The Science of Stephen King: From Carrie to Cell, the Terrifying Truth Behind the Horror Master's Fiction

by Lois H. Gresh and Robert Weinberg

(Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2007)
Trade Paperback, 264 Pages, Nonfiction

ISBN: 9780471782476, US$15.95

ABCD Rating: DITCH

From the Cover: Human characters, not science, are the heart of King’s fiction, but Gresh and Weinberg (The Science of James Bond) use these tales as a jumping-off point in their latest pop-sci tie-in. In Carrie, Firestarter and The Dead Zone, mayhem arises from the use of psychic abilities, so the authors explore not only the history of such powers in fiction, but also human consciousness and modern neuroscience. The killer vehicles of King’s story “Trucks” are compared to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, rounded out with a short discussion of artificial intelligence. Dreamcatcher and The Tommyknockers lead to a look at the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere, from flying-saucer paranoia to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Discussion of The Stand includes a look at fictional and real plagues, while the parallel worlds and alternate histories at the heart of The Dark Tower bring up theoretical physics from relativity to wormholes.

My Review: Even after reading Gresh and Weinberg’s Why Did it Have to be Snakes?: From Science to the Supernatural, the Many Mysteries of Indiana Jones, and being generally disappointed by what was on the page there, I had high hopes for this book (after all, I do like to consider myself a budding Stephen King scholar and have written a handful of papers on King and his books). They were not met.

I won’t waste too much of your time with this book, but suffice it to know that it had many of the problems that the Indiana Jones book did (Wikipedia as a source, unfocused information dump, random information, etc.) but even more than that … if you cannot even get the basic details of the plots of King’s novels correct, how in the name of Holy Hell do you expect me to believe that you have gotten the basic details of string theory, or bird flu pandemics, or artificial intelligence correct?

And we’re not talking about the details of an obscure short story or novel like “My Pretty Pony” or Gerald’s Game … I’m talking about the big ones: IT, Dreamcatcher, The Talisman and The Stand, to name just a few of the novels discussed wherein pretty key details of the books are presented by Gresh and Weinberg … AND ARE COMPLETELY WRONG! I have to wonder if they have actually read the books in preparation for writing The Science of Stephen King, or if they just Wiki-ed the books. It is especially bad when the error they make invalidates the entire point they are making. For example, in Gresh and Weinberg’s discussion of obsession and evil, they bring up IT and say “They [The Losers’ Club] wound the monster but must return years later as adults to kill It. During the interim years, from the time they are children fighting bullies to adulthood, they remain afraid of and obsessed with It” (229). What’s wrong with those sentences, you ask? Just the simple fact that the kids from the Losers’ Club do not remain “afraid of and obsessed with It” in the “interim years” between defeating Pennywise in 1958 and coming back in 1985, and since they don’t (with the exception of Mike Hanlon, the Losers’ completely forget Pennywise and the climactic events of their childhood in relation to Pennywise) these eight words completely undermine and undo the point Gresh and Weinberg about obsession and fear and evil. It is sloppy research and writing.

When I first started this book I thought, You know, I think I’m going to put this on my wish list and buy in the future, it’d be a nice book to have on the shelf as a reference. Now, after having slogged through all 264 pages … not so much. This is not to say that some of the information is not interesting, in fact if (and that is a big IF) Gresh and Weinberg have it right, I now get Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and have a general working knowledge of what Unified Field Theory and String Theory are. However, if Gresh and Weinberg can’t be trusted to get the small stuff right (Jonesy does not shoot the infected hunter in the beginning of Dreamcatcher) how can I trust them with the big stuff like Unified Field Theory or String Theory?

It’s best to not, and just skip this book altogether; and probably the rest of the books Gresh and Weinberg have penned together.

Teaser Tuesdays: Money Well-Spent ... ?

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

About two days before I finished Lois H Gresh and Robert Weinberg’s Why Did It Have to be Snakes?: From Science to the Supernatural, the Many Mysteries of Indiana Jones, Gresh and Weinberg’s The Science of Stephen King: From Carrie to Cell, the Terrifying Truth Behind the Horror Master’s Fiction arrived on hold for me at the library, and when I was done with Snakes, instead of moving on to the next book in my TBR pile (Robert Durban’s The Pines) I just had to pick up The Science of Stephen King. So, without any further ado … here is today’s teaser:

The Science of Stephen King: From Carrie to Cell, the Terrifying Truth Behind the Horror Master’s Fiction

by Lois H. Gresh and Robert Weinberg

(Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2007)

Trade Paperback, 264 Pages, Nonfiction

ISBN: 9780471782476, US$15.95

MY TEASER: “In 1986, the U.S. government spent $42 million on developing defenses against infectious diseases and toxins, ten times more money than was spent in 1981. The money went to twenty-four U.S. universities, in hopes of developing strains of anthrax, Rift Valley fever, Japanese encephalitis, tularemia, shigella, botulin, and Q fever” (125).

Why Did It Have to be Snakes?: From Science to the Supernatural, the Many Mysteries of Indiana Jones

by Lois H. Gresh and Robert Weinberg

(Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2008)
Trade Paperback, 264 Pages, Nonfiction

ISBN: 9780470225561, US$15.95

ABCD Rating: CHECK OUT

From the Cover: The Ultimate Indiana Jones Companion—The true history, supernatural wonders, and mysteries of Indiana Jones! Could you really bullwhip to swing across a chasm? Or rip out a man’s heart without killing him? Was there a Shanghai mob in the 1930s—and did the Nazis have a real-life connection to the occult? At last, here is the book that finally answers the Indiana Jones-related questions that have troubled you for years. It tells you everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the history, culture, and science behind your favorite Indy scenes and settings. You’ll find out the truth about the Thuggees and their deadly practices, ancient death traps, the Well of Souls, Kali worship in India, the infamous bizarre banquet that included chilled monkey brains, the Sankara Stones, the Cross of Coronado, the Holy Grail, and more. Get ready for adventure—and more than a few snakes—as you explore the secrets and stories of Indiana Jones and his world. The journey will take you around the globe and through history as you move from ancient Egypt to India, China and the United States, and from Biblical times to the Spanish Conquest to World War II. You’ll also learn about Indiana himself, including the origins of his trademark fedora, leather jacket, and bullwhip. So why did it have to be snakes? Read the book and find out.

My Review: As we were exploring our new libraries recently (we have access to both the local city public libraries and the county libraries … score!) this book was on the shelf and kind of jumped out at me as I went by. Of course, I had to throw it into the library bag and put it in my TBR pile. After all, I have read a similar book in the past, and enjoyed it, and having recently read one of Indy’s novelized adventures, I thought Why not?

Unfortunately, this is not a book that lived up to the expectations that I had for it. In fact, the only thing that made me rate it as CHECK OUT instead of DITCH was that there were a few gems of information in and amongst the general dross and tangential information that Gresh and Weinberg toss out there.

I have two main beefs with the book and its authors:

First, all too often Gresh and Weinberg describe a scenario from one of the movies (or the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television series (remember that one?)) and then proceed to give all sorts of information about the person or event or thing but not address the central conceit of the book: Could or could not have Indiana Jones interacted with this person or participated in this event? An involved history of the Utah Territory or the Boy Scouts of America or Pablo Picasso is great, but I could get that in a history book or a biography. What I want to know is how does this fit into the Indiana Jones canon, which Gresh and Weinberg fail to do in all too many of the entries in the book.

Second, WIKIPEDIA IS NOT A VALID SOURCE TO CITE! It is a great website and one that can give you quick information, or simple tidbits of knowledge that are, on the whole, correct, such as who played Satipo in Raiders of the Lost Ark (Alfred Molina … who knew?) or who was Heinrich Himmler’s personal occultist (Karl Maria Gutberlet) but to use it again and again and then CITE the various web pages again and again in a book that is presented in a somewhat professional way is just lazy research, especially when many of the topics which Gresh and Weinberg are researching have numerous more valid sources to consult. I mean, honestly, is it that hard to find a book on the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail or Sigmund Freud? It’s not as if the authors are trading in esoteric subject matter here. These are established myths and legends and archeological subjects and people of great notoriety that Indy encounters. When I discovered, quite by accident—I was wondering what one of the sources for a claim Gresh and Weinberg made—that Wikipedia was being cited in their bibliography, 90% of their credibility flew out the window. Especially since they should know better, after all, if the authors’ claim is to be believed, they are college professors!

As I have said, on the whole most of this book can be ignored or skipped, but there are a few topics that the authors address that are quite fascinating and go beyond middle school history class-style knowledge (such as the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand is what sparked WWI) … for example, the section on Nazis and the Occult is absolutely fascinating, and even though there are absolutely no sources whatsoever for any of the claims Gresh and Weinberg make, it was eye-opening to me the extent with which the Nazi High Command was obsessed with the occult. For example, if Gresh and Weinberg are to be believed, the Nazis did, in fact, send an expedition in search of such religious artifacts as the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail, and Nazi SS troops were sent to Tibet and South America in search of mystical knowledge and learning; the SS even had an occult branch of their service, very similar, in fact, to what is presented in the Indiana Jones films (as well as the first Hellboy film, come right down to it).

So, it is with mixed feelings that I give this book a half-hearted endorsement. It is not a book that I would want in my library (or to have paid money for) but it is definitely worth checking out of your local library … just make sure you return it on time. I’m not even sure it is worth paying late fees for.

Teaser Tuesdays: That's Quite the Circumstance!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I found this book on one of the shelves as I was browsing my new local library. (How fun is that? Getting acquainted with a new library?) And even though I had a different book at the top of my TBR pile, I decided to bump this one to the top because (1) it looked like a lot of fun, and (2) it looked like it would be a fairly quick read. So, what teasers does it have to offer? How about the following:

Why Did It Have to be Snakes?: From Science to the Supernatural, the Many Mysteries of Indiana Jones

by Lois H. Gresh and Robert Weinberg

(Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2008)
Trade Paperback, 264 Pages, Nonfiction

ISBN: 9780470225561, US$15.95

My Teaser: “The party of Adolf Hitler, the leader of 1930s Germany, stood for bigotry, intolerance, and racial hatred, all beliefs that were anathema to patriotic Americas, yet strangely enough, Indy was once associated with the hated symbol of the Nazi party, the swastika. Not by choice but by circumstance” (126).

Friday Finds: September 4, 2009

Friday Finds (hosted by Should Be Reading)

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week?

Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!

It’s always nice to move and get to explore a new library, and that’s what we did this last week. We moved to Bellingham, Washington, on Monday (I’m attending the grad school at Western Washington University to get my Masters’ in English) and on Tuesday the first thing we did was head to our local library and get a card. The first two of my finds are books I discovered on the shelves. The Pines is a book that I have had on my radar for a couple of months now (thanks to Mark Justice over at Pod of Horror) and since it was unpacked (i.e. not in a box) after our move, when I finished my current read, I picked it up. Dragons of the Hourglass Mage is a book that I have been anticipating for a very long time, and was under the impression that it would never be published (as of the last I had heard) so imagine my surprise when I saw it on the shelf at my local bookseller today! Lastly, First Dog is a book I read with my kids today at the book store and fell in love with.

Why Did It Have to be Snakes?: From Science to the Supernatural, the Many Mysteries of Indiana Jones by Lois H. Gresh and Robert Weinberg

The Science of Stephen King: From Carrie to Cell, the Terrifying Truth Behind the Horror Master’s Fiction by Lois H. Gresh and Robert Weinberg

The Pines by Robert Dunbar

Dragons of the Hourglass Mage by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

First Dog by J. Patrick Lewis and Beth Zappitello, illustrated by Tim Bowers