In almost all of my eighteen published novels, animals have played a central role. When my first novel (No Sign of Murder) was published, The NY Times gave it a standalone review with the headline, “Even the Gorilla is a Suspect.” My wife was working with gorillas when I wrote the book. In Multiple Wounds, I cribbed a real-life experience of a double-homicide in our neighborhood, with the only survivor being a cat. We adopted that cat, and I had my protagonist do the same in telling the circumstances of her story to the world. Because animals play a big part in my own life, I feel the need to incorporate them into my words.
Yes, this novel is about life, death, and love, but if you’re envisioning a Bergman film full of angst, think again. For nineteen years, Jonathan Rebeck has been living in an abandoned mausoleum at Bronx’s Yorkchester Cemetery. Finding a way home has been as challenging for Rebeck as it was for Odysseus. Rebeck has spent his time at the cemetery talking to ghosts, and to a raven quite the opposite of Poe’s. Usually, the human sees to the needs of the animal. In this instance, it is the raven who brings Rebeck pilfered food, and his unique wisdom.
As a romance blossoms between two of the ghosts at the cemetery, Rebeck and a widow he has become friendly with, try to help the spirits belatedly find love, and give Rebeck his own way back to life.
A kindly raven brings food to and is the companion of a man who has taken refuge in an abandoned mausoleum in a New York City cemetery for nineteen years. Title: A Fine & Private Place Author: Beagle, Peter S. Publisher: Tachyon Publications Publication Date: 2007/05/28 Number of Pages: 264 Binding Type: PAPERBACK Library of Congress: bl2007019271
Those who haven’t read either the short story, or novel, are missing out. This is the rags-to-riches-to-rags story of Charlie Gordon, a mentally retarded janitor. When Charlie gets tested by two scientists, he meets Algernon, a mouse that was experimented upon to increase his intelligence. Initially, Charlie is jealous of how smart Algernon is, but when the same procedure is performed on him, his own IQ triples.
Unfortunately for Charlie, his newfound intelligence brings him more complications than happiness. There are many themes at play here; it is a Frankenstein story, and more. Charlie foresees his own future in Algernon’s; he watches the wundermaus devolve back to being a plain old mouse, and then die. Charlie buries Algernon, along with his own short-lived dreams, knowing his newfound intelligence will soon abandon him.
I’m not exactly an arachnophobe, but neither am I a big fan of spiders. Somehow, though, E.B. White was able to take the creepy crawly out of a spider story, and do his best to open closed minds. I know it influenced mine. For several months this past year I shared my writing area with a house spider. I doubt seriously that I would have done that if not for White. Instead of smashing the spider, I observed my office companion. It wasn’t a very clean roommate (I had to clear the area of desiccated insect remains), but at least the flies weren’t a problem. One day my spider just disappeared. I thought of Charlotte, and her sweet passing.
So, I can’t say I love spiders, but I do love Charlotte. And let’s not forget Wilbur. Want a great stroll down memory lane? Need a reminder on why we shouldn’t carry out a death sentence on all spiders? Pick up this book.
Puffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child.
On foggy mornings, Charlotte's web was truly a thing of beauty . Even Lurvy, who wasn't particularly interested in beauty, noticed the web when he came with the pig's breakfast. And then he took another look and he saw something that made him set his pail down. There, in the centre of the web, neatly woven in block letters, was a message. It said: SOME PIG!
This is the story of a little girl named Fern, who loves a little pig named Wilbur - and of Wilbur's dear friend,…
If it’s not obvious by now, I love animals, especially dogs. There are usually three dogs living under the roof of the Russell household, and sometimes a cat or two. The Call of the Wild is another book I read as a young person. Over the years, the story has stayed with me, which usually speaks to a compelling tale. At the same time, I must admit that while reading the book I was greatly bothered by Buck’s suffering. I hated the scenes where he was beaten and brutalized (maybe not as much as I detested the end to Ol’ Yeller, but close). It was also an early introduction to characters I loved to hate, people willing to sacrifice everything (including dogs) in the pursuit of mammon.
This was a book I wanted to turn away from, but couldn’t. There was something powerful in this story of a house dog, turned sled dog, turned into uber canine. It is one of those books that stays with you far after the last page.
Puffin Classics bring together the best-loved stories to a new generation.
In The Call of the Wild life is good for Buck in Santa Clara Valley, where he spends his days eating and sleeping in the golden sunshine. But one day a treacherous act of betrayal leads to his kidnap, and he is forced into a life of toil and danger. Dragged away to be a sledge dog in the harsh and freezing cold Yukon, Buck must fight for his survivial. Can he rise above his enemies and become the master of his realm once again?
Readers enjoy being put in the shoes of the protagonist. It is the job of the author to make readers wonder what’s coming next, to challenge them as they do their characters. Imagine sixteen-year-old Pi Patel, bobbing around in the middle of the unforgiving Pacific on a lifeboat, trying to survive the depredations of a hyena who wants to eat him. Pi has already watched his fellow shipmates, a zebra and orangutang, fall to this predator.
Add to this equation Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. I can feel a William Blake shiver coming on. But this tiger does not burn bright in the forests of the night, but hunkers in the bowels of the lifeboat, waiting, watching....
After the sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a wounded zebra, an orangutan—and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger.
Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi Patel, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with the tiger, Richard Parker, for 227 days while lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his…
LAPD cop Michael Gideon and his K-9 partner Sirius became reluctant celebrities after capturing a notorious serial killer in the midst of an inferno, an encounter that leaves both man and dog with burns. Though Gideon escaped the fire, he's forced to revisit those flames in the form of his dreams. Fearful that knowledge of his PTSD will get him bounced from the force, Gideon keeps his condition secret from everyone save his faithful German shepherd, who's there to comfort him at night.
Gideon and Sirius are chosen to head up LAPD’s newly formed Special Cases Unit, and given charge over unusual, and out of the ordinary cases. It is a challenge for Gideon, especially with his PTSD. His burns may have healed, but the fire haunts him still.
To hide a corporation’s failure to properly service a space ship, Captain Jonas Stryker is prosecuted but saved from imprisonment by a dying man, who hires Stryker to collect asteroids for their mineral content. Stryker soon finds he must stop a shadowy corporate group called The Board, who employ space piracy, terrorism, and even weaponised asteroids to overthrow the Federation government.
Set in Lagrange points, space stations, the Moon and outback Australia, it is a fast-moving story with some speculative future technology. If you were interested in the NASA attempt to alter the orbit of the asteroid Dimorphos, you might…
When a trial to cover-up a corporate failure ends Captain Jonas Stryker's career, he wants revenge against The Board, a ruthless, shadowy organization with limitless funds that employs space piracy, terrorism, and even weaponised asteroids. Posing as a space miner, Stryker learns that The Board wants him killed, while a young female SCIB police agent wants retribution against him for having her career spoiled at his trial. As Stryker avoids attempts to kill him, he becomes the only chance to prevent The Board from overturning the Federation Government and imposing a Fascist-style rule. A story of greed, corruption and honour,…
