Not Forever, But For Now by Chuck Palahniuk

I’ve been a fan of Chuck Palahniuk since…. well… probably over twenty years now; since I was in high school really. I remember reading Fight Club, Rant, Choke, and Invisible Monsters in high school or soon after high school / college. But over time, the wording “fan” has probably changed a bit when regarding my interest in Palahniuk. Firstly, I think most of his newer novels have been very low quality, secondly, even re-reading some of the older works I’ve found myself enjoying them less.

Chuck Palahniuk

Palahniuk at BookCon in June 2018 (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Chuck Palahniuk might be best known for Fight Club; his first published (but not first written) novel – published in 1996. Hes credited with over 20 novels, films, short story compilations, short fictions, essays, and non-fiction works.

The following quick summary of Chuck Palahniuk comes from Wikipedia:

Charles Michael “Chuck” Palahniuk (/ˈpɔːlənɪk/;^[1][2] born February 21, 1962) is an American novelist who describes his work as transgressional fiction.^[3][4] He has published 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two adult coloring books, as well as several short stories. His first published novel was Fight Club, which was adapted into a film of the same title.

Palahniuk was born in Pasco, Washington, the son of Carol Adele (née Tallent) and Fred Palahniuk.^[5][6] He has French and Ukrainian ancestry.^[7] His paternal grandfather migrated from Ukraine to Canada and then to New York in 1907.^[8]

Palahniuk grew up living in a mobile home in Burbank, Washington. His parents separated when he was 14 years old, and they subsequently divorced, often leaving him and his three siblings to live with their maternal grandparents at their cattle ranch in eastern Washington.^[9] Palahniuk acknowledged in a 2007 interview that he is a distant nephew of actor Jack Palance, and that his family had talked of distant relations with Palance.^[10]

Palahniuk attended the University of Oregon, graduating with a degree in journalism in 1986. He interned at the local public radio station, KLCC, as part of his coursework.^[11]

– Chuck Palahniuk (Wikipedia Article)

Quick Book Review

Chuck Palahniuk is a name long associated with provocative, boundary-pushing literature. Known for his signature shock value and dark commentary on the absurdities of society, Palahniuk has captivated readers with books like Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, and Survivor. But, with his latest novel, Not Forever, But For Now, fans are feeling conflicted. Does it live up to Palahniuk’s legacy, or is it simply another installment of chaos for chaos’s sake? Let’s dive in.

For many, it’s been a while since a Palahniuk book really hit the mark. Some fans still find moments of brilliance in his work, but others feel his recent novels lack the depth that once balanced out the shock factor. In Not Forever, But For Now, that shock factor is turned up to eleven, but the substance behind it feels tenuous at best. Palahniuk’s approach here raises the question: how much is too much?

The story centers on Otto and Cecil, two brothers raised in a twisted lineage of assassins. Their privileged, grotesquely eccentric lifestyle is filled with hedonism and depravity, from murder to an assortment of disturbing obsessions. The narrative moves in erratic fragments, blending scenes of violence and debauchery with sporadic jumps to famous celebrity deaths and chilling family traditions. The overall tone feels forced, as if Palahniuk is determined to outdo his past works, even at the expense of storytelling.

One recurring complaint from readers is the novel’s mind-numbing repetitiveness. The phrases “having a go” and “having it off” are repeated endlessly—appearing over 180 times in a 256-page book. By the end, it’s hard not to feel exhausted by the lack of linguistic variety and to wonder if Palahniuk is simply running out of ideas. Gone are the insightful, twisted trivia and clever asides that once peppered his novels. Here, we’re left with repetitive dialogue that dilutes the impact of the narrative and any chance of connection with the characters.

The characters themselves—typically a saving grace in Palahniuk’s worlds—are flat. Otto and Cecil are self-indulgent, shallow, and virtually unchanging throughout the story. Their psychopathy lacks the nuanced edge of Palahniuk’s earlier protagonists, and instead, the brothers come across as hollow caricatures. Their antics seem designed solely to elicit shock rather than offer any real commentary. It’s hard to sympathize or even find intrigue in characters so lacking in complexity. Palahniuk’s knack for dissecting and humanizing dark, twisted psyches seems absent, leaving us with a cast that feels more grotesque than compelling.

Adding to the frustration is the lack of a coherent plot. What storyline exists feels derivative, a watered-down version of Fight Club without the depth. The book reads like a series of darkly comic skits with Otto and Cecil at the center, but there’s no overarching conflict or development. This structure—episodic and staccato—prevents the reader from becoming fully immersed or invested, and by the time Palahniuk hints at the novel’s purported theme of addiction in the afterword, it feels like an afterthought, tacked on to lend some semblance of meaning.

For long-time fans, this book is a tough pill to swallow. Many remember Palahniuk’s glory days, when his “edgy” style came with wit and a message, no matter how darkly delivered. But Not Forever, But For Now feels like it’s all edge and no center. Those shocking elements that once served as vehicles for exploring society’s flaws now feel like shock for shock’s sake. Readers who have followed his work for years—some since the early 2000s—are feeling more disappointed than disturbed, lamenting the loss of the writer who once brought so much raw, meaningful provocation to the page.

Ultimately, Not Forever, But For Now may appeal to those who can stomach its graphic content and relentless absurdity. It’s not a book for the faint-hearted or anyone expecting to find a redeeming arc within its twisted storyline. If you’re a die-hard Palahniuk fan, you may want to approach this one with caution; if you’re new to his work, there are better starting points.

As one reviewer aptly put it, reading this book feels “like a fever dream of nonsense trying to be something.” Palahniuk is undoubtedly talented, but in Not Forever, But For Now, that talent seems buried beneath layers of gratuitous grotesquerie, leaving readers wondering if he’s lost touch with the insightful, acerbic commentary that once made him a literary icon.

For those who remain undeterred, this book is available at your local library—and perhaps that’s the best place for it. No need to add this one to the shelf. It’s unlikely you’ll want to revisit it.

Book Summary and Back of Cover Blurb

This is the back of cover blurb (according to GoodReads):

From the bestselling author of Fight Club comes a hilarious horror satire about a family of professional killers responsible for the most atrocious events in history and the young brothers that are destined to take over.Meet Otto and Cecil. Two brothers growing up privileged in the Welsh countryside. They enjoy watching nature shows, playing with their pet pony, impersonating their Grandfather…and killing the help. Murder is the family business after all. Downton Abbey, this is not. However, it’s not so easy to continue the family legacy with the constant stream of threats and distractions seemingly leaping from the hedgerow. First there is the matter of the veritable cavalcade of escaped convicts that keep showing up at their door. Not to mention the debaucherous new tutor who has a penchant for speaking in Greek and dismembering sex dolls. Then there’s Mummy’s burgeoning opioid addiction. And who knows where Daddy is. He just vanished one day after he and Mummy took a walk in the so called “Ghost Forest.” With Grandfather putting pressure on Otto to step up, it becomes clear that this will all end in only two a nuclear apocalypse or just another day among the creeping thistle and tree peonies. And in a novel written by Chuck Palahniuk, either are equally possible.

– Not Forever, But For Now (GoodReads)

Currently it has 717 reviews, and 4,059 ratings on GoodReads with an average global rating of 3.10 (as of 11.8.24). It was first published on September 5th, 2023.

Book Review: “Not Forever, But For Now” by Chuck Palahniuk – A Disheartening Foray into the Grotesque

(The following is my full book review. It is quite long and lengthy.)

It’s been a long time since I truly enjoyed a Chuck Palahniuk book—my last favorite being Pygmy in 2009. Perhaps it’s because he’s changed, or maybe I have. Palahniuk, who made his mark with sharp, transgressive fiction, seems to have lost his edge in a way that’s less about maturity and more about shock tactics growing stale. His latest book, Not Forever, But For Now, was a chore, one that feels more like a caricature of his earlier work than an actual evolution of it.

A Lackluster Attempt at Shock Value

If Palahniuk is trying to provoke, he’s doing it in the most uninspired way. Not Forever, But For Now features two depraved brothers, Otto and Cecil, who come from a family of hitmen and pass their time committing heinous acts with nihilistic indifference. Rather than being cleverly subversive or thought-provoking, the book relies heavily on crass depictions of taboo topics—incest, necrophilia, and casual violence—served up without much nuance or narrative purpose.

The book is awash in repetitive language. Every mention of “having a go” or “having it off”—phrases meant to stand in for sexual acts—is jarringly overused, coming across more like a gimmick than anything artistically meaningful. In fact, it happens so often that it begins to feel like padding in an already thin story. The sheer redundancy detracts from the impact of the story and draws attention away from any attempt at deeper commentary. There’s an unsettling sense that Palahniuk is merely trying to be offensive for offense’s sake, without bothering to ground it in anything substantial.

Characters that Fall Flat

Characters are central to any story, but the two brothers in Not Forever, But For Now come across as shallow and undeveloped. They seem more like grotesque caricatures than people, with no redeeming qualities or growth throughout the novel. This would be less of an issue if there were at least something intriguing about them or if the plot gave them a purpose beyond nihilistic thrill-seeking. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case here. Palahniuk has managed to make Otto and Cecil dull, despite their appalling behavior.

For longtime Palahniuk fans, this lack of compelling characters is especially disappointing. His early works, like Fight Club, succeeded not only because of their shock value but because the characters were multifaceted and served as vehicles for larger, often biting social commentary. In Not Forever, But For Now, that balance is lost. What remains are over-the-top personalities without any depth or context, making it difficult to care about anything they do.

A Plot that Never Quite Takes Off

One of the most frustrating aspects of this book is its lack of a cohesive plot. While Not Forever, But For Now flirts with themes of addiction and social alienation, it doesn’t explore them in any meaningful way. The brothers engage in disturbing acts, but these actions don’t lead anywhere. There’s no real conflict, no resolution—just a sequence of sordid scenes that feels less like a story and more like a loosely strung-together collection of vignettes.

The absence of a structured narrative is compounded by abrupt time shifts between past and present, which often make the plot hard to follow. Readers are thrown into seemingly random moments without much explanation, resulting in confusion rather than intrigue. Palahniuk’s choice to emphasize style over substance here does a disservice to his story, making the reading experience feel choppy and disjointed.

Failed Social Commentary

Palahniuk is known for his dark humor and his often scathing critique of society. However, in Not Forever, But For Now, the social commentary feels forced and hollow. The book attempts to satirize toxic masculinity and societal taboos, but the execution is lacking. Instead of examining or challenging these themes, the novel simply throws them at the reader without providing any real insight. The gratuitous violence and sexual references come across more as shock-jock material than as an effort to convey anything substantive.

There’s a moment near the end where Palahniuk hints that the book is really about addiction—a last-minute attempt to inject meaning. This revelation feels like an afterthought rather than an organic part of the story, and it does little to redeem the narrative. In his early works, Palahniuk was able to blend shocking content with insightful commentary on the darker sides of human nature. Here, though, he falls short, relying too heavily on lurid details without the layered critique that once made his work compelling.

A Disappointing Shift in Tone and Quality

As a longtime fan of Palahniuk’s work, I found this novel to be especially disappointing. At one time, he was so influential to me that I jokingly referred to him as “Uncle Chuck.” I’ve reread Invisible Monsters numerous times, finding new layers and nuances with each read. But Not Forever, But For Now lacks the charm and depth that made those earlier works so memorable.

Palahniuk’s writing here feels stale and formulaic, as if he’s struggling to find new ways to provoke. Rather than shocking readers with innovative ideas or unique perspectives, he’s resorting to a checklist of obscene acts, none of which carry much emotional or intellectual weight. The book’s tone is weary, almost desperate—like Palahniuk is trying to prove he can still be edgy, but without any of the conviction or purpose that marked his earlier work.

Final Thoughts

Not Forever, But For Now is, ultimately, a disappointing entry in Palahniuk’s bibliography. While it contains some of the hallmarks of his style—dark humor, transgressive themes, and a bleak worldview—it fails to bring these elements together in a satisfying way. The characters are unlikable and one-dimensional, the plot is fragmented, and the social commentary feels shallow.

For those who are new to Palahniuk’s work, I wouldn’t recommend starting here. His earlier books, like Fight Club or Invisible Monsters, showcase his ability to blend shock value with genuine insight into the human condition. Longtime fans might still be curious, but they should approach this one with tempered expectations. Not Forever, But For Now is, unfortunately, a reminder that even the most daring authors can fall into the trap of trying too hard to be provocative, ultimately sacrificing substance for style.

This one-star experience feels like a requiem for what Palahniuk’s writing once was—a visceral, uncompromising voice that’s since devolved into empty, tiresome provocation. For now, I’ll stick to revisiting his older work, holding on to the memory of the author he used to be.

My ratings:
GoodReads Rating: * out of *****
Global Average Rating: 3.10 (as of 11.8.24)
LibraryThing Rating: 1.5 out of 5

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Star Wars Most Wanted by Rae Carlson

Star Wars: Most Wanted by Rae Carson offers fans of the galaxy far, far away a thrilling prelude to the events of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Set on the gritty streets of Corellia, the novel delves into the early lives of Han Solo and Qi’ra, two characters whose destinies are intricately linked.

Good Reads Back Cover

The back cover synopsis on GoodReads:

Set before the events of Solo: A Star Wars Story! Han and Qi’ra don’t have a lot in common other than not having a lot. They’re street kids on the industrial planet Corellia, doing whatever it takes to get by, dreaming of something more. They each jump at a chance to prove themselves in the perilous world of Corellia’s criminal underbelly, only to discover they are on the same mission for the same unscrupulous boss. When the job goes disastrously wrong, Han and Qi’ra are on the run–from pirates, a droid crime syndicate, the Empire, and their boss–and will have to learn to trust each other if they are going to survive.

GoodReads – Star Wars: Most Wanted

Book Review: Star Wars – Most Wanted by Rae Carlson

(I listened to this on audiobook via Libby. I also then read the in print version as well for comparison’s sake.)

Plot Overview

The story centers on Han and Qi’ra before they became the figures we know from the Star Wars saga. They are both “scrumrats,” orphans who must rely on their wits and street smarts to survive in the criminal underworld of Corellia. Their ultimate goal is to escape their oppressive circumstances and find freedom beyond the stars. But when a heist goes wrong, the two must team up to survive against the odds, racing against time to outmaneuver rival gangs, corrupt officials, and the ever-looming presence of the Empire.

Character Development

One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its portrayal of Han and Qi’ra as complex, multifaceted characters. Han is the scrappy, reckless dreamer we’ve come to expect, but Carson gives him layers of vulnerability and determination that make his journey all the more compelling. Qi’ra, on the other hand, is cunning and ambitious, yet haunted by the harsh realities of her world. The dynamic between them is electric, filled with tension, camaraderie, and a touch of romance.

Themes and Setting

Rae Carson does a masterful job of immersing readers in the seedy underbelly of Corellia. The city is portrayed as a living, breathing entity—grimy, dangerous, and full of opportunities for those daring enough to seize them. Themes of survival, loyalty, and the quest for freedom resonate throughout the novel, making it more than just a simple adventure tale. It’s a story about the choices we make, the people we trust, and the lengths we’ll go to achieve our dreams.

Writing Style

Carson’s writing is brisk and engaging, perfectly suited to the fast-paced nature of the story. She captures the voice of the Star Wars universe with ease, balancing action, character moments, and world-building in a way that feels true to the franchise. Her ability to convey the inner thoughts and emotions of Han and Qi’ra adds depth to the narrative, making their journey not just one of survival, but of self-discovery.

Final Thoughts

Star Wars: Most Wanted is a must-read for fans of the Star Wars saga, particularly those interested in the backstory of Han Solo and Qi’ra. Rae Carson has crafted a tale that is both exciting and emotionally resonant, providing new insights into these beloved characters while staying true to the spirit of the franchise. Whether you’re a die-hard Star Wars fan or just looking for a gripping adventure, this book delivers on all fronts.

My GoodReads Rating: ****
Global GoodReads Rating: 3.76 (as of 7.25.24)
My LibraryThing Rating: ***.5

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Seinfeld:

• Beer Review: Jon Voight’s Car (RAR Brewing)
• Beer Review: Airing of Grievances (Black Flag Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Treats of Strength (Icarus Brewing)

The Muppets:

• RAR Brewing – Out of Order – Muppet Series Can Release
• RAR Brewing Brings the Nostalgia with Muppets Out of Order Series

Other:

• Beer Review: Super Villain (Urban Village Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Pixels (Seminar Brewing)
• Beer Review: Villeinage (Elder Pine Brewing and Blending)
• Beer Review: Intergalactic Deals (Levante Brewing)
• Beer Review: Galactic Space Circus (Creature Comforts Brewing Co)
• Beer Review: The Death of Civilization in Slow Motion I (Ghost 907) (Adroit Theory)

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

• MAPS OF BREWERIES

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.

The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #7 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #8 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of January 2023.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)

Big Two Hearted River by Ernest Hemingway

Two Hearted River

Found this sitting on the “new fiction” shelf at the Hershey Public Library. I enjoy Hemingway for what he is (well, was), and his style is something I can usually get behind. Plus a quick read to help with my GoodRead’s Yearly Book Challenge, and also staring at the cover, it finally clicked for me – the connection to Bell’s Brewery’s Two Hearted Ale / IPA. So needless to say I knew I had to grab the novella to read and review for the site here, to go along with a review of the beer as well!

(You can see that review here: Beer Review: Two Hearted IPA by Bell’s Brewery.)

Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway working on For Whom the Bell Tolls at the Sun Valley Lodge, 1939 (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Ernest Hemingway, born on July 21, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois, is one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century. Renowned for his distinctive writing style, characterized by economy and understatement, Hemingway’s impact on literature is profound and enduring. He began his writing career as a journalist, which significantly shaped his concise and direct prose style. His early work as a reporter for the Kansas City Star and later as a correspondent during World War I and the Spanish Civil War provided a foundation for his literary career and informed the themes of courage, conflict, and survival that permeate his work.

Hemingway’s experiences in World War I were particularly formative. Serving as an ambulance driver for the Italian Red Cross, he was severely wounded, an experience that deeply influenced his outlook on life and death. This period is reflected in his first major novel, “A Farewell to Arms,” which is widely regarded as one of the greatest war novels ever written. The novel’s stark portrayal of the futility and devastation of war set against a poignant love story encapsulates Hemingway’s ability to blend personal and historical narratives.

Throughout his life, Hemingway was an adventurer and a keen observer of the human condition. His love for bullfighting, big-game hunting, deep-sea fishing, and other pursuits often found their way into his writing. “The Sun Also Rises,” his first significant novel, captures the disillusionment and aimlessness of the post-World War I generation, known as the Lost Generation. Set against the backdrop of Spain’s bullfighting culture, the novel is a testament to Hemingway’s fascination with bravery, ritual, and the struggle against insurmountable odds.

Hemingway’s later works, such as “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “The Old Man and the Sea,” further cemented his status as a literary giant. “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” set during the Spanish Civil War, explores themes of honor, duty, and sacrifice, while “The Old Man and the Sea” tells the story of an epic struggle between an aging fisherman and a giant marlin. The latter work won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 and contributed to Hemingway being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. His narrative techniques, especially the “iceberg theory,” where the underlying themes are implied rather than explicitly stated, have influenced generations of writers.

Despite his literary success, Hemingway’s life was marked by personal turmoil and tragedy. He struggled with depression, alcoholism, and the lingering effects of numerous physical injuries. These struggles culminated in his suicide on July 2, 1961, in Ketchum, Idaho. Hemingway’s legacy, however, remains undiminished. His works continue to be studied and celebrated for their powerful storytelling, innovative style, and profound exploration of the human spirit. As a writer who lived life to its fullest and confronted its darkest depths, Ernest Hemingway’s contributions to literature and his larger-than-life persona have left an indelible mark on the world of letters.

From Wikipedia:

Ernest Miller Hemingway (/ˈhɛmɪŋweɪ/ HEM-ing-way; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle and outspoken, blunt public image. Some of his seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works have become classics of American literature, and he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois, in the Chicago area. After high school, he spent six months as a cub reporter for The Kansas City Star before enlisting in the Red Cross. He served as an ambulance driver on the Italian Front in World War I and was seriously wounded in 1918. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms.

In 1921, Hemingway married Hadley Richardson, the first of four wives. They moved to Paris where he worked as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star and fell under the influence of the modernist writers and artists of the 1920s’ “Lost Generation” expatriate community. His debut novel, The Sun Also Rises, was published in 1926.

He divorced Richardson in 1927 and married Pauline Pfeiffer. They divorced after he returned from the Spanish Civil War, where he had worked as a journalist and which formed the basis for his 1940 novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940. He and Gellhorn separated after he met Mary Welsh in London during World War II. Hemingway was present with Allied troops as a journalist at the Normandy landings and the liberation of Paris. He maintained permanent residences in Key West, Florida, in the 1930s and in Cuba in the 1940s and 1950s. On a 1954 trip to Africa, he was seriously injured in plane accidents on successive days, leaving him in pain and ill health for much of the rest of his life. In 1959, he bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho, where he lived until his death by suicide two years later.

Ernest Hemingway – Wikipedia

Book Review

Big Two Hearted River by Ernest Hemmingway

Back of cover blurb by GoodReads:

A gorgeous new centennial edition of Ernest Hemingway’s landmark short story of returning veteran Nick Adams’s solo fishing trip in Michigan’s rugged Upper Peninsula, illustrated with specially commissioned artwork by master engraver Chris Wormell and featuring a revelatory foreword by John N. Maclean. “The finest story of the outdoors in American literature.” — Sports Illustrated A century since its publication in the collection  In Our Time , “Big Two-Hearted River” has helped shape language and literature in America and across the globe, and its magnetic pull continues to draw readers, writers, and critics. The story is the best early example of Ernest Hemingway’s now-familiar writing short sentences, punchy nouns and verbs, few adjectives and adverbs, and a seductive cadence. Easy to imitate, difficult to match. The subject matter of the story has inspired generations of writers to believe that fly fishing can be literature. More than any of his stories, it depends on his ‘iceberg theory’ of literature, the notion that leaving essential parts of a story unsaid, the underwater portion of the iceberg, adds to its power. Taken in context with his other work, it marks Hemingway’s passage from boyish writer to accomplished nothing big came before it, novels and stories poured out after it. —from the foreword by John N. Maclean

Big Two Hearted River – GoodReads

A Deep Dive into Hemingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River”

Introduction

Ernest Hemingway’s novella, “Big Two-Hearted River,” is a poignant and profound exploration of healing, nature, and the human spirit. Published in 1925 as part of his short story collection In Our Time, this work is renowned for its minimalist style and deep emotional resonance. Let’s delve into the layers of meaning and artistry that make this novella a masterpiece.

Summary

“Big Two-Hearted River” follows Nick Adams, a character often seen as a semi-autobiographical representation of Hemingway himself. After returning from the trauma of World War I, Nick seeks solace and rejuvenation in the wilderness of Michigan. The novella is divided into two parts, detailing Nick’s journey to a remote river and his subsequent fishing expedition.

In the first part, Nick arrives at a burned-out town and treks to the river, setting up camp with meticulous care. The second part focuses on his fishing, depicting his methodical and almost ritualistic approach to catching trout. Through these simple actions, Nick reconnects with nature and begins to heal from his wartime experiences.

Themes

1. Healing through Nature The natural world serves as a therapeutic backdrop for Nick’s recovery. The detailed descriptions of the landscape and the river’s serenity contrast sharply with the chaos of war, offering Nick a space to find peace and regain control over his life.

2. Solitude and Self-Reliance Nick’s journey is one of solitude and self-reliance, emphasizing the importance of self-sufficiency in the healing process. His deliberate actions and careful preparations reflect a need to rebuild his sense of autonomy and stability.

3. The Power of Ritual The novella underscores the significance of ritual and routine in coping with trauma. Nick’s methodical approach to camping and fishing illustrates how repetitive, purposeful actions can provide comfort and a sense of normalcy.

Style and Technique

Minimalist Prose Hemingway’s signature minimalist style is on full display in “Big Two-Hearted River.” His economical use of language and focus on surface details belie the deeper emotional currents running beneath the narrative. This “iceberg theory” of writing allows readers to infer Nick’s psychological state without overt exposition.

Symbolism The burned-out town symbolizes the destruction left by war, while the river represents a source of life and renewal. The act of fishing, with its focus on patience and precision, mirrors Nick’s internal process of piecing himself back together.

Imagery and Sensory Detail Hemingway’s vivid imagery and sensory detail immerse readers in the natural environment. Descriptions of the river, the trout, and the campfire create a tangible sense of place and underscore the restorative power of nature.

Impact and Legacy

“Big Two-Hearted River” has had a lasting impact on literature, influencing countless writers with its spare, evocative prose and profound themes. It remains a quintessential example of Hemingway’s ability to convey complex emotions through simplicity and restraint.

The novella also holds a special place in the hearts of readers who have experienced trauma, offering a timeless depiction of the healing power of nature and the importance of finding solace in simple, deliberate actions.

Conclusion

Ernest Hemingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River” is a masterful exploration of healing and the human spirit. Through its minimalist prose, rich symbolism, and profound themes, the novella captures the essence of recovery and the quiet strength found in nature and solitude. It stands as a testament to Hemingway’s literary genius and continues to resonate with readers nearly a century after its publication.

My GoodReads Rating: ***
My LibraryThing Rating: ***.5
Global GoodReads Rating: 3.82 (as of 7.24.24)

Literary Connection: Hemingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River”

Two Hearted IPA by Bell’s Brewery (photo courtesy of Bell’s Brewery)

One of the unique aspects of Two Hearted Ale is its connection to Ernest Hemingway’s novella, “Big Two-Hearted River.” The beer’s name pays homage to this classic literary work, which is set in Michigan’s wilderness, much like Bell’s Brewery itself.

In Hemingway’s story, the protagonist, Nick Adams, finds solace and healing in nature after the trauma of war. The serene and restorative qualities of the river in the novella mirror the experience of savoring a Two Hearted Ale. Just as Nick reconnects with himself through the simplicity and beauty of nature, enjoying a Two Hearted Ale can be a similarly grounding and enriching experience.

The beer embodies the spirit of the story—simple yet profound, familiar yet deeply satisfying. For fans of both craft beer and literature, this connection adds an extra layer of appreciation and enjoyment.

I just recently finished the novella, and it immediately clicked in my had the connection between Hemingway’s “Big Two Hearted River” novella and the beer by Bell’s Brewery (Two Hearted River IPA / Ale). Its amazing how I never put the connection together before I picked up the novella at the Hershey Public Library and read it.

We also reviewed the beer as well.

You can find the review here:

• Beer Review: Two Hearted IPA by Bell’s Brewery

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

• MAPS OF BREWERIES

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.

The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #7 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #8 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of January 2023.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)

Star Wars: Pirate’s Price (Flight of the Falcon, #2) by Lou Anders

Book Review: Star Wars: Pirate’s Price (Flight of the Falcon, #2) by Lou Anders

The other day we reviewed the first book of the series – Star Wars: Lando’s Luck (Flight of the Falcon, #1) by Justina Ireland.

Star Wars: Pirate’s Price is the second installment in the Flight of the Falcon series and is written by Lou Anders. It’s a rollicking, swashbuckling adventure set in the galaxy far, far away, with a particular focus on one of the most notorious scoundrels in Star Wars lore: Hondo Ohnaka, the space pirate with charm, wit, and no shortage of tall tales.

GoodReads Back Blurb

All-new adventures starring Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Hondo Ohnaka aboard the Millennium Falcon!

Hello, my friends! It is I, Hondo Ohnaka, greatest pirate in the galaxy, hero of the Rebellion, and if you believe that Obi-Wan Kenobii guy, a villain, too. But what did he know?

I am here to tell you stories of that most amazing ship, the Millennium Falcon, including my very first time on board and a few occasions when I actually flew the Falcon myself! And I did a great job of it, too. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

Oh, there might be a familiar Wookie in the stories. And that Han Solo guy. He had a way of popping up. And some other people you may know. And some you may not.

So hang on tight, because this adventure is traveling at lightspeed and it’s going to be a wild ride!

Star Wars: Pirate’s Price (Flight of the Falcon, #2) by Lou Anders – GoodReads

Book Review

Plot Summary: The novel revolves around Hondo’s adventures with the iconic Millennium Falcon. Hondo recounts his wild escapades to Bazine Netal, a spy who is seeking to learn more about the Falcon’s whereabouts. Through a series of flashbacks, readers are taken on a ride through time, revisiting different points in the galaxy’s history where Hondo, in true pirate fashion, becomes embroiled in various schemes that involve the famous ship.

Character Focus: Hondo Ohnaka is undoubtedly the star of the show. His humor, opportunism, and rogue-like charm shine throughout the book. Anders nails Hondo’s voice, capturing his eccentricities perfectly—whether he’s boasting about outwitting Imperial forces or narrowly escaping danger through clever trickery. Fans of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels will be delighted by how the character leaps off the page, maintaining the essence that made him a fan favorite.

Although Hondo takes center stage, Pirate’s Price also gives us glimpses of Han Solo, Chewbacca, and the Falcon herself, which is portrayed as a kind of mystical, legendary ship that has lived through countless escapades. There’s even a brief cameo by Rey, linking the story to the sequel trilogy’s timeline, which adds a layer of continuity.

Writing and Pacing: Lou Anders crafts a fun and fast-paced narrative. The story moves quickly from one escapade to the next, almost like a series of mini-adventures tied together by Hondo’s storytelling. The pacing is energetic, which makes the novel hard to put down—perfect for younger readers or anyone looking for a lighthearted romp through the galaxy. Anders’ writing is accessible and full of humor, especially in Hondo’s voice, which is both comical and engaging.

The dialogue is a highlight, with Hondo’s quips and self-serving bravado creating a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. The story structure—being told through Hondo’s unreliable narration—adds a layer of charm, as you’re never quite sure if Hondo is telling the whole truth or embellishing his exploits for dramatic effect.

Appeal for Star Wars Fans: For fans of Star Wars lore, Pirate’s Price serves as a fun side story that enriches the universe’s vast narrative. It doesn’t delve into deep, galaxy-altering events, but it does offer a more intimate look at the everyday chaos of the galaxy, focusing on the smaller, personal adventures of its characters. If you’re familiar with Hondo from the animated series, this book will feel like an extension of his character, and fans of the Millennium Falcon will enjoy seeing the ship woven into another set of stories.

Conclusion: Star Wars: Pirate’s Price is an enjoyable, lighthearted adventure that’s perfect for younger readers and die-hard fans of Hondo Ohnaka. It’s a story packed with humor, charm, and classic Star Wars adventure, though it doesn’t take itself too seriously. If you’re looking for a fun read that celebrates one of the franchise’s most entertaining characters, this book will certainly deliver.

My GoodReads Rating: ***
Global GoodReads Rating: 4.02 (as of 7.16.24)
My LibraryThing Rating: ***.5

Hondo’s larger-than-life personality and the fast-paced storytelling make Pirate’s Price a delightful addition to the Flight of the Falcon series.

Other Book Reviews

• Book Review: The Greatest Beer Run Ever (John Chick Donohue and J.T. Molloy)

• Book Review: Subpar Parks: America’s Most Extraordinary National Parks and Their Least Impressed Visitors (Amber Share)

• Book Review: Courage is Calling (Ryan Holiday)

• Book Review: The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity (Carlo M. Cipolla)

• Book Review: Brewed in Japan (Jeffrey Alexander)

• Book Review: The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life (Armand M. Nicholi Jr.)

• Book Review: Family Reins (Billy Busch)

• Book Review: The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World (Riley Black)

• Book Review: The Wit and Humor of Oscar Wilde (Oscar Wilde)

• Book Review: Create Dangerously (Albert Camus)
• Book Review: The Road (Cormac McCarthy)
• Book Review: The Donnie Darko Book (Richard Kelly)
• Book Review: How to Rule the World: A Handbook for the Aspiring Dictator (André de Guillaume)
• Book Review: Here is New York (E.B. White)
• Book Review: Uncle John’s Beer Topia
• Book Review: I Drink For a Reason (David Cross)
• Book Review: Revenge of She – Punks (Vivien Goldman)

All of Our Nerd Content

Here’s all of our nerd content, served up best in one single place. Enjoy!

I know ya’ll here for the nerd reviews. So check out our other nerd reviews below:

Star Wars:

• Beer Review: The Pandalorian (Tattered Flag)
• Beer Review: Wookie Monster (Fourscore Beer Co)
• Beer Review: Out of Order: Blue Milk (RAR Brewing) (Batch 1)
• Beer Review: Out of Order: Tatooine Tart (RAR Brewing)
• Beer Review: Out of Order: RAWRGWAWGGR (RAR Brewing)
• Beer Review: Out of Order: Droid Juice (RAR Brewing)
• Beer Review: Wookies and Cream (Tall Tales Brewing)
• Revenge of the Fifth / Cinco de Mayo
• May the Fourth Be With You
• Beer Review: This is Nut the Fluff You’re Looking For (Fourscore Beer Co)
• Beer Review: This is the Way (Broken Goblet Brewing)
• Beer Review: This is the Whey (Bolero Snort Brewery)
• Beer Review: Java the Stout (Jackie O’s Brewery)
• Beer Review: The Mangolorian (Brewery Fire)
• Beer Review: BoBull Fett (Bolero Snort Brewery)
• Mead Review: The Meadalorian (Space Time Mead and Cider Works)
• Beer Review: Let the Haze Flow Through You (Black Flag Brewing Co)
• Book Review: The Jedi Path and The Book of the Sith (Daniel Wallace)
• Book Review: Guardians of the Whills (Greg Rucka)
• May the Fourth Be With You (2022)
• RAR Out of Order Star Wars Drop!
• Beer Review: Vader (Mispillion River Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Out of Order: Green Milk (RAR Brewing Company) (Batch 1)
• Beer Review: The Phantasm Menace (Second Sin Brewing Company)
• RAR Brewing – Out of Order – Star Wars Can Drop (2023)
• May the Fourth Be With You (2023)
• Brewery Fire Celebrates Their Fourth Anniversary: The Power of the Fourth
• Crooked Crab – May the Fourth Be With You (2024)
• Book Review: Star Wars – Most Wanted (Rae Carlson)
• Book Review: Star Wars: Lando’s Luck (Flight of the Falcon, #1) by Justina Ireland
• Book Review: Star Wars: Pirate’s Price (Flight of the Falcon, #2) by Lou Anders

Futurama

• Good News Everyone, Futurama is Back: Exploring Futurama – Inspired Craft Beers
• Book Review: Futurama and Philosophy (edited by Courtland Lewis)
• Futurama Episode Review – The Impossible Stream and Mead Review: Omicron Persei 8 (SpaceTime Meadery)
• Mead Review: Omicron Persei 8 (Space Time Mead and Cider Works)
• Futurama Episode Review – Children of a Lesser Bog and Beer Review: Stay on Target (Allusion Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: I Apologize For Nothing (Fourscore Beer Co.)
• Beer Review: Fing-Longer (Turning Point Beer)
• Futurama Episode Review – How the West was 1010001 (and Beer Review: The Shining by Foam Brewers)
• Futurama Episode Review – Parasites Regained
• Beer Review: Hop Bender (Local Craft Beer)
• Futurama Episode Review – I Know What You Did Next XMas and Beer Review: Bo Katan Red IPA (Brewery Fire)
• 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐰 on Draft and Cans at Intermission Beer Company
• Beer Review: I’m 40% Galaxy (Local Craft Beer)

Lord of the Rings:

• Book Review: An Atlas of Tolkien (David Day)
• Book Review: The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun (J.R.R. Tolkien)

Magic the Gathering:

• New Belgium Teams Up with Magic the Gathering for Vastwood Seer IPA

Heroes of Barcadia:

• Rollacrit Partners with Voodoo Ranger IPA for New Kickstarter, Heroes of Barcadia: Heroes for Hire Tabletop Game

Zelda:

• Zelda and Craft Beer
• Beer Review: Motueka’s Mask (Black Flag Brewing Company)

Rick and Morty:

• Beer Review: Peace Among Worlds (Cushwa Brewing Company)

Space Balls:

• Beer Review: Moon of Vega (Equilibrium Brewery)

Game of Thrones:

• Beer Review: Game of Thrones: My Watch Has Ended (Omnegang Brewery)
• Book Review: The Wit and Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister (George R.R. Martin)

The Simpsons:

• Beer Review: I Voted for Kodos (Second Sin Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: I Voted for Kang (Second Sin Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Ned Flanders Red (AleCraft Brewery)

Back to the Future:

• Beer Review: Back to Reality (Three 3s Brewing Co)

Scrooged:

• Beer Review: Scrooge IPA (Iron Hill Brewing)

Groundhog Day:

• Beer Review: Prognosticator Pils (Logyard Brewing Company)
• Logyard Brewing’s Prognosticator Pils is the Official Beer of Groundhog Day (2022)

A Christmas Story:

• Beer Review: The Soft Electric Glow of Sex (RAR Brewing)
• Beer Review: You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out! (Eight and Sand Beer Co)

The Peanuts:

• Book Review: The Philosophy of Snoopy (Charles M. Schulz)
• Book Review: You Don’t Look 35, Charlie Brown! (Charles M. Schulz)

Pro Wrestling:

• Beer Review: Broken Skull – Stone Cold Steve Austin’s IPA (El Segundo Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Macho Man (Couch Brewery)
• Beer Review: Royal Rumble (Funk Brewing)
• Stone Cold Steve Austin and the WWE Are Celebrating 3:16 Day
• Human Robot and The Full Pint Are Hosting RoboMania
• Brawl in the Beer Hall at Lakefront Brewery

Soccer:

• Beer Review: Pulisic Pilsner (Jackass Brewing Company)
• Book Review: Pulisic – My Journey So Far (Christian Pulisic)

World Cup:

• Qatar Bans Alcohol Sales at World Cup in Last Second Decision
• Breweries Opening Early For the USA vs Netherlands World Cup Ga

Phillies:

• Drunk Phils Fans and Rotunda Brewing Company Collaborate Together on Jam the Batter sWheat Tart
• Mystery Phillies fan buys rounds of beer for people in Section 103

Philadelphia Eagles:

• The Philadelphia Eagles Running Back – D’Andre Swift – Visits Bald Bird Brewing Company

Matrix:

• Matrix Monday

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

• Beer Review: Terpenes in Time (BAREBottle Brewing Co)

HP Lovecraft / Cthulhu:

• Beer Review: Azathoth (Edmund’s Oast Brewing Company)

Seinfeld:

• Beer Review: Jon Voight’s Car (RAR Brewing)
• Beer Review: Airing of Grievances (Black Flag Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Treats of Strength (Icarus Brewing)

The Muppets:

• RAR Brewing – Out of Order – Muppet Series Can Release
• RAR Brewing Brings the Nostalgia with Muppets Out of Order Series

Other:

• Beer Review: Super Villain (Urban Village Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Pixels (Seminar Brewing)
• Beer Review: Villeinage (Elder Pine Brewing and Blending)
• Beer Review: Intergalactic Deals (Levante Brewing)
• Beer Review: Galactic Space Circus (Creature Comforts Brewing Co)
• Beer Review: The Death of Civilization in Slow Motion I (Ghost 907) (Adroit Theory)

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

• MAPS OF BREWERIES

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.

The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #5 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #9 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of August 2024.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)

Star Wars: Lando’s Luck (Flight of the Falcon, #1) by Justina Ireland

Star Wars: Lando’s Luck (Flight of the Falcon, #1) by Justina Ireland is the first of two installments on the Flight of the Falcon series. (Look for the book review for the second installment in a bit.)

Star Wars: Lando’s Luck, the first book in the Flight of the Falcon series, brings us on an exciting adventure with none other than the galaxy’s most charming gambler, Lando Calrissian. Written by Justina Ireland, this middle-grade novel is a fast-paced, action-packed story that explores Lando’s life as a rogue pilot, highlighting his wit, cleverness, and occasional brushes with morality.

As the inaugural book in the Flight of the Falcon series, it sets the tone for what readers can expect: engaging characters, high-stakes missions, and the legendary Millennium Falcon at the center of it all.

GoodReads Back Blurb

An all-new adventure starring Lando Calrissian and L3-37 onboard the Millennium Falcon. When Lando Calrissian gets caught smuggling on the planet Hynestia, the queen agrees to let him go if he delivers something called the Solstice Globe to the Empire on her behalf. Lando is relieved that his punishment is a simple delivery mission — but things are not as simple as they seem. The queen’s daughter, Princess Rinetta, has stowed away on the Millennium Falcon and demands that Lando and L3-37 take the globe back to its home planet, which needs the globe to survive. Now Lando has to choose: do what’s right or do what’s best for Lando? If he’s lucky enough, he just might be able to do both…

Star Wars: Lando’s Luck (Flight of the Falcon, #1) by Justina Ireland – GoodReads

Plot Overview:

The story kicks off when Lando, piloting the Millennium Falcon long before Han Solo won it from him, gets roped into a royal mission on the planet Hynestia. His job? Transport a priceless, sacred artifact known as the Solstice Globe to the Empire. However, Lando being Lando, nothing goes quite according to plan. Enter Princess Rinetta, the young, determined heir to Hynestia’s throne, who becomes Lando’s unexpected ally as they work to avoid the Empire and save her people from oppression.

Throughout the book, readers are treated to a series of twists, betrayals, and daring escapes as Lando and Princess Rinetta face peril and moral dilemmas, all while piloting the iconic Millennium Falcon across the stars.

Lando Calrissian: Scoundrel with a Heart

What makes Lando’s Luck shine is the characterization of Lando himself. Justina Ireland captures his charisma and smooth-talking ways perfectly, balancing his opportunistic nature with a deeper sense of loyalty and justice that only emerges when he’s pushed into a corner. He may be motivated by self-interest, but as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that even Lando can’t resist doing the right thing when it really matters.

The banter between Lando and L3-37, his co-pilot droid, adds humor and depth to the story. L3’s sharp wit and rebellious spirit are great counterpoints to Lando’s smooth charm, making their dynamic one of the book’s highlights. If you enjoyed their relationship in Solo: A Star Wars Story, you’ll love how it’s further developed in this book.

Princess Rinetta also plays a pivotal role. Her growth throughout the novel is subtle but important, as she learns to navigate the complexities of leadership, diplomacy, and sacrifice. Together, she and Lando form an unlikely but effective team, and their dynamic is one of the book’s core strengths.

Accessible and Action-Packed

As a middle-grade novel, Lando’s Luck is written in an accessible style that will appeal to younger readers and casual Star Wars fans. The plot moves quickly, with plenty of action sequences, from blaster shootouts to high-speed chases in the Falcon. Justina Ireland keeps the story tight and focused, making sure there’s never a dull moment. The stakes are high, but the tone remains lighthearted and adventurous, perfect for readers looking for a fun, fast read.

At the same time, seasoned Star Wars fans will appreciate the way Ireland weaves in familiar elements of the galaxy without bogging down the story in heavy lore. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or a newcomer to the saga, you’ll find plenty to enjoy, especially when it comes to Lando’s swashbuckling style of problem-solving.

Themes of Choice and Consequence

Though it’s a fun and light adventure, Lando’s Luck subtly explores deeper themes of choice, responsibility, and morality. Lando’s constant tug-of-war between doing what’s easy and doing what’s right serves as a relatable moral compass for younger readers. The narrative doesn’t preach, but it does present tough decisions that the characters must face, making it a story not just about adventure, but also about growth and integrity.

Princess Rinetta’s struggle to save her people and find her own voice as a leader parallels Lando’s journey of self-reflection, showing that even the galaxy’s most charismatic scoundrel is capable of change. This exploration of moral choices elevates the book from simple adventure fare into something with a bit more weight, especially for young readers learning about ethics and personal responsibility.

Verdict: A Fun and Engaging Star Wars Adventure

Star Wars: Lando’s Luck is a fun, fast-paced adventure that perfectly captures the spirit of its titular hero. Justina Ireland does a fantastic job of bringing Lando Calrissian to life, complete with all his wit, charm, and mischief. Whether you’re a young reader or a long-time Star Wars fan, this book offers an enjoyable look into the galaxy’s seedier side, with plenty of heart and humor to balance the action.

If you’re looking for a quick, enjoyable read filled with adventure, moral dilemmas, and a dash of roguish charm, Lando’s Luck is worth adding to your reading list.

My GoodReads Rating: ***
Global GoodReads Rating: 3.47 (as of 7.10.24)
My LibraryThing Rating: ***.5

Lando’s daring escapades, paired with Justina Ireland’s snappy storytelling, make this an absolute must-read for fans of the galaxy’s smoothest gambler.

Other Book Reviews

• Book Review: The Greatest Beer Run Ever (John Chick Donohue and J.T. Molloy)

• Book Review: Subpar Parks: America’s Most Extraordinary National Parks and Their Least Impressed Visitors (Amber Share)

• Book Review: Courage is Calling (Ryan Holiday)

• Book Review: The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity (Carlo M. Cipolla)

• Book Review: Brewed in Japan (Jeffrey Alexander)

• Book Review: The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life (Armand M. Nicholi Jr.)

• Book Review: Family Reins (Billy Busch)

• Book Review: The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World (Riley Black)

• Book Review: The Wit and Humor of Oscar Wilde (Oscar Wilde)

• Book Review: Create Dangerously (Albert Camus)
• Book Review: The Road (Cormac McCarthy)
• Book Review: The Donnie Darko Book (Richard Kelly)
• Book Review: How to Rule the World: A Handbook for the Aspiring Dictator (André de Guillaume)
• Book Review: Here is New York (E.B. White)
• Book Review: Uncle John’s Beer Topia
• Book Review: I Drink For a Reason (David Cross)
• Book Review: Revenge of She – Punks (Vivien Goldman)

All of Our Nerd Content

Here’s all of our nerd content, served up best in one single place. Enjoy!

I know ya’ll here for the nerd reviews. So check out our other nerd reviews below:

Star Wars:

• Beer Review: The Pandalorian (Tattered Flag)
• Beer Review: Wookie Monster (Fourscore Beer Co)
• Beer Review: Out of Order: Blue Milk (RAR Brewing) (Batch 1)
• Beer Review: Out of Order: Tatooine Tart (RAR Brewing)
• Beer Review: Out of Order: RAWRGWAWGGR (RAR Brewing)
• Beer Review: Out of Order: Droid Juice (RAR Brewing)
• Beer Review: Wookies and Cream (Tall Tales Brewing)
• Revenge of the Fifth / Cinco de Mayo
• May the Fourth Be With You
• Beer Review: This is Nut the Fluff You’re Looking For (Fourscore Beer Co)
• Beer Review: This is the Way (Broken Goblet Brewing)
• Beer Review: This is the Whey (Bolero Snort Brewery)
• Beer Review: Java the Stout (Jackie O’s Brewery)
• Beer Review: The Mangolorian (Brewery Fire)
• Beer Review: BoBull Fett (Bolero Snort Brewery)
• Mead Review: The Meadalorian (Space Time Mead and Cider Works)
• Beer Review: Let the Haze Flow Through You (Black Flag Brewing Co)
• Book Review: The Jedi Path and The Book of the Sith (Daniel Wallace)
• Book Review: Guardians of the Whills (Greg Rucka)
• May the Fourth Be With You (2022)
• RAR Out of Order Star Wars Drop!
• Beer Review: Vader (Mispillion River Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Out of Order: Green Milk (RAR Brewing Company) (Batch 1)
• Beer Review: The Phantasm Menace (Second Sin Brewing Company)
• RAR Brewing – Out of Order – Star Wars Can Drop (2023)
• May the Fourth Be With You (2023)
• Brewery Fire Celebrates Their Fourth Anniversary: The Power of the Fourth
• Crooked Crab – May the Fourth Be With You (2024)
• Book Review: Star Wars – Most Wanted (Rae Carlson)
• Book Review: Star Wars: Lando’s Luck (Flight of the Falcon, #1) by Justina Ireland

Futurama

• Good News Everyone, Futurama is Back: Exploring Futurama – Inspired Craft Beers
• Book Review: Futurama and Philosophy (edited by Courtland Lewis)
• Futurama Episode Review – The Impossible Stream and Mead Review: Omicron Persei 8 (SpaceTime Meadery)
• Mead Review: Omicron Persei 8 (Space Time Mead and Cider Works)
• Futurama Episode Review – Children of a Lesser Bog and Beer Review: Stay on Target (Allusion Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: I Apologize For Nothing (Fourscore Beer Co.)
• Beer Review: Fing-Longer (Turning Point Beer)
• Futurama Episode Review – How the West was 1010001 (and Beer Review: The Shining by Foam Brewers)
• Futurama Episode Review – Parasites Regained
• Beer Review: Hop Bender (Local Craft Beer)
• Futurama Episode Review – I Know What You Did Next XMas and Beer Review: Bo Katan Red IPA (Brewery Fire)
• 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐰 on Draft and Cans at Intermission Beer Company
• Beer Review: I’m 40% Galaxy (Local Craft Beer)

Lord of the Rings:

• Book Review: An Atlas of Tolkien (David Day)
• Book Review: The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun (J.R.R. Tolkien)

Magic the Gathering:

• New Belgium Teams Up with Magic the Gathering for Vastwood Seer IPA

Heroes of Barcadia:

• Rollacrit Partners with Voodoo Ranger IPA for New Kickstarter, Heroes of Barcadia: Heroes for Hire Tabletop Game

Zelda:

• Zelda and Craft Beer
• Beer Review: Motueka’s Mask (Black Flag Brewing Company)

Rick and Morty:

• Beer Review: Peace Among Worlds (Cushwa Brewing Company)

Space Balls:

• Beer Review: Moon of Vega (Equilibrium Brewery)

Game of Thrones:

• Beer Review: Game of Thrones: My Watch Has Ended (Omnegang Brewery)
• Book Review: The Wit and Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister (George R.R. Martin)

The Simpsons:

• Beer Review: I Voted for Kodos (Second Sin Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: I Voted for Kang (Second Sin Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Ned Flanders Red (AleCraft Brewery)

Back to the Future:

• Beer Review: Back to Reality (Three 3s Brewing Co)

Scrooged:

• Beer Review: Scrooge IPA (Iron Hill Brewing)

Groundhog Day:

• Beer Review: Prognosticator Pils (Logyard Brewing Company)
• Logyard Brewing’s Prognosticator Pils is the Official Beer of Groundhog Day (2022)

A Christmas Story:

• Beer Review: The Soft Electric Glow of Sex (RAR Brewing)
• Beer Review: You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out! (Eight and Sand Beer Co)

The Peanuts:

• Book Review: The Philosophy of Snoopy (Charles M. Schulz)
• Book Review: You Don’t Look 35, Charlie Brown! (Charles M. Schulz)

Pro Wrestling:

• Beer Review: Broken Skull – Stone Cold Steve Austin’s IPA (El Segundo Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Macho Man (Couch Brewery)
• Beer Review: Royal Rumble (Funk Brewing)
• Stone Cold Steve Austin and the WWE Are Celebrating 3:16 Day
• Human Robot and The Full Pint Are Hosting RoboMania
• Brawl in the Beer Hall at Lakefront Brewery

Soccer:

• Beer Review: Pulisic Pilsner (Jackass Brewing Company)
• Book Review: Pulisic – My Journey So Far (Christian Pulisic)

World Cup:

• Qatar Bans Alcohol Sales at World Cup in Last Second Decision
• Breweries Opening Early For the USA vs Netherlands World Cup Ga

Phillies:

• Drunk Phils Fans and Rotunda Brewing Company Collaborate Together on Jam the Batter sWheat Tart
• Mystery Phillies fan buys rounds of beer for people in Section 103

Philadelphia Eagles:

• The Philadelphia Eagles Running Back – D’Andre Swift – Visits Bald Bird Brewing Company

Matrix:

• Matrix Monday

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

• Beer Review: Terpenes in Time (BAREBottle Brewing Co)

HP Lovecraft / Cthulhu:

• Beer Review: Azathoth (Edmund’s Oast Brewing Company)

Seinfeld:

• Beer Review: Jon Voight’s Car (RAR Brewing)
• Beer Review: Airing of Grievances (Black Flag Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Treats of Strength (Icarus Brewing)

The Muppets:

• RAR Brewing – Out of Order – Muppet Series Can Release
• RAR Brewing Brings the Nostalgia with Muppets Out of Order Series

Other:

• Beer Review: Super Villain (Urban Village Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Pixels (Seminar Brewing)
• Beer Review: Villeinage (Elder Pine Brewing and Blending)
• Beer Review: Intergalactic Deals (Levante Brewing)
• Beer Review: Galactic Space Circus (Creature Comforts Brewing Co)
• Beer Review: The Death of Civilization in Slow Motion I (Ghost 907) (Adroit Theory)

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

• MAPS OF BREWERIES

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.

The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #5 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #9 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of August 2024.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho, born on August 24, 1947, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is a renowned author whose works have captivated millions of readers around the world. Before becoming an internationally recognized writer, Coelho had a diverse and unconventional career path. He pursued interests in theater, journalism, and even songwriting, where he collaborated with popular Brazilian musicians like Raul Seixas. However, his journey towards literary success was not straightforward. Coelho experienced a spiritual awakening during a pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago in Spain, which deeply influenced his writing and led to the creation of his seminal work, “The Alchemist.”

“The Alchemist,” first published in 1988, is Coelho’s most famous novel and has been translated into over 80 languages, making it one of the most translated books in the world. Despite its initial lackluster reception, the book eventually gained massive popularity and established Coelho as a significant voice in contemporary literature. His narrative style, characterized by simplicity and spiritual themes, resonates with readers seeking meaning and inspiration in their lives. Beyond “The Alchemist,” Coelho has written numerous other novels, including “Brida,” “Veronika Decides to Die,” and “The Zahir,” each exploring different facets of the human experience and spiritual journey.

Coelho’s influence extends beyond the literary world; he is also known for his active presence on social media, where he engages with his vast global audience. His personal story of overcoming adversity, including periods of institutionalization during his youth for his rebellious nature, adds to the inspirational aura that surrounds him. Despite criticisms of his work as being overly simplistic or commercial, Coelho’s impact on readers and his ability to address universal themes of personal legend, destiny, and the pursuit of dreams have cemented his status as a significant cultural figure. His life and work continue to inspire millions, making him a unique and enduring presence in the literary landscape.

Paulo Coelho’s Writing

In my view, Paulo Coelho’s writing suffers from a simplistic style and an over – reliance on platitudes that lack depth and originality. While his prose is undeniably accessible, it often falls short of the literary finesse and complexity that I believe are essential for great writing. Coelho’s narratives are frequently filled with trite aphorisms and banal observations that are presented as profound wisdom. For me, his characters often feel like mere vessels for these aphorisms, lacking the necessary depth and development to truly engage on a meaningful level. This superficiality makes his stories resemble self-help manuals more than novels, which diminishes their literary value in my eyes.

Furthermore, I find Coelho’s themes, although universally appealing, to be overly simplistic and reductive. His deterministic notions, such as the idea that the universe conspires to help individuals achieve their desires, come across as a form of magical thinking that ignores the real complexities and hardships of life. While this kind of storytelling can be comforting, it often feels detached from the nuanced and realistic explorations of human experience that I look for in literature. Coelho’s tendency to wrap his narratives in mysticism and spirituality without substantive exploration further diminishes his standing as a serious literary figure in my perspective. Although his books have found a large audience, the lack of intellectual rigor and literary depth in his work leaves him, in my opinion, outside the ranks of truly great writers.

Book Review: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

GoodReads Blurb:

Paulo Coelho’s masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different, and far more satisfying, listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.

GoodReads – The Alchemist

If you’re looking for a book that promises profound life lessons but delivers nothing more than a series of tired clichés, then look no further than Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist.” This so-called modern classic has been praised for its wisdom and spiritual insight, but any discerning reader will quickly see through the thin veneer of profundity to the hollow core beneath.

At its heart, “The Alchemist” is a simple tale of a shepherd named Santiago who dreams of finding a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. Along the way, he’s bombarded with mystical mumbo jumbo about Personal Legends, the Soul of the World, and other vague, esoteric concepts that seem profound until you realize they’re just filler for an otherwise banal story.

The Alchemist: A Masterpiece of Mediocrity

Coelho’s writing style, lauded by many as poetic and inspiring, often feels more like a string of fortune cookie aphorisms. “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it,” he writes. But what does that really mean? In the real world, dreams require hard work, persistence, and often a healthy dose of luck. Suggesting that the universe is somehow invested in our personal desires is not just naïve; it’s misleading.

The characters in “The Alchemist” are less people and more cardboard cutouts designed to spout Coelho’s pseudo-philosophical nonsense. Santiago himself is the quintessential everyman, a blank slate onto which readers are supposed to project themselves. The wise alchemist, the crystal merchant, and even the Englishman—all are vehicles for the book’s simplistic messages rather than fully fleshed-out individuals.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of “The Alchemist” is its relentless positivity. While there’s nothing wrong with optimism, Coelho’s insistence that everything happens for a reason and that we all have a predestined path comes off as shallow and detached from reality. Life is messy, unpredictable, and often unfair—an idea Coelho seems determined to gloss over in favor of his feel-good narrative.

Contextually, “The Alchemist” came out during a time when self-help and spiritual enlightenment books were gaining immense popularity. The late 20th century saw a surge in works that promised quick fixes to life’s deeper problems, and Coelho’s book fit perfectly into this trend. It’s no surprise that it found a ready audience among those disillusioned by the complexities of modern life, offering them a simplistic escape wrapped in faux wisdom.

Moreover, “The Alchemist” has been marketed as a life-changing book, a label that has undoubtedly contributed to its success. Many readers, caught up in the hype, are quick to proclaim its greatness without critically examining its content. The book’s success can also be attributed to its universal themes, which, while ostensibly deep, are so generalized that they can apply to anyone, anywhere, thus broadening its appeal to a global audience.

In the realm of literary acclaim, “The Alchemist” stands as a curious case. It’s a book that has sold millions of copies and been translated into dozens of languages, yet it remains divisive among critics. Some hail it as a masterpiece of spiritual literature, while others, like myself, see it as a prime example of how shallow, feel-good platitudes can be mistaken for profound wisdom. For those seeking genuine insight and inspiration, there are far more substantial works out there. But if you prefer your philosophy served with a heavy dose of sugar and a side of magical thinking, then by all means, dive into the saccharine sea that is “The Alchemist.” Just don’t be surprised when you surface feeling empty.

Another issue with “The Alchemist” is its heavy reliance on allegory to convey its messages. While allegory can be a powerful literary tool, Coelho’s use of it often feels overly simplistic and heavy-handed. The symbols and metaphors in the book, such as the desert representing life’s challenges and the treasure symbolizing personal fulfillment, are so transparent that they leave little room for interpretation or deeper thought. This lack of subtlety can be frustrating for readers who prefer more nuanced storytelling that allows them to draw their own conclusions rather than being spoon-fed the author’s intended messages.

Additionally, the plot of “The Alchemist” is remarkably predictable and formulaic. Santiago’s journey follows a well-worn path of the hero’s quest, complete with standard tropes like the wise mentor, the trials and tribulations, and the ultimate revelation. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with following a classic narrative structure, Coelho fails to bring anything new or innovative to the table. The story unfolds in a manner that’s almost too smooth, with obstacles that seem conveniently surmountable and a conclusion that wraps everything up in a neat, overly satisfying bow. This predictability undermines the potential for genuine suspense or emotional investment in the protagonist’s journey.

Lastly, “The Alchemist” tends to oversimplify complex life issues, reducing them to easily digestible moral lessons. The book’s central theme—that one should follow their dreams and listen to their heart—while inspirational, can come off as naive and unrealistic when taken at face value. Real-life pursuits often involve significant sacrifices, unexpected setbacks, and nuanced decision-making, none of which are adequately addressed in Coelho’s narrative. By presenting such a rose-tinted view of the pursuit of personal legends, Coelho overlooks the intricacies and difficulties inherent in chasing one’s dreams. This oversimplification not only diminishes the book’s realism but also risks misleading readers about the true nature of personal and spiritual growth.

Allegory Over Substance

In “The Alchemist,” Paulo Coelho’s reliance on allegory over substantive storytelling often detracts from the depth and complexity that readers might expect from a novel with such lofty spiritual ambitions. Allegory, when used effectively, can provide rich layers of meaning that enhance a story. However, in Coelho’s hands, the allegorical elements are so overt and simplistic that they leave little room for personal interpretation or discovery. The clear-cut symbols and metaphors—like the desert symbolizing life’s challenges or the treasure representing personal fulfillment—are presented in such an obvious manner that they feel more like didactic lessons than nuanced storytelling. This approach can make the narrative feel more like a lecture on spirituality than an engaging and thought-provoking novel.

Furthermore, Coelho’s allegorical approach often sacrifices character development and plot complexity in favor of delivering clear moral messages. The characters in “The Alchemist” serve primarily as archetypes rather than fully realized individuals, existing mainly to convey specific ideas or lessons. Santiago, the protagonist, is less a flesh-and-blood character with unique struggles and more a symbolic everyman whose journey is meant to illustrate broader spiritual truths. This lack of character depth can make it difficult for readers to form a genuine connection with the story or its characters, as they come across as one-dimensional and static.

The plot itself is similarly constrained by the allegorical framework. Santiago’s journey follows a predictable and formulaic path, with each event and encounter designed to teach a specific lesson rather than contribute to a dynamic and engaging narrative. The story’s progression feels almost mechanical, with Santiago overcoming obstacles and meeting mentors in a manner that feels more like checking boxes on a spiritual checklist than embarking on a genuine adventure. This predictability reduces the sense of suspense and discovery, making the reading experience feel more like a guided tour through Coelho’s philosophical beliefs than an immersive and unpredictable journey.

Ultimately, the overemphasis on allegory in “The Alchemist” can make the novel feel superficial and didactic, undermining its potential impact. While Coelho’s intent to convey profound spiritual and philosophical insights is clear, the execution often falls short. By prioritizing allegorical symbolism over substantive character and plot development, the novel risks alienating readers who seek deeper, more nuanced explorations of the themes it addresses. Instead of inspiring reflection and personal insight, the heavy-handed allegory can leave readers feeling as though they’ve been handed a simplistic, one-size-fits-all solution to life’s complexities.

Falling Short of One’s Reputation and Hype

In conclusion, “The Alchemist” falls short of its reputation as a profound and transformative work of literature. Paulo Coelho’s heavy reliance on simplistic allegory and overt moral lessons undermines the novel’s potential for depth and complexity. The characters are one-dimensional archetypes, the plot is formulaic and predictable, and the supposed wisdom often comes off as trite and superficial. For readers seeking a rich and immersive narrative experience, “The Alchemist” offers little more than a series of fortune cookie philosophies wrapped in a thin veneer of mysticism. It fails to engage on a meaningful level, leaving an impression of superficiality rather than substance.

Ultimately, “The Alchemist” is a disappointing read that does not live up to its acclaim. While its themes of following one’s dreams and listening to one’s heart are universally appealing, the execution is so heavy-handed and reductive that it feels more like a self-help pamphlet than a work of serious fiction. The novel’s lack of character depth, plot complexity, and nuanced exploration of its themes results in a reading experience that is both unfulfilling and frustrating. For those who seek genuine literary and philosophical insights, “The Alchemist” is unlikely to satisfy, earning it a well-deserved one-star rating.

My GoodReads Rating: *
My LibraryThing Rating: *
Global Average GoodReads Rating: 3.91 (as of 4.23.24)

See Also

• Beer Review: Heady Topper (The Alchemist)

Other Book Reviews

• Book Review: The Greatest Beer Run Ever (John Chick Donohue and J.T. Molloy)

• Book Review: Subpar Parks: America’s Most Extraordinary National Parks and Their Least Impressed Visitors (Amber Share)

• Book Review: Courage is Calling (Ryan Holiday)

• Book Review: The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity (Carlo M. Cipolla)

• Book Review: Brewed in Japan (Jeffrey Alexander)

• Book Review: The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life (Armand M. Nicholi Jr.)

• Book Review: Family Reins (Billy Busch)

• Book Review: The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World (Riley Black)

• Book Review: The Wit and Humor of Oscar Wilde (Oscar Wilde)

• Book Review: Create Dangerously (Albert Camus)
• Book Review: The Road (Cormac McCarthy)
• Book Review: The Donnie Darko Book (Richard Kelly)
• Book Review: How to Rule the World: A Handbook for the Aspiring Dictator (André de Guillaume)
• Book Review: Here is New York (E.B. White)
• Book Review: Uncle John’s Beer Topia
• Book Review: I Drink For a Reason (David Cross)
• Book Review: The Homebrewer’s Garden (Joe and Dennis Fisher)

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The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Road

I read this just a few years after high school, after the birth of my second child, and what now feels like forever ago (but was really just 15 years ago). I remember absolutely loving it. A bleak, dystopic novel of just… going forward. Always moving forward. Always going. One foot in front of the other.

And I do find myself like Cormac McCarthy. I loved No Country for Old Men, and All the Pretty Horses. But, on re-reading this just before going to Atlantic City for the AC Beer and Music Fest, I found myself…. having conflicting thoughts on it. At first, it felt like I was re-reading a favorite old book, but further I went through it (and its a super quick read), I found myself… not caring. Not loving it anymore. Some of it is the style, I know a lot of people are put off by the writing style of the book, the bleak isolated speech, the poor punctuation, grammar, the screenplay like dialogue but without directions, etc. And on my first read, it worked, I liked it, and at the start of re-reading it – I too liked it, but then it grew tiresome on me. And I think, all the more because it all just feels ‘pointless’.

When I looked up my GoodReads initial rating of it, I gave it ***** (5 out of 5). Crazy. But that was definitely in my phase of “Everything is either 5 stars or 1 star” mindset of looking at things. Not so much due to naïvety of thinking everything was either a classic or not, but just for simplicity sake when using the app. I tended to be the same with Untappd and other similar rating apps. Also in the fifteen years since, I think I got a bit more nuanced in my own thoughts, appreciation, and love for reading. I’ve been a voracious reader ever since middle school, and I typically for the last half dozen years have been reading about a hundred books per year. So I’ve certainly grown some since my initial reading of this.

I think some of my biggest take-aways is also a thing of growth in myself as a person, because the entirety of the book feels like a “why bother” now. With how absolutely bleak it is, it feels just pointless. Existentially pointless. For all intents and purposes humanity is done for. And thats ultimately the point of the novel, to drive home just how bleak it is, but that the Man keeps pushing onward, even when his wife couldn’t, even when his Son doesn’t think he can,  you ‘have to’. But I even question the point of thinking ‘you have to’ in a world like this. What do you live for? Its not really tackled in the book outside of the “because you have to’ omnipresence behind each page. Its not even directly stated. Characters don’t state things like that in the book. The Man just has the vague sense of ‘you must always keep moving no matter how bleak and horrible and terrible it is’, but its never explicitly said – not that it HAS to be explicitly said, I can draw inferences, but, a discussion, some character, some growth, some introspection, something would be interesting or nice or at least add substance to this. I can draw the inference of ‘you must always keep moving’ by page 10, so the remaining 276 pages are like a footnote to the initial thought.

I feel like my review will come off as extremely harsh, and probably far harsher than I even intend it to be. There is still a part of me that enjoys this work – but I think its for the overarch of it, not for the actual writing, prose, or the book itself. Its my interest and intrigue in the genre, its the way the story gets my mind to drift and think of how I would write a similar dystopic novel; so my interest and enjoyment of this (on the re-read) is more based on how I vaguely feel as a ‘whole’ to the entire process, to what I feel deep down, and not so much to the writing itself. I want to still really enjoy it, I want to dive deep into the book, but I’m afraid its not deep, its a shallow dive into a pond that looks deep from up high. Maybe thats where my frustration grows, and why I give a scathing review here. I genuinely think I’m being a bit too harsh on Cormac McCarthy here, and for his fans and lovers, I apologize for that. Maybe its just in re-reading this and what I remembered and feeling let down as an older man. Maybe its reading too many other book reviews and my critique level is so much higher than it was before. Maybe I’ve grown away from him. I still have No Country for Old Men on my “to re-read” list for the year. So who knows when we get to that, and if my opinions will change.

Cormac McCarthy

Cormac McCarthy in 1973 (photo courtesy of Wikipedia).

Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr.; July 20, 1933 – June 13, 2023) was an American writer who authored twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays, and three short stories, spanning the Western and postapocalyptic genres. His works often include graphic depictions of violence, and his writing style is characterised by a sparse use of punctuation and attribution. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American novelists.^[1][2][3]

McCarthy was born in Providence, Rhode Island, although he was raised primarily in Tennessee. In 1951, he enrolled in the University of Tennessee, but dropped out to join the U.S. Air Force. His debut novel, The Orchard Keeper, was published in 1965. Awarded literary grants, McCarthy was able to travel to southern Europe, where he wrote his second novel, Outer Dark (1968). Suttree (1979), like his other early novels, received generally positive reviews, but was not a commercial success. A MacArthur Fellowship enabled him to travel to the American Southwest, where he researched and wrote his fifth novel, Blood Meridian (1985). Although it initially garnered a lukewarm critical and commercial reception, it has since been regarded as his magnum opus, with some labeling it the Great American Novel.

McCarthy first experienced widespread success with All the Pretty Horses (1992), for which he received both the National Book Award^[4] and the National Book Critics Circle Award. It was followed by The Crossing (1994) and Cities of the Plain (1998), completing The Border Trilogy. His 2005 novel No Country for Old Men received mixed reviews. His 2006 novel The Road won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction.

Many of McCarthy’s works have been adapted into film. The 2007 film adaptation of No Country for Old Men was a critical and commercial success, winning four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The films All the Pretty Horses, The Road, and Child of God were also adapted from his works of the same names, and Outer Dark was turned into a 15-minute short. McCarthy had a play adapted into a 2011 film, The Sunset Limited.

McCarthy worked with the Santa Fe Institute, a multidisciplinary research center, where he published the essay “The Kekulé Problem” (2017), which explores the human unconscious and the origin of language. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2012.^[5] His final novels, The Passenger and Stella Maris, were published on October 25, 2022, and December 6, 2022, respectively.^[6]

Cormac McCarthy – Wikipedia Article

Book Review: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Back of cover blurb, as per GoodReads:

A searing, postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece.

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, “each the other’s world entire,” are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.

The Road – GoodReads Back of Cover Blurb

School Time

Who remembers high school? (I’m going to go ahead and assume everyone coming to a beer blog, even for literature reviews, is most likely out of high school and hopefully over the age of 21…. otherwise this is a little awkward.) Maybe even middle school, depending on your age and your school district. Either way, Of Mice and Men is a typically required book for most English classes in high school or middle school in America.

Most people don’t enjoy school, or didn’t enjoy school, and I will admit I am no exception to that. I was never a big fan of middle school, or high school, or even the little college I did have – I wasn’t sold on. As Mark Twain said: “Don’t let your schooling get in the way of your education.” This is pretty much one of the biggest things I can fully agree on, and one of the biggest reasons why I read roughly a hundred books a year. I did actually enjoy the assigned reading books we got in the school I went to. Some of these were ‘To Kill a Mockingbird‘, ‘Of Mice and Men’, ‘Flowers for Algernon’, ‘Catcher in the Rye’, and several others.

Of Mice and Men actually started my love for John Steinbeck in general, and I’ve read most of his works since. The Pearl, Cannery Row, Tortilla Flat, The Red Pony, Travels with Charley, The Moon is Down, The Long Valley, The Cup of Gold, The Short Reign of Pippin IV, etc.

I have not yet tackled his big (huge) tomes of books – Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden. They are on my shelf, waiting to be read, and I do want to tackle them, its more like trying to find the time to do so than feeling obligated or not wanting to read it. I think with Grapes of Wrath, there is also the sense that through cultural osmosis I already know the book to some degree, so that tends to push it down lower on my TRP (to read pile). But don’t worry, once I get around to them and reading them, I’ll be sure to be throwing up a review here on the blog.

What books did you guys have to read in school? Did you like them or not? I find it fascinating how there’s kind of a ‘core curriculum’ but still lots of other books that get taught and read in School X but not in School Y, etc.

John Steinbeck

Wikipedia’s opening paragraph and brief biography of John Steinbeck reads:

“John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (/ˈstaɪnbɛk/; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner “for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception.”^[2] He has been called “a giant of American letters.”^[3][4]

During his writing career, he authored 33 books, with one book coauthored alongside Edward Ricketts, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels Tortilla Flat (1935) and Cannery Row (1945), the multi-generation epic East of Eden (1952), and the novellas The Red Pony (1933) and Of Mice and Men (1937). The Pulitzer Prize–winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939)^[5] is considered Steinbeck’s masterpiece and part of the American literary canon.^[6] In the first 75 years after it was published, it sold 14 million copies.^[7]

Most of Steinbeck’s work is set in central California, particularly in the Salinas Valley and the California Coast Ranges region. His works frequently explored the themes of fate and injustice, especially as applied to downtrodden or everyman protagonists.”

John Steinbeck (Wikipedia)

Wikipedia has him listed for 33 pieces of work of at least novella size. Two of these are books of short stories. Thats an impressive list, all of them published between the years of 1929 and 2012. (The one is a film and was released shortly after his passing. There is four books that are credited as being published posthumously.

Of Mice and Men

The Wikipedia description for Of Mice and Men on John Steinbeck’s above page reads:

“Of Mice and Men is a tragedy that was written as a play in 1937. The story is about two traveling ranch workers, George and Lennie, trying to earn enough money to buy their own farm/ranch. As it is set in 1930s America, it provides an insight into The Great Depression, encompassing themes of racism, loneliness, prejudice against the mentally ill, and the struggle for personal independence. Along with The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, and The Pearl, Of Mice and Men is one of Steinbeck’s best known works. It was made into a movie three times, in 1939 starring Burgess Meredith, Lon Chaney Jr., and Betty Field, in 1982 starring Randy Quaid, Robert Blake and Ted Neeley, and in 1992 starring Gary Sinise and John Malkovich.”

Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck page) (Wikipedia)

The full Wikipedia page devoted to Of Mice and Men gives the following brief summary / description:

“Of Mice and Men is a novella written by John Steinbeck.^[1][2] Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression in the United States.

Steinbeck based the novella on his own experiences working alongside migrant farm workers as a teenager in the 1910s (before the arrival of the Okies that he would describe in The Grapes of Wrath). The title is taken from Robert Burns‘ poem “To a Mouse“, which reads: “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley”. (The best laid schemes of mice and men / Often go awry.)

While it is a book taught in many schools,^[3] Of Mice and Men has been a frequent target of censors for vulgarity, and what some consider offensive and racist language; consequently, it appears on the American Library Association‘s list of the Most Challenged Books of the 21st Century.^[4]“

Of Mice and Men (Wikipedia)

GoodReads blurb on ‘Of Mice and Men’:

“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s
why.”

They are an unlikely pair: George is “small and quick and dark of face”; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a “family,” clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation. Laborers in California’s dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. But George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own.

While the powerlessness of the laboring class is a recurring theme in Steinbeck’s work of the late 1930s, he narrowed his focus when composing ‘Of Mice and Men’ (1937), creating an intimate portrait of two men facing a world marked by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. But though the scope is narrow, the theme is universal: a friendship and a shared dream that makes an individual’s existence meaningful.

A unique perspective on life’s hardships, this story has achieved the status of timeless classic due to its remarkable success as a novel, a Broadway play, and three acclaimed films.

Of Mice and Men (GoodReads)

Book Review

I think most people reading this blog post will already at the very least know the broad strokes of the book. Its part of that general “cultural osmosis” that I believe we all have. Where certain themes, books, films / movies, plays, music, etc is just ingrained in us through culture. For example, knowing Vader is Luke’s father (SPOILER!!!!!!), or Homer’s Odyssey, or the Iliad, or Hamlet, Macbeth, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Godfather, etc. These are just themes and ideas and story beats that we all just ‘know’. Even if you’ve never read, or seen, or viewed the source material itself.

This is a novella and very short, with few set pieces and locations. I can see how it originated as a play (the entire time I was re-reading this, I thought this would make an excellent play, and while researching it a bit for this post I came to realize it was originally planned as a play). Its 103 pages (in this edition) and each chapter starts off with a page of flowery prose, and then goes into sparse and tight prose, with much more emphasis on dialogue.

The main characters are George (Milton) and Lennie (Small). The two ‘team together’ working farm after farm as ranch hands. George is the ‘brains’ and Lennie is the ‘muscle’. George is smart in the worldly sense; whereas Lennie is a big, most likely mentally retarded in some fashion, muscular “oaf”. He routinely gets them in trouble due to his inability to control his actions and his strength.

The main thrust of the plot starts when they get to the ranch and they begin working there. The owner’s son Curley is a hot head with a Napoleon complex. His wife is collectively called a “tart”, “a tramp”, and other such 1930s era words for a seemingly promiscuous and ‘looking’ married woman.

The entire story has a sense of impending doom. A foreboding gloom that we just know the dreams and hopes of George, Lennie, and then eventually Candy, will never come to fruition. The sense of impending doom, the foreboding nature, and the sense that it will all fall apart looms over the pages prose. Especially every time Curley or (even more so) Curley’s wife walks onto the page. The interaction with Carlson and Candy about his dog is foreshadowing at its absolute best.

I won’t get into the tragic ending, for spoiler reasons, and since most people know it anyway. But needless to say – the ending is tragic, foreseeable, and sadly enough – probably not preventable. Especially given all the combustible elements (namely people) at that point in the story. What happens between Lennie and Curley’s wife, and then how George has to take care of it. And doing so in the way that Candy was not willing to do with his dog – although he laments it and says afterwards that he should have done it himself – is all chilling, sad, and very tragic.

Themes

The best laid plans of mice and men as William Shakespeare would say. The bindle boys, the moving ranchers that go from ranch to ranch, and work for their stakes always just end up blowing it in cat houses, in gamble dens, or in bars. Never actually holding onto it and getting their land, but yet they all dream of it. Their all dreaming of that land. Especially George and Lennie, and then Candy getting involved in their plans.

The biggest theme is ‘taking care of your own business’. The way Candy realizes after Carlson puts down his dog that he should have done it. And the way George knows at the end that he has to be the one who puts Lennie down for his tragedy and for his own good. The idea of doing whats right, and not letting others have to do the hard tasks, as Ned Stark says in the first book of the Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones) – the one who passes the judgement should be the one who has to use the sword. Confronting the harsh, hard, and unforgiving parts of the nature of things.

For such a short novella, and with it mostly dialogue, it does pack in the setting well, the bleak sense of desperation and loneliness that the ranchers have, their lives of just going from farm and ranch to farm and ranch and working the land for others. Modern day serfs. Working the land for others, blowing their money, living in run down cabin bunk houses, worried about being canned, worried about others stealing their stuff, etc.

Overall Thoughts

I’m going to come off as heavily biased here and just outright say it – this is one of my all time favorite books. So this will most likely come off as biased or maybe ‘tipping the scales’. But…..

My GoodReads Rating: *****
My LibraryThing Rating: ****.5
Average GoodReads Rating: 3.88 (as of 6.23.22)

Here’s a funny line from a GoodReads review:

The title of this novel is only 50% accurate, a very poor effort. Yes, it’s about men, but there’s little or nothing about mice in these pages. Mice enthusiasts will come away disappointed.

Paul Bryant Review

Links

For more Of Mice and Men links, check out these:

• John Steinbeck (Wikipedia)
• Of Mice and Men (Wikipedia)
• Of Mice and Men (GoodReads)

Interested in more book reviews by us here at The Beer Thrillers?

Then check out these book reviews (and note – this is only a sampling):

• Book Review: Machiavelli – The Art of Teaching People What to Fear (Patrick Boucheron)
• Book Review: For The Love of Beer (Dr. Alison E. Feeney)
• Book Event: For the Love of Beer Event
• Book Review: The Wit and Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister (George R.R. Martin)
• Book Review: The Atlas of Tolkien (David Day)
• Book Review: 9-11 (Noam Chomsky)
• Book Review: Curb Your Enthusiasm and Philosophy
• Book Review: Buddhism 101 (Arnie Kozak)
• Book Review: Plotted (Andrew DeGraff)
• Book Review: The Philosophy of Snoopy (Charles M. Schulz)
• Book Review: Star Wars: The Guardians of the Whils (Greg Rucka)
• Book Review: On Bullshit (Harry G. Frankfurt)
• Book Reviews: Star Wars: The Jedi Path and The Book of the Sith (Daniel Wallace)

Some new recent beer news and blog posts we have done:

• Macklin Brewing Company in Development
• Arboretum Trail Brewing Company Opens Their Doors
• Torture Brewing Company Kickstarter Campaign

Thanks For Reading

Thanks for reading everyone. I got lots of articles and posts in the upcoming weeks. We are also going to be starting another tournament series for July. This time a battle of the beers rather than a battle of the breweries. So be on the look out for more details about that. I have a pile of books I’ve recently finished reading, and the reviews will be coming in shortly. So if you enjoy our book reviews, stick around for that! If you are here for the beer posts, don’t worry, we have plenty in that department as well!

So stay tuned!

Stay cool in these hot end of June and early July days. Keep a cold beer in your hand to help out!

Cheers All!

-B. Kline

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Tyrion Lannister is many things in A Song of Ice and Fire (or the show version – Game of Thrones [played by Peter Dinklage]). For better or for worse he is known as a dwarf, a drunkard, a “whore chaser”, cocky, scoundrel, a Lannister, a reader, a smart ass, but for all these things he is typically best known for his one liners and wit. A pseudo – placement character for the author himself (George R.R. Martin), in a kind of twisted version of a Gary Stu; Tyrion Lannister despite his deficiencies and horrors that happen to him, often comes off looking the best.

This is not to say he’s a “good guy”, but this is also the world – Westeros – where nobody is truly a “good guy”. (The Starks are the closest we get to all around good guys…. and look what happens to all of them.) But, despite being morally grey, he usually comes off looking better than most other characters with his actions, and especially with his wit and wisdom and his acerbic tongue.

One of his biggest quotes that you’ll most likely see on at least one t-shirt at every brewfest is:

I drink and I know things.

Tyrion Lannister

Its usually one of those tongue in cheek quotes you hear (or read) over and over from people who think they are probably far smarter than they are, and also love to drink. Its similar to all of the unironic Joker quotes you see your ‘bro’ friends post on Facebook. Or you’ll probably encounter this quote in some jumbled up fashion as a team name on trivia night at your local brewpub.

The Appeal of the Character of Tyrion Lannister

So that makes me wonder, why exactly is Tyrion Lannister such a favorite? Is it his character? Or is it his wit and one liners? Or is it who and what he is or how he’s written? Is it his dirty potty mouth (the horrors!)? Or is there something more?

I first started this section as ‘The Character of Tyrion Lannister’ and after writing the previous paragraph changed it to ‘The Appeal of the Character of Tyrion Lannister’ because I think that matters most – especially considering this precise little volume. Since there is no ‘The Wit and Wisdom of Ned Stark’ or ‘The Wit and Wisdom of Reek’ or ‘The Wit and Wisdom of Littlefinger’. There could just as easily be one for Varys with all of his great quotes and sage like advice and pseudo – revolutionary and pseudo – deep thought or pseudo – pop – philosophy comments. But there isn’t (yet?). And I think this comes down to the appeal of Tyrion.

It is interesting just how much people have glomed onto the character of Tyrion. I believe a fair portion of that appeal is his ‘underdog status’. Hated by his own father for being a dwarf, and being blamed for the death of his mother at his birth, he is immediately someone we can have sympathy for. Couple this with his empathy for the other ‘lowlier’ characters like fan favorite bastard Jon Snow, and you can get a better more full spectrum of the character. He endures hardships, even by characters that we classically in other fictions would like, and we further empathize with him ourselves. And of course, add to this his whoring, his drinking, and his acerbic quick wit, and its very easy to see why he’s a fan favorite.

Book Review

GoodRead’s Blurb:

The perfect gift for fans of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels and HBO’s Game of Thrones: a collection of wicked one-liners from the incomparable Imp of Casterly Rock, fully illustrated by Jonty Clark!
 
“My mind is my weapon. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer, and I have my mind . . . and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone if it is to keep its edge.”
 
The jealous masses of the Seven Kingdoms may call him Halfman, but none have ever accused Tyrion Lannister of being a halfwit. His golden tongue has saved his skin slightly more often than it has landed him in mortal peril. Now, this special illustrated volume preserves his most essential knowledge for future generations, featuring time-tested guidance on such varied subjects as . . .
 
The art of persuasion
“The best lies are seasoned with a bit of truth.”
 
Fine dining
“A little honest loathing can be refreshing, like a tart wine after too much sweet.”
 
The fair sex
“The young ones smell much better, but the old ones know more tricks.”
 
Royal politics
“Crowns do queer things to the heads beneath them.”
 
Common ailments
“A sword through the bowels. A sure cure for constipation.”
 
At once charming, insightful, and ruthlessly irreverent, The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister is short on pretense and overflowing with finely crafted gems—just like the man himself.

GoodReads: The Wit and Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister

So…. this is certainly something I would never ever have paid full price for. Back cover price lists it as 16$ American. It is 177 pages with several middling illustrated images – in a cartoony and uninteresting way – of Tyrion Lannister. There is several chapter break pages and a few other blank pages. The quotes themselves are just one page for each quote. So all in all, this should take less then forty minutes at most to read, and that’s counting in the time to pour yourself a beer, and to take sips, and to answer a text or two.

I was able to get this far cheaper (I forget if I got it from the Hershey Public Library book sale, or the Hummelstown Library sale, or from AbeBooks – but I know I didn’t spend more than 2$ on it), otherwise I would never have gotten it.

Firstly, if you like Tyrion Lannister, which is something I would suppose anyone who is reading this book would be; then you should already be well acquainted with at least the majority of the quotes in the book. There shouldn’t really be much in the way of ‘surprising’ content for you, more like memory jogs of things you had read previously, or quotes you remember from the show – depending on your level of involvement with the Westeros universe.

It honestly screams ‘cash grab’ and its small size and smaller reading structure reads as a “neat little gift book” to give someone for Christmas or their birthday. But at its price, it’ll most likely come from someone who knows “oh hey, my buddy loves Game of Thrones, he talks about it all the time, this looks like a fun book for him” type of gift, rather than someone who also knows the material well and is gifting it to their also knowledgeable friend. Its in the vein of the knick-knack gifts you get from friends and family who know that you love Star Wars and get you some esoteric thing just because it has the Star Wars logo on it.

And for that, obvious cash grabs are always kind of an annoyance to me. Especially in the literary world. It just always “makes me sus” right out the gate on something, and this is no different. Its also interesting to point out that this was published in 2013, and at this point George R.R. Martin had (and still has) only released five of the books. And as for Game of Thrones the show, the finale didn’t end up airing until May 2019. Seems odd to release this book in 2013 before the written series isn’t done, and the television series isn’t done… unless you wanted to capitalize on the new found fame of it all for the sake of money, and to have a hold over until George R.R. Martin is able to finish the series – spoiler alert – he still hasn’t finished even the next book of the series by March 2022.

Are the quotes good and entertaining? Sure… but is it worth an entire book for them? No. And is it worth 16$? Certainly not! Especially given that you get roughly 116 quotes (if my counting was correct from a quick leaf through of the work). With each quote being a single sentence or two at most, you are spending 16$ for at most 232 sentences of text. Seems an absurd cost.

My GoodReads Rating: **
My LibraryThing Rating: *.5
Global Average GoodReads Rating: 3.56 (as of 3.12.22).

More Information

For more information on Tyrion Lannister I suggest checking out the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ Wikipedia:

• Tyrion Lannister (A Song of Ice and Fire Wikipedia)

Thanks For Reading

Hope everyone is enjoying the lovely off and on good and bad weather we’re having here in Central PA (lovely SMARCH weather – Homer Simpsons). At least it gives me a chance to catch up on my “to read” pile, and to hit the library and get more books that I’ll start and hopefully finish before their due back. I am trying to keep up with reading and doing book reviews as soon as I get done. Hope you are all enjoying the book reviews on top of the beer reviews, and hike reviews, and other beer related articles here on the blog.

Also, be sure to check out the March Madness tournament that’s going on. You can find that here: March Madness (2022) – Bigger, Badder, Bolder.

Well, thanks for reading all! And remember to drink and to know things! Cheers!

-B. Kline

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Disney Canon

Before jumping into the review of this, let’s delve a bit into the Disney Star Wars canon versus the old (now labeled Legends) Expanded Universe canon. This came out around the time of Rogue One (or soon after) and was made to work with the other similar Young Adult (and Adult and even Children’s) literature to work as a larger ‘tie-in’ with the movie. Disney’s Canon (outside of the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy) is pretty vastly different than the old school Legends canon.

This is primarily due to the sequel trilogy and its involvement and change of everything fundamentally post – Endor. They have brought back some aspects of the old canon and integrated it into the new canon, but obviously tweaked, and altered from its origin. The sects and followers of the Force and Jedi is one such example. In the new canon this is represented over some different various sects, religious or not, and followers.

Fast forward to Rogue One and the kyber crystals being more used in the canon, and here we have the introduction of Baze and Chirut who are former Guardians of the Whills who looked after a kyber temple in Jedha. This is one of the few aspects of the new canon that I actually appreciate over the old, or at least as in addition to the old canon. I think there is a lot of story elements and ideas that they can go with and use this for.

Guardians of the Whills

“The Force is with me,
And I am one with the Force;
And I fear nothing,
Because all is as the Force wills it.“

―The Guardian’s Mantra

Guardians of the Whills – Wookiepedia

The above mantra is the one that Chirut repeats to himself several times throughout the movie – Rogue One, as well as he does in various other books / comics / etc that he appears in (like in the novel Guardians of the Whills).

The Guardians of the Whills, also known as the Guardians of the Kyber Temple, were a religious order that existed at least a few years before the Invasion of Naboo. The Guardians later acted as a resistance group^[1] of monks active in the Jedha City on Jedha during the Imperial Era. They traditionally handcrafted the lightbow, a complicated form of bowcaster native to Jedha, such as the one used by Chirrut Îmwe during the Battle of Scarif.^[3] The Guardians protected both the Temple of the Kyber and pilgrims who visited it.

Guardians of the Whills – Wookiepedia

For more information be sure to check out the Wookiepedia page above. Just be careful, the Wookiepedia is a massive rabbit hole (or insert Star Wars themed animal here, gundark hole? sarlaac hole? etc.) that can literally take you hours to crawl back out of. I’ve found myself doing that. Clicking one article to go to another to go to another, after another, after another. Good luck, and May the Force Be With You to see your way back out.

Book Review

Now that we got all of that out of the way, let’s dive into the book and give it an actual review.

GoodReads blurb:

Baze and Chirrut used to be Guardians of the Whills, who looked after the Kyber Temple on Jedha and all those who worshipped there. Then the Empire came and took over the planet. The temple was destroyed and the people scattered. Now Baze and Chirrut do what they can to resist the Empire and protect the people of Jedha, but it never seems to be enough. When a man named Saw Gerrera arrives with grand plans to take down the Empire, it seems like the perfect way for Baze and Chirrut to make a real difference and help the people of Jedha. But will it come at too great a cost?

Guardians of the Whills (Disney Canon – Star Wars Junior Novel) (GoodReads)

This is a ‘young adult’ novel, or a ‘junior’ novel, its relatively short, it has pictures, and pages that are just quotes at each chapters. Its a smaller square hardcover novel. The little poems or philosophies or quotes we get at each chapter add to the universe and the scant knowledge we have of the various Force followers / sects / etc. Its 234 pages and with the larger font, the smaller hardcover size, and the chapter breaks, etc, its a quick read.

One of the complaints about the movie Rogue One was that the characters come off as flat or more plot device based, or woodish and cardboard; this novel goes a long way to providing some insight, some background, and some added backstory to Baze and Chirrut. Arguably two of the more interesting characters to come out of the movie. (I mean, who doesn’t like a Force monk and his gruff buddy who’s given up his religion?)

In many ways this is a study of an odd – couple that have a lifelong friendship despite (or because of) their differences. Chirrut, ever the space Monk, the tidy one, the philosophical, religious, theologian, the clean, the perfunctory, and blind man of faith is juxtaposed by Baze who is gruff, uncouth, rough, harsh exterior yet with a heart of gold, a man of the streets rather than a man of learning or belief. One who has kept his faith despite all that has happened to him, and a man who has lost his faith due to all that has befallen him and his friend.

Baze and Chirrut act as a form of Robin Hood style do gooders, vigilantes on more of a mission of righting wrongs rather than killing for purpose, but as the Empire starts leaning heavier and heavier on the city, squeezing it for all of their kyber crystals; they find themselves working with Saw Guerrera and forming an alliance they rather not really be making with him.

This is a good strong character heavy and introspective novel on two different and interesting characters; especially for a junior / young adult novel. There is some actual sequences (the various little skirmishes in the streets, some other attacks, etc.), but for the most part, this is a drama that plays out in the heads and actions of our two Rogue One characters (Baze and Chirrut). And its done quite well.

Greg Rucka does a good job of getting into these characters, what makes them tick, their differences, their commonalities, their motivations, and leaves them in a good place for the start of Rogue One. This works as a wonderful set up to the movie for these characters.

My GoodReads Rating: ****
Global Average GoodReads Rating: 3.83 (as of 11.2.21)
My LibraryThing Rating: ****

The Beer Thrillers and Star Wars

For more Star Wars content here on The Beer Thrillers, check out the following:

• Book Reviews: The Jedi Path and The Sith Path (Daniel Wallace)
• Beer Review: Mangolorian (Brewery Fire)
• Beer Review: This is the Whey (Bolero Snort)
• Beer Review: Java the Stout (Jackie O’s Brewery)
• Beer Review: The Pandalorian (Tattered Flag)
• Beer Review: Wookie Monster (Fourscore Beer Co)
• Beer Review: Out of Order: Blue Milk (RAR Brewing)
• Revenge of the Fifth / Cinco de Mayo / Beer Review: Issla En El Cielo (Celestial Beer Works)
• May the Fourth Be With You
• Beer Review: This is Nut The Fluff You’re Looking For (Fourscore Beer Co)
• Beer Review: This is the Way (Broken Goblet)
• Beer Review: The Hog (Boneshire Brew Works) (Star Wars Content)
• Beer Review: Moon of Vega (Equilibrium Brewing) (Space Balls)

So far, so good, with the November day to day posts. Two days done so far, and two completed. Yesterday we kicked it off with a Beer Review of Life Sentence by Tattered Flag. Who knows whats in store for tomorrow – the 3rd – and beyond. Be sure to check back and check in often as we kick off this month of daily posts!

(Today’s was a bit of an interesting one, I had about 90% of the article written before I had to leave for work at 9:15AM, worked 10-7PM, stopped at the local high school to vote, and then came home and finished the article. I’m sure there will be plenty more articles and days like this ahead in this November.)

Cheers!

-B. Kline

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!