This manga's pretty cute. It's about this high school boy who has to take care of his 5 year old cousin, who was temporarily abandoned by her mother. Kippei starts out as a playboy of sorts with no responsibilities and when forced to be the replacement mother for this little girl, he slowly grows to be more responsible. It's more of a comedy than a drama, but there are a few emotional moments. Chances are you'll end up smiling a few times throughout the series.
Kippei's relationship with his girlfriend was also refreshing. She wasn't the typical dumb, clumsy girlfriend. Instead she was calm and collected and not freaking out about stuff. Women in general had more of a powerful voice in this manga, which is rare in manga in general, so to be appreciated when found I guess. Overall, cute.
Well, I'm not finished this as of yet, and I'm not too sure I will. Don't get me wrong, it's not horrible. In fact I've read much worse. When I started reading it I thought it would be interesting because the premise at the beginning is that people misjudge her based on her skin tone which is darker than the other girls because she's on the swim team. This makes people assume she a party girl, or easy, I guess would be a g- rated translation. I think they're called ganguro girls in japan. Either way, she isn't one of these girls but people see her tan and assume that she is. So as I say, I walked into this expecting this kind of thing, and while there was some of this conflict in the beginning, it soon fell away to needless drama. Now drama isn't all bad, in fact it can be quite good, but the issue of her tan wasn't really resolved. She was kind of ashamed of her tan, but only because Toji supposedly didn't like tanned girls. If a person were to consider this issue resolved in the first couple of volumes, when it stops being the primary focus, than it would be because she thought the guy didn't mind. Basically it seems like a lot of her resolutions are based on his acceptance of her rather than some inner reassessment and acceptance of herself. And this kind of thing generally tends to get under my skin.
Another thing I have issues with is the lack of communication up to the point of... I don't even know. I mean when her friend is sabotaging her, that stretch of the plot line, well I got sick of it about half way through. I'm all for jealousy n such, I mean it's a shoujo, we're kind of expecting relationship problems yes? But it seemed like it was dragged on for too long.
Drama is good, but it's a delicate emotional tool. Just enough and you've got gold, too much and it sucks. The lack of communication seemed a bit unbelievable at times, which frustrated me a bit, and the characters in general seemed to act in a way that almost deserved the angsty agony they brought upon themselves. I mean I haven't even finished it and I already dislike most of the characters, not so great.
But, even though I have these criticisms, I do admit that I could see myself finishing the series sometime in the future because it does have that shoujo draw where you want to know what happens in the end and you want them to be happy (... though you hate them). So I say read it, but there is definitely better out there.
Sophie the spider goes out into the world to do something great, to create a masterpiece. She settles herself in this boarding house and attempts to help out the people who live there, but none of them accept her gifts and scream at the sight of her. Sophie eventually finds a new mother who doesn't scream at the sight of her, but welcomes her. The mother is poor though and Sophie sees an old blanket covering the mother's baby. Sophie decides to make a new blanket for the baby, her masterpiece.
The pictures are beautiful and the story touching. A great addition to the bookshelf.
This was a cute book about a little boy who loves to draw, and he draws quite a bit. One day his brother looks at his drawings and says that it doesn't look like what he was trying to draw. The boy looks at it again and agrees with his brother and he gets mad. I forget if he keeps drawing or not, but at one point he crumples up his 'last drawing' in frustration and swears to never draw again. His sister grabs the drawing and runs to her room. He chases her and when he goes in her room he sees all of his drawings. He asks why she kept them as they don't look anything like what they're supposed to, a vase. She replies, 'Well it looks vase-ish'. He looks around and agrees that it does look vase- ish. and continues drawing.
The guy's drawings don't have to be perfect. He draws because he loves it, not because he wants to make perfect pictures. It's sweet.
All I can say is... well read it. It's mostly pictures, so little to no effort on the reader, but it's worth it. There's a phrase on every page which enhances and ties together a collection of amazingly well done pictures. The pictures are somewhat surreal, like those pictures where there is a face and it can either be an old woman or a young woman, have we all been exposed to these? But optical illusions I guess. They are brightly coloured and imaginative and give the reader a lot to look at. The phrases don't exactly make a story out of the pictures, but there is a logical order to the presentation that can be almost thought provoking. It's a great book. To be flipped through by both young and old.
This story teaches kids that they have the power to create their own beauty and bring it to their lives. The girl in this book walk around her house and sees some not very nice things, including some not so nice graffiti on a door, and the reader gets a sense of her unease. Then she goes to school and her teacher teaches the class the word beautiful, which is described as something, when you have it, that makes your heart happy. So she goes around the neighbourhood asking people what is beautiful to them, and various responses are given. Finally the little girl goes back to the graffiti and erases it, making a bit of beauty come into her own world. after that it ends on a sweet note with her mother.
I think this a good book to read to a child to teach them that they have the power to make a positive change in the world, and that for every cloudy day there is an optimistic sun hiding unseen that is capable of showing itself to those who look for it.
Satch is pretty awesome. I've once heard him described as the guitarist's guitarist, and although I'm not a guitarist, I'm not oblivious to the intense level of technicality he brings to what he does. This was more of a mellow album, though it has a lot of intense instrumentals. I most enjoy this album when I'm just relaxing or am on one of those natural highs. Basically any state where I can just sit back and let the music roll over me.
This is a great album, the songs are intense!! Children of Bodom have the talent of creating hard core songs without loosing a varied melody. The instrumentals are technically awesome and have a sufficient range giving each song it's own flavour and unlike a lot of other artists I don't confuse one song with another. On this album I'd have to say that my preferred track is Are You Dead Yet? I've loved this song for quite some time and no matter how many time I listen to it it never gets old or repetitive. Next I guess would be Living Dead Beat... but honestly all the tracks are pretty good.
This CD's on a lot at work, and I have to say that it isn't that bad to listen to. If left to my own devices, I would probably only listen to one or two songs of my own volition, but the CD in itself has a nice easy flow to it. Some songs can be rather melancholy if you're in the appropriate mood, but on the whole I'd say it's a light-hearted, easy-going album. at the very least worth a listening to, even in passing.
This was an awesome manga. True it's 21 volumes or some such amount, but it never gets boring and when it ends you get that bitter sweet feeling where you really want it to continue, but are happy that it ended happily. The relationships were well done, and quite honestly, never in my life have I expected to read, and enjoy, a romance story about long jump... but there it is I guess. For me it's one of those that gets better every time you read it (because yes I've read it more than once). Its really sweet, I recommend.
This was an amazing story about the development of inner strength and the overcoming of inner demons. The heroine of this story was very strong, the reader could track her development as the novel progressed. I won't go through the whole plot as that would probably take some time, but suffice it to say that the heroine approached all of her problems head on and gave the reader the impression that she was sure of her actions (though maybe not the driving motivation in the beginning). She resolves to do something and then carries it out to the best of her ability. as the story progresses she becomes less obsessed with the past and gains a more... present (for lack of a better word) grasp on herself. In the beginning she sets out on this journey to prove herself, and by the end of the book she reaches a place within herself, where the most important things in life are not society's perception of her or her material possessions or status. The most important thing is not that she is the great one (never in the story does she doubt this, but at the end it is not her focus any more), the most important thing is that she live her life as best she can.
I think that this story was told well for the level it was targeting. There wasn't really any gore in it, though it was implied that the characters partook of such activities, and it portrayed the heroine's overcoming of obstacles effectively. It doesn't present the most detailed methodology, but the concepts will be understood by those who read it. The story provides a decent, though again not very detailed, look at earlier native american lifestyle and society. It is more a story about inner struggle than about Native American culture, so it doesn't really focus on that aspect too much.
The heroine of this story was a great character to follow. She was strong and smart and passionate. I recommend this book to pretty much anyone with the capability of reading it, no matter your age you'll definitely get something out of it.
This is a great book to read out loud! Very funny, it's kind of a subdued humour. It's great for kids, because they've all tried to get away with something that they're not allowed to do, so they know the dynamic, but they are able to see how silly it would be to let the pigeon drive the bus. The book is written so that the pigeon is talking directly to the reader, like the reader is the one with the authority to allow the pigeon to ride the bus. Comical, I recommend.
Invader Zim has to be one of my favourite shows. It's one of those things that has an almost cultish effect on people, well the people who get into it anyways. There are so many awesome quotes in this show... like classic, change you're life-funny quotes. Me and my brother sometimes have Zim quote battles and see who can come up with the most quotes. And we say them to each other in everyday conversation, or even if we aren't talking, a quote from Zim will break the silence. It's like this when I find other people into Zim too. When I find out they love it too I'll say a quote and they'll say one back to me... it's like finding a long lost sibling, I love it.
The show itself seems like it's going to be slow-paced when you start watching it, and I guess it can be a bit. It also has a kind of dark atmosphere, so it is to be watched in moderation. I wouldn't recommend watching a whole season in one go unless you're in the mood for it. If you watch too much at once the atmosphere will get to you a bit and the pacing can be depressing, which is an odd contrast to the comedic aspect of the show. The characters are amazing. Zim is introduced as an idiot, an outcast, and really bad at what he was meant to do, but I don't think he is the failure we would think he is. Zim reminds me of how geniuses are thought to be crazy be those around them and only later are they appreciated. Zim is not a genius, but I do think that he's under estimated by everyone on the show. He is successful if some of what he sets out to do, but he's like the coyote from the roadrunner show, he's just got bad luck. Dib, Zim's nemesis, is most relatable because he is the second main character of the show and we get to see his personality the most of all the characters. Even though Zim is the main character we don't really relate to him and get inside his head but almost see him through the eyes of someone else. In the episodes focusing on Dib, maybe it's because he complains out loud a lot or because he's always searching for something, but it feels more like we are going on the adventure with Dib rather than watching from a distance like with Zim. Dib is also unappreciated by the other characters, but like zim he's actually really smart and not crazy at all. Gaz, Dib's sister, is a great character and I wish there were more episodes focused on her. She's really irritable, but she's not like any other person on the show in that she has this inner strength, which sets her apart as the odd one out. An example of this would be the episode where Pustulio (Zim's pimple) was hypnotizing everyone, but it didn't get Gaz because she didn't give it the time of day. She is shown in this way in a lot of episodes. I guess the fact that the show's focus isn't really on her, even though she is one of the main characters is almost an example of her character. Her reluctance to engage in anything makes her a really interesting, and though we'd like to see more of her, maybe the fact that we can't is evidence of her personality. And of course there's Gir, Zim's robot. ... Little need be said of Gir other than the fact that Gir is awesome. If there was no Gir the show wouldn't be what it is and a lot of the comedy is because of Gir, not all, but a lot. Unlike the other characters, it seems Gir's only purpose is for comedic effect. Gir lightens the dark atmosphere of the show.
Invader Zim is like metal (the music) in that it has a core of die hard fans, but the rest of the world kind of does really know about it. It's a hugely funny show. The comedy is kind of dry and satirical, and slightly over the top and... awesome. Just awesome. The pants command me! Don't ignore my veins!!
This manga was really good. It was more intellectual than most mangas out there.
It's about a guy who finds a notebook and by writing peoples names in the notebook he can kill them, and that sounds cheesy I know, but they play it out in a way that makes it work. The notebook is the belonging of a shinigami, a death god, and that's how people die in everyday life, but one shinigami's notebook fell down to earth and this guy picked it up. He then starts killing people he feels are evil.
It's pretty good. After a certain event takes place I was kind of mad and the story kind of went down hill a bit, but it was still pretty good. It is also an anime and a drama, but in those two, they change some elements of the story... the manga is always better.
The anime for this was on all the time when I was younger and I really enjoyed watching the show, but the manga differs from the anime a bit, which isn't a bad thing.
The story is about a girl named Sakura who finds a magical book, and is assigned the task of capturing magical cards.
First off, the first series is only 6 books, the second one is only 6 too, and this kind of surprised me at first because the first season of the anime had something like 50 episodes, and after reading the manga I saw how much filler was in the anime. The card captures in the manga are all major cards (none of the cheap cards like the move card...) and the captures all meant something. Meaning they either developed plot or developed character, so if it was not for plot development it was a capture that required some effort and allowed Sakura to grow as a character, like the water card. On top of this, the manga also has homosexuality in it, which is not in the anime. Nothing explicit, just a character implying that he/ she has a crush on someone of the same gender. People might make a big deal about it here, which is probably why they took it out of the anime, but it's so subdued and platonic that taking it out is kind of pointless. By doing so they lessen the intricacy of the plot development and the connection between the characters, so I'm glad I read the manga for that reason (among others).
Sakura is a great heroine. I've read over 100 mangas, and I'd say that Sakura is one of the strongest heroines I've read about in manga form. It's kind of ironic that it's for kids, but great I suppose. It's hard to find proactive females in manga. Even in the shoujos, the ones focused on girls, the 'action' is still left to the guys and the girls are for the most part withering, weak, delicate, know nothings; or if they do fight well they are portrayed as kind of heartless. It's rare to find a happy medium. Cardcaptors would be an example of the girl getting some action.
Overall its a cute manga, I mean those who've watched the anime already know the basic story line, it's a good one. It's an original story and its well told, and the manga is better then the anime. I recommend.
This was the story that got me into manga. Some arbitrary stroke of luck had me stumble across the j-drama when it was coming out and I watched the whole thing (the jdrama is much better than the older version so don't worry if you watched that and didn't like it). So after the first season I was kind of impatient and looked it up and found the anime, which is monstrously long, but worth it I guess, and I've been watching anime on tv since I was a kid so it was an easy transition, then I found out there was a manga... which began my current obsession that is manga.
The story is good. I'd like to think of it as one of the classic shoujos, especially compared to a lot of what's coming out today, over hyped drama. The drama in Hana Yori Dango was kind of angsty, as it was a high school drama, but I'd argue not overly so... or maybe there's worse out there, take your pick. There are quite a few problems the heroine faces, but there is a logic to them so her feelings make sense. Though sometimes you just want her and Tsukasa to get over themselves. The art is not my favourite but the story makes up for it, and to be fair I have seen far worse art out there.
Anyway, it'll be a trek no matter through which medium you go for the story (though I recommend the manga because it's always better and the anime/ dramas usually change things). It is long, but a lot happens so it's worth it, and if you get into it it'll feel a lot shorter than it actually is, and you'll wonder where it all went when you're close to the end.
Every shoujo aficionado should in some way or another acquaint themselves with this story because it's one of the good ones.
I've read a few books in this series and I'd have to say that this one's my favourites. I liked the perspectives from which the authors presented their characters. It was a kind of pensive, but not seriously so... meaning that there are little tidbits to think over every now and again but these tidbits are by no means the focus of the book, more a backdrop to the story, and they don't really inspire any intense thought, just more of a lazy sunday afternoon pondering kind of thought. If that makes sense.
I thought the story was well put together. There are several plot lines going on at once, which I enjoy because it gets the mind going a bit, but they all tie in to the overall story which is always nice. I liked the character Bad Belly. He was a reserved kind of guy, not for timidity but kind of for oddness. I thought him and whatever her name was made an ok couple. She could've been stronger, which bugged me at times. I read this a while back so I can't give any examples but I do recall that I wanted her to be stronger at times. Though this is so, she wasn't exactly weak. She had an inner strength, it just wasn't as powerful when confronting other people. This was a minor detail though. The plot and characters were well done and the story had a nice flow to it. Overall, worth picking up I'd say.
This is one of those books where not only do the children in my life enjoy this book, but I do as well. For a kid's book, it's pretty existential. A boy goes through this world where nothing exists and with his purple crayon, creates his world. What makes it more than just a kids book, what gives it the philosophical premise is that even though harold starts the story with this crayon, and has the power to draw anything, become anything, because all he need do is draw whatever he wants to be or where ever he wants to go, even though he has this power, he is unsatisfied and goes on a journey. He uses his crayon to create the world as he goes through it and ultimately finds some contentment, a resting place if you will :P, but the fact that he can create is irrelevant, its a means to an end. The implied 'end' gives us something to think about, and though the children who are meant to be reading this book will not go into such depth with the symbolism or the philosophy, they will pick up on some of the questions the author asks, like what is harold looking for? Why did he need to do all that stuff if he was just going to end up back at home? (Though actually he didn't start at home). Even if the kids don't burst their brains thinking about this, even if they don't come to any logical conclusion, even if they don't ask any questions to begin with, I think exposing our kids to this kind of story is important. Aside from being very amusing, it provides intellectual stimulation for those who look for it and for those who don't, well one day they may look back on this story as an example of some conclusion or another they have drawn. Even if they never understand the story philosophically, the fact that they are exposed to it will register somewhere in their heads and what they know of it will teach them something about life (as does everything, which always gets me critical of the constant stream of nothing we shove down our kids throats, like the bastardisations of stories presented by Disney and the like... and lets not even talk about pop culture).
Anyways, the kids I read this to love it. Its a great story, I recommend.
This was a great story. I love this author, she just has a certain style that brings whatever she says to another level. This said, the story isn't perfect. The major relationships between the main character and those around her aren't very strong, not strong enough anyways. At the end, not to spoil it, but she asks someone to come back for her, but the relationship between them wasn't strong enough for her to ask that of him... or at least we the readers weren't privy to it. They don't have to be ridiculously close or anything, the perceived distance between the characters is fine, but the draw between characters must make sense to the reader. If the author spent more time fleshing out relationships I think the story would've been better, because the relationships are very compelling, we just know too little of them. Peri says she enjoyed certain people's company because they needed her. Unless she is so weak and needy that someone recognizing her existence would make her go crazy, which I don't think she was, there is a part of the story the readers don't know about, or have to fabricate for themselves. So in a way it felt like she was grasping at straws, and the introductions of some characters, namely the workers at the inn, were kind of awkward.
Criticism aside, it was a wonderful story. The plot was well thought out and kept me interested. I thought the author did a great job of characterizing the sea. Kir was a great emphasis for this because he was half of the sea himself, so we had the sea both as itself and humanized in Kir. Periwinkle was ok, not the strongest heroine but compelling in her own way. I liked her name though, Periwinkle, you get few characters with such whimsical names.
It was a great story though. It was short, I read it in a couple of hours, and it left me feeling kind of whimsical .
This is one of the best books I’ve read to date. Its about a man and his failure to connect with the world around him. The novel is split up into two parts. Chronologically the first part happened after the second part so is essentially the underground man reflecting on his past, by a theoretical means. The first part of the book is a philosophy on life and people, and the second part is the manifestation of what he was talking about in the first part.
The underground man is an interesting character because throughout the novel he liberally depreciates himself and celebrates his own misery. He says that he is doomed to be miserable because of his intelligence, because he has the capacity to critically observe the world, and yet because of this very fact he says that he can never be an insect. This reminds me of a quote from Nietzsche ‘even a man who despises himself respects himself as one who despises’. But overall, this over critical approach to living hinders the underground man so that he is quite passive throughout the novel, despite his words, which I suppose could be considered an action of sorts. And it’s because of this passivity that he fails at connecting with others, isolating himself with his thoughts. Now it could be argued that his refusal to act is an expression of his utilizing his freedoms. He acts in a way that is not accepted by society, which is why he is so isolated, but by isolating himself, he is demonstrating that he has the capacity to exercise free thought and action, to not blindly follow the status quo. His outcast status is the ultimate freedom, and yet he’s so miserable, which would tie into the intelligence bit. and all of this would leave him going in circles in his thoughts, making them all sound paradoxical because if he does or doesn’t he’s screwed kind of thing, so he’s passive.
But it’s good. I liked the theory a bit more than the story manifesting the theory, partially because it gets rid of the trappings and gets right down to the concepts, so less digging on my part, though the digging can be fun I’ll admit. I’m in something of a dystopian phase right now and revel in all like material, so this book came to me at a great time. I recommend it to everyone. Its a great read and gives you something to think about.
This is my favourite book out of the Rigante series and quite possibly my favourite book by Gemmell. The protagonist is so gutsy and without fear. He attacks problems head on and with full force and is all around a pretty strong, capable guy. I enjoyed reading about him. Something about how the story is told gives it this epic feel. I'm not too sure how to describe it, but I guess that the story has always existed and will always exist. I don't like how sometimes he substitutes swear words for mock swear words, it kind of ruins what the guy is saying, either put in an actual swear word or attack the problem a different way, but to go half way like that when the character is so full force on everything else is out of place and borderline annoying. But, this would still be one of my favourite historical fictions and I've read it more than once.
One of the reasons this story is great is because its one of the few books where the story doesn't end with the girl getting a guy. Princesses and romance go hand in hand, even when the princess is a tough, adventure-seeking, swash-buckling tomboy, for the most part they end up with a guy. In fact stories with female protagonists that don't end up with a guy could probably be counted on one hand, its a huge part of our cultural perception of women and their happiness. In this one she flips the guy off and walks happily into the sunset by herself.
Especially at a time where stories like this are competing with Barbie and Bratz for our young girls, and I guess the boys who think the girls are like that, this is one of the more popular stories where the princess is smart and gutsy and gets things done to her satisfaction. It's not even close to the only story like this, but as I say, one of the more popular. It teaches kids that girls aren't delicate pieces of glass and can yell out 'you are a bum!', which is funny and has none of the pretentious ideas about making little girls into little women instead of letting them be little girls. Also, it has been commented that the story isn't the most literately complex, to those people I say you obviously haven't heard it live. It doesn't need to be a novel to get the message across. A lot of people I know and I see drill into their kids the need to always be challenging themselves, which is good, but they also don't let them do non-challenging things for fun, which is semi robotic. I mean they're just kids, who cares if its a line a page and that line isn't the most mind blowing sentence in the English language. If it fun, its ok. Loosen up a bit.
This has to be on my all time favourites list. I tear up every time I read it. It's a beautiful story about unconditional love, I'd say between a mother and a child. It's great to see stories like this in today's society where what you 'really need to worry about' is people cheating you, someone ripping you off, not getting your fair share, etc.. Society's so focused on the individual and selfishness is so celebrated that stories like this are refreshing to read and much needed in my opinion. To be honest I was surprised to see the negative reviews, but I guess that has to happen with widely read books, there's always a critic, and this is a good thing. But I would like to say in response that, yes the boy is taking from the tree and the tree never asks for anything, just offers everything, this is true. But, the reader takes on the perspective of the tree, the giver, and they experience this giving as something joyous, as an expression of love. When you love someone don't you want to do something to make them happy? And when someone gives you something you want or need, sometimes unexpectedly, sometimes not, isn't that a great feeling? To know that they care, sometimes enough to go out of their way, just for you? The boy never demands anything from the tree, the tree offers to make the boy happy, like a parent (or even a grandparent, anyone who cares really). Parents do everything for their children, sometimes this goes unnoticed, but they continue to do it because they love their children with all that they are. You can definitely pick out abuse if you look for it, but only if you look for it, not if you take the story as it is. It is a story about loving no matter what, and it kind of makes me sad that some people take that as abuse, especially when the boy did nothing offensive or abusive. He just took what was offered.
It's a beautiful story, and I think everyone should read it at least once in their lives.
This is a sweet story about a relationship between a grandfather and his grandson. The grandfather makes his grandson a blanket and as the boy grows and destroys the blanket the grandfather makes something new out of the material.
I have a close relationship with my grandparents and they do everything to make their grandchildren happy. This story was kind of a reminder of that for me, how they'll always be there for me, and will help me and teach me with whatever tools they may have, but most of all how they'll always love me. I get almost emotional when I read this book. It's a good one. Get it.
I had to watch the film for this in elementary school once or twice, so when I read it I have the voice of the narrator in my head. But it is a classic children's book. It encapsulates the tension between Quebec and Ontario, that still exists today, but not as much I think. I'm not at all into hockey myself, but am around hockey players so have been exposed to it in some form or another all my life, which might be why I relate to it. But hockey player or not pretty much anyone can relate as its about a kid not getting what he wants and having to cope. And if you don't read it, at least go watch the short film, which is debatably better (or that might just be my preference as I saw the film first).
This was a good story. The protagonist, who is just a normal guy, know all of these people with 'super powers', but they're odd super powers, like he's dating The Perfectionist, who makes everything perfect. There was a guy who's super power was to take tension away from people, so he was always invited to parties, and my personal favourite, The Spooner, who would sneak into the houses of lonely women to spoon with them. These kinds of things. So it was more of an an everyday interpretation of a super hero, making specific human characteristics super. Because the super powers were so 'common' each interaction the protagonist had with a super hero seemed like a journey within the self because we, of course, all have at least a little of every 'power' within ourselves. So in that respect its an interesting read. But the ending is cute, even if you don't get over analytical like some (>.>).
This was an entertaining read. The book is essentially a collection of short stories, parodies of bible stories. The first story I enjoyed the most. It was a retelling of adam and eve, told from eve's perspective. The tone she sets is comical in a common sense kind of way.
There is a part, when she has her period, when she turns to a goddess and she says that the goddess has to hide in a cave so that god doesn't see her and other deities like her. I found this to very symbolic of how though Christianity become the dominant religion, other, older forms of worship didn't completely disappear, they just went underground, so to speak, but still had an effect on the people.
One of my many impulse purchases, but it was a great read.
This was a pretty good book. It's about a seagull with a passion, or a vision of something beyond his current reality. He strives for this vision, much to the dismay of the other seagulls and in the end he achieves what he's looking for, which I guess would be enlightenment. This is a quote that pretty much sums up the book for me
"iInstead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there's reason to live! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can learn to be free! We can learn to fly!"
The moral is about having a dream and making that dream happen. The process is not without its difficulties but essentially the end goal makes the whole process worth it. ... In a nutshell. Not the most groundbreaking read, but worth the trek if you're in the mood.
Running With Scissors is a great book. The author's writing style is fantastic, so much so that the words just draw you in. Little effort is required on your part to get into the story, the words just leap off the page. An example of this would be near the beginning when he was cleaning the pennies, that scene sticks out in my mind for some reason as an example of his writing style.
The story over all is great though. The story is about this young boy whose mother gives him to her shrink to live with because she feels she's too psychologically unwell to take care of him. The shrink's family is very eccentric and almost dysfunctional.
The characterization was amazingly well done and the odd idiosyncrasies of the family Augusten had to live with were hilarious. Not too odd so as to seem contrived for the sole purpose of being 'weird', but odd enough to mirror the reality that we're all weird, some more dramatically than others, but this is why its so fun, yes?
I smiled while reading this book, smiled out loud! I might even have chuckled here and there. It is definitely higher up on my list of books to recommend to friends.
This was a refreshing version of the East of the Sun, West of the Moon story. I found the characters to be well composed and believable. In other variations of this story, the mother has been portrayed as evil or as hating the daughter, as happens with so many mothers in fairy tales. But in this version the mother's actions were explained and even after she did what she did she showed remorse, and the birth direction thing, almost like a horoscope, was used very effectively in explaining the mother's passionate reactions, as she followed it like a religion.
The main character, Rose, was well done. She was a 'north born' which means she's high strung and likes to travel. I think the author did a god job in constructing her character as that personality is very much what one would expect of the heroine of this story. This personality type also explained why she would go off to help the guy. In some of the other reviews people commented that the platonic relationship lessened the connection between the main characters and while I agree with this to some extent, I also feel that for the characters to have had sex would mean something different in today's society. In antiquity women were seen as more connected to the body, but in reality would you go running off to save someone just because they had sex with you? Probably not, it's the relationship. And while sex enhances the relationship, Rose didn't know who the man was and only later made the connection that he was the bear. So while I believe that if crafted properly, the sexual aspect of the story would deepen the connection between the two, I think that the way the story was portrayed here doesn't leave much wanting.
East of the Sun and West of the Moon is one of my preferred stories from mythology, and this book did it little to no justice. I didn't connect with the heroine at all and at times felt like she was trying too hard and with not enough motivation. I felt that the author was making her out to be more clever and strong than she actually was, which is annoying. I mean, we all love strong, smart, courageous heroines, and because we love them we can tell when someone doesn't fit the bill, however hard the author tries to boost the character's image in the eyes of the reader (the truth always comes through).
Also, there's suggested bestiality in the story, which is cool, I mean besides the fact that some people are into that, it can symbolically bring a raw, primal aspect to the story, but not in a book intended for something of a younger audience. I am not against younger people becoming familiar with what sex is, as it would be absurd to hide it from them beyond a certain age and not do them some sort of harm, but the... flavour of sexual experience they are aware of should be left to human on human until later on... if ever. This may be my inner prude coming to light, but I would be hesitant to give it to anyone younger than me for fear that they might pick up on the suggestion.
I didn't completely hate it because I like faeries, and I suppose I appreciate the author's attempt to incorporate faeries into the plot, what with the red caps n such, and the prince being kind of a faery himself, so I put aside the poor writing for one of my obsessions, but other than that I deem it to be a failed attempt.
I've just finished reading another retelling called East by Edith Pattou. I found that to be more successful. The story is a good one, this was just a bad version of it.
This was an interesting read. Thankfully I read the book before I watched the movie, because although the movie was semi awesome, the ending killed the final point the author made, which was that all of the stuff Alex did, the crimes n such, were a product of his youth. He did it because 'kids are crazy like that' but eventually they grow out of it. Now of course whether this statement was intended to be read literally or symbolically is debatable and I'm sure a couple of hours could be devoted to taking that apart, but as it stands, that point, which I would say is quite significant, was left out of the movie, which I found disappointing. The book was great though. The concept it explores is in the title itself -a clockwork orange. an orange that is not allowed to be as nature intended but is being forced to transform itself and act according to the dictates of others. It is being forced to act this way through a technological means, rather than societal influences, though I'm sure one could link social pressures to the situation. The orange of course would be Alex and the clockwork bit would be the treatment he was given to make violence repulsive to him. This treatment doesn't change the fact that he is inclined to commit violent acts, it just prevents him from doing so, taking away his free will. Great imagery, I enjoyed reading it. It's also cool how the author creates his own language. This effectively encapsulates the terms created by youth and only understood by youth, without putting a time frame on the story by using actual slang from a certain time period. Great story, definitely check it out.
I have just read this book and.. well the pictures are nice. Quite honestly the telling of the story is kind of choppy, to the point where you can almost feel the gaps as you're reading it, but the progression is faithful to older versions of the myth. The writing was pretty bad, but the pictures were nice. They were colourful with an attention given to detail (which maybe should've been directed to the storytelling) that almost made up for what I disliked about the book. And on top of that this fairy tale is one of my favourites so maybe I'm just being hard on it for that reason.
This was the first little mermaid story I was aware of. I'm not really a fan of Disney because they alter the stories, among other things, and so in retrospect I thank my mother for getting me this book when I was young. The story is beautiful and the pictures are as beautiful as the story. This is my standard for the little mermaid story and to date all other renditions I've read have been sub-par in comparison.
Beck's a great story, basically about this kid who gets into a band. It's really inspiring and down to earth. The day to day crap was really relatable and was almost enjoyable to watch because even though bad things happens to Koyuki (I think he even says at some point 'when it rains it really pours for me' or something) he still doesn't get majorly depressed and looks at the situation positively.
I also thought that the passion for music was successfully transferred to the reader and at some points I really wanted to pick up a guitar and start playing, though I don't know how. Some of the ways they related to the American music industry was kind of gimmicky, but it was pulled off a lot better than I've seen else where, like they won't just throw out some musician's name just so that the reader's like 'ooo they know who that is!!!' which I find largely annoying, but the people they did incorporate were given a couple of lines to explain who they were and how they fit into the story so it wasn't that bad. The story did feel like it was dragging on in some places, but those were usually the places that the guitar guy was being a douche, but it gets resolved so I guess you just have to suffer through it (though the story usually makes up for the suffering, and I guess it could be seen as a good kind of tension). I'm not done it yet so I don't know if I'm satisfied with it yet, but there are a few indicators of a happy ending so I think it'll pay off. So to sum up... give this one a shot.
I found this book to be very educational. Usually we don't tend to note our reactions to situations or ideas unless we are paying attention to it, and I have never really looked at the erotiphobia in our society. It's kind of funny because we live a more liberal lifestyle here than people do in other places in the world, but we seem almost afraid of our sexuality. Of course I'm a novice in the subject, but this seemed to be a pretty good study on the sexuality in our society and more importantly, on our (almost) rejection of it. It's worth checking out in any case.
A comprehensive guide to the history of wine. Grape wine that is, they don't go much into sake or wines made from other products, though some are mentioned. It goes through many countries and time periods and was overall very readable for a history text.
It's really hard to find a movie on native legends that isn't completely cheesy, but this one is pretty good. I was drawn into all of the legends and got to see present native peoples with the dignity I associate with their past. I like how they ended the movie with hope and the acting was pretty good.
I love this movie. It's about a guy who owns a shoe factory, but the shoe factory is about to go under, so he strikes a bargain with this cross-dresser names Lola to make high heeled boots for men. Lola's such a flamboyant character and stands up to all of the crap people give her and keeps on going. She has such a strength of character that I guess I want to see from someone facing such adversity. Gender identity is such a delicate issue and I'm glad that there are such main stream movies as this that address the issue. It's a really touching movie and its both feel good and sad... if that makes sense, but I enjoy watching it every time its on.
Anne of Green Gables is a great movie series. Every time I watch it in get caught up in the whimsy and romance and innocence present in both the story line and the characters themselves.
The story is about a young orphan girl, Anne, who is sent by mistake to an elderly couple in Prince Edward Island who wanted to adopt a boy to help out around the farm. The couple were unhappy with the mistake at first, but ultimately decide to keep her. Anne has a penchant for getting into trouble. She has a lot of pride and a hot temper when she thinks that someone is trying to belittle or make fun of her, and this temper gets her into quite a bit of trouble as the series progresses. She always manages to get out of them however, endearing herself to the other characters in the story, as well as to the viewer. She is constantly loosing herself in fantasy and whimsy, as a defense mechanism to deal with the rejection and pain she's had to deal with. The result is that her head is constantly in the clouds, more in the beginning of the series. She begins to live more in the real world as she receives love and acceptance from those around her. We follow her through school, friendships, family, and romance.
Anne is such a great character. Despite the seemingly head-in-the-clouds quality to her, she is a very strong character. She meets every challenge head on with everything she has. She's both romantic and passionate, romantic both in the relational and idealistic sense. She sees the world through dreamy eyes and is constantly in search of true, strong relationships, 'bosom friends'. She is also very optimistic, but not naively so, like in a Pollyanna-ish sense. She always allows for the best possible outcome, and strives for perfection, but is aware that bad things light happen, because they have already. She's ready to deal with what may come, and has already dealt with a lot in her young life, but still refuses to succumb to the drudgery and depression of the world. The romance between her and Gilbert Blythe is also very sweet... I think we'd all like to meet a Gilbert Blythe.
I've always liked tool, but this album came together for a bit better than did their other albums. Some songs were almost transcendental. Some of the songs really make you slow down, or even stop what you're doing or thinking about and just listen. The prime example of this for me on this CD was Lost Keys. That song isn't just a song... it's an experience. It's like, the listener is in the head of someone who is lost, confused, scared and lonely. It was brilliant how they got the doctors to talk over the music to the 'main character', but the music over powers their words with the over bearing emotion so that while you hear the words, you don't care about them, because the voices don't care about you and don't understand what you're going through. They just want to 'deal with you' and get you out of there. ... It gets me every time. But it's good. Vicarious is another good one. If not buy the CD, make sure you listen to some songs (in my opinion the ones I mentioned hold the highest priority, of course).
I enjoyed this book. I was in the book store one day and it caught my eye so I flipped through it, and I'm glad I did.
It's about a little girl who comes from Korea and moved to North America. She goes to school and doesn't want to tell the class her name because it is different. She says she doesn't have a name, so her classmates make a name jar for her and put in names that she can use. Then she gets a letter from her grandmother who is still in Korea saying how much she loves her and in the letter was a seal with her name on it. After getting this she is once again proud of her name and goes back to school and tells her class mates her real name and what it means (I apologize if I got some of the details mixed up it was a while back that I read it). This book was a tear jerker for me. I'm not Korean, nor have I had major problem with my name (though people often mispronounce it when reading it), but the struggle for the acceptance of one's self and one's own difference in comparison to others is something we all go through, and this story successfully displays that struggle and overcoming that struggle in a simple way. I think its a good way to get children to understand that though they are different, they will be accepted by someone, and opens them up to other cultures at the same time. Worth the read.
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