#11 The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Hmm. I could have sworn I've read this before. Misunderstood boy labeled as "troubled" when he's actually "special." Enlists the help of his two friends (smart girl and a boy who provides the laughs) to fight the baddies and save the world. Wait, his name isn't Harry Potter? He's not a wizard but a demigod? Oh and his parents are alive this time? Okay.
I'm part of the Harry Potter generation. I pretty much grew up with Harry, Hermione and Ron. I started reading the books when I was in sixth grade and the final book came out a few days after my 20th birthday. I'll be reading them until my eyes can no longer see. When that time comes, I'll listen to the audiobooks (I already have The Deathly Hallows). The books are that precious to me.
I'm not trying to be bitchy or put Riordan down, but I don't think the Percy Jackson series will ever reach such heights, despite its glaring similarities to the Harry Potter series. The novel lacked depth. J.K. Rowling spoiled us. Sure, kids can still grow up reading Harry Potter, but he's "ours" as one of my friends put it. Kids no longer have to wait for the next installment of the series. Who dies in what book is no longer the biggest secret ever. It's just different.
Maybe I don't understand this generation's young readers. Perhaps they're all sufferers of ADHD who can't deal with a build-up, it's just action action action. Do they like predictability and lack of emotion? I hope not.
But wait, I'm reviewing The Lightning Thief. My bad.
Percy Jackson has never lasted more than one year in the same school. He's a troublemaker. He's dyslexic and has ADHD (or so he thinks) and has thus decided he's not cut out for academics so no use in trying. After a series of events, he discovers that he is a demigod and finds himself at Camp Half-Blood where all the bastard offspring of gods and humans reside and train for quests that will make them heroes. Of course Percy is a little more special than the rest of these demigod children because his daddy is one of the more important and powerful gods. So within a few weeks in Camp Half-Blood, Percy goes out on a quest to halt World War III.
There were parts I liked and didn't like. I give Riordan low marks (I've been watching too much of the Olympics) for failing to invoke any kind of emotion within me. There are some pretty traumatizing events in the book, but they didn't mean anything to me. I hate to draw comparisons to Harry Potter again, but that series had the ability to turn me into a blubbering mess. The action sequences were fun, but I still held doubts over Percy's ability to fight big mean monsters after just a few weeks of training at camp. He's 12 years old. I don't care whether he's a demigod or not, but 12 year olds shouldn't just be like "WHAM PAM MONSTER I'LL KILL YOU."
The book is quick and painless. I never found myself cringing or screaming at the book. It's a good read if you're 10, even though we are dealing with bastard offspring of gods and humans. Alas, I'm 22 and the book just doesn't have the ability to transcend age groups (unlike Harry Potter, yet again). I'm semi-interested in reading the rest of the series for entertainment's sake and also to see how the whole gods and humans story unfolds. BUT I know there are better books out there and I don't think I need this series in my life.
I've already got Harry Potter to fill the void for kids with special abilities who get themselves into mischief. And it fills the void quite well.
23 February 2010
11 February 2010
"C'est quelqu'un qui m'a dit que tu m'aimais encore"
#10 The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Kate Chopin's The Awakening caused quite the uproar when it was first published in 1899. Sacre bleu!, a wife and mother who does not want to bear the responsibility of being a wife and mother in turn of the century New Orleans.
I love this book because my AP English teacher shared it with my class in 12th grade. She told us how she broke up with her long-term boyfriend after reading this book because she, too, wanted an awakening such as Edna Pontellier's. My teacher eventually got married to this boyfriend and had a bunch of kids, but that goes to say that this book instilled feminist feelings within me too.
Edna Pontellier is a young wife and mother who is vacationing with her family off the coast of New Orleans. She's not like every other doting wife and mother in 1899 New Orleans. There she meets Robert Lebrun, the resort owner's son. And while her way thinking is already different from all the other wives and mothers of the time, she has an awakening during her time with Robert. She doesn't want to bear the burden of having a family. She wants to be able to love Robert, freely.
Once Edna starts to think about Robert more, she tells her friend, Adele Ratignolle, that she would never sacrifice herself for her children. Adele, the quintessential wife and mother, vehemently disagrees with her. Edna says that she would gladly sacrifice the "unessential" - her life, money, material things, but not the essential. Well what is essential if life is considered unessential? I took it as her livelihood, her happiness. I suppose it's one thing to give your life for your children's well being as opposed to suffering in a loveless marriage for them. It's a fine line and even though I think I understand Edna's point of view, I'm not entirely sure of it.
While the book is fairly short at 150 pages, it still manages to convey plenty of emotions and vivid descriptions. The book made me think both times I read it, as a high school senior and five years later as a 22 year old. It makes you wonder about your role as a woman (wife, mother), and even though this book is more than a century old, there's still plenty to draw from it. Sure, it's considered socially acceptable if you choose not to get married and pop out kids every few years. But I'll be damned if I'm the only one who has been told "I was married and already pregnant at your age!" or that I should have a man in my life because it's "right" and it's what I "need" as a woman.
I know a few people who hate this book and the hatred is largely manifested in the book's ending. I liked it and thought it was appropriate. I guess that's what separates the Edna Pontelliers from the Adele Ratignolles.
Kate Chopin's The Awakening caused quite the uproar when it was first published in 1899. Sacre bleu!, a wife and mother who does not want to bear the responsibility of being a wife and mother in turn of the century New Orleans.
I love this book because my AP English teacher shared it with my class in 12th grade. She told us how she broke up with her long-term boyfriend after reading this book because she, too, wanted an awakening such as Edna Pontellier's. My teacher eventually got married to this boyfriend and had a bunch of kids, but that goes to say that this book instilled feminist feelings within me too.
Edna Pontellier is a young wife and mother who is vacationing with her family off the coast of New Orleans. She's not like every other doting wife and mother in 1899 New Orleans. There she meets Robert Lebrun, the resort owner's son. And while her way thinking is already different from all the other wives and mothers of the time, she has an awakening during her time with Robert. She doesn't want to bear the burden of having a family. She wants to be able to love Robert, freely.
Once Edna starts to think about Robert more, she tells her friend, Adele Ratignolle, that she would never sacrifice herself for her children. Adele, the quintessential wife and mother, vehemently disagrees with her. Edna says that she would gladly sacrifice the "unessential" - her life, money, material things, but not the essential. Well what is essential if life is considered unessential? I took it as her livelihood, her happiness. I suppose it's one thing to give your life for your children's well being as opposed to suffering in a loveless marriage for them. It's a fine line and even though I think I understand Edna's point of view, I'm not entirely sure of it.
While the book is fairly short at 150 pages, it still manages to convey plenty of emotions and vivid descriptions. The book made me think both times I read it, as a high school senior and five years later as a 22 year old. It makes you wonder about your role as a woman (wife, mother), and even though this book is more than a century old, there's still plenty to draw from it. Sure, it's considered socially acceptable if you choose not to get married and pop out kids every few years. But I'll be damned if I'm the only one who has been told "I was married and already pregnant at your age!" or that I should have a man in my life because it's "right" and it's what I "need" as a woman.
I know a few people who hate this book and the hatred is largely manifested in the book's ending. I liked it and thought it was appropriate. I guess that's what separates the Edna Pontelliers from the Adele Ratignolles.
10 February 2010
The Destination / We Reached It Now We're Feeling Worse
#9 The Have-Nots (Die Habenichtse) by Katharina Hacker
I expected a lot of things out of this book and finished it feeling empty.
The Have-Nots received the 2006 German Book Award for best novel and I found it difficult to see why. With every turn of the page, I kept thinking to myself, "Okay, it's gonna get good now." Then the book was done. It never got good. It never seemed worthy of a prize to me. Fine, it's well written, I'll give it that much, but it surely did not live up to my expectations.
Perhaps I misinterpreted the synopsis when it told me that the novel focused on how the characters' lives were affected by September 11, 2001. How 9/11 changed how they looked at the world. Maybe it's because I live less than 10 miles from New York City, but 9/11 affected me far more than it did the characters. It's background noise to them. Mentioning a terrorist alert or being more observant of Arabs made it a stretch to show how 9/11 altered their perceptions.
The book is more of a commentary on those who have and those who don't. There are three plot lines that eventually interweave with one another. There's Isabelle and Jakob, a yuppie couple from Berlin who move to London for Jakob's career. They go to London instead of Jakob's colleague because he dies in the World Trade Center on 9/11. In that respect, you can say that 9/11 is a catalyst for Jakob and Isabelle. Their first date just so happens to be on 9/11. 9/11 happens to be the reason why they move to London and their lives change. But I feel as though their lives change on their own accord. The other two story lines focus on a drug dealer and a violent family with an autistic child - Isabella and Jakob's neighbors in London.
I found the book infuriating. The characters were frustrating and unlikeable. Just when I thought a character could be redeemed, something else went awry. I didn't understand what was going on at times because of the descriptions. Hacker (or the english translator) doesn't mind beating around the bush. And this may sound off, but the book was very German. I've decided I can say this because I'm half-German and have spent a considerable amount of time in Germany. There's a kind of... unapologetic bluntness surrounded the characters. They're not good people and Hacker doesn't try to make them seem like good people.
For instance, Isabelle is an enigma and not in a good way. She follows Jakob to London because why not go with Jakob to London? There's one moment toward the end of the novel when another character says to her, "You're like a black hole, anything can be poured into you and it vanishes without a trace. Nothing shows in your face..." to show how unaffected she is by everything. She's going through the motions in a manner that's so frustrating. She does what she does because... well... why not?
I've been looking forward to reading this book for a long time. I thought it would be a commentary on 9/11 and how it affected those outside of the NYC/Washington DC bubble. How 9/11 was viewed from an international perspective. But it wasn't. It was just a novel about stupid people. Whether or not they're privileged, they lead ugly lives.
Very disappointed.
I expected a lot of things out of this book and finished it feeling empty.
The Have-Nots received the 2006 German Book Award for best novel and I found it difficult to see why. With every turn of the page, I kept thinking to myself, "Okay, it's gonna get good now." Then the book was done. It never got good. It never seemed worthy of a prize to me. Fine, it's well written, I'll give it that much, but it surely did not live up to my expectations.
Perhaps I misinterpreted the synopsis when it told me that the novel focused on how the characters' lives were affected by September 11, 2001. How 9/11 changed how they looked at the world. Maybe it's because I live less than 10 miles from New York City, but 9/11 affected me far more than it did the characters. It's background noise to them. Mentioning a terrorist alert or being more observant of Arabs made it a stretch to show how 9/11 altered their perceptions.
The book is more of a commentary on those who have and those who don't. There are three plot lines that eventually interweave with one another. There's Isabelle and Jakob, a yuppie couple from Berlin who move to London for Jakob's career. They go to London instead of Jakob's colleague because he dies in the World Trade Center on 9/11. In that respect, you can say that 9/11 is a catalyst for Jakob and Isabelle. Their first date just so happens to be on 9/11. 9/11 happens to be the reason why they move to London and their lives change. But I feel as though their lives change on their own accord. The other two story lines focus on a drug dealer and a violent family with an autistic child - Isabella and Jakob's neighbors in London.
I found the book infuriating. The characters were frustrating and unlikeable. Just when I thought a character could be redeemed, something else went awry. I didn't understand what was going on at times because of the descriptions. Hacker (or the english translator) doesn't mind beating around the bush. And this may sound off, but the book was very German. I've decided I can say this because I'm half-German and have spent a considerable amount of time in Germany. There's a kind of... unapologetic bluntness surrounded the characters. They're not good people and Hacker doesn't try to make them seem like good people.
For instance, Isabelle is an enigma and not in a good way. She follows Jakob to London because why not go with Jakob to London? There's one moment toward the end of the novel when another character says to her, "You're like a black hole, anything can be poured into you and it vanishes without a trace. Nothing shows in your face..." to show how unaffected she is by everything. She's going through the motions in a manner that's so frustrating. She does what she does because... well... why not?
I've been looking forward to reading this book for a long time. I thought it would be a commentary on 9/11 and how it affected those outside of the NYC/Washington DC bubble. How 9/11 was viewed from an international perspective. But it wasn't. It was just a novel about stupid people. Whether or not they're privileged, they lead ugly lives.
Very disappointed.
22 January 2010
I'm in the War of My Life / At the Core of My Life / Got No Choice But to Fight 'Til It's Done
#8 - Open by Andre Agassi
I've often said (semi-jokingly) that my future children would be tennis and/or soccer prodigies. Put that tennis racket in their hands around the time they start walking. Learn how to kick a soccer ball once they learn how to stand up straight.
But upon reading Andre Agassi's very candid autobiography, Open, I have had a change of heart.
Dear children that don't even have a chance of existing at the moment,
I am sorry. I take it back. I take it all back! You don't have to play a sport unless you want to. You don't need to be a prodigy and turn pro before you hit puberty. Play with your Barbies and Ninja Turtles, please.
--
I vaguely remember watching tennis in my house while I was growing up. My parents would watch the US Open while I played with my toys. I didn't care for it. Yet I remember Agassi's lion mane of hair, can you believe that? Tell me to think of one tennis moment from the early 90s and Agassi's bleached mullet and acid wash jean shorts imeddiately pop into my mind. He's even an icon to my 5 year old Barbie playing self.
I must say that Andre Agassi's book Open attracted publicity for all the wrong reasons. The focus should not be on how he wore a wig to hide his baldness in his early 20s, or how he had a problem with crystal meth and lied to the ATP about his failed drug test. Those are the sensationalized aspects that got the attention of the non-tennis fan. But the book is so much more than these these outrageous aspects of his life that require only a few pages (out of the 385 pages) to explain.
It's about how a man who detested the life he was forced into eventually came to terms with it. He learned to respect tennis and appreciate all the doors it opened for him. That is what is most striking about the book.
The book begins when he is 7 years old, battling the "dragon," or the tennis ball machine that his father crafted. Mike Agassi undertakes the infamous role of father living vicariously through his child's experiences. Except he takes it to a whole new level. Andre hits thousands of balls a day and is told that he'll hit one million balls a year. "?!?!?" is all I can really say to that. If my parents ever dared to drag me away from the Disney channel or my Skip-It to hit a thousand balls in one day, I can only say that it would not end well. Tears would be shed. Parents would get bitten.
Agassi provides the reader with a thorough and candid look into his life as a tennis player and a human being, tracing back to his childhood and going all the way to his retirement at the 2006 US Open at the age of 36. It's painful and embarrassing to read at times. He's not shy about giving details about his less than perfect family life or the difficult times he faced as a tennis player. He's not afraid to discuss the gritty details about his relationship with father or to say less than flattering things about his peers in the tennis world. Considered to be a private person, he lets loose about his marriage (and divorce) to Brooke Shields as well the fairytale-esque way he courted Steffi Graf, his wife (soulmate).
While going through the motions, he eventually comes to terms with the path his father chose for him. He spends most of his young life rebelling against tennis and yet it provides him with his name in history books (one of the few male tennis players to win all 4 Grand Slams) and a wife that he cherishes, truly cherishes. The way he talks about Steffi Graf makes you think she can't actually be real. And it's beautiful to read about. He also finds a father figure in Gil Reyes, his trainer, and it's really special to see how their relationship progresses. Agassi has faith in Gil because Gil has faith in Agassi.
His private life provides the most poignant moments in the books, but his tennis life is worth mentioning, too. I enjoyed reading about his rivalries. Everyone thinks that Agassi's biggest rival is Pete Sampras. While that has some truth because you know, they're the top Americans, meeting in slam finals, yada yada, but Boris Becker is his most hated rival. Becker brings the rage out of Agassi. He's out for blood when he plays Becker and you feel it when you're reading the book. I, too, wanted to beat the crap out of Becker with an inside-out forehand and make him weep. Quite ironic how his most hated rival and the love of his life both hail from Germany.
Definitely thought this was a great read. Fine, I'm a tennis fanatic, but I definitely appreciate Agassi much more. I think people who care as much about tennis as they do about the color of their socks can appreciate Agassi's humanity.
I've seen short documentaries on ESPN and the Tennis Channel. I read a lot about his early years as he neared retirement. Now I finally heard it all from him and that makes the difference. He could have let us all believe in the facade he created. He didn't have to tell us about his anguish and heartache, both on and off the court. But he did and I'm grateful for it.
Being separated from your parents from the age of 12 doesn't make a kid's life the funnest life ever. Traveling the world 11 months out of the year isn't as luxurious as we think. Playing tennis isn't the easiest job in the world, even if you're only spending 3 or 4 hours a day in the "office." I didn't truly realize this until I read Agassi's book.
I hope my kids lack hand-eye coordination just like I do so that I don't get any ideas a la Mike Agassi. Barbies and Ninja Turtles, Barbies and Ninja Turtles.
I've often said (semi-jokingly) that my future children would be tennis and/or soccer prodigies. Put that tennis racket in their hands around the time they start walking. Learn how to kick a soccer ball once they learn how to stand up straight.
But upon reading Andre Agassi's very candid autobiography, Open, I have had a change of heart.
Dear children that don't even have a chance of existing at the moment,
I am sorry. I take it back. I take it all back! You don't have to play a sport unless you want to. You don't need to be a prodigy and turn pro before you hit puberty. Play with your Barbies and Ninja Turtles, please.
--
I vaguely remember watching tennis in my house while I was growing up. My parents would watch the US Open while I played with my toys. I didn't care for it. Yet I remember Agassi's lion mane of hair, can you believe that? Tell me to think of one tennis moment from the early 90s and Agassi's bleached mullet and acid wash jean shorts imeddiately pop into my mind. He's even an icon to my 5 year old Barbie playing self.
I must say that Andre Agassi's book Open attracted publicity for all the wrong reasons. The focus should not be on how he wore a wig to hide his baldness in his early 20s, or how he had a problem with crystal meth and lied to the ATP about his failed drug test. Those are the sensationalized aspects that got the attention of the non-tennis fan. But the book is so much more than these these outrageous aspects of his life that require only a few pages (out of the 385 pages) to explain.
It's about how a man who detested the life he was forced into eventually came to terms with it. He learned to respect tennis and appreciate all the doors it opened for him. That is what is most striking about the book.
The book begins when he is 7 years old, battling the "dragon," or the tennis ball machine that his father crafted. Mike Agassi undertakes the infamous role of father living vicariously through his child's experiences. Except he takes it to a whole new level. Andre hits thousands of balls a day and is told that he'll hit one million balls a year. "?!?!?" is all I can really say to that. If my parents ever dared to drag me away from the Disney channel or my Skip-It to hit a thousand balls in one day, I can only say that it would not end well. Tears would be shed. Parents would get bitten.
Agassi provides the reader with a thorough and candid look into his life as a tennis player and a human being, tracing back to his childhood and going all the way to his retirement at the 2006 US Open at the age of 36. It's painful and embarrassing to read at times. He's not shy about giving details about his less than perfect family life or the difficult times he faced as a tennis player. He's not afraid to discuss the gritty details about his relationship with father or to say less than flattering things about his peers in the tennis world. Considered to be a private person, he lets loose about his marriage (and divorce) to Brooke Shields as well the fairytale-esque way he courted Steffi Graf, his wife (soulmate).
While going through the motions, he eventually comes to terms with the path his father chose for him. He spends most of his young life rebelling against tennis and yet it provides him with his name in history books (one of the few male tennis players to win all 4 Grand Slams) and a wife that he cherishes, truly cherishes. The way he talks about Steffi Graf makes you think she can't actually be real. And it's beautiful to read about. He also finds a father figure in Gil Reyes, his trainer, and it's really special to see how their relationship progresses. Agassi has faith in Gil because Gil has faith in Agassi.
His private life provides the most poignant moments in the books, but his tennis life is worth mentioning, too. I enjoyed reading about his rivalries. Everyone thinks that Agassi's biggest rival is Pete Sampras. While that has some truth because you know, they're the top Americans, meeting in slam finals, yada yada, but Boris Becker is his most hated rival. Becker brings the rage out of Agassi. He's out for blood when he plays Becker and you feel it when you're reading the book. I, too, wanted to beat the crap out of Becker with an inside-out forehand and make him weep. Quite ironic how his most hated rival and the love of his life both hail from Germany.
Definitely thought this was a great read. Fine, I'm a tennis fanatic, but I definitely appreciate Agassi much more. I think people who care as much about tennis as they do about the color of their socks can appreciate Agassi's humanity.
I've seen short documentaries on ESPN and the Tennis Channel. I read a lot about his early years as he neared retirement. Now I finally heard it all from him and that makes the difference. He could have let us all believe in the facade he created. He didn't have to tell us about his anguish and heartache, both on and off the court. But he did and I'm grateful for it.
Being separated from your parents from the age of 12 doesn't make a kid's life the funnest life ever. Traveling the world 11 months out of the year isn't as luxurious as we think. Playing tennis isn't the easiest job in the world, even if you're only spending 3 or 4 hours a day in the "office." I didn't truly realize this until I read Agassi's book.
I hope my kids lack hand-eye coordination just like I do so that I don't get any ideas a la Mike Agassi. Barbies and Ninja Turtles, Barbies and Ninja Turtles.
21 January 2010
We're Gonna Dive into the Emptiness, We'll Be Swimming... When the World Ends
#7 - Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
Okay, first an admission of guilt. Despite my adoration for movies based on Jane Austen novels (Sense and Sensibility and both versions of Pride and Prejudice rank high on my top movies list), I have never completed a Jane Austen novel. My one attempt to read P and P was a failure, even though I was on a vacation without internet, television, AND it was too hot to go outside. I can appreciate Miss Austen's wit and humor within a movie, but it hasn't worked for me in book form.
But then Quirk Classics threw zombies and sea monsters into the mix and they were praised for it. So I said, "Okay, the books are on my list, I'll give it another go at some point," and forgot about them. And then I received both novels as a Christmas present and figured that I might as well read them since they were in my possession.
That said, I'm comparing Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters with what I know from Sense and Sensibility, the movie. Bad Jen, I know. My apologies to all the Austen diehards.
SSSM is what I'm calling it because I'm far too lazy to type the whole damn title out every time. SSSM takes the original Austen novel and basically throws sea monsters into the mix. At some point, something called the Alteration occurred, where sea monsters suddenly appeared and began terrorizing the people. The Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, are simply looking for love amidst the existence of sea monsters and how they have changed the world. I wish more time was spent on the Alteration, when it happened, what happened to the people when sea creatures became monsters, but since it's merely Sense and Sensibility PLUS sea monsters, there's no room for that to happen. The sea monsters are supposed to serve as background music to the Dashwood sisters' story.
For most the novel, the sea monster aspect has minimal impact. It affects the characters' lives, of course, but it was more to say, "Oh look, there's sea monsters!" without really changing the course of the story.
Despite this, I still found the sea monsters to be distracting to the overall story. I appreciate Austen for her ability to tell a love story, and I felt as though that got pushed aside a lot in SSSM. I'm familiar with Sense and Sensibility so I know how the story ends, but I found myself trying to guess how sea monsters would be integrated into the plot. Without spoiling SSSM I can say that Mr. Dashwood dies at the mouth of a shark, and not whatever illness he would have had in 19th century England. Instead of everyone enjoying a picnic outside and that's it, they enjoy the picnic and then some gets eaten by a hugeass jellyfish. Entertaining, but kind of unnecessary.
People die often due to the sea monsters and it's considered normal, a part of the food chain kind of deal, and that irked me. I wouldn't care how normal it was, if I were to see a women devoured by a hugeass jellyfish so that only her bones remained, I would be fucking scarred for life. Not only would I stay away from the ocean, but I probably would never bathe in water again in fear that a jellyfish would come out of the faucet.
Until the sisters go down to Sub-Station Beta (SSSM's bougie underwater kingdom that replaces London), I found that the only significant impact of the sea monster theme could be found in Colonel Brandon, Marianne's fervent admirer. Instead of just being far older than Marianne and far less appealing than Willoughby, he's got tentacles on his face. Squishy gooey tentacles. Poor man. But it helped in amplifying how undesirable he was to Marianne. Despite his polite and sensitive demeanor, a woman would still have to deal with his squishy tentacles. Call me shallow, but no thanks.
Despite my critique of adding in the sea monster theme, I still enjoyed the read. Winters added an extra amount of wit with the sea monsters. Something about Colonel Brandon's tentacle curse not only affecting his face made me giggle. I think that the alterations to the characters worked well. Mrs. Jennings and her daughters as island natives was successful, as was Mr. Palmer's surly demeanor due to his experiences out at sea. I didn't really care for Margaret's story line, because I didn't care for her in the original either. Her plot line just freaked me the hell out. The sea monsters worked best when their existence wasn't glaringly superfluous to the novel. Was Margaret and the Leviathan pertinent to the story? I'm not sure. I could have done without it.
Okay, first an admission of guilt. Despite my adoration for movies based on Jane Austen novels (Sense and Sensibility and both versions of Pride and Prejudice rank high on my top movies list), I have never completed a Jane Austen novel. My one attempt to read P and P was a failure, even though I was on a vacation without internet, television, AND it was too hot to go outside. I can appreciate Miss Austen's wit and humor within a movie, but it hasn't worked for me in book form.
But then Quirk Classics threw zombies and sea monsters into the mix and they were praised for it. So I said, "Okay, the books are on my list, I'll give it another go at some point," and forgot about them. And then I received both novels as a Christmas present and figured that I might as well read them since they were in my possession.
That said, I'm comparing Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters with what I know from Sense and Sensibility, the movie. Bad Jen, I know. My apologies to all the Austen diehards.
SSSM is what I'm calling it because I'm far too lazy to type the whole damn title out every time. SSSM takes the original Austen novel and basically throws sea monsters into the mix. At some point, something called the Alteration occurred, where sea monsters suddenly appeared and began terrorizing the people. The Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, are simply looking for love amidst the existence of sea monsters and how they have changed the world. I wish more time was spent on the Alteration, when it happened, what happened to the people when sea creatures became monsters, but since it's merely Sense and Sensibility PLUS sea monsters, there's no room for that to happen. The sea monsters are supposed to serve as background music to the Dashwood sisters' story.
For most the novel, the sea monster aspect has minimal impact. It affects the characters' lives, of course, but it was more to say, "Oh look, there's sea monsters!" without really changing the course of the story.
Despite this, I still found the sea monsters to be distracting to the overall story. I appreciate Austen for her ability to tell a love story, and I felt as though that got pushed aside a lot in SSSM. I'm familiar with Sense and Sensibility so I know how the story ends, but I found myself trying to guess how sea monsters would be integrated into the plot. Without spoiling SSSM I can say that Mr. Dashwood dies at the mouth of a shark, and not whatever illness he would have had in 19th century England. Instead of everyone enjoying a picnic outside and that's it, they enjoy the picnic and then some gets eaten by a hugeass jellyfish. Entertaining, but kind of unnecessary.
People die often due to the sea monsters and it's considered normal, a part of the food chain kind of deal, and that irked me. I wouldn't care how normal it was, if I were to see a women devoured by a hugeass jellyfish so that only her bones remained, I would be fucking scarred for life. Not only would I stay away from the ocean, but I probably would never bathe in water again in fear that a jellyfish would come out of the faucet.
Until the sisters go down to Sub-Station Beta (SSSM's bougie underwater kingdom that replaces London), I found that the only significant impact of the sea monster theme could be found in Colonel Brandon, Marianne's fervent admirer. Instead of just being far older than Marianne and far less appealing than Willoughby, he's got tentacles on his face. Squishy gooey tentacles. Poor man. But it helped in amplifying how undesirable he was to Marianne. Despite his polite and sensitive demeanor, a woman would still have to deal with his squishy tentacles. Call me shallow, but no thanks.
Despite my critique of adding in the sea monster theme, I still enjoyed the read. Winters added an extra amount of wit with the sea monsters. Something about Colonel Brandon's tentacle curse not only affecting his face made me giggle. I think that the alterations to the characters worked well. Mrs. Jennings and her daughters as island natives was successful, as was Mr. Palmer's surly demeanor due to his experiences out at sea. I didn't really care for Margaret's story line, because I didn't care for her in the original either. Her plot line just freaked me the hell out. The sea monsters worked best when their existence wasn't glaringly superfluous to the novel. Was Margaret and the Leviathan pertinent to the story? I'm not sure. I could have done without it.
The Blackest Stain on History or Last Laugh Blues
#6 - City of Thieves by David Benioff
The novel takes place during the Nazis' siege of Leningrad during WWII. The two main characters, Lev and Kolya, are arrested (for different reasons) one night and in order to avoid execution for their wrongdoings, they must find a dozen eggs for a Russian general's daughter's wedding cake. A dozen eggs, easy peasy, right? Not quite. This is Russia during WWII. People live off scraps of whatever they can find. They eat candy made out of melted wax. Finding a dozen eggs will be no easy feat.
Despite the story being relatively simple - two guys need to find a dozen eggs in exchange for their lives, the novel is multi-layered. The story told is from the perspective of a writer's grandfather, after the writer has been asked to write an autobiographical account of his life. Instead of his own life, he chooses to focus on his grandfather because of the tales he heard of his grandfather's younger days. These are "tales" because he never heard them firsthand from his grandfather. The grandfather is, of course, Lev. His story is a hard one to tell, but he does it for his grandson. My dad was born in Germany, just a few years after WWII ended, and I don't think he (or I) will never know the whole story to his parents' experiences during the war. It's just not one of those things that becomes easy to talk about, no matter how many years have passed. So in that respect, I definitely appreciate that short portion of the novel.
Lev is 17 years old, still in that awkward stage bordering on being a boy and a man. Even though I'll end up discussing Kolya a lot, I liked Lev's character. He's just a regular kid who gets caught up in this situation. He cares for Mother Russia, but realizes how much she's screwing him over and remembers how much she screwed him in the past. He enjoys Kolya's company, but resents him at times, too.
Kolya, on the other hand, is a self-assured Russian soldier. He tends to put Lev down in certain situations, but Lev doesn't take him too seriously. I loved their interactions, mainly because Kolya is such an outrageous figure. He doesn't think before he speaks. He's confident to a fault, as he is the one who ends up getting them in dangerous situations. One of the funniest/oddest ongoing themes of the novel is Kolya keeping tabs on how it's been since he last took a shit. Perhaps I found it so hilarious because he reminds me of my friends. Conversation is no holds barred. Even though you don't want to hear it, you will. Too bad.
The book is quirky, even though it describes one of the more horrible moments in recent history. Anything you may have heard about the atrocities against Russia during the war is covered. Benioff throw Lev and Kolya right into the thick of things. Their search for eggs serves as a method to show what was happening in Russia. Lev's apartment complex is one of the many building destroyed by the German bombers. During their search for the eggs, Lev and Kolya come face to face with cannibals who try to trick them into becoming their dinner. Realizing that they won't find a dozen eggs in the city, they go to the outskirts. There they encounter teenage girls who have been providing pleasure to German soldiers in exchange for their livelihood, despite the fact that the German soldiers murdered their families and all the other inhabitants of their villages.
While Benioff's description of their various situations is gruesome and realistic, the novel still maintains a comedic aspect, mainly from Lev and Kolya's interactions. No matter how dangerous the scene, there existed some type of side note that made me smirk at them. The language is crass, which is just my kind of thing considering my foul mouthed vocabulary. Like I said, Kolya doesn't hold back. He talks about sex like Lev is his good friend, not someone he got paired up with a couple days ago. The search for the eggs is always in the back of his mind, but he won't let that stop him from talking about his interests.
With that said, you have to be up for these types of conversation to fully enjoy and appreciate the book because it's what brings the lightheartedness into such a horrible situation. Without Lev and Kolya, the book, while compelling, would just be another humdrum novel with a historical backdrop.
The novel takes place during the Nazis' siege of Leningrad during WWII. The two main characters, Lev and Kolya, are arrested (for different reasons) one night and in order to avoid execution for their wrongdoings, they must find a dozen eggs for a Russian general's daughter's wedding cake. A dozen eggs, easy peasy, right? Not quite. This is Russia during WWII. People live off scraps of whatever they can find. They eat candy made out of melted wax. Finding a dozen eggs will be no easy feat.
Despite the story being relatively simple - two guys need to find a dozen eggs in exchange for their lives, the novel is multi-layered. The story told is from the perspective of a writer's grandfather, after the writer has been asked to write an autobiographical account of his life. Instead of his own life, he chooses to focus on his grandfather because of the tales he heard of his grandfather's younger days. These are "tales" because he never heard them firsthand from his grandfather. The grandfather is, of course, Lev. His story is a hard one to tell, but he does it for his grandson. My dad was born in Germany, just a few years after WWII ended, and I don't think he (or I) will never know the whole story to his parents' experiences during the war. It's just not one of those things that becomes easy to talk about, no matter how many years have passed. So in that respect, I definitely appreciate that short portion of the novel.
Lev is 17 years old, still in that awkward stage bordering on being a boy and a man. Even though I'll end up discussing Kolya a lot, I liked Lev's character. He's just a regular kid who gets caught up in this situation. He cares for Mother Russia, but realizes how much she's screwing him over and remembers how much she screwed him in the past. He enjoys Kolya's company, but resents him at times, too.
Kolya, on the other hand, is a self-assured Russian soldier. He tends to put Lev down in certain situations, but Lev doesn't take him too seriously. I loved their interactions, mainly because Kolya is such an outrageous figure. He doesn't think before he speaks. He's confident to a fault, as he is the one who ends up getting them in dangerous situations. One of the funniest/oddest ongoing themes of the novel is Kolya keeping tabs on how it's been since he last took a shit. Perhaps I found it so hilarious because he reminds me of my friends. Conversation is no holds barred. Even though you don't want to hear it, you will. Too bad.
The book is quirky, even though it describes one of the more horrible moments in recent history. Anything you may have heard about the atrocities against Russia during the war is covered. Benioff throw Lev and Kolya right into the thick of things. Their search for eggs serves as a method to show what was happening in Russia. Lev's apartment complex is one of the many building destroyed by the German bombers. During their search for the eggs, Lev and Kolya come face to face with cannibals who try to trick them into becoming their dinner. Realizing that they won't find a dozen eggs in the city, they go to the outskirts. There they encounter teenage girls who have been providing pleasure to German soldiers in exchange for their livelihood, despite the fact that the German soldiers murdered their families and all the other inhabitants of their villages.
While Benioff's description of their various situations is gruesome and realistic, the novel still maintains a comedic aspect, mainly from Lev and Kolya's interactions. No matter how dangerous the scene, there existed some type of side note that made me smirk at them. The language is crass, which is just my kind of thing considering my foul mouthed vocabulary. Like I said, Kolya doesn't hold back. He talks about sex like Lev is his good friend, not someone he got paired up with a couple days ago. The search for the eggs is always in the back of his mind, but he won't let that stop him from talking about his interests.
With that said, you have to be up for these types of conversation to fully enjoy and appreciate the book because it's what brings the lightheartedness into such a horrible situation. Without Lev and Kolya, the book, while compelling, would just be another humdrum novel with a historical backdrop.
15 January 2010
And The World Spins Madly On
Review for City of Thieves coming soon. About halfway through Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters so I'll probably write up both reviews when I'm done with it.
I need to revise my book list. More modern books needed.
I need to revise my book list. More modern books needed.
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