S.B. Howell

Tag: book review

  • Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

    —

    by

    sbhowell
    in ,

    Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a fun, short novel written by a writer skilled in coming up with science fiction ideas that comment on ordinary life. I encountered Philip K. Dick once before with Martian Time-Slip, but I found that I liked Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? a lot better because it…

  • Atlas Shrugged – Review, Summary, and Quotations Guide

    —

    by

    sbhowell
    in , , , , ,

    So, a little over two months ago, I started reading Atlas Shrugged. It’s a book my Dad has been suggesting I read for almost ten years, and since I’m currently unemployed and don’t have any more college reading to do, I figured I’d buckle down and git ‘er done. What I found is that Atlas…

  • Enemy Mine by Barry B. Longyear

    —

    by

    sbhowell
    in , , , ,

    I really fell in love with this book, but after talking to people about it at our scifi book group I’ve heard all kinds of reactions. Some people really liked it, some not so much… it’s a 100-page book, so the plot is very simple. It’s about an Earth soldier who crash-lands with a Drac…

  • The Martian by Andy Weir

    —

    by

    sbhowell
    in , , , , ,

    The Martian by Andy Weir is one of those rare cases of indie success that’s turned into mainstream success. Weir wrote the book for fans of his personal website, and thought his book would appeal mostly to hardcore science nerds. When a reader suggested he put it up as an ebook on Amazon, it climbed…

  • Japanese Language Review: 「魔女の侘急便」

    —

    by

    sbhowell
    in , , , ,

    「魔女の侘急便」が1985年に角野栄子から書いた児童書です。若い魔女のキキの話で、色々面白い瞬間があります。キキは気の強く、おてんばぽい少女ですので、おかしいキャラクタです。でも、私はキキと心が通じる感じがあります。彼女は暖かい性格の少女ですから、彼女の冒険と日常生活について読むことが楽しいです。 1989年にスタジオジブリは「魔女の侘急便」をアニメかにしました。英語で「Kiki’s Delivery Service」と名づけました。アニメバージョンは本と少し違う点があります。諸説には、キキは割りと楽な生活をしている、でも映画でキキは魔法力を失う事である。宮﨑駿は角野栄子に脚本を見せた時、角野さんが断りました。原典と違うすぎるとおもいました。宮﨑駿は角野の家に訪問して、スタジオジブリ。結局、角野さんは賛成して「魔女の侘急便」はアニメにしました。

  • The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells

    —

    by

    sbhowell
    in , , , , ,

    H.G. Wells is my favorite author, but when I tried to read this in high school I had to put it down after a few chapters. The first bit of it is extremely slow and if you’re not reading it closely it comes off as very racist. I must have been really tired the first…

  • Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

    —

    by

    sbhowell
    in

    Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein is a bit of a genre-founder, but politically bizarre. It has the prototype of men in powered space-suits fighting an insectoid enemy (“The Bugs”) which would remind a modern reader of StarCraft, but it also has repetitive scenes of the characters in a classroom being lectured to on what may…

  • The Dragon and the Needle by Hugh Franks

    —

    by

    sbhowell
    in ,

    When I read the email from the marketing assistant about The Dragon and the Needle, the plot sounded intriguing – a mysterious disease called ENDS (Extraordinary Natural Death Syndrome) is killing high-profile people around the world, seemingly by old age, and a British doctor and an American acupuncturist team up to find the causes and…

  • Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

    —

    by

    sbhowell
    in , , , , ,

    Lolita is both sensual and challenging, shocking and learned. Its content is lewd but moving and its style is high but not above blunt jokes. It’s hard for me to put how I feel about it into words, but I’ll do my best. Lolita is the story of a literary, effeminate pedophile who captures a…

  • “When Did You See Her Last?”

    —

    by

    sbhowell
    in , ,

    Welcome to Stain’d-by-the-Sea, where all the children are sharp, all the adults are foolish, and all the people are peculiar. My brother suggested I read “When Did You See Her Last?” while I was visiting family in Milwaukee. Since I haven’t read anything by Daniel Handler (alias Lemony Snicket) since the Unfortunate Events series, I…