My Library: "Black Hole" by Charles Burns

Black Hole by Charles Burns

Book - Amazon | Wikipedia | Goodreads

Author - Wikipedia | Goodreads

One could easily say that this book is very very different thank other comic books out there. It's a real life situation where STDs become a metaphor, where teenagers have to live with the evidence of their sexual relationships through visual representations and grotesque mutations. An interesting thought, but at times I have to admit this book made me cringe and it is most certainly not for the faint. The artwork is amazing, normally I'm one to love color, but this black and white artwork is so strong and perfect for the story. There has been lots of talk of this book being made into a movie, but to date there is no real definitive answer, there is however an abbreviated live-action version of it on Rupert Sander's website, I will say this though, it is not safe for work and is a tad disturbing. You can find the video here. 

Here is what Goodreads has to say about the book: 

Suburban Seattle, the mid-1970s. We learn from the out-set that a strange plague has descended upon the area’s teenagers, transmitted by sexual contact. The disease is manifested in any number of ways — from the hideously grotesque to the subtle (and concealable) — but once you’ve got it, that’s it. There’s no turning back.As we inhabit the heads of several key characters — some kids who have it, some who don’t, some who are about to get it — what unfolds isn’t the expected battle to fight the plague, or bring heightened awareness to it , or even to treat it. What we become witness to instead is a fascinating and eerie portrait of the nature of high school alienation itself — the savagery, the cruelty, the relentless anxiety and ennui, the longing for escape.And then the murders start.As hypnotically beautiful as it is horrifying, Black Hole transcends its genre by deftly exploring a specific American cultural moment in flux and the kids who are caught in it- back when it wasn’t exactly cool to be a hippie anymore, but Bowie was still just a little too weird. To say nothing of sprouting horns and molting your skin…

-Goodreads

Definitely worth a look if you're into the weird.  

My Library: "Ghost World: The Special Edition" by Daniel Clowes

Ghost World: The Special Edition by Daniel Clowes
Book - Amazon | Wikipedia | Goodreads
Movie - IMDb | Website | Trailer
Author - Website | Wikipedia | Goodreads

In the comic book world I think there's nothing better than a story that tells the truth and reality of people (I mean there's only so many super hero stories one can take, ya know?!), so I must say that Ghost World fits that category very well. It seems to me that my life growing up wasn't as strange as I always thought it was, that my swearing like a sailor in my teen years/late adolescents wasn't odd at all. It's somewhat stereotypical, right?
One thing that this edition of Ghost World offers that others don't is the extensive background to the story and it's creation that it offers. Where characters came from and how Enid is a reflection of an actual person. In my opinion it's totally interesting to learn more about the story.
On a side note, for those who have seen the movie staring Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, and Steve Buscemi, I must warn you, the book and movie are very different from one another, so don't expect to get the movie from the book or the book from the movie. Just understand that while they are related, they are not the same thing. 

October In Review

Blogs I Found And Enjoyed:

• One Sheepish Girl
• HelloGiggles - not a total blog, but has interesting blog posts here and there. One of the creators is Zooey Deschanel.
• MaieDae
• Oiyi's Crafts - I first found Oiyi through a Knitscene magazine, I flipped through while at Fry's electronics store (wish I wish I had bought because the one pattern she had available in it was wonderful, this one). Check out her blog for great knitting inspiration. 
• A Beautiful Mess

Books I Read This Month:

• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith - review found here.
• The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson - review found here. 

Books I Plan On Reading:

•  Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter (This book is mentioned in The Psycopath Test: A Journey Through The Madness Industry by Jon Ronson)
• The Color Purple by Alice Walker
• 1984 by George Orwell (I don't know why I haven't read this book yet, loved Animal Farm)
• A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
• Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov 

Movies I Watched For The First Time:

• Predators- Topher Grace? Yes, perfect choice. I love seeing him in movies, and then to see him in a Predators movies, total perfection. Loved it. 
• Paul - Really liked this movie. I think they could almost make a second one and I would still like it, but I don't know if it was that popular, although I think it should of been. It was pretty funny and a good watch for sure.
• The Quiet Earth - One of Aaron's movies (he gives lots of weird shit tries, even though I point out how crappy they are, he still watches it until he thinks it's bad, he has more patience than I do with that). I'll admit, I thought this movie really did not need to start with showing the main character's penis, but then again, what do I know about cinema. All I have to say, is it wasn't as bad as I was expect, but it still wasn't the best. Kind of slow and the ending didn't really make much sense. Nothing was ever really clarified.
• MegaMind - Another fun and cute animated movie. Loved David Cross' character as the weird little fish. Too cute. 
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Personally I thought it was better than the first and totally loved it, I hope they're going to do another. 
• From Beyond - Now, Aaron and I didn't actually finish this movie (there was only about 10-15 minutes left when we stopped watching it), but boy, oh-boy, was this movie strange. From the creepy creatures, third eyes, and bondage (!?) it was one massive fest of "WTF!?"
• Iron Man & Iron Man 2 - Now, I've seen more of Iron Man before, but I finally sat down and watched it fully, and then immediately watched the second one (thanks Netflix instant watch!) and decided I really liked it. Really excited for Avengers to come out, and for the third Iron Man as well. I was so inspired that I did a "Top 5 Reasons" post about Iron Man. 
• Batman Begins - I know, I know, I watched them in the wrong order, but I was never even aware that this movie preceded The Dark Knight (FAIL!), but anywho, it was pretty awesome in how it linked with The Dark Knight. I love how it showed the importance of the city, and how the city itself was corrupt, which obviously linked very much into the next one. Cannot wait for the third installment, as I'm sure everyone feels.  
• Green Lantern - I was mildly interested in this movie. The story was okay and all, but I feel like it's a movie that probably could of gone without being made. I mean Batman and Spider-Man, those are interesting stories, while Green Lantern is kinda weak in comparison, not that I didn't enjoy the movie. It had it's moments, but kinda surprised that there is talk of a second one. 
• Captain America: The First Avenger - totally was into this movie, and obviously made me even more excited for the Avengers movie to come out. Love this time period in shows and movies, and how the main character, Steve Rogers, was some skinny nothing, and then all of a sudden is buff, tan, and incredibly strong. Only a comic book story, my friend!

Book Review: "The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry: Amazon | Wikipedia | Goodreads

Jon Ronson: Website | Wikipedia | Goodreads 

The name Jon Ronson sound familiar? That's because he also wrote the book The Men Who Stare At Goats which was also made into a movie with many famous actors (an amazing movie, if you haven't already seen it).  I originally picked up this book because of the interview I saw Ronson do on The Daily Show. The whole idea of a book being written about "the madness industry" sounded too interesting to pass up because instantly I was struck with images of Rod Blagojevich and Bill O'Reilly, but I wanted to find out more, and specifically more about Ronson's experience with them. 

The book is entirely written from Ronson's perspective and his trail of encounters with different people, industries, doctors, and professionals, all having to do with something involved in the world of psychopaths. The book starts with Ronson being requested to investigate into a strange package that academic professionals throughout the world were sent, a handmade book titled Being or Nothingness. From then on Ronson's world entirely revolves around psychopaths, how to determine who is a psychopath, and the many personal worlds of people who can be determined psychopaths. He meets with a man named "Tony," who, according to "Tony" himself, was put into a mental institution because he "faked his way in" to get out of longer prison time. From there, Ronson meets with the famous Robert Hare, the man who created the "Psychopathy Checklist" (or "PCR"), which can rate anyone given certain characteristics on a level, and once you get past a certain number you are clinically titled as a "psychopath."

The entire road that Ronson is lead on creates many questions in the readers minds, because having the power to determine if someone is "sane" or "insane" can be something that can drive someone to become power hungry, a "holier than thou" kind of view of others.

I tend to think that making a career out of classifying weather or not someone is a psychopath, would obviously not be my first choice. There is definitely a difference between someone who acts strange and aggressive towards others and the general population that can live coherently with one another, but it does lead me to question the people who are in the middle. The people who make bad decisions at one point or another, because a single person isn't inherently evil or good, right? At the end of the day, I'm not 100% positive. I've made bad and horrible decisions in my life, while at other times I've made wonderful decisions. So it makes me wonder, what really classifies someone as a psychopath? 

Maybe you should take some ideas from Jon Ronson and come to you're own conclusion. Plus, this book also brings up the discussion that many people higher up in our economy's totem pole are borderline or entirely mad with power, therefore classifying them as psychopaths, and Ronson's encounters with many of those people do not disappoint. 

This book gets you to think on you're own and I believe that a quality like that is enough to want to pick up a book for no other reason besides that. 

Here are some videos relating to the book:
"What is a psychopath?", Jon Ronson's own description of his book in "THE PSYCHOPATH TEST by Jon Ronson", and Jon Ronson's interview on The Daily Show

        

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Book Review: "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" by Seth Grahame-Smith

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - Amazon | Wikipedia | Goodreads

Seth Grahame-Smith - Wikipedia | Goodreads | Pride and Prejudice and Zombies 

AL: VH movie - IMDB

One thing I have to give to this author is his imagination is beyond amazing. 

I've known about Seth Grahame-Smith and his writing (or re-writing? I'm not too sure what you would call it) of Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice just adding a the zombies and ass-kicking to it all. I actually have a copy of his book (signed too, by the way for a zombie competition me and my friend were in where we won second place, unjustly robbed of first place, but I'd rather win signed books than an x-box any day), but to this day I have still not read it. I feel like to read a classic (even a re-written classic) like Jane Austen you really have to be in the right mind set to concentrate on everything that way you don't loose any of the details that she adds. But, since reading AL: VH I will defiantly be reading his zombie book soon (plus I can't pass up a zombie book, can I?). 

This book from beginning to end was an exciting turn of events. From finding out which famous character from the past are actually vampires (no, really, they have to be, right?) to the very end when you think you know what will be the outcome and find a twist to it all, it is a really fun read. 

Obviously from the cover either you are disgusted by the blood and then consequently even MORE disgusted by the severed head on the back cover, or you're looking at it thinking, "Totally awesome!," and you're going to go out and pick yourself up a copy immediately (at your local mom and pop shop, hopefully). When I saw it I was in the, "Totally awesome!," category and ate up the entire whimsical re-fabrication of the past. I mean how awesome does the title sound on it's own?

Luckily Aaron had bought a copy of it and it was in the house, conveniently after finishing Coraline and placing the book back into the shelf the book that first drew my attention was this and I thought I'd give it a try, since I hadn't given Grahame-Smith's other book (signed copy, did I mention that yet?) a try. 

In the end I would suggest this book for lovers of great fiction stories. I'll admit that in the beginning I was worried that my own previous knowledge of Abraham Lincoln and his life would be tainted and I would start to intertwine my truthful knowledge with some crappy fiction about vampires, but I can assure you this never happened. I enjoyed every minute of this book and suggest you do the same.

Also, a movie based on the book is in the works and is scheduled to come out sometime next year, and to that I have yet again to think, "Totally awesome!"

Book Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Coraline
book | book illustrator Dave McKean | movie wiki | movie IMDB | movie director Henry Selick | Neil Gaiman wiki | Neil Gaiman Goodreads

I admit, I watched the movie way before I found out that it was based on a book, but for once I will say that I think the book was just as good as the film. Usually I tend to think that the book is always better, but the way Coraline was made into a movie has it's own life, while the book has it's own equal life as well.
Now the book does have difference when compared to the movie, but that is what gives a different (but equal) standing in my mind. 

What is most interesting about this book is that it is intended for children, yet written in a way that adults can enjoy it as well, because I sure did. I think appealing to both groups is generally a very hard thing to achieve and few authors have accomplished such a feat, but Gaiman really does a supreme job with weaving a tale that is easily understood yet very interesting at the same time without being flat. 

The illustrations in the book are another great feat. Dave McKean has a type of pen and ink style, a style that I've always loved, and the way he draws the beldam is just as frightening (if not a little more) than the movie it self. Little fact I found on wikipedia about McKean, he also has done CD cover artwork and apparently has done work for Alice Cooper, strange, no? 

Anyway, although the book is dark (well dark-er for a children type book) it isn't something I would think too scary for children. 

The movie is wonderful as well. A still shot film by Henry Selick, (know for also doing A Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach) it's quite an amazing adventure of a film. 

I highly suggest you check both the book and film out. 

Film trailer:

Book Review: Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

So about a week ago I mentioned how I started reading The Hunger Games and how much of a fun read it was, well within the past week or so I finished both the second and third (and the last) of the trilogy, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, and was very pleased with my readings. 

Obviously I don't want to give anything away for any potential readers out there, but I will say this, the ending of the final book left me a little disappointed. I was kind of expecting this huge climatic ending that would go out in a blaze and glory and then settle down to tell the final ending and what happens after all the goings on and whatnots, but I was let down and given a somewhat un-climatic ending. Yes it ended on a somewhat good note, but it left me feeling like none of the characters really experience a true "happy ending" kind of end. Obviously not all people, and not all fictional characters, have a happy ending, but I was just expecting after so many trials and tribulations that there would be a little more light at the end of the tunnel. I felt like Collins almost was exhausted after writing all the books that she just ended it in a way that did not match the rest. 

Not to say that I didn't enjoy all of it! No, no, no, exactly the opposite, I enjoyed all the books and would highly suggest reading it if you enjoy adventurous fictional tales. 

Other than that I will leave you with these links for you to form your own opinion (and perhaps hear feedback from others on their out takes once finished with all three). 

The Hunger Games - Catching Fire - Mockingjay

I foresee these books becoming very popular after the release of the movie next year.

Book Review: "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

I'm sure many people have read this by now, and if not already read it, have at least heard of it or are planning on reading it (I'm judging that based on the 228,564 ratings and 47,732 reviews for this book you can find on goodreads). 

I've heard several geeky friends on twitter and tumblr talk about this book and how much they liked it, so when I saw it in Target for $6 I picked it up and thought I'd give it a try. 

Now I'm the type of person who when starting to read a book, I can get lost fairly easily if I'm not hooked right away (case in point, the 4 or 5 times I've tried to read The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring with no luck because of the confusion I always find myself in with all the strange names and long details. Makes me sound dumb, but whatever). Luckily The Hunger Games got me hooked quickly and I finished it in about 4 days and immediately purchased the second book in the series (Catching Fire, which I am currently reading) on Amazon only minutes after finishing it. 

I've never been wonderful at summing up story lines (I always tend to add tons of unnecessary information and ramble on) so I'll leave it up to Wikipedia:

 It is the first book of the Hunger Games trilogy. It introduces sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem where North America once existed. This is where a government working in a central city called the Capitol holds power. In the book, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the Capitol chooses one boy and one girl from each of 12 districts to fight to the death. The Hunger Games exist to demonstrate that not even children are beyond the reach of the Capitol's jurisdiction.

-Wikipedia 

I've never been a huge fan of the how "post-apocalyptic world" settings, but I always find myself liking books like that, despite the fact that I don't eagerly seek those types of books out. Maybe I should mend my ways.

There is also currently a movie being made about the book (most likely all three will be made into movies as well). I'm not overly optimistic about that though, the casting seems a little strange to me, except for Woody Harrelson's part, I feel the casting director made a lot of very random selections (uhhh... Lenny Kravitz? Really?).  But regardless of my hesitations about the movies I'm excited to see it on the big screen. 

Also, little fact I found especially cool about the author, Suzanne Collins, is that she used to work on the TV show Clarissa Explains It All, one of my serious favorite TV shows when I was a kid. 

Totally awesome. 

The Hunger Games official website | Goodreads page | Wikipedia page | IMDb page 

Clarissa Explains It All Wikipedia page | Watch a full episode of Clarissa Explains It All on the Nickelodeon site

My Goodreads page

Ciao miei cari.