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Tag: Why You Should Read

Death, Dismemberment and Dark Humor

December 1, 2023 /

Why You Should Read: Joe Abercrombie

Ultimately, reading fantasy is embarking on a journey through the author’s imagination. They pull you into their own unique world and let you experience their personality through the lens of their creations. While some use their medium to create worlds of wonder, Abercrombie’s crafts a world that is brutal, gritty and unforgiving. The British writer’s First Law universe, currently spanning two trilogies, three standalones and two short story collections, is a place where darkness and depravity are commonplace, with violence and corruption lurking around every corner waiting to destroy those too foolish or unlucky enough to stumble into them. But what Abercrombie does so well and what sets him apart from his grimdark contemporaries is striking the perfect balance between the wickedness of his world and his own razor sharp wit. You laugh, cry in frustration and yell in horror, and often all in one scene, thanks to the perfectly hewn skill of this writer.

An author’s voice is always going to be his greatest weapon. The unique delivery of an author’s expression is the thing that sets his work apart; the creative flourishes, the thematic turns and twists, the character details that give life to the story. Some authors like a subtle touch, gentle embellishments to craft something which is intricate and entrancing. By contrast, Abercrombie beats his readers with a warhammer while delivering a battlecry. His authorial voice is so strong it easily makes him distinct amongst an overabundance of grimdark authors crowding the fantasy shelves. By allowing his humor to shine through he adds streaks of color to his otherwise bleak world, making his stories feel like  something entirely unique. Every page bleeds with personality and draws you further and further into the story like the most charismatic of performers.

Abercrombie’s stories encompass the grand conflicts of wizards and kings spanning empires and nations, but are always driven by deeply personal tales of revenge, jealousy and pride. There is the unflinching sense of classic tragedy that hangs over every one of his works, as characters struggle to overcome their flaws and survive in an indifferent world. In this regard, there is no one better. He has mastered the art of turning his characters into real people, or as close as you’re likely to find. He takes some of the most despicable figures ever put to page and lets you get to know them so intimately you can’t help but root for them, despite knowing all their failings and ugly flaws. You become invested in their struggles and hope like hell they can somehow figure out a way to make it through the meat grinder that is their dark little universe. It’s a trick that Abercrombie pulls off time after time in his novels, and it pays off in spades.

Abercrombie is not for everyone. He is brutal in his treatment of characters and readers alike. He is not one for sentimentality or a strong sense of satisfaction. Characters fail, are maimed, die unfulfilled, while storylines diverge from the expected and twist into horrifying turns on the classic tropes. Reading First Law is like chewing bittersweet candy, it’s all sour medicine and you need a strong stomach. He also defies the tendency of many modern writers to delve into the mechanics of his magic systems and offer explanations of the intricacies of his world. His world exists solely to serve as a vehicle to present his characters and conflicts to the reader, as streamlined and functional as he can make it. But for fans, these are features, not flaws. Abercrombie crafts his story with the expert precision of a butcher carving up a carcass to deliver a serving of perfectly cut steaks. But if that’s what you’re looking for, there’s really no one better.

Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he’s hell of a writer.

Reliving Childhood Trauma

October 12, 2023 /

Why You Should Read: Alvin Schwartz

What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever read? Stephen King? Dean Koontz? Does Poe keep you up at night? Amateurs, one and all. There is one man standing head and shoulders above the rest. An author so twisted and utterly without regard for his readers mental wellbeing he should have warning labels plastered across all his books. I propose that without doubt the most terrifying author of all time is Mr. Alvin Schwartz. Who the hell is Alvin Schwartz you might ask? The man whose dark mind spawned the most horrifying collection of stories ever aimed at children, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. 

For anyone who managed to make it through your school’s scholastic book fair without falling prey to this man’s unhinged machinations, rest assured you spared your young minds a lifetime of trauma. Schwartz’s claim to fame involved taking urban legends, short stories and dark folklore and combining them with some of the most truly haunting artwork ever put to page to give birth to the aforementioned series of kids novels. Having read these books in my highly impressionable preteen years, I can confidently say I doubt there is any other author who has pumped more nightmare fuel into the overactive imaginations of children. Some highlights include a housewife embracing cannibalism, an unfortunate bride being locked in a trunk and spiders exploding out of a woman’s face. 

To say these books were unsettling is a disservice. They were terrible, disgusting, wretched and completely irresponsible to give to children. They gave me nightmares and haunted my daydreams for years. But maybe that was because I just kept reading them. Something about these books just drew me back again and again, beckoning me with their sirens song. I knew they only led to more misery, yet I couldn’t look away. They touched something inside me, some deep part that liked the fear and the sense of danger. I was hooked.

Apparently, so were lots of kids. The series has collectively sold over seven million copies and appears on numerous children’s bestseller lists. Make no mistake, a quick google search will reveal the many failed attempts by suburbanite parent groups who have campaigned against them over the years. But despite every controversy and criticism, this series of terrifying little books has endured as a cultural phenomenon that is a touchstone for a generation who still remember their traumatic experiences with fondness. It’s almost like a little fear is good for you. Perhaps that’s why the tradition of telling ghost stories around the campfire is still so prevalent. Maybe Schwartz’s devious plot was less to incite fear in the unsuspecting youth and more to capture their attention with something a little outside the typical required reading materials. We may never know unless the man himself returns like one of the horrible characters in his terrible little books. 

RIP Mr Schwartz.

An Ode to The King of Horror

October 4, 2023 /

Why You Should Read: Stephen King

Growing up as the quintessential rebellious kid who railed against anything and everything, from school, to my parents, to the government, of course found nothing but fault in the recommended reading material I was assigned by institutions of higher learning. Every book I was given by my teachers was tainted with the unmistakable scent of self-satisfied institutionalized smugness. These classics, these important pieces of literature, were nothing more than overblown relics of bygone eras, just like my teachers. I wanted to read things that were gritty, cool, unconcerned with appeasing the literary establishment. I found them. Hunter S. Thompson and Jack Keurauc, Palahniuk and Buckowski and others I thought my teachers would not approve of. I devoured these books, carried them around proudly, and, when asked about them, I would discuss the most heinous and controversial parts. I was insufferable, basically. 

But through all of this, one author in particular survived the jump from the literary counterculture of my youth to more mainstream maturity of my 20’s as I eventually settled into something resembling a human being. That was the one and only, Stephen King. I first discovered the King of Horror in middle school, far too early for his subject material. But, at the time, reading his books felt like a taboo, like I was getting away with something. So of course I was hooked. I read classics like It, Tommyknockers and Carrie as a preteen, sneaking them out of my dad’s collection and the library like I was smuggling the most illicit of banned materials. As I got older, I took on some of his more ambitious projects like The Dark Tower and The Stand. I found that no matter how old I got or what stage of life I was in, I never ran out of options to return to the well for a taste of that unique blend of storytelling that only King can produce.

People will recommend King for a whole host of reasons. He is, afterall, a massively popular, bestselling author who needs no introduction from the likes of me. His advocates will bring up his groundbreaking ideas, his masterful use of suspense and his genre defining contributions to horror, praise his immersive worlds and the ambitious scope of his interconnected universe. But over the years, what I’ve come to really love about King is his perpetual place as a cultural touchstone. The massive and pervasive body of work he continues to create has developed a sort of timelessness that few other authors have ever enjoyed during their lifetimes. Hell, the man has lived to see adaptation after adaptation of the majority of his books, to the point that classics like It and Pet Semetary have already been remade during his own lifetime. He has reached a level of cultural omnipresence only approached by the likes of comic book heroes and the Simpsons. 

After I moved on from the wayward literary ways of my youth, I found King crossed all sorts of social boundaries like few authors could. People from every walk of life adore his monstrous creations, they are the darlings of literary connoisseurs, artists and blue collar workers alike. Whether they read the books or watch the movies, almost everyone has found themselves drawn to something that has spawned from the depths of King’s imagination. I’ve made connections that would never have been possible without being a King fan, discussed books with people who hate reading, connected with people half my age and double it, found ways to bridge cultural divides that seemed like gaping chasms, just by being a fan. Turns out that Jack Torrance and Pennywise terrify millennials and baby boomers alike. No matter where you come from, we all cry for John Coffey and we all cheer for Andy Dufresne. I’m not here to tell you everyone will fall in love with King’s writing style. He’s not for everyone and he definitely has his detractors. There will always be those who shun King for their preconceived perceptions, seeing him as only an author of mass-market shlock and airport bookstore bestsellers. His books are weird and shocking, often challenging and frequently off putting. His style is meandering at times and he has a penchant for frustrating endings. But if you’ve never tried before, you might want to try giving the old wordslinger a shot. Read the books, watch the movies, binge the 6 hour 1994 miniseries of The Stand with national treasure Gary Sinise, whatever suits your taste. Maybe you’ll find a lifelong source of entertainment. Maybe you’ll become a fan like me. Maybe you won’t. But as an icon of American Literature, King refuses to be ignored.

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