The Art of Dramatic Writing, by Lajos Egri

I read this book thinking it would lay out some fundamental principles on how to create suspense. It didn't live up to my expectations. First off, it is too Hegelian (it goes on quite a bit about dialectical mish-mash involving thesis, antithesis and synthesis, and how contradiction is the stuff of life). I don't think I picked up any useful principles which I didn't already learn in a more clear presentation from Ayn Rand's The Art of Fiction or Janet Burroway's Writing Fiction.

Having said that, I did find the analysis of Ibsen's The Doll House illuminating.

Born Standing Up, by Steve Martin

This was a quick (I read it in 4 days) and entertaining autobiography of Steve Martin's stand-up comedy years. He was the first stand-up comedian I knew and I was shocked that he gave it up at the height of his success. This book answers why.

Lie Down with Lions, by Ken Follet

Why is this guy a NYT best-seller? The characters were 2-dimensional without strong motivation. The plot moved along, but without characters I really cared about, it wasn't very suspenseful. The events demonstrated this meager theme: if someone betrays you, give them a chance to explain.

Pillars of the Earth is supposed to be his best book. Maybe I'll give it a try. I started with this one because I read Charlie Wilson's War (after seeing the movie) and wanted to read more about the Soviet-Afghan war. I also re-read The Cardinal in the Kremlin, by Tom Clancy, and that book was much better than Lie Down with Lions.

One more note: What's up with the Penthouse Letter about two-thirds of the way through? Jesus, I did not need that!

Red Helmet, by Homer Hickam

Homer Hickam is my favorite modern-day writer. I think the three most important elements of a great novel are:

1) theme - the plot needs to lead up to and demonstrate a message. Great books add up to more than the sum of their parts.

2) characters worth caring about - as far as I know, these are characters that are passionate valuers who act to achieve their values

3) suspense - a plot which keeps the story moving and keeps the reader turning pages

I really liked the characters in this book. This is Homer Hickam's strong suit. The plot was also entertaining, and the middle portion where they were trying to solve a mystery was suspenseful. The book fell short for me on the theme, which was apparently something about destiny, a supernatural idea for which I don't care. For two-thirds of the book, the theme appeared to be the conflict between balancing two great passions: a passion for one's work and for one's soul-mate. This is a great theme, but Homer shifted gears at the end, and I was disappointed.

(If you want a book on your idea of a great theme, why don't you write it yourself, wise-guy!)

Wizard's First Rule, by Terry Goodkind

I found it tough to care deeply about the heroes of the book because they weren't proactive very often. They were mostly reacting to the plans and schemes of the villian and, oddly, I was more interested in the villian than the heroes, even though the villian is clearly despicable (that's right, daffy!). I also had a problem with the use of magic. New powers and rules were "invented" as the book went along, and it seemed like a cop-out to use magic to solve problems. Overall, I thought it was just so-so--but maybe my expectations were too high.

The Art of Fiction, by Ayn Rand

This is a great book with lots of great advice. It lays out the principles of great literature and also gives many good practical pointers. I think I'll try my hand at writing fiction.