Friday, March 23, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Just for Fun: War of the Worlds
Violent sparkly monsters from Mars come to England. They bomb the heck out of London and the suburbs with a mysterious black cloud. And the bacteria killed them. The End. Or is it?
As you may know, I spend most of my Wednesday nights at a local pub called the Old Spot. A small group of us get together to show off our awesome knowledge of all things trivial. Several weeks ago, H.G. Wells' classic, War of the Worlds was part of one of the questions. It took me several moments to realize (GASP), I had never read it! How could that have been?
I loaded it onto my Nook and began reading. What struck me most- right from the start - was how curious the characters were. They learned that dreadful monsters from a planet that is not our own landed in a ditch. Instead of running for the hills, they went to that ditch to check out what was happening. Expectations that the military could destroy whatever terrible force the martians used overcame the people's sanity, causing them to become lunch for these atrocious creatures. Soon, they learned that our most deadly weapons were no match for the Martians. Fortunately, bacteria is practically non-destructible and killed off these demons - but only after they killed most of the population of England.
Wells' world was so different from ours. We are surrounded by aliens, monsters, spaceships, "black clouds" - at least on TV. How frightened Wells' readers must have been! I wonder whether a novel such as this would have the same following in today's entertainment world. I understand a movie was created a few years back, but that it was all about a dysfunctional family - a radical change from Wells' main character whose fight to survive was due to his hope to find his missing wife.
Could a movie about human relationships during a national disaster survive?
As you may know, I spend most of my Wednesday nights at a local pub called the Old Spot. A small group of us get together to show off our awesome knowledge of all things trivial. Several weeks ago, H.G. Wells' classic, War of the Worlds was part of one of the questions. It took me several moments to realize (GASP), I had never read it! How could that have been?
I loaded it onto my Nook and began reading. What struck me most- right from the start - was how curious the characters were. They learned that dreadful monsters from a planet that is not our own landed in a ditch. Instead of running for the hills, they went to that ditch to check out what was happening. Expectations that the military could destroy whatever terrible force the martians used overcame the people's sanity, causing them to become lunch for these atrocious creatures. Soon, they learned that our most deadly weapons were no match for the Martians. Fortunately, bacteria is practically non-destructible and killed off these demons - but only after they killed most of the population of England.
Wells' world was so different from ours. We are surrounded by aliens, monsters, spaceships, "black clouds" - at least on TV. How frightened Wells' readers must have been! I wonder whether a novel such as this would have the same following in today's entertainment world. I understand a movie was created a few years back, but that it was all about a dysfunctional family - a radical change from Wells' main character whose fight to survive was due to his hope to find his missing wife.
Could a movie about human relationships during a national disaster survive?
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Reading Tag
Every so often I end up in a book slump. I have a stack of partially read books and I can't decide which one to finish, which one to give up on, and which one to keep saving. I do this when there is a lot going on in "real life" - my reading life becomes reflective of my state of mind. If work is crazy, school is crazy, and everything else is crazy, then my reading selection becomes... well, crazy.
Right now I have two scientific animal books, a current events book, a sci-fi book, and a fanstasy novel all with various styles of bookmarks in various places. Each night before bed I try to read a few pages at least, but sometimes by the time I have taken the dog out, filled my glass of water, and tucked myself in deciding between the various authors, styles and bookmarks makes me so exhausted I can't decide.
A friend told me he uses his partially read books as coasters. I met a woman once whose husband was into gardening - he had piles of partially read gardening books all over their house in neat stacks. My mom told me when she's in a book slump she just keeps reading but skips the boring parts. Me? I just keep collecting partials and reading a page or two here or there. I would love to take a book-cation and just read for three days straight. Tea. Books. Dogs.
Right now I have two scientific animal books, a current events book, a sci-fi book, and a fanstasy novel all with various styles of bookmarks in various places. Each night before bed I try to read a few pages at least, but sometimes by the time I have taken the dog out, filled my glass of water, and tucked myself in deciding between the various authors, styles and bookmarks makes me so exhausted I can't decide.
A friend told me he uses his partially read books as coasters. I met a woman once whose husband was into gardening - he had piles of partially read gardening books all over their house in neat stacks. My mom told me when she's in a book slump she just keeps reading but skips the boring parts. Me? I just keep collecting partials and reading a page or two here or there. I would love to take a book-cation and just read for three days straight. Tea. Books. Dogs.
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