The first thing I do when I’m about to start reading a book and determine what to write about on the blog? It’s pretty obvious. I google the book.
And it’s always interesting to see what else, other than the novel, comes up in the search results. You might recall a little post I did about Henry Roth while I was reading Call It Sleep.
So when I started researching Red Harvest, I was intrigued by all the various search results other than Red Harvest, the novel, written by Dashiell Hammett.
Here are a few of the results that appear when you start googling “Red Harvest” on the internet.
- A Norwegian industrial metal band. We’re getting really niche on this one. A Norwegian industrial metal band? Their bio describes Red Harvest this way: “Formed in 1989, the band released their first demo Ocultica that year, before releasing their debut album Nomindsland in 1992. From 1994, the band moved towards an experimental hybrid of prog, Gothic rock, and doom metal…” Today I learned that Norwegian industrial metal bands are also into “doom metal.”
- Star Wars Fan Fiction: Some dude wrote a novel named Red Harvest, and it’s part of all those extraneous Star Wars novels written by dudes who attempt to add to the storyline. A character named Darth Scabrous is involved. Darth Scabrous? Was Lord Cold Sore unavailable?
- Beer. Oh, yes. Our friends at Guinness make a seasonal brew called the Red Harvest Stout. Beer Advocate gives it a 72% rating, which means it’s “okay.” You’ve got to do better than okay, Guinness.
- A video game quest: Red Harvest is an “evil-aligned” video game quest in Fable 2. If I recall, the Fable video games include a farting dog, or something like that.
- A police operation: Police in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina named “Operation Red Harvest” their mission to arrest a bunch of Hell’s Angels. 34 members to be exact.
So does any of this have anything to do with books and literature?
Nope. It’s just that, hey, Red Harvest is a cool name! Maybe you at least learned something today. I certainly did—gotta try out that Red Harvest stout and see just how “okay” it really is.