Last Friday – opening day, actually – I saw New Moon with a few of my friends. I honestly was not expecting much out of the movie. I have read all the Twilight series books, of course, and I saw the first movie. That being said, while I thought that the books were interesting, they were still fluff. The sort of books my tenth grade English teacher called “beach reads.” I read them purely for enjoyment, expecting no higher meaning or character development. In that sense they are good reads – though I absolutely refuse to count Breaking Dawn as actually part of the Twilight series. That is just badly written fanfiction. But I digress. The first movie was pretty horrible. Therefore, my expectations for New Moon were not high.

One of my biggest problems with movie adaptations of popular books is that they leave out crucial scenes, plot points, and character development. Many times they are merely empty shells of the fantastic literary works that precede them. (This would be why I hate the Harry Potter movies so damn much.) The first Twilight movie certainly warped many important aspects of the first book. Though I knew that the second movie had a different director, I honestly did not expect that to make much of a difference. (Think again of the Harry Potter movies.) I must say I was pleasantly surprised that New Moon proved to be a much more faithful adaptation of the book. To be fair, I did not read the second book before watching this movie. I have read it more than once, however, so I think that I have a pretty accurate memory of what was supposed to happen in the book. There were no random digressions about the vampire clan’s attacks being mistaken for an animal. I cannot directly recall any major digressions from the plot at all. Though perhaps one would think that most movies based on books should provide a faithful adaptation to the work, that is usually not the case.

I will now give my personal review of New Moon.

I am not sure whether to giggle delightedly or roll my eyes in exasperation. Months ago I heard about the new novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Basically, this author took Jane Austen’s story and without actually changing the text, added in scenes so that somehow zombies and zombie invasions were incorporated into the actual story. How, I have no idea. One of my friends read it, though, and thought that it was good.

Today I’ve just heard that the same company is creating a new book in this messed-up Austen novel and sci-fi conglomeration. This new one’s called Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.

Here’s the product description at Amazon.com:
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters expands the original text of the beloved Jane Austen novel with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, and other biological monstrosities. As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. While sensible Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars, her romantic sister Marianne is courted by both the handsome Willoughby and the hideous man-monster Colonel Brandon. Can the Dashwood sisters triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels? This masterful portrait of Regency England blends Jane Austen’s biting social commentary with ultraviolent depictions of sea monsters biting. It’s survival of the fittest—and only the swiftest swimmers will find true love!

And this is the book trailer the company has made for it.
I admit that this did make me laugh a bit.

I really feel as though I am missing something here. What’s next – Mansfield Park and Werewolves? Northanger Abbey and Vampires? Or maybe this company will shy away from the vampire epidemic that seems to have swept the world. I guess it is because of the recent popularity of vampire books and shows that authors now think it time to explore other monsters within the science fiction realm. In many ways, I have to give them some credit. These ideas certainly are an interesting way to bring Austen’s books back into the common culture.

I think I will reserve my judgment on these, however. There could be a lot of potential for these books, and I am curious to see how these pan out.

Completely random. Just something I thought of and wanted to see if anyone else noticed these parallels.

I have been recently reading the novel Dune by Frank Herbert. It’s a very well-respected science fiction novel, from what I’ve heard, and considered to be one of the forerunners of the genre. I actually tried reading it back when I was in middle school but only got about halfway through it. Though I did like it, it’s a very political book and much of the politics escaped me, which made it a frustrating read. I have enjoyed it a lot more reading it now.

As I was reading it, however, I began to notice quite a few similarities between Fremen, the native people of Arrakis (the planet Dune) and the Al Bhed of Final Fantasy X. I know – I make associations between things far too easily, but this time I think there is some legitimacy to my claims.

I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I have been ever since my fourth grade teacher read my class the first book over ten years ago. I think it’s one of the most fantastic book series of all time. J.K. Rowling’s writing style is incredible, all of the characters are so relatable, the world is so detailed and realistic, and the storyline itself is brilliant. Those books will forever hold a place in my heart as some of the greatest literary achievements ever. I do not intend to simply gush about the books, however (though I could do that all day). The purpose of this post is of a different nature.

                Anyone who knows me well will know that I absolutely despise the Harry Potter movies. I honestly think that they are some of the worst films ever created. Am I being harsh? Perhaps. But realize that the films had such a fantastic book series to follow, and because they pale in comparison to the books, that just makes the movies look that much worse. I have always said that, but I realized that I have never fully articulated my reasons for believing this, so this post is an attempt to remedy that.  

 

All I can say is: thank god for magnetic poetry. I was in a writing slump for the longest time recently. I still am, in terms of poetry. But my roommate has this set of magnetic poetry that she put on our refrigerator. A few months ago instead of studying, a friend and I decided to test out the magnetic poetry. It actually turned out rather well, I must say. I definitely advocate everyone buying his or her own set. With a limited amount of words, you are really forced to think about the meaning and implication of using each word, which makes the poetry you create just that much more interesting. 

Anyway, I just wanted to share the small poem I wrote using the poetry kit. It's not fantastic, yet I'm still rather fond of it.