| Author |
Message |
    
yasmin
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 13, 2003 - 06:47 pm: | 
|
Excuse me if this question was asked before but if it was I might not have been on the board...so appease me anyway. ;)
Has anyone read emperor of ocean park? If so, your thoughts. I'm currently reading and I'm around page 100...so far it's a very slow moving mystery...lacks action, fast pacing...sort of boring...maybe more so because I'm being attacked by a cold/allergies/sinuses. I'm determined to read and finish this book this weekend because its been on my bookshelf for over a year. I do have another question...does the pace ever pick up? |
Yukio
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 13, 2003 - 08:23 pm: |
|
Yasmin,
I've read about 100 pages too, a year ago....lol! There are two reviews of the book on this site, so that is a start.... I also think there is a search engine on this site, so you could probably find comments on other threads concerning pace and other things like character development,etc....
Good luck! |
Cynique
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 14, 2003 - 12:47 am: |
|
There was quite an exchange on the board last year about the merits of "The Emperor Of Ocean Park." Most people felt the way you are feeling, Yasmine, but I stuck with this "BAB" and finished it. No, the pace does not ever really accelerate. But, I was content to let the narrative simply unfold. I appoached this book with a certain attitude. Because I'm such a contrary person, I wanted to find something to appreciate about it since so many others were panning it. What I did was I immersed myself into the setting of ivy league academia, and listened to what the author was saying intead of reading what he wrote. Gradually, I began to experience the book and, along the way, I got in sync with the descriptiveness of Carter's style. The final result? I liked the book. I didn't love it, but I liked it and was glad I accepted its challenge. |
yasmin
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 14, 2003 - 11:57 am: |
|
Hey Yukio and Cynique! Thanks so much for the feedback. Yukio I found the reviews that were posted by Linda and Thumper...both were very thorough. Right now, I feel like I'm more in Thumper's camp...primarily because Emperor is supposed to me (it was promoted as one) a mystery. But mysteries are fast-paced and sometimes action-packed and thus far I'm not feeling either for this book. Well-written yes. But many a well-written book are boring and very uncompelling...hehe.
Anyway, Cynique I'm going to forge ahead--primarily because I refuse to let anything get the best of me...esp. a book...hehe. And I'll just keep wishing the pace picks up as I read...even tho' I've been told by numerous others that it won't.
Oh and can I talk about these characters...Kimmer is such a bitch and drama queen...she reminds me of someone that I used to know but no longer deal with. And Tal is such a wimp...I guess if you're from the Talented 10th, upper echelon, when you think/know that your wife is having an affair you just turn the other cheek and hope it will go away. WTF? I don't know ANY brothas like that! Okay I'm only around page 200 so maybe in the next 400 pages of the book he will have an epiphany regarding Kimmer.
Good to see that right wing AAs have the same problems with white folks as the rest of us 'colored' folks do. |
Cynique
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 14, 2003 - 02:50 pm: |
|
Hi Yasmin (spelled it right this time)
To me, "The Emperor Of Ocean Park" is a book that has to be assessed on many levels. It is not only a mystery, but a showcase for the author's writing skills. It is also the character study of a tortured man who is weak on the exterior but strong on the interior, and Kimmer, of course, represents a portrayal of the consummate bitch goddess. The character I found rather elusive was Mariah(?) the sister. She didn't ring true to me. The best thing that can be said about this novel is that, as black books go, it is an interesting change of pace. |
Rita
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 07:58 am: |
|
Yasmin,
Thanks for asking this question. I have read about 100 pages of this book and must be finished by Saturday (book club meeting). |
akaivyleaf
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 10:22 am: |
|
I went to the library yesterday, and I thought to pick up the Audio BOok for this... 20 CD's worth. Now that is just a little to much. I would have to pull over on the side of the road to change the disks in my 10 CD changer to hear the rest of the story. And this was the abridged version.
Too much for me. What was Stephen Carter thinking. |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 10:45 am: |
|
Yasmin:
I read it when it first came out and also participated in the discussion here. I was absolutely in love with the book for the first 300 pages. The last 350 pages convinced me that the book was 2-300 pages too long.
The book is essentially a legal thriller mystery and as such, should have been more fast paced.
Cynique I have to differ with you on this one. I don't think that Carter exhibited more skills than the usual writer of poplit and I think all his characters were basically thin--usually the case in this genre. I think he touched on and had the beginnings of some character study and social study but quickly backed off this in interest of advancing his plot--which I also think was ludicrous. |
akaivyleaf
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 04:06 pm: |
|
Cynique, I think he has an extremely large vocabulary or a wonderful thesaurus that he utilized way too much. If you could get past the flowerly language which in my opinion was overkill, I think it would have been a nice story. My eyes glazed over while reading the book... |
Thumper
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 - 10:12 pm: |
|
Hello All,
I'm not going to go all off in depth about my views of Emperor, I've done that enough. But, Carter's main crime was that he wasn't faithful to his story. He went off on tangents that only served to: one, increase the size of the book; two, diluted the power of the plot. By the time Carter got to it, I didn't care. But, although his writing, in certain sections, were excellent, it was overkill and wasn't worth all the mess I had to endure just to get to it. Carter needed an editor that wasn't afraid of throwing an axe on the book. |
yasmin
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 - 11:08 pm: |
|
Hey Thumper...I finished Emperor of Ocean Park and I agree wholeheartedly! |
WMT
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 - 11:28 pm: |
|
Thumper, amen, amen, amen. Let the Choir say amen. The only thing that really really had me interested was finding out the big secret which I was dissapointed by, and his description of life in academics. I happen to know how back stabbing and cut throat academia can be like, so I was interested. Other than that a whole 300 pages (agree with Chris on that one) could have been cut out. |
Cynique
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 01:10 am: |
|
Just for the record, I did not think this book was flawless. But it was not the length that bothered me. It was my lack of affection for the characters. |
Sandra
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 11:41 am: |
|
I read it last summer on a long trip--that's the only way I could get through it. Tangent-man a.k.a. Steven Carter does go off the story line quit a bit which definately makes the book 300 pages too long. I guess you have to look at the tangents as part of his process and embrace them---or brace yourself when you can tell one is coming up.
All in all it was a decent book and a good change of pace as far as AA books go. I just wish that they would quit calling it a "thriller" for pete's sake. |
Thumper
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 05:48 pm: |
|
Hello All,
Sandra: I don't mind that they call Emperor a thriller. It is a thriller. I was thrilled when I read the last page and could be finally put out of my misery! |
Brian Egeston
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 04, 2003 - 02:17 am: |
|
The Emperor of Ocean Park was the rebirth of Native Son. But we are too blessed with the burden of too many books to recognize it as such.
Sorry so late.
|
Cynique
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 05, 2003 - 12:41 am: |
|
Brian,
By George, I think you're right! |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 05, 2003 - 10:22 am: |
|
Brian_-
How was the Emperor of Ocean park the rebirth of Native Son? |
Thumper
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 05, 2003 - 10:44 am: |
|
Hello All,
Brian: I'm with Chris. Don't be stingy, let us know how The Emperor of Ocean Park is the rebirth of Native Son? I don't see it. |
Cynique
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 12:30 am: |
|
Maybe it is a stretch to make comparisons between "The Emperor Of Ocean Park" and "Native Son", but I do kinda see Stephen Carter as a conservative Richard Wright. I, too, am anxious to have Brian elaborate on his premise, wondering if it will have something to do with how in the chess game of race, the black man alway loses. |
Snake Girl Poisonous
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 01:50 am: |
|
Pay attention.
CYNIQUE WROTE:
how in the chess game of race, the black man alway loses.
|
Cynique
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 12:27 pm: |
|
Re: Pay Attention: Did you read The "Emporer of Ocean Park?" This line was in reference to a subplot in the book. |
Email This Page