Author Archives: bookshelfbattle

Nov 05 2014
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Books, Classics, Literary Quotes

Literary War Quotes – A Farewell to Arms

Bookshelf Battler here, reporting live from the Call of Duty home base.  I am working on my fighting skills and have perfect a move where I run my character into a wall for thirty seconds until another player stealthily sneaks up behind me and either a) rudely shoots me in the back b) knifes me in the back c) lobs a grenade at me or d) a combination of a, b, and c.

All part of my genius plan to wear the enemy down.  Once the opposing forces are exhausted from constantly throttling me, I’ll strike!  (And run into the wall for an entire minute before I figure out how to turn around).

Are you playing Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare?  Take a break to read today’s literary war quote:

“If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.”  – Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

Ernest Hemingway’s 1929 novel, A Farewell to Arms is a classic love story set against the backdrop of World War I.  Heartbreaking and perhaps even depressing, it pulls no punches in illustrating the plight of those who fight.

What about the above quote?  Essentially, Hemingway is saying that the world is such a harsh place that sooner or later it brings down everyone – pessimist and optimist alike.  Is that true?  Is there anyone who ever manages to get through life without being dragged down by some of the crueler aspects of the world?

Press the pause button on your remote control and share your thoughts in the comment section!  As always, thanks for dropping by and don’t forget to follow @bookshelfbattle on Twitter.

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Nov 05 2014
2 Comments
Literary Quotes

Author Douglas Adams on Elections and Voting

Happy Election Day!

We here at bookshelfbattle.com (and by “we” I haven’t decided whether I am referring to the royal “we” or to the mouse in my pocket) are non-political.  Whether you are Republican, Democrat, Independent, or if you belong to one of those odd parties that believes we should turn the government over to space aliens and/or robots, all we want to do is to discuss something that transcends party lines – the written word.  Also, we want your clicks – your sweet, sweet web page clicks.  So while you’re already here, don’t be a slacker – click on an extra button or two.

Have you ever read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams?  It is by far one of the funniest novels ever written, and it is a fairly short and easy read, so there’s no excuse to not check it out.  Honestly, you should be ashamed of yourself for not reading it already.  Go read it.  I won’t bother to get into the plot because I intend to have a review of this book coming soon.

Adams wrote a number of sequels set in the Hitchhiker universe.  Here’s a quote from one of them that provides some proverbial food for thought:

“The major problem-one of the major problems, for there are several – one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather who manages to get people to let them do it to them.  To summarize:  it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.  To summarize the summary:  anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”  – Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

Of course, Adams was discussing the intergalactic politics of his fictional universe, but it still applies to today’s politics.  In my opinion, today’s political contests have basically become glorified beauty contests where the person who talks the fastest, promises the most, or looks the best wins.  Abraham Lincoln would never win an election today because the media would be all like, “Who cares if he’s the Great Emancipator?  Have you seen his craggy face?!”

Sure, there are many politicians who run because they want to do good deeds and believe their ideas are just and true.  On the other hand, there are a lot of politicians who just want to see their names on signs and get lots of fame and applause.

There are many intelligent people who would be great leaders who shy away from the entire process because their intelligence tells them that they might as well ignore politics altogether rather than get involved and have the media pepper them with questions like, “How many times did you pick your nose in third grade?  Nose-picker Gate!  Film at Eleven!”

In conclusion, whether you are a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or Friends of the Space Aliens Party – enjoy watching tonight’s election results.  May the candidates that suit your personal agendas be victorious and as always, may you crack open a book and share your literary wisdom on bookshelfbattle.com

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Nov 04 2014
3 Comments
Book Based Movies, Video Games

Literary War Quotes

In honor of my latest obsession with Call of Duty, I’ve decided that this week will be a week of literary war quotes.  Throughout the week on bookshelfbattle.com there will be quotes from books, characters, and authors and each will provide a different perspective of war.

Here’s today’s quote:

“A small but noteworthy note. I’ve seen so many young men over the years who think they’re running at other young men. They are not. They are running at me.” – Death, the Narrator of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Have you ever read The Book Thief?  I haven’t but have seen the film and enjoyed it.  The use of Death as the narrator was an original, unconventional idea that worked.  It was set during World War II, which was, after all, a very busy time for the Grim Reaper.  Essentially, what the author is trying to convey here is that soldiers often think they are going up against the opposing army but ultimately, they’re engaged in an activity that is just going to bring death upon them way too soon.

To state the obvious, war sucks.  This will be a constant theme of the literary war quotes we will explore.

Tune in tomorrow folks.  Same Bat Time.  Same Bat Channel.

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Nov 03 2014
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Not About Books, Video Games

Call of Duty

Dear Loyal Readers,

Due to circumstances beyond my control, book reviews will be on hold for the foreseeable future.  Thank you for your understanding.  Have a nice day.

 

 

“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
See that?  Sooner or later I always manage to tie it all into literature.  If you miss my witty commentary while I am trying to prevent video game-ized Kevin Spacey from conquering the world, feel free to follow me on twitter: @bookshelfbattle
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Nov 03 2014
2 Comments
Not About Books, TV

The Walking Dead – 11/02/14

After a hiatus, Beth returned to tonight’s Walking Dead with an all Beth episode.

WARNING – GRR ARGH ZOMBIE SPOILERS AHEAD

Beth wakes up in a hospital in Atlanta.  To borrow Talking Dead’s term, she’s been “save-napped.”  A hospital operated by police officers and one remaining doctor (he conspires to get another doctor killed for his own job security, so to speak)  have saved her but now they expect her to work in indentured servitude until she works off her debt.  In other words – there is no safe refuge in the Walking Dead.  Woodbury, Terminus, now the Hospital – they’re all run by someone evil and they all abuse their subjects.

Guinea pigs for dinner, a pervert police officer gets his come-uppance, Beth and a fellow captive, Noah (played by that kid from Everybody Hates Chris) make an escape attempt but Beth gets caught.

At the very end of the episode, Carol is admitted as a patient.  The history of the show tells us that Carol won’t put up with this crap.

What’s next for The Walking Dead?  Bookshelfbattle.com will be discussing the show every Sunday night and check out my Walking Dead Tweets by following @bookshelfbattle

In conclusion, GRR!  ARGH!  BRAINS!

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Nov 02 2014
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Movies, Not About Books

Movie Review – Nightcrawler

Halloween weekend has to be a bad time to open a movie.  After all, the movie watching masses are all out partying.  That’s too bad for Nightcrawler starring Jake Gyllenhaal as it deserves a wider audience.  In a world of remakes and reboots, it brings something to the screen as rare as a unicorn – an original idea.

Gyllenhaal stars as Lou – an odd eccentric fellow just trying to scrape a living together.  At the start of the film, he is uneducated and unemployed, but what he lacks in credentials he makes up with an uncanny ability to talk fast and spew out buzz words that employers love to hear during interviews.  Example – “I’m a motivated self-starter.”  In other words, he says alot of things that mean nothing but sound great.

Driving home after selling stolen construction supplies, he passes by a car accident in which police officers are heroically pulling out a female driver from a car engulfed in flames.  In awe, Lou watches as cameramen arrive on scene to film the chaos.  They’re independents who roam around Los Angeles filming carnage and sell their footage to the highest bidding news station.

Lou is hooked and sees this as his big opportunity to make something of himself.  He visits a pawn shop, trades his bicycle for a camcorder and a police scanner, and a small business is born.  He even takes on an intern.  Initially, Lou tries to talk his intern into working for free but eventually caves during negotiations and agrees to pay him thirty dollars a night.   As a noteable sign of the times, Lou is full of witty social commentary about the lousy economy – how employment is no longer guaranteed for the masses, how people need to be willing to work for free or next to nothing to get their foot in the door, and so on.

“The Nightcrawler’s” business grows and soon enough, he’s purchased a fabulous Dodge Challenger and honestly, at this point, this tricked-out sports car with its revved up Hemi becomes the star of the show.  The name of the game is to listen to the police scanner and to drive as fast as possible to accidents and crime scenes to be the first to film and sell.  Lou’s not the only independent cameraman in the business and he quickly developes a rivalry with Bill Paxton.

I don’t want to give away anymore spoilers – you can watch the film at eleven, so to speak.  Overall, the film is dark and edgy as Lou isn’t a typical hero but rather a fast talking sociopath who does whatever it takes to succeed in the nightly news business – and often goes too far.  Great acting and cast, including Rene Russo as the nightly news director who buys Lou’s footage, a ton of action and a pretty amazing car chase scene.

I reccomend it.  Unfortunately, when a movie is little off the beaten path, it gets relegated to an opening on a weekend where everyone is out partying and wearing goofy costumes, but hopefully it will develop a following and gain more exposure.

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Oct 31 2014
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Horror, Not About Books

Halloween at Bookshelf Battle HQ – Watching Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

Well, in a perfect world there would be a fabulous, rockin’ party here at Bookshelf Battle HQ but instead, I’m passing out candy and watching that 1988 classic, Elvira:  Mistress of the Dark.  For those who weren’t around in the 1980’s, she was pretty much the funniest part of Halloween.  Sadly, no one has ever picked up her torch to become the next generation’s Halloween celebrity.  That’s ok – perhaps she is just one of a kind and irreplaceable.

What the heck is Elvira anyway?  Does anyone have the definite answer?  I’m pretty sure she is a witch.  I’ve heard theories that she was a vampire but she never really did anything vampire-y.

Her schtick?  She would poke fun at the worst monster movies of all time – you know, back in the days when you needed your network to run a movie to watch it and you just  didn’t have the ability to get on your computer and literally watch any movie you wanted.

I just checked out her You Tube Channel (she’s still going strong after all these years) and learned that she has had a new series on Hulu this whole Halloween season.  Wish I knew about it sooner – maybe I’ll check it out or maybe I’ll wait until next year.

Anyway, here’s her Hulu trailer:

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Oct 31 2014
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Horror

Happy Halloween

Boo! (k) s

Happy Halloween, everyone.  The Bookshelf Battle month of Halloween literature has cruised along non-stop but alas, it must come to an end, for the Fall/Winter tradition of America is as follows:

  • October – Celebrate Death
  • November – Stuff face with game bird
  • December – Celebrate Jesus’ Birthday by Asking a Fat Man to Bring Us High-End Electronics that will be obsolete by Valentine’s Day

Seventeen days of Halloween literature posts – bringing you discussions of horror classics, zombie fiction, vampires, ghosts, ghouls, goblins, and more!

Plus, I tweeted Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” in its entirety!  No one has ever been that a) awesome or b) stupid or c) had a desire to waste time in such a ridiculous manner before.  Check it out at #tweettheraven and as always feel free to follow me @bookshelfbattle

Alas, starting tomorrow I’ll have to leave the horror fiction fest behind but – is there really any good Thanksgiving fiction?  Hmmm…maybe I’ll have to divebomb straight into Christmas fiction.

After all, this is that odd time of year where you walk into the store to find a) half-off clearance on psycho zombie masks next to b) Rudolph and Santa Claus paraphernalia, wrapping paper, candy canes and so on.

Thanks for reading, fellow bookshelf battlers.  Until next time, this is the proprietor of an underappreciated book blog signing off.

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Oct 31 2014
2 Comments
Classics, Horror

Double Double Toil and Trouble – The Witches of MacBeth

Happy Halloween!

Have you ever wondered how witches obtained their witchy personality traits?

***Crickets chirp***

Ahem.  This is your cue.

“Hey!  Bookshelf Battle Guy!  How did witches obtain their witchy personality traits?”

Oh thank you, Reader.  I thought you’d never ask.

Well, the common conception of a witch is a nasty old hag throwing all kinds of weird ingredients (usually animals or parts of animals) into a boiling cauldron.

We could discuss all day witch-tastic imagery from all sorts of literature but to me, Act 4, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth stands out.

So park your broomstick and grab your eye of newt, because here are some excerpts and quotes:

SCENE 1 – A cavern – in the middle is a boiling cauldron.

Thunder.  Enter the three witches.

FIRST WITCH

Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d

SECOND WITCH

Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined

BOOKSHELFBATTLE – So, four then?  The pig in your hedges whined four times?  Why are you hags making this so difficult?

THIRD WITCH

Harpier cries, ‘Tis time, ’tis time.

FIRST WITCH

Round about the cauldron go;

In the poison’d entrails throw.

Toad, that under cold stone

Days and nights has thirty-one

Swelter’d venom, sleeping got,

Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot

BOOKSHELF BATTLE GUY: Pot of poisoned entrails?  That doesn’t sound charming at all.

ALL

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble!

SECOND WITCH

Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the cauldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt and toe of frog

Wool of bat and tongue of dog

Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting,

Lizard’s leg and owlet’s wing

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

BOOKSHELFBATTLE GUY – My condolences, amputated animals.  Apparently witches used to think your parts were magical.

ALL

Double, double toil and trouble

THIRD WITCH

Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,

Witches’ mummy, maw and gulf

Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark,

Root of hemlock digg’d i’ the dark,

Liver of blaspheming Jew,

Gall of goat, and slips of yew

Silver’d in the moon’s eclips,

Nose of Turk and Tartar’s lips

Finger of birth-strangled babe

Ditch-deliver’d by a drab,

Make the gruel thick and slab:

Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron

For the ingredients of our cauldron.

BOOKSHELF BATTLE GUY – OK, now they’re getting ridiculous.  I don’t even know where to begin.  First of all, allow me to apologize for the racial insensitivity.  What can I say?  This is an excerpt taking from a 1500’s era writer who was writing about ancient witches so it is not like you can really expect a lot of political correctness.  Also, how many babies were getting strangled in those days that their fingers were just apparently readily available to be tossed into witches’ brews?  Those were dark times, my friends, dark times indeed.

ALL

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

SECOND WITCH

Cool it with a baboon’s blood,

Then the charm is firm and good.

BOOKSHELFBATTLE GUY: – This took place in Scotland, didn’t it?   Where would they have even found a baboon?

ENTER HECTATE to the other three Witches.

HECTATE

O well done!  I commend your pains;

And every one shall share i’ the gains;

And now about the cauldron sing,

Live elves and fairies in a ring,

Enchanting all that you put in.

MUSIC AND A SONG: Black spirits…

HECTATE retires

SECOND WITCH

By the pricking of my thumbs,

Something wicked this way comes.

Open, locks,

Whoever knocks!

ENTER MACBETH

MACBETH

How now, you secret, black and midnight hags!

What is’t you do?

BOOKSHELF BATTLE GUY:  I have no comment, other than I think it is funny that MacBeth openly refers to them as hags.  “Hello, hags!”

Well folks, that concludes my discussion of MacBeth’s witches.  Grab your wolf teeth and dragon scales and toss them into the comment section.

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Oct 29 2014
1 Comment
Books, Classics, Horror

Public Domain Horror Fiction – The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs

Readers, if there’s one lesson you ever learn from this humble book blog, I hope it is this one:

Never make a deal with something or someone evil.

You scoff but you know it is true.  Ask a source of evil to make you win the lottery and you will…only to get hit by a bus on the way to cash in the ticket.  Evil has one of the twisted view of irony ever known.

So tonight, in bookshelfbattle.com ‘s ongoing Public Domain Horror Fiction Series, check out the short story, The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs, first published in the early 1900’s.  Short summary – A couple and their adult son find a Monkey’s Paw from India.  Supposedly, it has the power to grant wishes.  Sadly, they learn the hard way that with their wishes comes evil irony.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/12122/12122-h/12122-h.htm

“The other two wishes,” she replied rapidly. “We’ve only had one.”
“Was not that enough?” he demanded fiercely.
“No,” she cried, triumphantly; “we’ll have one more. Go down and get it quickly, and wish our boy alive again.”

– W.W. Jacobs, The Monkey’s Paw

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