So I needed something light after “The Children of Hurin.” I guess I shouldn’t have picked up “The Damned.” Actually, it is pulp fiction in the strictest sense. So there weren’t a lot of tough themes to dig through and process. It’s heavy only in its subject matter. It’s something good little Christian parents probably wouldn’t want their children reading. The only reason I’ve even heard of it is because my local comics shop ordered too many copies and was selling them at half price.
Basically it’s a story about a man who was cursed/sold his soul, so he keeps coming back from the dead. He can be killed for sure, and is several times through the book, but the next person to touch his dead body dies instantly and Eddie comes back. And of course Eddie works for one of the local mob families that inhabit his ’30s era world. Except these aren’t your every-day, run-of-the mill mobs. These “families” are made up mostly of demons who wear snappy suits.
I won’t give away too much of the story. It’s a case of sabotage and finding out who’s behind it. It unfolds fairly predictably, but that’s not to say it’s not enjoyable.
The black and white art jumps off a few pages, but often it just as often falls flat, looking like an amateur interpretation of a Dick Tracy strip. And the demon characters are too often unintentionally funny.
There’s some excellent banter between characters, and they read quite comfortably. The language is dated enough to set the tone, but not so forced that it causes one’s brow to furrow.
It’s fun book to spend a Saturday afternoon on. I’d probably even read another volume in the series if the price were right.
This entry is part of the Open Books project I’m doing.
I’m no Tolkien completist. I haven’t cracked any of the Unfinished Tales tomes or read any of the Histories of Middle-Earth series. But I have read the LOTR trilogy, “The Hobbit,” and “The Silmarillion.” And now I can add “The Children of Hurin,” an extended version of a tale that appears in “The Silmarillion,” to the list.
Having read now all of the “canon” Tolkien writings, it is interesting to note the differences in tone between, say, “The Hobbit” and “The Children of Húrin;” The former being without a doubt a children’s book with children’s themes (akin the the first Harry Potter book), the latter being anything but appropriate for a child. Not that this books should be rated R or anything. It’s just that the themes are quite dark, the violence more meaningful and the evil curses more fulfilled. No one escapes their doom in this book. There is no last-minute rescue courtesy of the eagles.
Continue reading ‘“The Children of Hurin” by J.R.R. Tolkien’
http://64squar.es/
It’s the online chess tool that at least three of my friends and I have been waiting for. It lets you start a game and correspond by e-mail or play live if you want. You can even start a game by email and then finish the match live. Plus, the interface is clean and the features are lean. Now I’m hoping they add other simple board games like Reversi.
To think, my old college roommate and I used to e-mail saved Chess.app game files back and forth as a means of playing chess. I don’t think we ever found an easy and non-obnoxious way to play until now.
Michelle and I finally got out for a good hike this summer. We’ve been busy, and I hope that my schedule and energy level allow for more of this soon. In any case, the pictures speak louder than my words so check out the flickr set for more info.
In “The God Delusion,” Richard Dawkins does not merely present arguments against the existence of god, he also provides evidence that humans have no need of one. In addition, he spends several chapters analyzing why humans are religious at all from a Darwinian standpoint. These chapters will probably have the most lasting impact on me.
In one of my favorite passages, Dawkins supposes that religion is the by-product of another function that is useful from a Darwinian standpoint. He compares us to moths who fly into open flames, street lamps and bug zappers. A moth’s built-in navigation system is based on the only real lights available up until the recent evolutionary past; the moon and the sun. The moth’s internal system tells it to fly in a straight line while keeping the moon (or sun) at a certain angle. Since the moon and sun are at optical infinity (meaning they pretty much stay put in the moth’s field of vision), this works very well. However, when the moth uses an artificial source of light, such as an open flame or bug zapper, which are not at optical infinity, they pretty much spiral into the light source while obeying a navigation system that has otherwise served them well.
Continue reading ‘“The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins’
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