Reading anything?

[BTM]

I just got done reading Changes by Jim Butcher, the latest in the Dresden Files series.  A pretty good book, but I have to admit, I didn't care for the ending, as it pretty much ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger.  Gotta feel sorry for Harry though, he goes through a lot of crap in this book. 

[AndyC]

Finished Koko. Overall, a good book. It dragged in a couple of places, and I found myself taking a break from it more than once, but very interesting. I did, however, find the ending to be something of a letdown. I liked the way it ended, as well as the epilogue, but I found the confrontation with Koko to be a little less tense and exciting than I'd expected. Not to mention that we begin to get a clearer picture of what a bona fide monster one of the other characters (Beevers) is, just in time for him to get shoved into the background. Admittedly, irrelevance was the most fitting fate for him. We get some idea of Koko's motives, but he's still largely a mystery, although we do learn a lot about the forces that shaped him into a psycho killer.

Weird how the ending can be disappointing, but on close examination, be exactly how the story should have ended.

Anyway, I haven't quite decided what to read next. I was thinking of Catch-22, but I also have Darkly Dreaming Dexter waiting on the Kindle. I think I'll probably peruse some non-fiction before starting another novel. I've got an idea for a home automation project that I'd like to do some research for.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es.

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"

Not much to say about this one.

The Good
The perfect Jane Austen parody, but . . .

The Bad
I found the graphic novel confusing as heck. Hard to know who to blame, as there are so many suspects: Jane Austen, who wrote the original novel, Seth Grahame Smith, who adapted Jane Austen for this novel, Tony Lee, who adapted Seth Grahame Smith for the the graphic novel, or Cliff Richards, who did the illustrations for the graphic novel.

The Interesting
Jane Austen herself. Ever since we studied her in college for English Lit., I've always found her unreadable, but her novels are some of the oldest in the English language that are still studied and read. Maybe because the themes of her novels are timeless. And in a day when most English writers were men, she was one of the few English writers who was a women.

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" is to be a film released sometime in 2011, as in the author's "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," which is also scheduled for release in 2011. And the author is working on the script for "Dark Shadows," which should be released sometime in 2012.

Next time: It's not the movie. It's the movie tie-in.

[InformationGeek]

I'm starting to try to read Watchmen.  I read the first chapter in August, but I never continued after that.  Don't know why.

[Hammock Rider]

I'm reading The Tartan Sell by Jonathan Gash. It's a Lovejoy mystery. Lovejoy is a bit of a shady character, part hero, part rogue who deals in gray market antiques. This one has him pulling off a huge scam with the McGunn clan in Scotland. If you like antiques, British mysteries or charming, witty rogues, then you can't go wrong with Lovejoy.

[Doggett]

I'm starting to try to read Watchmen.  I read the first chapter in August, but I never continued after that.  Don't know why.

Because its a bit dull and self important only no-one has got the guts to say so.

V for Vendetta is a much better book.

[Newt]

The True Gen: An Intimate Portrait of Ernest Hemingway by Those Who Knew Him - Denis Brian
Brian arranges snippets of multiple interviews and deftly arranges them to resemble a group conversation with a minimum of elaboration.  It's quite effective and interesting: the portrait that emerges seems well-rounded (differing views are presented: it's a true 'discussion') and brings some life to reality behind the Hemmingway myth.

[Cthulhu]

I'm reading And the Ass Saw the Angel by Nick Cave.

It takes place in the deep south, and follows Euchrid Eucrow, a mute boy with an alcoholic mother, and a father who is the sole survivor of an inbreeding mountain clan.
He lives next to a town of religoius fanatics, who made his life a misery. And he is planning to exact his vengeance upon them.

Great book. It has an atmosphere you can drown in.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es.

I said, "It's Not the Movie, It's the Movie Tie-in," but that has to wait till next time, as I have to return the following to the library, before it's over due, so . . .

John Byrne's "Superman & Batman : Generations 2 : an Imaginary Tale"

77 years in the life of Superman and Batman and their friends and families and foes. Beginning in 1942 and continuing to 2019 in 11 years inclements.

Superheroes are not immortal. They grow old and die, but before they do, the women become pregnant and have children. And the children grow up and take their parents' place. And as the children grow older, they have children, who take their place.

But, darn! It was simpler when there was only one Superman and one Batman. In 77 years, we get Abin Sur; Atom; Batgirl; Batman I-III; Blackhawks; Blackhawk II; Cyborg; Deadman: Doctor Occult; Flash II, IV, and V; Flying Fox; Green Arrow; Green Lantern I-III; Hawkman; Kid Flash; Knightwing; Robin I-III; Spectre: Superboy; Supergirl; Superman; Wondergirl I-II; and Wonderwoman I-II.

I'm impressed by all the research that went into this. As all the automobiles, buildings, cosutmes, furniture, and telephones reflect the appropriate decade in which they appear.

The thing about the future is that it quickily becomes the past. Published in 22003, 2008 was five years in the future. But now 2008 is two years in the past.

No Verne or Welles to predict what the future brings, even a person totally guessing gets some things right. He was only off by an year, but in 22008, he predicted a black man would be president.

Next time: "it's Not the Movie, It's the Movie Tie-in."

[InformationGeek]

I'm starting to try to read Watchmen.  I read the first chapter in August, but I never continued after that.  Don't know why.

Because its a bit dull and self important only no-one has got the guts to say so.

V for Vendetta is a much better book.

I just got through reading it and it was... alright.  I wasn't blown out of the water by all the hype surrounding it.  I think that is the ultimate weakness in most hyped movies, games, and books for me, they never seem to knock my socks off.  Psycho, Blade Runner, Jaws, and Bonnie & Clyde for example are all good movies (B.R. is confusing as hell though), but they never live up to that hype.

V for Vendetta I saw at the library and I might look into that.

[Mofo Rising]

I'm starting to try to read Watchmen.  I read the first chapter in August, but I never continued after that.  Don't know why.

Because its a bit dull and self important only no-one has got the guts to say so.

V for Vendetta is a much better book.

I just got through reading it and it was... alright.  I wasn't blown out of the water by all the hype surrounding it.  I think that is the ultimate weakness in most hyped movies, games, and books for me, they never seem to knock my socks off.  Psycho, Blade Runner, Jaws, and Bonnie & Clyde for example are all good movies (B.R. is confusing as hell though), but they never live up to that hype.

V for Vendetta I saw at the library and I might look into that.

Now that you've read it once and gotten the superficial story, I suggest you go back and read it again.

Watchmen is incredibly dense, probably too dense for it's own good, but there isn't a single superfluous moment in the entire book. Every single piece of the book relates back into itself to dig a deeper groove (even the pirate story).

I think what a lot of people overlook is the importance of visual motifs throughout the book. On your first read they may just seem like story-telling gimmicks, but Watchmen is one of the first comics that actually used words and images in synchrony to tell a story that you could not create without an intimate discussion between the two.

Look at it this way, there are a couple of easily deciphered symbols. Rorschach sees things in black and white, the happy face with a blood stain is a symbol of the essential dysfunction in humanity.

But here's another example: every chapter ends in an image of a clock approaching midnight. You could take that as the story tells you to, as the "nuclear clock" approaching Armageddon. But did you notice that Dr. Manhattan chooses the hydrogen atom as his personal symbol (and if you know chemistry you know that symbol is as meaningless as the one he argues against). Dr. Manhattan's symbol is the clock at midnight.

Bit silly, there, but I hope it relates to you that there is a lot more to the book than the bare bones of the plot provide. I didn't even mention the eternally recurring motif of man trying to assert his dominance over woman, often violently.

In comparison, I've always thought that V for Vendetta is one of Alan Moore's weaker works. Don't get me wrong, I like it a lot, but it's quite a lot of wish fulfillment for the angry young anarchist upset with the hypocrisy of human society.

Then again, I think Alan Moore's most complete and literary work is From Hell. Not a big audience for what Alan Moore was selling there, though. Great book, no audience.

Take another look at Watchmen, preferably with some annotations. There's an entire world in that book you may not have even suspected.

[AndyC]

I only read Watchmen recently myself, but I agree, it is a story that can be examined in many different ways. Symbolically, psychologically, philosophically, politically.

I enjoyed the alternate history of the story, and its presentation of a 20th Century that aims to be realistic in every way except for the existence of superheroes. You have the big stuff, like the victory in Vietnam, Nixon holding onto power, and the Cold War worsening due to the end of mutual assured destruction (until America's advantage decides to leave). But then there are the little things, some of them specific to the comic book industry, like pirates becoming the main focus of comics, since superheroes aren't fantasy. Superman comics help to inspire the first masked vigilantes, then fade into obscurity. And comics are far more violent and gruesome, because the Comics Code Authority never comes into being, thanks to support for violent comic-inspired vigilantes.

For me, the backdrop of Watchmen was at least as interesting as the story, and possibly more.

[Neville]

I'm reading "Devil may care", by Sebastian Faulks. Don't let the name of the author confuse you: it's a James Bond novel! Seriously, somehow Faulks has been allowed to use the James Bond universe and he has written a book much in the vein of Ian Fleming's novels about 007. Faulks nails the writing style, but the plot is a bit disjointed. One scene seems right out of "From Russia with love", then another one from the newer Bonds starring Moore or Brosnan. It's not entirely a bad feeling, it's similar as when you watch a Bond film from the 80s onwards.

I can't say it's any deep, but sure it's fun to read, and a great homage to Fleming.

[Doggett]

Can't go wrong here. 

[InformationGeek]

I'm reading a crap ton of graphic novels from the local library, from Justice League of America to Ultimate X-Men.  I'm getting more hits then misses, but occasionally get the confusing and strange.  Reading Tornado's Path arc of Justice League is quite confusing towards the end.