

| Enjoyability: 5 | Readability: H | Characterization: 4 | Overall: A+ |

(Traditional Rating: 5 Stars)

Summary

A classic mystery (categorized as a Gothic mystery), Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a story about Dr. Henry Jekyll, a well-known, upstanding and wealthy citizen.  While handling changes to his will, lawyer John Utterson, Jekyll's dear friend, is disturbed by the naming of the sole recipient of Jekyll's estate upon his death: one Edward Hyde.  Utterson's feeling gets even worse upon hearing about the beneficiary's character through another acquaintance who witnessed Hyde, whom he instantly and inexplicably disliked from the first sight. His friend saw Hyde trample over a child carelessly and then, once confronted, paid the parents off with a check signed by Jekyll himself.  The only explanation Utterson can arrive at is that Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll.

The story follows Utterson's attempt at helping Dr. Jekyll get out of the blackmail, investigating Hyde's background only to find that he has no history.  Utterson finally gets a breakthrough when a nobleman is beaten to death in the street and all the evidence points to Hyde.  Now Dr. Jekyll is secluded in his laboratory, isolating himself from his servants and friends, but the staff of Jekyll's estate are certain that Hyde has murdered Jekyll and is hiding out in the lab.  Utterson finds out the truth through sealed letters, which end the last two chapters of the book, only then revealing the mystery that most readers already know.

My Reaction

I have seen many variations of plays, movies, TV shows, and cartoons based on and inspired by Jekyll and Hyde, but this was this first time I had ever read it.  This was also the second book I have read by Stevenson (the first being Treasure Island).  Although it took me a while to get into Treasure Island, I was instantly gripped by J & H, and I think that is mostly because of my familiarity with the subject versus the former book.  When I read the first few pages, it almost felt like an episode of Law & Order, where you see the seemingly unrelated characters who just happened to stumble into the dead body of interest to that particular episode.  Unlike the show, however, I discovered that Utterson was really the central character and point of view for the book.

With that unexpected way of telling the story, I was very curious in how Utterson was involved in the whole reaction to relationship between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  Knowing the outcome of the story, the most fun for me was discovering the mystery with Utterson (more like a Columbo episode than Law & Order).  However, the way Stevenson wrote the story, I think it would have been a far more enjoyable read had I not known the twist to the story so well.  Fresh readers in the late 19th century were fortunate in this respect.

An element I was struck by that I must mention is the fluidity with which Stevenson interlaces scriptural references throughout the story.  Using a simple phrase from the Bible, the author instantly paints the picture that may have otherwise taken a paragraph to describe.  This was probably second nature to Stevenson, being the son of a minister (even though by the point of writing this book he was openly rejecting his religious upbringing).  Additionally, the common theme of the duality of the nature of Dr. Jekyll (torn between good and evil and seeking a way to separate them) is a striking allegory to the moral battle everyone faces.

Just as many people have said about Stevenson's other books, the author did not waste a word in the telling of this story.  I was engaged the whole way through and encourage anyone seeking a good classic read to choose Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

For more information on this book:

Reading Challenges:

2011 e-Book Challenge

Book Review: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

[This is an old review I've moved over here that uses my short-lived and now defunct rating system and review format. It's been modified just a bit but mostly retains its old format.]

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Pictures by W.W. Denslow

Publisher: George M. Hill Company; 1900

e-Book: 264 pages
Genre: Children's/Fairy Tale/Classic
Source: Google Books
Time to Read: 1-1/2 hours
Amazon Link: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

| Enjoyability: 5 | Readability: E | Characterization: 4 | Overall: A- |

Summary
The original published version of this classic fairy tale from L. Frank Baum is available as an e-book for free, complete with original illustrations by W.W. Denslow.  Though most famous for its 1939 film adaptation starring Judy Garland, the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz began in this book form as a modern fairy tale for the children of Baum's time.  In his introduction to the book, Baum claims that the old fairy tales could be filed away since moral lessons were now taught in modern schools and that this new tale exists solely for the enjoyment of its intended audience.

The story is familiar, but in its book form there are more adventures that failed to make it to the screen.  Dorothy, complete with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry's one-room house and her dog Toto, are swept away by a tornado from gray, rural Kansas to the colorful and strange Land of Oz.  She is met by the Munchkins (here all dressed in blue) and the Good Witch of the North, celebrating the demise of the Wicked Witch of the East, who was smashed flat by Dorothy's house.  The Good Witch gives the little girl the dead witch's silver shoes and asks how she got there.  Dorothy only wants to get back to her aunt and uncle in Kansas, so the Witch of the East helps.

Dorothy is sent to the City of Emeralds on the road paved with yellow brick (I think the aforementioned imagery as it is worded as such in the book brings a fresh picture in mind, avoiding the movie cliché).  There she is to meet the Wizard of Oz, who should be able to help her get home.  Along the way, she meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion (all three about whose origins we find more backstory).  Her three comrades all have a need they would like to request from the Wizard. From there, they continue their journey along the road which passes through the several other adventures both before and after visiting the Wizard, who sends them on a quest to kill the Wicked Witch of the West before he honors their requests.

In the end, the three Oz residents in Dorothy's party are granted leadership by the peoples of three different lands within Oz (the Scarecrow becomes ruler of Emerald City, the Tin Woodman over the former Wicked Witch of the West's domain, and the Lion over the animals in the forest).  Glinda the Good Witch of the South (who only just appears near the end of the book) reveals the way for Dorothy to get back home.

My Reaction
I really enjoyed reading this book.  Having seen the movie more times than I can even recollect to count, I at first had the images of the movie in mind.  However, with the assistance of Baum's literary imagery and Denslow's original illustrations present in the e-book, I was able to completely reimagine the story, which turned out to be somewhat different from the movie.  As far as those differences, the characters in the book seemed more well-rounded, especially with the backstory that each of Dorothy's companions gave.

The fantastical land of Oz that Baum laid out was certainly one that children (and even well-imagining adult) readers could visualize and even almost believe while reading.  The way he had the different communities in Oz so markedly unique revealed the imagination the author had.  This is certainly a fairy tale with a good deal of adventure and fantasy that I believe any child would love to hear read over and over and which adults can read and enjoy.

For more information on this book:

Reading Challenges:
2011 e-Book Challenge