The Twenty-Fifth One

And the fun continues with...

I must say that, in general, zombies freak me out. I mean they seriously freak me out. It doesn't matter if they are moving at the speed of slug like in Night of the Living Dead (which I will never watch all the way through ever since catching the last 15 minutes) or the speed of road-runner like in 28 Days Later (which I will never, ever, ever see). I prefer my zombies with a substantial dose of humor as seen in Shawn of the Dead and, more recently, Zombieland. However, despite my aversion to them, I prefer my Jane Austen with a substantial amount of zombies. It doesn't hurt that there's also plenty of ninja action as well.

So this book is fun. Super-fun in fact. It remains true to the original story and writing style while creatively phasing zombies and ninjas into the text without it being too weird (it's still pretty weird).

As much as I like it, though, it took me a long time to finish. Perhaps if I had never read the original I would not have had such a problem, but the book still seemed to drag, especially toward the end. Like the original book, I just wanted to get to the end.

The Twenty-fourth One

A few months ago I posted a list of books I wanted to read this year. Books I already owned. Books I already started. The following is that list:

• Fluke* by Christopher Moore
• Lullaby* by Chuck Palahniuk
• What-the-Dickens* by Gregory Maguire
• Book Thief* by Markus Zusak
• The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
• Dracula* by Bram Stoker
• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies* by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
• Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters

 I happy to announce that the past couple weeks were remarkably successful in terms of reading (unfortunately, not all that productive otherwise). The list now looks like this (notice the final book was not the original list. I was bored and in an airport and it was the only one that looked interesting).

• Fluke* by Christopher Moore
• Lullaby* by Chuck Palahniuk
• What-the-Dickens* by Gregory Maguire
• Book Thief* by Markus Zusak
• The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
• Dracula* by Bram Stoker
• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies* by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
• Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
• Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

So, here we go.

First of all, I believe that I have previously stated how, to a certain extent, I judge the books I read by their covers. Although I give myself a hard time, it actually works pretty well most of the time. I have, however, read some spectacular failures according to this method. This includes what I refer to as The Mistake. But I won't talk about that here. Anyway. The cover to this book is amazing and chilling and beautiful and a little bit terrifying. All adjectives which I could use to describe the story as well.

I have been a fan of Laurie Halse Anderson since reading her excellent book Speak, which deals with sexual high school, growing up, losing friends, communication (or lack there of) with parents, sexual abuse, and how to deal when all these things happen at or around the same time. I have not, however, read any of her other books until Wintergirls.

Wintergirls deals with eating disorders, cutting, depression, divorce, and living up (or failing to live up) to too high expectations. Our first introduction to the main character, Lia, is when she finds out her ex-best friend was just found dead, alone in a hotel room. As we follow Lia over the next days, weeks, months, we learn about her workaholic mother, her mostly absent father, her step-mother and stepsister, her isolation from the rest of the world, her disinterest in anything/everything, and finally her descent once again into the world of anorexia and cutting.

The content of the book is ugly, but the writing style is beautiful. So intriguing that I often forgot what I was reading. Anderson does not shy away from real issues, and she does not offer false or flimsy solutions. She takes you through a process that lasts months, not days, and the ends of her books are not  happily-ever-after endings, but rather the first chapter to the rest of the story, or rather, the rest of the characters' lives. Lia is a real girl with real problems searching to find real solutions and she is surrounded by other, equally real, people who are dealing with both their own problems and Lia's.

I firmly believe that anyone who works with teenage girls in any fashion (coach, teacher, Bible study leader, club advisor, school administrator, pastor, any sort of group organizer or volunteer, etc.) should all have to  read both this book and Anderson's other  book Speak.

A couple summers ago I read Dashiell Hammet's The Thin Man and The Maltese Falcon, thus turning me on to the world of mystery noir books. I'm not going to lie, I love this genre and Raymond Chandler's book The Big Sleep is most excellent... and super fun.

Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe is intriguing with his deadpan, self-deprecating approach to life. It is no wonder Humphrey Bogart was chosen to play this character. Although, I'm going to have to go back and watch the movie again, as I have no idea how closely it follows the book's story. I remember watching and loving the movie, but I don't remember a whole lot about the movie itself...

The best part of Chandler's writing is the great metaphors. He doesn't spend a lot of time making the language beautiful, but the metaphors are no less vivid. Personal favorite was found in the first couple chapters of the book (maybe the first couple pages... I don't have my book in front of me):

The General spoke again, slowly, using his strength as carefully as an out-of-work showgirl uses her last good pair of stockings.

I wish I could actually pull off talking like that, but alas! I am not Humphrey Bogart.

I loved the book by itself and for its own merits, but it often vividly reminded me of Calvin and Hobbes. I could (and probably will at some point) spend a LOT of time just waxing poetic about Bill Watterson's comic strip. (I don't like calling it a comic strip. It makes people take this trivial view of it. Calvin, Hobbes and Bill have all influenced my life greatly. There is a strip for almost every moment/event in my life up to this point. I am constantly being reminded of "that one strip from Calvin and Hobbes.) One of the great things about Calvin is that he, like Snoopy before him, has an incredible imagination (which is actually the premise of the strip, if you think about it). This imagination enables him to become other people entirely. The most famous of these characters is probably Spaceman Spiff, but my personal favorite is Tracer Bullet. The hardened private investigator who investigates such mysteries as math problems and who broke the lamp? Without going too crazy, here's a little taste of the Bullet himself:

Now, I've taken up enough of my time. I know I have a couple books left to review, but I'm stopping here... I am supposed to be working.

The Twenty-Third One

This week I have been revisiting one of my favorite directors (writers, producers):

M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN

Every movie I have seen by him, I have loved. I'm just going to highlight my favorites/the ones I own. It is possible the following blurbs contain some spoilers. So, tread carefully.

"See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?"

When this movie first came out I remember a lot of friends going to see and coming back disappointed. They couldn't believe he showed the alien! It would have been way scarier if the aliens were never shown! My friends went to see this movie expecting an alien movie. With all the horror/slasher movies that have been inundating movie theaters for the past decade or so, Signs fell well beneath a lot of peoples expectations, because what they wanted was just another horror/slasher flick. I would have been disappointed as well.

What I like about Signs was everything my friends did not like. I like how the premise was not the story. Just because there are aliens in the movie, doesn't mean the movie is about aliens. It is about so much more than aliens. It is about a family floundering, trying to find their footing after facing a devastating loss. It is about ordinary people finding courage in extraordinary circumstances. It is about losing your faith and finding it again. It is about miracles.

The main character, Graham Hess (played by Mel Gibson), loses his faith when he loses his wife. The above quote is said by him during a conversation with his brother Merrill (played by Joaquin Phoenix). Afterwards, Merrill claims to be a "miracle man" and Graham, despite having been a Pastor of some sort, emphatically declares, "There is no one looking out for us. We are all alone." And the story progresses from there.

"We can move towards hope, that's what's beautiful about this place. We cannot run from heartache."

and

"Yes, I have risked! I hope I am always able to risk everything for the just and right cause."

I couldn't decide which quotation best summarized what I believe is the primary theme of the story. I lean strongly toward the first one.

Again, after this movie came out there was an uproar among my friends for the same reason as with Signs. They wanted a monster movie, and what they got was a movie about people. That is what I find most spectacular about Shyamalan's movies, not the cinematography (which is beautiful) or the music (which is always, always perfect) but the fact that he seems to understand people; he truly seems to know peoples' reactions, motives, what causes them to rejoice and despair. His movies reflect this understanding and The Village is no exception.

By the time this movie came out I knew Shyamalan well enough to know there is always a twist. I can honestly say I did not see this twist coming. Joaquin Phoenix's character Lucius said it best when he pointed out to his mother (Sigourney Weaver) that "there are secrets in every corner of this village." These secrets lead to questionable decisions on the part of the elders, the ones in charge. They are secrets with the intent to do as the first quotation above states, to run toward hope and away from heartache. Their secrets keep them secure in their decisions until circumstances have them questioning themselves and risking everything.

Outstanding performances here by everyone, Phoenix (who I fell in love with in Signs), Bryce Dallas Howard, Adrien Brody, William Hurt, really everyone was beautifully cast.

"You know what the scariest thing is? To not know your place in this world. To not know why you're here."

I say I love Unbreakable I get one of two looks. Either the person has no idea what movie I'm talking about, or the person is incredulous that I actually like it. But I don't like it, I love it.

There are so many levels to this movie. There is the theme of self-discovery, good vs. evil, reconciliation, and love, be it romantic, paternal, platonic, whatever. All of this is set to the backdrop of comic books.

First of all, as a comic book fan myself, I love that they play such a vital role in the development of both the main characters, David Dunn played by Bruce Willis and Elijah Price played by Samuel L. Jackson.

That said, there are so many different relationships to explore in this movie. You have the strained, almost broken relationship between David and his wife Audrey (Robin Wright Penn), the relationship between David and his son (Spencer Treat Clark), the relationship between David and Elijah, and the relationship between Elijah and his mother (Charlaynne Woodard).

The confidence and strength of his mother helped to shape the person Elijah would become and Elijah in turn opens David's eyes to his own potential, to what is missing from his life. With David's new found self-awareness he is able to open himself up more to his family. I find it so interesting how greatly his relationships suffer simply because David does not know his place in this world. I also find this incredibly true to life, once again an insightful look at how people operate.