lundi, décembre 26, 2011 Book Review: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult  The family's situation is heart-tugging enough without the ensuing drama. Sara and Brian (the dad) have a sick eldest daughter, Kate, and another child, Jesse. With Kate's condition deteriorating, Sara decides to have another child, Anna, in order to harvest her stem cells to help Kate. Kate, of course, continues to deteriorate further, and the medical contributions from Anna grow more invasive. At 13, Anna walks into a lawyer's office and proceeds to sue her parents for the rights to her own body. The plot revolves around Sara (the mom) and Anna (the daughter), although there are B and C plots involving the dad, son and the lawyer. The story unwinds fairly quickly, and through it all, Picoult manages to make everyone a sympathetic character, to the point where I honestly didn't know who to side with. Every coin has two sides, and every personal story has multiple facets. The ending's either a cop-out or a tearjerker, depending on how cynical you are. Not really a must-read, but more a social capital read. [Book Review: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult] |
mercredi, décembre 21, 2011 Book Review: Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult  Ahem. Yes - book reviews. This one's on Picoult's latest novel (released Mar 2011), which is my first Picoult book. I've heard she takes on controversial topics, populates her novels with characters who inevitably wind up in court, and then adds a twist (we call that deux ex machina, dahling) which wraps everything up in a neat bow before the end of the novel. Sing You Home is about embryo ownership - who owns fertilized eggs held in cold storage after a couple divorces? Protagonists Zoe and Max find out after they divorce, following many painful (and expensive) years of fertility treatments to treat both their fertility issues. After that, Zoe meets and marries Vanessa, and tries to get her eggs out of storage for Vanessa to carry to term. Max, who has since then has become a full-blown born-again right-wing Christian, has religious/moral questions regarding having his child "raised by two dykes." When the fertility clinic requires Max to give permission to release the eggs to Zoe, he opts to fight for them, so that he can give them to his brother and sister-in-law, who are also facing fertility issues. Enter two hard-talking, media-hungry lawyers, and you have a book. Not a great book, but a readable book, with a court battle, and a life lesson on how sometimes, things just don't work out the way you thought you would. Picoult's presentation of the moral dilemma that all parties find themselves in makes the characters fairly sympathetic, and if you could have predicted how this would have turned out, then you're a better person than I was (I thought the embryos would be left to die, or someone would have accidentally forgot to flip a switch to the refrigerator.) 3 hrs tops, if you're a fast reader. [Book Review: Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult] |
mardi, décembre 20, 2011 Book Review: Bittersweet Surrender by Diann Hunt  What's excellent about Hunt's writing is that she somehow makes it all sound believable, if a little packed with hot-topic issues - throw in an LGBT and this might be the perfect hot-issue book. Carly is fairly likable as a slightly overweight cancer survivor, and Scott's lightbulb-over-the-head moment (you'll know what I mean when you read the book) has to be one of the better written male perspectives I've seen in a while. Switching between Carly and Scott's POV was a little bit disconcerting at first (as I had assumed we'd be "staying" with Carly most of the time), but it did well to provide a more rounded look at all the plot points raised. Unfortunately, due to the myriad issues raised, many other plot points were glossed over. I felt Hunt could have done more to explore the difficulties of raising money for a business, for example, or discussed Magnolia's history a little more. (I think Magnolia's life would make an excellent follow-up book.) The most problematic issue was the lack of mentioning God (beyond the general italicised prayers, which - let's be honest here - show a woman who uses God when it suits her or when she needs him, rather than one who relies on Him for strength. Fun read, but where's God?  Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
[Book Review: Bittersweet Surrender by Diann Hunt] |
lundi, décembre 19, 2011 Book Review: First Date by Krista McGee  Although the story's based on the book of Esther, I didn't expect it to be so formulaic: reluctant girl (Addy) gets conscripted into an amazing reality TV opportunity - win a date to prom with the President's son ("stylishly" spelt 'Jonathon'). Of course she dislikes him at first, and of course he falls for her once he meets her, and of course she surmounts mean girls and a nasty TV producer to get the guy in the end. The good bits: - Addy does work out her faith in a real fashion, and McGee's portrayal of her as a Christian girl just going about her regular QTs and prayers very well. - Kara, Addy's reality TV roommate, is an unexpected breath of fresh air in the tired plot. The bad bits: - Can we veer away from the myth of the perfect guy? Jonathon is ridiculously nice and non-existent in real life. - Addy's sudden preaching/sharing to the nasty TV producer, and his "candid" review of Christianity read terribly awkward in Chapter 51, almost like McGee decided "okay, this is where I'll put the preachin' and teachin' in my novel." - The assassination plot - terribly contrived; I understand the need to parallel the biblical story, but this could have been done better and added more flesh to interactions with the first family. - The sudden ending. I really, really dislike books/shows which end at the crescendo. Learn how to anti-climax! Overall: Could have been so much better without writing to cliches. Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
[Book Review: First Date by Krista McGee] |
dimanche, décembre 18, 2011 Book Review: There You'll Find Me by Jenny B Jones  Story in brief: Finley Sinclair, bereft after the loss of her brother, visits Ireland as she follows in his footsteps using his diary to guide her. Meet cute on the plane with a guy, who happens to stay at her host family's B&B. She works out her life issues (and there are many), helps an old lady leave life well, and - of course - finds love. It's a Christian book, so I expected a lot of teachin' and preachin' to be going on through bad prose. But Jones surprises me there (the same way that Fireproof surprised me with its professional production) - Finley's struggles are universal (insecurity over looks, boys, weight etc) and her prayers are reminiscent of prayers which I've prayed myself as I grew up feeling around my faith in God. My issues with the book are fairly serious ones though: (1) Jones concocts an absolutely ridiculous scenario of rich heiress and movie star which does nothing for the plot - Jones shouldn't have done this; it adds nothing to the story, and instead removes the reality of the situation even further away from the average girl-at-home. Not everyone's a poor little rich heiress a la Paris Hilton, and no 18 year old hunky male movie star would be left unattended like that. (2) Absolutely irrational behaviour from boy - the sensitive sweet 18 year old boy does not exist, and should have been written out completely, or portrayed more realistically. But I suppose nobody wants to read about 18 year old jerks. I'm on the fence whether such portrayals of guys are more damaging than aspirational, but since more girls than guys are likely to read this YA novel, I'm leaning towards the "bad for girls to dream about this completely fictional guy". Jones is an excellent writer - I'll be looking out for more balanced and mature works from her as she grows as an author. Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
[Book Review: There You'll Find Me by Jenny B Jones] |
samedi, décembre 17, 2011 Book Review: Why Men Hate Going To Church by David Murrow (completely revised and updated)  I picked this book out of a list that was available for free download at booksneeze.com, which gives free books in exchange for reviews (like this one, which I've also cross posted on Amazon). It seemed to address the problem of disappearing men from the church, so I thought, why not give it (and booksneeze) a go. Plus I wanted to see if booksneeze was really legit, esp if I wasn't in the USA, but could read/review from the kindle ebook version that they were giving out. First things first - the book's really about all the reasons why men hate going to church. The central thesis: poor preaching has led to a lopsided view of God (more lamb than lion), and have thus drawn more women than men. Women develop women-friendly programmes, and men are left out in the cold (or more likely, left out to be ushers.) Murrow is fairly comprehensive when it comes to listing down the things that church does to alienate men - and I have to agree with a good many of his thinly-veiled complaints, like when in meetings (oh the bane of the baptists!) where we have to be meek and conciliatory towards everyone, ensuring that everyone is "happy". Most damning is his painfully honest assessment of the ministries that we have in church - children, visitation, choir, vacation bible school - they're skewed towards women's skills, rather than the man's abilities. Murrow here skirts a very, very, VERY fine line between adroit observation of gender difference, and sexist attitudes when he prescribes - almost demands - that churches sit up and take notice that unless we start re-engineering and re-thinking some of our programmes (rather that stick with "what all the other churches are doing), we're going to lose men altogether - and be left with feminized, emasculated men. It was an interesting read - a little long-winded (could have been made much, much sharper with better editing; Murrow tends to ramble on with many stories), I was most disturbed that a lot of Murrow's prescriptions to "fix" the church tended to be predicated on a marketing fix, rather than one grounded in the Word. To give Murrow credit, I think he tried to ground in on observations of Jesus' behaviour: for example, he said that men are driven to challenges, which Jesus did give in the imperative "Follow me" when calling his disciples. Linking this to men's need for risk-taking was good, but not all men are risk-takers, and to draw a link between the imperative command and men's need to rise to challenge/competition seemed rather shaky. I don't think that these two inductions lead to a biblical truth being presented. This is not to say that it's a bad book - read the book if you want fresh ideas on how to make your church more appealing to guys (and girls). Just remember as you read the book that these are methods, not biblical truths - and the problem with methods is that it can never be "everything to everyone". Not every guy is a jock in the making, and not all guys are macho-men who work with power tools. In this information age, other methods of engagement need to be thought up for guys working in financial services and technology - aren't these the freaks and geeks who get picked on by the jocks in the first place? Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” Libellés : books, christian, reviews [Book Review: Why Men Hate Going To Church by David Murrow (completely revised and updated)] |
jeudi, janvier 06, 2011 To Read: Booklist 2011 (Business)
Should be approx. a book a month. :D Libellés : books [To Read: Booklist 2011 (Business)] |
mercredi, décembre 29, 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml Score: 45/100 I think 1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien 2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen 3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman 4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams 5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling 6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee 7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne 8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell 9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis 10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë 11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller 12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë 13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks 14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier 15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger 16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame 17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens 18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott 19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres 20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy 21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell 22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling 23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling 24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling 25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien 26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy 27. Middlemarch, George Eliot 28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving 29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck 30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll 31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson 32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez 33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett 34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens 35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl 36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson 37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute 38. Persuasion, Jane Austen 39. Dune, Frank Herbert 40. Emma, Jane Austen 41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery 42. Watership Down, Richard Adams 43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald 44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas 45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh 46. Animal Farm, George Orwell 47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens 48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy 49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian 50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher 51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett 52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck 53. The Stand, Stephen King 54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy 55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth 56. The BFG, Roald Dahl 57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome 58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell 59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer 60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky 61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman 62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden 63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens 64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough 65. Mort, Terry Pratchett 66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton 67. The Magus, John Fowles 68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (tried and hated the book; I generally haven't come around to liking Terry Pratchett) 69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett 70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding 71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind 72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell 73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett 74. Matilda, Roald Dahl 75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding 76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt 77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins 78. Ulysses, James Joyce 79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens 80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson 81. The Twits, Roald Dahl 82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith (watched the movie, hated the book) 83. Holes, Louis Sachar 84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake 85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy 86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson 87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley 88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons 89. Magician, Raymond E Feist 90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac 91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo 92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel 93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett 94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho 95. Katherine, Anya Seton 96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer 97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez 98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson 99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot 100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie (tried and hated the book) Libellés : books [The real BBC book list] |
lundi, juillet 05, 2010  After this is done, I will systematically and ruthlessly go on a reading blitz of all the books I own. Ruthlessly and systematically. Somehow this resolution makes me sound like Hitler. Libellés : books [Resolution: Read] |
lundi, mars 15, 2010 Isn't this the loveliest cover for Songs of Solomon? Libellés : books [Bookbinding: Songs of Solomon] |
mercredi, mars 03, 2010 Sanctified Common Sense: Kevin DeYoung's "Just Do Something"  Kevin DeYoung's third book offering with Moody Press, and his first solo effort, is a humble one - both in terms of it size (it's just a couple of cm shy of A5 size), and in terms of its length - a mere ten (short) chapters.
And yet the book(let) packs a theological punch on the topic of "finding God's will". I love the title - "Just Do Something - A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will" OR "How To Make A Decision Without Dreams, Visions, Impressions, Open Minds, Random Bible Verses, Casting Lots, Liver Shivers, Writing in the Sky, etc." I think it was the "etc." right at the end which sold me on the book. Jokes aside, I really like how the alternative title to the book starts to debunk the myths involving "discerning God's will" - talk about judging a book by its cover! I'm fairly certain that most Christians have used - or thought of using - one of those "biblically correct" methods of discerning God's will for their lives. The book should grab you by your false teachings and assumptions, and shake you out of your theological stupor as your eyes skim the titles in your favourite Christian bookstore.  What's the book about? DeYoung doesn't just write about the HOW, he went looking for some other "W"s as well, like why the issue is so important, why we vacillate in our decisions, what exactly are we looking for when we say we're seeking the will of God, and how we should do all this Christian living bit.The book is short enough that you can finish it in a couple of hours, but I've always advocated against rushing through Christian books like it was the Tom Bombadil bit in Lord of the Rings. Christian books aren't fiction. They're supposed to be friends helping to encourage you, and rebuke you along the way to Christlikeness, and rushing through them just feels like a deluge of rain on hard clay - you'll get runoff and nothing's going to seep into your soil to nurture your soul. Colossians 1:28 (ESV) - Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. The next bit's an overview of the main topics of the book, so as to whet your appetite to buy the book, and read it. Because it's really worth buying! Seriously! Call up the Singapore Baptist Bookstore and see if they stock it, then go out and get it! Singapore Baptist Bookstore 1 Goldhill Plaza #01-25 S(308899) Tel: +65-62537024/+65-62537578 Fax: +65-62524450 Email: bbsbooks@singnet.com.sg ***** ***** A Little More Depth...  What are some factors that suggested a book like this was necessary? Besides a lot of postmodern unbiblical practices (come on, admit that you've ever used the "if God opens the door..." justification!), there's this pesky problem of extended adolescence, where more youth/young adults are extending (sometimes indefinitely) the time taken to complete major life transitions like (i) leaving home, (ii) finishing school, (iii) financial independence, (iv) getting married, (v) having children. Note that as a Singaporean, I understand that "leaving home" may not be financially feasible - indeed it may actually get in the way of "finishing school" and "financial independence", but I read these transitions as broadly indicative rather than a prescription for "you've got it made".This phenomenon isn't really the problem - the symptom points towards something far graver, which DeYoung addresses - many Christians are using "seeking the will of God" as an excuse (or reason) for delaying decision-making. Other reasons that DeYoung suggests are timidity/ fear/ cowardice, perfectionism/kiasu-ism ("sure confirm double-chop steady bom-pi-pi") and choice paralysis. He pokes holes in each of these justifications after with giving a much-needed backgrounder on the Will of God.  Leaning on Ecumenical Creeds and Reformed Confessions and Gerald Sittser's The Will of God as a Way of Life: Finding and Following the Will of God, DeYoung covers a) God's Will of Decree (aka God always wins) b) God's Will of Desire (aka stuff God commanded and we should obey) c) God's Will of Direction (aka what to do nownownow?)He suggests an answer - to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Sounds like a cop-out, doesn't it? But it's not. The better part of the book is devoted to helping define and (re)shape your ideas on how to develop "sanctified common sense", which is something far, far lacking in the world today. DeYoung poses a simple three-step framework by which to make decisions: check it against scripture, wise counsel, and prayer. The penultimate chapter takes these principles and applies it to two situations where people find the most to "seek God's will" about: jobs and marriage. He concludes with a mostly narrative chapter, telling the story of his grandfather, and how his grandpa didn't bother living a live obsessed with finding the "will of God" - he just believed, acted according to those Christian beliefs, and made decisions. I think that's a life worth emulating. [Sanctified Common Sense: Kevin DeYoung's "Just Do Something"] |
mercredi, juillet 01, 2009 Twilight... with Cheeseburgers Twilight...with Cheeseburgers - watch more funny videos Libellés : bizarre, books, humour, movies [Twilight... with Cheeseburgers] |
mardi, mars 17, 2009  WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN?Comic book fans. You cannot watch Watchmen without having first read the comic. If you have read and liked Watchmen, then you'll love the movie. If you can't get through the first two chapters of Watchmen without thinking "this is too much work for a comic"... well then, save the eight bucks and go buy some socks instead as this is definitely a movie for fans only. (You can download the first chapter of twelve FREE from DC.) I won't bother with hiding the spoilers then, since I expect most people who actually read my blog probably won't have watched the movie or read the comic (MOST, I SAID MOST!) Despite being warned by Wired.com's most excellent coverage of the movie, where they all but said OMG BE READY TO DIE WITH LOVE (my interpretation), my breath was stolen away by the verisimilitude of the opening scenes of the movie - not just the historical flashbacks, which were awesome (I was particularly entranced with the sad, sad picture of Dollar Bill shot dead by the revolving door, errant cape flaccid with shame) - but the opening scene where the smiley face badge with the blood splodge was in the drain, and the camera then panning upward to Blake's shattered apartment window - just like the comic. Here's a lousy attempt at a summary of what the comic's about: it's about World War III, but set in an alternate universe where Nixon's the President (three terms and STILL counting due to a repeal of electoral law), where the Americans won the Vietnam War, and where Russia's about to invade Afghanistan. The USA wants to intervene, but to do so would provoke the two superpowers into MAD - Mutually Assured Destruction - by nuclear warheads. Meanwhile, in the USA, there are these bunch of masked vigilantes, who each developed independently, and later consolidated themselves into a group called the Minutemen (not Watchmen.) This was in the past (1940s), and in "present day" 1985, the Minutemen had disbanded, and the Keene Act enacted, which outlawed masked vigilantism. One of them, The Comedian, was killed, which sparked off Rorschach's interest and narrative, investigating his murder. The movie then brings us deeper and deeper into the investigation, until the final horror is revealed. The plot thickens and thins, and thickens and thickens again - mask upon mask upon mask. Even the comic is layered with graphics and pseudo-journals and books and other paraphernalia. Apart from the excellent visuals that the movie makes (Archie! Costumes! Blue Manhattan!) the casting was just brilliant. I like that they didn't have any big name stars in the show - it made all the difference, I think. And it's not exactly the typical hero show anyway - three kids sitting behind me walked out after the halfway point (just when it was getting interesting) - it's more like an anti-hero story. Very heartbreaking and sad: and all carried by excellent actors/actresses. Just like the comic. That's why this is for fans only. You'll only appreciate the fact that the comic really comes to life on celluloid for you, if you've read the book. The artistry in making the movie, the director of photography, the brilliance of Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach/Walter Kovacs - all making this movie just like the comic. Libellés : books, comics, movies [Movie Review: Watchmen] |
jeudi, février 05, 2009 "Stephen King says ‘Twilight’ author ‘can't write’ Horror writer says series appeals to girls due to nonthreatening sex scenes http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29001524/ “Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people… The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.”O Stephen, Stephen. You've frightened the living daylights (and many, many nights) out of me, and I thank you for that. I am wary of girls called Carrie (White/Bradshaw/Fisher/Underwood), occasionally think that drains hide clowns with sharp teeth, and thank goodness we don't have many cemeteries here or I'd probably give those a wide berth at night too. But how, o how could you ever compare Rowling to the travesty that is Meyer? Why did you release this statement? Why are you talking about her at all? Why are you making her legit with your own (hard-won) street cred? Alack, alas, alorn - I will never get those 12 hours of my life back that I spent reading the series. Now all I can do is dissuade people from reading the crap. Libellés : books ["Stephen King says ‘Twilight’ author ‘can't write’] |
mercredi, janvier 14, 2009  Twilight: The Movie.Too good to mock, too bad to praise. Extremely intrusive and overly-dramatic scoring amused me much. Michelle must have been really tickled in the movie as Diana and I kept leaning over her to mock the mockable bits of the movie, like the part when Edward finally entered the school canteen - which looked like the set from High School Musical, except done up in very 'cool' colours like green and blue. The music was completely hilarious - in fact, I would go as far to say as the music paralleled the writing in the book - over the top, repetitive, and completely drama-queenish. Only in a teen movie would you give a rock star's entrance to the overly-foundationed male protagonist. There really is nothing much to say about the show - it didn't really deviate from the book since that would have alienated most of Meyer's constituents (read: the under-21 females), and the material they were working with simply did not have a sufficient plot to impress anyone. Definitely a movie for the fans. [Twilight: The Movie] |
mardi, décembre 09, 2008  +  = .jpg) Reading as fast as I can in time for our hot date, babe. Libellés : books [Moo Moo + Brisingr] |
samedi, novembre 22, 2008 The Twilight Saga: A Review of the End of Two Days of Reading  I've just finished the fourth (and latest) book in Meyer's Twilight Saga, and I have to say that the fourth book rather redeemed the first three.This review is mostly toxic spoiler-free. I'd rank it a 2/10 for spoiler danger - some revelations, but not enough to spoil much. [Broad Strokes: Meyer's Twilight Saga] After getting through the first two-and-a-half books, I was rapidly getting tired of the extended foreplay between the two characters - nothing risque, just UST at its utter best. Think Buffy-Angel Season 1 and 2, drawn out in three books. That the utter longing that these two characters had for each other was the main thing driving the plot - and you can see why it does grate after a while. Sort of like how you probably wouldn't be able to stomach two friends staring mooney-eyed at each other just because they're in love - it's just tiring when you're all out for a night in town. But I digress. The fourth book redeemed the first three - or condemed them, if you want to look at it the other way around. The writing isn't much better - but then again, I feel that Meyer really wasn't putting much effort into the first two books. What stands out is that for the first time in her novels, I feel that she's trying for depth, rather than simply writing whatever she feels like. [The Plot: Written into a Corner] The turning of Bella, the dumb love triangle, eventual imprinting (which I so totally called once Bella conceived) were all cheap wish-fulfilment fantasies typed out and given life in print. I gave Meyer a pass on the way that the plot turned out - she's written herself into a corner, and she has to deal with the materials that she's churned out. I didn't enjoy reading about the confrontation with the Volturi - but my discomfort was ironically pleasurable reading because it's quite rare for me to be so completely tense about the outcome of a fictional confrontation. It's also somewhat ironic that this effect of good writing (that the reader completely immerses himself into the story) is due to Meyer's bad writing style and lack of consistency - she's shown very little planning on back stories and plot arcs. I am suspicious of the ending though - younger readers may not share my doubt, but it presents yet another conundrum to this new Twilight Saga reader. The end leaves me with the question - are we going to witness more growth in Meyer as an author, or are we simply going to see this series descend into pretentious chaos?* Without giving too many details, Breaking Dawn was sewn up a little too neatly for my taste. The only time this was done before was in Book 1 (Twilight) - which felt like "the end" for Meyer's little foray into writing. Book 2 (New Moon) and Book 3 (Eclipse) always ended on a minor cliffhanger. The end of Book 4 felt rather final - except for the inclusion of the Vampire Index at the end of the novel, which could be read as a suggestion that Meyer is finally taking her little writing project seriously enough to give it a bit more history than normal. I'm quite certain that her usual readers are not particularly pleased with her latest novel - there was some character development, which generally distresses pre-teen and young adult readers. Why do you think Archie comics have stayed the same all these years? With the introduction of so many new covens - Meyer went global with her character choices - I'm not sure if she'll be able to control her plot in the next book. Back stories upon back stories upon layers of back stories could be written on - but Meyer's core audience will not follow her there, because they've gotten all that they've wanted - and a baby to boot. [Conclusion: Tread Carefully, Meyer] Meyer definitely has to walk carefully - she cannot afford to alienate the core base of her loyal fans, but the romance and honeymoon are both literally and figuratively over for her characters - the question is: how much further can she take the Twilight Saga without moving forward into marriage, which is (dare I call it) a rather alien concept to her tweenage base? The series reads like a fanfic that took over the world, with no end of sappiness in sight. Perhaps I'm not giving her enough credit. I am stacking the cards where they are: end of UST plot arc, add the baby, plus character development, a dash of author development, with a side of depth and history - I have a feeling that Meyer's freaking out over where she wants to bring this. [*ETA: Amazon lists this as the "final instalment" of the Twilight Saga, which I didn't know, and haven't found definitive proof of yet. I did not know this when I wrote this, so read it as such.] [The Twilight Saga: A Review of the End of Two Days of Reading] |
mercredi, novembre 19, 2008  From nothing to read, there's suddenly Paolini's third installment of the Inheritance Series, as well as Stephanie Meyer's Twilight books. I've never been so grateful for e-books as I am today.I'm in the middle of Meyer's first Twilight book (apologies to skinnydrummer, I know I'm supposed to be reading Brisinger now but I gotta revise Eldest first, and Paolini's writing is getting worse!), and the writing's not as annoying as I thought it would be - for teen fiction, you know. However, it's definitely not as tight as the Vampire Queen herself, Anne Rice - but then again, it's teen fiction. I'm a little bit disappointed that halfway through the book still hasn't emerged a good vampire mythology, but there's still more than a hundred pages to go, and in media res has just gotten off the ground.  The usual high school shenanigans, the forbidden love, the ageless vampire, and a snazzy movie poster - I think we're seeing Angel II in the making here! Keep an eye out for Robert Pattinson - while I keep my eye on Angel All Growed Up, aka Booth.Libellés : books, television [Twilight: Buffy-Angel redux] |
mardi, juin 03, 2008  Something true that resonated with me as I read it:"We'll keep in touch." "No, we won't," I replied. It was, after all, the end of a long day, and I'd been bombarded with sentiments like that. No matter how much she meant to me as a friend, I was too tired to keep up the façade. "We'll mean to, and we'll manage it at first. You'll call every week, and we'll have lunch whenever you're in town. But eventually we'll reach the point where we're both so busy that we never have time for more than an occasional email or an obligatory Christmas card." She, who was never afraid to face the truth, nodded. "You're right," she said, "but know this: That won't mean I love you any less." Libellés : books, literature [Goodbyes and love] |
dimanche, mars 09, 2008  Honestly, the line wasn't that iconic. No need to title something with it!Libellés : books, personal, writing [Wah lau] |
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