If it talks like a duck and quacks like a duck its a QUACK!

We were supposed to name our most despised character in The Road to Wellville so here they are. Drumroll please . . . While there were many unsavory and unlikeable characters (yes we're talking about you Eleanor!) Cat and I felt the most unseemly one of all was none other than the good Dr. Kellogg 😳.  While his motivations MAY have seemed pure he was the true villain in this sad story of pitiful characters.  His ego- centric motivations played on the insecurities and hopes of the (rich and) vulnerable while subjecting his own family to his didactic and foolhardy schemes. The real tragic character in the story, as we discussed, was George who the evil doctor treated as a failed child rearing experiment. He cast him on the same trash heap of life (actually death) as he did some of his patients who died under his "care" and even his loyal secretary who he chided for his unhealthy habits. Wildly hilarious!  He even had his staff brainwashed like any good cult leader.  Where's Jim Jones or Sun Myung Moon when you need them (I was actually accosted by some Moonies one day! - in college. What a bunch of space cadets!). Anyway, people can be fanatical about a lot of things - March Madness bracket anybody?! - health is one that can suck most of us in and I guess that was T.C. Boyles point.  So . . . I immediately went out on Amazon to see what else I could consume of Mr. 

Boyles on my Kindle but nothing was free so I passed for now.  I do want to read something else of his and some of his topics sound interesting including his latest.  

We are continuing to read on, including catching up on "Bean's" series of books.  We are also enjoying the get- togethers exploring new territories in our reading horizons. Until next time . . .

Onward Spirits!

Baron had challenged us to post to the blog as well as comment so here I go!  Sorry to hear Baron has been under the weather but on the bright side it should have allowed him more time to read! I enjoyed the business and book review posted by Baron and Archimedes- as always a good job on both!  I have cast my vote for the rating of "The Road To Wellville" but did not select who I hated most as T.C. Boyle's name was not on the list!!!  We should have known a book written by an author with the middle name Coraghessan would be questionable! In all fairness although it wasn't my favorite book club selection I did gain new knowledge.  In the end learning is important to me no matter how painful!

I too would like to thank Cat and JB for hosting the meeting and for the wonderful food. Hubby enjoyed the cookies Cat sent home with me (they didn't last long)!  I'm really excited about the shirts with our book club logo on them and appreciate all the hard work Duece has put into this project - and of course Baron's excellent artwork.  Don't be humble Baron - I saw the picture over the mantle! I will think hard on new names for Bean and Taz although my first thought would be "sweetie" and "sugar" I really don't think they would go for that.

I'm looking forward to our next get together at the mansion. I am a little over halfway through "American Nations" and hope my brain will do it justice!  My goodness what I didn't know is staggering! Keeping my fingers crossed that I will get Beans next selection read also. Till our next meeting "onward spirits".  Indy

I'M NO DAISY (AKA MEETING BUSINESS SUMMARY)

Hello Novel Spirits. I apologize for the very late post but as I stated in the title, I'm no daisy! I'm no daisy uhtahhll!! That was a Doc Holliday quote from the movie Tombstone. An excellent movie by the way!! Probably one of my top 16 favorites of all time. The reason I'm no daisy, and the reason the post is so late is that I have been battling the flu much the same way as Glass Joe would battle Mike Tyson in the original Nintendo game Mike Tyson's Punchout: I am losing severely and convincingly. I continue to receive punches that lay me out cold and drain all my power with just one shot. But I digress, I know none of you wants to read about me whining and boohooing about all my health troubles. Perhaps someone can recommend a good doctor at a good sanitarium with a good, physiologic and/or biologic remedy?

Anyway, on to the summary of the last meeting's business events. By the way, thank you Archimedes for assisting with the blog. You are a true class clown at heart.

Shirt stuff: Thank you President Deuce for getting the concept shirt made up. Initially, after looking at the picture you took, I was worried that the screen print was all contorted, or that maybe I was only just now realizing how terrible an artist I am. But seeing it in person brought me right back to my deserved narcissism (which I shouldn't admit that I needed spell check to spell the word narcissism correctly). We decided that I need to complete the full shape of the books on the right, and the wine bottle's shadow on the left. Additionally, we will change the print to the front of the shirt, and have our code names on the back of the shirts, similar to athletic jerseys. And I believe that if any other book club challenges us to a sporting event, then the Novel Spirits will obliterate them just like Colonel Matherson did to that mean gang in ONE SECOND AFTER. Also, we will make the Novel Spirits print into cool book bags for all of us. :)

Code names: Bean and Taz apparently want new code names. OF COURSE THEY DO!!!!!! Contrary, stubborn little mules!!!!! If I learned anything from the past 10 years, it is that I should have told them to not have these names, then the names would have been perfect for them. Grrrrrr. So anyway, marinate on some good names for those two little oxes or oxen or ox or whatever the correct plural vernacular is. Also, Squid has been voted a new name: Waldo. As in "Where's Waldo?", that highly addictive look and find series of books we all know and love. Since Waldo still hasn't showed up to a meeting, the name seemed almost a given really. By the way, I wonder how long we will get away with calling him out before he reads a post and realizes it???

Misc. notes: Waldo got the standard and obligatory chastisement for not coming. We also agreed to start club dues of $5 per meeting. Sadly, this seemed inevitable.  Nobody seemed to appreciate my fundraiser idea of topless car washes, so $5 it is. FYI, a topless car wash is merely washing the entire car except for the roof (wakka wakka). Get your mind out of the gutter!!

Book changes: Deuce added GRAY MOUNTAIN by John Grisham to make her second entry. Cat removed THREE CUPS OF TEA due to the controversy surrounding the truth in the author's claims etc. Apparently there was a response book named THREE CUPS OF DECEIT!!! Sounds like a lot of good dirt in that soap opera!!! And you know I'd rather stand on my head than talk about somebody, BBBBBBUUUUUUTTTTTTT, if you don't know Cat well enough yet, she is very very anti-drama. So she made her two new books AMERICAN NATIONS by Colin Woodard, and LOOK HOMEWARD ANGEL by Thomas Wolfe.

Indy, who is very involved in the book discussions, and always has good ideas and insight, has created her own segment called "Indy's Off the Grid" segment (which I have already added to the top, left of the blog, just below the artist formerly known as Bean's current book). This segment is where Indy provides interesting information on topics she thinks we may find useful and may want to do further research and/or reading. Thanks for your devoted participation to the club Indy!

Speaking of devoted participation, I'd also like to thank JB and Cat for supplying an excellent spread of food and drink for the meeting, complete with book themed items. Also, thanks to Deuce for bringing the equally delicious, yet completely anti-Dr. Kellogg peanut butter cups, peanut butter, peanut butter sauce, and peanut butter butter pie :)

Next meeting is April 12th at the Baron's mansion around 2pm ish. Our next book to read is AMERICAN NATIONS by Colin Woodard. The artist formerly known as Bean's next book to read is THE SCORCH TRIALS by James Dashner. That is the second book in THE MAZE RUNNER series.

I am enjoying the club more and more. The meetings are fun, and its cool getting together with everyone for food, drinks, and a little bit of book discussion. So until next time Novel Spirits, here's a question I have for us all to marinate on....

So, the Kellogg brothers came up with a magical breakfast recipe that really did revolutionize the breakfast industry and the way we all eat breakfast even today. Somehow, these little, bland, crispy flakes that are devoid of sugar, caffeine or anything else really useful or tasty beat out the staple breakfast diet of the time: bacon and eggs. WHAAATTT?!?!?!?!?! Well, let me ask you, when did choosing corn flakes, radiation poisoning, yogurt enemas and electrocutions over flawless bacon and eggs become the American way????? Not my America folks! And how come Corn Flakes are still produced and sold today, when there are so many more delicious cereals that didn't stand the test of the fickle American's taste buds??? Case in point: Honey Nut Clusters: delicious yet no longer produced, Cracklin Oat Bran: delicious yet no longer made, C3-PO's: delcious (and a brilliant pun) yet no longer made. Yet Corn Flakes still dredge along the American breakfast story 100+ years later. I mean, Corn Flakes are delicious in the same way Fiats are sporty. Sure there are a couple less sporty cars out there, but that doesn't mean Fiat can claim to be a Mazerati! (Fun fact: Fiat owns Mazerati if you didn't already know that).

Okay, I've blabbed enough nonsense.  Until next time Novel Spirits, just keep turnin pages,

Baron

THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE DISCUSSION

The ROAD TO WELLVILLE is a fictional account of a cast of characters at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, a health resorts that caters to the rich and famous around the turn of the century.  The main characters are Eleanor Lightbody, a health zealot, and her poor husband Will, Charlie Ossining, a naive young man who dreams of breaking into the breakfast cereal business but is taken in by scam artist Bender, Kellogg the self righteous founder and head physician of "the San," and his wayward adopted son, George, a homeless alcoholic who is the bane of his father's existence.  

Will Lightbody has terrible stomach pain and is dragged by his wife, Eleanor, to the Sanitarium for treatment.  Eleanor has been to the San a few times before and swears by Kellogg's "physiologic" lifestyle (not that that kept her from drugging her husband with White Star Secret Liquor Cure).  On her most recent trip, Eleanor lost the couple's baby.  On the way to the San, the couple meet Charlie, who is heading to Battle Creek with funds entrusted to him by his rich adopted "aunt" to make a go of founding a breakfast cereal company.  However, when the trio reach Battle Creek things do not go as planned.  Charlie is repeatedly duped by Bender, a con man who lives large on the money of "investors" in the breakfast cereal business while forcing Charlie to endure a meager existence and repeated humiliations.  Kellogg, the self righteous preacher of the physiologic gospel, takes Eleanor's and Will's under his personal care, much to Will's chagrin.  George arrives in Battle Creek and extorts  his adopted father before joining Bender and Charlie in their "venture."  The fates of the characters mingle and collide before the story resolves, and I wish I could say that everyone got what they deserved, but unfortunately this was not the case.  

First, I'll summarize the club's sentiments about THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE:  The best thing that can be said about this book is that we finally finished it! 

We kicked off our discussion by lamenting the fact that this book failed to live up to the rave reviews the book has gotten online.  The book was described as "wickedly funny," "a marvel," and "captivating."  I, Archimedes, had nominated the book, so I felt very bad that I'd subjected the rest of the group to such misery.  We all agreed that we did NOT find this book funny.  However, I believe we all also agreed that the book was at least very well written.  Many of us marveled at the vocabulary of the book and we all had looked up several of the words, many of them arcane, that were used in book.

Not to be deterred, the Novel Spirits found plenty to discuss.  First, as pointed out in Baron's excellent blog post, we noted that while we were amazed at the "crazy" methods used by the people of Kellogg's time in pursuit of good health, their are methods (and scams) that are just as crazy that people try today.  We also discussed Kellogg's character in the book and how he was confident in his method to the extreme.  He also appeared not care about the health of his patients or anyone but himself.  We discussed his motivation in contrast to Charlie's motivation; where Charlie wanted wealth, Kellogg wanted notoriety.  Kellogg, in our minds, was much like a cult leader, and we had an interesting discussion about why people follow an individual like Kellogg.  We concluded that many people, like Eleanor in the book, are searching for acceptance. 

Similarly, we discussed George's character, and wondered how he would have turned out if he would have been adopted into a loving, nurturing family, rather than by Kellogg who was harsh and demanded conformity.  

In discussing the characters in the book, we felt like most of the characters were quite two-dimensional and did not have the complexity that many of us like to read about.  

I know there were many other good discussion topics and thoughtful points made, but I hope I have at least captured the essence of the discussion.  I am very proud of the Novel Spirits for hanging in there with this book and really making the most of the discussion, even though this was not the most enjoyable book we have read.  I am looking forward and next month, and a fresh book to discuss at our next meeting.  Until then, Novel Spirits!!

THE DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD: MOVIES BASED (SOMETIMES VERY LOOSELY) ON BOOKS

We're down to the wire, folks.  Less than a week to our meeting.  I've been working on Bean's bonus book - THE MAZE RUNNER - which is the inspiration for this post.  THE MAZE RUNNER movie was recently released on DVD.  I have only seen the previews, but it looked like an interesting movie.  In fact, I hadn't heard of THE MAZE RUNNER book before I saw previews for the movie.  I'll probably rent it and watch it with Bean after I finish the book.  However, as Baron knows all too well, movies based on books are very difficult for me.  By very difficult I mean that I have to try to suppress the urge to shout at the TV, "THAT'S NOT HOW IT WAS IN THE BOOK!!!"  And I usually fail in my effort to suppress said shouting.

The thing is, I can't stop myself.  After I've read a really good book, I really want to see it come to life on the screen.  I've imagined all the characters, settings, and scenes in my mind while reading the book, and it is perfect!  Unfortunately, most of the time, I have set myself up for total disappointment.  There are a few exceptions to this rule.  The first Hunger Games movie was pretty much spot-on except for the omission of one important detail (no spoilers).  The first two Harry Potter movies were cast PERFECTLY and were quite similar to the books (except for maybe the basilisk), but were unfortunately followed by an EXTREMELY disappointing third movie and pretty much every movie after that.  I love the book PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and both movie versions that I have seen.

I mean, I understand when some minor characters or sub-sub-plots have to be eliminated for time reasons.  But what really, really irks me is when the movie takes out valuable, perfectly written scenes, but then adds in things that are totally irrelevant.  You already have wonderful material to work from.  Why the need to "add" to it?  I think the answer lies in the egos of Hollywood directors.  It simply isn't "artistic" enough for their liking to take a perfectly good story and just film it.  They have to put their own spin on it.  Blah!  I'm feeling a shouting spell coming on just talking about it.

Two factors that seem to give book-based movies a better shot at not being yelled at by me are order and time-lapse.  If I have watched a movie before reading the book on which it is based, I don't have unrealistic expectations even if I watch it again after reading the book.  The reason for this is probably two fold.  First, the characters and settings I have seen in the movie influence how I imagine these things when I read the book, whereas, when I haven't seen the movie first, I start with a blank slate.  Second, if I liked the movie well enough to read the book on which it was based, clearly it must have been a pretty good movie in the first place, even if it ends up differing somewhat from the book.

The second factor, time lapse, comes into play when it has been so long since I read the book, that I can't really remember all the little details, so I don't notice how many things have been changed in the movie.  However, this only works for minor things.  Some movies shamelessly change whole characters and plots.  "Based on" is sometimes used very, very loosely.

An example of a book/movie that benefited from both of these factors was The Princess Bride.  I watched the movie when I was a kid, and recently read the book.  I highly recommend them both!!  Of course, it probably helped that the author of the book also wrote the screenplay.  Which begs the question: why doesn't that happen more often??  I mean, who could better write the screenplay than the author?

So, what about you, Novel Spirits?  Am I alone in my disdain?  What are some of the best/worst book-based movies that you've read and seen?  Do you all embrace or avoid movies based on your favorite books?  Or, like me, are you helplessly drawn to them like a moth to a bug zapper, unable to stop yourself even though you know you are about to inflict nothing but pain on yourself?  Let me know in the comments!  Can't wait to see everyone on Sunday!