Dean Koontz’s predictable writing and yet surprising ease in reading

I have been reading a few Dean Koontz novels and some of them are really good. But mostly, the books tend to have a predictable story, although quite highly deviated from reality. Recently, I read “Door to December” and I noted a surprising fact. I was able to predict that the little girl must somehow be the cause for all the mayhem. Although my hunch proved to be true later when I finished the book, I was glued to the story till the end. It is quite counter intuitive to learn that I can be equally, if not more interested, in a story which is predictable, as I can be to one that is not. The normal way to react to a predictable story is to shy away from it. But on the contrary I was attracted to it. If the story was about a bank heist, I probably would have shied away. This makes me appreciate Dean for the choice of the story line. There is a unique character to the way this prediction enhances the chances of further reading. The novel often starts with vividly disturbing situations; these situations trigger our intuitive mind to construct a fictional yet fascinating reason for it. This intuition spawns from the experience of having read a few of Dean’s books earlier. So the trained mind can think and perceive practically unlikely yet highly probable story line. This the reader gets more so firmer in mind as the story moves forward which keeps the reader constantly going at the book.

I do not know if Dean did this on purpose, if he did, he really is brilliant!

If you are intrigued by this post, give a short at his books and come back again to awe yourself.

Phantoms by Dean Koontz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The best plotted thriller I have ever read. We don't get to see a sincere story to this extent even in Koontz other books (excluding Whispers). The build up given is humongous; when one knows what is the antagonist (yes it an IT), it becomes evident that the build up is needed and is sustained till the end. Only character which comes similar although not quite as dramatic would be the "Pennywise Clown". While Stephen King made his demon a totally mythological one, Knootz's uniqueness is in the way he has reasoned the demon with logic.

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Cold Fire By Dean Koontz

Cold Fire by Dean Koontz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fascinating imagination.
I felt Holly Thorne more as a bully. Jim should have been given more character than merely a subject. It was annoying lot of times to read the way Holly was pestering him, equally annoying to find that Jim always agrees with Holly, which seemed like the only way the author intended the story to progress. It also occurred to me that Holly is actually Dean himself in female form; and when Jim agrees to each idiotic seeming logic of Holly, I felt like he does so just to get her off his back.
It would have been a better story to read had there been no Holly and Jim had to go through it on his own.

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Wilbur Smith and Abridged Content

It is only two books now that I have read of Wilbur Smith. Although I admit that "River God" is not a book that I would even contemplate on criticizing on its flaws (it is almost blasphemy if I attempt it), I feel like I can talk something about "Eagle in the Sky", which, when not been close to what the former novel is in terms of its magnitude in the content of well crafted writing or the magnitude of the relevance when been true to history.

"Eagle in the Sky" is an ambitious novel intended to cherish the idea of entertaining the mind with richness both in terms of the material and the psychological. When not failing to do so - it might well be enough for people who feel the urge to pass the time, it does not deliver on certain fronts.

The problem with this book is that, as a reader I could only see the character from outside the person's mind. I was always a spectator. The book should have been about the main characters more than about the story. There are lots of places where the character's feelings are narrated, but there is a subtle limitation to the extent it is done. The mistake, if I can call it that, is the in-your-face narration of the main character's feelings. This is the easiest and the least exciting way to do it.
I will give you an example; this might first look out of context, but observe closely and you will find what I am pointing to:
The main character David Morgan is a skilled pilot. He flies a specific flight with great passion and also manages to join the air force as one of the intruder intercepting flight. Now whenever David tries to fly the aircraft, we see that David took the flight, hit the gas, flew into the sky, shot the intruder; all the while David and feeling a lot of things inside his head, but what is there to the chemistry of David and the aircraft? There is no man and machine relation; there is no subconscious and habitual routine that David likes in the procedure that makes the machine his best buddy.
I would have so much liked to know the aircraft itself as a character. Give it a name, call it with its name. Describe the good and not so goodness of the machine. Ask David show the passion he has in the way he thinks. There is nothing of these sorts in the novel. David is a good pilot, he knows how to fly and he likes it and blah blah blah. Sorry, we are not talking about facts here, this is fiction, we need the character's true nature to come out and entertain as rather a narration that is so unconnected. Do you get where I am going now?

Perhaps plotting a story is restricting the author to feel free in dwelling in the character's fine nature? Or is the author tired of doing research about war aircraft that he so much limits the content about them.
Th novel while having its downside, does not let you down completely. It still has enough to keep your hatred at bay so that you can finish it.

Now going to the title of this post; the lack of the content mentioned above made me feel that I am reading something that is intended to hurry to the story. In short I felt like reading an abridged version of a novel.

Weekend Ride - Alamparai Fort

        Alamparai fort is 100 kilometers from chennai and 50 kilometers from Pondicherry on ECR. It's not flooded by tourists and is surprisingly peaceful and relaxing to visit the ruined fort and have the experience of the sea breeze and also to notice the backwater which gets logged very close to the fort. Let me give you the opening shots of the fort which also gives some back story about the fort.

        The fort is intentionally ruined during the British rule. What ever remains, stands as a sign of the destructive nature of the then rulers. Nevertheless it is some feeling to get into that place and importantly the place is photogenic, so if you like to take pictures, you will actually find the ruins as treasures. It very much looks like a good place for shooting movies. Lets see a few shots that will prove my observation, even if I am not a good photographer, the place speaks for itself:

        And as you could see, that is my brother with a riding jacket, and on boots; he is also wearing a knee guard inside his pants. Yes, we are not reckless bikers, we give great importance to safety. Now back to the fort:

        There is a kind of a back water close to the fort. Combined with the ruins from the fort, the water looks unique.

        As I mentioned earlier, this place is not flooded by tourists and that helps you when you want to escape the city traffic and get yourself relaxed. Carry drinking water with you though, since the fort is a couple of kilometers from the main road and you will not find a shop near by easily. 

        Below is a parting shot of the wide wall of the fort from the inside:

 

        And my then drive, Avenger:

         The Duke 390 that can be seen in the corner is my brother's, it had a tough time playing it down for Avenger. 

        Hope you enjoyed the reading and viewing. Lets meet on some other day and at some other place!

Weekly Ride

        I go on a ride along the ECR (Eastern Coastal Road) in Chennai every weekend. It's just a ride of an hour and half. The ECR itself is good to ride; of course one has to maintain a high level of alertness since it is a two way road and also it leads to Pondicherry which is the liquor hub of south. The stretch I take to d0 this 60 odd kilometer ride is Madambakkam (my house) - Kelambakkam - Kovalam - Sholinganallur - Medavakkam - Madambakkam. The stretch has a lot of potholes, but for some reason I always seem to stick to this route. 

        The steed is my new yamaha R15; one of the reason why I haven't been able to stretch the ride more than this 60 odd km is due to the fact that I haven't yet got accustomed to the aggressive position of the bike. If there is a lot of traffic, riding becomes very painful. If it is scarce, I would be able to munch a lot of kms. Hoping to go on a trip to Pondicherry soon; although I wouldn't consider Pondi to be a long distance trip but it's a start. 

The following pics are taken during he ride:

And the steed:

 

Does Stephen King's Firestarter Work?

King, best at what he does; this is one of those novels which makes you feel so good for being an voracious reader. And such feelings come so often when you read a book written by King. The book will hardly come week if you are busy, but it will make the week so good. Alright, enough of this praising session. The book is good; anyone can read the synopsis of the story elsewhere, this is just to say that this book works. If you consider "dead zone, IT, shinning, etc" to have worked, this is too, only this is a little less fascinating than the ones mentioned.