Saturday, February 16, 2008

Demon Days and the Friday Shuffle

Mister B. Gone: Clive Barker: It's funny how people's tastes can be so different. I like Clive Barker - - always have. He can have a real turn with a phrase, and he can really ratchet up the dread in his books. Not so much dread here, but I still liked the book. I appear to be the only person who did if you check out the amazom.com reviews. Do I think it's the best novel Clive Barker has ever written? No -- I would go with The Damnation Game for that -- but neither do I think it's as bad as some of his detractors would have you believe. It's a quirky little story that begins with the narrator -- a demon trapped in a book -- begging you, the reader, to burn the book you hold in your hand. As an enticement for you to do so, the demon, Jakabok Botch, tells you snippets of his story from his childhood to how he got in the book. There is no intricate world created here, like Barker does in such books as Imagica and Weaveworld; the narration skips over centuries at a time and is at times thin, but the book was still, for me, a quick and enjoyable read. I wouldn't recommend it if it's the first Clive Barker novel you've ever read, but I didn't find it a disappointment.

Friday Shuffle
  1. 15 Step: Radiohead from In Rainbows
  2. At My Window Sad and Lonely: Billy Bragg and Wilco from Mermaid Avenue
  3. What If: Lucinda Williams from West
  4. Bend & Break: Keane from Hopes and Fears
  5. No Vacancy: The Subdudes from Behind the Levee
  6. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me: Shelby Lynne from Just a Little Lovin'
  7. Corazon Espinado: Santana from Supernatural
  8. The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of: Carly Simon from Clouds in My Coffee
  9. Amy Amy Amy: Amy Winehouse from Frank
  10. Walk Away: Christina Aquilera from Stripped

4 comments:

nutmeg said...

Love Amy Winehouse - though poor troubled young woman she is.

Also, very interested to see some Christine Aguilera here - I think she has one of the best voices around but have yet to purchase a cd of hers. I just can't get those cowboy chaps and dreadlocks out of my head from one of her earlier videos. Maybe I will try her latest cd?

Kathy said...

I don't have her latest cd and I was embarrassed to buy Stripped but that woman can really sing.

sari said...

I like Clive Barker. At times he can get a little much for me, but I like him.

I have that Christina (yes, I bought it) and it's good! I have In Rainbows as well, do you like it? I do.

I bought that Shelby Lynne cd off of itunes for my dad. I like Shelby and he likes Dusty Springfield so I thought he would enjoy it.

Kathy said...

I like both the Christina and the Radiohead. I love Shelby Lynne more and more with each new release -- this one is really good.

Clive Barker can be a bit much sometimes, like you said, but I still like him. He didn't, for example, have two weave the world back up twice in Weaveworld -- once would have been enough.

Did you know there's a new Stephen King out? Duma Key -- I'm reading it right now.