io9 - Guillermo Del Toro's The Strain Is An Antidote To Fey Vampires - Books

Guillermo Del Toro's The Strain Is An Antidote To Fey Vampires

Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo Del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan have written The Strain, the first book in a vampire trilogy. And the good news is, their spin on vampires comes with a noticeable creep factor, despite silliness. Spoilers below.

This book began life as a TV series pitch to FOX, a few years back. Del Toro scoffs at the romanticized image of the vampire that infests modern media, and wants a return to the dark folkloric roots of the creatures. He isn't alone: many of us are sick of these pale and pretty poseurs, brooding about their cursed immortality and chatting up jailbait by the Orange Julius. Oh sure, they can go all scary cat-face, just before they fight cheerleaders, but usually they look like they're trying to get a record deal. Honestly, what happened to the Horror? Someone who considers you a source of protein is not a good role model.

It's common to lay the blame for all this at the feet of Anne Rice, but it goes back further than that. Bela Lugosi's dapper aristocrat, dressed for a night at the opera, lunges to mind. The original Dracula is responsible for much of the bodice-ripping and doomed-love themes that still flit around the genre. The appearance and mannerisms of Count Dracula were inspired more by Bram Stoker's relationship with the stately and imposing actor Henry Irving than any actual Eastern European folklore.

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io9 - Guillermo Del Toro's The Strain Is An Antidote To Fey Vampires - Books

Book review: Animal Farm by George Orwell | English classic | Culturazzi

Animal Farm - George Orwell

Posted by Andrew Cotlov On May - 25 - 2009

In 1943 when George Orwell wrote Animal Farm, his caustic critique of Stalin’s Russia, the Soviet Union was so popular in the United States and Great Britain that he couldn’t find a publisher for his novel. In fact, the Russians were so strongly associated with the fight against the Nazis that it wasn’t until 1945, when the Second World War was over, that Animal Farm was finally published. After reading the manuscript Orwell sent him, TS Eliot wrote a letter of rejection actually explaining that an anti-Russian novel would not fare well in the political atmosphere of the moment. He also said that the novel’s allegory was “unconvincing” and suggested that if Orwell’s goal was to make a case for Trotskyism he should’ve created “more public spirited pigs”.

Indeed, while he was a socialist, Orwell was more enchanted by Trotsky than his counter-part Stalin because he knew about Stalin’s unchecked political power, and the length he was willing to go to maintain it, first-hand. “We were very lucky to get out of Spain alive,” Orwell once wrote, and he wasn’t talking about the skirmishes he was involved in against the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War, rather; he was talking about the politically charged violence the Stalinists brought with them from Russia when sent to support the Spanish democracy. In Spain, Orwell was in a Trotskyite band of soldiers and later wrote

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Book review: Animal Farm by George Orwell English classic Culturazzi

The Associate by John Grisham | Best Book

The Associate by John Grisham

If you like Grisham’s earliest works (the Firm, the Pelican Brief, etc.) you’ll almost certainly like this one too. Similarities between John Grisham’s latest book, The Associate, and his previous best seller, The Firm, are unavoidable.
With 20 novels and one work of non-fiction, Grisham has returned to trademark territory with his newest book.
Dipping us into the pitiless world of corporate law and the underhand dealings of the people working within it, Grisham has created a story that is just begging to be brought to life on the big screen.
As I was reading The Associate, the irritating image of Tom Cruise (Grisham’s hero from The Firm) popped into my head. In fact, Grisham’s descriptions of McAvoy and most other characters never really gelled with me, hence I found it difficult to build a mental picture of the main players.

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The Associate by John Grisham Best Book