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What I've been reading: Books No. 27-28
May. 17th, 2018 01:44 pmBook No. 27 was "My Friend Dahmer," a graphic nonfiction book by Derf Backderf. The author really did grow up with serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and tried to write several times about his teenage years being in the same social group as Dahmer, with a shorter version of the story self-published several years ago. In this version of the story, the illustrations are pretty simple but moody, as Dahmer is often shown as a dark shadow. Backderf's book covers Dahmer's junior high and high school years and ends just as the author goes off to college and Dahmer embarks on the beginning of his serial killer career. They all knew Dahmer had a bad home life and was an odd kid who came to school drunk, but it wasn't until much later they realized their old friend was a killer. Dahmer's serial killings aren't pictured in any depth in the book, but you get more of his story in the afterward. A movie was recently made based on this graphic book and just came out earlier this year. If you like nonfiction graphic books and/or serial killer stories, you might enjoy this. I did, and would read more by Backderf. The full book is available here if anyone reading is curious about it.
Book No. 28 was "The Return of the King" by JRR Tolkien, as an audiobook. I started the trilogy as a kid but couldn't get into it, but I've enjoyed the series on audiobook as an adult. If you want a story that is pure action, you'll find it annoying, but if you don't mind a great deal of description and world-building, you might enjoy the trilogy. There is so much more detail and so many more little side plots that the movie adaptations don't catch. I do have to say that I'm surprised that so many heterosexual male geeks latch onto this series because it is SO chockful of homoerotic subtext, and not just between Frodo and Sam. It's nice to see examples of male bonding and friendship, though. One complaint about "Return" is that the denouement is very long, but if you consider it the denouement of the entire trilogy, it's really pretty much in correct proportion. I do like that the third book deals with the effects of the war on the Shire and how the hobbits come back and clean things up. JRR Tolkien has claimed in an essay that the trilogy is not an analogy for World War One, but it's hard not to see echoes of it in the way he writes about war and about bullies ruining other people's homes. If you like the "Lord of the Rings" movies but could never get into the books, you might want to give them another try. I really enjoyed the audiobook reader (he sings all the songs in it, too!) and that made a big difference for me.
( The other books I've read so far this year: )
Book No. 28 was "The Return of the King" by JRR Tolkien, as an audiobook. I started the trilogy as a kid but couldn't get into it, but I've enjoyed the series on audiobook as an adult. If you want a story that is pure action, you'll find it annoying, but if you don't mind a great deal of description and world-building, you might enjoy the trilogy. There is so much more detail and so many more little side plots that the movie adaptations don't catch. I do have to say that I'm surprised that so many heterosexual male geeks latch onto this series because it is SO chockful of homoerotic subtext, and not just between Frodo and Sam. It's nice to see examples of male bonding and friendship, though. One complaint about "Return" is that the denouement is very long, but if you consider it the denouement of the entire trilogy, it's really pretty much in correct proportion. I do like that the third book deals with the effects of the war on the Shire and how the hobbits come back and clean things up. JRR Tolkien has claimed in an essay that the trilogy is not an analogy for World War One, but it's hard not to see echoes of it in the way he writes about war and about bullies ruining other people's homes. If you like the "Lord of the Rings" movies but could never get into the books, you might want to give them another try. I really enjoyed the audiobook reader (he sings all the songs in it, too!) and that made a big difference for me.
( The other books I've read so far this year: )
