For J horror I decided to read Lullaby. At first I didn’t really understand how this book related to the genre but after class I do kind of see why. So in J horror there is a sense of isolation. Its all about the characters in the story and for some reason you feel the loneliness around them.
That’s exactly how it is in Lullaby, with two characters in particular, Carl Streator a journalist who mainly covers stories on crib death and Helen Hoover Boyle, a real estate agent who sells haunted houses, and keeps reselling them because no one wants to live in them. Both of them lost their spouses and child, and are all alone in the world. They both are also very different from everyone else around them which also gives you that isolated feeling.
The story is very funny in a quite gruesome king of way. Mr. Streator finds out that all these crib deaths aren’t an accident at all, they are actually caused by a culling song that has gotten its way into a children’s poems book. The same song he killed his wife and child with and the same song Helen killed hers with. Yet, that doesn’t stop him from killing everyone that annoys him with the song. Yet he does it in a funny, lighthearted kind of way. I don’t even know how Palahniuk does it, but he writhes these very heavy yet light hearted novels. They just have a lot of content and really make you think about stuff. But, anyways Mr. Streator, Helen. Mona and her Boyfriend ( Mona being Helens secretary) go on a mission to destroy every page the culling song is on and then finds the big book that its in ( it has all these other spells in it.). Mr. Sreator wants to destroy this book and prevent it from getting into the wrong hands. And Helen wants to keep it for herself and do “good” with it. So throughout most of the story they both hate each other. But after a while, Mr. Streator gets used to having Mona and Helen around ( he really doesn’t like Mona’s boyfriend, I find him quite the ass myself.). He realizes he’s in love with her.
My favorite part, as with all Chuck Palahniuk’s books is the ending. Its always such a surprise, you really never know what will happen. But, of course Mona and her boyfriend find out about the book and want to steal it from Helen and Carl. Because of one of the spells in the book Helen takes on the body of a man, Mona’s boyfriend kills Helens body so she’s stuck as a man her entire life. Carl is still in love with her, and together they go after Mona and her boyfriend because they stole the book from her.
Mona and her boyfriend don’t really have any dangerous spells in the book because Helen destroyed the culling song. And Mona’s boyfriend gets know as the road kill Jesus,
who brings road kill back to life. And Mona becomes the flying virgin Mary in Mexico.
It’s a pretty hilarious ending.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Zombies!
I found that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a great way to get teenagers and young adults to read Jane Austen. Because the majority of the book was her original work
with some zombie action added to it. All of the fancyness and romance was still there.
It’s just a bit more exiting.
It’s funny that this book was on the reading list because a week before I took this class I picked it up in the bookstore and really wanted to read it. Now I got to read it for homework. I never really read the original book, and reading this version of it made me
want to read it, because it seems that I would still like it without all the zombies. One part that I really liked about it was how very classy and agreeable the story was, everyone seemed very concerned about what other people thought and are still trying to marry off their daughters when there could be zombies attacking at any second. Its like they couldn’t get their priorities straight. For example, when Elizabeth’s sister falls ill and she went to see her. When she came inside the house with her clothing dirty and torn because she had gotten attacked by zombies. No one was happy that she survived the attack, but they were insulted that she wasn’t appropriate looking.
Zombies have always been pretty interesting. I think the reason that they are so popular in today’s culture is because everything has become so ordinary, especially for younger people. We all need to go to school and go to a really good college, and become someone. There is a lot expected of us. Especially by our family. So I think all of us would think it would be so great if a zombie apocalypse would happen. Everything that would matter then is survival of the strongest. Its something exiting, something new. A drastic change. Its something that we can fantasize about without the fear of having it actually happen. Because there is no way that actually could happen. And its not like zombies have any intelligence. Its not like Aliens whereas, If they come and take over the world, then we would have less chance because they are smarter. Zombies however, would just roam around in search for more brains. All you’d have to do is shoot them.
That’s why I think it’s so funny that the characters (except for Elizabeth, her sisters and her father) still go on with daily life. Its like they are ignoring the fact that there is a zombie plague going around. And they are just in their same old ways, going to balls and trying to be the most envied person there. It seems like everyone is staying old fashioned, and the Bennets , except for their mother are more modern.
with some zombie action added to it. All of the fancyness and romance was still there.
It’s just a bit more exiting.
It’s funny that this book was on the reading list because a week before I took this class I picked it up in the bookstore and really wanted to read it. Now I got to read it for homework. I never really read the original book, and reading this version of it made me
want to read it, because it seems that I would still like it without all the zombies. One part that I really liked about it was how very classy and agreeable the story was, everyone seemed very concerned about what other people thought and are still trying to marry off their daughters when there could be zombies attacking at any second. Its like they couldn’t get their priorities straight. For example, when Elizabeth’s sister falls ill and she went to see her. When she came inside the house with her clothing dirty and torn because she had gotten attacked by zombies. No one was happy that she survived the attack, but they were insulted that she wasn’t appropriate looking.
Zombies have always been pretty interesting. I think the reason that they are so popular in today’s culture is because everything has become so ordinary, especially for younger people. We all need to go to school and go to a really good college, and become someone. There is a lot expected of us. Especially by our family. So I think all of us would think it would be so great if a zombie apocalypse would happen. Everything that would matter then is survival of the strongest. Its something exiting, something new. A drastic change. Its something that we can fantasize about without the fear of having it actually happen. Because there is no way that actually could happen. And its not like zombies have any intelligence. Its not like Aliens whereas, If they come and take over the world, then we would have less chance because they are smarter. Zombies however, would just roam around in search for more brains. All you’d have to do is shoot them.
That’s why I think it’s so funny that the characters (except for Elizabeth, her sisters and her father) still go on with daily life. Its like they are ignoring the fact that there is a zombie plague going around. And they are just in their same old ways, going to balls and trying to be the most envied person there. It seems like everyone is staying old fashioned, and the Bennets , except for their mother are more modern.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
So I finally finished reading Interview with the vampire, my first thought about it was that it takes a looooong time to read it. The book itself doesn’t really look that intimidating, but after reading it for 3 hours straight and realizing you haven’t gotten through a quarter of the book yet you know it’ll take a while for it to finish.
It is worth it though, the whole reason this book takes so long for it to be read is because the writing is so intricate. Everything is explained in it’s fullest detail and is very nicely written.
Anne Rice’s writing makes almost everyone’s writing seem very simply written, except for Tolkien’s writing. After I finished this book I could read another book in about two days.
I should probably talk a little about the story instead of going on about how long it is.
The characters are really nicely developed. This is one of the things that really got me into the book. I think the most interesting character was Claudia, you really got to see her grow up in this book, not physically but mentally. First she was really cute, but she did get pretty scary and unpredictable when her mind grew up. And even though she was the smallest one of them all, she still was the most beautiful and terrifying of her kind.
It even made me scared of her. I felt really bad for her to have to be tiny or the rest of her life.
Through the entire book, every vampire seemed like it was missing something, and will be missing that thing through their entire existence. It seems like they are going through a never ending search, with Lestat it’s company, because he is terribly lonely. He’s looking for someone with the same frame of mind as his, the same way of thinking.
Claudia, is looking for femininity, because she will always stay small she has to show her
matured ness in other ways then her form. In a way she’ll never really get what she wants, because she will never be able to look like any of the other girls that are her mental age.
The whole story is very interesting, and is very appealing to the senses. The way Anne Rice describes all the scenes like New Orleans, Germany and Paris. Its like you’re truly with them. It enables you to really get sucked into the book and feel what’s going on. You can feel the tension between Lestat and Claudia when Claudia planning to kill him, and you know it wasn’t a good thing when she did. That somehow it was going to have really bad consequences.
I love how Claudia, in the later chapters, starts acting like a child when she’s scared. Her mind is so fully developed, yet when she feels like she’s in danger she turns into a little child. Like when Lestat “arose” from the dead. And they where following her.
She was acting like a kid. But as soon as danger is over she’s that twisted grownup and is
contemplating how she really should have killed Lestat.
Well, I think you can guess who my favorite and most observed character is.
It is worth it though, the whole reason this book takes so long for it to be read is because the writing is so intricate. Everything is explained in it’s fullest detail and is very nicely written.
Anne Rice’s writing makes almost everyone’s writing seem very simply written, except for Tolkien’s writing. After I finished this book I could read another book in about two days.
I should probably talk a little about the story instead of going on about how long it is.
The characters are really nicely developed. This is one of the things that really got me into the book. I think the most interesting character was Claudia, you really got to see her grow up in this book, not physically but mentally. First she was really cute, but she did get pretty scary and unpredictable when her mind grew up. And even though she was the smallest one of them all, she still was the most beautiful and terrifying of her kind.
It even made me scared of her. I felt really bad for her to have to be tiny or the rest of her life.
Through the entire book, every vampire seemed like it was missing something, and will be missing that thing through their entire existence. It seems like they are going through a never ending search, with Lestat it’s company, because he is terribly lonely. He’s looking for someone with the same frame of mind as his, the same way of thinking.
Claudia, is looking for femininity, because she will always stay small she has to show her
matured ness in other ways then her form. In a way she’ll never really get what she wants, because she will never be able to look like any of the other girls that are her mental age.
The whole story is very interesting, and is very appealing to the senses. The way Anne Rice describes all the scenes like New Orleans, Germany and Paris. Its like you’re truly with them. It enables you to really get sucked into the book and feel what’s going on. You can feel the tension between Lestat and Claudia when Claudia planning to kill him, and you know it wasn’t a good thing when she did. That somehow it was going to have really bad consequences.
I love how Claudia, in the later chapters, starts acting like a child when she’s scared. Her mind is so fully developed, yet when she feels like she’s in danger she turns into a little child. Like when Lestat “arose” from the dead. And they where following her.
She was acting like a kid. But as soon as danger is over she’s that twisted grownup and is
contemplating how she really should have killed Lestat.
Well, I think you can guess who my favorite and most observed character is.
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