"an old favorite, much loved!"
I went through a phase in my very early twenties that would now be called goth...but 26 years ago it was just called weird! In a span of about two weeks of unemployment I read about 8 vampire novels including The Hunger, Salem's Lot, Dracula, etc, one of the best reading periods of my life! The book that started it all was finding a used copy on an old bookstore shelf of Anne Rice's 'Interview with the Vampire'....I still remember reading late into the night until the sun came up and my initial and abiding love for the world and the characters....so....now we have this new interpredation of the novel and I was so excited to see it, but I have some problems with it....
While the novel holds up, I think the naration is not true to the story and actually ruins significant subliminal parts of it. This is, to my mind, a great 'American' horror novel - so, the British tone and feel by Simon Vance is off key. Also, this is a novel of eternal youth at the pinical of it's strength and beauty - the 25 year old Louis done by Vance makes Louis sound 45-55 years of age and that throws that sensation out the window. The accents are wrong, and as someone that loves Louisanna and New Orleans, I was very disappointed to lose that slow and beautiful accent of the French American Creole culture - it's part of the beauty and facination of the novel and it's not here. It is why so many tourists and fans of the novel still flock to NOLA to experience a wee taste of the sensations of reading Rice.
I am sorry for those who will only do the audio in this instance and miss all the things that make the emotions and imagination run wild when reading it in book form.
I am sorry for the person that only listened to 45 minutes and gave up - boy, did they miss a wonderful read!
I am sorry that the very talented but mis-cast Simon Vance did this naration.
I am not sorry that so many new readers will be absorbed into the wonderful and imaginative world of the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles - welcome!
"Not for the small business owner...."
From the beginning of the book, where the example is a car manufacturer, I should have know this was not what I needed.
This book is for people with medium to large companies or organizations with actual marketing departments that specialize in on-line presentation...which then makes me wonder - who the hell is reading this book exactly? If you have a staff specializing in the material, you don't need the material.....it's like a book about the essentials of basic hair cutting written for Vidal Sassoon. Would you hand your web design company 'Google for Dummies"?
If you are a small business and you are trying to figure out the simple (or intricate) ways in which you can be more exposed on google - this won't really help you. If you are trying to understand the rankings on google and how they work - this will not help you. If you are trying to understand SEO - this will not help you...in fact, in the middle of the book the author finally explains that she will not be helping you with SEO (search engine optimization) at all, and that she thinks it's useless for your staff or web designer to even consider it. what?
I'm sure this must work for some one. There are a million examples involving large corps & organizations, but no common sense hands on advice here for the struggling small business trying to effectively complete on line.
now...if you are Miramax and you want to promote your next film online effectively this is for you! but somehow....I think Harvey Weinstein is already paying people to do that for him and doesn't need this book....
The title should be more specific regarding who the book is intended to help.
"Wonderful!"
Tim Curry was fantastic - and even though we all know it - don't we all love to revisit it? So much fun!
"people are funny"
I just popped by to rate...wasn't even gonna write and then I saw some of the reviews and just had to laugh.....
The one up top with all the seething vitriol just makes me wonder if the writer has some kind of personal grudge against Hill - could not take that seriously at all - and neither should you. Obvious some odd bias thing happening there...there is just nothing in this book to waranty such heat (lol - yeah yeah...devilish - couldn't help myself) and those offended by the take on religion - why would you read a book called Horns by Joe Hill with a pitchfork on the front? Were you expecting tales of the life and times of Jesus and his pet bunnies and kittens? Lol...unbelievable.
Honestly, this book is good. I had just finished the latest Stephen King, which I really enjoyed, and was in that awful limbo where you have to pick your next book and you just know it won't be as good as the last and since I had exhausted the King library it struck me - Hey - like father like son, right? And I was not disappointed - genetic greatness. Hill definitely has his own voice, though, not just copying pops - he really is a good, solid horror writer (something there are just way too few of these days). Inventive, funny, made me cry, laugh - kept me interested and Damnit! another hellish reference) I'm back in limbo again! Maybe I'll just go for the ghost stories....after all I really enjoyed 'Heartshaped Box' too.
and please...if you don't like horror - stop reading and then giving bad reviews to things you should have stayed away from in the first place. It's unfair to the author. Horror is a tricky thing, you either like it or you don't - like country music or...opera!
"dark...."
This one is dark! ...and I have to say...I really enjoyed it.
I think this is some of King's best writing - I'm a long time King fan, but not always a content one...lately his books have been so over worded - as though his editor is on permanent vacation, but these stories are well written and concise all the way through. A master craftsman is at work here. Even with the stories that are ideas well trod there is a great deal of surprise and originality. King's humor and humanity are very evident. Often, I find King's story endings very very silly - you know what I mean if you've ever read 'The Stand' - and I don't want to give anything away - but it is truly silly....but these stories end with very satisfying outcomes that did not leave me rolling my eyes even one tiny bit. I thought the narration was spot on - great story tellers that created full bodied characterizations. Highly recommend this one.
ps - don't let me put you off - The Stand is an excellent read...just skip the last chapter - ;)
"perfect teaching tool"
I needed to quickly re-read this to help out a college student who works for me (I often use this as an excuse to re-read great works! lol) and this version is wonderful. Great voices and performances, easy to understand - as the work is a play - listening really brings it to life in a way that reading just cannot. BUT - the absolute best part of this production is the incredibly in depth discussion at the end - the discussion covered every question my worker had asked me to clarify and so much more.
I, myself, love a good brit accent - in truth....makes my knees go weak, but I know many Americans can't decipher them - so this is done by American actors - very good ones, so if that is a concern for you - you will enjoy this production.
"Count no may happy 'til he's dead...." Sophocles.