I’m having a slightly lethargic blog week. I’m also buried under a pile of student essays, and I really need to stop procrastinating and grade them.
But if you’re just itching for new content, I just posted about one of my all-time favorite books over at Required Reading, if that sort of thing appeals to you. 😉
Reading: Mostly student work these days…other than that, I managed to do a read-through of my NaNoWriMo novel. I wrote a bit about it at my writing blog, if you care about that sort of thing.
I also skimmed a bunch of grammar-type books to write this month’s Absolute Blank article over at TC. I began reading Spunk & Bite, which you can see along with all the others in our Amazon Store.
I read the first issue of the new Buffy comic, which I did enjoy, but I’m not sure I have the patience for monthly comics. Then again, do I have the patience to wait until it’s collected? Hmmm…
I have a bunch of things I’m looking forward to reading, like Laurie Halse Anderson’s new book Twisted, which was released today.
Watching: I think Lost is the only current show w/new episodes that I’m currently watching. It’s been fantastic lately, if I do say so.
Rand and I finished the second season of MASH last night. (How many more seasons is Frank on? Gah.) Toward the end of the second season, there was an episode that had to be groundbreaking television in 1974, dealing with a gay soldier. I was impressed.
Over the weekend, we saw Catch and Release at the dollar fifty movies. I liked it okay, and cried a bit at the end, but there were a few too many distracting plot holes for me to love it. The movie stars Jennifer Garner as Gray, a woman whose fiance has died just before their wedding. The question I had to keep asking myself was “doesn’t she have any friends? Or family?” It’s possible, I guess, that the answer to those questions is no, but that was never explained. I’m just pretty sure that if my fiance died, my family and friends would be there. I’m just sayin’.
Jen cries like no one else out there, and Kevin Smith was indeed as great as everyone said. Oh, and Timothy Olyphant (of Deadwood) is hawt.
I also watched Mean Girls…Rand had never seen it. 🙂 Oh, and I almost forgot…we watched The Full Monty, which I had seen before, but Rand just bought on DVD.
Listening: At present, I’m listening to KT Tunstall’s Eye to the Telescope, which I finally purchased from iTunes. I *heart* iTunes. And having an iPod. (I like the album quite a bit, too!)
As always, any recommendations are welcome. 🙂
I just read a post at 50 Books: Books I have lied about reading.
It’s a fun post, but this comment was what made me laugh out loud:
Lying about reading or finishing a book seemed rampant among my grad school colleagues. When we’d get really drunk at bars, we’d play the lit-geek version of “I Never” which was “I Never Read.” Boy, I saw a lot of giddy relief when people admitted to faking it (so to speak).
There are a lot of classics (and “modern classics”) that I’ve never read, but I guess I’ve never felt compelled to lie about it. The only Dickens I’ve ever read is A Christmas Carol. I couldn’t get through 100 Years of Solitude. I finished Portrait of the Artist, shrugged, and don’t expect that I’ll ever tackle Ulysses. I haven’t read any Steinbeck (novels…I’m sure I read some of his shorter stuff)…I did see the film version of Of Mice and Men.
In the comments, it seems that most people lied about books they were supposed to read for a high school or college course and faked their way through the paper/essay they had to write. I may not have liked everything I was assigned, but I always finished them. (See: Remains of the Day) I just don’t think I’m a good enough liar to fake it that well. 😉
A review of Adam Selzer’s debut novel, How to Get Suspended and Influence People, is posted over at Required Reading. I’ve got a short interview with the author as well. Enjoy!
Finally.
As mentioned, I saw the film version a few weeks ago, which made me curious about the book. I enjoyed the book, though probably not as much as I enjoyed the film, and the two are wildly different.
Theo is the central character in both versions. There is a group called the Five Fishes in both versions, although in the film, the organization is much larger and much more influential. The setting is primarily the same (the book is set in 2021, the film in 2027), and some of the essential elements of the story are the same–humankind is infertile (although in the book, it is made clear that MEN are infertile. still no explanation as to why) and Theo has to help a woman who is miraculously pregnant safely give birth.
The film is much more violent than the book. Most of the shooting, bombing, and bloodshed doesn’t happen in the book at all. The government is much scarier in the film, although the book offers more of a meditation on power and corruption.
The book focuses a lot of attention on Theo’s relationship with his cousin Xan, the Warden of England. It’s hardly a blip in the movie.
And sadly, one of the major questions I hoped would be answered by the book–what exactly does the Human Project do? and does it actually exist?–was an element that was completely new for the film version.
Okay, now I’m going to get to what I liked about the film. I can’t possibly talk about this movie without mentioning those incredible tracking shots. Yes, they really were that amazing, and I still can’t believe it didn’t win the Oscar for cinematography. (This level of film geekery usually escapes me. I think I’ve been hanging w/Rand for too long!)
One of the most powerfully moving scenes in the film involved Michael Caine as Theo’s friend Jasper and a cover version of the Stones’ Ruby Tuesday, by Italian Franco Battiato. I don’t want to say any more about it, other than that it made me crycrycry.
Another moment that moved me came toward the end of the film, watching people living in the midst of of shooting and bombing and horror all around them. I thought to myself, “I can’t imagine living in a world like this,” then immediately thought “There are people who live in a world like this. Right now.” It made my heart ache.
I thought the ending of the movie, while sad, was much more hopeful than the ending of the book. I thought it was brilliantly done, and I highly recommend it. (Be warned, though, that it is heavy on social commentary. If that’s not your thing, you might want to stay away.)
For me, reading has always been a solitary pursuit. I mean, I would occasionally exchange the spirited emails with friends about the latest Harry Potter, or beg someone I knew to read the book so I could talk about it…but this whole book club thing is entirely new to me. I’m glad we’re doing it; I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. 🙂
At any rate, I do have a list of books that I want to read, that I’ve been meaning to read, etc. I’m not considering this a “do-or-die” thing. That is, I won’t feel like a failure if I don’t read them all by a certain date. I already own a pile of these, others are on my wish list. Possibly some of these will end up being book club selections, and others I’ll read on my own time. Some I might not get to at all. But anyway, here it is.
I probably still have more, but that’ll do for the moment. Let me know if you’ve read any of these, or if you have any “you absolutely must read this!” suggestions. 🙂
The beginning of this book was filled with shocking parallels to my life. Protagonist (and let’s face it…author) starts a blog after a nasty break up. Sends the link to a few friends. Begins to receive comments from admiring strangers. Forced to attend wedding of younger sister (for me, it was younger cousin) shortly after nasty break-up. Bored by her mind-numbing job, blogs at work, constantly afraid of getting caught. Starts dating and blogs about disastrous dates for amusement. Meets guy through blog and meets him in person, dubbing him “long distance boy”.
When I first picked it up, I thought it was going to be more of what my idea was…a blog-form novel. Not so much. It was more a novel about writing a blog, which didn’t excite me quite so much. (I’m still convinced my thing is possible. Meg Cabot has written entire novels in the form of e-mails, instant messages and inter-office memos. And quite successfully.)
And while the similarities were there, there were plenty of differences. She had a lot more sex than me, for instance. And there was the whole creating alter-egos thing (Captain Celexa, Sensible Girl and Needy Girl) who actually got dialogue in the blog. Clever, or kind of annoying? Hmm…
And she ended the thing by climbing a mountain. That’s definitely not me. 😉
Overall, I enjoyed the writing style but was underwhelmed by the story.
Hm…I didn’t care for this one all that much. I found Madison, the main character, to be shallow and immature. I’d have enjoyed the ending more if I thought she had actually grown enough to deserve happiness.
I really, really like Wendy (Markham) Corsi Staub.
I really, really liked both Slightly Single and Slightly Settled.
I really, really wanted to like Slightly Engaged.
I think it’s cute that Tracey Spadolini is clearly a version of Wendy, and I’ve really enjoyed following her story.
So why was I so disappointed in the story of Tracey’s impending engagement?
It’s possible that I’ve simply outgrown her…when I read the first two installments, I was a little bit younger. It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Tracey, and in the years between books, I’ve gotten older. She hasn’t.
I found it hard to identify with 26-year-old Tracey’s desperation to be engaged, although I am fully aware that I’d have been right there with her five years ago. Except for the fact that Tracey was living with her guy, I *was* her. Only mine didn’t get down on one knee and propose endearingly in the pouring rain. Boo hoo.
Anyway, I don’t know. I just know that this didn’t grab me the way the others did.
I did enjoy this, though not nearly as much as My Sister’s Keeper.
One thing that bothered me…and maybe I’m just ignorant about the system…is this. Do they really keep people who are awaiting trial in with the general prison population? Because that just seems stupid.
I do enjoy her multiple POV style. I find it very interesting to read a story told through several people’s eyes. If anyone has a Jodi Picoult recommendation for me, please send it my way!