book review - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Just (like 5 minutes ago) finished reading The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and I loved it, great story. It's considered juvenile fiction and is in large part inspired by Kipling's The Jungle Book but instead of a boy raised by wolves, instructed by bears and watched over by a panther it's the story of a boy raised by ghosts, instructed by both ghosts and a werewolf and watched over by a vampire. The story moves along at a good pace and probably is pretty good for kids (and adults that still like kid lit.), I'm going to try and get my middle children to read it. In an interesting, to me at least, side note Gaiman thanks Audrey Niffenegger in his acknowledgments, Niffenegger is the author of The Time Traveler's Wife which is the last non-Gaiman book I've read. I find little coincidences like that fascinating. 

book/movie review - Stardust

I read Stardust by Neil Gaiman earlier this week in my on going attempt to read all things Gaiman. It's a short, to the point fairy tale. It's an interesting story that I'm sure could have been expanded and made into a longer novel or even a series of novels, but that wasn't the point of Stardust. Gaiman, I believe, set out to right a fairy tale and that's just what he did, complete with unicorns and witches and fairies and marauding princes. There was an interesting speech that Gaiman had given included at the end of this edition about Neil's view on the power of fairy tales and on how fairy tales had originally been intended for adult audiences but when they lost their popularity they were moved to the 'nursery'. This book is set up like a kids chapter book, 10 chapters and an epilogue,  with each chapter telling an important part of the story and moving the plot along at an very fast past. It's a 'kids' book for adults. I did enjoy this story but I felt that perhaps it was Gaiman's expert fantasy weaving that saved it from being a contrite, predictable story. So good, quick read but not an American Gods or Anansi Boys. On an related note I watched the movie, I feel I should say inspired by instead of based on, this book this week also. I know when a film maker takes a story they use it to tell a story of their own and perhaps had I waited a while between reading and watching I wouldn't have compared so much but there were some things I just couldn't figure out why they felt needed changing. The movie was okay, had I not just read the book I might hold it in higher opinion but I can't help but think it would have been better without the big name stars hogging up the screen time. The story should be about the story not about how often you can show Robert DeNiro or Michelle Pfeiffer. I can't quite make up my mind though which ending I like better, the movies happily ever after or the books more realistic (within the realm of fantasy that is to say) one.

The Time Traveler's Wife - a book reivew.

This is about the third time I've tried to write this, first on a facebook book site that I couldn't get to work and then here on my blog but I tried to get technical and thorough and couldn't concentrate and got very aggravated with myself and gave up. So here is a quick and easy review of The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I wanted to read this book because it had garnered lots of accolades and had a neat premise but I really didn't expect a whole lot from it except for a maybe a good love story, I figured it would be a Nicholas Sparksian book and in the end that's pretty much what it was. The beginning of this book however was surprisingly good and I wish it could have carried through to the end. The beginning contains most of the time traveling and it's great how the main characters Clare and Henry meet. Clare is six and Henry in his thirties the first time Clare meets Henry, however Clare and Henry are both in their twenties when Henry first meets Clare. The beginning has lots of the fantasy side of the story as well as lots of foreshadowing of both romance and mayhem to come. Then we get to the middle of the story, which unfortunately is the Achilles heel of many a writer, and the story slows ,way, down. Clare and Henry spend much of the time in sequential time, getting married, trying to conceive, trying to find out what causes Henry's time traveling and basically trying to live a 'normal' life. Once or twice the author goes back and shows Henry coming back to the present from one of the times he spent with Clare in her past and I wish she had done more of this in the middle of the book and perhaps shown more of the future, I think this would have buoyed the middle more. Then we come to the third part of the book that, for the sake of argument, will call the end. I really liked parts of the ending and really disliked parts of it as well. There's plenty of room for tears (and really this is where it gets real Sparksish) but I couldn't get to emotional over it for being aggravated at the writer for taking an interesting story down a maudlin chick-lit path. That being said the ending isn't all bad, there are some redeeming qualities to it as well. When I finished the book and my wife asked me how I liked it, I wasn't real sure how to answer. Finally I said yes, mostly. Would I recommend it? It's got some language and sexual scenes that would keep me from loaning it to my mom or daughter but for my peers I'd say if you'd like a possibly tear jerking love story with an interesting twist , a sort of fantasy chick-lit, then go for it.

You know your getting old when...

You know your getting old when...

• you get up off the couch and your joints loudly crunch and crackle.
• you look at your sons i-tunes and you don't recognize any of the bands. And speaking of i-tunes,
• you have to have your son put music on your i-pod for you. I feel bad now for making fun of my mom when her vcr use to flash 12:00 all the time.
• you've been married for 20 years.
• 7:00 at night is just to late to drive to another town for dinner.
• for your big anniversary you eat left over chicken and watch two episodes of Jeopardy, and you enjoy it.
• you dvr Jeopardy.
• you subscribe to a word-of-the-day email (today's word was guttural).
• you want coffee, with every meal. And finally,
• you start hurting in random places for no apparent reason.

Yep, I'm getting old. But as a lovely older woman I use to work with always said, "It's better than the alternative."