Monthly Archives: October 2011

Masterpiece Monday: “Good Country People”

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Flannery O'Connor

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Rating: 5 out of 5

Happy Halloween everybody! I should have reserved Poe for this spooky holiday, but because I’ve already reviewed some of his stories, I decided to discuss another Gothic short story of Flannery O’Connor’s called “Good Country People.”

O’Connor (1925-1964) was an intriguing author from the South who often was criticized for her grotesque writing style. Although a Roman Catholic, she also made controversial claims about religion. The ironically titled “Good Country People”  (1955) pokes fun at Christians and atheists alike by sending the message that everyone can experiences moments of naivete and ignorance.

The story follows Joy Hopewell, a 30-year-old well-educated atheist, who changes her name to Hulga to  rebel against her evangelical mother. One day, a traveling Bible salesman humorously named Manly Pointer visits mother and daughter at home. Mrs. Hopewell believes Pointer is “good country people,” but the reader gets the impression that he’s not what he seems.

Joy decides to go on a date with Pointer and try to seduce him. They go inside the farm’s barn loft, and it soon becomes a battle of wits on who will take advantage of whom. I won’t give the story away because it’s a fantastic read that will keep you guessing until the end.

I love O’Connor’s use of satire: her writing is smart without sounding pretentious, and although this story’s easy to read, there’s many things going on between the lines. If you’re interested in a mysterious tale that’s not traditionally scary, “Good Country People” won’t let you down!

Favorite Quote: “Nothing is perfect. This was one of Mrs. Hopewell’s favorite sayings. Another was: that is life! And still another, the most important, was: well, other people have their opinions too. She would make these statements, usually at the table, in a tone of gentle insistence as if no one held them but her, and the large hulking Joy, whose constant outrage had obliterated every expression from her face, would stare just a little to the side of her, her eyes icy blue, with the look of someone who had achieved blindness by an act of will and means to keep it.”

Upcoming Adaptation News!

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Stoppard won an Oscar for the screenplay of Sh...

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There’s many adaptations for the stage and silver screen in the works, so I thought I’d summarize a few of them that interest me:

The first is a stage adaptation of one of my favorite movies of all time, “Shakespeare in Love.”  The New York Times reported that, “Two leading producers, Disney Theatrical Productions and the British impresario Sonia Friedman, have been holding meetings with the playwright Tom Stoppard – who shared an original screenplay Oscar for “Shakespeare in Love” with Marc Norman – and the director Jack O’Brien about the project, according to theater executives familiar with the creative discussions.” Nothing’s set in stone yet, but I’m glad that it’ll be a play, not a musical. I loved the film’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s personal life, so I’d definitely check out a stage version if I could!

Second bit of news is another movie adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Apparently Peter Cornwell (The Haunting in Connecticut) is going to direct the movie, which is set for release in 2013. ComingSoon.net shared this summary:

APOCALYPSE 2388. Earth is on the brink of extinction. Legendary explorer KURTZ has been sent on a desperate last bid mission to scout an unknown planet on the far side of the universe. A planet that may sustain human life. But communication with Kurtz mysteriously ceases and rookie flight officer MARLOW is assigned the perilous task of completing the objective. Tracking Kurtz into the unknown he reaches it. A new earth. And a race of beings at the dawn of time. But Kurtz has his own plans for the new world and man’s last hope for survival. And to achieve it he will take man to the only place that will protect paradise. Into darkness.

I’m highly disappointed that this adaptation, as well as its more famous predecessor “Apocalypse Now,” takes Conrad’s work and creates a sci-fi version. When are people going to realize that nothing beats the original story-line!

Lastly, my most anticipated movie adaptation is Studio Ghibli’s Japanese animated version of Mary Norton’s children’s book series The Borrowers, translated into English as “The Secret World of Arrietty.” This dubbed anime comes out in the U.S. February 17, and stars Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, and Carol Burnett as the English voice actors. I’ll definitely watch this in theaters, but when the DVD is released, I prefer to watch it in its original Japanese with English subtitles. I love Studio Ghibli so much!

So that’s what’s new in book-to-movie news this week. I’ll keep you updated! And feel free to send me your own adaptation updates too!

Masterpiece Monday: Demian

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Cover of "Demian (Perennial Classics)"

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Rating: 5 out of 5

I can’t believe that I haven’t reviewed this book, since it’s easily one of my top five favorites. Written by Nobel Prize-winning German writer Hermann Hesse in 1919 under the protagonist’s name Emil Sinclair, Demian’s the perfect example of a Bildungsroman (a coming-of-age story).

Emil is torn between the worlds of light and darkness, and struggles as a child who wants to obey and rebel against his parents at the same time. After bouts of bullying in school, he eventually meets a mysteriously mature classmate called Max Demian.

Demian broadens Emil’s views on religion and spirituality by making rather controversial claims about the Cain and Abel biblical tale. He also advises Emil to not separate light and darkness, good and evil, God and Devil, but rather worship both worlds simultaneously. Emil will eventually learn of this dual-powered diety known as Abraxas.

The novel follows Emil’s life as he goes to boarding school, meets other male mentors and female love interests, and inevitably runs into Demian again. The reader is given a sense that their fates are entwined, especially when Emil moves into Demian’s home and forms an unique relationship with Demian’s mother Frau Eva.

Demian is relatively short and easy to read, but don’t assume that it’s simple. It’s chock-full of influences from Jungian psychoanalysis, Friedrich Nietzsche, and various other philosophies. Hesse was an author heavily concerned with spiritual and intellectual enlightenment, as seen in his more popular works Siddhartha and Steppenwolf.

That being said, if you’re an evangelical Christian, this story will be more difficult to swallow. Demian is not afraid to make blasphemous comments about God and faith. But he encourages the reader to question and doubt religion in order to find your true self, so I recommend Demian to readers who enjoy widening their minds.

I have to thank my high school English teacher for giving us the opportunity to read this book. She loved it so much, in fact, that she named one of her dogs Demian! This novel truly changed my life, and I will treasure it forever.

Favorite Quote: “I wanted only to try to live in accord with the promptings which came from my true self. Why was that so very difficult?”

Concert Review: LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring

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All photos taken by me

Rating: 5 out of 5

So last night a dream of mine came true: I got to attend “The Lord of the Rings in Concert,” a special event celebrating the 10-year anniversary of “The Fellowship of the Ring.”

For those unfamiliar with this tour, it started on the West Coast Oct. 12. The movie is projected on a 60 ft. high-definition screen, with the orchestra seated below recreating Howard Shore’s musical composition.

The Fresno Bee reported, “About 220 traveling musicians are featured in the show, including members of the Munich Symphony, two choirs – the Pacific Chorale and the Phoenix Boys Choir – along with soloist Kaitlyn Lusk and a contingent of folk musicians and soloists. Ludwig Wicki conducts.”

What’s unique about this concert is that although you can hear the dialogue and sound effects, the film is also subtitled because oftentimes the music’s louder than the other audio.

Another awesome part of the show was a collection of movie props belonging to private collector Troika Brodsky. My photos aren’t the best quality due to the masses parading around the displays.

Props include Gimli's and Sauron's helmets

Various helmets and hobbit feet

Full Ringwraith costume, complete with sword!

Lurtz, the Uruk-Hai who killed Boromir

The musical performance itself was exquisite. It wasn’t a complete copy of Shore’s work, but it paid tribute to it with appreciation and respect. The Irish flutes were uplifting, the battle marches were powerful, and the choral singing was moving.

I especially enjoyed Kaitlyn Lusk as the soloist who sang Enya’s songs “Aniron” and “May It Be.” She looked stunning in her purple gown, and her singing was just beautiful. Easily my favorite performances of the night!

We had excellent seats on the floor, right in the center. It lasted from 7:30-11 pm, with about a 30 minute intermission after the Council of Elrond. I loved every minute of it, and I highly recommend the show to any LOTR fanatic like myself. I cannot wait to see “The Two Towers” next year and “The Return of the King” in 2013!

Want free books and a Kindle? Watch this video!

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The Guardian and Observer Books Season 2011 is hosting a contest on famous first lines in novels. You watch a video with six first lines, then provide your contact info below the video with your answers. Three winners will receive those six books, and the grand prize winner will also get an Amazon Kindle!

The catch is that you have to be a UK resident (sorry I tricked you fellow Americans!). But if you are one, the deadline’s Nov. 6. For the rest of us, it’s just fun to watch a beautifully animated video with some of the best sentences in the literary world. I personally knew 4 out of the 6 books, so I’m pretty pleased!

What are some of your other favorite first lines? Here’s my list from books I’ve read–Can you guess where they’re from?

  1. If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.
  2. If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.
  3. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.
  4. As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.
  5. Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.
  6. The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.
  7. There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.
  8. I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids–and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
  9. Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.
  10. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. (Yes, I only read 50 pages of this one, but it’s still an excellent opening!)

Masterpiece Monday: Catullus

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A Modern statue of the roman poet Gaius Valeri...

Bust of Catullus (Image via Wikipedia)

Rating: 5 out of 5

Well, today has sure been an emotional roller-coaster for me. I had a fabulous weekend with friends, but for reasons I will not divulge, my mood’s not so chipper right now. In fact, I was pretty livid earlier, so I thought I would share with you some poetic masterpieces by my favorite Roman poet Catullus.

I took a whole class on Catullus at UCSC when I was studying Latin as a Classics minor, but for those of you unfamiliar with the man, he lived circa 84-54 BCE and was familiar with other famous Romans, such as Julius Caesar and Cicero. He’s most known for his honest, often vulgar poetry about his lovers, friends, and enemies.

I try to keep my blog pretty G-rated, so I can’t share some of my favorite poems because they’re just too raunchy. Catullus was definitely a hot-head, and he had no problem unleashing his anger upon those who wronged him.

So if you’re ever in a bad mood, and feel like reading some dirty Latin poems, I recommend 16 and 42, but beware: they’re definitely NSFW!!! But if you’re not a prude, they’re so hilarious that they’ll cheer you up real quick! So Google those poems…if you dare!

However, for today I’m sharing his 12th poem, in which he insults a man named Asinius Marrucinus for stealing his precious dinner napkin. Sure, he’s petty and melodramatic, but the man can write! Makes me miss studying Latin!

Here’s the poem in its original Latin:

—Marrucine Asini, manu sinistra
non belle uteris in ioco atque vino:
tollis lintea neglegentiorum.
hoc salsum esse putas? fugit te, inepte!
quamvis sordida res et invenusta est
non credis mihi? crede Pollioni
fratri, qui tua furta vel talento
mutari velit; est enim leporum
disertus puer ac facetiarum.
quare aut hendecasyllabos trecentos
exspecta, aut mihi linteum remitte,
quod me non movet aestimatione,
verum est mnemosynum mei sodalis.
nam sudaria Saetaba ex Hiberis
miserunt mihi muneri Fabullus
et Veranius: haec amem necesse est
et Veraniolum meum et Fabullum.

And here’s my own English translation:

—Asinius Marrucinus, you do not make a pretty use of your left hand: you steal linen napkins of the neglectful in joke and drink.  Do you think that this is funny? It runs away from you, silly man: the thing is as vulgar and unattractive as you like. You do not believe me?  Believe your brother Pollio, who would want your thefts to be exchanged for one talent of silver: for the boy is filled of charms and jokes.  Wherefore, either expect 300 hendecasyllables, or send back my napkin to me, which does not move me at its value, but it is a souvenir of my companions.  For Fabullus and Veranius sent Saetaban napkins to me as a gift from Hiberia: it is essential that I love these as I love my Fabullus and little Veranius. 

Food for Thought While I’m Gone

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Hey everybody!

I’m going out of town this weekend, so I won’t be blogging until Masterpiece Monday. I’ll leave you with an interesting picture I found on I-Am-Bored.com about the phrases we say today because of Shakespeare. Obviously, we owe A LOT to the Bard, and it’s nice to appreciate his influence on the English language every now and then!

In the meantime, I’ll be reading 1984, eating great food, and dancing like Big Brother’s not watching me! Hahaha!!!

Have a fabulous weekend! Love, Book Club Babe

Movie Review: What’s Your Number?

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Image via ComingSoon.net

Rating: 3 out of 5

Over the weekend, I saw “What’s Your Number?,” a movie based on Karyn Bosnak’s 2006 novel 20 Times a Lady. It stars Anna Faris (“The House Bunny,” the “Scary Movie” franchise) as Ally Darling, who reads in a magazine that the national average of sex partners for a woman is 10.5–almost half of her own record of 19.

The magazine also claims that women with over 20 partners usually never marry, so Ally’s determined to not sleep with anybody else until she’s found ‘The One.’ She decides the best way to do this is to revisit her 19 exes and see whether they’ve become husband material.

She enlists the help of Colin, played by Chris Evans (“Fantastic 4,” “Captain America”). Colin is her commitment-phobe neighbor who hides in her apartment whenever he needs to escape the morning after his one-night-stands. Using his father’s detective skills, he helps Ally track down her exes–of course, falling in love with her in the process.

Unsurprisingly, this movie was cliched, predictable, and often unrealistic. I knew that going in, so I can’t complain. This movie was definitely better than Faris’ “The House Bunny” and “Scary Movies,” but I understand that’s not saying much. I still find Faris funny, because even though the situations she gets into are downright embarrassing, she comes off witty and relatable.

Of course, the gratuitous shots of Chris Evan’s pecs and biceps make it easier to excuse this chick flick’s faults!

But what I liked most about this film is the conversation it sparks regarding society’s views on sex and the double standard between men and women who play the field. From what I’ve heard, the book it’s based on is partly autobiographical, and Bosnak was turned down many times for writing about a single woman with an above average number of notches on her bedpost.

Many publishers wanted the author to round the number down to 10 ‘boyfriends,’ as if the score was bad enough, but how she got there was even worse. I laughed at this trivial worrying, since the gals on “Sex and the City” easily rank into the dozens–and in Samantha’s case, hundreds. And they still manage to be role models to millions of female fans.

But I also cringed, because no one would even bat an eye over a man with 19 lovers. This notion that promiscuous men are ‘studs’ and women are ‘sluts’ needs to stop. As long as you’re being safe and are happy with your decisions, no one should shame you for your number.

Overall, the movie was funny yet forgetable, but the message was worth it: Be proud of who you are, and don’t waste your time with people who can’t be proud of you too.

Masterpiece Monday: Kafka’s “A Hunger Artist” (Tribute to Catch-22)

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Catch-22

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Rating: 5 out of 5

Today’s the 50th anniversary of the publication of Joseph Heller’s novel Catch-22, but because I haven’t read it yet, I unfortunately can’t blog about it for Masterpiece Monday. However, I thought I would pay tribute to that classic by discussing another story representing a “catch-22.”

The definition of the term (thanks Google!) is “A dilemma from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.” In the original novel, it described the fighter pilot protagonist’s inability to escape combat by requesting a pysch evaluation to determine if he is unfit to fly–the very request would prove he’s sane enough to fly.

I chose to discuss Franz Kafka’s short story “A Hunger Artist,” because Kafka is also king of writing about lose-lose situations. Published in 1922, it narrates the life of a nameless hunger artist, a person whose circus act is starving himself for his fans. He was extremely popular at first, with many viewers surrounding his cage to get a good look at him. But over time, fasting lost its appeal, and the hunger artist struggles to continue his craft despite his irrelevance.

The catch-22 in this story is that the longer he starves, the higher his personal record (a feat essential to him, given that his boss originally placed a 40-day limit to his fasting). However, the longer he starves, the closer he gets to dying and thus officially loses the audience he so desperately wants to impress. Food is both his problem and his solution.

I love Kafka’s work, because he manages to make morbid, serious subjects like starving or turning into an insect and make them humorous. You pity the hunger artist for his situation, but you also are proud of his determination to succeed no matter what. Kafka’s calm, detached writing style combined with powerful imagery is why his stories deserve to be called masterpieces.

If you’ve read Catch-22, please share your thoughts on its anniversary today. I’d love to know if you’d recommend it! In exchange, if you haven’t read any Kafka, you should! I’m sure both authors will influence generations of readers for years and years to come!

Favorite Quote: “Forgive me everything,” whispered the hunger artist. Only the supervisor, who was pressing his ear up against the cage, understood him. “Certainly,” said the supervisor, tapping his forehead with his finger in order to indicate to the staff the state the hunger artist was in, “we forgive you.” “I always wanted you to admire my fasting,” said the hunger artist. “But we do admire it,” said the supervisor obligingly. “But you shouldn’t admire it,” said the hunger artist. “Well then, we don’t admire it,” said the supervisor, “but why shouldn’t we admire it?” “Because I had to fast. I can’t do anything else,” said the hunger artist.

Book Review: Shoe Addicts Anonymous

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5

My second of my birthday gift books is a chick-lit novel by Beth Harbison called Shoe Addicts Anonymous. It follows four women in Washington, D.C., and their hardships with work and relationships as they bond over swapping their designer shoes every week.

Here’s a little tidbit about each of the characters:

  • Lorna Rafferty: A waitress who creates the Shoe Addicts Anonymous group after realizing that if she doesn’t stop her shopaholic ways, she’ll be click-clacking in her heels all the way to bankruptcy.
  • Helene Zaharis: Wife of a controlling, cheating, lying scumbag of a politician husband. He freezes her credit cards as punishment for not giving a him a baby to help his publicity, so she joins the group to gain independence–and shoes.
  • Sandra Vanderslice: A very obese woman who’s so afraid to leave her house, she works as a phone-sex operator to pay for all her online shoe shopping. Joining the group is her attempt at overcoming her agoraphobia.
  • Jocelyn Bowen: A 20-something nanny who doesn’t care about shoes, but joins the group to escape her bitchy employer. She doesn’t wear the required 7.5 size of the group, but she’s willing to buy vintage Guccis at Goodwill in exchange for freedom and friendship.

I loved this book; it was a fun, lighthearted read that still discussed serious subjects, like debt and betrayal. All the characters were endearing, and I cheered them all on as they overcame their obstacles. The women weren’t like Carrie and friends in “Sex and the City,” but I could still relate to them all, from Helene’s nostalgia to Jocelyn’s desire to please.

My only complaint was that it took too much time to bring all the characters together. The chapters started off describing the women individually, and Jocelyn doesn’t appear until after 100 pages. But learning about their backgrounds was worth watching their friendship in the group grow.

Any lover of chick-lit should read this book. I also plan on checking out its sequel Secrets of a Shoe Addict, which follows Sandra’s sister Tiffany.

A quick Google search also revealed that Halle Berry would star in a movie adaptation of this novel, but no news has come out recently–probably due to Halle’s domestic disputes over custody of her daughter. I hope she can sort out her personal life soon and that this project hasn’t been canned completely!

All in all, both birthday books were excellent picks! What an enjoyable way to celebrate another year of life–surrounded by great books!