A trip in time written by a master story teller
597960
I have read that David Copperfield was Charles Dickens' favorite. Also, that it was in essence autobiographical.  In any event it is a heck of a good tale, written masterfully by a master story teller.

I loved ever minute of it.  to revisit the Classics from another era has been my recent privilege.
4314968
John D. MacDonald's prowess as a master storyteller is unquestioned.  In this particular novel, he manages to tell several interesting tales at once.

Motorists traveling northward in Mexico are delayed for what seem like interminable hours at a ferry crossing.  MacDonald describes how several of them have come to be there as he skillfully reveals their intriguing backstories.  In some cases, their individual narratives become intertwined as former strangers interact with one another in imaginative ways.

Because the novel is constructed to unfold in a single day, some of the stories remain open ended.  There just isn't sufficient time for the reader to learn how a number of the characters wind up.  Who lives happily ever after and who doesn't.  For those readers who place a high value on closure, this particular aspect of the book might be seen as a negative.

All in all, the multiple storylines are well crafted and quite captivating.  My only objection to this otherwise engaging novel is MacDonald's overuse of amateur psychology in explaining the motivation behind certain characters' actions.
731155
This is a wonderful and unusual tale that is unfortunately long out of print, so if you want to read it, you have to find a used copy somewhere (or maybe the library?) ... It's the story of a gladiator frozen in the arctic ice and then discovered and thawed in the 20th century. His take on modern civilization is wonderful and contains a lot of truths that we don't generally notice. It's sort of science fiction, sort of just fiction. Most time travel stories have a modern traveler going back in time. In this story, a traveler (cryogenic, but nonetheless a traveler) takes a look at the future ... our present. I don't know any other book like it. If you are a sci fi reader, you will definitely love it. If you just like books, you'll love it anyhow. It's well written and unique. I read it originally when it first came out and have never, in more than 35 years, forgotten it. I'm glad to have a copy of it again.
226326
I read this book twice. I love this book because of the quality of the story telling by the writer. He is amazing in his descriptions of people and he's funny and creative. He is a master story teller and mesmerizing. It's honest and simple yet complex and imaginative yet so real in the way he describes humanity. He is a genius and a brilliant observer of human nature. Sit back and relax and let this writer tell his story to you and enjoy the telling. Let him weave his tale to you. It's superior writing. One of my all time favorite books.
1661486
I couldn't put this book down for very long the author really transported me to this time and place, I would love to read more of his work! Bravo!!
280092
Going back and re-reading the works of Truman Capote is like visiting an old and trusted and extremely wise friend. Mr Capote as much as any writer I have read, knew the difference between good writing and very good writing and between very good writing and brilliant writing. And for most of his career, his writing was brilliant.

He could write as descriptively and beautifully as F. Scott Fitzgerald or as descriptively and brutally realistic as Joseph Conrad, but as much as any writer he knew the correct balance when it came to his writing, his subjects, and his characters.

"Music For Chameleons" includes a wonderful collection of short stories and a brilliant and gripping short, non-fiction, novel called "Handcarved Coffins."

The stories are quite a diversified collection of Americana and the locations include New York City, Los Angeles, New Orleans, the Midwest, and Alabama...and a little bit of Italy, Russia, and Switzland. Mr Capote feels as much at home writing about Hollywood stars, as he does about cleaning ladies working in Manhattan, or as he does about writing about murderers and a member of the Manson clan.

The one thing all the stories and the novel have in common is a vivid, undeniable "honesty."
"Honesty," the most important quality that only the greatest of writers have ever achieved.
234524
"Between Man and Beast" is a wonderful read that will leave you wishing the story could go on longer. Author Monte Reel uses his skills as an obsessive reporter and a masterful storyteller to nail down the story of a man who at turns welcomed and resisted inspection. Paul Du Chaillu: adventurer, hunter, explorer, scientist and chameleon takes you along on one improbable journey after another. We twice visit the interior of equatorial Africa, the heights of British scientific society and the high places and low ones in America. The strangest journey is the one into Du Chaillu himself as the author plumbs the depths of a fascinating character. We never know until the end of the book whether Du Chaillu's life will be a triumph or a farce. In pursuing that path, we learn so much about the discovery of species and the understanding of human development, about European conquest, the edges of America's Civil War and the role of race and racism in 1850-1900. This is reading that fulfills those old promises of transporting us and transforming us.&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Between-Man-and-Beast-An-Unlikely-Explorer-the-Evolution-Debates-and-the-African-Adventure-that-Took-the-Victorian-World-by-Storm/dp/0385534221/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Between Man and Beast: An Unlikely Explorer, the Evolution Debates, and the African Adventure that Took the Victorian World by Storm</a>
3397653
I've always thought there must be some secret, undiscovered way we all could travel in time without using massive arrays of equipment and consuming most of the world's energy in the process. In 'One Red Thread,' architect Eddy McBride discovers a simple, sensory-driven method to walk back into his own past for short periods and observe events that shaped or almost destroyed his present. "History is never diminished," he realizes. "It's still here." Of course, Eddy knows well that he is not supposed to try to change anything that happens, nor interact with the people that include younger versions of himself and his brother and other relatives. To do so will have consequences when he moves back into his own time. But Eddy can't help himself; he wants to fix things and soften hurtful wrongs. Nor can he keep his discovery secret from his wife and his business partner. I won't reveal what else happens in the book. Ernie Wood is an excellent writer who knows how to tell a good story and pack depth into paragraphs built from generally short sentences. However, this novel is not -- to use a reviewer's cliche -- "a fast read." Nor is it science fiction, beyond the ease of Eddy's time travel. In my view, the best way to read this book is to take your time and savor the interactions and thoughts of characters who are living within their present, as well as, past settings.
325533
These stories have not lost a step in the 100+ years since they were written, and they capture the imagination as well as anything since captured on film or in print.  The invisible man is a great villain- evil enough to disdain, complex and tortured enough to make you wonder if you should pity him as well.  The Time Machine is brilliant all the way through, from its inception in the study of the Time Traveler's home to the end, when he travels millions of years in the future to scurry back to his machine at sight of a huge amorphous form in the distance.  Wells' depiction of the distant future seems no less accurate- and is no less exciting- than any since described anywhere.
2417619
Love reading this--hate for it to end. Great storyteller of his travels. Andre Aciman's writing is simply beautiful!
2432643
Any novel that can include Lord Byron and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, two of the greatest Romantic poets to have ever lived, cannot be anything but fabulous.  Brendan Doyle, a 20th century scholar, will get to meet them both in this wonderful time travel novel.  Doyle gets asked to give a lecture on Coleridge and is to be paid a lot of money to do so.  So he flies to London and meets J. Cochran Darrow, the man who is paying him to do the lecture.  Things quickly become far more complicated than Doyle had expected.  Darrow and his guests, each paying $1 million, will jump through time to 1810 in order to hear Coleridge speak.

Things go wrong once they are in 1810 though as Doyle is jumped by a group of Gypsies and misses the return trip back to 1983.  He manages to escape the gypsy camp but doesn't fare so well in London of the early 1800s.  Many fantastic things are going on during this time period - magic is everywhere.  There's the evil magician, Dr. Romany, who had Doyle kidnapped in the first place; a man who can change bodies with other men; and a beggar boy who is really a girl on a vengeance quest.  During one point in the book Doyle bounces back to the 1600s chasing after Dr. Romany.

It is interesting to follow Doyle throughout his adventures and see what all happens to him.  This was a really great fantasy and time-travel novel with poetry mixed in.  I highly recommend it to everyone.
324909
A great novel of time travel and history. Stephen King takes on the Kennedy assassination with a twist. Mid mannered English teacher, Jake Epping, is drawn into this fantastic adventure by an old acquaintance/ friend who operates a diner with a secret. His friend, Al, has stumbled upon a strange dark corner of his basement, once the step is taken into this darkness he is met with bright sunshine and strange surroundings. Once Al realizes where he is, he sees an opportunity to change history. Being old and sick, Al has taken Jake under his wing to finish what he cannot.
King doesn't just write a time travel story, but points out what could go wrong, like the butterfly effect. He spins this tale of adventure and romance with detail.
A fabulous read with blowout ending leaving the reader wondering... You won't be disappointed.
1 like
1971114
I'm still in the process of reading this book but I felt compelled to give a 'halfway' review. The author's storytelling style is simply riveting and the details he presents transports you to the very place and time of which he speaks. I grew up in Jamaica also but in a different place (around the same time) and it offers a very different perspective of a parallel journey. I hope the author has more books coming our way because as soon as I'm done with this one, I would like to read another of his works. Excellent reading! I will return on completion to add to this review and hope I will have the words to do the book justice.
3157800
His writing style and storytelling are timeless and beautiful. His wit and charm scream off the page as well as his insights into the complexity of humanity.
2845867
I chose to reread this modern classic because my grand daughter is reading it for the first time. Dostoyevsky is considered a master writer  for a good reason: He is a master of observation, insight, and narration. His insight into the human character and his attention to detail give his stories a reality that transcends the boundaries of time and geography. I am glad I took the time to revisit one of the all-time great stories of western civilization. It is too bad that many schools have dropped Dostoyesky and his fellows from their reading lists.
2578842
Richard Slota's "Stray Son" is a time-traveling trip through the past of a mortician and his family. Slota's brilliant work as a story teller is evident from the get-go. His blend of modern-day and the past is seamless, though sometimes I found myself confused as to what time I was in as I was distracted by the inner dialogue from the main character.

In the story, the main character (a mortician) is visited by the ghost of his soon-to-be dead father. Though we are never really sure if it's a ghost or a time-traveling younger version of his father in order to get the main character to reconnect with his past/family. His relationship to his family has been rocky because he accused his mother of sexual abuse, no one in the family believed him so he stayed away. His wife, and children, can also see this 'ghost'. Ghost dad convinces the main character and his family to road trip to the funeral, during this trip they time-travel back to when his father was young. This interaction gives the family a better chance to get to know his dad for real and see what a good person he was/is.

I gave this book 4 stars just from the minor confusion / uncertainty about what was going on due to the inner dialogue moments. However, it is a very good, funny, quirky book.
2228430
I love a great time travel story and this is one of the best.  The characters are described in depth.  The scenes are well thought out and vividly written.  The humor with which this is written gives the story that extra something.  Their dialogue is funny and well written.  This is one enjoyable read.