Because the Rain by Daniel Buckman

Because the Rain by Daniel Buckman

Review by Jacob Malewitz

“You’ll stay a year,” his wife said. She thinks Mike won’t last long a as cop, his newly chosen career.

The opening of “Because the Rain” does, in affect, flow quite perfectly. It’s a pace driven by Daniel Buckman’s natural gift for storytelling (which becomes more and more evident, the more you read). It’s just hard not to write about this auspicious beginning, the masterful way which Buckman brings the reader in.

There has been an abortion and other sacrifices, and for being a writer losing these things is perhaps the important piece to the puzzle. Mike tried sacrificing for his art; it made his wife a hard breather, his dreams failures. Yes, he wanted to be a writer. No, it didn’t work out.

You get mesmerized in the present tense movement of love, escape, and memory of “Because the Rain” and its characters. Perhaps forgetting, or wanting to forget, holds the power for this book amidst the mind numbing drinks and friends and lovers. Something else it at play.

Donald Goetzler is a successful but less passionate character than Mike. A former Iwo Jima, Korea, and Vietnam vet, he is the secondary piece to this novel puzzle. He too is trying to make sense of things, but not his art—his war.

However, there is more to this novel than the background of its characters, their words and desires. The decisions they make change their lives. They grow dark. Good thing happens. Mike is the winning character, the beat cop stopping kids from selling weed too close to Starbucks.

It has just that kind of pulp feel you rarely see in many modern literary novels. The characters do come alive, and Buckman is always perfect with his storytelling angles.

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There are other parts to the quality time pieces made by Bell & Ross. They are actually made in Switzerland, the land where the best-of-the-best watches are created.

It’s really an exciting field. For one, Bell & Ross is going to be testing their watches—which have been tested at the deepest depths of the oceans and the highest parts of the sky—by promoting a new skydive by famed French parachutist Michel Fournier. This skydive will set new records, and likely prove the quality of these watches. There is more to a Bell & Ross watch than quality; it means to take us to new places, where human achievement can grow.

Another Monday: Thoughts on the Power of Reading Part 2

I am currently finishing up one horror book, with my eye on dozens more. Prior to that, I had taken a grand look at screenwriting books. Yes, I am a writer who likes to read. There is a power to that, where you can learn more than you would ever think possible. What should you read? What should you write? Those are questions few—even The New York Times Book Review—can answer. You should explore the novel. The novel isn’t dead—there is something big to the modern novel.

But I wonder if the modern horror novel is falling away. As I speak, horror comics are taking hold, thanks in part to comic writers like Steve Niles (30 Days of Night, a good graphic novel). But the horror novel has stalled. Yes, we still have Stephen King and Clive Barker, but Robert R. McCammon has stopped writing them, Anne Rice has found her religion, and many writers hate being labeled horror writers (namely Dean Koontz).

I’m not sure if the horror novel is dead. But I do know sitting down with a good book is still a possibility. Even if we had 20 years of no books being published, there would be millions of books to read, and one person could take a few millennia doing it non-stop.

I love reviewing books because they each provide a glimpse into the spirit of another. I am not trying to be spiritual there—but it’s fun exploring the imagination of a writer. I suggest you start buying books again. I am not saying spend thousands of dollars ever year, but we do need to support these storytellers. Without storytellers, where would we be?

I was talking about the horror novel. Well it’s safe to say the modern fantasy novel is alive and strong, the modern literary novel is published in great numbers by many writers like John Updike and Paul Auster, and even science fiction is still growing strong. Remember, as long as writers have ideas, the power is in their hands. It’s us, the readers, who are in for a ride.

The power to all this is simple: Stephen King can scare you; John Updike can wow you; modern thriller writers like Dean Koontz, Elmore Leonard, and David Morrell are going strong; dead writers can make you think; and they all have a certain power.

…Or maybe they don’t.

Maybe it’s just another Monday-type day where you grown at the bills, paperwork, and laundry. That, I see, is another story. Maybe you should read instead.

Another Monday: Thoughts on the Power of Reading

Another Monday: Thoughts on the Power of Reading

by Jacob Malewitz

This is a new kind of piece I will be exploring here on A Reader’s Eye. I am not sure I would call it a column, something I have never attempted on this blog. Hopefully you will find it enjoyable; if not, send me an angry letter, as I just love those.

There is within reading a way of seeing the world. I recall gaining this power while in college. Sure, I read tons of stuff while in high school, but more often than not, they were assigned, and unless something really stood out, I rarely finished the piece. The “Grapes of Wrath” was never finished even though I had a test on it; “Of Mice and Men” was because it’s a short book; “Frankenstein” was because, well, wow, that’s a darn good book.

But this isn’t all about me. The point of this Another Monday essay is to explore the thoughts of the reader. Normal thoughts: the kind you get when you close a new book just after reading the last chapter. Because, chapter after chapter, you are exploring the mind of a writer. What books should you read? Maybe I will explore that. No worries: there will be no assignments.

… Or maybe there will

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Complete, Book Addiction

Complete, Book Addiction

By Jacob Malewitz

(Photo Courtesy Stock.Xchng)

There is a book at the beginning and at the end. It could be the Bible, perhaps, or another tome on what it is to Be, just Be and nothing else. That is going down a spiritual track. The book addiction, however, has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with working your way up to the literary noir, or the fantasy fun, or even the science fiction wonderment. Feel the book addiction? I think you do; I always had it. This piece highlights the book addiction.

The book addiction is collecting …

And building a library of good books is, in my opinion, a big thing. You go from the literary noir of Paul Auster, John Updike, and Michael Chabon, to the odd machinations of Isaac Asimov and Dan Simmons (those sci-fi masterpiece). Or maybe you go down the roads of fantasy, where J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, Robert Jordan, and many other popular writers of the field go.

But picking names is …

Just picking names. I mentioned a bunch of authors so far, but, truly, the only one I really love so far is Paul Auster, and even he can be bad. Picking out names is, however, part of the book addiction. You go for the big names and the small names, book addict, because that is the way to true reading light.

Reading light has …

Nothing to do with faith and plenty to do with time. I see the reading light as something to be explored by each of us; it has a power which cannot be understated. Opening a book, you smell the pages. Looking at the picture of the author, and you wonder. Reading light becomes something more than building a book library or hoping you can get a discounted copy of “The Lord of the Rings,” “Harry Potter,” or a Stephen King horror. It means adding up all the names together, putting each writer on his/her pedestal, but choosing, choosing which one shows you the true reading light.

Book buying is …

The true path to literary happiness. Maybe I am going too much into theory. Maybe you should just keep it simple, forgetting the light and just picking up that beaten copy of a John Steinbeck masterpiece, or the forgotten dime novel from the 1950s. They say things, these books, and they lead to addiction.

Article by Jacob Malewitz

Author, The Writer Who Smiles, Now Available from Booklocker

http://www.booklocker.com/books/3288.html

Writer A Writer’s Eye, A Reader’s Eye, A Comic Eye, Chasing Heaven, Story And Script