Books Blog: English Literature & Linguistics

I just have to get this over with:

Dumbledore dies at the end of this book.

And that’s not really that big a deal. Old news, right?

Sadly, that’s just about the only thing this sixth Harry Potter novel is good for. Besides tritely developing a romance between Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione, eliminating most of the major sources of tension from the Slytherin house by having them simply disappear most of the book, and terrifyingly walking through the backstory of Lord Voldemort, nothing really happens. That’s right 85% or more of the book is simply … backstory and mild character development. In the other 15%, Dumbledore dies!

So, while entertaining to read, at times you’re wondering “why.” What comes next? Why is this like this? Personally, I think sit’s just a 600 page stopgap to fill in the plot, get Harry out of the confines of Hogwarts, and move along the romance and adultness of the books. The next one will allow considerably more creative freedom, which is good since it’s supposed to be the last.

Buy it if you’re a harry potter fan-otherwise, skipping it won’t hurt.

Other takes:

• www.hoopyfrood.net/2005/07/is-this-the-penultimate-harry-potter-book/trackback/
• library.palomacruz.com/2005/07/18/a-harry-potter-recap/
• www.razlan.name/2005/07/half-blood-prince.html
• haloscan.com/tb/razlan/Half_Blood_Prince
• www.achuka.co.uk/achockablog/archives/001813.html

Dean Koontz’s The Taking is a story of the end of the world. But, not as you might imagine, the end of the world in fire and glory and asteroid collisions, or aliens, or anything fantastic or scientific. Rather, Koontz’s novel is all about the end of the conservative Christian world.

Pop Matters, in their review of Odd Thomas, writes:

He’s a spokesman for Christian values in the New Age, giving Koontz a vehicle to constantly reiterate his plan for living the perfect life — have faith in fate and persevere, ’cause you never know when your time may be up. And, if you refrain from swearing or sex while you’re at it, the Pearly Gates will be far more welcoming.

In The Taking, a perfect, intelligent, and loving couple is surrounded by an “alien” infestation, a long silver rain that blankets the globe in inhuman seed that spawns fungus, plants that are half animal, and demon-creatures who steal souls and replace them with shells. For Molly and Neil Sloan, the couple, their goal is to survive, have faith in their own ability, and help those around them who need to be saved from the menace–namely the children, an inept metaphor for the future generation.

In the book, Molly, Neil, and the world are presented with a demonic war-chant as the taker-of-souls strips mankind:

Yimaman see noygel, see refacull, see nod a bah, see naytoss, retee fo sellos.

All this turns out to be is:

My name is legion, is Lucifer, is Abbadon, is Satan, eater of souls.

So, if you can stand a tense thriller that ultimately is just too weird, too moralistic, and too straightforward, it’s a fast decently exciting read, but well below the level we would call “masterwork.” Here are some other reviews:

• www.silverberry.org/Reviews/archives/2005/07/the_taking.php
• logtar.com/cielo/blog/?p=10
• effectivesentences.blogspot.com/2005/07/taking.html

Snort for Dummies, by Charlie Scott, Paul Wolfe, and Bert Hayes, teaches basic intrusion detection skills through the Snort platform. Snort is an open source intrustion detection system for computer networks. It’s a free piece of software which resides on a computer and watches all of the network traffic passing through that machine. Unusual or dangerous traffic is flagged and recorded to alert the network administrator. Basically, Snort is a sentry for your network, on the lookout for hacking, viruses, and anything else you write a rule for.

Quite frankly, the book sucks. You’ll get at least as much from the Snort users manual, which is a free 90 page introduction to Snort. It’s 1/3 as long as Snort for Dummies, and fits in more content with less cruft. The first three chapters of Snort for Dummies introduce the software and its requirements. Why not read Snort - Lightweight Intrusion Detection for Networks and the Snort FAQ? Chapters 4 and 5 cover installation for Windows and Linux–but so does Snort’s Windows and Linux guides. The remaining chapters cover basic snort usage and configuration, and by basic, I mean basic. There’s nothing in there not in the manual, and explanation is not needed–how they manage to stretch out the material for four hundred pages, I do not know.

So, Snort for Dummies gets the lowest rating I can give: :1star:. Really–just read the manual.

I just finished reading Out of Bounds: Inside the NBA’s Culture of Rape, Violence & Crime by Jeff Benedict. It tries to give its readers a taste of the NBA culture of crime and lawlessness. Did you know that “four out of every ten NBA players have a police record involving a serious crime?” I didn’t–until I read Out of Bounds.

The book claims to be divided into three sections: Sexual Liberties, Above the Law, and Bad Heroes. In actuality, it’s really just one continuous section. The theme of Out of Bounds never changes. It’s all about how NBA players commit sexual and physical violence due to a basketball culture that gives immature men everything they want and never says “no.” The book also explains how NBA players get preferential treatment in the US justice system, often avoiding charges or simply doing community service for crimes that would put an average citizen behind bars for life.

It’s an eye-opener for sure, but I am only giving it a three-star rating: :3star:. There are a few problems with the book. First, its material is repetitive. We see the story case by case by case, with little explanation or variance in the narrative. Hearing about NBA players committing violent crime is only interesting if it serves something higher. Second, there’s a lack of explanation for the crimes themselves. I feel as if Out of Bounds is just a photogallery of crime. I wonder why? Why do they commit crime they know they will be caught for? Why do they spurn authority and order? Why do they have a predelection for crime in the first place? Why does the NBA allow it? Instead, all I get is a picture of how these crimes go on and on. This, I think, is the most serious academic failure of the book. Otherwise, it’s an entertaining and informative read.

Another resource in evaluating this book is its own website from Harper Academic.

Terry Brooks’ Morgawr, the third in his fantasy series The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara is a 401 page mixed bag. On the one hand, it provides a few hours of entertainment on a rainy day. On the other hand, you might be better off just putting on your rainboots and splashing in the puddles.

The book takes off where the last one left off. Druid Walker is dying, and his legacy is a reborn Isle-Witch. Transformed by the mystic sword of Shannara, the Isle-Witch realizes the full weight of her childhood deception and becomes a catatonic Grianne. It ultimately takes her brother Bek’s forgiveness and love to bring her back to full reality. Her true self, she confronts her old mentor Morgawr, and with the help of her brother defeats him.

There are numerous side-tales, however. Airship battles, strange reptilian creatures, wraiths and shapeshifters, and some magic swords all help make the book come a little more alive. But, in the multiple threads, the story is lost. When a half dozen different parties are slowly reunited, the content you can include for each party is pretty low. So we get to watch in grand overview the reuniting of the party, the defeat of their enemy, and a love triangle between Bek, his sister Grianne, and his girlfriend Rue Meridian. Still, it’s not enough–there’s far too much overview, and not enough detail.

For that reason, I’m giving Morgawr :2star:. It doesn’t have the richness of Tolkien, or the action you find in a Mercedes Lackey novel, but in the end, it’s still not a terrible read–give it a go if you’ve nothing else to do, or like me just want to finish the series.