tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35849992112574613382024-02-19T01:25:06.118-08:00The Therd PersonOpinions on EntertainmentTimothy Younghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02950732236160052955noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3584999211257461338.post-4107792635674993382009-01-16T16:03:00.000-08:002009-01-16T23:53:42.918-08:00King's DragonI've created a little bit of a dilemma for myself. I did it by reading <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Kings-Dragon-Crown-Stars-Vol/dp/0886777712/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232152220&sr=8-1">King's Dragon</a> by Kate Elliot. It's a great book. It's a well-written high fantasy with realistic characters that takes place in a medievalish world that's presented with heaps of detail. (In fact, the sheer quantity of detail that Elliot pours into this world may prove to be the Achilles heel of this book for some readers.)<br /><br />The trouble is, King's Dragon is merely the first in a seven-book epic. The series is completed, so I don't have to sit around waiting for the next installment to be written. My problem is that I'm just not sure how to rationalize to my self and- even more challenging- to my wife that it's a good use of my time to sit down and read the next 4,500 pages. (No, that's not an exageration on the page count.)<br /><br />So, even though I really enjoyed reading the book and would recomend it to anyone who's willing to get themselves caught up in a long series, it may be a while until I return to visit the kingdoms of Varre and Wendar.Timothy Younghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02950732236160052955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3584999211257461338.post-44977713037516227662009-01-16T14:26:00.000-08:002009-01-16T16:39:51.656-08:00Two Short StoriesI have a distinct memory of an episode of The Simpsons that came out when I was probably still in middle school. It was one of their Halloween specials where the writers get to explore ideas that are even wackier than what usually shows up in the series. I don't remember much about the episode except for one part.<br /><br />It took place in the distant future and near the end we were shown that Mr. Burns had been able to survive for centuries by turning his natural body into a cyborg. All that remained of his biological body was his head, encased in a transparent chamber and connected to his now mechanical body by means of tubes and cables. I was intrigued by the idea. It left me wondering whether it would really be possible to do something like that. I was well aware that people were able to replace individual parts of their bodies- limbs, organs, even hearts- with man-made mechanical devices that could perform the same functions.<br /><br />Could humanity, one day, replace an entire body with a man-made one, leaving just the head, or even just the brain, to control it? What would it be like to be a person with a completely mechanical, man-made body. Would you still be a <span style="font-style: italic;">person</span>?<br /><br />These were the questions the image of the Mr. Burns cyborg left with me and they've managed to pop up in my head a few times since then. Anyone who has read a little science fiction knows that this topic is common fodder for writers in the genre. Eric James Stone's story <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.apexbookcompany.com/apex-online/2009/01/short-fiction-in-memory/">In Memory</a> </span>takes the idea one step further, to a world where man has discovered how to transfer not just our bodies, but our very consciousness to a man-made home. It's a fascinating story that shows us that humanity is defined by more than the shape of our bodies or the location of our souls. If you like it as much as I did you'll be glad you read it.<br /><br />The other short story I read this week that I want to share with you is by Peter S. Beagle. This one is fantasy, not science fiction, so no cyborgs here. No unicorns either, for those who might have been wondering. To be a little more to the point,<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span>it's contemporary fantasy.<br /><br />What if you could make something happen just by saying that it did? No, I'm not talking about making something happen right now. I'm talking about making something already have happened. What if I could point out someone on the street and tell you that person had been run over by a truck and killed <span style="font-style: italic;">last week</span> and the next thing you know, that's what really happened? What would that kind of power do to a person? What duty would that kind of person have to use his power responsibly? Those are the questions Mr. Beagle asks in <span style="font-style: italic;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com/cgi-bin/mag.cgi?do=issue&vol=i5&article=_001">We Never Talk About My Brother</a>. </span>You should read it. I think you'll enjoy it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>Timothy Younghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02950732236160052955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3584999211257461338.post-14403465085143954432008-10-21T11:45:00.000-07:002009-01-16T23:20:47.440-08:00CoralineNeil Gaiman has been referred to as a "rockstar of the literary world". People call his stories "remarkable". If you've spent much time perusing the fantasy section of your local bookstore or Amazon.com you're sure to have come across at least a few of his titles.<br /><br />I decided to sample one of his books a few years back with his well-reviewed <span style="font-style: italic;">American Gods</span>. But it didn't work out so well. I was working as a pizza delivery driver at the time, and I was pretty fond of listening to books on tape during my deliveries.<br /><br />The trouble with listening to audiobooks while delivering pizza is that there are too many interruptions that get in the way of listening to the book- you know, the whole part about giving the pizza to the customer. <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />American Gods</span> is a novel that demands a reader's attention- a lot more attention than I was able to give while trying to locate the homes of hungry pizza eaters in North Ogden. I couldn't follow what was going on well enough to really get interested in it.<br /><br />Also, <span style="font-style: italic;">American Gods</span> is marketed as a fantasy novel, but the fantasy genre is an enormous place with room for all kinds of subgenres and sub-subgenres, and at the time I had a hankering for standard "high fantasy" fantasy. High fantasy <span style="font-style: italic;">American Gods</span> is not.<br /><br />So I stopped reading, er, listening to it.<br /><br />But I kept hearing good things about Mr. Gaiman's stories. And I watched <span style="font-style: italic;">Mirror Mask</span> and liked it. And I watched <span style="font-style: italic;">Stardust </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">loved</span> that. And I kept hearing more good things about Gaiman. Until one day I read a bucket-load of great reviews about Gaiman's newest young adult book, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Graveyard Book</span>. It seemed like everyone who had anything to say about the book couldn't help falling all over themselves to heap praises on it. So I decided I had to go out and buy a copy.<br /><br />I stopped at Barnes & Noble on the way home from work one day and went straight to the children's section where I knew I could find a copy. Except they didn't have one. They were all out. But sitting right next to where <span style="font-style: italic;">The Graveyard Book</span> should have been was a copy of Gaiman's young adult novella <span style="font-style: italic;">Coraline.</span> I remembered hearing good things about that book too, so I bought it instead.<br /><br />Some people have compared <span style="font-style: italic;">Coraline</span> to the story of Alice in Wonderland, and I guess it's a comparison that works, to an extent. I'm really not qualified to talk much about <span style="font-style: italic;">Alice in Wonderland</span>, since my only exposure to it is by way of the Disney animated version. But where Alice's wonderland is strange and unusual, the world that Coraline discovers is sinister and creepy and populated with many characters who do not want good things to happen to Coraline, or to anyone else but themselves for that matter.<br /><br />But it's a small world, both in terms of physical size and, more importantly, in the amount that we, as readers, are permitted to explore it, learn about it, live in it. Not that I would actually <span style="font-style: italic;">want</span> to <span style="font-style: italic;">live</span> in that world- it's a miserable place. But isn't that why we read fantasy- to discover new places and imagine what the world would be like if the natural order of things were a little, or a lot, different?<br /><br />Some readers have said they became enamored with the protagonist's personality. They thought Coraline was plucky and determined and they liked her for it. While there's no question that the story couldn't have been the story it was without her possessing those qualities, it felt unrealistic to me for a ten year old girl to show so much resolve and fearlessness when faced with the kind of danger that Coraline encounters. Then again, I haven't known that many ten year old girls, and the ones I have known have never been forced to risk their lives in order to save the lives of those they love.<br /><br />I can't help comparing this book to the other young adult novels I've read recently. In doing so there's no question that this one left more of an impression on me than any of the others. I think that's because of the primal reactions I repeatedly had while reading the story. Did I love it? No- the story was too simplistic and the main character was too hard to sympathize with. Should you read it? Sure, if you're inclined to. If not, skip it. Will your kids like it? Seems pretty likely. But I must warn you- even though it's not violent or gory, it is without question very creepy. So don't blame me if they wake you up in the middle of the night because of scary dreams.Timothy Younghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02950732236160052955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3584999211257461338.post-33327526105281758962008-09-26T12:30:00.000-07:002009-01-16T23:54:50.410-08:00Fred<div>I can’t get Fred off my mind. Not because I think he’s as funny as his legions of ten-year-old fans do, but because he, or rather Lucas Cruikshank- the 14-year-old boy who created him- has enough raw flimmaking talent and understanding of how to entertain his peers that his short movies have attracted literally nearly a hundred million viewers.<br /><br />Who’s Fred? Have a look:<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/i5dap5HfPfY&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/i5dap5HfPfY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Charming, isn't he? But once you look past the fact that he creates his films on a nonexistent budget, and that his character has a personality that is about as pleasant as underwear made out of sandpaper, you can’t help but notice that young Mr. Cruikshank has a good understanding of how to build a movie that speaks to its intended audience in a way that keeps them coming back for more.<br /><br />Yes, the core of his appeal (to his fans, of course) is slapstick. But that’s not the only tool in Cruikshank’s toolbox. Besides the swimming-with-clothes-on antics, or the squeakier-than-a-chipmunk voice, or the nearly uncomfortable looking facial expressions, he manages to address a range of topics that are a big deal in the life of an average 12 year old. And his over-the-top comedic treatment of these themes, combined with his on-camera confidence and knack for tight, rapid fire editing, creates an end product that works well. Don't believe me? Then consider the fact that the Fred YouTube channel has over 500,000 subscribers. That's 500,000 people who are clamoring for Lucas Cruikshank to keep sending them more Fred videos.<br /><br />Whether you or I think his films are worth watching is irrelevant. There are enough people (admittedly they’re under the age of 14) that do want to watch them that he’s caught the attention of major Hollywood corporate types. Why? Because he has managed to do what has been so elusive for the film and television industry- create a successful product that is brought to market exclusively online. And if you don’t think his films fit the definition of successful, consider <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/2008/06/freds-youtube-c.html">what the LA times had to say about him</a>-<br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">"Hollywood, ever hungry for tween eyeballs, has predictably caught the scent. Cruikshank recently signed with James Dolin, an L.A. business manager at Sonesta Entertainment. Along with the product placements -- for which he's being paid "generously," Moizel said -- he's also appeared in a commercial for the ZipIt <span style="font-family:georgia;">(instant messaging device)</span> that aired on Nickelodeon, ABC Family and MTV</span><strong style="font-family: arial;"></strong><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span><span style="font-family:arial;">"</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">"Once Fred's videos are released, they rocket into the YouTube exosphere, generating 4 and even 5 million views a pop -- repeat viewership numbers that are unmatched anywhere on the Internet. Fred's most-viewed episode, "</span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9MA0eW8yyw">Fred Loses His Meds</a><span style="font-family:arial;">," would've been the top-rated show on cable last week."</span><br /><br />Lucas Cruikshank and others like him are turning the concept of mass entertainment on its ear. They're proving that attracting large, loyal audiences doesn't require the use of big Hollywood studios and big Hollywood budgets, and that the internet <span style="font-style: italic;">can</span> be used as an exclusive means of product distribution.<br /><br /><br /></div>Timothy Younghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02950732236160052955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3584999211257461338.post-52717290426085742972008-09-08T06:27:00.000-07:002008-09-08T19:29:47.295-07:00Pork, Beans, and Free MusicIs anyone else enjoying the Weezer renaissance that's currently playing itself out online? Apparently so, judging by the nearly 13 million views of their new <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muP9eH2p2PI">Pork and Beans</a> video on YouTube.<br /><br />The video is clever and funny. Except, that is, if you're unfamiliar with the micro-celebrities of the YouTube universe. (I wish I could take <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZdP6IU-huw">credit</a> for that clever term.) It pays tribute to them by incorporating parodies of their videos into the Weezer video. But these aren't typical parodies. Weezer managed to convince the actual YouTube-elebrities (that one <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> mine, thanks) to reperform their skits with members of the band. The results are really fun to watch, especially the ones with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA">Tay Zonday</a>.<br /><br />Wait a second-- <span style="font-style: italic;">incorporating</span> isn't really the right word, since the Weezer video consists entirely, in one form or another, of these parodies.<br /><br />Anyway, if you haven't seen any of the original clips that the music video uses, then it will seem like a bunch of nonsense. If you fall into this category and this post has still managed to catch your interest then you'd do well to watch a few of these before moving on to the Weezer video. Please keep in mind that a few of them contain language and/or situations that some people might find offensive. In my ongoing efforts to maintain harmony and goodwill among the faithful readers of this blog I've excluded the more flagrant offenders from this list:<br /><br /><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=Fa-PhBRiuMU" target="_blank">Casting Kung-Fu</a><br /><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=8lXdyD2Yzls" target="_blank">Dramatic Gopher</a><br /><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA&feature=related" target="_blank">Chocolate Rain by Tay Zonday</a><br /><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=r6tlw-oPDBM" target="_blank">Guiness Record for Most T-Shirts Worn at One Time</a><br /><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww" target="_blank">Miss Teen South Carolina</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjA5faZF1A8" target="_blank">Korean Pachelbel</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKoB0MHVBvM" target="_blank">Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5im0Ssyyus" target="_blank">Charlie the Unicorn</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFCSXr6qnv4" target="_blank">Charlie the Unicorn Part 2</a><br /><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=K2cYWfq--Nw" target="_blank">Daft Hands</a><br /><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=lLYD_-A_X5E&feature=related" target="_blank">Daft Bodies</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NE5elL30w4" target="_blank">Ryan vs Dorkman</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4AuN6pN1kY" target="_blank">All Your Base Are Belong to Us</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60og9gwKh1o" target="_blank">Numa Numa Kid</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg" target="_blank">Evolution of Dance</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atXIKI2XHj4" target="_blank">GI Joe PSA</a><br /><br />And if you enjoyed Tay Zonday as much as I do, then you won't want to miss <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQnT3psRi7Q">this accoustic version</a> of him performing Pork and Beans with Weezer member Brian Bell. And while I'm at it, here's another <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6dUCOS1bM0">Tay Zonday spoof</a>, just for good measure.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">***<br /><br /></div>As long as I'm on the topic of music I may as well share with you what has recently become my new favorite website. <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://magnatune.com/">Magnatune.com's</a> slogan is "We're not evil"- the idea being that we, the users, get to decide how much we'll pay for the songs we download from the site in addition to deciding which file format we download the songs in and how many computers we save them on. That's right, none of the "Digital Rights Management" nonsense that you have to put up with from the more popular online music vendors. All this, and the artists get a 50% cut each time they sell a song.<br /><br />But none of that is what makes me like the site so much. The reason I keep coming back to Magnatune is that they let me stream entire albums. Yeah- I can log on to the site at work, choose an album on their site and listen to it, for free, while I'm working. Their primary reason for doing this is so that potential purchasers can know exactly what their getting when they purchase and album or a song. But the handy side effect is that even if you're not planning on buying the music, you can still listen to it.<br /><br />Of course, when you stream the music online there's a little blurb at the end of each track that reminds you that you're listening to Magnatune.com and kind of interupts the flow of the album. But when you're listening for free you haven't got a lot of room to complain.<br /><br />They don't carry big name artists- no Weezer here; and a lot of what they do have just doesn't interest me. But I've managed to find enough music that I do like that I find myself bringing up the site over and over at home and at work. In no particular order, here are a few of my favorites:<br /><br /><a href="http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/ehren-lines/">Lines Build Walls</a>- Ehren Starks<br /><a href="http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/ehren-depths/">The Depths of a Year</a>- Ehren Starks<br /><a href="http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/costlow-woods/">Woods of Choas</a>- Rob Costlow<br /><a href="http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/satamian-dry/">Dry Fig Trees</a>- Gerard Satamian<br /><a href="http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/hanford-24preludes/">24 Preluds for Solo Piano</a>- Jan Hanford<br /><br />And no, I will not force you to choose between listening to them or muting the volume on your computer just because you decided to visit my blog.Timothy Younghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02950732236160052955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3584999211257461338.post-35916309082414769032008-09-07T20:46:00.000-07:002008-09-08T21:24:11.480-07:00Gifts and DerelictThe books in this review came to me by way of my <a href="http://hatrack.com/">Uncle Orson</a>. <span style="font-style: italic;">A War of Gifts</span> he authored, <span style="font-style: italic;">Galactic Derelict</span> by Andre Norton, he recommended.<br /><br />You might think that someone my age would have enough experience to be somewhat wary of reading a book that was recommended largely on sentimental value. But there it was, in a <a href="http://www.hatrack.com/research/interviews/2004-sonja.shtml">list of Uncle Orson's favorite books</a>, along with a <a href="http://www.hatrack.com/osc/reviews/f&sf/91-03.html">description</a> of how it did such a great job of creating a sense of wonder by transporting the reader to intriguing new worlds. (I<a href="http://timothyyoung.blogspot.com/2008/09/my-childrens-cultural-awareness.html"> like exploring</a> intriguing new worlds. Isn't that half the reason we read speculative fiction?)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcbFYB8ZAilazz8xiCb5VHbWm7eesx9_l4ieSAUngevghOq3BC_LTt5ZDIUsa6ftf8wPcn91Z7hIWjYNY0U6OarngCLlFOL_BFfxYSGuZA8k20gyEGB4LyFZIpLqgeKijlaOKVZ-85cDc-/s1600-h/derelict.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcbFYB8ZAilazz8xiCb5VHbWm7eesx9_l4ieSAUngevghOq3BC_LTt5ZDIUsa6ftf8wPcn91Z7hIWjYNY0U6OarngCLlFOL_BFfxYSGuZA8k20gyEGB4LyFZIpLqgeKijlaOKVZ-85cDc-/s320/derelict.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243870026059286818" border="0" /></a>So when I saw <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Galactic Derelict</span> sitting on the shelf at my local used book store, I couldn't pass it up-- after all, its an old book and likely hard to find. So at $2.95 I felt like I was getting a steal of a deal.<br /><br />A couple years later I finally got around to reading the book and it was, in a word, boring.<br /><br />I'm not an expert on the evolution of science fiction. But I've learned enough about it to know that 1959 was a time when sci-fi authors were concerned almost entirely with ideas, as opposed to character development and motivation, and story, and relationships between characters and... you get the idea.<br /><br />The characters in this book are one step shy of meaningless. The only reason they exist in the story at all is so that it has some way of moving forward. Norton's primary interest here is taking the reader to alien worlds.<br /><br />The story begins in a future where the secret to time travel has been discovered. Also discovered is the fact that sometime during earth's prehistory an alien race visited our planet and left some of their spaceships behind. The people who posses the technology for time travel decided that more could be learned from these spaceships if they were to go back in time and retrieve them in their original state, rather than examinig the ships in their decrepit condition, 15,000 years later in their own era.<br /><br />So the first alien world that Norton examines in the book is prehistoric earth, where she brings her characters face-to-face with the likes of wooly mamoths and sabre-tooth cats and well-muscled hunter-gatherers.<br /><br />They don't stick around in the stone-age for long though. The process of transporting the spaceship through time to the future causes it to active and launch, with the main characters aboard. The remainder of the story consists of those characters experiencing the alien environments of the different worlds the ship takes them to as it carries out its pre-programmed flight plan.<br /><br />I can absolutely understand why Orson Scott Card found this to be a fascinating book as a seventh grader, and therefor, why it would maintain so much sentimental value for him. I agree that for a middle-grade reader who hasn't had a lot of exposure to science fiction, this could definately be a worthwhile book. (I intend to keep it around for that very reason.) But for anyone who's read any sci-fi that's somewhat more engaging, this book will seem quaint at best, and probably more like just plain dull.<br /><br />(Oh yeah, and just in case you were wondering about the goofy snake-beast on the cover-- it doesn't even make an appearance in the book. I suppose it was just part of some misguided marketing effort from the 1970s... "Sabre-tooth tigers? No one will read a spaceship story with a sabre-tooth tiger on the cover. Why don't we throw something else on there to liven it up a little-- some kind of snake-beast alien... with tyranosaur claws, and mean-looking fangs. Yeah, that should do the trick!")<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl2yPysUh5eVdMjtgddnIAG4eJrgnExDHLNrfa1dVnWnonxAckZL4cy10eACkbIH1HXvHs18M3HjdLxc6AkBCxSDUy9z7QOj_3RYNecwt1zOGIqQaa0FPu-a8_fjjiYZ-zJHeTSR7kaT71/s1600-h/war.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl2yPysUh5eVdMjtgddnIAG4eJrgnExDHLNrfa1dVnWnonxAckZL4cy10eACkbIH1HXvHs18M3HjdLxc6AkBCxSDUy9z7QOj_3RYNecwt1zOGIqQaa0FPu-a8_fjjiYZ-zJHeTSR7kaT71/s320/war.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243867854215424658" border="0" /></a>Card's <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">A War of Gifts</span></span>, on the other hand, was delightful. Fans of any of the Ender series will not want to miss this story as it examines the Battle School, and the bugger war in general, through the eyes of a new character, Zeck Morgan. And yes, Ender Wiggin <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> featured in this story as a secondary character, albeit one who plays a pivot role.<br /><br />The book is brief- only 128 pages- and with such a short story it's hard to reveal much of the details without spoiling significant parts of the story. The crux of the story is centered around a small rebellion among the Battle School students as they decide to break the rules about religious observation and give each other Christmas gifts.<br /><br />Or is it? That's where the story's title comes from. But what was more interesting for me was the moral journey experienced by the main character as he redefines his views of religion and morality, helped out, of course, by the young Mr. Wiggin himself.<br /><br />See, I told you I couldn't reveal anything about the story without spoiling it. Oh well, it's still definately worth reading, even after I've gone and spoiled it.Timothy Younghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02950732236160052955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3584999211257461338.post-55924264903209769812008-08-24T21:39:00.001-07:002008-09-08T21:03:42.822-07:00Legend and DaVinci's CodeThere are certain kinds of movies my wife won’t watch. Horror flicks, films that revel in violence, movies whose stories focus primarily on adultery, films that appear to have a generally dark feel to them- these are almost always fastidiously avoided by my wife. Occasionally though, there are films that find their way into this category that I do want to see. This is unfortunate because I almost never watch movies without my wife sitting next to me. (I still haven’t seen Shyamalan’s Sixth Sense for this very reason.) But this weekend, with my wife gone to her parent’s house, I did manage to watch two such films- <em><strong>I Am Legend</strong></em> and <strong><em>The DaVinci Code</em></strong>.<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGyvRcaKFMtDf2zojvi7dT5UtX7mqh8Cuc_xnRUxqwADAAh23JYDnhUVeJuq5Lolu65WcwUDbuYoncVkf4DeFbVCB-xuOsT15lpWyxMSHKsNaQ4HwknNaZfEjzmnlzV7l8lRi3HTqrKDrz/s1600-h/legend.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGyvRcaKFMtDf2zojvi7dT5UtX7mqh8Cuc_xnRUxqwADAAh23JYDnhUVeJuq5Lolu65WcwUDbuYoncVkf4DeFbVCB-xuOsT15lpWyxMSHKsNaQ4HwknNaZfEjzmnlzV7l8lRi3HTqrKDrz/s320/legend.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243866978759869122" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnemENmPs_3uXeyCwMDi1G6SE43x3-MU3QlUf3epqn8rs572KlHFQ2BBUU0XPphIvl9VSSBIdiHJw9LHYHttDFXKuHYC81jFvXujO1La8XDX3nqFs1PZeLmW40k1cJoRbYFLsh0blMBR-/s1600-h/davinci.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnemENmPs_3uXeyCwMDi1G6SE43x3-MU3QlUf3epqn8rs572KlHFQ2BBUU0XPphIvl9VSSBIdiHJw9LHYHttDFXKuHYC81jFvXujO1La8XDX3nqFs1PZeLmW40k1cJoRbYFLsh0blMBR-/s320/davinci.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243866980637386530" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Too bad for <em>The DaVinci Code</em> that I watched it right after <em>I Am Legend</em>. Comparing the two leaves the <em>Code</em> severely lacking for want of anything meaningful related to the human condition.<br /><br /><em>I Am Legend</em> offers a tale that shows us, with stark beauty, just how capable we humans are of selflessness, and of doing what is right now matter how inconvenient, even dangerous, it may be. The <em>Code</em>, on the other hand, seemed more interested in wrapping itself in a bland veneer of cynicism, self preservation, and the “inherent” evils of organized religion.<br /><br />Where Will Smith’s performance was spellbinding because of his ability to portray the many facets of emotion that his character experienced during the trial of his self-imposed exile in an abandoned Manhattan, that of Tom Hanks seemed merely adequate.<br /><br />Indeed, what Smith brought to <em>Legend</em> took the story from being good, to becoming a masterful portrait of human virtue. (<em>Spoiler</em>) The vision in my mind’s eye, for example, of the deluge of raw, conflicting emotions that he poured onto the screen when his character was forced to kill the only companion and friend left in his life still manages to stir up a cacophony of emotion inside me as I write this. (<em>End of spoiler.</em>)<br /><br />In Hanks defense though, it’s only fair to point out that he really wasn’t given much to work with in the emotion department. As far as I could tell, the only real interest his character had was staying alive long enough to prove himself innocent of committing murder.<br /><br />The story told in <em>Legend</em> is simple enough. In the near future someone has genetically engineered a virus that will cure cancer. Initially the cure works and its developer is hailed as a hero. Then things go terribly wrong.<br /><br />Those who have been subjected to the viral treatment begin exhibiting symptoms similar to rabies and eventually degenerate to a point where they no longer are capable of anything except to carry out the most basic of survival instincts. They become lethally violent in their cannibalistic search for food, killing and eating anything and anyone that isn’t able to defend itself. To top it off, all their hair falls out and their skin turns pale, giving them a rather grotesque appearance. Oh yeah, and they’re no longer able to expose themselves to UV rays without dire consequences- sort of like genetically engineered modern vampires, sans widow’s peaks and fake eastern-european accents.<br /><br />In an attempt to stop the airborne spread of the virus, the federal government puts Manhattan island under quarantine. Those who don’t display any symptoms are allowed to leave. Anyone with symptoms is forced to stay on the island. Dr. Robert Neville, a virologist and Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army, voluntarily stays on the island, even as his wife and daughter are evacuated. He feels that he has a duty to find a cure for those who have been afflicted with the virus. This act gives us our first glimpse of Dr. Neville’s selflessness.<br /><br />Within three years the quarantined island of Manhattan has become an urban wasteland. The only people left on the island that we are aware of are the bloodthirsty virus victims and the immune Dr. Neville. He spends his days quixotically searching for anyone who, like himself, may have avoided infection, and harvesting food from his urban garden and the now abundant herds of deer that inhabit the island. His evenings are spent in his underground, bombproof laboratory, searching for a cure for the virus.<br /><br />There are scenes and images in this film that some people will find disturbing. I, for one, found myself experiencing a mixture of revulsion and dread when, early in the film Dr. Neville chases his dog into a dark building and discovers a nest of virus victims shown sleeping while standing up and breathing heavily and rapidly. The combination of their grotesque appearance with this entirely inhuman behavior is exactly the sort of thing that would make my wife turn off the movie in disgust.<br /><br />But, it also worked perfectly to demonstrate just what Dr. Neville’s decision to remain on the island really meant. My emotion at seeing these <em>un-humans</em> was mirrored and magnified in the primal fear portrayed by Will Smith on the screen. His character lives with this fear as a constant backdrop in his life. And yet, he persists in his efforts to save the very creatures who fill him with dread. He recognizes their humanity and wants to help them.<br /><br />Need I mention that Dr. Neville’s visit to the victim’s lair awakens several of them, followed by much gunfire and bloodshed? But he kills out of self-defense, not rage or fear of that which is different. Later in the film, when his own safety is no longer threatened, he displays compassion toward a female victim who he has managed to sedate and bring to his lab in order to test possible vaccines.<br /><br />(<em>Spoilers</em>) Until the film’s climax, however, we can’t be entirely sure of Dr. Neville’s altruism. Are his efforts really driven by a sense of charity toward fellow men, or is he, like so many people in the real world, driven by the more selfish prospect of overcoming a difficult challenge and achieving the resulting success? When the film reaches its climax, however, we’re left with no doubt as to how great a sacrifice Dr. Neville is willing to make in order to save humanity from the terror wrought by the virus. He gives his own life to ensure that the cure he has discovered will reach those who can put it in into effect. (<em>End of Spoilers.)</em><br /><br />And therein lies the beauty of this film. There’s no denying the fact that this movie absolutely does make use of the scary-monster hook and the action/shoot-‘em-up hook to attract the big bucks from the testosterone crowd. But those elements are not what makes it great. The reason this story is so good is because of the way it portrays the triumph of the human spirit, through one man’s ultimate sacrifice, over the adversity that can be found assailing against it in a bleak and horrifying world.<br /><br /><em>I Am Legend</em> kept me pinned to the edge of my seat and left me sobbing like a child when it was over. I barely managed to stay awake all the way through <em>The DaVinci Code</em>.Timothy Younghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02950732236160052955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3584999211257461338.post-4659668914252721472007-11-30T08:12:00.000-08:002007-11-30T11:41:20.974-08:00Elantris and Wind<div>My wife and I had a discussion, of sorts, last night as to whether the myth about men being incapable of understanding the female mind is true. It seems likely that this belief arises less from men's inability to follow the thought processes of their female counterparts than from their unwillingness to acknowledge that when they arrive at different conclusions each conclusion just might be equally valid. Ultimately, this is a door that swings both ways, so take note women.<br /><br />For my birthday my wife bought me the fantasy novel <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Elantris-Brandon-Sanderson/dp/0765350378/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196445542&sr=8-2"><em>Elantris</em></a> by Brian Sanderson. It was a safe bet on her part since I had mentioned to her several times that I wanted to read it. It turned out that she ended up reading it before I did. When she was done she told me that she had enjoyed it, but that she thought it was more of a "guy" book than a "girl" book. She told me the same thing last night after I finished reading it. I had kept that thought in mind while I was reading the book, but by the time I finished I had decided that it seemed more like a book that would appeal equally to either gender.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1I14u3bUiAOyGcFNTAcmGlkfdbbcFqiDL4QAufDheBoI3KebuhPy1I0tp_qogpoF38QaRMZCv9hO3QMGov5dP9T3tJjnLhsbIUw9DDmjbCPglK3BRfxs0jWv92YoUt0sl6TaHPCfdAc5a/s1600-r/elantris.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5138710362138364098" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ADClq_O1vZuB-ki5pV0u0x3WkHhmcH62329v74YAmGrzPCJEcmtNb1D-CU9sdRQps31OF3G7XmyiqYiGB1qe_DopnhzSCAYfSD1udb9FBuOvPAdaf9d8GrB46PXJdZO6QoZ4xCXuAyY2/s320/elantris.jpg" border="0" /></a>When I asked her how she arrived at her assessment, her answer was that it didn't have enough romance. Well ladies, it's true- if your idea of a good fantasy novel requires that its characters spend much of their time sending each other furtive glances and whispering sweet nothings in one another's ears, then yeah, you might think <em>Elantris </em>falls a bit short. It <em>does</em> portray a romantic relationship between two of its main characters, but it's a relationship that's stymied by circumstances beyond their control.<br /><br /><br /><div align="left">But c'mon gals, you don't really expect me to believe that the only thing you're interested in reading is mushy-eyed exchanges between hopelessly besotted amorites- right? <em>Elantris </em>i<em>s </em>appealing because it explores several topics relative to the human experience, only one of which is love.<br /><br />Particularly interesting to me was the way it dealt with the meaning and origin of religious faith. If you're like me, reading <em>Elantris</em> may well cause you to ask yourself what faith is, where it comes from and what its relationship is with logical understanding as well as with pious devotion.<br /><br />But don't fret. I'm not trying to get you to read a book that's long on theological philosophising. The theological aspects are woven seamlessly into- and contribute meaningfully to- an entertaining tail of political intrigue, exotic magic, and for the stereotypical male, a bit of swashbuckling action.<br /><br />This is not Tolkienesque fantasy. The setting is sort of late rennaisance. The are no magical or exotic creatures. No one is sent on a quest to save the world. The main characters are the opposite of the humble backwoods nobody sent out to fulfill his destiny. The story revolves around a once-mighty city whose power- derived from magic that's tied to the earth itself- has failed. It's inhabitants, once seen by the common people as gods, are now in a fallen state and despised by those who once revered them. The story follows two characters as they set about to restore the fallen city of Elantris to greatness. If you read it I doubt you'll be disappointed.<br /><br /></div><br /><div align="center">***</div><br /><div align="center"></div>I'm no literary pundit (I love making overwhelming understatements like that) but when you see the things people are saying about <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Name-Wind-Kingkiller-Chronicle-Day/dp/075640407X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196446823&sr=1-1">The Name of the Wind</a></em> by Patrick Rothfuss, and then you read the book, you start wondering whether this won't be the beginning of the next Harry-Potter-like book craze that takes the world by storm. <em>The Name of the Wind</em> is good. It's really good. It's as good as fantasy gets.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEL9776S0VdhAdnnpgURvNu8dIS-h6bTJzJFRDgpejctHVKGZ2TeSAemSIIJsvBqFgyNBVvhIIBrZukZCE-JmeWpKhvyMv8pDu5Gdi1QGGf-l-ff0BnvgUNUCIAMfkiCwhQCJ0ABGApS22/s1600-r/Wind.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2m-kFdNUebLpmlzkfWlIilDoaBqQoLkKj9NoofsH6n_8C_I8RX5-JcOBStHO92K2vYqibnSd-Hwr8V-foy4izgHDk1tpxKrCr9b-aSU3gDH16OWB_67kNJat76PppumnpnFvNifRyUMN6/s1600-r/Wind.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5138720586027145682" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFcDpvhEShF0oXzUEA0tXRENRMFU2YwqPgucr7RKhIQlnyynXHnDzReKDHGEXL3dYYFq-to7pAaG1hiidfYyG5wEugYHLtyt2cVQRSanSPe3AhaUvmDDoGjeTdIS1HEcX88lwLJn0QjZs/s320/Wind.jpg" border="0" /></a>It's a story about a young wizard, Kvothe, whose power was once so great that there wasn't anyone who didn't know his name. But the story begins after his fall from grace. Something- we don't know what, yet- caused him to make the world believe he had died. His faked death allows him to live under an assumed identity as an innkeeper in a tiny backwater village where his apathy towards his magic leaves it unused and atrophied and no one bothers to give him, a simple innkeeper, a second thought. Until an unexpected visitor arrives who knows exactly who Kvothe is.<br /><br />This is the first book of a projected trilogy. The meat of this book is spent on Kvothe's retelling his own story to his visitor, a biographer of sorts who makes a living chronicling other peoples stories. Kvothe tells the man about his childhood and adolescence. It's a story rich with emotion- heartbreak, despair, love, infatuation, anger, compassion- and Rothfuss is able to portray these emotions so that they ring true. If that's all this story had it would still be good. But it's not just good, it's brilliant. Rothfuss is able to take the emotional truthfulness of Kvothe's story and set it in a world so richly detailed with history, mythos, geography and society that you can't help but be swept up in the <em>realness </em>of it all.<br /><br />Kvothe is a character who is easy to sympathize with and his story will please those who crave action and adventure as well as those who prefer the characters they read about to be well developed and true to themselves. It's likely to please an array of different literary palates.<br /><br />An added bonus is that this trilogy was originally written as a single volume. That's right- book two and book three have already been written! So fans of the book won't have to endure near-endless waiting while the author works on the sequels. Book two is due out in April and book three is supposed to be released sometime in 2009.<br /><br />If you like good fantasy fiction and you take your time in getting around to reading this book then you'll only kick yourself for having waited so long once you've finally read it.</div>Timothy Younghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02950732236160052955noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3584999211257461338.post-59487191890936075352007-07-11T15:43:00.000-07:002007-07-12T20:02:00.419-07:00World's End, Flyboys, Out of Africa and Húrin<strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj0xixteySH5GWUlADTdp2VDQK_tkwyyKVlQkX52_k5HiRAX_SYC7wjX01-9Vs4sx_V8ErfOXIrxUz46JaAPZTDXnQu_J_oFsJkupMz2M7mc9HQ9qx7sXdLaS6ZS56geD98nvVv4Kibl5g/s1600-h/Pirates3Jack.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5086339939202208626" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj0xixteySH5GWUlADTdp2VDQK_tkwyyKVlQkX52_k5HiRAX_SYC7wjX01-9Vs4sx_V8ErfOXIrxUz46JaAPZTDXnQu_J_oFsJkupMz2M7mc9HQ9qx7sXdLaS6ZS56geD98nvVv4Kibl5g/s320/Pirates3Jack.jpg" border="0" /></a>Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End<br /></strong>What a mess. I had really hoped that this film would make up for the disappointing offering that was <em>Dead Man’s Chest</em>. No such luck. The first movie in this series was so entertaining. What happened to Jack Sparrow’s clever antics, and the clear cut adventurous storyline that made it so appealing? Instead of a laugh-filled rollicking adventure, <em>World’s End</em> tries to wrap together a laundry list of mostly uninteresting plot lines while delivering a mixture of violence, jokes, and violent jokes that was nigh unto nauseating at times.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijN54C1-zuCebkykCio2D0-WnBxhIO9M5vHu12G8VuVzzBAT2-1Tt_fXGWviWn5c0tAh6IW6VYhVkkqEnEcsJ8Xc6ac2gu7P5HsO0NxDnCITm953MuPGOxxVoHK9JMXiBlDlR5whHvPTLU/s1600-h/Pirates3Jack.jpg"></a><br />Where <em>Black Pearl</em> offered ample servings of Captain Jack’s humorous undertakings, this film attempts to bribe its audience into laughing by offering a delusional Sparrow trapped in his own version of Hell, trying to sail a ship manned by dozens of versions of himself through a desert wasteland. The film dragged on, trying to outdo it’s predecessors with supposedly epic battle scenes and one fall-flat joke after another. And just when I thought the series had reached new lows and couldn’t get any lamer, someone decided to insert the wedding-scene-to-end-all-wedding-scenes. C’mon—a bride and groom killing people with swords while they’re getting married? I’m sure whoever did it thought they were being real clever putting that in there. But it wasn’t clever. It was dumb. And I was insulted to think that someone thought it would make me laugh, or get excited, or whatever it was they thought I would do.<br /><br />Finding out how the Pirates story ends is the only reason that I can offer for seeing this movie to anyone who might still be deliberating the issue. So it goes without saying that if you’re not a Pirates fan to begin with then there’s really no reason at all to watch this film. If you’re looking for good entertainment, watch something else, like Flyboys.<br /><br /><strong>Flyboys</strong> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrG5fT-4a1rvHnKO1JvUuYLo4KnazjA_ii25GJSN89A_g0K8FyiTkVG7HIxi-2LIzUsxjCtfMyNw2ILkBqOwTAmtiKdtqsI6PMQtnHi100hgW3fv8iQfctznpx2w12QuucUrpliMKlTqhM/s1600-h/Flyboys_Final1Sheet2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5086337933452481330" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrG5fT-4a1rvHnKO1JvUuYLo4KnazjA_ii25GJSN89A_g0K8FyiTkVG7HIxi-2LIzUsxjCtfMyNw2ILkBqOwTAmtiKdtqsI6PMQtnHi100hgW3fv8iQfctznpx2w12QuucUrpliMKlTqhM/s320/Flyboys_Final1Sheet2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />This movie got a lot of bad reviews. “Cliché war film”, they said. “Uninteresting characters”, they said. “Predictable and shallow”, they said. I found it to be none of these. I haven’t watched that many war movies, so maybe I’m not qualified to say whether or not it’s cliché as a war film. And of course the characters weren’t examined in depth. When you’re trying to tell the stories of why 6 different men decided to go to war, and what happens to each of them as the war changes them, you don’t get to fully develop any of them. But that’s not a bad thing. I’ll take an underdeveloped cast of main characters in a compelling story that makes sense any day over fish-people slicing and dicing pirates in a disorganized excuse for a plot.<br /><br />The film succeeds because it gives a broad view of what was going on in the aerial theatre of the war before the US decided to join. And it does it in an entertaining way. It offers the audience interesting characters and gives us reasons to care about them. No, the characters are not deep and complex, but that didn’t make me not care when they died in combat or when they were successful. In fact, the bits and pieces of their stories that the film does offer are still quite fascinating, and they form an interesting mosaic as they bump against one another during the progression of this film.<br /><br />Bottom line—I enjoyed this film. It was entertaining, and it gave me an appreciation for an part of history that I new very little about before. (Yes, I did my homework and the film is, for the most part, historically accurate.)<br /><br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8klZQUnthFM0Z2N1L8oTfgUYLlVjyBrr30fKvSMwbHSP8JTsrfhPjVpHowFEnFASxgwDvxaSAcvrDKA0WKoxvsHN3hAZyhzRwQDIjpcSMfsMz6GKZvUiAIA_fmeTDotrVxm0V-CxJVDtV/s1600-h/out_of_africa.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5086340076641162114" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8klZQUnthFM0Z2N1L8oTfgUYLlVjyBrr30fKvSMwbHSP8JTsrfhPjVpHowFEnFASxgwDvxaSAcvrDKA0WKoxvsHN3hAZyhzRwQDIjpcSMfsMz6GKZvUiAIA_fmeTDotrVxm0V-CxJVDtV/s320/out_of_africa.jpg" border="0" /></a>Out of Africa <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn-ZFbaK3jNmK-T8r7N5iGb-5WbfvDmsXV8I7toptcfK5IsnNrGDQUTLO_k3_j1u1jMHXnBfQ4uryDL0W7Otlu-CQvN4iVqYmGBuieAraoqndC6OXEEa7qOwvFGMKZjpHUhQuEiAgptRe1/s1600-h/out_of_africa.jpg"></a><br /></strong>My wife brought home a couple of movies Friday night. One of them was Out of Africa. “It’s famous” she said, in a sort of half-apologetic way, as if that were a good enough reason to watch it. The title sparked some vague and distant idea in my brain that maybe I had heard of it before, but I wasn’t sure. Whenever she brings home a movie that I probably wouldn’t have picked out myself, had I been the one at the movie store, I feel some sense of duty to put on a front of moderate disinterest, at least initially. This was one of those times. But the front doesn’t usually last long, and more often than not I end up watching the films.<br /><br />When this one was over, my general impression was that it could be used as an excellent primer on how to ruin your life by way of promiscuity. Meryl Streep plays the antagonist- a Danish woman at the turn of the 20th century whose life plan was to marry the wealthy Dane she had been sleeping with and let him support her for the rest of her life. Her plan falls apart when her lover tells her that he refuses to marry a woman who everyone knows isn’t a virgin. Her humiliation forces her to decide that she needs to leave the country. So she convinces her lover’s brother, who has money and land in Africa, to marry her and let her run a farm on his land. He concedes out of… friendship? …pity? ...lust? …a sense of honor? I wasn’t exactly sure. Ultimately, the marriage fails (big surprise), and in the meantime Streep’s character begins an affair with a lone-wolf type safari-hunter/naturalist played by good old Robert Redford. Streep’s husband feels guilty for having given her syphilis, so when they divorce he lets her keep the farm. (Nice of him since part of it was paid for with her money, I think.)<br /><br />There are a lot of interwoven themes present in this film—ideas related to the unfortunate lot of the natives who get pushed off their land by invading European colonists, strong-willed women trying to make a place for themselves in the world—you know, noble stuff like that. And they might have actually seemed noble and worth making the movie for if it weren’t for the fact that film tries to make its audience admire and respect a character who is at best tragic and pitiable. Like I said, all the difficulties and suffering that this woman encounters in her life would have been avoided if she and her lovers would have chosen faithful marriage over extramarital sex. So was there anything at all redeeming about this movie? Well, it did have some great cinematography. From what I’ve seen in movies and on TV, Africa has a lot of natural beauty, and this film did a great job of making me appreciate that a little more. The acting was good. (Though I’ve since learned Redford didn’t bother learning an accent, as did Meryl Streep, even though the real-life person on whom Redford’s character was based was British. I guess someone thought it would be cooler for him to be an American.) Or at least the acting would have qualified as good if it hadn’t been for the annoying fact that much of the dialogue was incomprehensible. Let’s see…. uhm… I can’t really think of anything else to praise about this film. Basically, I don’t recommend it.<br /><br /><strong>The Children of Húrin</strong> <a href="http://www.bitu.com/tolkien/tolkien-trailer.html"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5086338667891888978" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNDsMV9SVh2_VFH28F7CSPFP1O6VuJjEEijkDw4NnjEdbQrHcp8VXs2M7YtQgt84YstjhJtrm5nH-RzBhe9aLunRxo9qnxy90qNUD7ZWyx6lxAaGMPXXRbpqSROTy6T4csPkd7WpZlvW8/s320/The_Children_of_Hurin_cover.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />The Sunday Times of London had this to say about The Children of Húrin:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">“Although JRR Tolkien aficionados will be thrilled, others will find The Children of Húrin barely readable."</span><br /><br />I don’t consider myself a Tolkien aficionado. I mean, aren’t those the guys that go to those conventions dressed up like elves and rangers and wizards? I’ve read The Hobbit twice and the Lord of the Rings once—I enjoyed them both immensely. I tried reading The Silmarillion, but, like others, I was put off by the epic/mythic style of storytelling and couldn’t get through the first story. But The Children of Húrin doesn’t read like The Silmarillion.<br /><br />The narrative often lacks the depth of detail you might expect from Tolkien, which is ironic, given the epic scope of this story. Or maybe not—maybe it’s entirely appropriate for this kind of tale. It doesn’t matter. If you’ve ever fallen in love with Middle-earth and have longed to return to it by way of a fresh new story, but couldn’t will yourself through The Silmarillion or The Book of Unfinished Tales, or any of that other posthumous stuff then this book is for you. The narrative is complete enough to be satisfying. The characters and places are intriguing—the story takes place in parts of Middle-earth that were long since immersed by the time Bilbo Baggins ever met his first dwarf, so to you and me these places are new and fresh while still bearing all the satisfying familiarity of Middle-earth. (I understand that this story was published, in shorter form, as part of the Silmarillion, so perhaps it won’t be as fresh to those who have already read that book.)<br /><br />This story has all the requisite elements that made me fall in love with Middle-earth the first time around—elves and dwarves, orcs, dragons and balrogs, epic battles, heroic deeds preformed with legendary weapons, and of course that great European-folklore fantasy feel that Tolkien perfected.<br /><br />But it’s definitely not a good-triumphs-over-all kind of story the way The Lord of the Rings is. Nor is it a happy there-and-back again adventure like The Hobbit. It has the feel of a Greek tragedy. (Oedipus Rex comes specifically to mind, but I let you find out why.) The main character finds little, if any, happiness in his life. Indeed, he spends the better part of his life either in exile, or running away from imagined enemies, supposing himself to be a fugitive. Most of his attempts at doing good or bringing about justice ultimately cause grief and anguish for himself and those around him. Often he is able to thwart his enemies and do harm to those who would do the same to him. But the successes he is able to accomplish are continually contrasted with the negative side effects that his actions create.<br /><br />The story doesn’t have a happy ending. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. Quite the opposite in fact. The return to Middle-earth that this book offers is worth the read alone. But a story, even a fantasy, doesn’t have to have a happy ending to be a great story. I certainly wouldn’t recommend this as an introduction to Tolkien’s work. But, if you’re a fan of Middle-earth you should definitely read this.Timothy Younghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02950732236160052955noreply@blogger.com0