Tag: Bands

Janis Jonevs – Doom 94 | Review

Title: Doom 94

Author: Janis Jonevs

Type: Fiction/Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 258

Rating 4.5/5

 

 

This book was fantastic for two simple reasons objectively, because it’s different, and subjectively, because it reflected my own childhood. It turns out that the Latvian city of Jelgava in the mid-nineties had a lot in common with the British town of Tamworth in the mid-2000s.

As you’ve probably guessed from that, Jonevs is a Latvian, and I actually met him at a party/networking event when I was invited to Riga to learn more about Latvian literature. This book wasn’t out at the time, at least not in English, but I’d heard enough about it to think that I was going to like it. I just didn’t expect to like it this much.

It’s basically a coming of age story, following Jonevs and his fellow metalheads as they finish up at school, discover drink, drugs and cigarettes and get into the Latvian metal scene. I hadn’t heard of most of the bands, of course, but there were mentions here and there of those that I had heard of. Kurt Cobain’s suicide plays a part in the plot and there were shoutouts for bands like My Dying Bride, Mayhem and Burzum. There was even a mention for Cynic, who are probably my favourite out of all of the heavier bands that Jonevs talked about. How Could I? and Veil of Maya in particular.

The only reason for 4.5/5 and not 5/5 is that there were a few typos.

 

 

Click here to buy Doom 94.


John Darnielle – Wolf in White Van | Review

Title: Wolf in White Van

Author: John Darnielle

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 216

Rating: 3.5*/5

 

John Darnielle - Wolf in White Van

John Darnielle – Wolf in White Van

 

This book took me a little while to get into, but I think that’s almost the point of it. It’s a multi-layered little thing, something you could re-read a bunch of times and pick up something different every time.

It’s actually kind of hard to explain what this book is about, but I guess I’ll give it a stab. We follow a kid with a facial disfigurement who runs a sort of cross between a Choose Your Own Adventure book and a game of Dungeons and Dragons via postal correspondence. And while there is a plot of sorts, it’s not necessarily linear, so the book itself is both confusing and kind of rewarding.

It’s also written by John Darnielle, the lead singer/songwriter of The Mountain Goats, which is one of my favourite bands. I guess that could potentially bias me in the book’s favour, but the truth is that it made me a tougher critic than I would usually be. Still, it was definitely an interesting book that was worth reading, I’m just not sure whether I actually enjoyed it.If anything, it was more like a workout for my brain, and that’s fine.

 

John Darnielle

John Darnielle

 

Click here to buy Wolf in White Van.