Lee

Keep in mind the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. The most startling aspect of this prescient conspiracy theory is that much of it may actually be true and is happening now more than ever to mainstream eyes. Politicians in shadowy groups, assassinations, government cover-ups, alien proof, illegal research, society controlling experiments, censorship and silencing, and much more. You know, everything we've been reading and hearing in the news this year especially. William Cooper’s banned conspiracies even predicted how the author himself was killed, nearly a decade prior. While a lot of the elements touched upon within sound like a perfect match to current events and past historical moments if you connect enough strings on the board, it’s still key to keep yourself grounded from going too far off the deep end. The biggest section I strongly disagree with the part where Cooper claims the government will quickly try to revoke the Second Amendment to disarm its citizens. That’s highly unlikely, especially given that a large majority of gun owners in the United States support that very government—not to mention the behind-the-scenes alliances with the NRA and Republicans.

All in all, a very entertaining reads that do get the brain cogs moving. Worth a read for the curious and wise enough to separate any confirmation bias and take it with a grain of salt.

I was hoping it'd be a little more impactful and resonant like Fahrenheit 451.

”My ideas were confused. In a peculiar way, the unreality of the outer world appeared to be an extension of my own disturbed state of mind.”

Published during the Cold War, by a troubled author who struggled with mental illness, suicide, and a heroin addiction, Anna Kavan’s Ice is a hauntingly intriguing book filled with both dread and fantasy. In hindsight, I'm sure many scholars are eager to attach climate change attributes to it given the icy nuclear winter plot, but I feel like it was far more evocative of an allegory for addiction. An unreliable, unnamed male narrator on the hunt for the elusive “glass girl” could be seen as a junkie in search for their next fix, or even an obsessive abuser on the prowl for his next victim of sexual desire. Not to discount the ecological aspect, but I don't know if those were Kavan’s intentions or just a positive predictive by-product of her somewhat ethereal setting—one where the ice shelves of the arctic are expanding and freezing the world. One could also arguably throw in some Lolita-esque parallels with some characters and their possessive ideas, as I hinted a bit on earlier. I'm confident each reader will have a different perspective by the end of the book.

Kavan’s writing leaves a lot of room for interpretation, just as Ice leaves a heavy fog of ambiguity in each chapter, callous in never holding the reader’s hand. She doesn't even name any of the characters, and the non-linear plot chug along without any context to the page that you just finished right before—at times the story felt like you just joined in on a conversation that two people are having yet they speak without naming any specifics. This book is under 200 pages, but it's dense and intricate in its frigidness to the point it feels like you're really struggling to follow along. I consider myself a veteran reader and so-called critical thinker, and I must admit to having to stop and really digest what I just read every once in a while. It helps that I read this during a harsh winter storm, thus having the mood-appropriate backdrop to dig deep in reflective thought. It's a somber and grim tale, but one I was just oddly captivated by. That said, I do not think this book is for every reader; if you enjoy Ernst Jünger’s under-read On the Marble Cliffs, or the likes of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, you might want to give it a go.

There are three things you should know before reading this:

1.) Welcome to the Anti-Memetics Division, this is your first day. 2.) There is no Anti-Memetics Division. 3.) This isn't your first day…

AKA: “Doesn't look like anything to me.” iykyk

A terrific read for fellow fans of SCPs and Remedy’s Control and Alan Wake games.

This is the second book I have read by underrated crime author Frank Bill. One aspect I particularly appreciate is his vivid descriptive style when depicting both his and his characters’ penchant for violence, often illustrating brutal, visceral scenes with stark clarity. Whether it be the way Bill calls cigarettes, “coffin nails,” threatening to blast a hole through a thug’s head with, “Don't make me open your thought process just yet,” pissing as “Fear flowed hot down his leg,” a rough bar night with “His teeth were a shattered windshield, scattered about his mouth in red-white shards,” or “…fluorescent lights hugged the loaded needle trespassing in Alejandro's vein,” Bill has his gritty trashed alley charm with words.

While I didn't enjoy this anthology-style story as much as Donnybrook, it still featured memorable moments and engaging scenes. For those curious, it shares some characters from Donnybrook, but prior familiarity with the original is not required to appreciate or understand this story fully.

Brainwyrms meets The Worm and His Kings, but not as good.