Too Fond of Books

It's a great pleasure to heartily recommend The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (a.k.a. J.K. Rowling), mostly because it's been a long time since I've been so invested in a story and its characters, but also because it made me gasp aloud not once but twice, with two reveals that I did not see coming at all. This book is all the things that Rowling did well with the Harry Potter series, but a different story and setting, and, obviously, much more adult tone throughout. One of the things that Rowling does especially well is create characters who I sympathize with, and this book had it spades, from the gruff, wounded detective who is the hero of the story, to the homeless, drug-addicted friend of the dead woman who seethes with anger and resentment, but is ultimately portrayed as human, and not just a plot device. Another excellent element of this story is its plot, which moves along briskly enough, but slows down when necessary to give its characters and settings time to breathe, to come alive and make sense.

To be honest, this book was also a pleasure because it reminded me why I love the mystery genre. I'd gotten soured after reading a succession of books where women's bodies were in pieces, bits and limbs of victims everywhere, but with no soul. It's a misogynistic trend that bothers me, and I was a little wary of starting another story that featured a female victim. But The Cuckoo's Calling never glorified or overindulged in the violence that lead to the murder. Instead, there was a lot of discussion of who the murdered person was, and why her life mattered to people. That's a welcome change from the scores of serial killer books where bodies pile up namelessly.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a densely plotted and populated mystery that takes place in a modern, urban setting, with a flawed hero and resourceful sidekick. Hell, I recommend this book to just about anyone who enjoys a good mystery.

Recently, while I was visiting my sister, I finished watching the first season of "The Carrie Diaries" on my AirBnB's host's Netflix account and griped to my sister about it next morning. I went into a few reasons why I was dissatisfied with the show and after a minute, my sister spoke up. "Why," she asked, "Would you waste your time on something you hate so much?" I backpedaled a bit, and tried to explain what had drawn me to the show in the first place (the awesome of Freema Agyeman--much minimized, alas; 80s clothing; somewhat interesting character arcs for a few of the minor characters), but it was clear that my sister thought I was 100% crazy, and that she'd never heard of hate!watching anything at all.

Generally, I don't hate!watch shows much. America's Next Top Model, for example, is fun with a glass of wine and MST3K-style snarkery, but it's usually the same thing from episode to episode, and I move on. The problem occurs when a show that I like veers from 'genuine pleasure' to 'guilty pleasure' category, and then into hate!watch territory. Once Upon a Time went from "oh, wow, this show is so much fun, I need to watch every episode obsessively" to "OK, this is getting little over the top, but still fun" and, finally, "who are all these people and why should I care about them?" I guess if that's the case, a long, slow demise, then I don't feel so bad about hate!watching a few episodes in the hopes that the whole endeavor will slide back onto the quality side of the equation.

More problematic, though, is the show that goes from "genuine pleasure" to hate!watching at alarming speed. This is where I am with SyFy's Defiance. There are a lot of reasons I want to like it: there's a dynamite ensemble cast who have a lot of chemistry together; the setting is interesting and the world-building, although muddled, compelling; and the themes of the show and the individual storylines within it are mostly interesting. Add to this a lot of diverse roles for female characters and slightly dystopian sci-fi feel to the whole thing, and bam, it should rock, right?

Well... not as much as I'd like.

For one thing, not since Lost have I had so many questions about the larger meta-plot of the story that are going largely unanswered. The frustrating thing about this is that many of these could be answered with a few lines of dialogue. I don't need an exposition dump; I just want to know a few things that would help me understand the characters and their motivations better. For instance, the show is set in the near-future, after an alien invasion/colonization effort went bad. Why is there no anti-alien sentiment? Where's the "Aliens go home" graffiti that I'm sure would adorn many, many buildings in this setting? Further, the Earth Republic (a kind of grumpier UN, at least as far as I can make out) seems to have no greater goals than messing with our heroes/heroines' plans. Wouldn't they have some bigger idea? Why do we never hear about them trying to do good things, like starting up manufacture of medicine and infrastructure?

Equally frustrating is this show's depiction of women. On one hand, there are a number of interesting, diverse roles for female characters. Jaime Murray is excellent as Stahma, an alien woman dealing with newfound power and the cost to hold onto it. There's also Doc Ewell, whose dry sarcasm is perfectly timed and in sharp contrast to the earnestness of those around her. Julie Benz plays Amanda, the town's (now ex-) mayor, with a lot of poise, except when she's being menaced by memories of her rape at the hands on an unknown assailant when she was younger. This sexual assault is on its way to becoming a major plot point, and, really, all the women on this show have been shown sexually threatened, assaulted, or wounded at some point, whereas the men (with one notable exception) have not. It's gotten so frustrating that I'm beginning to wish there was a pact that authors/writers/showrunners (for this show and all others) could sign agreeing not to use rape or sexual assault as a plot device. I don't care that it "develops" the character further (because there are other, more effective and less rape-y ways to do this just as effectively), or that it's "realistic" (because sci-fi and fantasy are chances to do something that isn't necessarily realistic.) It's not even very original. I would like to watch one episode of Defiance that doesn't show one of its female characters wounded, assaulted, or threatened sexually. Just one.

And that worst thing is, this show has a lot of potential to be fascinating. I've never seen a mainstream piece of work approaching a tricky subject like cultural appropriation in such a thought-provoking way. I also like the religious systems the aliens brought with them that are slowly being revealed in fits and starts, sometimes clearly menacing, but always completely alien and convincing. As I mentioned before, the cast is fantastic and the special effects work well with the story and feel organic. I don't want to end up hate!watching this show... but I don't see how much longer I can watch it for pleasure, either.

This entry will discuss events that happened up to Episode 5, "The Metal Clan." I know that more episodes have been leaked, and if you know any spoilers concerning those, I'd appreciate them being kept under a hat.

( In general... )

( And specifically about Lin: )

I really like the two episodes a Friday night format, even though we're in the Friday night death slot. It feels more substantial as two episodes, and it gives the plot more time to unfold, rather than suffering from endless recapping.

The San Diego Opera has been in a state of flux for the past few months or so, due to a lot of financial problems and management issues. A few months ago, the Board announced they were closing outright at the end of this season (despite having booked next season and sending out promotional material.) Great outrage followed, and a lot of fundraising has ensued, including this awesome opportunity to see the classic Marx Brothers film "A Night at the Opera" with live musical back-up, with all proceeds going to benefit the opera. I would adore seeing this movie on the big screen except that the 19th is the last night of work for me. *swoons dramatically* Still, I share this because a) it's awesome, and b) I wish more organizations would put together fun, innovative fundraisers like this. I would probably give away a lot more of my money!

(Only disadvantage: seeing this movie on the big screen means that you can't fast-forward through the insipid love song between the two romantic leads, which is usually what I do. Ah, well, nonetheless awesome.)

For the spoiler-phobic, ( don’t read more! )

Tl;dr version: It was so engrossing that I completely forgot to eat the packet of fancy cookies I’d smuggled into the theater in my purse. It’s the best movie in the MCU to date, at least in my humblest of opinions.

I was talking with my Mom today and lamenting the fact that out of the Best Picture Oscar nominations, I've only seen two, American Hustle and Gravity. Before R. came along (and before there were 10 Best Pictures nods), I tried to make it a point to see all of the nominees because, so, if for no other reason, I could at least sound educated in my snobbery. But now that there are so many movies, and we have to arrange expensive babysitting almost every time we go out, seeing all 10 is just not in the cards. And not to mention the fact that I just can't handle the "tough" movies that I used to think were important. The me of ten years ago would say, "Boys Don't Cry was a tough, sad movie, but I'm really glad I watched it because it's compelling, and precisely because it is tough. That was a version of someone's life." Whereas the me of now says, "Augh, I spent all afternoon watching my son like a hawk at the playground and trying to squeeze work in during the twenty minutes he wasn't running around. I cannot handle violence and sadness and all I want is puppies, beers, and The Lego Movie." (This second statement is slightly simplified, but I have said some variation of it in the very recent past.)

But then I started mourning the loss of the old, pre-mother, rabble-rousing, political me, and tonight I decided that I would watch a "tough" movie on Netflix to prove to myself that I still could. I chose "Blackfish" because I've been on the fence about it for a while, I think it's about an issue I should know about as a San Diegan, and it was ironically next to "American Horror Story" on our instant queue. And it turns out that the ironic placement turned out to be not far from the truth: "Blackfish" is an American horror story, and it's one that everyone should watch once so that the narrative it tells stops being real and fades into the nation's collective memory as "a really stupid thing we used to do, like discrimination of various sorts, disco, and aspics." ( More, with some profanity. )

This movie is in sharp contrast to "The Wolverine", which Yebisu and I finally got around to watching last night. It was a really frustrating movie: parts of it were really good, and parts of it were so embarrassingly bad that I caught myself cringing more than once. For the record, I think anyone writing a movie set in Japan (or any part of Asia, realistically) should go through their script in pre-production and substitute the word "stereotype/-ical" every time the word "dishonor/-able" appears. Seriously. It would highlight so many problems.

( Allow me to slice--ha ha ha--through those problems. )

I don't mean to make this sound as if it were a total waste of time. I really liked the female characters in this. Out of the three, not one of them was ever a damsel in distress, and all three were distinct and different in their motivations. To top it all off, the female villain was actually pretty badass, and the final fight scene between her and another character was properly thrilling. I also loved the fact that the movie was shot in Japan, and not somewhere in L.A. that looks vaguely like Japan. There is one hilarious sequence that takes place in a love hotel, and it never got squicky or stupid, just stayed uniformly funny the whole time. The final scene that sets up the next X-Men movie was a little tacked on, but it wasn't too over the top and worked fairly well with the rest of the story. Yebisu was also particularly impressed with the opening sequence, and I liked how deftly one character's personality and background were set up in a matter of brief scenes. Maybe watch this movie with some beers and cheap sushi, celebrating its good and bad points simultaneously.

In Books:

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb: This book is the definition of a vital read. It's not easy, not by any stretch of the imagination, to read Malala's account of being shot in the face by a Taliban soldier and her recovery, or to hear the story of how the Taliban temporarily forced her family (and many, many others) to relocate twice in a very short amount of time. But this work a testament to Malala's vision of what an education can bring her, and so many girls like her. It's also a testament to her family as a whole, who weathered this whole storm with amazing resilience. In particular, Malala's father stands out as a brave man who believes in his daughter's rights and intelligence, and never lets her down. I hope many people will read this book and have it renew their dedication to fighting for social justice and education for all, worldwide. Heartily recommended.

In Manga:

Sweet Rein, Volume 1, by Tsukuba Sakura: This is an adorable manga with perhaps the silliest premise I've ever read: high school student Kurumi discovers that she's a Santa Claus (yes, that Santa) and that a handsome boy named Kaito is her servant, a magical reindeer bound to do whatever she orders him to. (Now that I type it out, it does sound pretty ridiculous.) I bought this out of sheer disbelief more than anything else, and what sells this story is the sincerity that Tsukuba puts into almost every panel and line of dialogue. Like many shoujo manga heroines, Kurumi's a good-hearted girl who wants to do what's right, and this story gives her ample opportunity to do just that. The threadbare will-they-won't-they-fall-in-love romance subplot between her and Kaito gets played more for laughs than any serious conflict; it's pretty clear that they'll be a couple by the end of the series, if not sooner. The only remaining problem is how to construct any other obstacles for Kurumi to overcome, since there doesn't seem to be a Grinch-like character lurking on the horizon. Honestly? It's adorable and sweet, and I liked it despite myself. Definitely be looking for Volume 2.

Angelic Layer, Volume 1, by CLAMP: Somehow, I missed out on this classic CLAMP title a while back and am only now just getting to it. It's not my favorite work of theirs (at least, not yet, but I do have a full second volume to get around to) and in some ways, it highlights what's weakest about their work: characters who little to no clear motivation; ridiculously fast plot that comes, seemingly, out of nowhere; and the barest excuse for conflict (in this case, a televised game between psychic toys connected to their owners.) On the other hand, though, it's tremendously entertaining despite all these problems, and I'm looking forward to the next installment, even as some plot twists loom (in a highly untwisty manner) over the story as a whole. Our erstwhile heroine, Misaki, finds herself drawn to the game Angelic Layer after arriving in Tokyo and seeing it on TV for the first time. She's aided in this by an eccentric genius who counsels her on how to craft her own doll (or, Angel), who, of course, is not what he seems. For plot reasons, Misaki is an able controller/fighter and quickly finds herself in the midst of a high stakes tournament, making allies and enemies along the way. CLAMP brings their trademark gorgeous artwork to all of this, particularly in varied character design for humans and Angels alike. There's also a lot of amazing, dynamic artwork for the battle sequences, which are surprisingly exciting and very easy to follow. So, even with the poor points, this is still an entertaining, fast-paced read, and I did enjoy it rather more than I expected.

In Comics:

Octopus Pie: There are No Stars in Brooklyn, by Meredith Gran: As an antidote to the shoujo sweetness above, I read this delightfully subtle story about Brooklynite misanthrope Eve Ning, her roommate Hanna, and a handful of other characters who inhabit the newly-college-graduated, still-sorting-out-their-lives scene in NYC and its environs. I'm betting that a lot of the New York jokes sailed right over my head, but fortunately, there are plenty of other jokes that ring true. Gran's artwork is perfect--distinct and funny, and with an eye for just the right details to make the story ring true. A lot of fun.

At the Movies:

American Hustle: Some movies are linked in my head with the experience I had in the theater when I saw them; for AH, it's going to be forever associated with being unable to get seats far enough back and feeling sick during the disco sequence. Also, everyone's faces were magnified, like, seemingly a million times larger than normal because of the close seats, and after a while, that gets really, really weird. Anyway, it's a good movie, and even though I didn't like feeling nauseated, I really enjoyed it as a portrait of some profoundly shades-of-grey, no-moral-absolutes people. Whenever I watch a heist movie/story, I'm waiting for the denouement, and AH's does not disappoint. It was just a little hard to root for people who were so completely deluding themselves (even though the narration of the story acknowledges that very fact.)

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Redux: I went and saw this with my Dad, who thoroughly enjoyed it and wanted to nitpick every detail when it was over. I am sorry to say that when that spider popped out, even though I knew it was coming, I still jumped and made a little squeak of surprise. Dammit, Peter Jackson! On a second viewing, the pacing of the story seemed even more glacial, but I was to better look at the beautiful design work that's largely hidden in the background. The elves of Mirkwood have a slightly different sensibility from Rivendell, and seeing that again, checking for details and so forth, was highly pleasurable. And Tauriel is still amazing and kickass.

In Books!:

Bossypants, by Tina Fey: What a fun, likable book! Fey writes as if she were sitting across from you at the dinner table, recounting stories of the history of SNL/30 Rock, celebrity culture, and parenting with equal weight and it's just lovely, like discovering you have a tremendously funny cousin you didn't know existed.

The Impostor's Daughter, by Laurie Sandell: As a counterpoint to Fey's book, I read this book in one sitting, unable to stop myself. Then as I was adding it to my GoodReads profile, I went through some of the comments, and, well, OUCH. A lot of people think this work is selfish and shallow, and that the author shouldn't have written about her father's actions, or brought her family's turmoil into public discourse like this. I'm of very mixed minds about this. It's a crazy-amazing story and Sandell's father is a highly flawed but compelling figure, a man who lied his way through life and destroyed his family's and friends' financial stability, yet Sandell remembers him fondly, too, as the man who told her wonderful stories and encouraged her in her artistic and academic endeavors. This book also details Sandell's own response to uncovering this story as an adult, and her prescription drug abuse that eventually leads her to rehab at the end of the story. This work strongly reminded me of This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolfe (which also deals with a destructive father figure), and I began to wonder if people would have been as hard on Sandell if she were a man writing about his relationship with his mother or father. The only major difference is Sandell's choice to include her own, present-day struggles with drugs. I think her inclusion of this part of the story is a highly brave act that allows her to reclaim the narrative from her father's reach, and tell her own story, even though that story is one that's been told more than a few times. As she says in an interview that functions as the book's afterword: "My hope is not to reconcile with my dad, but to emerge from this experience relatively unscathed." To even reach that conclusion strikes me as a strong and brave choice, and I commend her for putting these words and pictures on paper.

In books:

Thanks to Goodreads' list-making capabilities, I have a record of the 57 books I read during 2013. Of those 57, I didn't finish 3, for reasons related to lack of time, boredom, or disgust. Out of the remaining 54, 4 were non-fiction (which I'm proud of, since I'm always trying to read more non-fiction; left to my own devices, I know I'd be stuck in an endless loop of shoujo manga and urban fantasy that wouldn't really teach me anything new about the writing process or the world at large.) 14 were graphic novels or manga, the best of which was Saga. I'm eagerly awaiting the third trade paperback of this excellent series!

In general, I've stayed away from reading that was excessively dark this year, mainly because I just didn't have the mental energy to deal with sadder subject matter. In this spirit, I'm currently reading I Am Malala and Tiny Fey's Bossypants at the same time--I read Malala's book until I get too sad, and then I switch over to Fey's as a counterpoint. It's a slightly disjointed reading experience, but it's better for my soul. (It does help knowing that Malala's book has a reasonably happy ending, too.)

I'm not sure how many books I'll challenge myself to read in this coming year, but I certainly hope to beat my record this year.

At the movies:

Somehow, I've managed to see quite a few movies this year, which is a miracle of sorts. I still haven't seen American Hustle, but it seems as though that will definitely linger in theaters for a few more weeks, so I still have time. I saw a lot of movies this year on Netflix that were pretty good, and I also managed to see a lot of things in theaters. My favorites are "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" and "Frozen." (I kept imagining these two as a sort of messed up double feature, in that order. They're both about familial relationships, and the mental traps that we set for ourselves and each other.)

There aren't any movie properties in 2014 that I'm chomping at the bit to see (at least, not that I'm aware of) but I'm sure there'll be some great things anyway, regardless. :)

Last night, my Mom and I went to see "Frozen" and I was not disappointed!

( But, before that was an animated short that I have very mixed feelings about. )

( Fortunately, the movie itself was even better than I'd anticipated. Spoilers ahead! The songs were great, the imagery imaginative, the characters compelling, and the snowman was not annoying after all. )

Note: if you stay to the end, there's a cut scene after all the credits that's very short and funny, and within the credits themselves, there's one joke that's almost hidden amongst legal boilerplate. Check it out!

Also funny side note: next to me, there was a woman who was Really Into the movie, gasping in surprise at some plot points, pointing frantically at the screen at others, and at one dramatic juncture, whispering loudly, "Hurry up!" It was actually kind of sweet to observe out of the corner of my eye.