Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
To Chuckles
Here is a link just for you. When you read this, remember: it's not too late for you to start.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007090038,00.html
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007090038,00.html
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Pictures
Here are some pictures for all of the dear readers of my blog:
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Kazakhstan/photo411563.htm
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Kazakhstan/photo452614.htm
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/North_America/Canada/Northern/photo125499.htm
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/North_America/Canada/Northern/photo283251.htm
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/China/West/photo293024.htm
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Mongolia/photo375992.htm
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Mongolia/photo130255.htm
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Kazakhstan/photo411563.htm
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Kazakhstan/photo452614.htm
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/North_America/Canada/Northern/photo125499.htm
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/North_America/Canada/Northern/photo283251.htm
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/China/West/photo293024.htm
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Mongolia/photo375992.htm
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Mongolia/photo130255.htm
Monday, February 19, 2007
OK
To make certain people happy, I will post what you wanted me to:
Something
Something
Sunday, February 4, 2007
I don't like Ted Dekker
As the title says, I don't like Ted Dekker. His books, while action packed, are full of poor writing. I just finished reading Black, so I feel the need to complain about it. Although Black is the first book in a series of three, I do not want to continue and read the two others. I never want to read another one of his books again. There are other books that are well written, and have realistic characters that would be much better to read. Hear that, Ted?
Here is a review that I wrote on Black:
Black by Ted Dekker is a book of unbelievable reality. As the first book in the Circle trilogy, it was published in February of 2004, and it has two sequels that came shortly afterwards in May and September 2004. It is 408 pages of pure action and Dekkerisms.
The weakest part of this book is it's writing style. The series of books was published in less than a year, and it shows. The fact that Dekker does not know how to really write also shows. A lot. He uses many sentences like the previous two; making one sentence into one sentence with a little fragment afterwards. It is used not only in dialogue, but also in the actual writing. Here is an example from Dekker himself: "Deeper and deeper into the jungle they ran. Straight for the lake. There were birds on almost every tree it seemed. Monkeys and possums." Well, monkeys and possums to you too, Ted. Also, on multiple occasions, he starts out a sentence with "and" when, if the period was taken away, and the "a" changed to lowercase, it could be added to the sentence before it to make them a single, real sentence. I honestly do not like Dekker's style of writing. I wonder how he was ever able to get published.
Another weak point was the character development. They are unrealistic, stale, and on occasions, ridiculously funny. When Thomas Hunter, protagonist, is trying to get the people at the Center for Disease Control to believe him that the Raison Strain meant death, he starts acting like a misbehaving child. To quote the book, "Tom smashed his cheek against the glass, tightened his choke hold [on himself], and stuck out his tongue. 'I'm dying! Help, help!'" For putting on that show, Tom gets exactly what he wanted: to talk to someone from the infectious disease department. If he is still doing this as a grown man, he must have had quite the parents. If this had been done in the real world, either the police or some nice men would have taken him away to a special place of his very own.
The story that Dekker has is an unusual one. Thomas Hunter, when awake, is on earth as we know it. When he sleeps, he dreams dreams that are as real as reality. He becomes confused between which is reality, and which is not, all while he tries to save earth from the Raison strain. From a few mistakes on Tom's part, both worlds have something bad happen. On earth, he gives the antagonists the key to making the Raison Strain of death they so desperately wanted, and in Tom's dream world of the bats, he is the one who unintentionally leads one of the inhabitants drink the forbidden water. Both of these were disastrous consequences of Tom's curiosity. Unfortunately, Thomas hunter was a human, not a cat (as the "curiosity killed the cat" phrase goes), so he was able to survive death. Twice.
Thomas Hunter is the protagonist in Black. I've covered him in the above paragraphs. The antagonist was Valborg Svensson. He's pretty much the stereotypical villain. A third character is Rachelle, the beautiful woman that Tom was in love with in his dream world. I don't have much to say about her, either.
Black was a book with an unusual plot, poor writing, and unbelievable characters. I would not read this book again, and neither would I recommend it to anyone, although, if someone that I knew did read it, I would ask the person's opinion of it. If you want to read this book, go ahead, but I just remember that I never told you to do so.
If you have an opinion on Ted Dekker's writing, please leave a comment. I will be more than happy to discuss it with you.
Here is a review that I wrote on Black:
BLACK
Ted Dekker
Ted Dekker
Black by Ted Dekker is a book of unbelievable reality. As the first book in the Circle trilogy, it was published in February of 2004, and it has two sequels that came shortly afterwards in May and September 2004. It is 408 pages of pure action and Dekkerisms.
The weakest part of this book is it's writing style. The series of books was published in less than a year, and it shows. The fact that Dekker does not know how to really write also shows. A lot. He uses many sentences like the previous two; making one sentence into one sentence with a little fragment afterwards. It is used not only in dialogue, but also in the actual writing. Here is an example from Dekker himself: "Deeper and deeper into the jungle they ran. Straight for the lake. There were birds on almost every tree it seemed. Monkeys and possums." Well, monkeys and possums to you too, Ted. Also, on multiple occasions, he starts out a sentence with "and" when, if the period was taken away, and the "a" changed to lowercase, it could be added to the sentence before it to make them a single, real sentence. I honestly do not like Dekker's style of writing. I wonder how he was ever able to get published.
Another weak point was the character development. They are unrealistic, stale, and on occasions, ridiculously funny. When Thomas Hunter, protagonist, is trying to get the people at the Center for Disease Control to believe him that the Raison Strain meant death, he starts acting like a misbehaving child. To quote the book, "Tom smashed his cheek against the glass, tightened his choke hold [on himself], and stuck out his tongue. 'I'm dying! Help, help!'" For putting on that show, Tom gets exactly what he wanted: to talk to someone from the infectious disease department. If he is still doing this as a grown man, he must have had quite the parents. If this had been done in the real world, either the police or some nice men would have taken him away to a special place of his very own.
The story that Dekker has is an unusual one. Thomas Hunter, when awake, is on earth as we know it. When he sleeps, he dreams dreams that are as real as reality. He becomes confused between which is reality, and which is not, all while he tries to save earth from the Raison strain. From a few mistakes on Tom's part, both worlds have something bad happen. On earth, he gives the antagonists the key to making the Raison Strain of death they so desperately wanted, and in Tom's dream world of the bats, he is the one who unintentionally leads one of the inhabitants drink the forbidden water. Both of these were disastrous consequences of Tom's curiosity. Unfortunately, Thomas hunter was a human, not a cat (as the "curiosity killed the cat" phrase goes), so he was able to survive death. Twice.
Thomas Hunter is the protagonist in Black. I've covered him in the above paragraphs. The antagonist was Valborg Svensson. He's pretty much the stereotypical villain. A third character is Rachelle, the beautiful woman that Tom was in love with in his dream world. I don't have much to say about her, either.
Black was a book with an unusual plot, poor writing, and unbelievable characters. I would not read this book again, and neither would I recommend it to anyone, although, if someone that I knew did read it, I would ask the person's opinion of it. If you want to read this book, go ahead, but I just remember that I never told you to do so.
If you have an opinion on Ted Dekker's writing, please leave a comment. I will be more than happy to discuss it with you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)