Sunrise, Sunset
A Florida woman with balcony views shoots the sunrise and sunset. Her boyfriend and then other people add poems or words to the photos. Simple premise, elegantly done.
Enjoyed the story of each sunset being done by a famous painter, trying to figure out which one it looked like. No surpriseĀ that one went first.
āI never met a sunset I didnāt like. It means dinnerās almost ready.ā Nice.
As expected, thereās a lot of rebirth and ālife goes onā with the sunrise, while sunset is an opportunity to reflect. Other themes include gratitude and, of course, religion.
Iām sure most people would find these photographs great. As a professional photographer for over 25 years, I could quibble about that, but what would be the point?
Yet despite the preeeety pictures I found myself getting bored halfway through. Donāt try to read/look at this in one sitting.
3/5
Violin
Rather than a history of the violin, this is ten essays on various subjects, some a lot more fun than others.
Starts right off with how the violin was widely considered an instrument of the devil; now we know where Charlie Daniels got that idea. Another chapter talks about the violin in fictionāSherlock Holmes made the list!ābut probably because I was looking forward to it so much it didn’t live up to expectations.
Then the real problems start, with chapter 4. To understand anything thatās been said here you need a ton of knowledge about violin playing, or even music in general, particularly notation. Is this really intended for a general audience? Because Iād say there are a lot more people interested in music who donāt know anything about playing it than those who do. Because of this, entire chapters are of absolutely no interest at all. Iād just seen one of Mozartās concertos the day before I read about it, and still had no idea what this was talking about. What should have been informative became only boring.
So thereās some interesting tidbits here, but so much of it talks in musical terms that leave us non-musicians in the metaphorical dust.
2.5/5
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do… But You Could’ve Done Better
Stories about how people broke up or were broken up with, obviously not edited, with the author including drawings to punctuate the story. Thatās it. Itās like one of those Facebook links that take you to Reddit or some such.
The funniest parts were before and after the main event, like the dedication: āTo that one dude, for being such an inspirational dick.ā And in the blurbs, āOh my god, you have a book!ā – Hilaryās Mom.
But does she really? Other than some drawings that only highlighted the storyāwithout adding anything originalāthis was all stuff sent to her. But even the stories werenāt that great. The author states in the forward that she drew a doodle in response to her own breakup, and it made her laugh and feel better; great thought, but I didnāt find much that was funny here. Sure, there were a few laughable instances, but most were either sad or simply mean.
2/5
Planet Song
An advanced long-lived race of fish base their entire civilization and economy on music, particularly sounds made by living beings. Having found the ultimate songāhumpback whalesāthey come to Earth to take some home, in a story obviously inspired by the fourth Star Trek movie. (With a small touch of Harlan Ellisonās original draft of City on the Edge of Forever, where sound could be addicting.)
This is written on a huge scale, taking place over hundreds of years and having around thirty points of view. The main character seems to be one of the very few females of the Fahr species, who manages to work her way into a position of power and then just as quickly loses it. Thereās a lot of political wrangling, both within the alien ship and the humans who finally figure out thereās trouble out there. Telescope technology is a fun running theme.
But for such a huge scope there isnāt all the much that takes place; most of it is talking. Thankfully thereās a lot of small touches of humor, and while it never gets boring I wish there could have been more to it. Thereās an appendix that explains some of the aspects of the Fahr race that seemed incomprehensible while reading this book, so it might have been more helpful at the beginning.
Thereās no actual ending, but since at the start it tells you this is the first of a trilogy, I didnāt mind.
3.5/5
Improper Conduct
The rich daughter of a Chicago politician runs to her first love to help her find her runaway sister. He cons her into having sex with him, not that she’s at all reluctant. In addition to that he makes her live the life of the homeless people sheās encounteringāwell, he cheats a bitārather than go right out and find the sister, whoās in danger. Heās a bit of an ass, but then sheās no prize either. By the end they understand each other better, show they regret the times they acted like jerks, and come together. . . and oh yeah, remember about the sister in danger.
This was kinda bland. Canāt think of much to say about it. Actually a good story frame for the silly romance, but they spent so much time denying their feelings I got exasperated.
3/5
;o)