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Another Small Stack
May. 28th, 2007 11:40 pmFirst, the photos from my Okinawa trip are up here.
Second, a few more book reviews:
The Golem's Eye - Like the first book in the series, this is excellent pop fantasy. The alternate-history feel of the series is pretty cool, and the main character shows that a demon (in some sense) can be quite the excellent anti-hero.
Never Let Me Go - I bought this strange novel due to the critical acclaim it received. The story is sci-fi in some technical sense, but it more closely follows the conventions of the coming-of-age story, albeit in an extremely surreal and subtle manner. I'm not sure if the book lived up to my expectations. I felt a little disappointed when I first finished it, but I'm not sure that makes sense in retrospect. Maybe it just needs a bit of time to sink in.
V for Vendetta - Reading this graphic novel confirmed what I'd heard before: The movie is a horribly watered-down version of the original work. While I don't oppose all of the director's changes, many of the elements omitted from the movie make the story much weaker. However, although the book is far and away better literature, I still think the movie is more entertaining. Hope that doesn't say something too bad about me...
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles - Beautiful and surreal, this was one of the best novels I've read, ever. This book is also cited as a possible influence for one of my favorite anime series, Haibane Renmei. While I can see the possible connections, they could easily be coincidence, as wells and wings are not that uncommon as symbolic elements. (However, the series was definitely influenced (according to ABe, its creator) by another novel by the same author.)
Second, a few more book reviews:
The Golem's Eye - Like the first book in the series, this is excellent pop fantasy. The alternate-history feel of the series is pretty cool, and the main character shows that a demon (in some sense) can be quite the excellent anti-hero.
Never Let Me Go - I bought this strange novel due to the critical acclaim it received. The story is sci-fi in some technical sense, but it more closely follows the conventions of the coming-of-age story, albeit in an extremely surreal and subtle manner. I'm not sure if the book lived up to my expectations. I felt a little disappointed when I first finished it, but I'm not sure that makes sense in retrospect. Maybe it just needs a bit of time to sink in.
V for Vendetta - Reading this graphic novel confirmed what I'd heard before: The movie is a horribly watered-down version of the original work. While I don't oppose all of the director's changes, many of the elements omitted from the movie make the story much weaker. However, although the book is far and away better literature, I still think the movie is more entertaining. Hope that doesn't say something too bad about me...
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles - Beautiful and surreal, this was one of the best novels I've read, ever. This book is also cited as a possible influence for one of my favorite anime series, Haibane Renmei. While I can see the possible connections, they could easily be coincidence, as wells and wings are not that uncommon as symbolic elements. (However, the series was definitely influenced (according to ABe, its creator) by another novel by the same author.)
