Jacopo Ferrari Ferrari itibaren Bademli Köyü, 21950 Bademli Köyü/Ergani/Diyarbakır, Türkiye itibaren Bademli Köyü, 21950 Bademli Köyü/Ergani/Diyarbakır, Türkiye

Once you get used to the in-your-face directness of the dialogue and the brutal absurdism on display, this ends up being, next to Remarque's classic "All Quiet on the Western Front," one of the best anti-war messages ever.

I can not but feel that mankind would be better off without this book and others of its kind. Golding did much that was right, crafting complex characters, a compelling setting and plot, but he failed when it came to the necessary contrast between good and evil. Any book of caliber must have this contrast. Great books will give us a hero with qualities we admire and strive to emulate, which qualities are then contrasted against evils. One source of contrast derives from other characters of less than noble ideals, another source is the evils and trials thrust upon our hero by the world, still more contrast is found within the confines of our hero's mind as he struggles with choices where his interest conflicts with his ideals. Most, if not all, great works will use a combination of these methods. Now, I fully admit that the Lord of the flies does have contrast, compelling contrast even, but it flops, quite miserably, because of the unbalanced nature of that contrast. In Lord of the Flies the good qualities we see in the characters exist solely to contrast the evil that crushes them. Golding places a few good characters in amongst the rest simply because he needs victims, upon whom to inflict his evils. If he did not have victims we (his readers) would be unable to fully comprehend the horror of his book. William Golding's book failed in contrast not because it was lacking, but because he forgot this one simple truth: The bad exists only to contrast the good. The Lord allows evil in his creation for the sole purpose of contrast. Without evil we could not appreciate the good, indeed we would be unable to work towards good because there would be no evil to work against. But it is imperative that we never forget that life exists so that we may find joy, and the joy is out there. A good book will show us men and women that flourish despite the evils surrounding them, and the trials assailing them. Such books inspire and strengthen us. The Lord of the Flies shows hate ruling unchallenged by love, and madness conquering reason. It is a book wholly dark and disturbing with nothing to lift it up. Such a combination in characteristics I cannot help but feel mankind would be better off not reading in their novels. Note: A gospel take on contrast can be found here: Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi, chapter 2, verses 11 - 16 (just read the whole chapter it is a good one)

What was originally Books of Blood Vol. IV is a solid, and at times brilliant, collection of Clive Barker fiction. "The Inhuman Condition" -- A vagrant picks up a rope lined with three knots after the gang he's with beat up an old drunk. The vagrant then decides to undo the knots thus unleashing demons once under the drunks' control. ***1/2 (There aren't any heroes here and the action is grim but early Barker was like that. Very well written. "The Body Politic" -- A man's hands decide to revolt against him and unite all hands on every person to world domination. ***** (This sounds ridiculous to describe but Barker makes the ridiculous seem believable! "Revelations" -- A preacher's wife finds herself haunted by a ghost couple who were murdered in the motel she is now staying in. ***** (One of Barker's best. . .a masterpiece of short story horror fiction. The highlight of the volume). "Down, Satan!" -- A man tests God's existence by dedicating his life to building a personal hell on earth. ***** (Another marevlous, if all too short, Barker short story. The short amount of action begs you for more). "The Age of Desire" -- A victim of a failed experiment based on sexuality, Jerome travels the city looking to love anything and everything. ** (I just couldn't get into this one. . .too depraved even by Barker standards. Too horrific and too sexual. . .which is saying something if you've read Barker.

This is a very fun read if you're at all interested in Punk. It's all oral history--it's got the groupies, the managers, the club owners, the writers, the wives, the siblings, the suits and the punks themselves. It's crazily unbelievable at times, often very, very funny, and really sad too (as any book that deals with these personalities must be). What struck me the most was how little a deal the movement was. We think of the Dolls and Iggy Pop and their ilk as these huge celebrities. At the time, though, they really weren't. They were sleeping on their managers' couches and trying to get jobs and dope. The idea that these were just goof-off kids was, well, surprising.