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The last of summer reading is upon us.
Before the school year started up I managed to sneak two books into my schedule before classes started up. The first was a true winner and the second was missing of much win. No surprise to the living and breathing world of literature, the Jackie Collins novel I picked up was tantalizing. Her books are trashy representations of the upper class. There an escape to the world of the rich and famous. The kind that makes the middle class mom in Iowa glad she never pursued her dream of acting. Last summer I spent most of my time with Jackie Collins. In fact the last book I read was Hollywood Wives. Her books might be four or five hundred pages long, but it's not implausible that you could knock one out in an afternoon. They're that good. Jackie Collins is a goddess. |
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Jackie Collins (right) with her sister and actress Joan Collins (left) on the Graham Norton Show
The novel of hers I got from the local library was Thrill! I'd seen it from a distance. I'd picked other books over it. Jackie Collins has titled her books much better. See The Stud and Poor Little Bitch Girl for examples. The cover was also tranquially electric. Momma told us not to judge a book by it's cover and that's what I did.
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Thrill! is one of Jackie Collin's books from the nineties. It is not her best. However, I can't believe I thought it would take me four days to read this book. Try two with time to spare. If I hadn't been working Sunday it would have been no contest.
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This is not the Jackie Collins novel I would start a fresh reader on. It's not her best. It also is not her most original. It's a little tired if a solid read. The one thing I love is that all the men are pieces of shit. That's the kind of literature I can stand before.
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It centers around actress Lara Ivory. Everyone else is subplot. She is the star of the show. I can't say I like the ending of the book. It wasn't satisfying. It did do it's job. I just loved Lara too much for her life to converge in that way.
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The final book I read was Tigerman. I made the mistake of judging a book by it's cover. I thought, this looks really cool let me read it. I got books with the twins and Miss Sara Bellum picked up Nick Harkaway's Angelmaker. It's the same man who wrote Tigerman and I thought we would love it. We did not.
Looking at his picture on the flap of the book I just imagine he imagines himself as an Ernest Hemingway. Take that as you will. The book caters to this kind of created masculinity. It's archaic and muscular yet firmly set in the 21st century. |
I honestly didn't know if I liked this book for the longest time. The wording was heavy and I was just trying to figure it out. Then, about page 250 I realized that I intensely did not like this book. Fun fact the book is only 337 pages long. I finished it.
Let me tell you what this book is actually about. The flap does not explain anything. The book centers around Sergeant Lester Ferris and his affection for this boy. It's a really sweet relationship. The sergeant just wants to take care of him and make him his son. I actually really liked the Sergeant without enjoying the book. I also like the boy.
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That was his name in the book.
They live on this island that's going to be destroyed. And, I'm sure somewhere between all the words the author explained why it was necessary for the Sergeant to turn into Tigerman. The comic strip superhero of Mancreu. I'm not kidding you. This is the plot. All of it set in a realism. This book could have been fast paced. It needed an editor to cut some of the length out. That could have helped my perception of it. However, despite my criticisms of this book I really did grow fond of a few of the characters. Like The Sergeant, the boy, and Africa (you have to read deep into the muck for this jewel). |
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Also the fact that the book has thirty page chapters is not kosher. It takes ten years to get through one chapter and I have no drive to read another one. Long chapters are deaths to solid literature. They halt the progress it takes to read it.
What made me the most upset was the ending. I spent all this time. Invested all this energy into loving and supporting these characters FOR YOU TO DO THIS TO THEM??? I am still so mad. I was on break finishing this book when this happened to me. NICK HARKAWAY YOU HAVE RUINED MY LIFE. |
All of that said. This book does have it's own charm and for some the writing style might not be prohibitive into getting into the novel. I imagine if your a middle aged heterosexual man retired to Bermuda with a snifter of brandy in has hand, you would find this book quite entertaining. AND NOT AT ALL HEART BREAKING AND DISAPPOINTING.
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