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Mademoiselle Alice: A Novel
Alice Guy Blaché was a pioneer of her trade with so many accomplishments, feats you could look up and applaud through history. Written fictitiously from the point of view of Alice herself, Mademoiselle Alice tells an intimate and redolent tale, painting Alice in the most relatable way. The reader has a chance to experience through Alice the era she lived in beautiful detail, alongside the relationships that added such color to her life. One, the romance between herself and the renowned Gustave Eiffel himself. Eiffel has no interest in love and yet develops a strong romantic tie with Alice. Their relationship is a cornerstone of Alice’s life and even as she moves on, it reflects throughout her work and pursuits to follow.
Mademoiselle Alice was a powerful and moving story. I applaud Janelle Dietrick and her dedication to bringing Alice Guy Blaché off the dusty pages of history and into present mind. The amount of research alone is worth its own accolade, and Dietrick chose to deliver beyond just that, combining the scholar and the storyteller to create a wonderful recollection of the life of Alice.
One factor that truly stood out to me as a reader, was Dietrick’s innate skill of drawing one in to the many emotions of Alice’s tale. From the budding and fleshed out romance between Eiffel and Alice, her apprehension and excitement when building her own studio, to her joys throughout her journey of motherhood. I found myself feeling the same as Alice and I continued further through her recollection and telling of her own life. Dietrick used the first-person narrative in a masterful and gripping manner, allowing readers to fully immerse themselves in the personality of Alice and her intriguing mind.
Usually, I find myself caught up in some novelists writing style; their sentence structure and syntax. I can honestly say that Dietrick writes such an enriching and powerful story. The writing style flows well. I can’t recall any particular moment while reading where I found myself jarred out of the story as I often have with other writers. There was a well weighted balance of descriptive setting, dialogue, interaction, and historical detail that kept me immersed and entertained.
I have a strong affinity for historical fiction but such does not negate that Mademoiselle Alice: A Novel stands up for itself as a wonderfully well written and fun review of the life of Alice Guy Blaché. You can tell that Janelle Dietrick takes pride in not only her work, but in the dedication to presenting the important role Alice has played in history. Her writing compels the reader to appreciate such without the dryness or brevity of a history book. She breathes life in to Alice, allowing the reader to really appreciate her as a relatable person.
Pages: 369 | ASIN: B074MB6QTH
William Shatner: A Transformed Man
Astonishingly prolific and with unbridled passion, William Shatner stands out as a stunning actor, writer and director with the zeal for mystical life or what some would notate as alien life. The author, Dennis William Hauck, runs an acoustic biography of a partner while working on the film Mysteries of the Gods. Dennis paints the preconceptions of William as an eccentric man who swings like a pendulum from condescending and boring to a nitpicking perfectionist character.
The book is themed with “human evolution” what the author calls “transformation of a man” but focuses on once an influencer of the Hollywood Enterprise to the lost face in the industry.
I have three words for this book; exemplary, fluent and cozy-rosy. Dennis’s artistic nature proves worth it to read the book as he weaves vague facts, whimsical musings and random thoughts into a bedazzled art piece. This book uses scintillating prose that brings out his crafty abilities, which inspire creative concepts in the publishing world.
My first thoughts were that an enticing aspect of William’s expressions and entitlement toward his position as a spokesperson for the alien community is surprising at first. However, a progression through the chapters evokes a mindset of withdrawal from the world. Literally, a journey through his life experience and success stands in the way of belief that such a prominent actor could turn psychic; Dennis does a good of making the reader wander between the two extremes.
Behind the scenes of the Star Trek franchise stood a celebrated modern icon who believed in telepathic experiences and cosmic intelligence, but without proof. Evidenced by the bizarre album The Transformed Man, it becomes easier to note how the author qualifies the metamorphosis of William’s character from one with a fascinating social life and dreamed-of career to a life of strained relationships with fellow actors, ego-centric behavior and unlikeable attention for women.
Dr. Andrija Puharich, a neurologist with keen interest in parapsychology, tends to bend her professional view towards the deep-seated belief that Uri Geller and Gene Roddenberry shared; these were characters who either could equally bring “sense” into extraterrestrial intelligence. For instance, Geller could bend metals or even disintegrate them. I believe this book effectively convinces its target audience to believe in what William stood for.
Dennis makes a closing case by reflecting on the temperament of his protagonist and relates the misconception William had towards his alien friends who, unfortunately, did not “come back” for him. The appreciation of normalcy in human life cannot be underplayed as this autobiography leaves the reader with deep contrasting thoughts of aliens and reality.
William Shatner – A Transformed Man by Dennis William Hauck is an exciting book to read as it probes a celebrity bio with a tale. This book has done more than just impress the publishing market; it has also popped out curious questions that keep the mind wondering what exactly was the thought-process of script writers, actors and directors behind the iconic movie, Star Trek.
Pages: 404 | ASIN: B0756NP2HS
LITERARY TITAN 