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Book Recs/Movie Recs, 8/24/09
Monday, August 24th, 2009 01:54 pmAh, vacation! Time for guilt-less reading and movie watching. The only problem is that it ends! :(
In Books:
The Angel's Game, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon: When the main character visited one of the locations from Zafon's previous book, I worried that Zafon was running out of things to do and was going to repeat what he'd done in the last book (The Shadow of the Wind). As it turned out, I shouldn't have worried--this book, even with a similar point of departure for the story and the location in common, was completely different from his last work, and just as engrossing and satisfying as I hoped it would be. I splurged on this in hardcover, and it was well worth it; the last third or so kept me up late at night, desperate to see how things would end.
The Devil Wears Prada, by Lauren Weisberger: I enjoyed the movie very much and was glad to see that the book is much the same. Miranda Priestly is the boss from hell, our heroine is slightly masochistic and puts up with all sorts of crazy. ( But there were several glaring differences that I found very interesting. )
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief & Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordan: A worthy series of books that are good next steps for the Harry Potter set, the Percy Jackson stories are a great mix of urban fantasy and Greek mythology, told in an entertaining, fast-paced style that doesn't sacrifice humor and character development. Can't wait to read the next three, and want to do so before the movie comes out.
Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34, by Bryan Burrough: As the author astutely points out in his introduction, the FBI's bungles would be laughable were it not for the fact that so many innocent people died as a result of their incompetence. John Dillinger is undeniably charismatic, even years after the story is over (he is certainly a more sympathetic character than J. Edgar Hoover or Melvin Purvis, the agent assigned to catch him). It's also entertaining to see how wrapped Burrough is in his research; his recreations of dialogue between the characters are exciting and funny; I even imagined Burrough reading them aloud as he wrote them down. There's that kind of excitement there. A highly fascinating book, even without the movie to back it up. The truth is always stranger than fiction, and this book proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
In Movies:
Julie & Julia: Everyone we saw this movie with loved it; when the credits started to roll, an older gentleman a few rows down from us said loudly, "That was good." And it was a good little movie--not spectacular, but solid and entertaining, which was what we had wanted going in. The stronger half of the movie involves Julia Child's story. Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci are just so entertaining to watch together. It also helps that Child was a trailblazer in several important ways: the only woman in her class at Cordon Bleu, one of the first people to work on a French cookbook in English, etc. Her life story and the success/publication of the book were great things to vicariously experience. The life story of blogger Julie Powell... not as much. This isn't to say she's an unsympathetic or annoying character (well, maybe a tad annoying at times), because I did identify with her more easily and more often than with Child. But the drama isn't on the same level as Child's life story, and the film feels a little lopsided as a result. Lopsided, but fun, and well worth seeing.
Ponyo: This was simply adorable, but by no means pandering or stupid (as all the other advertisements for upcoming children's movies that we sat through looked to be). I was also very pleased that the translators left the -san honorific in the script, as well as sensei, presumably because it fit the characters better than Mr. or Mrs. or "teacher". Towards the end,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
yebisu9 grew weary of the cute, but I was entirely transported by the breathtaking underwater sequences, which need a DVD viewing to truly catch everything in the backgrounds, foregrounds, and middle grounds. There was the added benefit that the setting for the story looked very much like Kochi (where D. and I spent our three years in Japan). But, really, it was the little touches that made the story resonate so well; for example, Ponyo, the title character who's a fish turned into a human, treats the terrestrial world much as she did the underwater world: gravity is optional and she bounces all over the furniture, ecstatic over these new experiences. (She loves ham, the feeling of a terry cloth towel, and a rechargeable light.) There are many amazing prehistoric fish, and a great reverence for the forces of the planet, seen and unseen. But there's such great affection and reverence for characters, and above all else, for the family unit, which survives everything from tidal waves to parental strife with gentle good humor and a calm reassurance that everything will be alright because people love one another.
In Books:
The Angel's Game, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon: When the main character visited one of the locations from Zafon's previous book, I worried that Zafon was running out of things to do and was going to repeat what he'd done in the last book (The Shadow of the Wind). As it turned out, I shouldn't have worried--this book, even with a similar point of departure for the story and the location in common, was completely different from his last work, and just as engrossing and satisfying as I hoped it would be. I splurged on this in hardcover, and it was well worth it; the last third or so kept me up late at night, desperate to see how things would end.
The Devil Wears Prada, by Lauren Weisberger: I enjoyed the movie very much and was glad to see that the book is much the same. Miranda Priestly is the boss from hell, our heroine is slightly masochistic and puts up with all sorts of crazy. ( But there were several glaring differences that I found very interesting. )
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief & Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordan: A worthy series of books that are good next steps for the Harry Potter set, the Percy Jackson stories are a great mix of urban fantasy and Greek mythology, told in an entertaining, fast-paced style that doesn't sacrifice humor and character development. Can't wait to read the next three, and want to do so before the movie comes out.
Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34, by Bryan Burrough: As the author astutely points out in his introduction, the FBI's bungles would be laughable were it not for the fact that so many innocent people died as a result of their incompetence. John Dillinger is undeniably charismatic, even years after the story is over (he is certainly a more sympathetic character than J. Edgar Hoover or Melvin Purvis, the agent assigned to catch him). It's also entertaining to see how wrapped Burrough is in his research; his recreations of dialogue between the characters are exciting and funny; I even imagined Burrough reading them aloud as he wrote them down. There's that kind of excitement there. A highly fascinating book, even without the movie to back it up. The truth is always stranger than fiction, and this book proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
In Movies:
Julie & Julia: Everyone we saw this movie with loved it; when the credits started to roll, an older gentleman a few rows down from us said loudly, "That was good." And it was a good little movie--not spectacular, but solid and entertaining, which was what we had wanted going in. The stronger half of the movie involves Julia Child's story. Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci are just so entertaining to watch together. It also helps that Child was a trailblazer in several important ways: the only woman in her class at Cordon Bleu, one of the first people to work on a French cookbook in English, etc. Her life story and the success/publication of the book were great things to vicariously experience. The life story of blogger Julie Powell... not as much. This isn't to say she's an unsympathetic or annoying character (well, maybe a tad annoying at times), because I did identify with her more easily and more often than with Child. But the drama isn't on the same level as Child's life story, and the film feels a little lopsided as a result. Lopsided, but fun, and well worth seeing.
Ponyo: This was simply adorable, but by no means pandering or stupid (as all the other advertisements for upcoming children's movies that we sat through looked to be). I was also very pleased that the translators left the -san honorific in the script, as well as sensei, presumably because it fit the characters better than Mr. or Mrs. or "teacher". Towards the end,
yebisu9 grew weary of the cute, but I was entirely transported by the breathtaking underwater sequences, which need a DVD viewing to truly catch everything in the backgrounds, foregrounds, and middle grounds. There was the added benefit that the setting for the story looked very much like Kochi (where D. and I spent our three years in Japan). But, really, it was the little touches that made the story resonate so well; for example, Ponyo, the title character who's a fish turned into a human, treats the terrestrial world much as she did the underwater world: gravity is optional and she bounces all over the furniture, ecstatic over these new experiences. (She loves ham, the feeling of a terry cloth towel, and a rechargeable light.) There are many amazing prehistoric fish, and a great reverence for the forces of the planet, seen and unseen. But there's such great affection and reverence for characters, and above all else, for the family unit, which survives everything from tidal waves to parental strife with gentle good humor and a calm reassurance that everything will be alright because people love one another.
