Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (2790)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated A Boy and His Dog in Books

Nov 30, 2020  
A Boy and His Dog
A Boy and His Dog
Harlan Ellison | 1969 | Dystopia, Film & TV, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I was very saddened to hear the news of Harlan Ellison's passing. While I didn't agree with him on some things, I did agree with him on a great number of them. Cantankerous, but not snarky or mean-spirited, in his writings and conversations. I found him to one of the best writers on the planet. Now, he's joined the likes of Shakespeare, Emerson, Vonnegut, all at God's assembled roundtable of literary greats! :)

Okay, that's enough of my tribute-of-sorts to Harlan Ellison. Now, for my review of A BOY AND HIS DOG.

This was a a quick, fun read. Quite literally, it is the adventure of boy (Vic) and his telepathic dog (Blood). The two rely on each other, sharing bond that comes through in all of their exchanges. A four-legged friend who became so much more than just a "canine companion".

The tale was written in 1969 and was later adapted for film by L.Q. Jones. Despite the time written, the book still reads as if written yesterday. And that was something unique about Ellison: his writing felt timeless, as if it was not tied to any particular time during which it was written.

Yes, the language can be deemed coarse at points, but still far less offensive than anything written today. The use of profanity is given to the way Vic speaks, a product of the post-apocalyptic world he was born. It never feels forced or anything approaching offensive. It just feels, for want of a better word, natural.

Again, this is a fun short story about a boy and his dog. It may not appeal to everyone, but I surely liked it and I hope that maybe you will, too.

Also, stick around after the story, as "AHBHU: The Passing of One Man's Inspiration and Best Friend". It is Harlan Ellison's tribute/memorial to his rescued dog, a Puli (essentially, a Hungarian sheep dog), and how much he meant to him, so much so that he was whom Ellison based Blood's character on. I challenge you to NOT tear up by the conclusion!

By all means, good people, please check this one out!
  
40x40

Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Jan 12, 2021  
Author Richard Cox stops by my blog to discuss writing a manuscript in a fascinating guest post. Check out this techno thriller novel HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN, and enter the giveaway to win a signed copy of the book and another one of his books - three winners total!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/01/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-house-of.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Both a frightening apocalyptic story set in the southern United States and a character-focused, deeply moving literary thriller.

What would happen if technology all over the world suddenly stopped working?

When a strange new star appears in the sky, human life instantly grinds to a halt. Across the world, anything and everything electronic stops working completely.

At first, the event seems like a bizarre miracle to Seth Black--it interrupts his suicide attempt and erases gambling debt that threatened to destroy his family. But when Seth and his wife, Natalie, realize the electricity isn't coming back on, that their food supplies won't last, they begin to wonder how they and their two sons will survive.

Meanwhile, screenwriter Thomas Phillips--an old friend of Natalie's--has just picked up Skylar Stover, star of his new movie, at the airport when his phone goes dead and planes begin to fall from the sky.

Thomas has just completed a script about a similar electromagnetic event that ended the world. Now, he's one of the few who recognizes what's happening and where it will lead.

When Thomas and Skylar decide to rescue Natalie and Seth, the unwilling group must attempt to survive together as the world falls apart. They try to hide in Thomas's home and avoid desperate neighbors, but fear they'll soon be roaming the streets with starving refugees and angry vigilantes intent on forming new governments. It's all they can do to hold on to each other and their humanity.

Yet all the while, unbeknownst to them, Aiden Christopher--a bitter and malignant man leveraging a crumbling society to live out his darkest, most amoral fantasies--is fighting to survive as well. And he's on a collision course with Thomas, Skylar, and the Black family...