Day 22: Superman/Batman: Supergirl Vol. 2 by Jeph Loeb

Jeph Loeb and artist Michael Turner join to usher in the classic Supergirl’s return to the primary DC Universe continuum. This story is as much about Supergirl’s first experiences on Earth as it is about the tension and interactions between the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight. Loeb’s writing is at its finest, while his plotting is wrought with tension and suspense. I have to give the late Michael Turner his share of credit for drawing some amazing panels. He has a way for drawing women and depicting epic battle scenes. The dialogue Loeb wrote between Superman and Darkseid in their final confrontation was fantastic and believable. This is good writing meets good art. What more can you ask for?

                                                    

Day 21: Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse

  

Steppenwolf (Der Steppenwolf), by Hermann Hesse, is an existential novel about the loneliness of a man torn between two aspects of his soul and his displacement between periods of history. Originally published in Germany in 1927, the first English translation was in 1929. Utilizing both autobiographical and psychoanalytic elements, the novel takes its name after the solitary “wolf of the steppes”. The story expresses Hesse’s profound spiritual crisis, while portraying the protagonist’s split between his civilized humanity and his barbaric, wolfish discord and homelessness. Hesse would later claim that the book was largely misunderstood.

Day 20: Fables Vol 1 by Bill Willingham

This hardcover collects “Legends in Exile” and “Animal Farm,” introducing a host of characters that populate the Fables universe along with the two primary communities of the Fables on Earth: Fabletown and the Farm. Each chapter tackles a different genre as it explores the relationships between these immortal characters and their varied and often misinterpreted histories. Willingham’s writing is clever and witty and the stories are beyond phenomenal. Often his take on the fables are unique; he enjoys twisting and turning our expectations for these characters. For example, Prince Charming is a divorced, promiscuous womanizer with an insurmountable ego, Snow White is the deputy mayor of Fabletown, and Bigby Wolf, the sherrif, is the shapeshifting Big Bad Wolf of infamy. This is easily my favourite ongoing comic book.

Day 19: The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis

“The Rules of Attraction” offers a dark and satirical take on the upper-middle-class college student culture. Set in the fictional college town of Camden, New Hampshire, the novel is narrated in first-person by the sexually students, in particular, revolving around three: Paul, Sean, and Lauren. Bret Easton Ellis does a powerful job in illustrating a slice of society that is selfish, nihilistic, and narcissistic. His ability to write without a ‘period’ in a stream of consciousness manner is unparalleled. This is the first book of his I ever read, but if you’ve taken a peek at his other books, then this isn’t something you want to miss

Day 18: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Palahniuk is certainly one of the best living storytellers alive today, and his unique methods of crafting narratives are ingenious and experimental. Many believe this debut novel by Palahniuk to be his seminal work. It is a dark, funny, twisted character study of dissociative personality disorder. Palahniuk paints a morbid and macabre illustration of the dual nature of our souls and created one of pop culture’s greatest villains: Tyler Durden. I loved the movie. The book was even better.

Day 17: Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster

                                            

Probably the novel Jean Webster is best known for, “Daddy Long Legs” is not only a remarkably astute and compassionate children’s book, but it is also, on its own, a fine piece of literature. While quite a popular writer during her life, Jean Webster has since slipped into obscurity. Even her works, aside from this one, can hardly be found anywhere except online. Most libraries don’t have copies of her relatively unknown collection of writing.

“Daddy Long Legs” was written as an epistolary novel in the form of letters that a young orphaned girl writes to the mysterious benefactor who anonymously sponsors her education by sending her away to a girl’s college. Written in 1912, “Daddy Long Legs” is dessert sweet, full of astonishing depth, and admirably feministic for its time. Webster infuses her novel with a witty sense of humor that most modern-day children’s books simply lack. This is a great book to read. Check her out.

Day 16: The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

Is there a single person who hasn’t heard of “The Lord of the Rings” yet? This is the greatest literary feat in the fantasy genre, the grandfather of modern fantasy, and an essential piece of literature. The story modernized Elves, Dwarves, and created Hobbits. No modern fantasy story has been produced in the past half-century that wasn’t in some way inspired or influenced by Tolkien’s magnificent body of work. Being a linguistic professor, Tolkien constructed the several languages for use in his stories and had quite a fondness for etymologies and history. His devotion to his universe represents the first true feat of worldbuilding, and till today, Middle-Earth stands paramount.

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Book Review: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Why does he want to do this to me? Why does Kazuo Ishiguro want to make me cry for imaginary characters? The answer, for me at the very least, is that they aren’t make-believe. Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth are real – they are us, the readers, and they smell of our lives in all its complexities. I read this book twice. The first time took me roughly fourteen hours. About four days later, I picked it up again and finished in about six. Both times the fundamental truth that underpins our own is startlingly clear in the memories Kathy remembers: no matter how long we have, it is never, ever enough. We all want to defer completion. Wouldn’t it be nice to have another three years? Hell, why not swing for four?

Kathy H. presents her life without guile or angst. She is young, but she is old. In the end, it seems like she’s accepted her fate. She isn’t going to rage against the dying of the light. Instead Kathy meets her preordained fate with resigned acceptance. The story isn’t a tale of free will versus destiny, it is a study of life and living, and the incomprehensible difference between them; the nature of the human soul, love and longing, friendship, existence, and Time.

Ishiguro has incredible insight into the human condition. Without saying as much, he points out the certainty in our world that we would sacrifice the lives and liberty of artificial humans for the sake of preserving our own kind. I suppose the story is as much about the needs of the many over the wants of one, but I’ve never read anything else where I’ve wanted so badly for the wants of one to be so selfishly fulfilled. “Never Let Me Go” is dark and beautiful, powerful and moving. The ending, in particular, as the symbolism of Norfolk transcends being a place where the things we lose end up, to the fields being a tiny personal heaven for her, is unforgettable. I recommend this to anyone who has read his previous work, watched the movie adaptation, or just stumbles upon this review. It’s simply terrific.