A bit of silliness

Biker Buddy, playing with "Bean Boppers" (honey locust pods) and listening to their sound.

Book and Movie List 2008

Tuesday, January 28, 2008

Nope. I haven't finished reading any more books. I have written another chapter (Chapter 3 ) in my young adult novel called (at this point) Waking Up, Spies in the Land of Dreams. (See Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 ) And yes, I AM working on my other books as well.

What I did do is see a new movie which was made from a book I now hope to read: Persepolis (BB read it and said it was great!). I really liked the movie. I decided to add movies to my list for the year. There probably won't be that many, there usually aren't.

2008 Movie List:

1. Persepolis, 5+/5, Marjane Satrapi, based on the Graphic novel, directed by Marjane Satrapi, winner of the Golden globe and a long list of other awards. A feisty Iranian girl grows toward womanhood during times of war and strife and witnesses terrible things. She escapes to Vienna because her feistiness is getting her into dangerous trouble. But there is more trouble ahead for Marjane. The movie is animated and the illustrations are are very different than Disney-style animated films. They are lovely, well done, mostly in black and white, sensitively rendered. The story is touching and important. Striking, emotional, but humorous and understated. A fabulous film, I thought. A few pictures in another post of mine are here. Here is a link to the movie website. Read about the book here.
   

2008 Book List:

1. The Dolphins of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey. 3.5/5 This was not her best book ever and had some serious flaws, in my opinion, but we still enjoyed it. One of the things that I did not like about it is that it left the story to talk about ongoing Pern business without good background, so that it doesn't stand alone and the thread of the story was broken. It would be a much better story if those parts of the book were removed or woven in much more skillfully. The main story was good but had many of the elements of other stories, such as Dragonsong, which I really liked, but Dolphins seemed to be a bit of a rip-off of that story-line. One of the things I liked about this book is the intelligence of the Dolphins, their kindliness, and their willingness to help people even when people fail them.
2. The End of the Alphabet, by CS Richardson. 4/5. This little book is a wonderful read-aloud. The language works well. It is a sad book, and not terribly realistic, but beautiful and romantic and worth the read. It is personal, human, vulnerable, sweet fun, and tearful. Finished 1-21-08
   

The Golden Compass

Lyra with the Alietheiometer (sp). Photo not by me. (Most photos on
this blog are by me).

We went to see the Golden Compass Tonight. All three of us and the
two other people in the theater loved it. IT was NOT boring, as some
reviewers have said, not at all. Nor did it threaten my faith. I
don't get what the uproar is about. Sure it's about free will verses
predetermination and control by a higher power--but who's to say that
higher power is GOD?

If people have strong faith, why would questioning shake it? What not
look at all sides of an issue? What the heck is the big deal?

It's a fantasy. It's an adventure story. It's interesting,
suspenseful, scary and good.

And it will flop if people keep boycotting it. It's a good movie. Go
see it. Let me know what you thought. But hurry up, before they pull
it.

I loved it. (We all loved the books, too!)