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Saturday, January 19th, 2008As a longtime fan of James Patterson’s Alex Cross series, I always look forward to the next book of the series, despite the fact that the last few have been somewhat disappointing. I was hoping for James Patterson to redeem himself in Double Cross after a rather unsatisfying previous attempt in Cross. Unfortunately, Double Cross lacked in thrills and suspense, and was horribly predictable.
Perhaps Patterson has taken the Alex Cross character as far as he can realistically take him with. If it truly is better to burn out than to fade away, then Alex Cross needs to go into retirement… soon. In the more recent additions to the series, I found myself more interested in the parts of the stories that revolved around his personal life, particularly the strains on Cross’s family with his work and lifestyle, and a custody battle with his ex-girlfriend over their toddler son. There was a noticeable absence in Double Cross his family, and it’s not as if the parts about the DC Audience Killer or Kyle Craig were so engrossing that we couldn’t be taken away from them for a few more brief moments. Cross’s family life gave a lot more depth to his character, and was complementary to the bigger story. In Double Cross, it felt more artificial and supplementary.
But the worst thing about it was the predictability. I had the killers’ identities figured out much sooner than I should have. And some aspects of the end with Kyle Craig I had faint ideas of how they would turn out as well.
The story had potential in the beginning, but it just didn’t hold up to the end. If you’re a fan of the series, you have to read it just like I had to… but it just doesn’t measure up to his earlier efforts, such as Kiss The Girls or Cat & Mouse, two of my favorites in the series
I Am Legend: The Story vs. The Film
Friday, January 18th, 2008Yesterday, I finished reading Richard Matheson’s original story, I Am Legend. I saw the movie last month, and liked it a lot. It didn’t take me long to buy the book it was based on — I was very much interested in comparing the two.
I bought the book at the airport last month and since read it in small portions during my commute home from work. In short, Richard Matheson’s original story and the latest film adaptation of it are very different in ways that just work to each version’s benefit.
In reading the book, I found that it was easier to feel the main character’s isolation than in the movie. The movie, for starters, was a lot shorter, and the main action took place over a shorter period of time. His isolation in the movie is softened by his companionship with his dog… Though his talking to mannequins was effective in demonstrating his desperation for contact. In the book, he does not have a dog (though one turns up late in the story) and rather than talking to mannequins, Neville resorts to heavy drinking.
The book goes into a lot detail about Robert Neville’s search for a cure to the plague, and you get a sense for his enormous amount of free time and his dedication as he struggles to not only deal with his virtual solitude, but with the horrors of the plague that took his family away, and ultimately let him to not only bury his wife, but kill her violently again when she returned from death.
In the book, he is not military doctor (as he is in the film) so his quest for a cure involves starting from the basics of medicine. As he builds up his knowledge from reading books on medicine and biology his understanding of the plague (and how to possibly cure it) increases.
In the book, the humans who weren’t killed by the plague (with the exception of Neville) became vampire-like zombies, who displayed similar weaknesses as vampires from popular legends (aversions to sunlight, crosses, and garlic) which may have been appropriate when the story was first published, but seemed a bit dated and uninspired to me. The genesis of the zombies in the movie (a mutated cure for cancer) was more appropriate for the present, and the vampire elements (except for the aversion to light) were not used.
Another thing that separates the movie from the book is that the movie had to have action that would bee effective for the medium given the opportunities that exist with special effects.
It’s hard to say too much about the differences and similarities between the book and the movie without giving away too much. In the end, I can say that I enjoyed them both, but I can’t say which I liked better. I liked the action and visuals of the movie, and the detail of the book. They both have their own strengths and weaknesses. Each were done at a particular time where certain themes or styles were appropriate.
Unlike my previous book/film comparison, there is no clear winner here. If you’re going to see the movie, read the book first. Both are worth enjoying.
Books Bought
Saturday, January 12th, 2008You’ll notice I’ve added a new section to the right sidebar called “Book Bought” — which, obviously shows books that I’ve recently purchased. I decided to add this section because I don’t usually read book in the order I purchase them, and I really want to show what books are coming into my personal library. Books under “Books Bought” are different from books under “Future Reads” because ideally “Future Reads” includes only books that I plan to read in the near future. True enough, Joshua Ferris’s Then We Came to The End has been listed under “Future Reads” for several months, and I have yet to crack it open, though my plan is to remedy this after I finished I Am Legend.
As for the books I’ve just purchased, let me give you a run down:
As any reader of my blog knows, I’m a fan of Nick Hornby. Despite this, I haven’t read The Polysyllabic Spree or Housekeeping vs. The Dirt, both a compilation of selections from his “Stuff I’ve Been Reading” column for The Believer literary magazine.
I said in my previous blog entry that I was working on getting James Patterson’s Double Cross on audiobook, and I’ve finally done that. That will likely be read soon after I get it in the mail.
The last book I got was The Better of McSweeney’s, Volume 1 , which is a collection of “the best stories from the first ten issues of McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern.” McSweeney’s publishes Believer and also put out the aforementioned Nick Hornby books of his columns from Believer.
Reading Update
Monday, January 7th, 2008There’s a been a few changes to my “Currently Reading” list.
First, I’ve put Love in The Time of Cholera on hold for now. The book has been a struggle for me to get through. Perhaps it’s the story… or the fact it’s a translation… I’m not sure. But, I’ve put it on hold in order to read two other books.
The first book I started reading after putting Cholera on hold was I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. I was interested in reading the book after seeing the movie last month. So far, I can say that the book is very different… But I cannot say which one is superior. I will give a full report when I finish the book.
The other book I started was The Book of Other People, a compilation short stories edited by Zadie Smith. I admit one of the main reasons for my getting the book was that Nick Hornby made a contribution to the book, however, I do find the book’s premise intriguing (the contributors were instructed simply to create a character) and expect to enjoy the colleciton in its entirety.
So, that’s what I’m reading at the moment. Perhaps I’ll end up reading more by Richard Matheson, or start reading Zadie Smith.
Recent & Future Patterson Reads
Sunday, January 6th, 2008Since my previous James Patterson update I’ve read a few more of his books, and a few more are coming out soon…
Recently Read:
5th Horseman and 6th Target
The last two books in James Patterson the Women’s Murder Club series.
Judge & Jury
A very good thriller about a mafia trial. Patterson’s love scenes are a bit smarmy, but story was great.
To Be Read in 2008:
Double Cross
The latest in the Alex Cross series… Still haven’t gotten a copy yet. Attempting to get the audiobook now.
7th Heaven
The latest in the Women’s Murder Club series… To be released February 4, 2008.
Maximum Ride: The Final Warning
The latest in the Maximum Ride series… To be released March 18, 2008.
Sail
New story, not part of a series… I’ll probably get the audiobook. This one will be released June 10, 2008.
The Dangerous Days of Daniel X
This one sounds very different from his previous work… More along the lines of a sci-fi thriller. This one will be released July 22, 2008.
‘I Am Legend’ Reviewed
Sunday, December 16th, 2007Yesterday, I saw I Am Legend, starring Will Smith. My recently renewed interest in science fiction was apparently enough to cause me to see the movie on opening weekend. I had read a negative review a few days earlier that largely focused on what the reviewer said was unconvincing special effects. However, my co-author Mark Noonan spoke very highly of the movie, saying it was the best movie he’d seen in 10 years, and that it was an Oscar-worthy performance by Will Smith. I would say, at the least, he deserves to be nominated.
I can say I don’t think it was the best movie I’d seen in 10 years, but it certainly was a good performance by Will Smith, who has come a long way since his days as the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
I have not read the original story by Richard Matheson, though I suspect I will get it soon. (I’ve put it on my wish list if any of my readers wants to get it for me) I’m actually really interested in the book now, as well the previous film adaptation, The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston.
Anyway, I wasn’t totally put off by the special effects and I also thought the movie didn’t simply degenerate into a typical action movie. Will Smith largely has to carry the movie by himself and the action that does take place fits the story, and doesn’t seem arbitrary like in the latter two installments of The Matrix Trilogy, (where there was hardly a scene that didn’t have a special effects-infused fight sequence) or even in Live Free or Die Hard (with some ridiculously unrealistic scenes, including one involving a fighter jet) so I would say there was a good balance of true acting and action.
I Am Legend definitely won me over. You can’t help wondering what that kind of isolation must feel like, and I think if anything, the movie should have spent more time on that, and less on the zombies. I imagine the DVD release will have plenty of bonus features, including deleted scenes, that will be worth seeing.
Prince Caspian
Sunday, December 16th, 2007Of all the movies I’m looking forward to seeing next year, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is the one I’m looking forward to seeing the most.
Posted below is the official trailer for the movie:
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqzYukVDqy4 350 350]
The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta
Thursday, December 6th, 2007I decided to read The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta after attending a reading and signing of Nick Hornby’s. During the Q&A he mentioned this book as one he’d recently read and had good things to say about it — so I gave it a chance. I could tell from reading some short reviews of the book before I started it that it had an agenda, but I gave it a shot anyways. The story itself reads like an after-school special, and is hellbent on portraying abstinence education as grossly misleading. The book’s portrayal of evangelical/born-again Christians is equally unflattering and misleading. The author, Tom Perrotta, seems to want readers of his book to believe that evangelicals are all weak hypocrites and fanatics with a unified mission on par with the Crusades to covert all nonbelievers at any cost while at the same time using their faith as a crutch to cover up their unhappiness.
It was amusing to read the part when Ruth Ramsay, the sex-ed teacher who begrudgingly teachers the abstinence-only sex education curriculum (which has been forced upon the school as a result of the threat of legal action) expresses her disgust over the false or misleading statistics she’s been told to give to her students, and proceeds to advise them to visit the website of Planned Parenthood for more “accurate” information — as if Planned Parenthood doesn’t have it’s own agenda that is harmful for young people.
The story went back and forth between the lives of the main characters, and the various burdens of life that define them. Ruth Ramsey being the sex education teacher who is responsible for the first controversy which starts the story. Then there’s Tim Mason, a born-again Christian who belongs the church which is the story’s antagonist. He is also the soccer coach for the team his and Ruth’s daughters play on. He is responsible for the second controversy which moves the story, when he leads the soccer team in a prayer following a hard-fought victory. Both had issues with their kids and their formers spouses, which certainly added a lot of depth to their characters.
The novel’s ending left open a lot of loose ends, but wasn’t as effective as the endings to Hornby’s novels. Hornby’s novels don’t have Hollywood-esque ending that artificially tie all the loose ends together. While the ending of Hornby’s A Long Way Down really sparked my curiosity about where the characters would continue to go. I didn’t have that same curiousity when I reached the ending of The Abstinence Teacher.
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