Archive for June, 2007
iPhone Envy
Friday, June 29th, 2007You know, I still really want an iPhone… so I can’t help but laugh when the Associate Press shows a picture of a friend of mine holding his new iPhone, when that same friend asked me to join him earlier in the day to go in line for it.
UPDATE, 7/30/07: Waiting sucks. I went to the Apple Store today, played with an iPhone for a while, and was convinced. I bought the 8GB model.
Next In Line
Friday, June 29th, 2007I have no more science fiction stories lined up after finishing Planet of the Apes, so, my next book to start will be Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates.
I learned about the book, interestingly enough, from Nick Hornby. In his novel A Long Way Down, one of the characters, J.J., had planned to jump off a building with a copy of the book:
Earlier that week—Christmas Day, to be precise—I’d finished Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, which is a totally awesome novel. I was actually going to jump with a copy, not only because it would have been cool, and would’ve added a little mystique to my death, but becuase it might have been a good way of getting more people to read it.
Well, that short reference to the book got me interested in reading it myself. I bought it a month ago, but haven’t started it yet. I’ve also learned that the novel has been adapted for film and will be released next year. So, I definitely want to read it sooner than later and have now decided not to let myself put it off any further.
Waiting Longer For The iPhone
Friday, June 29th, 2007I really, really, really want an iPhone. However, after careful consideration, I’ve decided to hold off. The decision to avoid the Launch Day hysteria was a no-brainer, but I may end up waiting for the second generation of the iPhone before putting down $600 for the beloved device.
The bottom line is that after reading several reviews, it was clear that waiting was the right thing to do. Aside from the concerns surrounding Apple’s first entrance into the cell phone market, sometimes a little patience is worth it. The original iPod Apple first produced looks archaic compare to their more recent models. Of course, one can make the argument that if you keep waiting for the next better model to arrive, you’ll never end up getting of the gagdets you want.
The second generation of the iPhone will most certainly have various improvements made to it that will have all those people waiting in line as I type this wish they’d waited a little longer. Larger capacity, expandibility, faster hardware, etc. etc. And they’ll be cheaper and/or have decent rebates that will make the upfront cost less of a burden.
I’ll also have the benefit of reading reviews from actual iPhone owners who spent the big bucks to get one. There will be no lack of discussion on message boards and blogs about the iPhone and those reviews may be more helpful in pointing out various flaws that will be corrected in the iPhone 2.0
Planet of The Apes
Thursday, June 28th, 2007I have to admit that I was ignorant of the fact that the classic movie Planet of the Apes was in fact based on a novel. I love the original movie Planet of the Apes, and was intrigued to learn that the original novel by Pierre Boulle was very different. In the movie, they have limited technology and live in primitive structures. The book, I was informed, put the apes in a technologically advanced society.
I found a new mass market paperback of the original novel on Amazon and started reading it last night. I found this original novel so fascinating that I had to force myself to stop after going more than halfway through it, and I will probably finish it tonight.
UPDATE, 6/29/07 : Finished. Definitely did not disappoint. The first question that should be answered is how it compares to the movie. Certainly most people would agree that novels are superior to their theatrical interpretations, but considering how different the two are, it’s not even fair to make such a comparison between the novel and the movie.
I can say that Tim Burton’s reimagination of the Planet of The Apes is nothing like the novel either… however, without giving much away, there is definitely reference(s) to it.
I think, given the mediocre response Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes received, he should have instead gone for a loyal adaptation of the novel.
James Patterson, Nick Hornby, and Young Adult Fiction
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007As someone who has spent the past seven years writing and blogg about current events, politics and even writing a non-fiction book, I have recently had a rekindled interest in fiction after a rather long hiatus.
I first got into James Patterson novels when I was in high school. By the time I got to college, I’d read all of his books. Since then my reading of fiction has become a bit spotty, and I’ve become more selective of which books I would read, but without a doubt I’ve kept up on the Alex Cross series. Though I admit the last one of the Cross series was a bit disappointing.
Some years back he decided to reach out to a younger audience with his Maximum Ride series, which was loosely based on two earlier novels he wrote, When The Wind Blows and its sequel The Lake House, about bird-human hybrid children.
I took a chance on the Maximum Ride stories, knowing in advance that they were more geared to an audience that much younger than me, but of course, knowing how many adults are into Harry Potter, I couldn’t really say there is no precedence for such a thing.
Anyway, I like the first two books of the Maximum Ride series. The latest one, Maximum Ride: Saving The World and Other Extreme Sports was rather disappointing. As an older reader, I found the story becoming much less convincing. Perhaps such things are less of an issue for younger readers, I don’t know.
This fall will also bring the first young adult novel from my current favorite author, Nick Hornby, the author of High Fidelity, About A Boy, How To Be Good, and A Long Way Down. Hornby’s forthcoming young adult novel, Slam, is described as follows on Nick Hornby’s website:
Slam, a novel for readers of many ages, revolves around Sam who—after falling hard for a very pretty girl—ultimately finds his way through conversations with a larger-than-life poster of his idol, champion skater Tony Hawk.
I have already pre-ordered the book, and regardless of its target audience, I expect to enjoy it. Nick Hornby is a fantastic author, and while most will know him because of his first novel High Fidelity, which was adapted into an equally great movie, his most recent novel, A Long Way Down is my favorite of his works, and probably ranks as my favorite fiction novel. Let’s put it this way, I first “read” the book in audiobook format shortly after it came out in 2005 and have in the past few months made the effort to purchase a hardcover version so it may hold its rightful spot on my bookshelf.
So, as a fan of Hornby, I anxiously await the release of his next novel, and I am by no means discouraged by the fact this one is written for young adults. In fact, after reading the latest decription from Amazon.com, the book clearly tackles more adult themes than a simple teenage crush and a fixation for Tony Hawk:
Just when everything is coming together for Sam, his girlfriend Alicia drops a bombshell. Make that ex-girlfriend– because by the time she tells him she’s pregnant, they’ve already called it quits. Sam does not want to be a teenage dad. His mom had him at sixteen and has made it very clear how having a baby so young interrupted her life. There’s only one person Sam can turn to–his hero, skating legend Tony Hawk. Sam believes the answers to life’s hurdles can be found in Hawk’s autobiography.
But even Tony Hawk isn’t offering answers this time–or is he? Inexplicably, Sam finds himself whizzed into the future, for a quick glimpse of what will be . . . or what could be. In this wonderfully witty, poignant story about a teenage boy unexpectedly thrust into fatherhood, it’s up to Sam to make the right decisions so the bad things that could happen, well, don’t.
This sounds much more like a novel that longtime Hornby fans will want to read as much as the audience it targets. I’m looking forward to it.
“Political” Dating
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007Karol at Alarming News posts about a book called “Dumped” and mentions one story from the book called “How To Love A Republican,” a fictional story about an affair between a Republican girl and a Democrat guy. Karol writes, “The girl in the story reminds me of myself in the way she speaks and behaves, and of course her politics, but I’d like to think I would’ve kicked the boy to the curb much earlier.”
Anyway, the story is worth a read, if you can tolerate some racy scenes. She’s got the link.
Change Is Good
Sunday, June 10th, 2007Haven’t been around here in a while. Decided to test out a WordPress theme I found and tinkered with it a bit.
UPDATE, June 28, 2007: Decided to go with something new again.