So I read through the short stories provided on the resources webpage because I thought those were the ones we were supposed to be reading. If they weren't well...they were about witches. Some of them. The first set of stories seemed to be different versions of the classic Cinderella. I'm not well versed enough on fairy tales to tell which of these is closest to the original telling, so like every child raised on Disney movies I compared it to Disney's Cinderella. No doubt that these stories were certainly a little darker or simply not 'Disney' quality. From whatever region these short stories were made, they differ in focus, details, and sometimes even the subject at hand. I thought it strange that we were given these Cinderella stories to read, considering that if there was a fairy godmother in the stories, she was just that. A fairy godmother. How that's different from a witch--I don't know. Ask Salem.
So the Cinder Maid story sounded closest to the Disney version. There's this daughter and you know the story; her stepmother and stepsisters are cruel and her father is either dead or might as well be dead. Instead of a fairy godmother sort of creature, her wishes are granted by this tree she sits under occasionally. It's pretty much the same story though, with the magic number three order going on that most fairy tales have {you know, the first time, the second time, and then the glorious third that takes the cake}. This story was I guess supposed to be the widely European-known version. The next was Irish, and unlike the first it was more descriptive about the people {so far as giving them names} and the story actually focuses a little more on the princes or royalty fighting over this wonder chick and then at the end the spoils of victory in having won {wife and kids and whatnot}. Instead of a tree, a henwife {whatever that is} is able to grant this Cinderella's wishes {or rather 'Trembling'}. It still doesn't deviate enough from the fairy tale we all know enough to be unrecognizable. The Baba Yaga story...I don't even know. It was cool, it was Russian, and it follows the outline of the Cinderella setting {the unloved child and the mean stepmother} though it seems more...Hansel and Gretel in its structure. I actually liked this story a bit, though it seemed to be a mutt puppy of Mother Goose tales. It actually tapered off to be nothing like Cinderella aside from the cruel stepmother, which was decent for a change {I was getting tired of reading the same story over and over again}. The Wicked Stepmother...had little to do with the Cinderella story as well. It simply took the whole 'evil stepmom and forgotten mother' approach. By the time I read this far through these stories I can see why people flinch when I mention my stepmom {who is quite wonderful actually}. It's from Kashmir and I guess it might have been one of those 'grapevine' twists on a story. How can I explain...er...when a story travels and needs to be translated for other people and to be better understood by a different culture, the story changes to fit their way of life better. What do people in Kashmir care about royal families, princes searching for princesses, and all that like? Don't they have other things that are more important to worry about? What sort of values do they care to impart to their children through these stories?
I know this week was about witches, but when it comes to fairy tales, I can't focus on a witch alone. Fairy tales are sort of like cautionary tales of moral guidelines. 'Don't eat apples given to you by strangers', 'be good to all', 'play fair', 'be polite', 'brush your teeth before bed'{?}, etc.
The Glass Slip-Up was kind of funny though. Here they seemed to play off the American/Disney Cinderella by adding the 'what happens after' and revealing to the reader yet another lesson in life that one shouldn't just ride on beauty alone. Cinderella, or Rell as she prefers to be called, is a crude and pompous lass that brings embarrassment to the royal family, annoying Prince Charming to the point where he's willing to marry this crazy godmother woman at the end rather than remain married to the woman he thought he'd love. This seems to be more of those anti-fairy tales; the sort that takes a fairy tale and shows it up for being too superficial, mostly poking fun at those who were 'fairest in all the land' by giving them an overlooked character flaw that takes away most if not all sympathy you might have had for this character before. I guess you can consider Rosa as a bit of a witch here. Fairy. Whatever. I don't know the difference as I've said before.
Red as Blood was a confusing sort of story that looks like the dark cousin of Snow White and might just be the original. Most fairy tales were actually dark to start with as if they were intended to scare sense into children. I'm not sure if everyone in the story hails Satan or just the Witch Queen. Christ didn't seem to have a great effect on Bianca anyhow. Then the last story about The Faery Handbag just seemed a bit...sad. The person telling it was pretty casual about it, though she went through some very strange crap, and she lost the boy she was starting to love and can't find him now because he's stuck in a purse somewhere.
Witches...
In these stories, they all seem to have a feminist touch. No one can quite tell them what to do and if they can, they'll manipulate the situation to work in their favor. Good or bad, witches know how to perform magic and they do it with both a consideration for those they cast it upon and themselves. After reading these short selections, they seem to be more selfish sorts, but in other stories I have read that also counter the fairy tale stereotypes {or movies that I've watched}, witches can be nice. Does that make them fairies? No. It doesn't. Fairies are different creatures altogether. They're synonymous with natural forces and more unpredictable while having a tendency to cause general mischief. They answer to no one, or they may answer to nature itself. Witches are more human in a sense. They look out for themselves, they might look out for the greater good if they're one of those 'anti-stereotypical' kinds, and they can strike fear into mortal man by merely existing. They are the symbol of feminism in fairy tales, so it's no wonder that in early tales they were made out to be negative.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
We All Wear Masks
I'm still going to read the Anansi Boys, but this post isn't going to be about it.
Oh, no no no. This my friends, is a review of one movie I loved and still love. Mirrormask. Because I don't quite have time to read an entire book before tomorrow, I decided I would watch one of the Recommended movies in its temporary stead. A movie I remember liking very much.
Knowing that this was written by the same guy who writes Anansi Boys, I'm going to read that book, because this movie is still quite wonderful watching it a couple years later.
The main character, Helena, I at first found to be annoying, but I guess I could understand her plight. As bratty as she initially seemed, she is a character just entered into the teenage phase and this story seems to become one of a war between her childhood, her teenage self, and the person she is going to become. I was told before that once a person reaches a certain age, they are a combination of three selves just like those --a child, a teen, and an adult. Well, as far as this movie goes, they actually show the physical alter ego of Helena as the antagonist in the movie later on, threatening to ruin the life she had, all her drawings, and anything left of the childhood that created her. Helena finally confronts this alter-ego she then realizes is not all that different from how she was, and horrified, does what she can to stop her.
But to be honest, I didn't fall in love with the characters all that much or the story itself, though I was partial to Valentine and the Queen of Shadows. The two are both morally ambiguous in their own ways, though the Queen of Shadows seems to steer towards the dark, she still cares for her daughter who cares not for her. The relationship between the Queen of Shadows and the alter-Helena is reflective of the raw emotion in the first scene between Helena and her mother in the movie. Both at the time were caught in their own selfish desires. Helena's mother wanted to continue supporting her father and taking Helena along {against her wishes} while Helena wants to leave her family and the business in favor of a 'normal' life, even if it means tearing her family away from their business. Valentine, while the adorable and peculiar creature he seems to be, also has his own motives and selfish desires, though he is generally a good person and proves to be when he comes back for Helena after reconsidering his feelings about what he had done.
The story was basic, though I guess it was meant to be more imaginative and meaningful than it was to be strong and informative. This is certainly one of those hero quests that involve taking someone, putting them through fairy land, then coughing them back out as a brand new person to contend with the world more properly. She starts by ending up in fairy land, learning the rules as best as possible, learning what to avoid, traveling to the land of the shadows in a more...literal sense, nearly obtaining the boon of power, failing, getting betrayed, getting turned {you know, like the dying and being reborn thing}, turning back, obtaining the boon, rescuing fairy land, and returning home without being able to go back. She's grown a little wiser and we've grown impressed by her improvement as a human being.
What I loved just as much as the first time I watched this was the environment, the fairy land itself, and its quirks. In this world, darkness is practically evil, devouring and preparing to conquer in the absence of light. There's the spinx? I'm probably misspelling it, but the cat with the face. They pop up a couple of times and like the creature seems to have a penchant for knowledge and wit. There's floating books that hover when you degrade them. Everyone wears masks and finds it odd when you don't. That's just brushing the surface too. I love all the quirks and animations that are in this story and this dreamland. They are what make this movie memorable to me.
-Peace out
Oh, no no no. This my friends, is a review of one movie I loved and still love. Mirrormask. Because I don't quite have time to read an entire book before tomorrow, I decided I would watch one of the Recommended movies in its temporary stead. A movie I remember liking very much.
Knowing that this was written by the same guy who writes Anansi Boys, I'm going to read that book, because this movie is still quite wonderful watching it a couple years later.
The main character, Helena, I at first found to be annoying, but I guess I could understand her plight. As bratty as she initially seemed, she is a character just entered into the teenage phase and this story seems to become one of a war between her childhood, her teenage self, and the person she is going to become. I was told before that once a person reaches a certain age, they are a combination of three selves just like those --a child, a teen, and an adult. Well, as far as this movie goes, they actually show the physical alter ego of Helena as the antagonist in the movie later on, threatening to ruin the life she had, all her drawings, and anything left of the childhood that created her. Helena finally confronts this alter-ego she then realizes is not all that different from how she was, and horrified, does what she can to stop her.
But to be honest, I didn't fall in love with the characters all that much or the story itself, though I was partial to Valentine and the Queen of Shadows. The two are both morally ambiguous in their own ways, though the Queen of Shadows seems to steer towards the dark, she still cares for her daughter who cares not for her. The relationship between the Queen of Shadows and the alter-Helena is reflective of the raw emotion in the first scene between Helena and her mother in the movie. Both at the time were caught in their own selfish desires. Helena's mother wanted to continue supporting her father and taking Helena along {against her wishes} while Helena wants to leave her family and the business in favor of a 'normal' life, even if it means tearing her family away from their business. Valentine, while the adorable and peculiar creature he seems to be, also has his own motives and selfish desires, though he is generally a good person and proves to be when he comes back for Helena after reconsidering his feelings about what he had done.
The story was basic, though I guess it was meant to be more imaginative and meaningful than it was to be strong and informative. This is certainly one of those hero quests that involve taking someone, putting them through fairy land, then coughing them back out as a brand new person to contend with the world more properly. She starts by ending up in fairy land, learning the rules as best as possible, learning what to avoid, traveling to the land of the shadows in a more...literal sense, nearly obtaining the boon of power, failing, getting betrayed, getting turned {you know, like the dying and being reborn thing}, turning back, obtaining the boon, rescuing fairy land, and returning home without being able to go back. She's grown a little wiser and we've grown impressed by her improvement as a human being.
What I loved just as much as the first time I watched this was the environment, the fairy land itself, and its quirks. In this world, darkness is practically evil, devouring and preparing to conquer in the absence of light. There's the spinx? I'm probably misspelling it, but the cat with the face. They pop up a couple of times and like the creature seems to have a penchant for knowledge and wit. There's floating books that hover when you degrade them. Everyone wears masks and finds it odd when you don't. That's just brushing the surface too. I love all the quirks and animations that are in this story and this dreamland. They are what make this movie memorable to me.
-Peace out
Monday, March 1, 2010
His Dark Materials...and something clever in the title.
This will be reserved for Golden Compass. Reading begins!
-Update-
Halfway through the first volume! I love this book!
Finally a book I can't seem to put down. It's rather unfortunate that I got around to reading it in a rush to catch up with the class, but the story is written clearly enough that I didn't need to do a lot of double-taking.
As discussed in class the week this book was meant for, Pullman wrote the character Lyra like an actual child. She has the same short attention span, same ambiguous morality, and the same sort of quirks any child like her might have had. She has a morbid curiosity as if death doesn't sink in with her {as it doesn't quite do for many children}. She is impatient and like a child, loves to tell stories and make things up to make them sound ten times more interesting. She gets angry and disobeys elders or their rules frequently, but she is ultimately a good girl with good intentions, if not just a little too adventurous. Reading about her and her actions reminds me of how I was like as a kid, though I know for certain I wasn't nearly as energetic or social. I can see how some readers may find her annoying, but to me her unique character and nature make her a well rounded being that I can follow without being thrown some unsuspecting curve about their personality. She's consistent thus far, and the way she handles her situations are much the same. Like any child she gets bored easily and could spend hours trying to figure something out if it comes down to it, as Lyra learned to use the Alethiometer when she was stuck up in her cabin.
The story reminds me a lot of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, only it doesn't start in a familiar world but goes straight into the alternative. For whatever reason, it's easy to accept the norms in Lyra's world, for they make these fantastical things seem normal enough. For instance, and a strong one at that, there are the daemons. If only one or several chose characters had creatures like these, they would be all the more fascinating and peculiar, but because everyone in this world seems to have them and someone who doesn't possess one is more likely to receive a reaction, you begin to grow used to it like the concept of ambaric power being their energy source rather than electricity or oil. Her world, like Tolkiens, becomes one that you wish to learn more of for the sake of catching on to the 'norm' of their universe. The way this book is written, all this is relatively simple to follow. The only thing I have yet to know much about is the Magistrate, but I'm sure that will be touched upon further in the second part of this volume.
All I can add right now is that so far it's a very interesting story, I will continue reading it, and I will likely read through the other two books as well if the story remains just as decent. It never ceases to keep my attention and so far it has my 9.5/10 sort of rating, which is high considering that I never have given anything a 10/10, except for maybe The Lord of the Rings trilogy or Brave New World and 1984.
I'll update this again once I'm through with the story.
-Peace out.
-Update-
Halfway through the first volume! I love this book!
Finally a book I can't seem to put down. It's rather unfortunate that I got around to reading it in a rush to catch up with the class, but the story is written clearly enough that I didn't need to do a lot of double-taking.
As discussed in class the week this book was meant for, Pullman wrote the character Lyra like an actual child. She has the same short attention span, same ambiguous morality, and the same sort of quirks any child like her might have had. She has a morbid curiosity as if death doesn't sink in with her {as it doesn't quite do for many children}. She is impatient and like a child, loves to tell stories and make things up to make them sound ten times more interesting. She gets angry and disobeys elders or their rules frequently, but she is ultimately a good girl with good intentions, if not just a little too adventurous. Reading about her and her actions reminds me of how I was like as a kid, though I know for certain I wasn't nearly as energetic or social. I can see how some readers may find her annoying, but to me her unique character and nature make her a well rounded being that I can follow without being thrown some unsuspecting curve about their personality. She's consistent thus far, and the way she handles her situations are much the same. Like any child she gets bored easily and could spend hours trying to figure something out if it comes down to it, as Lyra learned to use the Alethiometer when she was stuck up in her cabin.
The story reminds me a lot of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, only it doesn't start in a familiar world but goes straight into the alternative. For whatever reason, it's easy to accept the norms in Lyra's world, for they make these fantastical things seem normal enough. For instance, and a strong one at that, there are the daemons. If only one or several chose characters had creatures like these, they would be all the more fascinating and peculiar, but because everyone in this world seems to have them and someone who doesn't possess one is more likely to receive a reaction, you begin to grow used to it like the concept of ambaric power being their energy source rather than electricity or oil. Her world, like Tolkiens, becomes one that you wish to learn more of for the sake of catching on to the 'norm' of their universe. The way this book is written, all this is relatively simple to follow. The only thing I have yet to know much about is the Magistrate, but I'm sure that will be touched upon further in the second part of this volume.
All I can add right now is that so far it's a very interesting story, I will continue reading it, and I will likely read through the other two books as well if the story remains just as decent. It never ceases to keep my attention and so far it has my 9.5/10 sort of rating, which is high considering that I never have given anything a 10/10, except for maybe The Lord of the Rings trilogy or Brave New World and 1984.
I'll update this again once I'm through with the story.
-Peace out.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Moral: Dwarves are disposable now?
No, I didn't have the time to re-read The Hobbit, even the annotated version of it. I read up to the beginning of the musical excursion before I realized how far behind I was in everything else. What I did do, considering that I read this book about nine years ago, was watch the animated Hobbit movie from the seventies {I think}.
It brought a lot to memory in just the span of an hour and a half.
The first thing I found myself thinking was that Gandalf ruined so many lives that he deserves a metal. Not only did he pick on a hobbit who was leading a decent life before the old wizard showed up, but he rallied up a group of dwarves to come along {all of who might as well have been named after Snow White's seven} who all ended up giving their lives at the end of the story because Tolkien didn't think that a super-special-awesome ending should have been resorted to. Don't get me wrong, it's an epic fantasy; it's a lot better than some of the other fantasy stories I read and you can tell Tolkien really takes his time to make Middle Earth seem like a real place that we all probably just forgot about. When I was a kid, I rather liked the story and I didn't question anything that happened.
But now that I'm older, I realize that had Gandalf left Bilbo to his devices, he would have grown up none the wiser, hobbits would have continued to be the merry little folk on the plains, the one ring that caused epic battles to break out would have still been lost underground with the wrinkled old monster-hobbit, the dwares wouldn't have all died, there would have been no war over the gold, and Smaug was still be alive and kicking.
In all honesty, I'm just looking for things to complain about, but The Hobbit is actually a really great story. I mean, I give it a 9.5 out of 10, which is saying something. I would have given it a 10, but my only real qualm about it is that it's not entirely obvious what audience it's geared for. At first you'd call it a children's story, but I first read this book when I was 11 or 12 and I had to stop every ten minutes to ask my dad what this or that meant. I wasn't a remedial child or anything, but without him I would have misunderstood a portion of what was going on. It also doesn't seem like I could fully appreciate the wonder and adventure the older I got, though if I might have read the book while I was 15 I might have actually found it a comfortable read.
So maybe it was just the time and the place. I'm not as upset about all the dwarves being killed off at the end and frankly neither was Tolkien because he made a slew of new characters for Lord of the Rings and oddly enough only one member of the Fellowship died despite the fact that the journey had a LOT MORE GOING ON than Bilbo's. I just have to point out that the timing was off. Bilbo tricks the dragon after a journey that has been thusfar filled with danger but not enough to kill anyone and then suddenly the men are fighting the dwarves over the leftover gold just at the end and everyone practically dies. Gandalf's like "Oops, well I better take Bilbo home and sort out this mess...later." But other than that, I can fully appreciate this story.
-Peace out
It brought a lot to memory in just the span of an hour and a half.
The first thing I found myself thinking was that Gandalf ruined so many lives that he deserves a metal. Not only did he pick on a hobbit who was leading a decent life before the old wizard showed up, but he rallied up a group of dwarves to come along {all of who might as well have been named after Snow White's seven} who all ended up giving their lives at the end of the story because Tolkien didn't think that a super-special-awesome ending should have been resorted to. Don't get me wrong, it's an epic fantasy; it's a lot better than some of the other fantasy stories I read and you can tell Tolkien really takes his time to make Middle Earth seem like a real place that we all probably just forgot about. When I was a kid, I rather liked the story and I didn't question anything that happened.
But now that I'm older, I realize that had Gandalf left Bilbo to his devices, he would have grown up none the wiser, hobbits would have continued to be the merry little folk on the plains, the one ring that caused epic battles to break out would have still been lost underground with the wrinkled old monster-hobbit, the dwares wouldn't have all died, there would have been no war over the gold, and Smaug was still be alive and kicking.
In all honesty, I'm just looking for things to complain about, but The Hobbit is actually a really great story. I mean, I give it a 9.5 out of 10, which is saying something. I would have given it a 10, but my only real qualm about it is that it's not entirely obvious what audience it's geared for. At first you'd call it a children's story, but I first read this book when I was 11 or 12 and I had to stop every ten minutes to ask my dad what this or that meant. I wasn't a remedial child or anything, but without him I would have misunderstood a portion of what was going on. It also doesn't seem like I could fully appreciate the wonder and adventure the older I got, though if I might have read the book while I was 15 I might have actually found it a comfortable read.
So maybe it was just the time and the place. I'm not as upset about all the dwarves being killed off at the end and frankly neither was Tolkien because he made a slew of new characters for Lord of the Rings and oddly enough only one member of the Fellowship died despite the fact that the journey had a LOT MORE GOING ON than Bilbo's. I just have to point out that the timing was off. Bilbo tricks the dragon after a journey that has been thusfar filled with danger but not enough to kill anyone and then suddenly the men are fighting the dwarves over the leftover gold just at the end and everyone practically dies. Gandalf's like "Oops, well I better take Bilbo home and sort out this mess...later." But other than that, I can fully appreciate this story.
-Peace out
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Who You Gonna Call?
This is where the interview for A Wild Sheep Chase will be going. I think it's about a ghost.
-Update-
Half way through.
So...much...filler...
Japanese Hemmingway.
Brain meltingly...dull.
But at least something's finally going on.
-Finished-
This is probably one of the most painful books I have ever read.
I'm pretty sure there's some existential theme going on or something, I'm not sure, I couldn't quite concentrate on the story. This story would have been several times more interesting if massive chunks of this book never made it to print. The writer Murakami must have had some sort of word limit he had to reach in order to publish his story, because there is so much in the way of unnecessary filler that focusing on the actual plot is frustrating.
I guess I will try to point out some of the things I noticed, but it only makes my argument all the more valid. This is a boring book. No one has any names; the cat gets a name, but that's just another bit of unnecessary filler we have to contend with. No one matters then, none of the characters have proper names, the main character is incredibly dull and mediocre, and the interesting bits in the book are immediately followed by detailed descriptions of the man doing this or that {both of which are never interesting undertakings}. If one were to remove all the pointless filler in the story, it would actually be a fun bit to read. It might not have gotten all the recognition for metaphors, symbols, and meanings in the story, but it wouldn't have been so unspeakably boring enough to make you forget what all those metaphors and such were in the first place.
They touch on way too much. It's like Murakami is contemplating the meaning of life, religion, humanity, sheep, and everything else he feels like bringing up when all you want is to move along and find out what's so important about the sheep and what everything else has to do with it. Maybe the book is intentionally written to be dull. There was this one review I read of the story when I got halfway through it {thinking that there MUST have been some negative criticism for this story} that said the way it's written is like waking out of a dream. I agree. Because I fell asleep a few times while reading the story.
While the mystery itself is intriguing, as well as the Rat, the Sheep Man, and the Man in Black Suit fellows {that make up the only dialogue I like in the story}, the narrator has to describe every little detail of his every action and he has to put up with so many unnecessary conversations along the way. And what was the point of that woman with the seductive ears? What was she on about? Was it ever explained? No. Not really. She just enters the story, acts strangely, says strange little things, and disappears. Maybe she's an extension of the Rat/Ghost/Sheep thing? I don't care. It's not explained and her character bothered me anyways.
In the end, the main character lost everything and doesn't care because he didn't think he had anything to lose in the first place. He was used, abused, and even lead on a wild goose chase that makes you as a reader wonder why you spent numerous hours reading. I hate to be a hater, which makes me a hater, but I give this book a 2/10. While the mystery was intriguing, it was written in such an insipid style and manner that I could hardly read through it and process it.
-Peace Out
-Update-
Half way through.
So...much...filler...
Japanese Hemmingway.
Brain meltingly...dull.
But at least something's finally going on.
-Finished-
This is probably one of the most painful books I have ever read.
I'm pretty sure there's some existential theme going on or something, I'm not sure, I couldn't quite concentrate on the story. This story would have been several times more interesting if massive chunks of this book never made it to print. The writer Murakami must have had some sort of word limit he had to reach in order to publish his story, because there is so much in the way of unnecessary filler that focusing on the actual plot is frustrating.
I guess I will try to point out some of the things I noticed, but it only makes my argument all the more valid. This is a boring book. No one has any names; the cat gets a name, but that's just another bit of unnecessary filler we have to contend with. No one matters then, none of the characters have proper names, the main character is incredibly dull and mediocre, and the interesting bits in the book are immediately followed by detailed descriptions of the man doing this or that {both of which are never interesting undertakings}. If one were to remove all the pointless filler in the story, it would actually be a fun bit to read. It might not have gotten all the recognition for metaphors, symbols, and meanings in the story, but it wouldn't have been so unspeakably boring enough to make you forget what all those metaphors and such were in the first place.
They touch on way too much. It's like Murakami is contemplating the meaning of life, religion, humanity, sheep, and everything else he feels like bringing up when all you want is to move along and find out what's so important about the sheep and what everything else has to do with it. Maybe the book is intentionally written to be dull. There was this one review I read of the story when I got halfway through it {thinking that there MUST have been some negative criticism for this story} that said the way it's written is like waking out of a dream. I agree. Because I fell asleep a few times while reading the story.
While the mystery itself is intriguing, as well as the Rat, the Sheep Man, and the Man in Black Suit fellows {that make up the only dialogue I like in the story}, the narrator has to describe every little detail of his every action and he has to put up with so many unnecessary conversations along the way. And what was the point of that woman with the seductive ears? What was she on about? Was it ever explained? No. Not really. She just enters the story, acts strangely, says strange little things, and disappears. Maybe she's an extension of the Rat/Ghost/Sheep thing? I don't care. It's not explained and her character bothered me anyways.
In the end, the main character lost everything and doesn't care because he didn't think he had anything to lose in the first place. He was used, abused, and even lead on a wild goose chase that makes you as a reader wonder why you spent numerous hours reading. I hate to be a hater, which makes me a hater, but I give this book a 2/10. While the mystery was intriguing, it was written in such an insipid style and manner that I could hardly read through it and process it.
-Peace Out
Monday, January 25, 2010
Vampires: Scary Monsters? Or Super Creeps?
This section is reserved for Interview with a Vampire. I have not gotten around to reading it yet.
Update: Finished! Finally.
Lots of drama, for one. I detected that homoeroticism everyone was mentioning. Anyways, like anything I read I focus deeply on both character and plot and both elements provided and provided well.
I most admired the main character, Louis, though I found his relationship with Claudia to be rather strange. They are like father and daughter, and yet at the same time their relationship nearly reaches the level of 'lovers' without the actual love-making. Still, aside from that queer relation, Louis was a character that was obviously made to relate to the reader. He thinks most human-like of all the vampires, even after years roll by. Unlike Lestat, he does not take to feeding off of people easily at first and it never quite becomes an easy task later on.
Yet I felt bad for Lestat, despite him being the reason why everyone's lives went to crap. He obviously had his own demons to contend with; he pushed everyone away yet he could not bear being alone. He's that sort of character you wish he simply died by a happy accident but because he's still alive every single time you think he died, you start wanting him to die by any means necessary. You might like him, but he's obviously getting in the way of things and you want him to stop.
They {and I mean Claudia and Louis} get away from him long enough to get on a boat. This is what I don't understand though. They don't get caught. I can't buy the bull that they fed off of rats and the occasional human without arousing suspicion. No one even thought people could be getting poisoned? No one wondered why the frail little girl wasn't among the first to die when a fever's about?
Needless to say, I'm one of those people that can't just take some ambiguous explanation that doesn't fully answer my questions as an answer {which would explain my extreme frustration watching a show like Lost}. I get over it, but in the end it takes away from the experience of being drawn into Rice's world.
I also did see all that religious contemplation we talked about. This woman was obviously Catholic or raised Catholic before she started to slip into doubts and began writing pornos and books about vampires questioning their existence. I can tell that Louis my just be that one character that is a reflection of herself. Claudia is sort of that alter-ego that's not afraid to challenge. Lestat is that inner contempt and fear of hers. Something like all that; I'm no psychologist or psychoanalyst or whatever.
The book was an interesting read, but I liked the movie more {and I can't believe I'm saying that}. I have a hard time getting into the story when it's being told in third-third person. In the movie, you see the interviewer once in a great while. In the story, he's interrupting Louis every other minute. I know that the movie may not convey enough intimacy between the boy and the vampire, but isn't there enough intimacy in this story already? On a scale of 1-10, this book still rates rather high. I'd give it an 8.5. It held my interest, but I'm not all that into romance and if I want to read something scary, I certainly wouldn't be this. I don't care for the issues it brings up such as 'does God/Satan really exist?' and 'am I a monster because I eat people?' because the story itself just seems like an account by some tired old vampire who's trying to scare some thought into some silly little interviewer man.
Going to check AWSC from the library, if it's there. Fortunately I recently read The Hobbit, so I'll probably just watched the animated movie to recap before I type up a review for that.
-Peace out.
Update: Finished! Finally.
Lots of drama, for one. I detected that homoeroticism everyone was mentioning. Anyways, like anything I read I focus deeply on both character and plot and both elements provided and provided well.
I most admired the main character, Louis, though I found his relationship with Claudia to be rather strange. They are like father and daughter, and yet at the same time their relationship nearly reaches the level of 'lovers' without the actual love-making. Still, aside from that queer relation, Louis was a character that was obviously made to relate to the reader. He thinks most human-like of all the vampires, even after years roll by. Unlike Lestat, he does not take to feeding off of people easily at first and it never quite becomes an easy task later on.
Yet I felt bad for Lestat, despite him being the reason why everyone's lives went to crap. He obviously had his own demons to contend with; he pushed everyone away yet he could not bear being alone. He's that sort of character you wish he simply died by a happy accident but because he's still alive every single time you think he died, you start wanting him to die by any means necessary. You might like him, but he's obviously getting in the way of things and you want him to stop.
They {and I mean Claudia and Louis} get away from him long enough to get on a boat. This is what I don't understand though. They don't get caught. I can't buy the bull that they fed off of rats and the occasional human without arousing suspicion. No one even thought people could be getting poisoned? No one wondered why the frail little girl wasn't among the first to die when a fever's about?
Needless to say, I'm one of those people that can't just take some ambiguous explanation that doesn't fully answer my questions as an answer {which would explain my extreme frustration watching a show like Lost}. I get over it, but in the end it takes away from the experience of being drawn into Rice's world.
I also did see all that religious contemplation we talked about. This woman was obviously Catholic or raised Catholic before she started to slip into doubts and began writing pornos and books about vampires questioning their existence. I can tell that Louis my just be that one character that is a reflection of herself. Claudia is sort of that alter-ego that's not afraid to challenge. Lestat is that inner contempt and fear of hers. Something like all that; I'm no psychologist or psychoanalyst or whatever.
The book was an interesting read, but I liked the movie more {and I can't believe I'm saying that}. I have a hard time getting into the story when it's being told in third-third person. In the movie, you see the interviewer once in a great while. In the story, he's interrupting Louis every other minute. I know that the movie may not convey enough intimacy between the boy and the vampire, but isn't there enough intimacy in this story already? On a scale of 1-10, this book still rates rather high. I'd give it an 8.5. It held my interest, but I'm not all that into romance and if I want to read something scary, I certainly wouldn't be this. I don't care for the issues it brings up such as 'does God/Satan really exist?' and 'am I a monster because I eat people?' because the story itself just seems like an account by some tired old vampire who's trying to scare some thought into some silly little interviewer man.
Going to check AWSC from the library, if it's there. Fortunately I recently read The Hobbit, so I'll probably just watched the animated movie to recap before I type up a review for that.
-Peace out.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and AWESOME?
Read the first three chapters. So far I like it more than the original Jane Austin story, but it's practically the same thing with random zombie action. It's still sort of funny, but you can't quite mask the boring. I still harbor no interest in the relationships.
------
UPDATE
Read success.
A lot more boring than I thought it'd be. Essentially, it was just as I had noticed from the first three chapters--it's the same story I read {or rather read half of} five years ago and I still hate it. The zombies and ninja action were the only highlights. In fact, when I get the chance, I'm going back and whiting out anything that doesn't have to do with zombies or the fighting of zombies and perhaps by then I'll be able to read this story without feeling my boredom irk me so often. Maybe it might work, come of think of it.
But as I said before, my attention kept drifting. It's not like your traditional horror story because it feels way too much like the extra bits were practically copy-pasted in. In a traditional horror story, the mood is set, the people are adjusted to the mood, and nothing else is more important than survival. Meanwhile, in PaPaZ, the mother is still trying to get her daughters married during a zombie invasion. In every and any situation involving zombies, people don't give a damn about marriage. I mean, sure, if their husband's being attacked by the undead, by all means, flip out. But to worry about getting hitched when flesh puppets are dancing the Earth? I can't see it.
I'm one of those sorts that have a very flexible view on zombies themselves. I'm willing to accept the Rage Virus rabies-people into the mix as well as the undead. As long as the individual has no control of his or her actions, only has strength in numbers, is sort of dull in the intelligence department, and craves brains, then that person's a zombie. I guess.
Personally, I make sure I'm prepared for zombies, should they ever be a problem. I make sure I know where the safest rooms are in whichever house I stay in and what sort of long blunt objects I could use as a weapon. You never know, really. If it never happens then what'dya know? I have a plan to defend myself in case of the more common home invasion.
I haven't read Interview with a Vampire yet, but I shall soon. I do not own a copy and so I must get a hold of one. Until then...
-Peace out.
------
UPDATE
Read success.
A lot more boring than I thought it'd be. Essentially, it was just as I had noticed from the first three chapters--it's the same story I read {or rather read half of} five years ago and I still hate it. The zombies and ninja action were the only highlights. In fact, when I get the chance, I'm going back and whiting out anything that doesn't have to do with zombies or the fighting of zombies and perhaps by then I'll be able to read this story without feeling my boredom irk me so often. Maybe it might work, come of think of it.
But as I said before, my attention kept drifting. It's not like your traditional horror story because it feels way too much like the extra bits were practically copy-pasted in. In a traditional horror story, the mood is set, the people are adjusted to the mood, and nothing else is more important than survival. Meanwhile, in PaPaZ, the mother is still trying to get her daughters married during a zombie invasion. In every and any situation involving zombies, people don't give a damn about marriage. I mean, sure, if their husband's being attacked by the undead, by all means, flip out. But to worry about getting hitched when flesh puppets are dancing the Earth? I can't see it.
I'm one of those sorts that have a very flexible view on zombies themselves. I'm willing to accept the Rage Virus rabies-people into the mix as well as the undead. As long as the individual has no control of his or her actions, only has strength in numbers, is sort of dull in the intelligence department, and craves brains, then that person's a zombie. I guess.
Personally, I make sure I'm prepared for zombies, should they ever be a problem. I make sure I know where the safest rooms are in whichever house I stay in and what sort of long blunt objects I could use as a weapon. You never know, really. If it never happens then what'dya know? I have a plan to defend myself in case of the more common home invasion.
I haven't read Interview with a Vampire yet, but I shall soon. I do not own a copy and so I must get a hold of one. Until then...
-Peace out.
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