tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post112297782860024818..comments2024-03-29T11:20:37.238+00:00Comments on Grumpy Old Bookman: John Twelve Hawks: The TravellerMichael Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11338398159818400930noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-53882917801259465022010-02-24T11:43:56.234+00:002010-02-24T11:43:56.234+00:00Online movies watch free<a href="http://dreammovies.us" rel="nofollow">Online movies watch free</a>online movies watchhttp://dreammovies.usnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-89515712140024489322010-01-07T10:07:54.027+00:002010-01-07T10:07:54.027+00:00Hi! I read "The Traveler" in my London&#...Hi! I read "The Traveler" in my London's vacation tour last year. I bought it by chance in one of the book boutiques. I got a long train road and I wanted to read all the way. Usually I don't have a time to read this kind of literature, but this novel I enjoyed to read very much. I remember it, because I enjoyed both: beautiful views from the window and reading nice book!London Hotelshttp://www.lastminutetravel.com/Destination/London-Hotels.aspxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-79799908950485666882009-12-19T07:48:47.084+00:002009-12-19T07:48:47.084+00:00I agrees with Christy that it is not a media stunt...I agrees with Christy that it is not a media stunt. It is just a viewpoint. And I think the traveller is the nice one,Flightshttp://www.flightscheaptickets.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-1136588056119193942006-01-06T22:54:00.000+00:002006-01-06T22:54:00.000+00:00Hello Michael,I read this post a long time ago but...Hello Michael,<BR/>I read this post a long time ago but didn't comment. Yes, it is such a pity that the book isn't a good read. This is how publishers get scared off such approaches to advertising. Although, I should say that I don't see this strictly as an advertising venture -- it is also the storyworld spread futher than the bounds of the book.<BR/>Christy, from <A HREF="http://www.cross-mediaentertainment.com" REL="nofollow">www.crossmediastorytelling.com</A>. :)Blog Newbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02729376105510390649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-1135833470427887692005-12-29T05:17:00.000+00:002005-12-29T05:17:00.000+00:00i found it to be an alright book, it had some inte...i found it to be an alright book, it had some interesting ideas that i thought were conveyed very well, also the slow start thats been referred to here is the case with many books of this genreAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-1127446447461144292005-09-23T04:34:00.000+01:002005-09-23T04:34:00.000+01:00I have the notion that John Twelve Hawks = Michael...I have the notion that John Twelve Hawks = Michael Cunningham. I happened to read Specimen Days soon after completing The Traveler. (Yes, I'm American.) I'm commenting here because the GOB has read (or attempted) both. I haven't found anyone else yet that has. He actually negatively compared both to another book (Spin), which is why I found this site on the Internet and decided to post my comment here.<BR/><BR/>Here's what I have. 1st, both The Traveler and Specimen Days combine sci/fi/fantasy with heavy-duty social criticism to the point that the reigning political system is seen as totally evil and/or failed. (That rules out Stephen King or J.K.Rowling, for example, but not Margaret Atwood.) Specimen Days, like The Traveler contains a character who wants to disappear. The Traveler has the Brethren; Specimen Days has the Family. Specimen Days also has the Company (like the Vast Machine?). Cunningham even uses the term "off the grid." (Is it that common?) Like Maya in The Traveler, the Simon character in S.D., Part 3, is learning to feel love. <BR/><BR/>At 1st I didn't think Specimen Days had a religious aspect like The Traveler. But that's in part b/c I 1st listened to an audio of the book and didn't pick up on the titles of the parts. Part 2 is The Children's Crusade. Also, the two main male characters in The Traveler are Gabriel and Michael, while those in S.D. are Luke and Simon. (Incidentally, the title of Part 1 is In the Machine.)<BR/><BR/>On the Night Shade Books forum on the subject, I learned about an essay by John Twelve Hawks that could be bought on Amazon. In that rant, he sounded like Cunningham's character "Walt" in Part 2 of S.D. Both The Traveler and S.D. have some messianic ideas (although the messianic folks in S.D. are the murderous terrorists while those in The Traveler are the good guys). Also, Hawks refers in his rant to a security guard watching variations from normal behavior on a video monitor and having to decide whether to call the police--like the beginning of S.D.'s Part 2 where the lady hotline worker has to distinguish crank callers from violent terrorists.<BR/><BR/>Well, that's about it. Couldn't an experienced author get into an alter ego as into one of his characters for the purpose of writing under an assumed name? It is interesting that the GOB has similar criticisms of both books.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-1123683642802488122005-08-10T15:20:00.000+01:002005-08-10T15:20:00.000+01:00This book is excruciating. Bad prose, poor charac...This book is excruciating. Bad prose, poor character development, painful dialogue, shamelessly transparent marketing strategies. Boy, oh boy, this book sucks. The odd thing is, by cynically manipulating the market with his "air of mystery", JTH is acting as part of the Vast Machine. Also, every bona fide book critic that didn't pan this pulp fiction schlock is also functioning as part of the Machine. Want a good read? "Gould's Book of Fish"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-1123144162650998492005-08-04T09:29:00.000+01:002005-08-04T09:29:00.000+01:00I certainly fell for the advertising. It was on a ...I certainly fell for the advertising. It was on a large number of posters on the London Underground. Quite why it was billed as "From the publishers of the DaVinci Code " is not clear. <BR/><BR/>I am Struggling to get though it at<BR/>the moment. Why do all the main groups have so many different names? There's the Harlequins, and The Tabalar. But who are the Bretheren and the other groups whos names I have already forgotten.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-1123104854921134092005-08-03T22:34:00.001+01:002005-08-03T22:34:00.001+01:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.archerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07585829829302449682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-1123104854685365562005-08-03T22:34:00.000+01:002005-08-03T22:34:00.000+01:00...there is too much stodgy information conveyed t...<EM>...there is too much stodgy information conveyed to the reader directly by the author, rather than being passed on painlessly in the course of interesting action. </EM><BR/><BR/>I was disappointed last night to find Dickens himself guilty of this. He can be fantastically subtle and funny and tactful, and then he can stuff your windpipe with an expository lump the size of a melon. I suppose if you're writing <EM>Oliver Twist</EM> as a series, you get up against it. But I think it's a horribly tough thing to avoid entirely, if even Dickens succumbs. Of course he offers compensations that Hawks presumably doesn't. <BR/><BR/><EM>"But I also know," pursued the old gentleman, "the misery, the slow torture, the protracted anguish of that ill-assorted union. I know how listlessly and wearily each of that wretched pair dragged on their heavy chain through a world that was poisoned to them both. I know how yadda yadda was succeeded by yackety-yack, until blah blah blah became all but wocketawocketa wocketa."</EM>archerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07585829829302449682noreply@blogger.com