Books and kdramas...
I wonder whether Lauren Willig has been replaced by a clone in the middle of her Carnation series - all hail the Clone! That is the only way to explain it. The first book, Mystery of the Pink Carnation was plain bad. There is no other way to describe it. The second one, The Masque of the Black Tulip, was so awful it made Pink Carnation seem like a masterpiece. I only got through it by extensive flipping. I never even bothered with the third because the glimpses of its protagonists seen elsewhere convinced me I'd commit murder if forced to read about them. Yet the fourth book, The Seduction of the Crimson Rose, is actually highly enjoyable - I could go as far as to say I loved it. It's not Stockholm Syndrome speaking - I read it before the rest. And now I am reading the fifth one, Night Jasmine something something, and it's quite lovely.
The books are still romance novels, as opposed to historical fiction they claim to be (why they aren't shelved with romance novels escapes me), but at least now they are good romance novels.
In unrelated but enjoyable fiction news, I am through 3 episodes of Someday and I love it. In some ways, it has a vibe of an indie movie, only through a kdrama lens. Or it could be a jdrama. Its plot - an out-of-work manga artist impulsively follows a neighborhood mystery back to Korea and in the process learns to actually experience life rather than sleepwalk through it - is something I love. The four main characters (let's call them Mangaka, Detective, Shrink and Animator) are realistic and relatable. I can imagine walking by any one of them on the street.
I love the way it's shot - flat, realistic colors, uncluttered. I love its own pace - it's not slow but it marches to the beat of its own drummer - the story is currently mellow, even if with undertones of darker things underneath (the Detective's recurrent nightmares about the car accident that killed his parents or the guilt he feels about being the wreck's only healthy survivor.)
Detective is my favorite character so far - mainly because he is outgoing and warm-hearted but in his own way, he is as closed off as the Mangaka, even if for him it's through guilt and not disinterest. His big-brother relationship with a rebellious, often-runaway highschool gal is pretty awesome. When they are both older, I bet she could be his wise-cracking secretary and all tough guys would quake in their boots when dealing with her.
I do love the Mangaka, too - she is slowly beginning to discover the world, to leave her comfortable, unemotional routine. I know she and Detective will fall in love with each other eventually, but for now I am just excited at the prospect of her leaving her eccentric cocoon and making a friend. Her attitude to love and other such passionate emotions is fascinating - it's like an alien discovering ice cream - everyone likes it but you are unfamiliar with it and are not sure what the fuss is, but you are game. The scene where Detective launched into a little speech about their accidental physical contact meaning nothing and her reply "of course, it means nothing" and his flabbergasted and piqued reaction? ADORABLE. (She then bumps her bike helmet to his and says it's the same. His follow-up is to ask her if holding him around the waist when they ride the motorcycle is like holding a pole and her reply is 'exactly' without any irony. Heeee).
I find Shrink and Animator less interesting but they are believable.
Oh, and I love fictional road-trips so the whole thing of Mangaka and Detective going on one in search of the elderly woman who 'stole' the urn with the ashes of the street sweeper, makes me glee glee glee.
Also: I refuse to believe not a single person on my flist has either seen this drama or at least heard of it. IT IS SO GOOD. It's also on netflix.
The books are still romance novels, as opposed to historical fiction they claim to be (why they aren't shelved with romance novels escapes me), but at least now they are good romance novels.
In unrelated but enjoyable fiction news, I am through 3 episodes of Someday and I love it. In some ways, it has a vibe of an indie movie, only through a kdrama lens. Or it could be a jdrama. Its plot - an out-of-work manga artist impulsively follows a neighborhood mystery back to Korea and in the process learns to actually experience life rather than sleepwalk through it - is something I love. The four main characters (let's call them Mangaka, Detective, Shrink and Animator) are realistic and relatable. I can imagine walking by any one of them on the street.
I love the way it's shot - flat, realistic colors, uncluttered. I love its own pace - it's not slow but it marches to the beat of its own drummer - the story is currently mellow, even if with undertones of darker things underneath (the Detective's recurrent nightmares about the car accident that killed his parents or the guilt he feels about being the wreck's only healthy survivor.)
Detective is my favorite character so far - mainly because he is outgoing and warm-hearted but in his own way, he is as closed off as the Mangaka, even if for him it's through guilt and not disinterest. His big-brother relationship with a rebellious, often-runaway highschool gal is pretty awesome. When they are both older, I bet she could be his wise-cracking secretary and all tough guys would quake in their boots when dealing with her.
I do love the Mangaka, too - she is slowly beginning to discover the world, to leave her comfortable, unemotional routine. I know she and Detective will fall in love with each other eventually, but for now I am just excited at the prospect of her leaving her eccentric cocoon and making a friend. Her attitude to love and other such passionate emotions is fascinating - it's like an alien discovering ice cream - everyone likes it but you are unfamiliar with it and are not sure what the fuss is, but you are game. The scene where Detective launched into a little speech about their accidental physical contact meaning nothing and her reply "of course, it means nothing" and his flabbergasted and piqued reaction? ADORABLE. (She then bumps her bike helmet to his and says it's the same. His follow-up is to ask her if holding him around the waist when they ride the motorcycle is like holding a pole and her reply is 'exactly' without any irony. Heeee).
I find Shrink and Animator less interesting but they are believable.
Oh, and I love fictional road-trips so the whole thing of Mangaka and Detective going on one in search of the elderly woman who 'stole' the urn with the ashes of the street sweeper, makes me glee glee glee.
Also: I refuse to believe not a single person on my flist has either seen this drama or at least heard of it. IT IS SO GOOD. It's also on netflix.