Thoughts on the media I've been consuming lately.
Last night I watched the penultimate disc of Deadwood. One of the many things I love about that show is that it isn't dependent on cliffhangers. The plots are so broad and intricate, it's not like being carried along on a roller coaster. And, half the episodes end on subtle character moments, like Swearengen monologuing to a prostitute, or ranting at an empty room, or the Bullocks in a mundane dialogue over dinner, dripping with hope and awkwardness. Once I finish a disc, I don't feel the urge to grab the next one right away. (It probably helps that I know the supply is finite.) And thus, I have stretched my viewing of that show out for years now. But it's almost done. ;_; And they'd only just brought in the lesbians.
That said, I do look forward to rewatching the series. I'm curious to see how much Swearengen actually changes over the course of the series, versus how much our perception of him changes. He's a man who can be both kind and cold-blooded at the same time. At the end of the series, he's protecting the people he was trying to kill at the beginning, but is this because he's a good guy deep down, or because it serves his interests? Just when you start to feel warm and fuzzy about the guy, he goes and does something unspeakably brutal.
I'm also reading Hellbent, Cherie Priest's latest urban fantasy, the sequel to her earlier book. Bloodshot. Yet again I marvel at her ability to engage me by giving her heroine a distinct personality in just a few pages. I mean, I get the idea that lots of books are successful precisely because their narrators are generic enough for the reader to project themselves into the story, but I usually prefer distinct characters.
That said, I do look forward to rewatching the series. I'm curious to see how much Swearengen actually changes over the course of the series, versus how much our perception of him changes. He's a man who can be both kind and cold-blooded at the same time. At the end of the series, he's protecting the people he was trying to kill at the beginning, but is this because he's a good guy deep down, or because it serves his interests? Just when you start to feel warm and fuzzy about the guy, he goes and does something unspeakably brutal.
I'm also reading Hellbent, Cherie Priest's latest urban fantasy, the sequel to her earlier book. Bloodshot. Yet again I marvel at her ability to engage me by giving her heroine a distinct personality in just a few pages. I mean, I get the idea that lots of books are successful precisely because their narrators are generic enough for the reader to project themselves into the story, but I usually prefer distinct characters.