An Exception to the Rule

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Let me start with this: I loved the movie Stardust. I rented it on a whim one weekend and ended up watching it 3 times. Within a 48 hour time span. I loved the storyline, the characters, the arc, the costumes, the magic. I've seen it several more times since, telling my friends what a fantastic movie it was.

So I can't help but wonder how on earth they managed to create such a whimsical movie from such a flat book. Usually, movies fail to capture the essence of a great book (Harry Potter, Running with Scissors, um just about every book-turned-movie ever).

In the novel, like in the movie, our hero is Tristran (well in the movie, he's Tristan because Tristran is a mouthful) Thorn. A sweet, lovestruck, and simple farm boy who lives in Wall. The town is called Wall due to the existence of just that, a giant wall separating the "real" world from the Faerie world. There is one gap in this wall, and it is constantly guarded by men from the town, to prevent anyone from going over into Faerie. Except every nine years there is a very special market, where people from Wall and all over go into Faerie to buy magical things.

It's this market that leads to Tristran's existence, and then we fast forward to his 18th year. He's in love with a vain young woman, Victoria, and in his attempt to gain her love, he promises to find a fallen star for her and bring it back. Where did the star fall? Faerie, of course.

It's these events in the movie that lead to the adventure that Tristran takes in finding the star, a woman called Yvain, and bringing her back to Wall. A number of (exciting) obstacles occur on his way home, and the trip leads him to discover himself, his capabilities, and his true love.

In the book, not so much. The action that was breathtaking and exciting in the movie barely existed in the book. The love story between Tristran and Yvain is hardly developed in the novel. The depth of the characters is barely explored in the book. And the ending is so unriveting that it doesn't hold a candle to the movie's edge-of-your-seat finale. In all, despite the fanciful idea of the Faerie world, Gaiman hardly explored or described all the incredible things he could have thought up. Even the story arc fell flat, with the typical climactic event falling short.

So if you want an enjoyable way to spend your afternoon or evening, go rent Stardust. It'll just be better that way.

Er, no ugly heroes, please

Title: To Seduce A Sinner
Author: Elizabeth Hoyt

Ookay, so I know this is not - I repeat not - the archaeology mystery that I am currently reading, but I saw this book when I was browsing through Amazon and it distracted me. I read the synopsis and reviews and was immediately intrigued by the originality of the plot - also, I confess that I am a sucker for stories about unrequited love and stories about marriages of convenience (especially in the historical genre), and it so happened that this book had both.

The heroine was interesting, so I'll start with her. On the surface, Melissande Fleming is the classic historical romance spinster, firmly on the shelf at age 28, and as dry, prim, and colorless as they come. She has been in love with the hero, Jasper Renshaw (a viscount) for nigh on six years, but he has never noticed her in that time, nor remember her name. The story opens as he is in the midst of getting jilted at the altar, and we encounter our first surprise: the heroine proposes to him. She figures this is her last chance at happiness with the man she's always loved, but she keeps her love for him a closely-guarded secret (among her other closely guarded secrets). And as we delve deeper into the story, we discover other really surprising facets about her that break the typical historical romance heroine mold (which is a big part of why she turns out to be pretty interesting). We also find out that she's actually not as colorless and humorless and boring as first presented, but is witty, warm, and very intelligent.

The reviews on Amazon gave me high hopes for Jasper at first - he sounded simply wonderful - a gentle man with a great sense of humor who eventually gives Melissande the courage to confess her love for him. But in reality, I wasn't sure I was as enamored of the hero after all. He did have a great sense of humor - very endearing, in fact - but beyond that, I wasn't as drawn to him as I would have expected. There was something lacking...a certain chemistry, a charisma...that didn't make me fall in love with him. And it didn't help that the author seemed to imply - at least from her description - that he wasn't all that attractive. I'm sorry, but I can't have the heroes of my romance novels running around being ugly. It just doesn't do it for me. On the upside, he was pretty ripped, so that at least helped, especially during the pivotal secks scenes.

There was also a mystery sub-plot having to do with Jasper looking for a traitor who betrayed his regiment during the French and Indian Wars in the Colonies, and this part reminded me a little of Last of the Mohicans, especially as Jasper recounted the torture he endured. It was interesting seeing that war from the British point of view.

Which brings me to another point - the setting for this story was in 1765, but you would hardly know it from the descriptions - or lack thereof - of the time period. There were no little details that are crucial in putting us into the setting - the story lacked an atmosphere. We could just as well have been in 1815 as 1765. And that's a problem.

Overall, though, this was a solid read. The writing was good. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either, and I would probably pick up this author again.

My Favorite Books

My turn. Favorite books in fiction, nonfiction, autobiography and my choice. Aside: I've never read any of Hazel's books below, not even Little Women. Here's my list:

1. Fiction: Hmmmm...the choice is endless! How to pick just one book? Okay, if I use Hazel's category of picking a book that has stayed with me over the years, I would have to pick this:


My favorite genre is romantic spy novels and this one is probably the best one I've read. It had Action! Adventure! Exotic locales! Hot sex! Hot heroines and even hotter heroes! Plus a scene toward the end that was so vivid and real and torturous I will never ever forget it.

2. Nonfiction: This book is a memoir, which is sort of the same as an autobiography, but different. A memoir tells a specific story about someone's life; an autobiography is someone's life story. For my favorite nonfiction title, this wins hands-down mostly because a lot of the scary-assed shit Anonymous talks about is happening right in my backyard.



3. Autobiography: Another no-brainer for me. This book is absolutely gripping.


4. My choice: A book that I can read over and over again? I guess it would have to be this one:


The final scene of this book, a takedown of Saddam Hussein's nuclear test facility, was absolutely riveting. I couldn't put it down. A very close runner up is...



...which involved a terrorist infiltration of the White House. It was ah-mazing.

Favorite Books

I swear, I am reading as fast as I can on my current book (hint: an archaeology mystery!) but in the meanwhile, I saw this fun book post from Protege and I wanted to do one too.

I am supposed to list a favorite book in each category of fiction, non-fiction, autobiography, and then any genre.

Fiction: Oooh, this is a hard one - I love all kinds of fiction, and I have so many favorites (including, of course, the Series That Shall Not Be Named). I guess it would be cheating to make a whole list, so I'll go with Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. A classic from childhood, it stayed with me all these years and I still remember the magical experience I had living in the world of the March family.


Non-fiction: A Night to Remember by Walter Lord.

I don't read much non-fiction, but I did read this during the height of my Titanic obsession (which abruptly ended when it was ruined by that awful Leonardo diCRAPio movie). This book was haunting.


Autobiography: Ugh. I hate reading autobiographies. Come to think of it, I don't think I've really read any. Or if I had, I don't remember. Biographies I can do sometimes, but autobiographies just seem so self-important. However, there is one that I've been wanting to read for the past year, but have not yet gotten around to it - Benazir Bhutto's Daughter of Destiny.


Any genre: I was torn between choosing sci-fi or romance, and I think this time around romance has the edge. Night of Sin by Julia Ross is one of the best romance books I've read (and I've read many). The writing was absolutely lovely - lyrical, precise, mesmerizing, elegant. The setting was incredibly lush and the characters endearing. Oh, and teh secks was pretty hot, too.

A Book Review!!!

At last! I did it! I finished reading I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb. Whew.

The novel places us in the viewpoint of Dominick Birdsey, a 40something from Connecticut with a twin. At the time we're introduced to him we learn a number of things: his twin is a schizophrenic, his mother has passed away, the man who raised him is his stepfather, and he has no clue who his biological father is. Each of these things are a source of stress, and oftentimes anger, for our narrator. The most trying aspect that we first face is his brother Thomas, and it is Thomas's actions from the beginning of the novel that propel us through. Importantly, Thomas's actions eventually lead Dominick to speak with Thomas's therapist (Dr. Patel), which then lets us into the world Dominick and Thomas grew up in and begins the weaving of past and present.

There are a number of issues tackled in the novel, from mental health and its stigma, the definitions of family, rape, war (the novel occurs during the Gulf War), life, death, homosexuality, and racism. Seriously, this book had every hard hitting issue imaginable. But Lamb eloquently wove each theme into the next.

The big thing that I can easily see readers getting irritated with is Dominick's general "woe is me" attitude. In fact, he once called it the "Dominick Birdsey Museum of Pain and Misery." It's not hard to understand how he got this attitude, what with the whole being responsible for his brother, having an abusive stepfather, losing close family members, getting divorced, and generally not being where he thought he would be at his age. There's a bit of complaining, tears and self-pity, and a whole lotta anger.

Being the nitpicky person that I am, I was really, really happy that Lamb did some serious research on the topic of schizophrenia, therapy, and the trajectory and changes of treatment over the years. It's because of the therapy process that Lamb included in the story line that I can't complain about one of the things I typically hate in books: random tragic past event memory (RTPEM). You know, the one that appears around half-way in the book to suddenly spice things up. Lamb did a decent job of making the RTPEM fit in and make it seem understandable why we didn't get introduced to it earlier.

There are a number of other plotlines that occur in this book other than Thomas and his schizophrenia. Dominick's relationships with his flaky girlfriend Joy, his ex-wife Dessa, and Ray, his stepfather. Dominick's "white guilt" and his interactions with Ralph Drinkwater (a Native American African-American boy/adult). The past of Dominick and Thomas's mother (Concettina) and the life of the man she idolzed, Papa.

It was an all around moving piece about family. There were a number of tear-jerking passages, and a couple of places where I knew I was supposed to cry but just couldn't. The first person writing made me feel as tired and worn out as Dominick and I just felt numb to some of the events.

It had a few twists (some predictable, quite a few not), but mostly nothing ridiculous. I generally have the problem of predicting the "twist" far in advance, and I didn't with this book. And I was so excited to have finally reached the end, that I didn't even get too pissed about the last chapter being those annoying wrap-up chapters.

Overall, a good yet exhausting read. I'd recommend it if you have the time, energy, and patience.

Now I'm off to read something fluffy and light and happy.

My turn

I am on page 86 of my current read (hence to be known as the book that is attempting to break the Twilight cycle - but between reading stuff about the coming movie and the elections, I haven't been able to get beyond page 86). I will reveal all here when I finish it.

So in the meantime, as well...

SHORTEST BOOK I'VE READ: Politically Correct Bedtime Stories by James Finn Gardner. I thought this book would be more clever and funnier than it turned out to be. It was so short I finished it in probably five whole mintues.

LONGEST BOOK I'VE READ: Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell. It's a good thing I already knew how it ended, or else I would have been really pissed, faithfully slogging through all those pages only to be left hanging at the end.

BOOK I'VE READ THE FASTEST: I am usually a fast reader, so it's probably a tossup between a whole bunch of books, but the most recent one is New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. I beat Alissa by 24 hours with her Breaking Dawn.

BOOK I'VE READ THE SLOWEST: My current read as well. I can't get out of page 86. It's a really, really fascinating book and I love the subject matter, but I keep getting distracted. (See: elections, Twilight movie.)

Meme part deux

Yeah, I Know This Much is True is crazy crazy crazy long. I will hopefully be able to finish it this weekend during the ride to my cousin's wedding in Jerz. So in the meantime...

SHORTEST BOOK I'VE READ: Probs Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. It's that or one of the Harry Potter "books" that Rowling wrote. Not the actually Harry Potter book, but one of the books she wrote that was one of Harry's schoolbooks.

LONGEST BOOK I'VE READ: The Game of Thrones aka A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin are pretty long. So was The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.

BOOK I'VE READ THE FASTEST: Gotta be Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. Less than 48 hours. I wouldn't have mentioned it if I wasn't tagged for this particular meme, so Karmela only has herself to blame.

BOOK I'VE READ THE SLOWEST: There's a number of books that I would have read a lot slower than I did if it wasn't for those readings tests in high school. Let's see, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, Beloved by Toni Morrison, and I want to include The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. Last one is more teach-y, but whatevs I totally hated it.

On a sad note, Michael Crichton passed today. Karmela describes him far more eloquently than I can, so I'll just direct you over to her post.

Short Book Meme

I swear to god, I'm almost finished with the book I'm reading. In the meantime, here's a book meme:

SHORTEST BOOK I'VE READ: Shopgirl by Steve Martin. Yes, THAT Steve Martin. He also turned it into a movie starring him and Clare Danes, remember that? It was actually pretty good.

LONGEST BOOK I'VE READ: It's a toss-up between The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough, Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, and The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber.

BOOK I'VE READ THE FASTEST: Got to be the latest John Grisham (The Appeal) which took me about 48 hours, although back in my high school/college days I plowed through those Harlequin novels in less than a day.

BOOK I'VE READ THE SLOWEST: Hmmmm...not counting textbooks? I would say my current read, Countdown by Michelle Maddox. But only because I haven't had the time to read lately!

I now tag my co-bloggers Hazel and Alissa.