Book Post #4 is The Phantom Tollbooth.
The Phantom Tollbooth has been on my reading list for the past two years, which is exactly the amount of time it's been living in my bookcase. I finally decided to read it because I wanted something light and fun to read during my lunch break at work. This is why it took me much longer than it should have to finish.
As with my previous posts, this will contain spoilers. If you've not read this book and don't want to be spoiled, please don't read any further. Thanks!
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The Phantom Tollbooth was exactly what I was looking for in terms of fun and light reading material. I really enjoyed the book. It was very cute and clever, and a lot of fun to read. I think it's one that I'll need to read a bunch more times in order to catch everything, but I loved the play on words and will really enjoy going back to reread all the jokes.
My favorite play on words was probably The Senses Taker, who started out asking actual census-type questions before putting Milo, Tock and the Humbug into a mind-numbing stupor. Loved the Word Snatcher, who took everything the wrong way (he was just as irritating and troublesome as people who do the same thing :-P), DYNNE, the ruckus-raiser, and the two Kings who swore their way was the most important. Truthfully, I prefer the words to the numbers (which shouldn't surprise anyone), but both are required in everyday life so it's just silly to make people choose one over the other.
I also loved that the world was so completely topsy-turvy without Rhyme and Reason. It reminded me a bit of small kidlets, who, at times, do things without any sense at all. They could do with a good, strong dose of rhyme and reason, because then we wouldn't have incidents like the following:
Teacher: Why did you kick her?
Child: Because she kicked me first!
Oy. :))
I was sad that Milo had to leave his friends (although I understand it of course - there were probably tons more children who needed help seeing what was around them) and do hope he was able to discover the new way back to Wisdom. I'm sure Tock and the Humbug and all the others who met Milo were very impatient to see him again.
Next up to share will either be The Dark is Rising or The Time-Traveler's Wife. I'll most likely include a film review with my writeup of The Dark is Rising, because I'll be seeing that in the theatre at some point and it will be interesting (to me) to do a comparison.
Book Post #3 is Stardust by Neil Gaiman.
The reason I read this is basically because I wanted to see the film, but since I had no idea what the film was even about (the previews in this case weren't terribly helpful, I don't think) I wanted to get some background first, and this was most easily accomplished by reading the book.
As with my previous book posts this will contain spoilers. If you've not read this book (or seen the film) and don't want to be spoiled, please don't read any further. Thanks!
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Stardust is a well-written fairy tale with a bit of a spin. I really liked the characters, and the plot was rather new and refreshing (how many times do you remember seeing a character go off to search for a fallen star, only to have that star turn out to be a person?); I also thought the book was really well-written and just overall very enjoyable.
However, there are certain things that I enjoyed *more* in the film version, but I'll only really talk about one of them here. In particular, I liked the ending of the movie far better than that of the book.
The book's ending made me sad, because Tristran grows old and dies and leaves Yvaine to live without him for the rest of her life (which, if I'm understanding correctly, is forever). And that's just very wah-inducing, because they're a pair, they complete each other, and they *love* each other, and it just isn't right for one of them to have to live forever without their other half. In the film, however, it's said that since Yvaine gave her heart to Tristran (and the heart of a star can give you immortal life) through her love for him that they both live forever, and the film even lets Yvaine (and Tristran) return to her original home in the sky, where they continue to live forever together. That ending is much more pleasing to the romantic inside of me; I much prefer happily-ever-afters that aren't at all bittersweet, and the movie delivers this in spades.
I really enjoyed the world that Gaiman created, because I like magic and sorcery and I especially like treasure hunts, which this book is full of. You have the three brothers looking for the power of Stormhold, the witch looking for the heart of the star, and Tristran looking for the star to bring back to his "love" Victoria. I enjoyed the subplot with the brothers, especially the fact that we're privy to the thoughts of the deceased brothers as well as the living ones. It's sort of amusing to see sibling rivalry really kicked up a notch, because rather than simply arguing over things they're actually killing each other using rather unique (and sometimes grotesque) methods. I also liked the various types of witchcraft – the Lilim are much more Dark Magic witches, whereas Ditchwater Sal tends to be more underhanded and devious but not downright dangerous. I also like how Una was freed in the book – rather than a simple death (like they used in the film) it's a unique (and rather impossible) set of circumstances that free her from Sal. The whole plot was based on rather far-out ideas and it just really all came together very well.
As for the film, I like how they changed things around to make them more action-packed, and I *loved* Robert DeNiro as the gay pirate captain. That pretty much stole the show, and I didn't mind *at all* that they completely expanded and added to his character, because of how fabulous he was – the scene with the pink dress and the pink fan, the music blaring in the background, and the heart painted on his cheek was just hysterically funny. And I loved the poor first mate yelling out "hold on, the captain's at the wheel" and how he had to keep reminding him to be more rough and tumble and piratey. That whole bit was just really funny and really fantastic. Much love. <3
(Sidenote: the guy who played young Dunstan Thorne is named Ben Barnes. He's the guy who will be playing Caspian in the next two upcoming Narnia films – Prince Caspian and Voyage of the Dawn Treader – so that was exciting to see him on the big screen beforehand, as I didn't have any idea who the guy was.)
With Stardust I didn't have any problems with the changes they made like I sometimes do with other film adaptations of books. It could be that I wasn't as emotionally invested in the text like I am with something like Harry Potter and therefore am more bothered when things aren't like they are in canon. But really I think that this was the best adaptation they could have made – the basic plot remained the same and the supporting characters remained unchanged – because whenever you transfer a book to the screen it's important in my opinion to make sure the film really grabs the audience and holds on to them. The book is a bit slower in the sections that had the most changes made to them, and I think that was just to make everything more exciting and entertaining and fun to watch.
I really recommend both the book and the film to everyone. The book's a fun, easy read and the film is wonderful – the mix of the music with the cinematography is perfect, and I think the casting was spot-on as well – so do yourself a favor and check out both. I will definitely be purchasing this movie on DVD when it's released.
Time for another brief write-up of my most recently-finished book. The book of choice this time was Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which I'd been working on for the past couple of weeks and just finished last night (or rather, this morning). This is number 39 on my list of books read; I definitely think I will manage my goal of 50, which is very exciting.
As with the post about The Golden Compass, what follows are some brief thoughts. If you've not read this book yet and don't want to be spoiled, please do not read any further. Onward we go!
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My reading list this year is comprised of a LOT of YA lit. I've been trying to work some classics into the list as well, which is one of the reasons why I originally chose to read Frankenstein. I'm happy that I did decide to read it, but my feelings on the book itself are rather mixed. This is because I can't decide who was really the villain in the story and who was the victim. I'll expand more on this in a bit, but first let me compare the story to some TV shows and movies.
When I was in college I watched a movie on Showtime (I think) called Gothic. This movie first got me interested in reading Frankenstein, because the movie itself is about the night that Mary Shelley originally thought up the plot. (It was also the same evening that John Polidori created the idea for The Vampyre, which later became the basis for Dracula.) Gothic is, quite frankly, a truly bizarre film, but it gave some insight into Mary Shelley's life and that of her friends. So, if you're interested in the odd and strange (and horror-like) or Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley, do give it a look-see. But remember - it's really *really* strange.
I had a very wrong idea of what the story of Frankenstein was about when I first started it. This is most likely because of all the films that have been spawned by the book - a monster is created in a dark, deserted castle and brought to life by lightning. Dr. Frankenstein is an evil, cackling, mad genius of a man with a strange, lopsided sidekick Igor. Etc. This book couldn't be farther from that screen image, let me tell you. :))
As for the book itself, what captured my attention was the way the story began. It was told in letters from a brother to his sister, and even when Victor starts sharing his story it's still more of a third-person telling than actually coming from Victor himself. What makes me pause to think, though, is that I'm more of the mind that Victor's creature is the victim, even if Victor himself wants us to think the opposite. The creature was brought to life and then immediately abandoned. He has to learn how to speak, how to read, how to live, all on his own. I think Victor is the one at fault here, because while the creature does incredibly horrible things, it is Victor's fault that the creature exists in the first place. That being said, I'm also kind of sickened at the thought of so many innocent people dying because of the creature's anger towards the person who created him. So it's very perplexing for me, and it's difficult for me to really form a proper opinion of the book.
Frankenstein also made me think of one of the storylines in the old TV show Dark Shadows, where Adam, who is a creature brought to life by (I think) Barnabas Collins and Dr. Hoffman, tells Barnabas that he will kill Victoria (whom Barnabas loves) if Barnabas and Dr. Hoffman don't create him a mate. The difference between DS and Frankenstein is that they *do* create Adam a mate (Eve) in DS; in the book Victor destroys the female creation before he can give her life. I always felt sorry for Adam on DS (it's also one of my least favorite storylines and goes on *forever*, which irritates me :-P) and it's the same sympathy that I feel for Victor's creature in the book. However, Adam doesn't really do that many terrible deeds, whereas the book's monster does. So, again with the being torn. Of course, Dark Shadows purposely drew from several old classic novels (Barnabas himself is a vampire, there are several run-ins with witches/dark magic and there's also a werewolf or three) so I'm sure the DS writers did it all on purpose.
As for the book itself, I did enjoy it and am glad I read it. I think it will take a few more read-throughs before I can really determine my full opinion of the story and really get a good handle on my thoughts and feelings towards the characters and the storyline. But a re-read will have to come later, because I have several other books on my plate to get through first.
Next up is Stardust by Neil Gaiman (which I'm nearly finished with), as Melissa, Melanie, Jessica and I are going to see the film on Saturday night and I want to have a general idea of what to expect before I see the movie. My next post will therefore be a "review" of the book, and possibly the film as well. Stay tuned! :)
I think I've finally figured out what to do with this account. *cue music*
This account is going to become my book account. This will be where I keep an on-going list of books I've read (I've just finished #38) and also a place where I can write a brief review of whatever it is I've just finished. So here are some very brief thoughts on Phillip Pullman's The Golden Compass. If you've not read this book yet and don't want to be spoiled, please do not read any further. Thank you!
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Originally I wasn't terribly interested in reading this book. I had a couple of friends who didn't enjoy it or felt like it was difficult to get into, so I'd kind of just stayed away from it. However, since the film is coming out this December I wanted to make sure I'd read the book first so that I'd have an idea of what was going on. So I borrowed it from a friend and read it. And actually? I really liked it!
Things I liked:
- Lyra. She's a really fascinating, stubborn and loving character.
- Daemons! How fabulous to always have someone to share your life with, to help you cope and bring you comfort. How fabulous to always have someone who loves you. <3
- The setting of the book. It's interesting to see elements from our own world and yet have them be completely different at the same time. This confused me a bit at first with the talk of the Professors and Scholars and all that but you get used to it fairly quickly and it really adds to the whole story.
One thing I noticed while reading is how much Lyra's parents seem to care for her but still do atrocious things. Her mother is relieved to have found her (although this is no doubt because she had plans for Lyra herself that would have been impossible to carry out if she'd *not* found her) and her father is terrified when he sees that she's found him and thinks he'll have to use her in his experiment. However, I can't decide what I honestly think of them. Neither of them seem to realize how horrible it is to separate a person from their daemon - Mrs. Coulter is advocating experiments on children and Lord Asriel takes the life of Roger's daemon, thereby taking the life of Roger as well - they don't seem to mind this. Although the panic that each feels when Lyra is the one threatened by such a process seems to tell me that maybe they *do* realize what a terrible thing they're doing, because they're not willing to do it to their own child.
Has anyone else read this book? What are your opinions? I'll no doubt read the next two in the series at some point, although right now I'm going to work my way through Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud and then read Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. Yay, YA Lit! :)
If you're looking for Merin, you've found her!
