Great Gatsby - Book Review

I decided to read Scott Fitzgerald's most famous book - The Great Gatsby. It's considered an American classic and has become required reading in high schools across our great land.

I never had the opportunity to read the book in my younger days, so I decided it was about time. I completed the book in a couple of days, reading while on my daily commute to work. It's a fairly short book, around a 180 pages. I wish I could say "Yes, it's definitely a masterpiece and a classic" but I cannot. I was a disappointed with the novel and then wondering why so many people regarded it so highly. The next day I re-read some of the passages and I enjoyed it much more. I believe The Great Gatsby is one of those books which may have to be read several times to truly appreciate its greatness. I'm still not convinced it's a classic or not but I could see why some people consider it to be a fantastic piece of American literature.

There is a valuable lesson to be learned from the story of Jay Gatsby and his undying love for the already married Daisy Buchanan. The lesson is to a well rounded individual and have diversity in one's life. Gatsby's life was an obsession with his love and he did not have anything to fall back on just in case his desires did not come to fruition. A person should not become so enthralled in a certain passion rather he or she should have various outlets in their life.

There are also several other important themes the reader will find in the course of reading the book. What didn't really impress me was the basic underlying story - I didn't think it was original, it just reminded of a romantic tragedy and the way it was told from a third character's point of view seemed to me a bit bizzare.

3 1/2 candles out of 5

Leaving Cold Sassy - Book Review

I just completed the unfinished sequel to Cold Sassy Tree titled Leaving Cold Sassy. The story is incomplete because the gracious author - Ms. Olive Ann Burns - passed away before she could write the entire story of Will and Sanna.

The story is about Will Tweety and his wife Sanna Klein and their marriage. Will is about 10 years older than he was in Cold Sassy Tree and now has a job which requires him to travel all over the state of Georgia. The traveling of Will and raising 4 young children make Sanna's life quite difficult in Cold Sassy.

There are 15 completed chapters of the book and then there is an artful remnisence by Katrina Kenison, a publisher and friend of Olive Ann Burns. Katrina spells out what the intention of Olive Ann Burns was for Time, Dirt & Money (intended title of Leaving Cold Sassy). She also actually does a litte biography of Olive Ann Burns and the joy she had for writing and for life in general.

Leaving Cold Sassy makes the reader want more but unfortunately it will not be possible. I wish someone had actually completed the novel for Olive Ann Burns.

Mr C Kay's rating - 3 out of 5 candles

Book Review - Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns

I was in the local library and came across Cold Sassy Tree. I was reading the back cover and at first, the story did not seem interesting to me. It's a tale about life in a conservative Southern town in Georgia named Cold Sassy.

I decided for some reason (and I'm glad I did) that I should try something and read the book. I was finishing up the book last week and I was a bit depressed that the book was actually ending when I discovered there's a sequel named Leaving Cold Sassy Tree, which will be my next book.

The narrator of Cold Sassy Tree is Will Tweedy but the story is mainly about his beloved grandfather who marries a much younger woman only 3 weeks after his wife passed away. In a town like Cold Sassy in the early 1900's, grandfather's action are scandalous and the entire family is placed in a difficult situation.

The woman who he marries, one Miss Love Simpson, is a strong independent woman who is disliked by Will Tweedy's mom, his aunt, and much of the town for accepting the marriage proposal. It also doesn't help that Love is not originally from Georgia, but up north - a Yankee.

Grandpa is the most popular and one of the wealthiest man in town. He doesn't care what the rest of the town thinks of his actions as he thinks he knows what's best for him. Will admires his grandfather greatly but does learn that even he has a secret weakness.

Will Tweedy also has some of his own adventures as young teenager where he is discovering the beauty and charm of women and girls.

The most thought provoking idea in the book is what grandpa says the meaning of the following phrase in the Bible "Asketh, and you shall receive".

Overall, the book is tremendous and I hope the sequel will be just as good. I've also heard that it was turned into a TV Movie but it may not do justice to the book.

Ratings: 4 candles out 5

Book Review - Access to Power by Robert Ellis

Hello all,

I completed the book a couple of weeks ago and finally got around to post my opinion. It is a political thriller set in the late 90's or early 2000's where TV commercials were the main tools for campaigns.

The story has two main characters (bad guy & a hero) - Frank Miles - a well known campaign manager who has over the years created a few enemies for himself due to his somewhat dirty tactics. The villain in the story is Raymond who's just a psychotic killer who listens to self-help business tapes.

The book is fast moving and has several turns and twists and of course a few surprises - Let's just say "don't trust anyone in Washington D.C.".

Overall a good read but nothing very deep.

My ratings : 3 candles out of 5

Playoff Predictions - NFL - Mr C Kay Style

Remember I'm the one who called it for the G-men last year - here's my predictions for the next round of playoffs:

Baltimore vs Titans

Both great defenses - I say first team to score may win - I'm going with the Ravens

SD vs Steelers

Steelers at home with their awesome defense vs the high flying Charges - close one - special teams may play an important part - go with the Steel City

Arizona vs Carolina

Carolina - just a better team plus Arizona can't play on the East Coast - but they did have a great one

G-men vs Eagles

The game I really care about - I'm of course rooting for the G-men but the dame Eagles may pull it out - I say Giants but I'm definitely being biased here

Alright that's my picks in the league where Men play and the girls cheer - THE NFL

Cruise - crzzy man can ACT - Movie Review

On my hiatus, Mr C Kay decided to watch a few of Tom C's flicks - an old one and a recent one - below post is going to be about the recent one.

Valkyrie

We all know what the movie is about - attempted assasination of the Fuhrer Adolph Hitler which of course is not successful. Cruise plays Col Strausberg - a German officer who realizes what Hitler & the National Socialists are doing to his army and country - and of course the inevitable outcome that Germany is going to be on the wrong side of the war.

Cruise plays a difficult role and brings intensity to the role that only he can. He realizes that if the plot does not work, his family will have to suffer the consequences but he still is willing to lead the mission.

Overall, a solid historical movie and if you're a movie fan, you will enjoy. (not sure if enjoy is the right verbage here)

Movie Ratings: 3 1/2 candles out of 5 candles

Popular Demand

Yes it is me!!! I'm back on blogo-land.

Admirer - "Mr C Kay - you have so much knowledge - you need to share with the world"

Fanatic - "Mr C Kay - your brain is even bigger than your big head"

Bloggers - "Mr C Kay - without you its just not the same!!!!"

Political Junkies - "You're better than Limbaugh, Savage, Olberman - I don't know if you're on the left or the right - but you're just always right " (what about O'Reilly )

Sports Fans - "I love it - you're such a sports nut - even though you hate hockey"

Lover - "Oooooh - uuuuuuuu have such a big head" (hey that's private)


Announcement - Because of the above Popular Demand - I've decided to come back to blogoooooland - (for now - hahahahah)