PatShelter From The Storm
July 30th 2008 03:41
Hullo, I am back from vacation now so this site is back in action. Also, I'm unemployed for a little while so maybe I'll post up a whole bunch of exciting web-log entries for you to read over the next couple of weeks!
One of the books that I read on my holiday was Shelter From The Storm by Michael Mewshaw.
Mr Mewshaw is apparently a bit of a "big deal" and even wrote a book which was eventually turned into a movie featuring the "big deal" Hollywood movie star, Sharon Stone.
Here is an extract from a serious review that some idiot wrote about the book, Shelter From The Storm:
I wish that I was a much better writer than I am because I would love to be able to fluently describe to you my reaction to the reading of this book in the most evocative of terms, at least in words a bit better than the following. It's a shame that I'm not and that you're stuck with this really, but here goes.
Basically, this book is woeful. Just take for example the name of the chief protaganist: 'Zack McClintock'. He is a staggeringly one-dimensonial cardboard cut-out of a real character and is described as a ruggedly handsome, American ex-military man who's managed to stay in fighting trim despite his advancing years (which have only added to his handsome appearance, by the way, with the bordering of his manly features with a hint of silver in his [still masculinely thick] hair).
Compare this description to the appearance of the author:
Amazingly the plot has even less substance than Mr. Zack McClintock. There is a horribly unrealistic introduction to the book which involves McClintock's son-in-law being captured by terrorists (or something) in central Asia (for some reason) and (for some reason) McClintock decides to travel personally to rescue the young man.
As soon as McClintock arrives in whatever horrible country it is that the author criminally misdescribes in this book, this sub-plot is forgotten and the son-in-law's fate is ignored for the majority of the time. McClintock makes it clear that he didn't like him all that much anyway, so good riddance to bad rubbish, hey? Instead, we get to see McClintock battle heroically against a multitude of enemies: communists, muslims, communist muslims; a foreigner for every colour of the rainbow. There's also something about some feral kid raised by wolves, but it's not important - trust me.
The book reads as if it was written by a teenage boy in an attempt to mastubatorily [sp; actually, I may even have misspelt a non-existent word] insert himself into an a "GO AMERICA"-themed story for the purposes of some kind of school assignment (fictional teacher's comments: overall mark D-; strong spelling and basic grammar skills evident; plot development needs work; essential aspects of character development overlooked; use of the word 'cunt' perhaps unnecessary when describing a sex scene from a female character's point-of-view???).
I paid the price of $0.00 for this book as I borrowed it from a library for a couple of days - and in hindsight, this cost was much too high. It is a staggeringly stupid story which manages to be astoundingly racist to a number of different ethnic groups, while at the same time simplifying a series of complex ideologies to the point of meaninglessness with its juvenile plot.
Before reading this book, I read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and after reading this book, I read A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Both of these books were better than Shelter From The Storm by such a extraordinary amount that it makes me want to write a mean letter to Mr Mewshaw and encourage him to put down the pen for good. I'll do that next actually.
One of the books that I read on my holiday was Shelter From The Storm by Michael Mewshaw.
Mr Mewshaw is apparently a bit of a "big deal" and even wrote a book which was eventually turned into a movie featuring the "big deal" Hollywood movie star, Sharon Stone.
Here is an extract from a serious review that some idiot wrote about the book, Shelter From The Storm:
Michael Mewshaw's Shelter from the Storm takes place in the menacing, chaotic world of Central Asia, in a country recently released from Soviet repression and now entering into a state of violent anarchy. It is a place where gunfire has become a natural part of the evening soundscape, where Muslims, Catholics, Jews, and Orthodox Russians live in uneasy proximity, and where the slightest miscalculation can be deadly. It's a perfect setting for a thriller, since daily life in such a place is itself fraught with mystery and danger, and the line between truth and distorted perception is perilously thin.
...
Shelter from the Storm is much more than a thriller. It is a vivid evocation of one man's physical and psychological disintegration—and his ultimate transformation. It is also a fascinating window into a distant part of the world that has been brought irrevocably closer to us all
...
Shelter from the Storm is much more than a thriller. It is a vivid evocation of one man's physical and psychological disintegration—and his ultimate transformation. It is also a fascinating window into a distant part of the world that has been brought irrevocably closer to us all
I wish that I was a much better writer than I am because I would love to be able to fluently describe to you my reaction to the reading of this book in the most evocative of terms, at least in words a bit better than the following. It's a shame that I'm not and that you're stuck with this really, but here goes.
Basically, this book is woeful. Just take for example the name of the chief protaganist: 'Zack McClintock'. He is a staggeringly one-dimensonial cardboard cut-out of a real character and is described as a ruggedly handsome, American ex-military man who's managed to stay in fighting trim despite his advancing years (which have only added to his handsome appearance, by the way, with the bordering of his manly features with a hint of silver in his [still masculinely thick] hair).
Compare this description to the appearance of the author:
Amazingly the plot has even less substance than Mr. Zack McClintock. There is a horribly unrealistic introduction to the book which involves McClintock's son-in-law being captured by terrorists (or something) in central Asia (for some reason) and (for some reason) McClintock decides to travel personally to rescue the young man.
As soon as McClintock arrives in whatever horrible country it is that the author criminally misdescribes in this book, this sub-plot is forgotten and the son-in-law's fate is ignored for the majority of the time. McClintock makes it clear that he didn't like him all that much anyway, so good riddance to bad rubbish, hey? Instead, we get to see McClintock battle heroically against a multitude of enemies: communists, muslims, communist muslims; a foreigner for every colour of the rainbow. There's also something about some feral kid raised by wolves, but it's not important - trust me.
The book reads as if it was written by a teenage boy in an attempt to mastubatorily [sp; actually, I may even have misspelt a non-existent word] insert himself into an a "GO AMERICA"-themed story for the purposes of some kind of school assignment (fictional teacher's comments: overall mark D-; strong spelling and basic grammar skills evident; plot development needs work; essential aspects of character development overlooked; use of the word 'cunt' perhaps unnecessary when describing a sex scene from a female character's point-of-view???).
I paid the price of $0.00 for this book as I borrowed it from a library for a couple of days - and in hindsight, this cost was much too high. It is a staggeringly stupid story which manages to be astoundingly racist to a number of different ethnic groups, while at the same time simplifying a series of complex ideologies to the point of meaninglessness with its juvenile plot.
Before reading this book, I read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and after reading this book, I read A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Both of these books were better than Shelter From The Storm by such a extraordinary amount that it makes me want to write a mean letter to Mr Mewshaw and encourage him to put down the pen for good. I'll do that next actually.
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