First Impressions: The Trauma Myth

I have always been interesting in the science of human psychology, but I also have a personal stake in the field of child abuse. Without getting into details it is why I picked up The Trauma Myth by Susan. Since it is a relatively new book I had heard nothing about it and expected more of the same, but I was surprised by the content thus far of what I have read of it.

First I have to address the appearance of the cover. It has a gradient gray background that starts off at the top corner lighter then gets much darker by the bottom. Within the  there is a line of little paper doll cutouts of little girls and boys all holding hands standing at the edge of the darkness. Now in the darkness the bold white lettering of the title catches your eye like a beacon in the night. Up in the top corner the subtitle reads "The Truth About the Sexual Abuse of Children -- and Its Aftermath".

This is a cover designed to be sensational and to move books. Starting with the title like I said it is the light within the shadows (more on that in a bit).  It takes about more than half of the space on the cover with the word "myth" taking up even half of that space.  Even before reading this you  know it is trying to tell you that you have been lied to by the world and it is trying to light your way to the truth. Now a book on child abuse having images of those chains of little paper cutout children is pretty standard affair, however the fact that they are standing in a line between light and shadow means something. One could look at this and see many things, like children looking toward a bright optimistic future with a dark past lurking just behind their eyes. Maybe the dark history of this children are represented by the shadows and this book (the title actually) is meant to cast a light on that dark history; to expose the truth of it to the world. Either way I don't know, but I do know that this looks like a book you would see featured on the Oprah Show, Dr. Phil, or The View. It's simplistic and provocative all at the same time.

Before I get into what I have read so far I should mention that my mood was a dark as the thunderclouds rolling in the sky. I thought the flashes of lightning and roars of thunder would be an appropriate backdrop to the start of this book. Now after only reading the preface, introduction, and the note to the reader my mood has changed dramatically. That is a sign of how moving this book's contents are.

[Insert Spoilers Here]

With the preface you are introduced to Frank. Frank is basically every representation of a normal guy. One day Frank is on a train reading the newspaper and comes upon an ad looking for people how have experience child abuse in their childhoods to participate in a study. Frank has had a secret he has kept within since the age of nine that is tearing his average everyday life apart. Frank detours his life at this moment because it is finally time to let this secret out. Frank was abused by a man when he was a boy. Frank meets with Doctor Clancy (graduate student at the time) and shares his story. Frank explains to her that there was a beloved friend of the family that would conduct sexual behavior with frank in exchange for baseball cards. Frank goes on to say that he loved this man, and enjoyed the attention he received from him. Sometimes he said that it felt good. When the man Frank knew moved away Frank was sadden by this and missed him dearly. While Dr. Clancy listened to his story she could understand his shame and guilty for what had happened to him. How he felt "aberrant".  So while wrapping up the session with the doctor he posed a question to her that had stalked him for years. Was his case unusual? We all hear about how traumatic and scary sexual child abuse is. Heck one of the few television shows I still watch on occasion is Law & Order: Special Victims Unit which is based on how terrible these events are believed to be.  She bent the truth here and she said she regretted it. She told him that child abuse cases were very common, but she was interrupted by Frank. He looked her in the eye and clarified "No, not the sexual abuse part". . . "if other kids react to it like I did… you know, do what I did?" She just equivocated.

The introduction spends the next 22 pages talking about sexual child abuse. It is quite informative and interesting. She approaches using proper psychological terminology, but then she goes back and explains things she just said in more simpler and easier to understand terms that most anyone can understand. She goes into a lot of the history of the subject and shows how its evolved into what is in the mainstream consciousness. She also give a good detailed understand of the views she is trying to oppose with this book.

Personally for sometime now I felt like it was time that the truth finally came out about sexual abuse. That the media should stop telling these (she preempted what I was planning to say here) monster hiding the closet sensationalized stories and start getting the truth out there. Not all abuse is frightening, aggressive, and painful.  These views for what sexual abuse is like for children have permeated the zeitgeist (You have no idea how much I hate this word). Stories like Frank's are just overlooked or worse altered by experts and figures of the media to scare people about child abuse. Chances are that if you child is abused its not going to be done by some sick freak stalking them over the internet and fucks them with razorblades but by someone you know and trust with experiences a child won't feel are terrifying. If you think I am wrong think about it. How maybe straight guys you know right now would consider it abuse that the hot 19 year old college coed that would baby sit them when they were seven would ask "hey wanna touch my boob?" Now think about how many of those same guys who would brag about that sorta thing after a few beers who can't seem to keep a stable relationship to save their lives.

I'll continue to review this book as I continue reading this book, but by no means are my postings on this a substitute for reading this. So go and get a copy of this for yourselves.

First Impressions: Spellbent by Lucy A. Snyder

I am looking at Spellbent today, and I am not sure if this is the first book of a series or something in the middle.  I do know thanks to the back of the front cover that another book is due out around now, either its out or its coming soon.

The art on the front cover isn't too striking for me. We have a lot of warm soften tones and the font use for the title reminds me of something. Maybe it's Farscape, but it was definitely something that was on the Sci-Fi channel (no I will not call it SYFY). W

We have a woman posing sensually in the middle in what could be an ethereal breeze wielding a shotgun over her shoulder and a pistol holster at her hip. Another feature about this woman is that she has a few open wounds. It's hard to say if they are from combat, or my personal belief is that they come from her enjoyment of rough sex. I believe the latter just because of their locations, one near the upper inner thigh, one at her knee, one at soft tender side of her belly, and restraint scratches at arm and upper cheek. That and as I looked closer at the loose bandage across her chest their appear to be lip prints. What worries me is that there is a ferret at her side and those things get dangerous when they get frisky (don’t ask). Just to add to the sexual imagery there is a giant demonic serpent wrapped around her and strange eggs upon the " ground". I say "ground" because it looks like they are all standing within the mouth a sandworm from Dune.

I took a look at the first paragraph of the prologue and found the main character, Jessie Shimmer, speaking directly to me. She starts by saying that she is the reason why my life is going to change forever. I got to say that this is a bold statement from a mere fictional character, but I am willing to entertain her notion for now.  She goes on to say "Maybe you're only just starting to realize that the world is spinning strange, and you're looking for answers." Well with the release of that movie Inception, I am pretty sure I am not the only one with questions without answers, but go on little lady. Later she finishes with an invitation to either buy her a drink or kick her ass, and seeing how she is kind of cute I think I am feeling kind of thirsty. I will have to say that this is an interesting way to introduce the heroine to the reader.

The back of the book give me a quick tease about what is going on here. First We have Jessie Shimmer from Ohio mixing magic and sex with this guy Cooper Marron, who has apparently taken her on as student. As they try to magic up some rain for a thirsty drought ridden land, they accidentally open a demon gate which snatches up good old Coop and in his place leaves behind a nasty demon. So it's up to Jessie who is now alone in a hostile world to make things right again and save her lover.

Overall there is one thing about this book so far screaming in my head. Yep, the demon witch of the hollows herself Rachel Morgan. There are a lot of similarities between to two heroines. First both are from Ohio. Both women are bad asses, and with the way Jessie is dressed on the cover I just think bounty hunter. Both ladies are just entering into the depths of the world of magic. Both ladies seem to have men trouble. And finally that ferret just reminds me of a weird combination of Jenks and when Rachel was a mink. Now I am not saying there is anything wrong with the two seeming quite similar. In fact I am looking forward to this more because of the similarities, since I am such a huge fan of the Hollows.

At A Glance: Black Tide by James Swallow

I just finished Black Tide from James Swallow today.  This is the fourth book in the Blood Angels saga in the Warhammer 40, 000 universe. Now I am not going to do a formal review on this novel quiet yet, but I will offer up some of my cursory thoughts on the story.

First I have to say that I never really got emotionally involved in this book like I did the last three. The first two I was living vicariously through Rafen (the main character of this saga).  His every victory I cheered out loud for him. His every lost I felt myself, and when he did something badass I felt the rush of adrenalin.

By the third and I believe second book, I was thrilled by the involved me of my favorite heroes in the game actually having involvement in a real way with the plot. This I was a first so far for me, because usually the black library books I read so far only glancingly mentioned heroes and instead focused on original elements.

I guess what took me about this was the fact that what happened with what I read impacted I whole of the universe of the game. These were no mere cannon fodder ready to die at the plot's whim, but character's who if maimed or killed would mean they would no longer be the same in the game if they still remained.

The Black Tide on the other hand had none of these elements from the previous entries. I am not saying it wasn't a good book, but it just didn’t have the impact. This book was action packed and the pacing was unrelenting.

For me it also lacked suspense. I never doubted that Rafen wouldn’t rise to the challenges placed before him. So for a while during the middle I kept wanting things to move on and get to the final scene. I should say I was slightly spoiled with a review I read before hand, but regardless I didn't feel like the events in the middle would have much lasting impact on the plot.

Overall if you have read the first three books in the series reading this will give you closure, but it does not stand up well on it's own.

Movie Talk: World War Z

World War Z is a movie that I have been anticipating for years now. For those you don't know World War Z is based on a zombie novel from Max Brooks, who also wrote The Zombie Survival Guide. World War Z is a tale that takes place after zombies wipe out civilization as we know it. It al revolves around a former U.N. worker who was tasked to report on the entire war against the zombies. The story is told from varies points of view through a myriad of interviews with key people during the crisis.

The history of the movie adaptation of this book starts with a bidding war between Leonardo DiCaprio's company and Brad Pitt's company who won. Shortly after director Marc Forster was signed onto the project.  Max Brooks by this point has no creative control over the production of the movie.

Initially the movie was rumored to be release late 2010, but appears now to be p

Publish Post

ushed back until 2012. Normally delays like this are a bad thing for getting a movie released, but according to Max, the money being spent to just get this movie written is a good sign that a movie will be made. (more on this later)

First the movie was handed to J. Michael Straczynski the man behind the awesomeness that was Babylon 5 to come a screenplay. Now this is a monumental task due to the way the story was told and the epic scale of the story itself. A draft was leaked on the internet and Aintitcoolnews was thoroughly impressed, saying that it could redefine the genera. Recently its come out that the movie has been handed off to a new writer Matt Carnahan who is known for The Kingdom.

Now that I have talked a little what's going on with the movie I want to get into how I feel about the movie. First as much as I want to see this story told on the big screen, realistically I know a single movie isn't going to cut it. There is just too much ground to cover. Even the audio book adaptation as good as it was had to be trimmed down. Maybe breaking the story down into different movies would work, but I am not holding my breath for a Lord of the Rings style trilogy.

With the script in the hands of a write I also worry that the story is being dumbed down and made more popcorn flick-ish. The book while it did a good job one night of seriously creeping me out, wasn't about that type of horror. It was more about the emotional shock of losing the comforts we have gotten used to and being force to fight for survival as the world crumbles around you. It will be a shame of that element is lost to more of action army vs. zombies tales. Any who know the book also know that the army wasn't terribly effective until it became incredibly boring.

Start Something Saturday - The Beginning

Saturdays are usually the days when I get new books, but this Saturday I tried something different. Sense I have plans of epic scale formulating in my brain I decided to take the first steps and do a little homework this weekend. So I headed down the local Half Price Books and got a little be of time in with the store manager.

The First Interview

Before I begin on how things played out, I should admit something. I have never interviewed anyone seriously. I also guarantee that I have also never interviewed a total stranger. I have no kind of journalism experience, and though I would've joined the high school news show, I had no idea where to go. So consider me level one at this job class.

So my tale begins with an innocent enough question. "By chance would the store manager happen to be in?" Now in my head I am praying to the fates that the reply comes back no, but I wasn't that fortunate. Actually I was on a strong of bad luck actually. Prior to this I lead a fruitless search all over the store for a copy of a book I wanted to send to my friend, House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Her reply after a short bit of doubt was affirmative. Actually it was more like "I'll go grab him. Stay right there." It's like how did she know I planned on flaking out and fleeing? Lol J/k

So while I awaited my slow painful death by embarrassment, I started to prepare myself. I opened a little notebook I take around with me so that I can jot down ideas for future stories to write, and then I reached for my pen. My luck is just failing me now. My favorite pen broke in my pocket. It also was my only pen because I just happened to put the other pen I grabbed back thinking I wouldn’t need it.

A few minutes pass and there I am doing my interview with the store manager of one of my favorite stores. He was such a nice guy and really knew his stuff, but the trouble is I didn't. Normally when I engage in any sort of public speaking I do not prepare what I plan to say. I usually ad lib everything, because making things up is something I am good at. Remembering things however is something I am not so good at. Actually add in reading out loud as well. Yes, I dyslexia. Now because I did not prepare questions, I must have misphrased my first question because the interview went WAAAAYYY off my topic. It was close but, it revolved around things that were over my head, however since it was so interesting I just went with it. I got a lot of good stuff, but I still needed something for an article I was planning. So at the end I bought the questions back into context somehow. I still do not know how I pulled that off.

So with my first interview out of the way, I am well on my way to bringing my readers quality content from some of their favorite authors and possibly celebs. I have learned a lot from this experience. First, if you do live interviews, use an audio or video recorder. Second, prepare extensively for not only the subject matter but the interviewee as well. Third have backups, anything bad that can happen will, and you need to be ready for it if only to ease your nerves.

Oh at the end of the interview, I did ask about House of Leaves. Come to find out he was quite familiar with it, and pretty much explained that it'll be long shot of me ever getting a copy from there. People love this book. Actually they love it so much that he told me he had a copy in his hand once that he was about to put on the shelf, and someone ripped it right out of his hand and ran it to the counter. Hopefully this means that next Saturday I will start reading House of Leaves for the book club.

First Impressions: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Whispers from the elders urged me to the towering corridors of aging tomes questing for this book. There before me, the deceitfully simple appearance with gold lettering and bold print called out for the darkness within my soul. Quickly I fled away with my newest acquisition, shielded from the examinations of the outside world between a book featuring the cutest little baby chicks and another book taking a serious stance on animal cruelty. Finally home, it sat there mocking my fear with it's terrible aura of dark power.

Yes, for weeks it stood above me lurking over my head. Slowly it infected my dreams and banished me into the realms of hellish night terrors. Night after night it stalked my mind, until one night I was forced to confront my fears and pick it up.

So far I had been seeking an epic tale to sate my friend's lust for great storytelling. Running short on time I had, but one choice, the dark tome. I knew alone it would consume my very soul, but maybe together we could slay this beast. Then I reached up from my computer to fetch the wretched thing.

I felt it its dark energies pulse against my fingertips as I brought the book in front of me. The cover felt as if it was bound within a death shroud. I was stuck by the notion that I previously believed this book to have been wrapped in the skin of a sacrificial bull, but I was mistaken. Upon closer inspection I saw evidence of woven cloth that was not quite adhering to universal order, slightly slanted against normality. No light returns from the blackness of this book. During those fretful nights of poor sleep, sometimes when I awoke I would look over and I would struggle just to make out its shadowy silhouette. It was like a trick of the light, like my mind was playing games with me. Even the gold print on the spine seems not to want to relinquish its death grip upon the light that touches it. Both the front and back covers are completely unadorned as if it was trying to stealthily creep into my life and murder me in my sleep.

Upon opening the book and flipping through the pages quickly, I am treated to arcane scribbling of a mad man. No rational or logical mind could will a hand to manipulate a black marker to create such unsettling artwork. The page numbers as well are unusual as they are not on the bottom corners like so many other benign books. No these numbers count away your increasing insanity from the top corners with a font that harkens back to an older age.

Finally I reached the front of the book, where I discovered something I was never expecting. I read an explanation. It's not of the story within, but the back story of this version of the story. Yes, this is not an exact recreation of the original ramblings of a crazy person but a second edition of the work. This edition includes footnotes detailing the changes made from the first to the second that may or may not have been made my the original author. Mostly it's just the result of a bleeding editor's pen, but there may still yet be some additional influence from the writer's mind. Then with another turn of a page, I find that I am holding a relic. This was one of 300 loving crafted copies of the original work from those who seek to retain ancient writings.

May the Gods have mercy upon my soul. (If I have one left after reading this.)

Let's read this book now on the Kindle for $0.99

As always please share your first impressions of this book down below in the comments section.