Review by Vanessa Leong -- Tales of the 70's by D.Done
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Review by Vanessa Leong -- Tales of the 70's by D.Done
[Following is a volunteer review of "Tales of the 70's" by D.Done.]
Tales of the 70’s by David Done is a collection of vastly varying short stories, all originally written and set in the 1970s. This book has a total of seven short stories, each around 20 to 40 pages long. From charity fraud to cat burglary, you can expect to find the unexpected in this collection of fictional short stories. The book also includes a novella, which revolves around drugs and mental illness.
Lamentably, this book was a painful and disappointing read. Riddled with errors, this book clearly did not receive any rounds of editing. The misplaced apostrophe in the title itself offers a big hint on what is to come. Missing commas and spaces, typos, and unclosed quotation marks are just a few of the numerous types of errors that you can expect to encounter in this book. Within the first four pages alone (which includes the author’s introduction to the book and the content page), I could spot more than ten errors.
I wish I could say that the lack of editing is the only issue with this book, but I can’t. Most, if not all, of the plots are underdeveloped. They are dull and can often be quite confusing. The characters lack depth, personality, and development. I would give credit to the author for attempting to create suspenseful, dramatic, and poetic moments, but unfortunately, they often fall flat and come across as clichéd or simply confusing. On the rare occasion that I was drawn by a promising storyline, I was met with utter disappointment when it ended abruptly at the climax, with no conclusive ending.
The novella is equally as bad, if not worse. I read it (and reread it), but I could not, for the life of me, figure out what was going on. I can only guess that the confusion I experienced is part of the author’s attempt at illustrating the chaotic combination of drug use and mental illness; however, it was not written skillfully enough to clearly convey the idea.
Taking away the myriad of errors, lackluster plots, one-dimensional characters, and unsatisfying conclusions, there is simply nothing left in this book for me to like. In my opinion, the only short story that has a sliver of promise is “Blind San Franciscans”. While it is poorly executed, it does possess the basis of a mysterious and suspenseful story, with potentially good plot twists. However, it does little to make up for the critical flaws in this book.
Considering the severe lack of editing and weak storylines, I rate this book 1 out of 4 stars. At its current state, I can’t, in good conscience, recommend this book to anyone. A lot of work needs to be done for it to become a book worth reading. For those who nevertheless want to take a crack at this collection, take note that the book does contain sexual references and profanity.
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Tales of the 70's
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Tales of the 70’s by David Done is a collection of vastly varying short stories, all originally written and set in the 1970s. This book has a total of seven short stories, each around 20 to 40 pages long. From charity fraud to cat burglary, you can expect to find the unexpected in this collection of fictional short stories. The book also includes a novella, which revolves around drugs and mental illness.
Lamentably, this book was a painful and disappointing read. Riddled with errors, this book clearly did not receive any rounds of editing. The misplaced apostrophe in the title itself offers a big hint on what is to come. Missing commas and spaces, typos, and unclosed quotation marks are just a few of the numerous types of errors that you can expect to encounter in this book. Within the first four pages alone (which includes the author’s introduction to the book and the content page), I could spot more than ten errors.
I wish I could say that the lack of editing is the only issue with this book, but I can’t. Most, if not all, of the plots are underdeveloped. They are dull and can often be quite confusing. The characters lack depth, personality, and development. I would give credit to the author for attempting to create suspenseful, dramatic, and poetic moments, but unfortunately, they often fall flat and come across as clichéd or simply confusing. On the rare occasion that I was drawn by a promising storyline, I was met with utter disappointment when it ended abruptly at the climax, with no conclusive ending.
The novella is equally as bad, if not worse. I read it (and reread it), but I could not, for the life of me, figure out what was going on. I can only guess that the confusion I experienced is part of the author’s attempt at illustrating the chaotic combination of drug use and mental illness; however, it was not written skillfully enough to clearly convey the idea.
Taking away the myriad of errors, lackluster plots, one-dimensional characters, and unsatisfying conclusions, there is simply nothing left in this book for me to like. In my opinion, the only short story that has a sliver of promise is “Blind San Franciscans”. While it is poorly executed, it does possess the basis of a mysterious and suspenseful story, with potentially good plot twists. However, it does little to make up for the critical flaws in this book.
Considering the severe lack of editing and weak storylines, I rate this book 1 out of 4 stars. At its current state, I can’t, in good conscience, recommend this book to anyone. A lot of work needs to be done for it to become a book worth reading. For those who nevertheless want to take a crack at this collection, take note that the book does contain sexual references and profanity.
******
Tales of the 70's
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Puzzle of Fate by A. Reza Kamarei
