Big Brother, Hobbits, and Wallflowers

So I’m not very good and this blogging every day thing, I’ll get better though. Promise!

So, where did I leave off? Right, lots of books. And hey, since last weekend I’ve got another handful of books to add to the list, so let’s get started shall we?

Anthem by Ayn Rand

Anthem was required reading for one of my advanced English classes either my freshman or senior year of high school. For someone  who enjoyed 1984 as much as I did, I just couldn’t get excited about reading Anthem. Once I got into it though, I couldn’t put it down. Now that I’m older, I wanted to go back and take another look at the world of the street sweepers and the secret tunnel and I loved it just as much as I did before. This time through though, I picked up several of the more deeply buried themes that weren’t quite as clear as they were when I was in high school. All in all, I highly recommend this short novel to anyone who enjoyed Orwell’s 1984, or you know, anyone with a pulse. It’s a quick read, at just 100 pages I knocked it off my reading list in one sitting at my local Starbucks.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve gone back and lost myself in Middle Earth. Even over ten years after I first encountered hobbits, this is still one of my favorite fantasy worlds. As a writer, and an avid reader, I often wish I could have had the opportunity to meet Tolkien, to pick his brain and try and learn all this tricks. Even as much of a Tolkien fan as I am, I have to admit, the man was overly wordy. I’ve heard several people say that this took away from the story for them, but to be honest, Tolkien is one of the only authors that had been described as overly wordy that I don’t have a problem sitting and reading for hours (Hawthorn however makes me want to beat my head into a wall, so take this as you will), whether this be because of me deep love for the character’s brought to life in these pages of simply because of a growing admiration for their creator I do  not know. However, if you, like most of the rest of the world, are enjoying the Hobbit movies, you really need to sit down with the book.

***My Hobbit movie rant***

Now don’t get me wrong, I am loving the new movies and have seen the two that are currently out several times. However, there are several things that I have a serious problem with, from minor details, to completely pointless additions.

For one, Fili and Kili, they’re both blond. This is a very small easy to fix detail, and I love the actor portraying Kili, but would it have really been all that hard for him to have the correct hair color? I don’t know why that’s been bothering me as much as it has, but I had to get that out.

Now, can we talk about some elves? I loved Legolas as much as the next person in the Lord of the Rings movies, but apparently Peter Jackson is harboring some deep, unrequited, elf love. Enough to dedicate several scenes and some impressive barrel jumping skills to a character who was never so much as mentioned in the original book. And as for the bad ass spider killing she-elf, yet another completely made up character. Now, I understand having to tweak things and add things (and people) when adapting a book into a movie, but to add someone to just be multiple characters love interest (one of which who shouldn’t be in the movie to begin with!) just no, it’s bothers me like no other.

 

Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobosky

Amazing movie, decent book.

This is one book where I had seen the movie and that’s why I originally picked up the book. And I’m glad I did, although I do think that ultimately, I like the movie better (which is very rare for me).

I am glad I read the book though, and there are several things that I like how the book handled better, such as Charlie’s relationship with his sister, which is completely different than it is in the movie. I also really enjoyed how the entire book with written in Charlie’s ‘Dear Friend’ letters. I wouldn’t quite put this book in the same category as It’s Kind of a Funny Story, but it definitely deserves some recognition.

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice

Very, very rarely do I not know if I’m going to be able to finish a book but I had a hard time getting through this one. I love Anne Rice so I was excited to see what she could do with the genre, as well as the idea of remaking a classic fairy tale. Instead I was both appalled and disappointed. My problem wasn’t as much with the content, which well get to in a minute, but the quality. I’ve read a lot of Anne Rice’s books and it’s hard to believe that they were written by the same person. Content wise I was even more upset. There were so many places the story could have gone but the continual rape and torment of a 15 year old? I’m not afraid to say that this isn’t the first book of this genre I’ve read, but it is the first one that’s made me feel so skeevy I wanted to take a shower. All in all, I was very disappointed.

Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant by Veronica Roth

All I can possibly say here is I don’t know why you’re still reading this. You need to go read these books. Right now. Go!