night by elie wiesel: Eylül 2012

30 Eylül 2012 Pazar

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

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This book was kind of a let down. I didn't know much about it going in except it included a racy relationship between a 15-year-old boy and a 30-year-old woman and it took place in the past. Turns out it's about the Holocaust and the post-Holocaust generation; a subject I typically find incredibly interesting. Despite the raciness and historical setting, as a whole I found this book to be on the boring side. It had the potential to be good but for me the writing felt flat and the storyline was lacking. If it weren't so short I would have DNF'd it. I know I'm in the minority on this one; the novel is in Oprah's book club and Goodreads is littered with five star reviews. It just wasn't a book for me.

One Month Until The Casual Vacancy, You Guys!

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Today marks exactly one month until the release of The Casual Vacancy, JK Rowling's first novel for adults. I couldn't be more excited.

The synopsis definitely piques my interest - much more than the bland looking cover does anyway. I'm happy the novel will take place in England, because it just wouldn't feel JK Rowling-ish if it didn't. Cobblestones? Check. Wonderfully traditional English sounding names? Check.
When Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty faÃ§ade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…. Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the town’s council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

Sounds promising, right? I'm trying not to get my hopes too high, but it's JK Rowling and it's really hard not to expect greatness. I'll try not to compare her new novel to her best selling series, but I will say I hope it is just as imaginative. It seems Rowling herself doesn't want any comparisons to her earlier works, even when it comes to her marketing. B&N Vice President Patricia Bostelman says of the "left in the dark" marketing approach of Little, Brown, "Apparently much of their behavior is at J.K. Rowling's wishes." Rowling "has very strong opinions on how she wants publishing of the book handled. She's trying not to live on the laurels of Harry Potter and very much wants to have this book stand alone, on its own merit, just as if she were just any other author who was landing on the scene." Except it's JK Rowling, and she most certainly isn't "any other author."

Beth from Bookworm Meets Bookworm and I talked about doing a read-along that would start right around, or on, the novel's release date. More details to come on that...

The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

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A mysterious house harbors an unimaginable secret. . . . It’s wartime, and the Carver family decides to leave the capital where they live and move to a small coastal village where they’ve recently bought a home. But from the minute they cross the threshold, strange things begin to happen. In that mysterious house there still lurks the spirit of Jacob, the previous owners’ son, who died by drowning. With the help of their new friend Roland, Max and Alicia Carver begin to explore the suspicious circumstances of that death and discover the existence of a mysterious being called The Prince of Mist—a diabolical character who has returned from the shadows to collect on a debt from the past. Soon the three friends find themselves caught up in an adventure of sunken ships and an enchanted stone garden, which will change their lives forever.

Shortly after I finished The Prisoner of Heaven I came across The Prince of Mist at Half Price Books. It's the first novel Zafon published and since I was still on a high from his latest, I snatched it up. The Prince of Mist is a young adult thriller and while it made for a quick, fun read I think I would have enjoyed it more if had I read it when I was younger. It felt a bit too juvenile for my taste. There were definitely parts of the short novel that creeped me out, and Zafon did a good job pulling me into the story from the start, but having read his adult novels, this one felt a little too basic and a little too transparent by comparison.

On the positive front, I will say that Zafon brought a strong sense of place to the forefront of the novel, just as he does in his adult works. The beach house, complete with a cemetery of stone figures, the sunken ship in the bay and the lighthouse overlooking the area made for an eerie and memorable landscape. He also included a few twists to keep it interesting. Plain and simple, this is a fun little read. I just prefer Zafon's adult stuff better. Recommended, to my 12-year-old self.

Publisher: Weidenfield & Nicolson, 1993

RIP VII: It's Here!

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You guys! RIP is back! Which means my favorite season is upon us! I know every year around this time I gush about Fall but I can't help it! After a long, hot summer I just love the crisp air, apple picking, scarves, leaves... the list goes on!
Anyhow, RIP. It starts September 1st and ends October 31st. To participate, you can read books that fall in the genre of: mystery, suspense, thriller, dark fantasy, Gothic, horror and supernatural. As always, there are multiple perils. This year, since I am a bit behind in my other challenges and I have a few ARC's headed my way that I'm really excited about, I am going to participate in Peril the Second:

Read two books, any length, that you feel fit (my very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature. It could be Stephen King or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian Fleming or Edgar Allan Poe…or anyone in between.
If you're interested in reading brief reviews of the books I read for RIP last year, you can find that here. The books I read this year will most likely come from the list below.

Rebecca, Daphne DuMarier
The Gun Slinger, Stephen King
The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler
The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield
Case Histories, Kate Atkinson
The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fford
Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury
We Have Always Lived In the Castle, Shirley Jackson
In The Woods, Tana French

JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy: A Read-Along

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Beth at Bookworm Meets Bookworm and I are so excited about the release of Rowling's first novel for adults that we decided to host a read-along! We both knew we'd read it immediately upon its release, so it only makes sense to ask you to join in and read it with us! If you've been living under a rock, the synopsis of the novel is as follows:

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.
Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty faÃ§ade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

As far as read-alongs go, this one will be pretty informal, with just two posts. Since this will most likely be a novel we can burn through, we've allotted two weeks for the schedule. The novel will be published a week from today, Thursday, September 27th.

The first post will be Thursday, October 4th and will include first impressions and general thoughts, really anything you'd like to discuss is fair game but NO SPOILERS! Since there isn't a set page number you need to get to before the first post, we don't want to ruin anything for anyone else participating.

The second and final post will be Thursday, October 11th when we will wrap up the discussion with our overall impression of the novel. This may include an examination of its themes and motifs, character development, or how you felt about Rowling's first first novel for adults compared to the Harry Potter phenomenon she created. Again, you can discuss anything you want and at this point, and spoilers are fair game. This probably goes wihtout saying, but when you post final thoughts you should have the novel completed.

Okay, formalities aside, we really just planned this read-along as a means to have fun and promote discussion! If you are thinking about reading the novel right away and want to join in, grab the button and link up! Also a big thanks to Beth for making an awesome button!

29 Eylül 2012 Cumartesi

A Review of 'The Patron Saint of Butterflies' by Cecilia Galante

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"Agnes and Honey have always been different, but the older they get, the more they are growing apart. Born into Mount Blessing, a religious commune with stringent rules and guarded secrets, the girls are complete opposites of each other. While Agnes has made it her life's purpose to become a saint, Honey wants to her as far away from the commune as possible. When Agnes's grandmother Nana Pete unexpectedly visits, she discovers one of the commune's most sinister secrets. Fearing for their safety, Nana Pete takes the girls and flees Mount Blessing.

During their journey from the commune toward what Honey hopes will be a normal life, the girls test the bonds of their lifelong friendship, and Agnes struggles to hang on to the life she had. Only when the biggest-- and most dangerous-- lie is finally unearthed does Agnes realize she must find the courage to make her own future.

This stunning debut novel, inspired by the author's own experiences, is a powerful tale of faith, friendship, and the true meaning of love."

After finishing this book, I am a little bit speechless. It's been a while since I read a book that I can relate to so well and yet still get so angry at. It was really difficult to make a choice regarding which "side" I was on: Honey's or Agnes's. I hated how far-gone Agnes was, delving into the extremes of Christianity. Whenever someone tried to talk a little sense (and by that, I do not mean convert) into her, she shut her ears and refused to listen, following the antics of a seven-year-old. I have no problem reading books about religion, but this was one book that got my heart racing, I was so scared. The word that comes to mind when I think of Mount Blessing is, "cult." One person was telling everyone at the commune how to think. It was absolutely frightening for me to read about this and the author did such a great job of going into detail and not holding anything back.

I didn't completely agree with Honey either, though I could relate more to her than I could to Agnes. For a while, it was really hard to tell whether or not she actually believed in God, the way she was talking to Agnes. I've come to the conclusion that she is just a less extreme Christian. She was enjoying herself immensely when they went to a Baptist service. I appreciated her attempts to reverse Agnes's brainwashing (though, maybe instead of "brainwashing," we could say "upbringing").

I will also say that I loved that this Young Adult book did not contain a love triangle. Finally! It's absolutely possible! This made this book quite refreshing, even if it is about four years old.

Nana Pete was such a powerful character. I admire her to the ends of the earth for bringing her grandchildren out of the situation they were in. It was very gutsy to take her grandchildren away from their parents without their permission (even then permission of one of her grandchildren) and just leave.

The most powerful thing in this book, in my opinion, is that you do not have to lead a perfect life in order to follow God or whomever you believe in. You don't have to be as extreme as Agnes was. You can still live a free life. I think you could even go so far as to say you need only be a decent human being. You do not have to do this in the name of a higher power, but if that helps you, that's fine. You do not need to prove your goodness. If you are good, you are good. Any higher power will be able to see this.

Overall, this book was very eye-opening and it was nice to get two perspectives. I think just about everything about this book worked for this story. It's a beautiful debut novel by Cecilia Galante.

I give 'The Patron Saint of Butterflies':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

Happy Friday!

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Welcome to Friday! I hope you had a lovely first week back to school/continuation of your summer vacation/not too stressful week at work! This week, I will only be answering the questions posed by Ginger @ Greads (TGIF) and Melissa @ i swim for oceans (Let's Talk). Alas, this will be the last TGIF for a while. I will certainly miss it, but I completely understand Ginger's reasons for discontinuing it for the time being. Any way, let's get into it!
TGIF

Choose Your Next Read: How do you go about choosing what you read next? Do you have a schedule you follow or do you read whatever makes you happy at the moment?
After I'm done reading a book, then I choose (almost immediately) what I'm going to read next. Even if I already have three or four other books going at the same time. I try to do it this way because I'm never sure what a book is going to do to me by the time I turn to that last page. I could be emotionally drained and I'll need to read something that is more uplifting in order to bounce back. I might not be affected at all and in that case, it's a mystery even to me what I will read next. For example, one of the books I'm currently reading is 'Silence of the Lambs' by Thomas Harris. It's for sure a horror novel, but I haven't yet reached a frightening part, though certain things have already reached a level of creepy for me... I'm probably going to have to read something lighter like, 'My Name is Memory' by Ann Brashares.
Let's Talk

Do you like issue books? Why or why not.
I think I prefer issue books. Well, the ones that are well-written, any way. I tend to gravitate towards these types of books whenever possible because they aren't pristine. They're about broken people as opposed to the books where the description in the inside flap says, "So-and-so was the ideal/perfect/perfectly ordinary ." I just think that issue books have so many options as to where they can go because they typically deal with broken and often desperate characters. In books with perfect characters, there are really only one direction they can go: down. It's the only option for them if the story is to remain somewhat interesting.
Thank you for stopping by my blog today! I hope you all enjoy your weekends! I know I'm definitely going to enjoy mine. Tomorrow, I pack up the rest of my things and then Sunday, I'm moving into my dorm for the year! I'm very excited to begin my first year of college! That being said, though I don't have much of a schedule for posting reviews here, I will be even more unpredictable in the coming months because I will need to get in the swing of balancing my time like a normal person. I will not make any promises to you until I can be sure that I can keep them. Just know that I'll still be around and I'll pop up every once in a while.
Thanks for Reading!
--Jude

An Explanation

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Hello Everyone,

So about three days ago, I moved into college and I've since then begun my classwork and have begun to realize my course-load. Because of this (and I kind of said this as an after-thought the last time I completed the Friday memes) I cannot promise you consistent book reviews. I am taking an English class this semester though, so there will be a few coming your way, I promise.

If you find yourself missing me, don't worry, I'll be posting things here every once in a while, whether that's a review or just a post to get my thoughts out there.

Well, I've got to make a video and then hit the books while my laundry is going!

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

Oh, College!

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I have had my first full week of class this past week! Orientation has come and gone-- it was quite helpful. Now I know about the different resources available to me and just about all of my questions have been answered regarding how and where I could possibly get involved in something besides academics. There is an activities fair on the twentieth, so I'm for sure going to go to that so that I can join French Club, maybe Social Dance, and who knows what else is out there on campus!

The first few days of college were difficult as I adjusted and tried to make friends. No matter what happened, my dorm and everything around me just wasn't home. But after that initial first couple of days, I grew accustomed to the fact that this new dorm was going to be my home for the next year and this campus for the next next four. I accepted it and was ready to accept the next challenges that come after homesickness. My orientation group happened to be made up of the people in one of my classes, so that was very helpful. I've grown to know a good handful of people in that class and while I haven't hung out with all of them, I have hung out with a couple of them and they are delightful people! So I had a few friends outside of my roommate. I don't need a giant group to follow me around, just a few people that I can really get to know.

I became pretty self-sufficient, even in just two short weeks. I know that I need to get certain things done each week (laundry, cleaning the fish aquarium, washing dishes, studying/homework, etc.) and I've been able to motivate myself to take a break every once in a while during studying or between classes and just get a couple of these things done.

This weekend, I came home for a day (my dad's birthday party) and my mom noticed how efficient I've become and how I've changed in other ways. When I initially got here early Saturday afternoon, she left sheets and a pillow case on my bed so that I'd have a place to stay so that I could make my bed. She also knew that I needed to do laundry (I brought my big orange laundry bag home... I was honked at while walking the four to six blocks from the bus stop... why was this attractive to those men in the car?). I was outside talking to the adults most of the night, but every once in a while, I'd slip inside, start a load of laundry, switch from the washer to the dryer, and then made my bed so that when my blanket was done being washed, I could go right to bed. She was about to head to bed and she said, "Before you shower, maybe you should get your laundry started," to which I responded that I was already completely done. She came into my room while I was folding my laundry and offered to help me make my bed, but it was already done.

I felt like I kind of put her out a little bit by already having things done when she offered to help, but at the same time, I find it interesting that in such a short space of time, I have already acquired this mindset that my parents aren't there to remind me when to do things, so I have to make sure they get done myself. My roommate will not say, "Jude, do your homework," "Did you study for your psychology exam? I'd really get on that now... it's next Thursday," "Jude, did you do your laundry?" "Did you brush your teeth and make your bed?" "You're wearing that thing again?" "Did you wash your dishes?" You know, be a mom. I don't want and don't expect my roommate to be my mom in this dorm situation. Nor will I be hers, because we're adults now.

My mom was also a little impressed that I'm already thinking about J-Term and what I could possibly do for that month. I think that I'm going to take philosophy at one of my school's brother schools. It's considered a general at my school, so that would be one less thing for me to do during the rest of my time here.

My parents have made sure to ask if I can think of anything that I need that I can get while I'm here. I have a short list now, but the list that I have of things to bring from my room is longer, but luckily, I lot of things on that list are flat or don't take up a lot of space.

The transition was harder than I thought it would be, but not altogether impossible to get through. I'm doing very well in college. I have become efficient and even assertive. I'm having less of a problem talking on the phone with people when I need help (though I still hate talking on the phone... for me, it's very awkward because I can never anticipate when someone is about to talk because I can't see their mouths open in preparation. I always end up talking over them accidentally and then I feel bad.

I have applied for five or six jobs, so this week, I get the joy of contacting them all and following up (with the exception of one who said that they'd call me sometime this week because she's finally done interviewing!). Hurray phones...

Perhaps between book reviews (I'm afraid they're going to be a little far and few between) I think I'll post college adventures, since I've had a few and many of them will be ones I'll tell my kids when they head off to college. They are tales of fear and stupidity, aggravation, and hilarity.

I'll see you next time and thanks for reading!

--Jude

Movie Time! 'Snow White and the Huntsman'

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"In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen."

I saw this movie last night on campus, so I thought that I'd share my thoughts with you! You know, since I've been rather absent lately.

The entire film was exquisite in its cinematography. Every image captured on screen was crisp and wonderful, just as any fairy tale captured on screen ought to be. But once you get past that and look at the actual story, that's where it seems to be lacking.

The story focuses on the relationship between Snow White and the Huntsman (ergo, the title), but I didn't feel that there was much of a connection there. He was sent on a task to retrieve Snow White, who had just escaped from the dark Queen Ravenna. The Huntsman had a task and even though he changed and never brought Snow White back to the castle, there still wasn't anything to remark on as far as a relationship.

Kristen Stewart (Snow White) was awfully similar to Bella Swan in Twilight, what with her nervous blinking and heavy breathing all of the time. Not to mention that both characters took a really long time to die... however, I feel that she's improved a bit as an actress since Twilight, so that's always a good thing.

William should never have been part of the story. He was in Snow White's childhood and he came back towards the end of the movie to help her get to Hammond's castle, but really, he had such a small function in the movie. I found it a little funny that he assumed he and Snow White would fall madly in love purely because they had history together. When he kissed Snow White after biting the apple, it was really strange because they hadn't seen each other in like, ten years or something. It just struck me as incredibly weird and the director/writer should have figured out a way to edit him out.

The Queen and her brother... ew. The brother was so disgusting that chills were running up and down my spine. He was just... gross. From his haircut-gone-awry to his incredibly confusing relationship with the queen, it raised more than a few questions.

Questions were raised throughout the movie. There were key things that I felt should have been known about each of the characters, but instead were not. Why did Queen Ravenna want Snow White's father's kingdom (I believe his name was Magnus)? What happened to the Huntman's first wife? That was never really clarified, even though I know they addressed this at some point. As a result, I really didn't care about any of the characters. When and if they died or were severely injured, it didn't matter to me.

The ending. Oh my god. That was the most infuriating part! There's no closure! Snow White is crowned Queen, but we still don't know what happens with her and the Huntsman, the man who is supposedly her true love, given that he was the one to awaken her from the dead. The movie ends with her coronation and the Huntsman is lurking in the background.

What the crap?! I feel like there isn't a lot left for a sequel (if the writers and director think so, I'd be very interested in knowing their thoughts), so I'm left to assume that I'll never know exactly how this movie ends. There is no closure and for me, that's very unsettling. I'm left to assume that Snow White will fix the kingdom (because of some fickle power that movie-goers can't really see but is implied all the time) and the Huntsman will go back to doing what he's always done, despite being Snow White's true love (and really, who didn't see that one coming?).

Overall, I was disappointed by a lot of things in this movie, but the cinematography and the handful of great actors and characters really saved what could have been an absolute train wreck. Instead, it was just a small train wreck.

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

28 Eylül 2012 Cuma

We Need To Talk About We Need To Talk About Kevin (and my need to give it away to someone...)

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"In a country that doesn't discriminate between fame and infamy, the latter presents itself as plainly more achievable."
So many people have told me that they thought this book was amazing, and the more I think about it, the more I'm slightly like '...Really?' The thing is, while I was reading it, I kind of couldn't put it down, and also I wanted to read it at every opportunity, and say what I might about it, the fact is that, the other day I saw this table outside a charity shop that was full of travel guides and I looked for AWAP ones (A Wing and a Prayer are the travel guides that Kevin's mother, and our narrator Eva writes), so its enveloping reality obviously can't be denied. But still... Issues.
So, I'm assuming we all know about Kevin. Psychopath child who orchestrates a high school massacre (which is something you find out practically immediately, in case you didn't know- the end result isn't really in question here, but how they got there is what the entire story is about) and his mummy is very very cross about it. I'm clearly trivialising here, but this woman... Wow. You may have heard that she's a fairly unsympathetic narrator, in spite of her circumstances (psychopath son, and all) and oh boy, that doesn't even cover it. I was expecting to go into the book not necessarily liking her, but I wasn't really expecting to HATE her, so fully and completely. I mean, I don't think there was a point in the whole book where I hated Kevin more than I hated her, and did I mention the thing about him massacring people?!
Anyway. Eva being a complete fucking bitch isn't necessarily a bad thing, or rather isn't something that puts me right off a book. In this case, it made things interesting because you want to attribute certain things in Kevin's personality to her (there are definite overlaps) even if she's not always open to recognising them, and there are points where you don't know if you can fully trust what she's saying because, after all, this is just her version of events. But the thing is... There might be a little TOO much Eva. The way she writes (since she's writing letters to her estranged husband- a format which I'm not even sure works at all since she writes about things that HE WOULD ALREADY KNOW ABOUT, in great detail. Which was one annoying thing.) puts her directly at the centre of everything, something which is obviously true to her and anyone else's experience (we're all the heroes of our own lives etc etc) but because she's writing letters just makes her sound like a massive narcissist. She is both responsible and not responsible for everything that happens, and while I guess this could be the way the mother of a psycho might think, it sure can get irritating to read.
And that's not all. The thing that gets me is that Shriver seems to have been unable to make up her mind about what or who she wants Kevin to be. On the one hand there's the constant evidence that there's something almost supernatural about his complete lack of feeling (in that, it was there from birth and so he was sort of a psycho baby, which I really don't buy), that no matter what anyone did he would have always turned out that way and so it doesn't really matter what anyone did during his upbringing (actually making the book sort of redundant). This is the line most taken, and actually, I find it really dull. Like, I'd be more interested in a look at what would drive someone who essentially had a normal mind to take such drastic action, rather than just seeing the inevitable in his entire character. The flip side is the idea that he's not so bad really, and that certain things Eva did made him the way he is, but I found these parts inconsistent with everything else mentioned about him. It's like no decision was properly made about his nature, and while I guess this is something that Eva never properly decided for herself, I feel like it's something that the author should have at least decided, you know?
I don't know. A big part of the book is Eva's trying to come to terms with what Kevin has done, and with that come a lot of mixed feelings and ideas and memories that seem to point in different directions, so maybe the conflicting views of Kevin come from that, but I still just didn't find it convincing- either baby Kevin was born without essential human feeling (as Eva seems to suggest basically all the time) or he wasn't, for which there is almost no evidence apart from a few things that completely contradict the rest. If this is meant to be confusion for Eva, then fine, but it felt really confusing and indecisive to me too, and not in a good way. We need to talk about all the ways this could have been a better book...
Now. I realise I've just bitched about this for a good 4 paragraphs, and not without good reason, but like I say, I was TRANSFIXED by it for a good 3 or 4 days. So while there were a lot of things that annoyed me, it's not like it was a bad book, because that kind I don't even keep on reading now that I'm on a bit of a book-getting-rid-of kick. It was extremely absorbing and I was dying to know what had happened, in full (which, don't worry, you'll get your moneys worth at the end) I just feel like I need to dispute the idea that it was perfect, because I think it's far from it.
So. Who wants this far-from perfect book?! I've decided to give it away to a lucky lucky commenter, because when I mentioned I was reading it on my Top Ten Tuesday post, SO many people said that they wanted to read it. This could be your chance! (Please note: While my review is far from positive, I never said you shouldn't read it. I think you definitely should, to see what all the fuss is about!) So yeah, if you want it, just leave a comment with your email address in it, and I'll see what I can do!

Top 5 TV: Special Buffy Edition!

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Because you've been very very good this week (I have no way of knowing if this is true or not, so let's pretend it is) you're getting a DOUBLE Top 5 TV, also known as, I have 2 complimentary lists that I made a long time ago and the time really has come for them to be all computerised and stuff.

Please note: This is only going to be interesting to you if you've seen Buffy. And I mean, a LOT of Buffy.

So here's what I'm going to list: my top 5 'supporting' characters, and my bottom 5 'supporting' characters. By supporting, I basically mean anyone who isn't in the core 4 of the original gang (Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles) although I realise that some of these characters may have, at some point, been in the opening credits, so don't tell me cause I don't want to know!

I realise I should probably have posted these when I talked about Buffy waaay back in January (January. Jeez.) but things got away from me and now it's September which is the perfect time to talk about Buffy. So hush. (Hush! Ha.) So anyway, here come the lists:

Top 5 Buffy Supporting Characters

1. Tara- I can't even explain how much I love Tara, but she's SO wonderful. I guess she's kind of got the Melly-effect (Gone With The Wind. Don't even tell me that you needed this explanation) in that she's quiet and kind of shy but if she needs to be, then dammit she can be SO tough and brave. Also she taught Willow how to love the ladies and brought that VERY pleasing dimension to Buffy!

2. Spike- Come on. Have you seen him? He's also maaaybe the most complex character in the entire programme, or at least the one who goes through the most radical changes. Plus, I find his English accent seriously impressive, and I don't often say that about Americans! Also, did I mention those cheekbones?

3. Bad Angel- And ONLY bad Angel. Normal Angel just barely escaped making it onto my worst list because OMGSOBORING. And also the reason I haven't watched Angel yet. Bad Angel though? Dude's got charisma. And is hilarious. And irritates Spike which makes him even more hilarious. Yeah, he's great.

4. Glory- By far my favourite big bad (although maybe that's just because she was trying to kill Dawn all the time...) Glory is FABULOUS, and maybe just a bit evil. Or, ok, a lot. But still, faaaaabulous.

5. Faith- I kind of love/hate Faith (as, I believe, I'm supposed to) but there's no denying that she's one complex tough little cookie who just needs hugs, like, constantly. And I love the comparing and contrasting that goes on between her and Buffy- there but for the grace of Joyce goes Buffy.

Bottom 5 Buffy Supporting Characters

1. Riley- This doofus literally has NO redeeming features. Not one. And he's SUCH a dick to Buffy when her mum is ill. When they brought him back and made his life all perfect, I was seriously pissed off, cause I WANT HIM TO BE MISERABLE AT ALL TIMES. Considering that's all he brought me, and all.

2. Dawn- Dawn is the WORST. The very worst. If she's not getting into trouble then she's screeching about how IT'S NOT FAIRRRRRR, and basically acts like she's about 5 instead of 15-ish. She ranks lower than Riley only because she becomes slightly more bearable in Season 7, but she's still fairly annoying. A very very unwelcome addition to the show.

3. Wesley- The thing about Wesley is that I hate him because I'm supposed to, so that's a good thing at least. But his English accent is unbearable, and he continually puts a spanner in the works which displeases me. I believe he's in Angel too, so... Another good reason not to watch that show!

4. Jonathan/Warren- I would include Andrew in this, but I like him in Season 7, so... Just those two. Because, like, I know that in Season 6, the ACTUAL Big Bad is life, but do the decoy big bads have to be so... crappy? I realise that they represent a certain type of Buffy fan and I bet those guys LOVE these two, but I do not.

5. Kennedy/The Potentials- I do not like the potentials at all, nor do I really like that the whole of the last season of Buffy is sort of all about them, when I want my guys to be the central focus! But quite aside from that complaint, most of these kids are boring, and surly, and very very Dawn like, and they are SO mean to Buffy when she's just trying to get them not-killed! Kennedy gets a special mention for displacing Tara, but that's not really her fault, I GUESS.

So, tell me Buffy lovers! Who do you love/hate? Are you Dawn's biggest fan (like that's a thing...) and do you think Spike is so evil that Buffy should have just staked him? Let's discuss the crap out of this thing.

Devouring Books: The Godfather by Mario Puzo

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"Like many young men, [he] thought that having struggled to complete his education and master the tools of his profession, his virtue would automatically be rewarded and he would earn a decent living. This proved not to be the case."
Have I said before about how much I love The Godfather? *Peruses archives* Oh yeah, here it is. I mean, those two films (the third one is unnecessary and DREADFUL, and we shan't speak of it here.) are just the GREATEST, and when I finally watched them having lived like 21 years without having seen them, I had to question what I'd been doing with my life a little bit! It's not for nothing that they're considered classic films, so you should probably watch them right away.
And then there's the book. And the book is equally as awesome, because it basically is the first movie (and half of the second one) only with some added bits, and so reading it is the equivalent of watching the movie and then watching deleted scenes that were only deleted because a tighter focus on the Corleone family was wanted, rather than because they suck. Which are obviously the best kind of deleted scene. But seriously, you've got all your important Godfather things in here: Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes, and I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse, and go to the mattresses, and ALL the important stuff, and frankly, I wasn't expecting the book to be as good as the film, but it was!
Obviously I say this from the position of having seen the film. And obviously I couldn't help but picture Al Pacino as Michael and Marlon Brando as the Don, but I don't really consider that a problem- they're such great actors that they embody and define those roles, and why would you want to picture anyone else? Exactly. Having said that, though, I do wonder what it would have been like reading The Godfather before the movies came out (which would give you like a 3 year window, daaaamn did they see the cinematic potential of it!) and just having to create your own pictures of the characters, like, you know, any other book. I reckon... trickier and more annoying. But only in this case.
Now I can hear you all asking 'but should I bother to read this book if I haven't seen the movie? I don't even like gangsters', and what I say to you is OF COURSE you should because it's awesome, and if nothing else an important cultural touchstone, but if nothing else, you should probably just watch the movie. Which is not to say that there's anything wrong with the book because there isn't (it's like literally reading the movie! It's great!) but the movie is so so amazing, and trims off a bit of the unnecessary (albeit interesting) fat from the storyline of the book. I'd say that the book is almost like... Something you want to explore because you're obsessed with the film and NEED MORE, but I think that in this case, the film really outdoes the book. Or at least, matches the book, and it's a film and therefore easier and oh my GOD I'm clearly not going to rest until you've seen it!
So. The book is well-written and compelling and I had trouble putting it down, and I believe I still would have enjoyed it if it hadn't been made into some of the greatest movies ever. I was totally THRILLED and then SAD and then also HAPPY and a bit SHOCKED (this in spite of knowing what happens!) and it's a real page turner. So you should watch The Godfather (and Part II) and then read this, and have all the emotions all over again and breathe a sigh of happiness at the end. Really you owe it to yourself!

Devouring Stephen King: Nightmares and Dreamscapes

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"I still see stories as a great thing, something which not only enhances lives but actually saves them- nor am I speaking metaphorically. Good writing- good stories are the imagination's firing pin, and the purpose of the imagination, I believe, is to offer us solace and shelter from situations and life- passages which would otherwise prove unendurable."
This book marks the first time that I've really realised that I find Stephen King's writing incredibly comforting- scary as it can be, when I was feeling ill, all I could even consider reading was my next Stephen King book. Some people might suggest that this is because his writing is 'easy', but nay! I just, after 32 books, find it comforting and familiar, and not a bad medicine, either.

Nightmares and Dreamscapes, as I discovered, is King's third collection of short stories, and might well be my favourite so far. I'm always a fan of his short stories anyway, because I think that he can really be more brutal than in his longer fiction, and also explore different genres, but not in a way that makes them a hot mess, a la The Tommyknockers. Included in these different genres are even stories that don't fall into the crime/thriller/horror/sci-fi category at all, as my favourite in the collection, My Pretty Pony doesn't. And this is all true of his two other short story collections too, but I just like the stories in this one better. Or, at least I think that there are less boring stories, and on the whole I was just continually entertained.

And now, the difficult part of every short story review. Tell you about every story, or go more into detail about the ones I really liked? I... Still don't know. So let's see what comes out!

Stories I really liked

Suffer the Little Children: This one really scared me, and I don't really know why! I think it just tickled my scaredy bone, maybe because it's kind of subjective and has a fairly open ending. Or maybe because it's AWESOME.

The End of the Whole Mess: I really liked this because there's a whole 'writing against the clock' thing going on in an apocalyptic world. Very sci-fi-ish, but also very human and brotherly love-ish.

Chattery Teeth: Quite horror-y, but in a pretty unexpected way- I liked it more than I would have if someone had described the plot to me, so I won't.

You Know They Got A Hell Of A Band: A couple gets lost and ends up in Rock and Roll heaven. This story could have been really dreamy and exciting, but because of COURSE this is Stephen King, things get pretty scary, pretty quickly.

Rainy Season: Really really scary and gross. But in a good way...

My Pretty Pony: I'm a sucker for a story about time and how it gets away from you, and My Pretty Pony is exactly that. A grandfather explains to his grandson the elusive nature of time, and it's just wonderful. Like this:

"Grandpa, watching him closely seemed to read all this in the boy's brown eyes, to know all the words for all the things the boy could never have found a way to tell, things that could not escape him because his mouth could never articulate the language of his heart. And then Grandpa nodded, as if he wanted to confirm this very idea, and suddenly Clive was terrified that Grandpa would spoil everything by saying something soft and soothing and meaningless. Sure, he would say, I know all about it, Clivey- I was a boy once myself, you know.
But he didn't."

I really feel like sometimes King's writing outdoes himself, and he strikes upon some essential truths, and it happens only when he has a child narrator, and I believe My Pretty Pony is one of those times.

The House on Maple Street: This was SO much fun, and has a really good ending, and I just genuinely wholeheartedly enjoyed it.

Stories I Didn't Like So Much

Dolan's Cadillac: Ostensibly a revenge tale, it was fine, but not great. There was slightly too many technical things, and not really enough action. But it was good revenge...

Dedication: This was really really gross. Like, seriously unnecessarily gross. In the notes at the end, King worries that it might be non-politically correct, but honestly? I just thought it was gross.

The Fifth Quarter: A kind of crime/thriller story, but not a great one. There are better ones just included in this collection, so... Not my favourite.

Head Down: It isn't King's fault that I didn't like this at all it's just a matter of personal preference. In that, this is a piece of non-fiction about Little League baseball, and I understand nothing about baseball, so a lot of it was kind of lost on me. But I did like the whole 'yayyy teamwork!' aspect of it all.

Pastiches that I had mixed feelings about (I only learned the word pastiche when I was wikipediaing this book, so go me!)

So for some reason there are THREE stories in this collection that are homages of sorts to various authors, and I don't think this is something King has ever done before, so they deserve special attention. So here's what I thought about each of them.

Crouch End: This is apparently based on/an homage to HP Lovecraft, and I didn't love it (it was set in London, and all the characters were like 'pip pip, what's all this then' and really non-authentically English) BUT it did scare me A LOT, in a good way, and I feel like this means I should probably read some actual Lovecraft? Yes, I should.

The Doctor's Case: This is basically a Sherlock Holmes story as imagined by Stephen King, where Watson gets to solve the case. I have never read any Sherlock Holmes story, so I have no idea how accurate it is, BUT if Sherlock Holmes stories read like this one, then I am about 1000% more interested in them than I was before I read it.

Umney's Last Case: This story was really interesting to me, because earlier this week Alley reviewed The Maltese Falcon, and I was like 'I have no idea who Raymond Chandler is' etc but as it turns out (as I learned from this Chandler pastiche) I entirely know the way Chandler writes because it's been homaged again and again and again. And I LOVES it. What makes this story even better is that it goes all meta and Sophie's World-esque, and I LOVE shit like that. Seriously.

It's definitely a mixed bag, with mixed forms and genres, and mixed types of endings (hence 'nightmares' AND 'dreamscapes') but that doesn't make it any less readable and interesting and just plain GOOD. Definitely one to come back to whenever I want a nice (or nasty...) little short story.

What I'm Watching Now: Food Porn

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Well, not actual food porn... Here's the deal people, I'm ill and I have a book review to write and I can't be bothered, and so I'm going to sum up some things I've been watching on the telly because I don't have one specific show to talk about, or, I guess, not enough to say about one show in particular. And as it turns out, I've been watching a lot of food programmes because... Well, they're clearly awesome. And here they are.

The Great British Bake Off
There's literally nothing about this programme I don't like, and when it was on the other night I believe I burst out with 'this is my favourite programme ever!' I especially like it because I like to bake too (although, seriously, I'm nothing compared to some of these bakers) but even my dad, who I believe struggles to boil an egg, likes it because it's all jolly and English, and everyone's basically really nice to each other all the time and it's wonderful. And also, BAKING! And ALSO also, Mel and Sue, who are clearly awesome, and hello BBC, what are you doing with them the rest of the time? Think about it.

And oh my LORD, I've just remembered that next week they're making gingerbread houses. Like it could get any better...
Cupcake WarsCupcakes Wars is kind of terrible, in that it's really formulaic and everyone always has a problem just before the advert breaks and it's like 'oh no, will the cupcakes be made?!' and the answer is always yes. But. Cupcakes! There's nothing I like to make more, and to be honest, it's pretty soothing watching people make them, even when they put weird shit in them like pickles and bacon. I didn't make either of those up. Basically, I wouldn't exactly hate having my own cupcakery, so I can indulge in a little bit of... wishful thinking as I watch. And speaking of wishful thinking...

The carpenters are HOT!
NigelissimaNigella's back! And she's making Italian food. So I've only watched one episode of this, but it was extremely pleasing even if basically everything she made involved meat (a pizza with a meat instead of bread base? Come on Nigella, what?!) Her programmes are pretty much always good to watch, and I watch repeats of them whenever I can find them, so I can only assume that this will continue to be great. And if she keeps making Nutella Cheesecakes (YUM) then Nigellisima will never be anything less than awesome.

Masterchef Australia

I really hate English Masterchef. The judges are dreadful, the amateur cooks are annoying, basically everything about it pisses me off. But Masterchef Australia? It's amazing- the judges are so lovely, you really feel like you get to gradually know the contestants, and the entire format is just so much better than the English one. In my house, we're onto our third series (and a series lasts from September to early December, it's a long term investment!) and our love for it really hasn't waned at all. If you live in the UK and have literally no idea what I'm talking about, it's on Watch at 7pm basically every night, and honestly, you don't know what you're missing!
I guess sometimes I watch programmes that have nothing to do with food (I was going to say Breaking Bad, for example, but I guess that does have an awful lot of cooking in it...) but those are few and far between, and, to be honest, I love watching all of these things! The main drawback is that they do make me awfully hungry, but hey... What are snacks for?!

27 Eylül 2012 Perşembe

Non-Fiction Five June 2010 Reviews

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Sorry for being a few days late with the June Linky!

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Happy reading!