Umney's Alley - RSS Feed

Library Police: An Interview with Dan Wells

Wednesday, 23 May 2012 10:07:03 CDT

A few months back, I discovered an amazing book called I Am Not a Serial Killer, which told the tale of a teenager named John Wayne Cleaver who was struggling to move away from his perceived destiny of becoming a violent serial killer. It was a book that I absolutely loved, gave way to a trilogy that was every bit as good, and made me a fan of Dan Wells, its author. This week, we got the chance to talk with Mr. Wells about not only the Cleaver books, but also his other writing, his podcast for writers, and the wide array of experiences he can pass along for anyone interested in being an author.

Episode 74: An Interview with Dan Wells

This week's lineup:

0:00 - 19:00	*What We've Been Reading:* We kick things off this week with Dietrich adding another author to his list of "authors who will make me feel insecure when I write" as a result of finishing the amazing American Gods. Also: ever wonder what it might look like if Australia has its own version of Red Dawn? Now you don't have to worry anymore. Meanwhile, I read the latest entry in the Harry Bosch series and discuss the possibility of the series coming to an end. But we wrap things up on a different note by reviewing an audiobook...that's six minutes long.
19:00 - 1:05:24	An Interview with Dan Wells: Dan Wells first came to my attention as the author of the John Wayne Cleaver series, an incredible set of books about a teenager struggling with his sociopathic tendencies. For Dietrich, though, Wells was the host of a great podcast called Writing Excuses, which looks at writing from an author's perspective. However we came to his work, though, there's no denying that we were both fans of his, and this week we got the chance to talk with him about all of that and more. We learn about why Wells may have creeped out a few morticians, hear about a writing professor who had a pretty insanely prestigious class, discuss historical fiction, and much more.
1:05:24 - 1:31:32	*Off the Bookshelves:* It's a week of cinematic oddballs this week, with both Dietrich and I discussing movies that are deeply flawed but not entirely without merit (though to greatly differing degrees). But more than that, it's time for some TV talk. We take a midseason look at Game of Thrones and discuss how well the interpretation is going; after that, we have a talk about the recently ended fourth season of Fringe, a season that fits right in with our "flawed but not bad" discussion that opened the section.

To download episode, right-click here and choose "Save As"

Subscribe via RSS or iTunes

Hope you enjoyed it! Join us next week for our 75th episode, where we'll be joined by author Robert Pobi for a discussion of his amazing debut novel Bloodman as well as his unusual path through the publishing industry.

Also, just a quick announcement that you'll hear more about next week: our next book club selection is Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell. We'll be discussing it in a few episodes, but if you want to get started, you should definitely do that. And if you want a reason why, check out this blurb I wrote for the book club announcement.

As always, we love to hear feedback on what you loved, what you hated, or what you'd like to hear more of, so don't hesitate to drop us a line either at the podcast e-mail address or at my personal address. And don't forget, you can browse the archive of all of our podcasts over at www.clydeumney.net/librarypolice. Thanks for listening!

Book Log: Blindsight / ****

Wednesday, 23 May 2012 09:48:39 CDT

If you were just evaluating Blindsight based on the ideas that it plays with and explores, it couldn't get a high enough rating. Here's a book that grapples with nothing less than the very nature of what it means to be intelligent and sentient, playing with provocative ideas that are explored in a variety of means. (After all, Blindsight is a book where the gene for vampirism being rediscovered is treated like a smaller plot point.) And there's also no denying that Blindsight boasts some truly incredible scenes, bringing a real touch of nightmarish horror to bear in what could have been just another first contact story. But for all the good that Blindsight contains - and make no mistake, there's quite a bit - there's also an incredibly dense writing style, a world that's seemingly designed to be opaque and difficult to understand, and plotting that becomes less and less coherent as the book continues. Blindsight is a hard science fiction book in the truest sense of the word (the last tenth of the book is a detailed appendix about the research Watts did), and in creating a world of virtual reality, cybernetically modified humans, feral vampiric predators, and blurred lines between machine and man, he sets up a world that needs a bit of hand-holding to help readers find their bearings. However, Blindsight isn't interested in doing that, and while I respect that decision, it makes it very hard to rip through Blindsight as much as I constantly wanted to. The end result is a book that I respected a lot more than I enjoyed; it's a thought-provoking, intelligent, scientifically interesting book that has enough ideas to fuel dozens of lesser works. But it's also a dense, sometimes impenetrable work that makes it difficult to ever really lose yourself in the rich world Watts has created.

Movie Log: Laura / *****

Tuesday, 22 May 2012 19:05:14 CDT

The title character of Laura is revealed to be a murder victim in the opening scenes of the film, and yet no one who's ever seen the film would argue with the fact that her name should be that title, given that she becomes an obsession not just of the characters, but of the film itself. In the short flashbacks we see her, it's not hard to see why Laura Hunt would be described as an object of adoration and envy; she's cultured, beautiful, charming, and charismatic. And everyone - an acid-tongued newspaper columnist, a washed-up socialite, her hired help - adored her and wanted to be her, so much so that it's hardly surprising to find the policeman investigating her murder becoming infatuated with her to an unsettling degree. Such is the strange world of Laura, where a taciturn policeman's necrophiliac romance drives the plot, a very gay columnist is motivated out of love for a woman, and everything has an odd, slightly off-kilter feel. It's not surprising to find that Laura influenced Twin Peaks a lot; both were in love with the theatrical over the logical, and were more interested in emotional intuitiveness than necessarily telling a logical tale. Nor is it surprising to discover Laura's roots as a stage play; there's so much good dialogue here, so many amazing lines, that it's not hard to blame the movie for luxuriating in its conversations. But all of these oddities and quirks are much of what make Laura such an unforgettable film. The performances are fine, although no one is the equal of Clifton Webb as Lydecker, the columnist, and the plotting is always interesting. But what makes Laura really work is the world it creates, a strange, insulated world where obsession takes the place of love and men show their devotion through control of their women, and where the actions taken by its inhabitants are more riveting for what they reveal about their psyches than for the machinations of the plot. It's one of the essential film noirs, and rightfully so; even if it didn't have the hard-boiled dialogue and beautiful use of shadows, the darkness at the core of all of its characters would be more than enough to place it firmly within the grim heart of the genre.

Movie Log: Dr. Seuss' The Lorax / ***

Tuesday, 22 May 2012 13:46:31 CDT

Here's the good news about The Lorax: it's actually, by and large, pretty faithful to the story of the book. What expansions are added are largely around the "present day" section of the story, rather than the actual tale of the Lorax and the envioronmental disaster he's a witness to. But being faithful to the mechanics of the plot, while nice, doesn't really detract from the sense that this animated version of The Lorax is still pretty heavily sugar-coated and loses some of the poignancy of the original tale in a tide of gags, silliness, and bright colors. It's not even that The Lorax is bad, really; it's more that there's never a sense that this was a story anyone felt particularly excited about in any way, nor that they had much more to say than the original story already did. The cast is fine, the animation is sharp and well-done enough, and it thankfully avoids the double-entendres and adult humor that so many animated features sometimes rely on. But all of that just establishes a basic competency. Is there anything there that's really of note? Not a thing. As I write this, it's been three days since I saw The Lorax with my kids, and I can barely remember anything about it. Even my son, who tends to gush about movies he goes to see, seemed to enjoy it just fine but pretty much moved on right after we left the theater. And I'd say that's pretty much what the movie deserves. "Not being a complete travesty" isn't the same as being a good movie, but that's about what I have to say about it.

Book Log: Cloud Atlas / *****

Friday, 18 May 2012 15:00:00 CDT

The instant I finished reading Cloud Atlas, I realized that this was a book I could immediately start back over with no regrets, just so I could savor it all over again. And while I'm not doing that (immediately, that is - a re-read is definitely happening within the next two weeks), the fact that the book is so rich and rewarding that it could be read again is testament enough to how much I loved it. I want to be careful about how much I say about this so as not to rob you of the fun of discovering how complex and tightly structured it really is, but I'll tell you this: Cloud Atlas is made up of a series of novellas, each written in an entirely different voice, style, and even time period. There's an 18th century epistolary novel, a modern crime mystery, a post World War I tale of a dissolute music composer, and even some science-fiction thrown into the mix. Over the course of these stories, Mitchell showcases an incredible literary talent of mimicry and creation, creating books that feel less like an author paying homage to the past and more like long-lost discovered texts. And on its own, that would be enough to make Cloud Atlas a great read. But what's more fascinating is the way that Mitchell gradually reveals connections between the stories, connections that are both literal and thematic. By the time the book hits its beautifully written final lines, you realize how elegantly Mitchell has set up themes that echo across the tales and across the centuries, creating a book that's far more than the sum of its parts. In short, Mitchell has created an absolute masterpiece - a literary work that's incredibly accessible and entertaining, a writer's showcase that's also clever and fun, and a deeply moving statement about humanity and our tendencies and weaknesses.

Library Police #73: Black Hawk Down

Friday, 18 May 2012 14:55:05 CDT

It's Book Club time at the podcast, and this month we're talking about Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down, one of the seminal books in military non-fiction, as well as one of the finest pieces of non-fiction writing, period. It's a harrowing account of a military battle gone horribly awry, and Bowden does a miraculous job juggling the big picture and the small, as well as the American perspective and the perspective of the Somalis who were fighting against them. It's an incredible book, and this week Dietrich and I try to dissect it and see how exactly he created such an extraordinary piece of work.

Episode 73: Black Hawk Down

This week's lineup:

0:00 - 35:05	*E-mails and What We've Been Reading:* We start off this week's episode with several e-mails, including some thoughts on books that appeal to the senses and a lot of reaction to our science-fiction episode. But the recent reads don't get neglected either. I've been on a short story binge as I've finished off the collected works on H.P. Lovecraft as well as tearing through a series of short stories by Joe Lansdale. Dietrich, on the other hand, is filling up on the classics for the week, reading through one of the most famous books by Victor Hugo as well as diving into a modern classic by Neil Gaiman.
35:05 - 1:23:22	Black Hawk Down: If there was a single non-fiction book that Dietrich and I might hold among the best works the genre has ever produced, there's a good chance that Black Hawk Down would be that book. A harrowing, intense account of an American mission in Somalia that goes drastically awry, Black Hawk Down is a compelling, riveting book that focuses on the people involved in the event while never losing a sense of the bigger picture that's going on. It's an incredible juggling act, one that manages to make numerous salient points about how things go wrong while never falling into easy answers, to say nothing of managing to capture the Somali perspective just as solidly. It's a book we both hold in the highest regard, not just as military writing, but as writing, pure and simple, and this week we discuss it in our book club.
1:23:22 - 1:53:08	*Off the Bookshelves:* This week, Dietrich plunges into the world of low-budget, indie films that have an audience of three or four people when he sees a little-known movie called The Avengers. Turns out, he liked it in spite of its low-key, understated feel. Me, I'm checking out Indonesian action flicks and Polanski-helmed takes on Shakespeare, so I've got a bit more variety going on. But we wrap up the week with a discussion of the latest season of Mad Men, which just may be the best this already superb show has put on to date.

To download episode, right-click here and choose "Save As"

Subscribe via RSS or iTunes

Hope you enjoyed it! Join us next week when we get the chance to interview Dan Wells, an author whose work we've raved about on the podcast several times.

Movie Log: A Man Escaped / *****

Wednesday, 16 May 2012 12:13:14 CDT

To watch A Man Escaped is to watch a movie that is stripped of almost everything we expect. The film is about a Frenchman named Fontaine who has been imprisoned by the Nazis and is presumably waiting to be executed; we watch his day to day routine, we watch him strain against the boundaries of his imprisonment, and we watch him as he attempts to figure out how to escape. That's really all there is to the film. We get glimpses of the world beyond Fontaine's cell, but only through Fontaine's eyes; we spend most of the film within his tiny cell, trapped in his mind just as he is. We get to know a few prisoners in tiny doses, but not much, and the guards and Nazis are a presence, not a person. The music is used sparingly, and the acting is restrained. And yet, for as pared down as the film is, it's never less than absolutely riveting in its tale. In telling the (true) story of this man, director Robert Bresson gives us a glimpse of someone struggling to maintain their humanity and hope in the face of true despair, a struggle we realize that all of the men are fighting in some way or another, to varying degrees of success. We get a sense of how hope for these men was not measured in friendship or belief in a fellow man, but in passed notes, shared guard duties, and more. It's a riveting glimpse of life behind the walls of this POW prison, and it's done without over-emphasizing the drama that such a situation already contains. And yet, even without feeling the need to underline it, we still truly feel every aspect of this man's life, from his bursts of optimism to his crushing realizations of death, and more. A brilliant, thoughtful, seemingly simple film that's about far more than just a man escaping prison, although it's about that in a pure, fascinating way.

Movie Log: Gun Crazy / *****

Wednesday, 16 May 2012 11:58:02 CDT

There's something glorious about low-budget, inventive film noir; if there was ever a genre that gained from a feeling of scraping by and having a little more grime and dirt to it, it would be that one. And in my opinion, Gun Crazy deserves to be mentioned right along side Detour as classic low-budget noir done right. From its odd main character - a man whose interest in guns runs right up to the border of sexual and then beyond, and yet a man who is also unable to kill with those guns - to its tempting, alluring, pitch-black femme fatale, Gun Crazy boasts a great story to begin with, as these two meet and then draw each other into a crime spree as much about their gun fetish as it is the crimes and money. But even with a great story and some intriguing characters, what really makes Gun Crazy stick out is how much it does with how little. There are some incredible sequences here, with the most popular standout being a single-take bank robbery all filmed from the backseat of the getaway car. But for me, the knockout comes at the very end, a dreamlike, slightly surreal confrontation in a fog-drenched meadow that feels like a nightmare ripped from a Kurosawa film. Gun Crazy (which was originally titled Deadly is the Female, a fitting title that also has the unfortunate side effect of being far more dull and less interesting than Gun Crazy) is a fantastic piece of noir, one that feels less polished than many major works and yet gains from that, giving the proceedings a far more subversive feel. Great stuff.

Movie Log: The Lavender Hill Mob / **** �

Wednesday, 16 May 2012 11:25:15 CDT

An outwardly meek and dull bank employee finds a way not only to steal a million pounds' worth of gold, but even to smuggle it safely out of the country. Such is the setup for The Lavender Hill Mob, widely regarded to be one of the best British films of all time and the best of the Ealing studios comedies - a claim I might find to be a little overstated, but not by much. You can't say enough good about Alec Guinness, who plays the main role to perfection; while he exudes a meek disposition, the glimpses we get of his dissatisfaction, ego, and desire for more make him a far more surprising and complex character than any amount of dialogue ever could. But really, the whole cast is a joy here, from Guinness's souvenir-crafting friend to the pair of professional criminals lured in by a hilariously obvious "trap" of sorts. Part of what makes The Lavender Hill Mob so much fun is how seriously it takes the crime; while there's a lot of comedy that comes by way of the characters and their interactions, the crime itself is played straight, which gives the film a lot of heft and even some tension along the way, most notably in a strangely disorienting chase down the spiral stairs of the Eiffel Tower. But in the end, it's definitely a comedy, and while it's not always laugh-out-loud funny, it's consistently entertaining and warm-hearted, and the humor nicely comes through the well-drawn characters. The fact that The Lavender Hill Mob is so well-regarded comes less from it being a "great" or hefty film and more from the fact that it's one of those rare films where everything just works flawlessly, all the way to the beautifully underplayed but effective final shot.

Movie Log: Fringe (Season 4) / **** �

Saturday, 12 May 2012 22:00:00 CDT

Season 4 of Fringe began with a massive reset of the series, erasing one major character from the show and then allowing the entire "history" of the series to reset itself as well, redefining the world of the show as it would have been without the presence of Peter Bishop. It's an incredibly huge gamble to do such a thing, particularly when your show is constantly threatened by cancellation (a threat which luckily was dodged at the last moment as the show was given a shortened final fifth season). And I'd be lying if I said that, even now that I've seen the season's complete arc, the gamble entirely paid off. That's not to say that the season was a failure; there's something fascinating about re-exploring characters with a fresh new eye, and much of the show's plotting in this reset world allowed the show to re-explore plot points from all the various seasons in a new and creative way, all the way to the motivation of the season's major villain, which is transformed as a result of the reset. At the same time, the decision tosses out three years of character development and history, forcing the viewer to lose much of what they've invested in the series - and when the characters and history are much of the appeal of the show, I'm not sure that the gains of the trade outweigh the losses. But in the end, part of what I enjoy so much about Fringe is its willingness to do the unexpected, even when it doesn't always work. Even in the first season, the show was willing to try anything for a while, giving us some of the most insane and memorable moments of the series, and at its peaks this season, the show delivered all over again. And once again, the show has established how incredible it is at combining monster-of-the-week episodes with the ongoing themes of the show perfectly, allowing the two halves of the show to play off of each other and deepen the discussion. Was season 4 as good as the show has been for the past two years? No, not entirely. But am I still a big fan of the show, a fan of the season, and quite happy that we get a chance to see the show off on its own terms? Most definitely.