It’s not that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a bad book. It’s rather that it’s a melodramatic string of rickety plot-devices. The melodrama is shown every time Victor Frankenstein has a breakdown or mopes over another relative or friend lost to his creature’s lust for revenge. And the plot-devices, well, lets just say that the way… Read more »
Posts Categorized: First Lines
Eerste zinnen: Zes jaar vrijdagmiddag
Al ruim zes jaar verschijnt er iedere zaterdagochtend een column van Daniël Lohues in het Dagblad van het Noorden. (Niet op dvhn.nl te vinden, dus een alternatief linkje.) In Zes jaar vrijdagmiddag worden de eerste zes jaar aan columns gebundeld. Als stukjesschrijver gaat Lohues nauwelijks in op de actualiteit. Hij vertelt over zijn jeugd, de… Read more »
First lines: Equal Rites
Equal Rites (the third Discworld novel) deals with magic, witches and wizards. And why men can’t be witches and woman can’t be wizards. And more of that. The first two Discworld novels I read were the first two Discworld novels. This third one (the sixth I read, despite what I claimed earlier) gets things right… Read more »
First lines: Just After Sunset
Just After Sunset is another collection of short stories by Stephen King. And since I can’t find an interesting angle to poke at it, I’ll keep it at these three observations from my notes: ONE: I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between Stationary Bike and Duma Key, with paintings influencing reality and all that…. Read more »
First lines: Odd and the Frost Giants
Odin, Thor and Loki are trapped in animal form by evil Frost Giants who have conquered Asgard, the city of the gods. Can Odd, a twelve-year-old boy reclaim Thor’s hammer, outwit the Frost Giants and release the gods? In the Odd and the Frost Giants (the 2008 World Book Day book) Neil Gaiman romps happily… Read more »