2006-06-12
On Being Funny
Author: Eric Lax
Subtitled "Woody Allen and Comedy", this is not a biography, though it reveals a lot of Allen's character (the same author would write a biography in 1992), nor a book full of jokes, though there are some good ones inside. Rather, it is a thoughtful discussion of the serious business of comedy, constructed as much as possible of quotes from Allen's own mouth. As Chapter 7 opens, "digging a grave at a cemerery would be funnier to watch than two guys cutting a comedy," Ralph Rosenblum said one day as he and Woody edited Sleeper.
Indeed, Sleeper (Woody Allen's 1974 Christmas vehicle) was the focal point of much of the narrative. Lax spent about two years following Allen around to gather material for the book, and during that time Sleeper was written, shot, edited, and screened successfully. Allen's standup, Broadway, and television career is also covered, but movies were he made his mark and the movies he had done to date are the focus of the majority of this 1975 work.
This is the kind of book that would be made into a DVD extra for a "collector's edition" today, and it would have been better for it. Illustrating points about comedic films by quoting several pages of scripts is a losing proposition. As was economical then, the only photographs are together in the middle of the book on a series of glossy pages, and the rest of the text offers no breaks. Like a Woody Allen movie, however, it is not too long and maintains a constant level of interest from start to finish. If you're interested enough to pick up the book in the first place, seeing it through to the end will not be a chore.
I can only recommend On Being Funny to three kinds of people: fans of Sleeper, for whom half of this book is a "making-of" documentary, fans of Woody Allen, and people fascinated by the construction and deconstruction of comedy. I picked this up from the free giveaway dumping ground outside the local used book store because I'm a little of the second and more of the latter. I have never seen Sleeper and felt a little left out from some of the material, although the explanations are mostly adequate. I see that the movie is out on DVD: watch it and read this book afterward if you're intrigued as well as amused. Otherwise I doubt this is the best general-interest book on the famous writer/director/actor.
Subtitled "Woody Allen and Comedy", this is not a biography, though it reveals a lot of Allen's character (the same author would write a biography in 1992), nor a book full of jokes, though there are some good ones inside. Rather, it is a thoughtful discussion of the serious business of comedy, constructed as much as possible of quotes from Allen's own mouth. As Chapter 7 opens, "digging a grave at a cemerery would be funnier to watch than two guys cutting a comedy," Ralph Rosenblum said one day as he and Woody edited Sleeper.
Indeed, Sleeper (Woody Allen's 1974 Christmas vehicle) was the focal point of much of the narrative. Lax spent about two years following Allen around to gather material for the book, and during that time Sleeper was written, shot, edited, and screened successfully. Allen's standup, Broadway, and television career is also covered, but movies were he made his mark and the movies he had done to date are the focus of the majority of this 1975 work.
This is the kind of book that would be made into a DVD extra for a "collector's edition" today, and it would have been better for it. Illustrating points about comedic films by quoting several pages of scripts is a losing proposition. As was economical then, the only photographs are together in the middle of the book on a series of glossy pages, and the rest of the text offers no breaks. Like a Woody Allen movie, however, it is not too long and maintains a constant level of interest from start to finish. If you're interested enough to pick up the book in the first place, seeing it through to the end will not be a chore.
I can only recommend On Being Funny to three kinds of people: fans of Sleeper, for whom half of this book is a "making-of" documentary, fans of Woody Allen, and people fascinated by the construction and deconstruction of comedy. I picked this up from the free giveaway dumping ground outside the local used book store because I'm a little of the second and more of the latter. I have never seen Sleeper and felt a little left out from some of the material, although the explanations are mostly adequate. I see that the movie is out on DVD: watch it and read this book afterward if you're intrigued as well as amused. Otherwise I doubt this is the best general-interest book on the famous writer/director/actor.
2006-06-10
The City of the Dead
Author: Lloyd Rose
EDA-49 w/Eigth Doctor, Fitz, Anji
Some books require you to concentrate. When you mix magic and time travel you're likely to get one of those books. It's unfortunate that I wasn't in the mood for such a thing, because that's just what you get in The City of the Dead.
For some reason I've never liked any art set in New Orleans. It just seems to attract authors that don't want to play by any rules. Whether it's voodoo, vampires, or simpler pagan magic, science fiction or fantasy, a story set in New Orleans always seems to mean the author didn't think out the rules for the extraordinary occurences. To write speculative fiction you have to make up the rules for your world and follow them. Revealing them is optional, but the reader has to be able to deduce them as needed for the story to work. This author tries to reconcile blood magic and elemental spirits with artron energy and the rest of the vast Dr. Who canon. The result is disappointing.
On the plus side, Anji's minor scenes are well done. Lloyd Rose is a woman's pen name, and Anji feels like a woman again. It's too bad there weren't any other significant female characters. Fitz has one scene key to the plot but doesn't do much otherwise.
This story may have significance in the EDA's amnesia arc. I won't know until later. Some things happened that could mean more of the Doctor's memory is starting to come back. On the other hand, there was so much wierd stuff happening that I don't know if it means anything. This is a book to read studiously or skip. A light reading will only be frustrating.
EDA-49 w/Eigth Doctor, Fitz, Anji
Some books require you to concentrate. When you mix magic and time travel you're likely to get one of those books. It's unfortunate that I wasn't in the mood for such a thing, because that's just what you get in The City of the Dead.
For some reason I've never liked any art set in New Orleans. It just seems to attract authors that don't want to play by any rules. Whether it's voodoo, vampires, or simpler pagan magic, science fiction or fantasy, a story set in New Orleans always seems to mean the author didn't think out the rules for the extraordinary occurences. To write speculative fiction you have to make up the rules for your world and follow them. Revealing them is optional, but the reader has to be able to deduce them as needed for the story to work. This author tries to reconcile blood magic and elemental spirits with artron energy and the rest of the vast Dr. Who canon. The result is disappointing.
On the plus side, Anji's minor scenes are well done. Lloyd Rose is a woman's pen name, and Anji feels like a woman again. It's too bad there weren't any other significant female characters. Fitz has one scene key to the plot but doesn't do much otherwise.
This story may have significance in the EDA's amnesia arc. I won't know until later. Some things happened that could mean more of the Doctor's memory is starting to come back. On the other hand, there was so much wierd stuff happening that I don't know if it means anything. This is a book to read studiously or skip. A light reading will only be frustrating.
2006-06-09
Dark Progeny
Author: Steve Emmerson
EDA-48, w/Eigth Doctor, Fitz, Anji
Anji is sick. A virus is affecting the telepathic centers of her brain, and she needs medical care from an advanced civilisation. The problem is, the same virus seems to be affecting the TARDIS, and it's out of control. The Doctor desperately crash lands on Ceres Alpha, right in the path of a moving, terraforming city-machine whose volume may be measured in cubic miles. Also in the path of the machine is an archeological dig site which turned up some very interesting artifacts. Why isn't the CEO of WorldCorp stopping his machine from running right over the dig? How did Anji get sick in the safety of the TARDIS? And what does her illness have to do with the twelve couples who recently gave birth with no surviving babies?
Dark Progeny is good work. The mysteries are set up early, the conclusion is satisfying, and in between there's no real desire to put the book down.
The Doctor is front and center in this one. His amnesia isn't played up too much and his character is strong. He gets plenty of "screen time" because Anji is mostly out of commission and Fitz is out of the picture. This is, however, the primary criticism: Fitz's side story seems to be written in as an afterthought when the author realizes he needs to survive too. The story would have been even smoother if the Doctor had only one companion. Maybe the manuscript was drafted for the Doctor (it could have been any of them, since the surrounding events of the eigth Doctor's life have no bearing on the story) and one companion, and when it was published as EDA-48 Fitz just had no place in the story. To his credit, Emmerson does not devote unnecessary pages to Fitz or Anji just for the sake of having their names printed more often. This story is about Ceres Alpha, featuring the Doctor.
As a secondary criticism, the big bad guy is a little shallow. But other characters are not. I don't think he's shallow because of the author's inability to create a more interesting character but rather because there isn't meant to be any ambiguity about him. He is the Bad Guy of the Month. Let him be.
I'd say that given the lack of strong ties to the ongoing EDA arc a person could pick up Dark Progeny at any time and enjoy. I recommend this story for fans of futuristic sci-fi that want to be shown how Dr. Who does it well.
EDA-48, w/Eigth Doctor, Fitz, Anji
Anji is sick. A virus is affecting the telepathic centers of her brain, and she needs medical care from an advanced civilisation. The problem is, the same virus seems to be affecting the TARDIS, and it's out of control. The Doctor desperately crash lands on Ceres Alpha, right in the path of a moving, terraforming city-machine whose volume may be measured in cubic miles. Also in the path of the machine is an archeological dig site which turned up some very interesting artifacts. Why isn't the CEO of WorldCorp stopping his machine from running right over the dig? How did Anji get sick in the safety of the TARDIS? And what does her illness have to do with the twelve couples who recently gave birth with no surviving babies?
Dark Progeny is good work. The mysteries are set up early, the conclusion is satisfying, and in between there's no real desire to put the book down.
The Doctor is front and center in this one. His amnesia isn't played up too much and his character is strong. He gets plenty of "screen time" because Anji is mostly out of commission and Fitz is out of the picture. This is, however, the primary criticism: Fitz's side story seems to be written in as an afterthought when the author realizes he needs to survive too. The story would have been even smoother if the Doctor had only one companion. Maybe the manuscript was drafted for the Doctor (it could have been any of them, since the surrounding events of the eigth Doctor's life have no bearing on the story) and one companion, and when it was published as EDA-48 Fitz just had no place in the story. To his credit, Emmerson does not devote unnecessary pages to Fitz or Anji just for the sake of having their names printed more often. This story is about Ceres Alpha, featuring the Doctor.
As a secondary criticism, the big bad guy is a little shallow. But other characters are not. I don't think he's shallow because of the author's inability to create a more interesting character but rather because there isn't meant to be any ambiguity about him. He is the Bad Guy of the Month. Let him be.
I'd say that given the lack of strong ties to the ongoing EDA arc a person could pick up Dark Progeny at any time and enjoy. I recommend this story for fans of futuristic sci-fi that want to be shown how Dr. Who does it well.
2006-06-05
The Final Sanction
Author: Steve Lyons
PDA-24, w/ Second Doctor, Jaime, Zoe
The Final Sanction is a wonderfully basic Who story written for the second Doctor. You have your alien-of-the-month, your female-companion-in-distress, and to make it an Important Story, an ethical decision about History that could affect Time Itself! Boilerplate? It's a Second Doctor PDA -- written for an era that wasn't home to plot twists and dark schemes but rather straightforward stories of peril and fearsome aliens in bad costumes.
The auther can establish the ground rules right up front. In 2204, Ockara was destroyed by the first human deployment of the G-bomb. It's a fact. The Doctor can't interfere with this monumental event. But Zoe doesn't belong there. Can he get her off the planet first?
PDAs don't need to be read in order, in general, but this one may mean a bit more if you read Lyons's other adventures with the Selachians first. On the other hand I have read some of those and didn't remember the race at all, so it's not a big loss if you come in with no background. I wonder how knowing the course of these events will affect my later reading of the stories I missed, however. Probably not much, insofar as the "Sharks" are somewhat generic villians.
The Final Sanction moves quickly and maintains interest, working with the knowledge that everyone knows what has to happen and not against it. The worst parts are Zoe's early escapes -- you know where she has to be for the final act, so they're just wasting time. You can almost see the episodes unfolding, corridor chases and girlish screaming in prescribed proportions, marking time until it's time for part six. And if you like the '60s stories, that's not a bad thing at all.
PDA-24, w/ Second Doctor, Jaime, Zoe
The Final Sanction is a wonderfully basic Who story written for the second Doctor. You have your alien-of-the-month, your female-companion-in-distress, and to make it an Important Story, an ethical decision about History that could affect Time Itself! Boilerplate? It's a Second Doctor PDA -- written for an era that wasn't home to plot twists and dark schemes but rather straightforward stories of peril and fearsome aliens in bad costumes.
The auther can establish the ground rules right up front. In 2204, Ockara was destroyed by the first human deployment of the G-bomb. It's a fact. The Doctor can't interfere with this monumental event. But Zoe doesn't belong there. Can he get her off the planet first?
PDAs don't need to be read in order, in general, but this one may mean a bit more if you read Lyons's other adventures with the Selachians first. On the other hand I have read some of those and didn't remember the race at all, so it's not a big loss if you come in with no background. I wonder how knowing the course of these events will affect my later reading of the stories I missed, however. Probably not much, insofar as the "Sharks" are somewhat generic villians.
The Final Sanction moves quickly and maintains interest, working with the knowledge that everyone knows what has to happen and not against it. The worst parts are Zoe's early escapes -- you know where she has to be for the final act, so they're just wasting time. You can almost see the episodes unfolding, corridor chases and girlish screaming in prescribed proportions, marking time until it's time for part six. And if you like the '60s stories, that's not a bad thing at all.
The Slow Empire
Author: Dave Stone
EDA-47, w/Eigth Doctor, Fitz, Anji
I brought out my Doctor Who collection and started reading again. I'm trying to pick up the EDA series where I left off, despite it being two years, not remembering everything that's happened perfectly, and in general being a little confused. A Dave Stone book is always a good place to start when you're a little confused. Frequently nothing is meant to make sense anyway. I don't even know how many of the first 46 books I've actually read, so I'll probably start over from the top at some point.
I'm going to start writing less unless I'm really inspired, so that the dates on these posts come a bit closer to the dates I actually finish reading something. I'm no more than a week behind, but it's gotten bad in the past. That being said:
The Slow Empire seems to be worth some, but not all of the praise heaped on it. I thought there was a very good, classic, four-episode TV story inside, waiting to get out. Unfortunately, I didn't think that story worked as a novel, even one as short as this. It's another case of wondering what happened in editing -- in the last quarter of the book Anji comments that a pattern keeps repeating itself, but we haven't seen it happen but twice. I wonder if someone (rightly) decided to pick up the pace a bit, but in the process took out a little too much of the plot's definition.
The end notes were stupid and distracting. If I happen to reach you before you read the book, just skip the end notes. The payoff, when there's any, isn't worth dropping the narrative thread. If I reach a writer that insists on using this technique, at least make them footnotes, please? And reconsider not doing it at all?
Overall, this isn't all that bad. It's relatively coherent for Dave Stone and, if you give yourself permission to speed through the junk, it's a solid story too. Not essential, but not the worst Who you could pick up either.
EDA-47, w/Eigth Doctor, Fitz, Anji
I brought out my Doctor Who collection and started reading again. I'm trying to pick up the EDA series where I left off, despite it being two years, not remembering everything that's happened perfectly, and in general being a little confused. A Dave Stone book is always a good place to start when you're a little confused. Frequently nothing is meant to make sense anyway. I don't even know how many of the first 46 books I've actually read, so I'll probably start over from the top at some point.
I'm going to start writing less unless I'm really inspired, so that the dates on these posts come a bit closer to the dates I actually finish reading something. I'm no more than a week behind, but it's gotten bad in the past. That being said:
The Slow Empire seems to be worth some, but not all of the praise heaped on it. I thought there was a very good, classic, four-episode TV story inside, waiting to get out. Unfortunately, I didn't think that story worked as a novel, even one as short as this. It's another case of wondering what happened in editing -- in the last quarter of the book Anji comments that a pattern keeps repeating itself, but we haven't seen it happen but twice. I wonder if someone (rightly) decided to pick up the pace a bit, but in the process took out a little too much of the plot's definition.
The end notes were stupid and distracting. If I happen to reach you before you read the book, just skip the end notes. The payoff, when there's any, isn't worth dropping the narrative thread. If I reach a writer that insists on using this technique, at least make them footnotes, please? And reconsider not doing it at all?
Overall, this isn't all that bad. It's relatively coherent for Dave Stone and, if you give yourself permission to speed through the junk, it's a solid story too. Not essential, but not the worst Who you could pick up either.
