How many times have I read THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA since I found my first paperback copy in the 25-cent bin of a used bookstore in Brooklyn in the laHow many times have I read THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA since I found my first paperback copy in the 25-cent bin of a used bookstore in Brooklyn in the late 1960s? Several. And I own several copies, including a 1925 Grosset & Dunlap hardcover reprint with pictures from the 1925 film, a 1943 Dell Mapback paperback, and the movie tie-in edition for the 1962 Hammer movie published in 1962 by Popular Library. And of course I have the 1925, 1943 and 1962 films on DVD and have watched them countless times over the years, beginning with TV broadcasts in the 1960s). Oh yes, Erik was well-known to me long before Andrew Lloyd Webber saw its musical potential. In fact, I bought the London cast album of PHANTOM long before the Broadway production was launched, when it was an import. And yes, on vinyl.
Although I was introduced to PHANTOM as a horror story (much as I was first introduced to THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY), it's not a horror story at all. It's actually a mystery novel, a novel of detection, one of many written by Gaston Leroux. But it's quite possible that had Universal Pictures not filmed it in 1925 with Lon Chaney, the book would have drifted into obscurity along with most of the other mystery novels of its day....more
Absolutely one of my favorite books ever, one I enjoy just as much when I casually re-read a few random pages as when I re-read it from beginning to eAbsolutely one of my favorite books ever, one I enjoy just as much when I casually re-read a few random pages as when I re-read it from beginning to end. One aspect of it that I particularly enjoy is Stark's use of prolepsis (flash-forward) regarding certain characters and events. And though the stage and screen adaptations differed from the novel in some ways, it's hard while reading not to envision (or hear) Maggie Smith as Miss Brodie....more
This is one of the Rendell stand-alones which many fans feel could almost be a Vine. I know I've read it at least twice and probably three times.
12/21This is one of the Rendell stand-alones which many fans feel could almost be a Vine. I know I've read it at least twice and probably three times.
12/21/10: The drawback to re-reading a Rendell as good as The Crocodile Bird is that it’s hard to become engaged by anything to follow it. I've upped my rating for this one to five-stars, which I should have given it right off....more
Manchester was a superb historian, and this book was his magnum opus - despite its formidable length, Manchester's storytelling powers never flag, andManchester was a superb historian, and this book was his magnum opus - despite its formidable length, Manchester's storytelling powers never flag, and it's completely engrossing - I recall sitting in a restaurant with tears streaming down my face as he described the reaction to FDR's death, and the funeral.
It's hard to believe that the Pulitzer Prize for history went elsewhere for 1974, or for 1968, when Manchester's THE ARMS OF KRUPP was published. Along with David McCullough, the late William Manchester is my favorite popular historian/biographer....more
5/29/14: I've actually changed my rating of this book from ***** to **** - I am almost finished with a re-read and find it to be probably Vine's 'busi5/29/14: I've actually changed my rating of this book from ***** to **** - I am almost finished with a re-read and find it to be probably Vine's 'busiest' book, with multiple story-lines and a vast number of characters either present or referred to.
This is one of the Vines that Rendell/Vine readers are often divided on - many, like myself, love it, and others find it tedious going. I was engrossed by it from the get-go, though admittedly I find the historical sections of the book to be the more interesting. As most of the Vines do, it's set in the past and the present, with Old Sins casting their long shadows. (Rendell is a Life Peer, active in the House of Lords, and this book displays her insider's knowledge.)...more
Absolutely one of my favorite novels ever - I've read it more times than I can count, and usually re-read it every five years or so (in fact, I'm do fAbsolutely one of my favorite novels ever - I've read it more times than I can count, and usually re-read it every five years or so (in fact, I'm do for a re-read). Its message is as timely and real as it ever was, and it deserves its classic status. We don't have novelist/storytellers like James Hilton today.
4/04: Time for a re-read, it's been almost 10 years, I think.
4/05: Just as good as it ever was. Written in 1932/33 and published in mid-1933 (a few months after Hitler became German's Chancellor), Hilton sensed what was brewing in Europe, and spoke through the High Lama of Shangri-La: ******************************* Again Conway thought to reply, but could not, till at length a vivid lightning-flash paled the shadows and stirred him to exclaim: “The storm . . . this storm you talk of. . . .” “It will be such a one, my son, as the world has not seen before. There will be no safety by arms, no help from authority, no answer in science. It will rage till every flower of culture is trampled, and all human things are leveled in a vast chaos. Such was my vision when Napoleon was still a name unknown; and I see it now, more clearly with each hour. Do you say I am mistaken?” Conway answered: “No, I think you may be right. A similar crash came once before, and then there were the Dark Ages lasting five hundred years.” “The parallel is not quite exact. For those Dark ages were not really so very dark --- they were full of flickering lanterns, and even if the light had gone out of Europe altogether, there were other rays, literally from China to Peru, at which it could have been rekindled. But the Dark Ages that are to come will cover the whole world in a single pall; there will be neither escape nor sanctuary, save such as are too secret to be found or too humble to be noticed. And Shangri-La may hope to be both of these. The airmen bearing loads of death to the great cities will pass our way, and if by chance he should, he may not consider us worth a bomb.” *******************************
Hilton erred only in predicting "no answer in science," for it was science, and physics, which provided an end to World War Two (I read somewhere that Hilton was horrified by the atomic bomb and how its existence now rendered life as we know it completely uncertain)....more
Many years (more than 35) after my first reading, I still consider this the most frightening novel I've ever read - it leaves Stephen King in the dustMany years (more than 35) after my first reading, I still consider this the most frightening novel I've ever read - it leaves Stephen King in the dust. Tryon's descriptive powers - and the vivid images they create - remain with the reader long after the book is set aside. It was years before I was willing to attempt to re-read this one! A wonderful atmosphere of increasing tension and ultimately terror, from the most innocent beginnings. . .
One of my favorite - and most frequently re-read - Vines. My last re-read was Summer 2006, and I'm feeling it 'call' to me. Rendell has called this heOne of my favorite - and most frequently re-read - Vines. My last re-read was Summer 2006, and I'm feeling it 'call' to me. Rendell has called this her "Henry James novel."
7/04/11: I didn't re-read it when I made the above comment, probably two years ago, but I am re-reading it now.
7/07/11: This novel has a very leisurely pace, which works perfectly in its favor. One of Vine/Rendell's hallmarks as a writer is her extraordinary ability to to go back and forth in time within the space of a page or even a couple of paragraphs. The narrator, Elizabeth Vetch, who lives under the shadow of Huntington's Chorea (approaching forty, she's not quite out of the woods yet) looks back from the 1980s upon the swinging London of the late 1960s, in particular her friendship with her cousin-by-marriage, the generous and loving Cosette Kingsley, who opens her London house (known as 'the house of stairs' because a stairway of 106 stairs leads to its uppermost - and ultimately most dangerous - level) to a group of disparate hangers-on. And there is Bell, the enigmatic, mysterious young woman with a tragic past who fascinates Elizabeth, and who brings her brother, Mark, to the House of Stairs, thus setting in motion a series of events that ultimately will end in unexpected violent tragedy that will shatter these relationships.
7/08/11: This is always in my "Top Five Vines," and won't lose that ranking anytime soon. The hallmark of a great suspense novel is that it keeps you turning pages even on a re-read - this one does so in first-rate fashion....more
Very nice to see this book so highly regarded here. It was the first novel by Taylor Caldwell that I read, back in 1972, I believe. I've re-read it twVery nice to see this book so highly regarded here. It was the first novel by Taylor Caldwell that I read, back in 1972, I believe. I've re-read it twice since then. It's a powerful story with the author's traditional emotional and scenic detail, a fascinating story peopled with fascinating characters and relationships. Regrettably it's out-of-print at this time, along with almost all of Caldwell's other works. With the current interest in historical novels, I'd like to see some of her books made available again, especially this one.
01/19/10: Nice to see that Chicago Review Press will be reissuing TESTIMONY OF TWO MEN on April 1st - though paperback and hardcover copies of this book can often be found in used bookstores, it's been unavailable to the general public for far too long. And as Caldwell's books weren't considered particularly 'literary' when originally published, it's fitting that Chicago Review Press is the publisher.
3/12/10: I've been in one of those moods where I seem to flit from book to book without being engaged by anything, but a few evenings ago I picked up TESTIMONY OF TWO MEN on impulse, and that situation seems to be resolved for now! Despite remembering many of the particulars of the story, and how it all turns out, this remains a compelling read.
3/23/10: I finished my re-read of TESTIMONY OF TWO MEN this afternoon - I'll stand by my previous comments about the book's quality and emotional depth, though I honestly don't think some judicious editing would have hurt - some information was repeated several times, and occasionally Caldwell's eye for detailed descriptions caused the pace to flag (I've never encountered another author who used the word "and" as much as Caldwell), and some of the characters' speeches occasionally became long-winded and didactic (they no doubt reflected the author's views) - has anyone noticed that many of Caldwell's characters seem to be able to quote at length from political speeches, and scholarly and religious works? These quibbles aside, TESTIMONY OF TWO MEN, along with CAPTAINS AND THE KINGS, remains one of Caldwell's most readable - and re-readable - novels. ...more
As a 6th-grader I was placed in a class for "advanced" readers - we had a whole section of books to choose from to read, and I noticed that one book aAs a 6th-grader I was placed in a class for "advanced" readers - we had a whole section of books to choose from to read, and I noticed that one book always seemed to be checked out: THE BAD SEED, by William March. Naturally my curiosity was tickled, and finally I got my hands on the book to find out what the fuss was about.
The result was my introduction to what is still one of my all-time favorite novels, one I've re-read about every five years or so since that first reading four decades ago. And I'm never disappointed - never mind how many times I've already read it, I still turn the pages just as eagerly as I did when I was 11 or so, and with the same spellbound incredulity. The term "psychological suspense" was probably invented for this novel.
For those who are familiar with THE BAD SEED only through its stage and screen adaptations, forget them! Neither came close to matching the novel for characterization or plot (and due to censorship restrictions of the 1950s, the 1956 film adapted from the play was forced to alter the original ending, quite ridiculously).
THE BAD SEED is still in print, and if your local bookstore doesn't have it on their shelves, I'm sure they'll be happy to order it for you.
6/13/10: Time for a re-read! 6/15/10: One of my favorite books that never disappoints, no matter how many times I've read it. This may have been the 7th, 8th, 9th or 10th reading - who knows? I lost count long ago. Yet, familiar as I am with the story and its events, I still turn the pages as though it's the first time, eager to find out what happens next....more
Ah, the Forsytes - what a family! One becomes irresistibly drawn into their escapades and foibles (especially if one has also seen the superb 1967 telAh, the Forsytes - what a family! One becomes irresistibly drawn into their escapades and foibles (especially if one has also seen the superb 1967 television series adapted from this trilogy and the companion trilogy, A MODERN COMEDY). There are characters you'll love to hate, and characters you'll almost hate yourself for loving - THE FORSYTE SAGA has it all as it chronicles this singular family from the Victorian era through the 1920s....more
8/13/15: I seem to be making a serious attempt at re-reading CENTENNIAL.
8/21/15: Yes indeed. At 280 pages, I'm nearly one-third of the way through, an8/13/15: I seem to be making a serious attempt at re-reading CENTENNIAL.
8/21/15: Yes indeed. At 280 pages, I'm nearly one-third of the way through, and enjoying it very much. Michener packs a heck of a lot of historical detail into the narrative, but as I said in my original comments below, this novel seems to have better pacing than some of the more formulaic ones that were to follow.
8/27/15: Michener has often been accused of cardboard characters in his epics, but I don't find that to be true of CENTENNIAL - many of the characters are larger-than-life, but the ordinary folk are quite well-drawn and believable.
8/31/15: Just under 200 pages left to go, and we've finally reached the early years of the 20th Century. This novel is a reminder that in his relentless drive westward, the white man was unforgivably inconsiderate to Native Americans as well as some of the wildlife, such as the buffalo, and we're still paying a price for these actions today.
9/04/15: Finished it. Although the final chapter flags a bit as Michener ties it all together, my Five-Star rating still stands, as does my opinion that CENTENNIAL is the overall best of Michener's historical epics. There were times when I felt I'd been dropped into one of the great screen westerns by John Ford or Howard Hawks.
My original comments: Although I haven't re-read it in full since the mid-1970s (when I read it twice), CENTENNIAL probably remains my favorite novel by Michener, who for many years was my favorite novelist. This was only the third of his really "big" novels (preceded by HAWAII and THE SOURCE) and the formula wasn't quite set in stone yet. This one had, I thought, great "sweep" to it (like HAWAII, it begins with the very creation of the land on which the story will unfold, and its earliest inhabitants), and some fascinating characters - Michener's powers as a storyteller were at their peak here (despite one or two reviewers who regarded it as a snooze-fest).
Taylor Caldwell is largely unknown today, and CAPTAINS AND THE KINGS is virtually the only novel of her left in print in mass-market paperback, and leTaylor Caldwell is largely unknown today, and CAPTAINS AND THE KINGS is virtually the only novel of her left in print in mass-market paperback, and less than a handful are available in oversized paperback editions. But from 1938 (DYNASTY OF DEATH) through her last published novel, ANSWER AS A MAN (1980), Caldwell kept countless readers enthralled with her powerful sagas of ambition and destiny, set during various periods of American and European history (along with a few diversions to Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece). Her novels were notable for their great emotional depth, as well as her unerring eye for detail - she was often (and justifiably) accused of verbosity, but she was nevertheless a thunderingly good storyteller.
CAPTAINS AND THE KINGS is one of her best novels, almost a late-career companion to DYNASTY OF DEATH and NEVER VICTORIOUS, NEVER DEFEATED (1954). Both novels are about men with a passion for success who let no one and nothing stand in the way of achieving it. Caldwell herself called CAPTAINS AND THE KINGS her "Kennedy novel," because the tragic family she chronicles here does indeed resemble that famous family. The novel's central character, Joseph Francis Xavier Armagh, arrives in America from Ireland as a penniless orphan - decades later he's one of America's wealthiest and most powerful men, with one ambition left: to make his son, Rory, the first Catholic president of the United States.
CAPTAINS AND THE KINGS is about power - actually, even more than that, it's about the power behind power, the people behind the scenes - bankers, investors, manufacturers - who control politicians and the destinies of nations.
I was besotted with CAPTAINS AND THE KINGS as a teenager, and read it four times between 1972 and 1975. I re-read it two years ago, well over 30 years after my last reading, and enjoyed it all over again.
If you've never read Taylor Caldwell, CAPTAINS AND THE KINGS is well worth seeking out, along with DYNASTY OF DEATH, TESTIMONY OF TWO MEN, and DEAR AND GLORIOUS PHYSICIAN. With historical fiction once again highly popular, it's time Caldwell was rediscovered.
5/12/12: 39 years after it was published, the paperback edition of CAPTAINS AND THE KINGS has gone out of print. It was the last mass-market paperback of a Caldwell title available - end of an era!...more
This book is always up there among my favorite "Top 5 Vines" along with ASTA'S BOOK, BRIMSTONE WEDDING, A DARK-ADAPTED EYE and HOUSE OF STAIRS - and, This book is always up there among my favorite "Top 5 Vines" along with ASTA'S BOOK, BRIMSTONE WEDDING, A DARK-ADAPTED EYE and HOUSE OF STAIRS - and, like those, it's one I've pretty much lost count of how many times I've read.
As with most of the other Vines (of which this was the 2nd), "old sins have long shadows" that cast themselves on the present, and Vine moves effortlessly between 1986, when the skeletons of a woman and child are discovered buried in the pet cemetery of a country estate, and 1976, when a diverse group of young people (some of them college students) sets up housekeeping there for one carefree summer that will ultimately have tragic consequences and cast those "long shadows".
Mystery writer and historian Julian Symons wrote that A FATAL INVERSION had the most brilliant ending of any mystery he'd ever read....more
**spoiler alert** This is another of the Vines that I seem drawn to re-read every three years or so, and it never disappoints, though I do have one re**spoiler alert** This is another of the Vines that I seem drawn to re-read every three years or so, and it never disappoints, though I do have one reservation about it.
As is usually the case with Vine, the past casts its shadow down the years - What was Gerald Candless's connection to a London murder that he later fictionalized in one of his novels? Why did he completely turn his back on his family of origin?
It's the story of a man who completely reinvents himself because he has a secret. Of course, no one knows this until his daughter undertakes researching a biography of him after his sudden death, and finds out that he wasn't exactly who they thought he was. It's also the story of the loveless marriage he undertakes for his own purposes, and the emotional abuse which ensues. He even ridicules his wife in his fiction, at which point she refuses to type any further manuscripts for him. He dotes on his daughters, and they in turn adore him, almost to the exclusion of their mother.
My one reservation about this book is that I don't 100% believe in Gerald Candless's "reinvention" of himself which involves completely shutting off his sexuality.
Other than that, this ranks among my Top Five Vines.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 3/14/15: I'm listening to the audiobook version performed by Harriet Walter, who does an excellent j•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 3/14/15: I'm listening to the audiobook version performed by Harriet Walter, who does an excellent job here as she did with ASTA'S BOOK, giving voice to the characters as well as the narrative. Once again I'm astonished at the wealth of detail about British life in that era Rendell works into the story, and how it affects the characters and their behavior/actions. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
If I were asked to recommend a book that would give someone a good idea of what life was like for many British people in the years during and after World War Two, I would give them A DARK-ADAPTED EYE. If I were asked to recommend a novel about old sins having long shadows, and family secrets, and the destructive power of love, I would give them A DARK-ADAPTED EYE. If I were asked to recommend a brilliantly conceived and executed mystery, or even just an exceptional "novel of psychological suspense," I would recommend A DARK-ADAPTED EYE.
This was the first novel by Ruth Rendell under her nom-de-plume, Barbara Vine - it signaled a departure from the other two kinds of novels she was known for at the time, her Chief Inspector Wexfords (police procedurals) and novels of psychological suspense such as A JUDGMENT IN STONE and THE TREE OF HANDS. It was also the first novel I read by her under either name. That was over 20 years ago, and my admiration for it only increases with each re-reading (which occur every 3 or 4 years or so).
Ruth Rendell is my favorite writer, period - well, except for Barbara Vine, that is.
6/18/12: Not feeling quite swept away by either of the two books I have going, I picked up A DARK-ADAPTED EYE again to re-read a chapter or two just to 'scout the territory,' so to speak. And before I knew it I'd read three, then four chapters. At such a point I guess I have to say that I'm 'officially' re-reading the book! It gets better with each re-reading, as do many of The Vines.
6/20: This one still gets five stars from me. Although most of the ratings for this book are in the three-to-five-star range, I'm mystified by the ones who rated it lower than that and found it boring. The word that best describes this book is 'masterful' and it very much sets the template for several of the Vines that have followed....more
TIME AND AGAIN is probably the most famous novel about time-travel published in past half-century, and one of the most convincing. I first read it aroTIME AND AGAIN is probably the most famous novel about time-travel published in past half-century, and one of the most convincing. I first read it around 1976 or 1977, when it was already becoming hard-to-find (fortunately it was brought back into print in the early 1980s and has remained available every since). I fell in love with it from the very first reading, and have re-read it several times since. It's an "illustrated novel" that's illustrated with photographs and woodcuttings of the early 1880s, when the main story is set.
TIME AND AGAIN is regarded by some as mystery, and others as borderline sci-fi - it also has a nice romantic touch as well. By the time you've finished it you will indeed believe that the past is all around us if we can just turn that corner...
Finney wrote a sequel in the 1990s, FROM TIME TO TIME, but unfortunatley it's not essential. Richard Matheson, who penned his own famous novel about time-travel, BID TIME RETURN, paid tribute to Finney in the screen version, the much-loved SOMEWHERE IN TIME, by giving the name "Finney" to the professor who wrote the book which helps Christopher Reeve go back in time.
A five-star rating for THE CARPETBAGGERS may raise a few eyebrows, but I'll defend it by saying that for sheer one-two punch storytelling and readabilA five-star rating for THE CARPETBAGGERS may raise a few eyebrows, but I'll defend it by saying that for sheer one-two punch storytelling and readability, it beats anything out there today. Harold Robbins was a natural storyteller (although he later severely over-estimated his abilities), and his powers of narrative drive reached their peak in this novel. Though considered quite bold and daring in its day, THE CARPETBAGGERS is actually rather mild compared to the onslaught of explicit novels which followed it (by Robbins, who never topped it, and others) - I daresay many teen novels today are probably more sexually explicit - but never mind, it's all there.
THE CARPETBAGGERS is made up of several narratives focusing on different characters (one actually became a separate film), but one character ties it all together: Jonas Cord. All of the characters are directly involved with and affected by him. It's ostensibly a roman a clef about Howard Hughes (the Cord character) and his adventures in Hollywood and as an aircraft pioneer from the 1930s through the 1950s (Robbins maintained that Bill Lear was also a model for his character, Jonas Cord) - along the way we become involved with characters who strongly resemble Hopalong Cassidy, Jean Harlow, and a hooker-turned-actress who eventually becomes a nun (ironically, THE CARPETBAGGERS was published several years before Dolores Hart, who did NOT start as a hooker, did exactly that).
For pure slam-band entertainment, THE CARPETBAGGERS can't be beat, and as one of the three most famous "dirty books" published in the 1950s/1960s, it probably holds up the best (the other two being PEYTON PLACE and VALLEY OF THE DOLLS) - this 2007 re-read was my third reading of the Robbins novel. I first read it as a teen around 1970 (and was familiar with it years before that), then re-read it in the early 1980s.
Other recommended Robbins: NEVER LOVE A STRANGER, A STONE FOR DANNY FISHER, 79 PARK AVENUE, and WHERE LOVE HAS GONE.
RANDOM HARVEST is one of the two James Hilton novels I re-read about every five years or so (the other is LOST HORIZON).
It's an engrossing tale of a mRANDOM HARVEST is one of the two James Hilton novels I re-read about every five years or so (the other is LOST HORIZON).
It's an engrossing tale of a man who loses his memory due to being shelled in the Great War, eventually finds happiness with a young actress, and then is knocked down on a Liverpool street. He regains consciousness and knows he's a member of a prominent and wealthy family. He begins to reconstruct his life again, knowing all the while that something - and someone - is missing. Eventually he takes over the reigns of the family business and restores it to success, and becomes a successful politician as well. Behind the scenes his enigmatic wife quietly sees to arrange dinner parties and gatherings for the people he must deal with. It seems she was his secretary after he returned to the family business...
If this sounds vaguely familiar, it's because RANDOM HARVEST became one of the screen's best-loved romantic films in 1942, starring Ronald Colman and Greer Garson (this was the year of Miss Garson's Oscar triumph in MRS. MINIVER, but she's equally good here).
RANDOM HARVEST is well worth seeking out - it was enormously popular and often turns up in used bookstores. It's a pity today's readers aren't as familiar with Hilton (other than LOST HORIZON) as he was a wonderful storyteller.
He was also quite clever - I recommend reading the novel before seeing the film, as it features a particular plot device which couldn't be duplicated in the film version, although it works very well on the page....more
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