Just After Sunset by Stephen King (Spoiler Alert!!)

Okay, my latest book is Just After Sunset by Stephen King. Here is the Goodreads link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6001549-just-after-sunset. As usual I must alert you in the very beginning that this contains a good number of spoilers, so be careful. Be very careful.

This is a book that contains a total of 13 short stories. Normally I am not a big fan of short stories, and honestly speaking, when I bought the book, I didn’t realize it consists of short stories. Nothing on the cover indicated that it is a book of short stories and I usually tend not to examine the insides of the books too much when buying, apart from taking a peak at the font size and line spacing as thick books with tiny font and tiny line spacing appeal to me the most. I kinda hate it when my book ends. OK, enough of my rambling.

Stephen King is a very well know, famous author. Known for writing stories that consist of a big imagination and a lot of suspense and mystery. And he mainly focuses on short stories. Apparently he has written around hundreds of short stories. This was my first time ever reading a Stephen King book and maybe only the third time I ever read a book on short stories, and I was really impressed with what I read.

I guess I should review each story one by one because they were all so unique and excellent in their own way. It would not do the book justice if I just clumped all the stories together into one general review. So bear with me as this might turn into a long review, as there are a total of 13 stories.

1. “Willa” – A bit creepy to be honest. Its about ghosts. But I couldn’t even tell it was about ghosts until like after the story ended and I thought I must re-read some parts to get a clear picture of what I just read. Maybe I am just slow, that is why I didn’t get it at first, I don’t know. Still it was very interesting to read about these people who were waiting at this train station for their next train.

2. “The Gingerbread Girl” – This story gives a good message in it. About how if you just try to simply run away from one mess, you can easily land into another one. The lady in this story, her baby daughter has died. So to escape that she runs away from her husband and her home to a home her father owns on the beach. There she has to run to save her very life. Lots of suspense and full of emotion. Makes you want to read more and more.

3. “Harvey’s Dream” – This story is about a couple, a husband and wife. The husband has Alzheimer's disease and the wife is unhappy with her life. They have two daughters, both of whom are adults and have moved out. Harvey, the husband, had a dream last night about one of the daughters being in an accident and there is a possibility that the dream is coming true today. Personally, this is a story that I don’t really care for that much. It was actually quite lame, if you ask me.

4. “Rest Stop” – This involves a guy who is on a road trip and he has stopped at one of those rest stops that they have on the highways to take a break. Over there he overhears a disturbing argument in one of the bathroom stalls between a man and a woman and the guy contemplates what to do. This if he should intervene or not. This is an excellent story. It really makes you think about ethics and human nature along with making you ask yourself the question, “What would I have done if I were in this individual’s shoes?”

5. “Stationary Bike” – This involves a guy who has been forced to exercise due to is weight issues reaching epic proportions. As the character of the book is forced to exercise on this stationary bike in his basement, with no TV set or radio or any other form of entertainment available to him, he day dreams to pass the time. This story basically just explores his big imagination. This is another story that I don’t care for and find kind of lame because I couldn’t even follow what was going on.  

6. “The Things Left Behind” – This story has a very interesting theme. It deals with the phenomenon known as Survivor’s Guilt and talks of a post 9/11 world. This story revolves around a guy who worked in the World Trade Centre but did not turn up for work on the actual day of 9/11 because he was home sick with the flu. It is a classic case of Survivor’s Guilt. The main character of the story feels that he belonged in the World Trade Centre that day and he should have died with his colleges like he was supposed to, but he didn’t hence he is experiencing extreme guilt over his survival. These feelings of guilt affect his mind so much that he feels that inanimate objects in his apartment have taken life and each object is representing a colleague each. A must-read story! Highly recommended.

7. “Graduation Afternoon” – This story revolves around a lady and her boyfriend. Her boyfriend is part of New York’s high society, at this girl finds that this high society business is not her thing. It is all is taking place in the afternoon, and it is this very evening that their high school graduation is taking place. All of a sudden a nuclear bomb or something like that explodes in New York and everyone is staring at the aftermath. Personally, I think this story is one of the lamest things I’ve ever read. Just skip this story and move on.

8. “N” – This deals with a psychiatrist and his patient who suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The patient is mad, so to speak, and eventually the psychiatrist drifts into the patient’s madness to the extent that the psychiatrist commits suicide. A very fascinating and intense story that captures the reader’s imagination at the very beginning. Reading the story reminded me of the words I heard during the trailer of Mental, “The journey through the mind is a radical journey”. A must read highly recommended story!

9. “The Cat From Hell” – This story revolves around, err, the cat from hell. The title explains it all. A murderous violent cat who has the blood of so many people on their hands. Very interesting, but its not a story for the faint hearted as there are sections that are kind of gruesome and maybe even disturbing.

10. “The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates” – This revolves around a lady who received a phone call from her dead husband. Apparently her husband calls her from the afterlife telling her not to go to a certain bakery on Sundays because on one Sunday a bomb will explode there, and that is what happened three years later. Good story but the conclusion was super lame. Like super lame.

11. “Mute” – Revolves around a guy who picks up a hitchhiker who was holding a sign that had the words written on it, “I am mute”. The guy assumes the hitchhiker is a deaf-mute when he is actually just a mute (can hear but cannot speak) so he tells the passenger the problems with his marriage. Turns out that a few days later his wife is murdered and the evidence kind of suggests the mute is behind it. Very fascinating story. Another must read.

12. “Ayana” – Apparently this story deals with aliens from outer space or some other mystical beings that have the ability to cure illnesses or injuries that conventional medicine has declared incurable. These beings kiss the ill or injured individual and that individual gets healed. This story does have the nice theme of believing in the power of miracles. Even though personally I like the theme of believing in the power of miracles, I kind of found this story to be really creepy and disturbing to the extent that I personally feel that I was better off not reading it.

13. “A Very Tight Place” – This story deals with two feuding neighbours. The two neighbours are fighting over the custody of a piece of land. One of the neighbours decides to take matters into his own hands and tries to “get rid” of the other neighbour. It’s very interesting to see how the entire feud unfolds and the ending does have a nice twist to it. Not a story to be read by the faint hearted as it does get quite gruesome and yucky at several parts.

Overall, this is an excellent book. I would strongly recommend it. The stories are very interesting and captivating. Each story felt like it was its own mini stand alone novel. All of the stories have a lot of suspense and grip your imagination in the very beginning. This is a book that is difficult to put down. Once you get into it, you want to keep on reading it, story after story, after story. Agreed, some parts were creep and are not for the fainthearted, but from what I have heard, that is typical of Stephen King’s works, so no worries there.

Time to Say Goodbye to 2012 and Time to Welcome 2013

Happy 2013 everyone. New dawn, new day, new year. Whenever we look back at a previous year gone by, we remember the trials we witnessed, the obstacles we overcame, the tribulations we faced and the hardships we witnessed. But do we ever look back at a year just to be grateful for what we have? Do we take the time to say thank you to God, or to the universe or our auras or whatever you believe in? I don’t think so. For that reason I want to share something with my readers on this new years day.

This is a poem that was texted to me several years ago, and I liked it so much that I saved it in my phone. Who texted it to me? I don’t know. It came from some unknown number. I think we should all read this poem and look back at the previous year and say thank you. Credits go to the unknown writer and the unknown texter, definitely not me.

Here it begins:

Even though I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm rings, thank you Lord, that I can hear. There are many who are deaf.

Even though I keep my eyes closed against the morning light as long as possible, thank you Lord, that I can see. Many are blind.

Even though I huddle in my bed and put off rising, thank you Lord, that I have the strength to rise. There are many who are bedridden.

Even though the first hour of my day is hectic, when socks are lost, toast is burned and tempers are short, my siblings are so loud, thank you Lord for my family. There are many who are lonely.

Even though the breakfast table never looks like the pictures in magazines and the menu at times is balanced, thank you Lord for the food we have. There are many who are hungry.

Even though the routine of my studies are monotonous, thank you Lord for the opportunity to study. There are many who are denied education. 

The Mayans Lied to Us Hence the Wait for The End of the World Continues

Hello, my name is *insert name here* and I am one of the December 21^st end of the world survivors. If there is still anyone else out there, anyone at all, please let me know, I will find you.

Got a text message like that this morning. Thought if I am still alive on December 22, I would be saying this to people. Like posting this message on a wall somewhere or try to send it through the internet (provided the internet is still there and still works) or maybe post it in a way that helicopters flying high can see it, like with coconuts or something, like they show in the movies. Okay, I am exaggerating a bit with the message written in coconuts for flying helicopters to catch. If they are any survivors, last thing they would be doing would be flying helicopters as the first point on their agenda will be survival, I guess.

Anyways, turns out this is all make believe. The world didn’t end. The Zombie Apocalypse never occurred. Wished it actually could’ve been real. That the world did end on December 21 and the Zombie Apocalypse occurred. I mean, the world has been around for so long. High time it ended, LOL. I would’ve been witnessing a once in a life time event, history in the making. Okay okay, on a more serious note, I seriously thought the world was going to end on December 21 like the Mayans told us it would. Thought maybe a nuclear explosion would occur or suddenly a black hole would come which would suck the world inside it. Or suddenly a meteorite or an asteroid will hit the earth. Or something on these lines would occur. But unfortunately nothing happened. I don’t know why, but I actually wanted the world to end. Maybe just to witness the event, but I really badly wanted the world to end.

I was even about to write my own guide about “How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse” or “Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse for Dummies” thinking it would come in handy on December 21, but I never went beyond deciding the title of the book. Looks like it was a good thing I never bothered to work on that book, all of my hard work would’ve gone waste.   

So many theories even pointed to the world ending at around this time. It was not just the Mayans. Biblical references said so too. And the list goes on of other people who thought the world would end. The Sibylline Prophecies. Quatrains of Nostradamus. But the Mayans were the ones who had pinpointed an exact date while the others had only given a general picture of this time, so I will express my anger towards the Mayans by saying, “The Mayans screwed us over by giving us hope that the world is going to come to an end”. Stupid, useless hope.

And apparently it was not just me who was looking forward to the world ending. A bunch of other people were too. I was reading on Al Jazeera’s website about all the preparations that the people had made to celebrate the end of the world or honour the end of the world, or whatever you would like to call it. In Varansai, India, people came to offer prayers and take shelter; as Varansi is a holy city it was believed that when doomsday occurs, Varansai will remain intact. In Russia, a museum sold tickets for like a thousand dollars or something for people to stay in former Soviet dictator Joseph (or is it spelled Josef?) Stalin’s bunker so that they can survive doomsday. In China, the wait for doomsday actually resulted in like over a thousand arrests because the people who were circulating doomsday protests must’ve gotten they eye of the authorities. Well, the Al Jazeera article that I quoted in this article is located here http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2012/12/2012122165411542664.html if you want to read it. Unfortunately I still do not know how to create hyper links. I couldn’t code stuff even if my life depended on it.

Those people who were “beliefists”, who believed so much in the world ending and the Mayan theory, I wonder how they are coping. I am really curious about that. Maybe they are following the revised Mayan calendar which apparently believes in 2017. (A guest who came over to my place yesterday told about the 2017 revised Mayan calendar, that the world will end January 1, 2017. Personally, it was the first time that I was hearing of any such thing.) 

So I am trying to look at the bright side here. If I ever have any kids I can show them the movie 2012 and say to them, “Look I survived that thing!!” or tell them stories of how I survived the Zombie Apocalypse.

So, when actually will the world end? Out of all of the major theories that speculate the ending of the world, all of them have been spent out, so to speak, with the exception of two. The first possible prediction is for 2028, called The Triple Six Mystery. What it entails, I don’t know. I have read about it, but unfortunately I have been unable to make much sense of it. Apparently it has some basis in Christianity and the next rapture (whatever that is supposed to be) will happen in the year 2028, and following this rapture will be so much instability that the world will just come to an end.

The next prediction is for the year 2280. And this theory is based on Islam. Apparently the Quran has a mathematical code in it and the scientists have managed to break the code and the code says the world will end in Ramadan 1710 according to the Islamic calendar, which corresponds to the year 2280 in the Gregorian calendar.

There is like so much talk about when the world will end, but no talk about how the world will end? Did anyone ever notice that? Well, I admit I just noticed that now while typing out this blog post. And I thought to myself, “Have I heard of any theory about how the world will end?” I am already aware of one theory but I Googled the question for hope of additional information. Turns out all the theories except the one I know of have been proven wrong. Stuff about planetary alignments and the earth banging into this planet known as Planet X and an asteroid hitting the earth. Well, the one theory that I know of can’t be proven right or wrong until the world actually ends. The theory that I know of the theory Islam puts forward – well basically the way Islam describes the end of the world, it sounds as if the end of the world will be due to a nuclear explosion. This is something that cannot be proved or disproved or disregarded until the world ends, so I guess this theory will be standing till the end. I mean, how do you disprove (or prove, for that matter) that a nuclear war will cause the end of the world? Until the world actually ends, that is.

 
So I guess the wait to the end of the world continues. Whether its 2017 or 2028 or 2280. Or neither of those three years. Only when the world actually ends will we know when is doomsday, but they are three theories still standing so far. And, when it comes to how the world will end, that is something we will only know until the world ends, and for that the nuclear bomb theory is the only one that is still standing. Until the world ends, happy rotting in this crappy God forsaken world. :-)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Readers!!

Just wishing all of my readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy Festive Season. To all those who celebrate it. In my house, nobody could care less about holidays. Most likely the parents found out today is Christmas after seeing a mass service on tv or a picture of Santa on the front page of the City News section of the newspaper that comes in my house. And then forgot about it a few minutes later. That is how much interest holidays of any kind generate with my family. But Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate it. Hope you have lovely Christmas trees and don't forget the Christmas spirit of it being better to give than to recieve.

To the End of the Land by David Grossman (Spoiler Alert!!)

Writing about books, like a book report or a book review, is not something that I have ever done. Never ever. Like I said before, I am more of a reader than a writer. But as I have undertaken this project of writing, I might as well introduce my readers (If they exist in the first place, LOL) to the books that I finish reading, as I finish them. So I will be, along with other stuff, be introducing my readers to books as I finish them.

The book I just finished reading is “To the End of the Land” by David Grossman. Here is the link to its Goodreads page: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7779571-to-the-end-of-the-land (Unfortunately I still don’t know how to make those hyperlinks here but I’d really appreciate it if somebody could explain it to me) Now my post includes spoilers, so if you don’t want the story ruined for you any further, don’t read any further. I just write about a book without including spoilers in it.

Normally I am a big fan of big thick books with tiny font. However, with this book, I felt like this book is just too long. It was too tedious a read for me. Like it just seemed never ending for me. Which is something I have never ever felt about a book, no matter how thick it is or long it is. Despite that, I still would recommend this book. The only reason I found it tedious is because of how deadly slow it can get. But yet, this is a very impacting book and that is the sole reason why I would recommend it.

This book was originally written in Hebrew, but then Jessica Cohen translated it into English from Hebrew. I read it in English as I don’t speak a word of Hebrew. The author has two sons, the elder one had finished his compulsory military duty, while the second one was doing it. Unfortunately, the second son died during the Second Lebanon War as the tank he was in was attacked. It was during this time did the author begin writing this book with the belief that “the book will protect his son” (A concept that has never made any sense to me, to be honest) but towards the end of the writing of the book, the son passed away.

This book even focuses on a military theme. It revolves around a couple, Ora and Ilan, their former best friend Avram, and Ora and Ilan’s two sons, Adam and Ofer. To summarize the story of this book, Ora and Ilan are recently estranged. Ora, along with her driver Sami, goes to drop Ofer to this place where soldiers go to when they have to report for active duty. Ofer has completed his compulsory military service but he decided to enlist in the army again. In the book we are first introduced to Ora’s relationship with Sami. This part seemed to go on too long for me.

Afterwards, Ora manages to track down Avram, whom she has not met or had contact with in years, and manages to convince him to go on a hike with her across northern Israel. The idea is to avoid any news from the front and any informers, as if the hike will save Ofer’s life. Over on the hike, where the rest of the book is situated, do we learn about the beginning of Ofer’s life up to his possible death, about Adam, about Ilan and about the nature of the friendship between Ilan, Avram and Ora. There are a lot of relationships/bonds that one has to keep track of throughout the book, Ora-Ilan, Adam-Ofer, Ora-Avram and Ilan-Avram. And another interesting relationship we explore is Ofer-Avram, as it turns out that Avram is Ofer’s biological father and Avram has never met Ofer.

The idea behind the hike was to somehow protect Ofer by bringing both his biological parents together and keep on discussing him and talking about him. However, in the end we are not told if Ofer dies or if he still lives. But personally, I get the impression that it is more likely that he has, in fact, died.

It is a very impacting book as it really goes into the nature of human relationships. And it really talks about fate too. Because Ora had to take names out of a hat (either Avram or Ilan) and it was because Avram’s name came was this whole story able to take place. If Ilan’s name came, most likely none of these events would have taken place. The theme of fate and how one moment can change your life forever really appealed to me.

So basically I would recommend this book due to its impacting element. But remember that there is a lot to keep track while reading it because of the numerous relationships the author is exploring. The major drawback of this book however is that it is just too long at times as the author has like dragged stuff too much, especially Ora’s relationship with Sami, as it doesn’t seem to be important to the story.