13 posts tagged “books”
So,I've been meaning to post about this book for awhile, but the Fourth of July seems like the perfect opportunity to finally go for it, given the central commentary Little Brother makes about our country's conflicting obsessions with freedom and security. I don't say this lightly, but this is a book that everyone should pick up and read as a primer on current technologies, considerations of the predicted evolutions of "The War on Terror", and just as an entertaining story to boot.
In near-future San Francisco, Marcus Yallow and some of his friends get hauled in by the Department of Homeland Security for being at the wrong place and the wrong time when a terrorist attack destroys a bridge. Though not guilty of the terrorist attack, Marcus's interest in technology and cryptography makes him a primary suspect, which leads to harsh "questioning" by his captors. After he his finally released, he decides to turn the tables on the paranoid police state crackdown of his hometown by creating a stealth network, which ultimately propels the plot to an inevitable confrontation between the forces of security and the forces of privacy.
This is Orwell's 1984 for the next generation (as is obvious by the allusion in the title). Like its predecessor, Little Brother raises troubling questions about a government gone too far, which ultimately feels familiar to any modern American. If you're looking to do something really patriotic this Independence Day, it might be worth putting down the sparkler for a moment and picking up a copy of this book, even if only for future insight into the complicated times in which we all live now.
As I was going through my shelf of mending materials earlier this week at the library, I came across an unexpected find. You see, one of the books awaiting my attention was an older Hardy Boys mystery titled The Hooded Hawk Mystery. Even in my childhood, I'd never ever read a Hardy Boys mystery (though I went through most of the Boxcar Children), so I've never really looked at one closely. After opening this book, however, maybe I should have been aware of this smut sooner.
As I turned to the part of the book where the page was ripped out (and hence on my mending shelf), I scanned the chapter title. And I did a double-take. I had no idea that the Hardy Boys had such a smutty mind. Parents are worried about Grand Theft Auto while pushing books with chapter titles like these onto their children? Truly, this is a messed up world that we live in.
Don't believe me? Here's the offending page, as dutiful recorded for the ages. (And yes, I know that the word can also mean "a mistake or blunder", but you have to admit it's a pretty funny way to title a chapter taken in our modern context.)
Whatever, the reason was that people weren't showing up in droves to see this movie, they were really, really missing out. It's been a few years since I listened to the amazing audiobook production of the series (His Dark Materials), but I was not disappointed by this adaptation. The acting was phenomenal and the special effects were beyond impressive -- I'm still not sure how they pulled off all those deamons as well as they did. The movie suffered a little for an incredibly rushed storyline (but at least it didn't bog down) and some of the music was simply atrocious in a movie of this caliber.
I'm eager to see how the second and third books are rendered into films and I can't wait to see how they'll deal with some of the more challenging issues that crop up further into the series. I'm also looking forward to rereading (or perhaps re-listening to) the books, to see how they really measure up with their movie counterparts.
Speaking of the movies, have you all seen The Spiderwick Chronicles trailer? I haven't read the books for that series yet, but it looks like fun. Plus, a gryphon! (What more do I need in a movie? I mean, I suffered through Narnia for just a few gryphon cameos, proving that I will watch just about anything for some sweet, sweet gryphon action.)
Without much time to spare before the release of the seventh book, I finally finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince a couple of weeks ago. That means I'm all set for the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on July 20th.
It's a good thing too, because we're hosting a Harry Potter midnight release party at my workplace and there's just one tiny, nagging little issue: no one else in the Children's Department has friggin' read through the series! (What's your excuse, Pants?) At least I'll be on hand to (try) and handle any book-related questions or speculations at our library Potter party.
Not only that, but it turns out I'll be trying my hand at imitating everyone's favorite (former) Potions Professor at the party by putting my chemistry education to use. Now I've merely got to bone up on my knowledge of flashy experiments that use common household chemicals, get some black hair dye, and perfect my long slow blink.
This creates a bit of a dilemma for me, however, since L and I were planning on dressing up as Hermione and Ron for the premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. (Which apparently opens on my birthday?) Thus, if I still follow through with that, I'll have to dye my hair red one week and black the next. I guess I'm making up for never doing that as a teenager?
Anyone else planning on dressing up (or doing something wizardly and awesome) for either the new Harry Potter movie or book? (I just know that we're going to have to do another showing of Wizard People, Dear Reader for Anna and Erin's benefit.)
The troops were gathered last night (the Pants, Ernie, Anthony, L and myself) to march on the local $2 theater to see an abysmal movie adapted from an even more abysmal book, or in short, Eragon.
Not that we have anything against dragons or dragon movies. (Quite the contrary, actually. Just ask the Pants for her opinion of Reign of Fire, if you don't believe me.) No, what we took issue with was a teenage boy becoming a bestselling sensation by blatantly cribbing The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars and then turning that trash into multi-million dollar movie. I can only fathom that the books and movie have done as well as they have because they are purely the product of a pubescent boy's wet dream of having power and respect without having to earn it. Either that, or a Faustian bargain with El Diablo himself.
The movie was predictably bad and not even a particularly memorable mashup of LotR and SW. Saphira (a terribly original name for a blue dragon, I must admit) was very striking on screen (and darn cute as a baby), but it was sad to see her play the part of a whiny teenage boy's bitch. (Speaking of adolescence, what was up with her rapid growth spurt? I guess there was no time in the film to spend making us actually want to care for these characters.) I also enjoyed Emo Kid, as he was the one interesting human character, which must've been the reason they decided not to do much with his character?
I am hoping beyond hope that a movie adaptation of Temeraire will redeem the dragon film genre, as I love those series of novels. If there is any justice left in the world, Peter Jackson will do for that series what he did for Lord of the Rings. In the meantime, there's not much to do but continue pissing on the sad, sad pile of Eragon until it fades into obscurity (where it should have remained in the first place).
(Please note, the title of this post is not intended to be offensive to those of a homosexual orientation. It merely is intended to capture the homo-erotic undercurrents that seemed to suffuse the entire film.)
Not since Sandman (which Emily graciously introduced me to back in college) have I encountered a comic / graphic novel series that has captivated this much. The characters are richly developed, spun from the fairy-tale characters we all think we know so well, but infused with an all-too-human element of tragedy. Placing these deceptively familiar characters in modern-day New York, fleeing from the conquest of their homelands, sets the backdrop for stories rich with drama, love and loss, and (like Sandman) how much individuals can or cannot change over the course of their lives.
One of the things I love most is that Willingham is not afraid to drastically change his series, killing off major characters or radically changing their situations. Too often, I feel, a series is treated as a static, unchangeable thing. Nothing ever really happens, as opposed to life, where things can change as slowly or quickly or unpredictably as they want. Series like Fables and Sandman and the new Battlestar Galactica portray life far more realistically in that major things change from time to time. The series evolves as life does.
Give Fables a read, I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised. Even with the amount of neutering that Disney has done to so many fairy tales, you'll find that these fables still have teeth. And they aren't afraid to use them.
L and I agreed that it was better than Underworld (and let's not even touch the travesty that was Evolutions). Recommended for those looking for an action-romance with a dash of werewolves and a great setting.
What movies have everyone else seen lately? Any yays or nays? (I heard the Pants was raving about Flushed Away and I know Anthony was planning on seeing Epic Movie.)
On the first day of Giftmas, my true dOrange group gave to me:
- Poker and Popcorn Tin (courtesy of Ernie in our second annual white elephant gift exchange).
- Okami video game and an accompanying Play-friggin'-station 2 from the ever-awesome Anthony. Way to rock L's and my world, my friend.
- Your Whole Family Is Made Out Of Meat: The Best of Dinosaur Comics book. Claws-down, the most sexy, exciting gift I got a week early. ("I guess there is a lesson here for us all.")
- Trace Memory video game for the DS.
- Veronica Mars soundtrack.
- "Guns don't kill people. Magic Missiles kill people." t-shirt. My newest, coolest and geekiest apparel.
- I (Heart) Huckabees DVD. ("How am I not myself?")
- Green fleece jacket, which I look super great in.
- Official ACI purple fleece jacket (courtesy of Drew in our family white elephant gift exchange). Go Yotes!
- Tsuro board game (courtesy of my Dad and Femie in our family white elephant gift exchange). This was actually L's pick, but since we're married, we get to share!
- Cold, hard cash from my Dad and Femie. (They know just what to get newlyweds!) My parents are pretty darn awesome and I love them.
- Warm, black pajama pants. My legs shall be frozen no longer!
- Old Navy and EB Games gift cards (from L's mom); Fred Meyer gift card (from Andy); and Record Exchange gift card (from L's Drew). I smell a shopping trip coming on.
- Picnic basket.
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Cryptonomicon book. Looks like a very meaty, man-sized read!
- Mickey and Minnie cheesy Christmas ornament for the newly married couple.
All in all, it was really rockin' Giftmas this year, not merely because of the super fine gifts, but mostly because of the fabulous times with friends and family. What an awesome end to an awesome year! Here's to hoping that 2007 will be even more crazy delicious!
Here's your inspirational quote for the day:
Perhaps the most delightful, life-affirming discovery of all is how willing Americans are to embrace their passions and broadcast them to the world, regardless of what that world might think. Geeks, in a word, have become chic.
But it's not just computer nerds or chess dweebs who have found a voice for their interests. If you define a geek as a person with any oddball proclivity, then geeks are flourishing in every stratum of American society.
Geekiness has become an acceptable, proud badge of honor in America, the mark of someone who's actively engaged in some facet of the world around them. If this isn't something to celebrate, I don't know what is.
(Excerpt from Who Are You People? by Shari Caudron.)
A great quote from a great book about fanatical passions, from pigeon racing to Barbie collecting and from ice fishing to furry conventions. Or maybe I just liked it because it reaffirmed my sense of superiority in being a geek? Either way, it was a fun read.
If you're unfamiliar with the concept, here's the summary from Wikipedia:
You don't have to get a dead tree book to read it either, as new postcards are added weekly to the PostSecret blog.PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.
Assembled from hundreds of postcards with hundreds of secrets from hundreds of people, it's a fascinating glance into human nature. Guilt, regret and fear mingle with hope, optimism and love. Secrets range from the absolute mundane to the most unusual.
What struck me is that so many of the secrets involve feelings of guilt at being different from the perceived "normal". These are the secrets we keep because we fear what others would think of us if they knew, whether the "others" are family, friends or even complete strangers. We hide them to fit in, but rather than helping us fit in, they really only serve to isolate us further from others.
How many secrets do you keep? And why do you keep them?
