Archive
Book Review: Haunted by Glen Cadigan
Summary:
Mark is an Iraq War vet with PTSD, so he counts himself lucky when a Gulf War vet gives him the chance to be a security guard at an office tower. Unfortunately, he’s the night watchman, and he doesn’t seem to be alone in the tower.
Review:
This is a unique, sympathetic story idea that is not as well-executed as it deserves.
Mark is ultimately a well-rounded character, but it takes too long to get to know him in this novella. Since it is in first-person narrative, he has the option of holding off on telling us about his PTSD symptoms and how they affect him. While a soldier would certainly most likely be more stoic in a traditionally masculine way, it gets in the way of the reader understanding where Mark is coming from and empathizing with him. He *tells* us that his PTSD makes his life difficult, but we don’t really ever see it.
Because this is a first person novella, this problem with the characterization gets in the way of the strengths of the scifi/fantasy plot, which is honestly fairly unique. I was glad I got to the end and saw the surprise reveal, but I certainly wasn’t expecting such a good twist from the rest of the book.
Essentially, the scifi/fantasy element of the book is strong, but the characterization at the center of the first person narrative is weak. Although Mark is a soldier, Cadigan shouldn’t be afraid to let us see the vulnerability of his PTSD. Recommended to fans of a unique ghost story looking for a quick read.
3 out of 5 stars
Source: Kindle copy from author in exchange for my honest review
What Librarians Talk About (MLA12 Seattle: Plenary 3: Janet Doe Lecture by Mark E. Funk, AHIP, FMLA)
The first plenary is given by the MLA president, the second by someone who is not necessarily a librarian but has something interesting to say that will aid us in our profession. The third plenary, however, is given by a librarian. Mark E. Funk’s presentation was entitled, “Our Words, Our Story: A Textual Analysis of Articles Published in the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association/Journal of the Medical Library Association from 1961 to 2010.” Here are my notes.
- An analysis of the words revealed four key areas that librarians talk about: environment, management, technology, and research.
- Although we talk more about building than people, that gap is narrowing.
- We are basically almost not talking about books, but we are increasingly talking about journals.
- Reference is steady. Searching is increasing.
- Information is the #2 word.
- As our information world becomes more complicated, we are talking more and more about teaching. “I predict teaching will become ever more important.”
- We are now concerned about what we can do to improve health.
- New groups we’ve reached out to include: clinicians, consumers, and patients.
- We use management words to tell our story.
- We are no longer running our libraries like academic environments; we are running them like businesses.
- We are early adopters and write about it.
- Sometimes new technology becomes so embedded in our lives that we don’t mention it anymore. For example, you say you talked to someone but don’t mention the telephone.
- Our attention has shifted from automating to digitizing.
- We don’t talk about the internet. We talk about the web and navigation.
- The word with the sharpest rise and fall is: Gopher
- IMRaDification of our profession. (IMRaD–Intro, Methodology, Results, Discussion)
- MLA strategic plan encouraged us to do more research, and we responded.
- Hockey Stick terms–little to no use, sharp recent uptake. May indicate future usage but it could be a drastic rise and fall. Only time will tell.
- EHRs are white hot now. (EHR–Electronic Hospital Record)
- Why do we study history? It’s very good at explaining change. Answers the question, how did we get here?
- De-emphasis on physical. Emphasis on information. Prefer evidence-based.
- Emphasis on health. Expanded audience. Outside the library. Teaching people.
- Libraries more business-like. Technophiles. More research articles using IMRaD.
- History can hint at the future, but it can’t predict it.
- Our story is being written every day. We can’t skip chapters to see what happens next.