I'm sitting here, listening to Old Flame by The Arcade Fire (one of my favorite bands). And I adore this book, yet I can't think of a single thing to say about it. I've been trying to write this reaction for weeks.
Here's a summary, to begin with:
Perseus Jackson, known as Percy, is a 12 year old boy and strange things always happen to him... things that aren't his fault, but are so inexplicable that he gets blamed for them. As in most modern YA fiction, there's a supernatural reason he's been kept in the dark about. One day, after just such an event occurs, Percy's strange friend Grover tells him the truth:
Percy Jackson is a demigod.
His father is one of Greek gods. The incredibly stinky man his mother married? She choose him to protect her son. Demigods have a distinctive odor which attracts monsters. And the weird attacks and unexplained events and weird people who seem to mess up his life at school? Monsters that nobody can recognise because of the Mist, which disguises all monsters, from the eyes of the mere humans, the mortals. Grover isn't even a kid with a funny walk like he seems. He's a satyr, a half-human, half-goat. And his math teacher? Not a man in a wheelchair, but a centaur (half-man, half horse).
Grover's job is to go around and find demigods, like Percy, and escort them to the one place in the world they'll be safe: Camp Half Blood.
After some interesting misadventures and tons of really awesome, off-hand lessons in the way Greek mythology and history worked, they reach the camp. There are cabins for each of the gods of the Greek pantheon and nobody is aware of who Percy's father is, so he stays in the cabin for Hermes. During a particularly vicious game of Capture the Flag, he uses the power of a river to defend himself against a daughter of Ares and Poseidon's green trident appears above his head.
This causes a bit of a problem and a bit of a stir, as story goes that due to a prophecy that one of their children would make a decision at the age of sixteen that would either save or destroy Olympus, the three head gods, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades have vowed to stop having children... but looks like somebody's betrayed the oath, don't it?
After he moves into the empty cabin for Poseidon's children, his education in the ways of the demigods and Camp Half Blood continues. He finds an animosity and friendship with Annabeth, a daughter of Athena and Luke, a son of Hermes. He learns more and more about what he can expect his life to bel ike and the lives of those like him. Percy finds the camp is at least partially protected by another demigod named Thalia (a daughter of Zeus), who exists in the shape of a tree on the very border of the camp because she died protecting the two demigods who traveled to camp with her. But soon, disaster strikes. Zeus, finding out that Poseidon broke his oath, accuses Percy of stealing his Master Bold, the powerful lightning bolt that is one of the sources of his power. The rest of the book is about the adventures he has while just trying to clear his name and keep himself alive....
This is an EXTREMELY abbreviated summary and hardly any of my favorite moments were mentioned. I've had such a hard time typing this because it's so dense, so good but not at all overwhelming. I don't want to ruin the rest of the story for anyone, so I'm just gonna have to type from the hip, so I mean, let's put this out there.
I cannot say enough good things about this book to prospective readers at my job. It is a smart, fun, funny and engaging series. The movie looks incredible--I've seen the previews only but still.
I know everyone says "for fans of Harry Potter" and all that sort of stuff about this series, but honestly, this is just for fans of anything smart, anyone who appreciates a good metaphor for the awkwardness and insecurity of the early teen years. This is just for anyone who wants a good time.
So. Read it, kids.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Button, Button by Richard Matheson.
Spoiler heavy; sorry, kids.
This is a collection of short stories that's been rereleased under the title The Box. That's what they named the movie (which is currently out and I hear Cameron Diaz dies in it... reason enough for me to RedBox it) so that's how they renamed the collection.
I love Matheson's short stories. Something in me really responds to these bitter, crusty men fighting against a world that does them wrong at every turn, and even the weak, simpering women who get what they deserve.
Button, Button (the title story) is about a couple who receive a box in the mail and inside is a button. If they press the button, they'll get... a million dollars? some ridiculous amount of money. But as a result of them pressing it, someone they do not know will die. You can imagine where it goes from there. Yep, you guessed it: the wife presses it and the husband dies. As she's crying and blaming, the man in the shadows who explained how the box works of course pops in and says sardonically, "Madam, do you really think you knew your husband?"
Yuk, yuk, yuk. Kinda trite, but still a goodie.
My favorite from this collection was probably "The Girl of My Dreams," about a couple who exploits the woman's psychic ability to know when and how people are going to die. They will go to a family and tell them the circumstances of a loved one's death before it happens, leaving out the exact dates or locations and will only tell them the full story after they are paid for the information. The man despises the woman and wants only to make enough money to leave her. He, however, gets his just desserts when he accidently kills her after she blows what could've been their biggest score ever. Her dying words describe how he'll be killed--but she can't find the strength to get out the when or where. It ends with the man thinking about the person who will someday kill him, wondering who he is and what he's doing right then.
I guess to wrap it up, I didn't enjoy this collection as much as the I Am Legend collection (which was the inspiration for the Will Smith movie of the same name & also the Charleton Heston Omega Man movie of yore).
I don't know if it's just that I'm more familiar with Matheson's style or I wasn't as in the mood for his usual brand of racist misogyny. But if you're looking for an easy bunch of short stories with a sick twist, look no further. You've found your book.
This is a collection of short stories that's been rereleased under the title The Box. That's what they named the movie (which is currently out and I hear Cameron Diaz dies in it... reason enough for me to RedBox it) so that's how they renamed the collection.
I love Matheson's short stories. Something in me really responds to these bitter, crusty men fighting against a world that does them wrong at every turn, and even the weak, simpering women who get what they deserve.
Button, Button (the title story) is about a couple who receive a box in the mail and inside is a button. If they press the button, they'll get... a million dollars? some ridiculous amount of money. But as a result of them pressing it, someone they do not know will die. You can imagine where it goes from there. Yep, you guessed it: the wife presses it and the husband dies. As she's crying and blaming, the man in the shadows who explained how the box works of course pops in and says sardonically, "Madam, do you really think you knew your husband?"
Yuk, yuk, yuk. Kinda trite, but still a goodie.
My favorite from this collection was probably "The Girl of My Dreams," about a couple who exploits the woman's psychic ability to know when and how people are going to die. They will go to a family and tell them the circumstances of a loved one's death before it happens, leaving out the exact dates or locations and will only tell them the full story after they are paid for the information. The man despises the woman and wants only to make enough money to leave her. He, however, gets his just desserts when he accidently kills her after she blows what could've been their biggest score ever. Her dying words describe how he'll be killed--but she can't find the strength to get out the when or where. It ends with the man thinking about the person who will someday kill him, wondering who he is and what he's doing right then.
I guess to wrap it up, I didn't enjoy this collection as much as the I Am Legend collection (which was the inspiration for the Will Smith movie of the same name & also the Charleton Heston Omega Man movie of yore).
I don't know if it's just that I'm more familiar with Matheson's style or I wasn't as in the mood for his usual brand of racist misogyny. But if you're looking for an easy bunch of short stories with a sick twist, look no further. You've found your book.
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Now, I'll say loud and proud that I read a TON of teen books. I've read the Twilight books, the Gemma Doyle trilogy, everything Garth Nix has written... the list goes on and on.
But this book was just... bad. I chose to read it because the cover art is freaking beautiful. I gotta say, whoever the designer was for that cover, it's just awesome. I was honestly hoping it'd follow the other trend for YA fiction these days, and that's mythology. It could've made a wonderful story about Icarus with that cover.
It was about a young, brunette self-described average-looking girl in high school... and a mysterious black-eyed loner type she's paired up with in science class.... yes, that DOES describe the beginning of Bella and Edward's illustrious romance... but Patch (the loner) is a fallen angel, not a vampire.
Huh.
I mean, it was done... well? I don't particularly mean well-written or well-constructed. I just remember being sad that the storyline was so simliar to Twilight because it had some real potential. If it had explored more of the history of the angels, both fallen and otherwise, or gone into details in other ways or any of a number of other things, it could've been really really awesome. As it was, I valiantly finished and felt disappointed.
Becca Fitzpatrick, if you see this, I'm sorry I didn't like your book. But I believe in you as a writer... I think you can do more. Make it into a series! Just don't go focusing in on the doomed love story and I think you'll find you've got a winner.
But this book was just... bad. I chose to read it because the cover art is freaking beautiful. I gotta say, whoever the designer was for that cover, it's just awesome. I was honestly hoping it'd follow the other trend for YA fiction these days, and that's mythology. It could've made a wonderful story about Icarus with that cover.
It was about a young, brunette self-described average-looking girl in high school... and a mysterious black-eyed loner type she's paired up with in science class.... yes, that DOES describe the beginning of Bella and Edward's illustrious romance... but Patch (the loner) is a fallen angel, not a vampire.
Huh.
I mean, it was done... well? I don't particularly mean well-written or well-constructed. I just remember being sad that the storyline was so simliar to Twilight because it had some real potential. If it had explored more of the history of the angels, both fallen and otherwise, or gone into details in other ways or any of a number of other things, it could've been really really awesome. As it was, I valiantly finished and felt disappointed.
Becca Fitzpatrick, if you see this, I'm sorry I didn't like your book. But I believe in you as a writer... I think you can do more. Make it into a series! Just don't go focusing in on the doomed love story and I think you'll find you've got a winner.
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work by Alain de Botton
Having read de Botton's book How Proust Can Change Your Life when I was an undergrad and deeply interested in how abstract, stuffy, 'underrated' philosopher/writers could change my perspective... you know, to prove that I was deep and interesting. Either way, I fell in love with de Botton's writing style.
So, having been unemployed for an embarrassingly long period of time and forced to slough through the mires of the job hunt, in the middle of a terrible depression (both country-wide and personal), I found this book and fell right in again. Each portion focuses on different people in different careers, ten in all.
So while I walked through undergrad and tried to find myself academically and intellectually, de Botton kept me warm at night. And now that my college career is pretty firmly behind me, de Botton helped me keep perspective looking for how I'm going to spend my day to day bringing home the bacon. I've found it again in the walls of my retail bookstore... and although I love it, a job is a job is a job. And although it's interesting and sometimes fascinating to see what goes into being a rocket scientist or a dock worker or a biscuit manufacturer, every job and every day has its ups and downs, its moments of beauty in unlikely places and annoyances.
And hey, that's just life, ain't it?
So, having been unemployed for an embarrassingly long period of time and forced to slough through the mires of the job hunt, in the middle of a terrible depression (both country-wide and personal), I found this book and fell right in again. Each portion focuses on different people in different careers, ten in all.
So while I walked through undergrad and tried to find myself academically and intellectually, de Botton kept me warm at night. And now that my college career is pretty firmly behind me, de Botton helped me keep perspective looking for how I'm going to spend my day to day bringing home the bacon. I've found it again in the walls of my retail bookstore... and although I love it, a job is a job is a job. And although it's interesting and sometimes fascinating to see what goes into being a rocket scientist or a dock worker or a biscuit manufacturer, every job and every day has its ups and downs, its moments of beauty in unlikely places and annoyances.
And hey, that's just life, ain't it?
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The Wild Things by Dave Eggers
This is the adult novelisation of the movie version of the children's book Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
Take a moment. Read that twice. Think, oh, ok. And proceed.
The movie Where The Wild Things Are had its screenplay co-written by Spike Jonze (geeeeenius) and Dave Eggers (uber hipster writerman). In as much as the store penned by Sendak all those years ago is about himself.... and so the Spike Jonze movie is kind of about his version of being Max. And Eggers' version is his side of the story of being Max.
Now, I'm gonna post SOME of my thoughts here, but not all of them, as I've yet to see the movie. I promise I'll post a part two to this update as soon as I get a chance.
I loved this book. I mean, I do loves me some Eggers. He created the Haggis-on-Whey books (http://www.amazon.com/Giraffes-HOW-Doris-Haggis-Whey/dp/1932416978/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262992030&sr=8-6), such as I enjoyed what I've read of his stuff and like everyone with even an ounce of hipster street cred, I was both amused and touched by A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. But I have to say, seeing him take a tiny children's story and place so much more into it made me smile a little more than I have at him in years.
For those who aren't familiar, WTWA (sendak's version) is about a little boy named Max who gets sent to his room without supper one night. Since his mother punished him, he decides to take a boat to an island where the (can you guess) the wild things live. He is fierce and wearing a wolf suit, so he is made their king. And the Wild Rumpus ensues, which involves tons of dancing and romping about. Eventually, though, he decides to return home... to find that his mother has laid a tray of supper for him in his room.
Well, the book is this, only moreso. It deals more with the loneliness and the issues surrounding his family. His sister is growing up and doesn't have time for him. His mother is dating someone, of whom he isn't a huge fan. He drenches his sister's room in water as revenge for her not defending him against her friends during a snowball fight. I don't want to go into too much detail, so as not to ruin this for anyone who is still planning on seeing the movie, so I'll just leave it at that and say that so far, this franchise (yes, it's a franchise now) did not disappoint.
Take a moment. Read that twice. Think, oh, ok. And proceed.
The movie Where The Wild Things Are had its screenplay co-written by Spike Jonze (geeeeenius) and Dave Eggers (uber hipster writerman). In as much as the store penned by Sendak all those years ago is about himself.... and so the Spike Jonze movie is kind of about his version of being Max. And Eggers' version is his side of the story of being Max.
Now, I'm gonna post SOME of my thoughts here, but not all of them, as I've yet to see the movie. I promise I'll post a part two to this update as soon as I get a chance.
I loved this book. I mean, I do loves me some Eggers. He created the Haggis-on-Whey books (http://www.amazon.com/Giraffes-HOW-Doris-Haggis-Whey/dp/1932416978/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262992030&sr=8-6), such as I enjoyed what I've read of his stuff and like everyone with even an ounce of hipster street cred, I was both amused and touched by A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. But I have to say, seeing him take a tiny children's story and place so much more into it made me smile a little more than I have at him in years.
For those who aren't familiar, WTWA (sendak's version) is about a little boy named Max who gets sent to his room without supper one night. Since his mother punished him, he decides to take a boat to an island where the (can you guess) the wild things live. He is fierce and wearing a wolf suit, so he is made their king. And the Wild Rumpus ensues, which involves tons of dancing and romping about. Eventually, though, he decides to return home... to find that his mother has laid a tray of supper for him in his room.
Well, the book is this, only moreso. It deals more with the loneliness and the issues surrounding his family. His sister is growing up and doesn't have time for him. His mother is dating someone, of whom he isn't a huge fan. He drenches his sister's room in water as revenge for her not defending him against her friends during a snowball fight. I don't want to go into too much detail, so as not to ruin this for anyone who is still planning on seeing the movie, so I'll just leave it at that and say that so far, this franchise (yes, it's a franchise now) did not disappoint.
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