Alfred

July 18, 2021

Berlin Alexanderplatz (Review)

ecently I rode a bike the length and back of the Van Fleet Trail in Florida, sixty total miles of arrow-straight trail through thick Florida swamps. In the end, I barely made it, coasting over the finish line to collapse in a crumpled heap on a bench. Berlin Alexanderplatz was kinda like that. The novel is told in the whimsical, wandering form of Ulysses, a tale of an ex-con (Franz Biberkopf), released back onto the streets of Berlin in 1928. He makes a go at being honest, really tries by selling newspapers, shoelaces, and joining the Merchant’s Union. However, like […]
April 8, 2023

The Stars, my Destination (Review)

he Stars, my Destination introduces the hero Gully Foyle as a low-life uneducated thug. Even his  Merchant Marine card notes: Education: None. Skills: None. Merits: None. Recommendations: None. And it looks even grimmer – Gully is the sole survivor of a destroyed ship, floating somewhere deep in our solar system. Lost. He gets by surviving in a closet for months, venturing out on depleting tanks to scrap together whatever food and necessities he requires. But then comes a ship, which slows and gives his wreckage a lookover. He fires off all his distress signals. And the ship, it accelerates away. […]