Book/DVD Recs as of 1/22/09
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 09:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
retsuko~In books:
The Fire Kimono, by Laura Joh Rowland: I have said/written this before, and I will say it again: this is the most amazing historical murder mystery series I have ever read, and this latest volume only serves to devote me further to the awesomeness of the books and their plots as a whole. Rowland ups the stakes in the political power play that the main character is involved in, and the twists and turns that result made me get through this in two days flat. It is also a testament to Rowland's writing that 10 or so volumes in, I still remember and care about the characters, even the bad guys. And as for the novel's final plot twist... well. I cannot wait to read the next volume, although I fear more and more for the main character's safety with each passing chapter.
Gods Behaving Badly, by Marie Phillips: The Greek Gods aren't dead; they're living in a disgustingly messy house in London, bickering nonstop and squandering what little power they have on petty attacks against each other and mortals who annoy them. Add to this equation Alice and Neil, mortals who have been friends for years (and the unacknowledged romantic tension between them is just staggering), and who have no idea who Alice's new employers really are (she's a cleaning lady), and Aphrodite's decision to get revenge on Apollo with the help of Eros, and chaos ensues. There are so many wonderful, funny touches in this story, like Apollo's terrible "I'm a psychic, really!" TV show, Artemis's annoyance over the British banning fox hunting, and Zeus's conviction that Dr. Who is really a God, just like him. The Gods cannot eat mortal food, yet they keep buying anyway and letting it rot in the kitchen. The Underworld wants to recruit more people who were champion Scrabble players in their mortal lives, because it's boring in the Underworld and the souls there want challenges. The love story that arises out of all this crazy is actually rather touching, and the conclusion to the story is Neil Gaiman comic book-worthy. In fact, I find myself hoping that Marie Phillips might turn her attention to graphic novels next, because I'm betting that whatever she sets her mind to will be simply fantastic.
The Singing, by Alison Croggon: As sad as I am to see the series end, this was a very satisfying read that brought the series to a strong conclusion and reaffirmed my faith in all of the characters. I wish I knew a tween reader I could hand these books to.
Good Poems for Hard Times, edited by Garrison Keillor: It's hard to write about such a diverse volume of poetry, but here are two of my favorites so far:
My Cup, by Robert Friend
They tell me I am going to die.
Why don't I seem to care?
My cup is full. Let it spill.
Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter, by Robert Bly
It is a cold and snowy night. The main street is deserted.
The only things moving are swirls of snow.
As I lift the mailbox door, I feel its cold iron.
There is a privacy I love in this snowy night.
Driving around, I will waste more time.
These poems all capture some facet of the human experience; they're like little pocket mirrors when you least expect them. Oh, you say, that's me, and that's everyone else, too. And that knowledge is immensely comforting.
~On DVD:
Attention, new Dr. Who fans! Do you think Rose Tyler is wholesome and sweet, innocently adorable and feisty? Then watch "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" and have your brain messed with for life! And not in a good way, either. This show is based on a book that I read a long time ago while working at the bookstore, in between shelving breaks and interacting with customers. At the time, the book Belle du Jour struck me as somewhat well-written and a little too close to my own situation for comfort (especially with the wage I was making.) The TV imagining of the book strives to keep the same confidential tone of the original by having Billie Piper (as her character, Belle, the whore, and Hannah, her "normal self") address the camera and break the fourth wall as often as possible. And this would be fine except that the same camera, just scant scenes later, dissects and eroticizes her body in precisely the way the character is working against. "Look at me," she tries to say, "I'm just a normal person, who happens to have sex for money"; whereas the camera says, "Look at her, and these tits and this ass, and this supposedly sexy stuff and enjoy!" I want to shake the production crew and writers and tell them they can't have it both ways. Because it's not really compelling the way it's written and produced now; it's just softcore pseudo-feminism with some BBC flourishes. I see an amazing show that could come out of this; it could be honest, touching, sad and not at all glamorizing of the sex industry. Instead, it's sort of unsexy and troubling.
This isn't to say that Billie Piper is a bad actress; she does the best with what she has, and there are a few good moments in the first episodes. I particularly like the scene where she and several other "working girls" meet up at a restaurant with their Madam to hand in their takings and the Madam snaps at all of them that they need to work more and eat less. Belle gives the Madam a sharp look and says, "Well, actually, I'd like to order something, but I'm afraid you'd take 40% of it!" If there were more of that sort of banter, I'd be all over this show. But instead there's a lot of unsexy sex, heavily commodified and overly edited to add "excitement". A disappointing show for the most part, I'll probably finish up the disk we have now, but not order the second one from the Netflix queue.
~In reading progress: The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, Volume 1, by Gordon Dahlquist: A book this long should not fly by so quickly or plunge me into its world so convincingly. Cannot wait to see where this one goes, and I'm especially pleased that Volume 2 comes out in February.
The Fire Kimono, by Laura Joh Rowland: I have said/written this before, and I will say it again: this is the most amazing historical murder mystery series I have ever read, and this latest volume only serves to devote me further to the awesomeness of the books and their plots as a whole. Rowland ups the stakes in the political power play that the main character is involved in, and the twists and turns that result made me get through this in two days flat. It is also a testament to Rowland's writing that 10 or so volumes in, I still remember and care about the characters, even the bad guys. And as for the novel's final plot twist... well. I cannot wait to read the next volume, although I fear more and more for the main character's safety with each passing chapter.
Gods Behaving Badly, by Marie Phillips: The Greek Gods aren't dead; they're living in a disgustingly messy house in London, bickering nonstop and squandering what little power they have on petty attacks against each other and mortals who annoy them. Add to this equation Alice and Neil, mortals who have been friends for years (and the unacknowledged romantic tension between them is just staggering), and who have no idea who Alice's new employers really are (she's a cleaning lady), and Aphrodite's decision to get revenge on Apollo with the help of Eros, and chaos ensues. There are so many wonderful, funny touches in this story, like Apollo's terrible "I'm a psychic, really!" TV show, Artemis's annoyance over the British banning fox hunting, and Zeus's conviction that Dr. Who is really a God, just like him. The Gods cannot eat mortal food, yet they keep buying anyway and letting it rot in the kitchen. The Underworld wants to recruit more people who were champion Scrabble players in their mortal lives, because it's boring in the Underworld and the souls there want challenges. The love story that arises out of all this crazy is actually rather touching, and the conclusion to the story is Neil Gaiman comic book-worthy. In fact, I find myself hoping that Marie Phillips might turn her attention to graphic novels next, because I'm betting that whatever she sets her mind to will be simply fantastic.
The Singing, by Alison Croggon: As sad as I am to see the series end, this was a very satisfying read that brought the series to a strong conclusion and reaffirmed my faith in all of the characters. I wish I knew a tween reader I could hand these books to.
Good Poems for Hard Times, edited by Garrison Keillor: It's hard to write about such a diverse volume of poetry, but here are two of my favorites so far:
My Cup, by Robert Friend
They tell me I am going to die.
Why don't I seem to care?
My cup is full. Let it spill.
Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter, by Robert Bly
It is a cold and snowy night. The main street is deserted.
The only things moving are swirls of snow.
As I lift the mailbox door, I feel its cold iron.
There is a privacy I love in this snowy night.
Driving around, I will waste more time.
These poems all capture some facet of the human experience; they're like little pocket mirrors when you least expect them. Oh, you say, that's me, and that's everyone else, too. And that knowledge is immensely comforting.
~On DVD:
Attention, new Dr. Who fans! Do you think Rose Tyler is wholesome and sweet, innocently adorable and feisty? Then watch "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" and have your brain messed with for life! And not in a good way, either. This show is based on a book that I read a long time ago while working at the bookstore, in between shelving breaks and interacting with customers. At the time, the book Belle du Jour struck me as somewhat well-written and a little too close to my own situation for comfort (especially with the wage I was making.) The TV imagining of the book strives to keep the same confidential tone of the original by having Billie Piper (as her character, Belle, the whore, and Hannah, her "normal self") address the camera and break the fourth wall as often as possible. And this would be fine except that the same camera, just scant scenes later, dissects and eroticizes her body in precisely the way the character is working against. "Look at me," she tries to say, "I'm just a normal person, who happens to have sex for money"; whereas the camera says, "Look at her, and these tits and this ass, and this supposedly sexy stuff and enjoy!" I want to shake the production crew and writers and tell them they can't have it both ways. Because it's not really compelling the way it's written and produced now; it's just softcore pseudo-feminism with some BBC flourishes. I see an amazing show that could come out of this; it could be honest, touching, sad and not at all glamorizing of the sex industry. Instead, it's sort of unsexy and troubling.
This isn't to say that Billie Piper is a bad actress; she does the best with what she has, and there are a few good moments in the first episodes. I particularly like the scene where she and several other "working girls" meet up at a restaurant with their Madam to hand in their takings and the Madam snaps at all of them that they need to work more and eat less. Belle gives the Madam a sharp look and says, "Well, actually, I'd like to order something, but I'm afraid you'd take 40% of it!" If there were more of that sort of banter, I'd be all over this show. But instead there's a lot of unsexy sex, heavily commodified and overly edited to add "excitement". A disappointing show for the most part, I'll probably finish up the disk we have now, but not order the second one from the Netflix queue.
~In reading progress: The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, Volume 1, by Gordon Dahlquist: A book this long should not fly by so quickly or plunge me into its world so convincingly. Cannot wait to see where this one goes, and I'm especially pleased that Volume 2 comes out in February.
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-23 06:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-24 05:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-23 10:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-24 05:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-23 01:34 pm (UTC)I streamed a couple of eps of "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" and honestly just wasn't into it. Probably for the reasons you mention, although it wasn't a conscious thing. Took me two eps to get beyond the "OMG that's ROSE! Rose isn't supposed to be...umm...just...NO!" but once I got past that...meh.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-24 05:40 am (UTC)Hey, any chance you're coming to San Diego again any time soon? *hopeful*
no subject
Date: 2009-01-27 08:28 pm (UTC)believe it or not , but i know somebody on LJ, who writes ff on L.J. Rowland series :-) I like to know more and more about shoguns Japan. very nice books, i recommend them very often.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-28 02:16 am (UTC)You might want to try Across the Nightingale Floor, which is also a fun read, although it's a little more focused on ninjas than the shogun.