Reading List 2013

Here's the reading list from 2012 - another neat example of identifying other life memories that go along with reading the novels. It's very interesting to remember where you were and what was important to you while you were reading the books.

For more references, here's 2010's list , 2011's list and 2012's list

The Lost Dinosaurs of Egypt, William Nothdurft and Josh Smith

Damn Nazis! A touching story of discovery over generations.

Deception Point, Dan Brown

Another Brown story you whip through far faster than makes sense.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Jules Verne

Don't' be fooled, there are no dinosaurs whatsoever in this book. Plus, be prepared to read the word "Fathom" a thousand times.

The Dalkie Archive, Flann O'Brien

Some guy plans to blow stuff up, and has homemade whiskey! Funny! Another fun Flann O'Brien novel.

Offside: The Battle for Control of Maple Leaf Gardens, Theresa Tedesco

BOOOORING. Imagine reading hundreds of pages of legal documents and itinerized dates about a frustrating real estate transaction.

Dracula, Bram Stoker

Read some Late Victorian diary entries from a cast of characters who wrote about meeting Dracula.. Some great local dialects employed by Stoker, though.

Measuring Mother Earth, Heather Robertson

VERY interesting, especially if you're into Joeseph Tyrrell or Canada's mid-western geography.

The Walking Dead - books 1 - 14, Robert Kirkman

On Green Dolphin Street, Sabastian Faulks

Great storytelling by Faulks, a rich and colourful journey through a mid-20th century New York City.

Che Guevarra: A Revolutionary Life, Jon Lee Anderson

The size of a phonebook, it was really interesting all the way through - - what a life!

Materese Countdown, Robert Ludlum

Still can't find the Materese Circle (which I really liked) - this is that books sequel, which I read instead.

The Diviners, Margaret Laurence

Haven't read this since high school - poignant metaphors really bring it to life.

I Am Better Than Your Kids, Maddox

It was fun, c'mon!

The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel

The dialogue is kind of like an infomercial, but makes plenty of good points. Just ... feels like he's selling something the whole time, but you're never sure what, exactly.

Jurassic Park (Screenplay), Michael Chricton and David Koepp

Real different from the finished script you see in theatres - - before Spielberg got his hands on it. My draft has a bunch of autographs on it, too!

The Gremlins of Grammar, Toni Boyle and K.D. Sullivan

 Light and fun, considering it's literally about grammar and spelling.

Hannibal Rising, Thomas Harris

Another quick-to-read installment of the Hannibal Lecter story.

Terrible Lizard, The First Dinosaur Hunters and the Birth of a New Science, Deborah Cadbury

The dramatic, dirty history of becoming the foremost authorities on dinosaurs. I really want to read about the Cope and Marsh feuds as well. The Owen v. Mantell battle was pretty dirty!

Lastly, Hannibal by Thomas Harris, the sequel before the prequel, to the Silence of the Lambs series

There are only a few first-edition, hardcopy versions of books I own, and this is one of them. I'd forgotten about Barney's interesting epilogue.

Something missing in my Journey to the Centre of the Earth

Was I crazy to think Journey to the Centre of the Earth would have dinosaurs? My wife read it a few months ago, and I asked her while I was nearing the end of the book ... Hey? I don't think there are going to be dinosaurs in this.

She answered, uncertainly, "No, I think they're in there.... It was so long ago, but I think they were?"

I just knocked Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth, off my reading list and .... it was fine, but I think there's a major revision in the first sentence that needs to be made.

On the 24th of May, 1863, a Sunday, my uncle, Professor Lindenbrock, came rushing back to his little house, No. 19 in the Konigstrasse, one of the oldest streets in the oldest part of the city of Hamburg.              - Verne

How it should begin.

There are no dinosaurs in this book. On the 24th of May, 1863, a Sunday, my uncle, Professor Lindenbrock, came rushing back to his little house, No. 19 in the Konigstrasse, one of the oldest streets in the oldest part of the city of Hamburg.

Notice the important difference? I had no idea that there weren't going to be dinosaurs. Was it unreasonable to think there would be? In 2008's adaptation in 3D, dinosaurs were fairly prominent in the marketing of the film.

This Tyrannosaurus is easily 1,000 ft. long, and 20 times larger than necessary.

In fact, in almost every adaptation of the text into film/television has featured dinosaurs. Heck, even Wikipedia has the novel (that has no dinosaurs in it) categorized under "Novels about dinosaurs". NOT the films, the television shows, etc, but the science fiction novel itself.

But, the 3D flick from a few years ago can't simply be the only reason this misunderstanding is so prominent, is it?

In the 1959 film of the same name, had a Dimetrodon and a "giant chameleon" in it, the classic types, which were just lizards with horns glued onto them.Those weren't in the book, but begin to illustrate when "dinosaurs" began to seep their way into the retelling of this story.

In a 1967 animated version of the text adapted for television has a griffon, a three-headed helldog, and an army of Roman soldiers, though I can't find much about dinosaurs in it. I think there was an episode called "Fossils Revenge" or something, which probably had dinosaurs in it?

A 1978 version of the film had dinosaurs in it.

By 1999, this tv series is using dinosaurs as a dominant selling feature:

Here is a "Wal*Mart" version of the classic appears to have a dinosaur right on the cover of the book:

There were plesiosaurs in the book, this COULD just
be a beached plesiosaur attacking Lindenbrock?

Here's some cartoon featuring Lindenbrock running from a tyrannosaurus as well.

In any case, if dinosaurs had been as prominent in the 1860s as they are now (they'd only first been discovered in the 1820s or something like that) I'm sure Verne woulda loaded up his prehistoric realm with the animals, but ... he just didn't.

So, beware, it's a neat book with a fun journey, but ... no dinosaurs.