The Golden Compass

I'd seen the movie a while back and I can't say it left much of an impression. The book, however, I really liked reading. It was quick and clear and I just blew through the pages. It all starts in the retiring room of Jordan College where Lyra first hears of Dust, aureous borealis and the city hidden inside it, and the armored bears. It's also here that Lyra saves her uncle from the master's poison. Then she's wisked away but Mrs. Courteur, her unknown mother, and is given the altheimeter upon her departure. After finding out Mrs. Courteur is a Gobbler, she escapes from her and begins the true adventure which takes her North with the gyptians. As their name suggests I found the gyptians to be kind of a watery mix between gypsies and egyptians. They take Lyra by sea to a town where they get dog sleds, an aeronaut, and an armored bear and continue on towards the prison where kidnapped children are cut from their daemons. Lyra causes a jailbreak just as her friends arrive to fight off the guards. She escapes into the aeronaut's balloon and floats to the king of the armored bears' castle. There she arranges a fight between the bear she has befriended and the king. The book ends with her deciding to follow her uncle into the city in the Northern Lights.

The Hobbit

The Hobbit has an obsessive depth of detail. Tolkien constructs full cultures. Details like the dwarves' hats, Baggins family history, general hobbit history, songs of each culture, nasty songs for goblins, war and mine songs for dwarves, etc, all of which build the reality of Tolkien's fantasy world. Tolkien doesn't write as a commercial writer bent on selling, rather he constructs his story as his own modern version of ancient myth. Much is actually taken from ancient mythology, even names such as Thorin which is taken from the Norse God, Thor. The Hobbit's main character, Bilbo, follows the "Hero's journey" very precisely, starting with the innocence of the Shire, the call to adventure by Gandalf and dwarves, the refusal to leave, the supernatural aid of Gandalf, etc. The book is a kids' kind of classic, adventure tale full of exploration. I really liked the annotated Hobbit because it included sources from which Tolkien got his ideas and different illustrations done by numerous artists. I liked the book better when I was a kid, but I still found it enjoyable.

The Wild Sheep Chase

I loved The Wild Sheep Chase. First off, the writing was great. I have a feeling the author is also a poet. I especially liked a sentence on page 153 where the main character repeats the word took four times in one sentence. He even replaces the word look with took an saying "I took a long took," which I thought was really neat. I also really liked, though I didn't fully notice it till maybe half way through, that the characters don't have names. The only actual name in the whole book is Kipper, the name the chauffeur gives to the cat. The lack of names shows a similarity between main character and author in that the main character says he hasn't named the cat because he doesn't really like names, and the author shows his dislike for names by not using them.

When I first started the book I read the first two chapters and was wholly depressed. However, the next chapter introduced the main character's new girlfriend who he falls for because of her beautiful ears. She really lightened up the mood. From there the book took off as the wild sheep chase began.

I loved the ending. When he arrives at the Rat's house, wakes up to find his girlfriend gone, and quits smoking, I really felt the suspense building. I found the next ten days spent in the house to be the slowest part of the book and for good reason, it really allowed for creepy feelings to start growing and set an insatiable need to know what the hell was going on inside me. When the truth finally came out I was happily floored. I really liked that the Rat was two ghosts though I didn't quite understand how the Sheepman could have buried the Rat since they are the same person and are both ghosts. But then again the Rat was able to fetch beers as a ghost, so maybe ghosts can bury people too.

Interview with a Vampire

I read “Interview With a Vampire” about a year ago and though its not extremely fresh in my mind I do remember a few interesting things I liked and noticed about it. I thought it was neat how the book is a cross between a dark horror novel and a romance novel. I also really liked the portrayal of New Orleans as a city full of dark alleys where predators may lurk. The idea of a society of vampires and the extreme love and kinship felt between vampires was a concept I thought of as being realistic, in a vampire world. I would think vampires, being immortal and needing to feed on blood, would want to band together to find acceptance and to combat the loneliness of immortality. The idea of a child vampire and the ensuing dilemma was very interesting. Immortality is something so desired by many humans, but immortality as a child seems to be more of a curse than a blessing. I also liked the contrast between the two male vampires; One vampire feels the pull of morality and tries to live as a non-aggressive predator (like a human) where as his benefactor fully embraces the life of a bloodthirsty selfish killer. I see now that its been pointed out to me the concept of S&M introduced by the two male vampires.

Why are Zombies popular?

Why are zombie movies so popular?

Why is armageddon so popular? It appears that we humans know our unfortunate end is coming in the future. At some point, because of war or disease or disaster, the human population will dwindle, food will become scarce, and people may have to resort to cannibalism to stay alive. Being forced to cannibalism is somewhat forgivable, but wanting to eat your own kind is just plain evil. And we love evil.

The death of a loved one is one of the hardest things for a human being to cope with. Certainly many people who have lost someone wish that they were still with them. Having someone try to eat you is scary, but having someone you loved, come back from the dead and try to eat you, is just plain horrifying.

Monster Island

Jack Price

8/30/10

Monster Island

I liked the book Monster's Island, but I felt it read like a screenplay. Maybe thats just because I've seen a few zombie movies but have never before read a zombie book. The emphasis in the writing was on the plot and oncoming action rather than troubling with much character development, vivid descriptions, or use of elaborate metaphors. The book isn't going to win the Pulitzer, but it sure would make a good movie.

I thought Gary was a great villain. When Dekalb and the girls first find him, they decide to keep him even though they are so adverse to the undead. I thought that was a bit far fetched but I suppose you've got to introduce the character somehow. The idea of Gary's origin: that he was originally a doctor who turned himself into a zombie while keeping his brain oxygenated, was a really neat way of making a half zombie half human. Gary's character won me over even more when I found out he had super powers! Since the dead are just too easy to get around, what better idea than to take away their limitations and make them an even fiercer force to be reckoned with by giving them a fully brained leader who can control them with his mind.

Mael fell short as a villain and character for me. When Gary fist heard Mael calling for him in his head, I was very excited to find out about Mael. However, when he turned out to be a Scottish bog mummy, bent on killing for no apparent reason, I mentally snickered. I felt like bringing the mummies into the zombie story was kind of corny. Now the idea of the first zombie to the zoo, who becomes a giant zombie from over eating, that was kind of cool. Anyway, Mael was at least good as a stepping stone for Gary. I especially liked Gary at the end, fat and controlling his minions from the comfort of his chemical bath.

Jack was a neat character too, I think knowing a little more about him and his personality would have made him as charismatic as Gary. I liked that Dekalb saw him as calm and courageous, even though he exposed his inner stresses to Dekalb multiple times.

Dekalb, our main character, rose to the occasion. He was good for a main character because he was a normal person that any reader could relate too, but who just happened to be a weapons inspector with a father's motivation to succeed. He got the job done. Happy Ending.