oh dear finally I'm back! plus memes and book recs and blathering
1. HAAAI everyone!!! :DDD Let me tell you, catching up was hard. And I didn't even look at the comms. Anyway, I should be caught up for good, but since I went through a bunch of stuff I might have missed stuff. (though haldoor, your fic is waiting for me as a reward for when I'm done posting, expect me gushing about it in the next 24 hours. XD)
2. The opera frenzy went great! Also more people should set operas in insane asylums because the one which was... well, it was one of the most awesome settings I ever saw. Not to mention that I ended up with fic ideas because of that, but that'll be written... a very long time from now, since I need to finish a bunch of stuff before.
3. Between four days without the net and being stuck in Sicily I read a bunch of books. Therefore, some recs! I'll try not to spoil, but some will happen.
a. Under The Dome by Stephen King: or, the more serious/detailed review. First thing: even if the mole is more or less the same, it isn't The Stand (definitely not nearly as complex, and there's a device he used both times which in The Stand worked better imo). In the sense that that other one is still the best out of all the epic stuff he ever did imo, but with that out of the way, this one is pretty good. It has its flaws, mainly that after the town gets put under the mysterious glass, sane people stay sane and people who were evil-ish before go even more evil (it would have been nicer if he had spiced it up a bit, which he totally can do), and that if you don't buy the solution to the hot question (what the fuck is the Dome?) you'll probably shake your head through all the last one hundred pages. But, if you do buy it, then the whole thing holds up together pretty nicely. Also, I think it was the first King book where my favorite character was the main character, who is imo lovely and most definitely interesting, and thankfully he's not too much of a stainless hero. Also even if the evil people are downright evil they're very well written and the character development is all pretty much excellent, but then again I like King because I like how he develops characters. Also, I lol-ed at Zevon's Play It All Night Long being quite important to the plot, but that's just because I wrote 43000 words of fic with that title. Er. Also, despite the flaws, the thing is damned compelling/readable. I mean, it's 870 pages long (my edition) and I finished in one seven-hour setting. I swear I couldn't put it down. Also, the Corgi is adorable.
b. The Ghost Writer by Robert Harris: I'll admit that I read this one just because I'm in Ewan McGregor withdrawal and I want to pick up the movie, but I was pleasurably surprised. I'm not too much into political thrillers, but this one had a good pace, the plot was well done, the protagonist was one you could identify with, I was pretty much able to get the whole Blair-Lang parallel even if Brit politics isn't exactly my field (or well, I have enough on my hands worrying about Italian politics..) and I liked that he didn't have a character that was one-dimensional. Also, I hadn't totally guessed the ending, and the actual ending paragraph totally sold the whole thing. It was.. solid, I'd say? Anyway, enjoyable read, it doesn't have a dull moment and I guess it's what everything in the genre should be. And while Robert Harris isn't like his brother-in-law (Nick Hornby. Shows I've read all of his book reviews) in the I-have-a-quite-personal-prose department (or one I could tell from any other book of the same genre) it's still a nice read.
c. Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy: okay, this was amazing. Even if, I'll have to admit, I'm not sure I understood the last six pages. (Anyone who read it and wants to discuss it, please tell me in comments. I need to talk about it!). Or well, I guess I did, but I've been thinking about that goddamn ending for three days and I still didn't decide what I think of it. But I always took it as a sign that if you keep thinking about some book for days after you finish it's obviously good, and well, I think I got all the rest pretty much right. Anyway, while I liked the two other McCarthy books I read better (The Road and No Country For Old Men) this one was.. uh, wow? The writing itself was gorgeous (when I wasn't figuring out the vernacular) and while the subject matter starts icky and becomes ickier (brother and sister commit incest, she gets pregnant, he leaves the child out in the woods to die, she finds out and sets off to find the child, except that it's more complicated than that) I think no one does apocalyptic settings like him. Or well, this is the second I read which was of the apocalyptic kind and it totally delivered. It had such an eerie atmosphere, and I still don't think I fleshed out all the layers I should have fleshed out. There were some things that could have been more fleshed out, but maybe it works also because it doesn't do it and because neither of the two main characters are the most sympathetic. Or well, the sister is more than her brother, but finding him sympathetic after the first five pages is hard, if you ask me. Anyway, definitely not what you'd bring to read on the shore or easy (actually I think it was the most complex of the three of his I read), and it definitely stays with you. Also I really need to discuss the ending with someone who actually has clear ideas about it. Still, most definitely worth it. (Though, if you don't like incest or cannibals, I'd avoid it.)
d. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold: I'm probably the last person to jump on the wagon because apparently everyone has read it already (and I had it on my shelf for two years or so), but since I did get around to read it, I'll throw in my two cents. It won't get into my top ten, but the writing itself was absolutely lovely and the prose matched the narrator incredibly well (kudos to anyone managing a just-killed-13 year old so well), and the story was very compelling. Also the characters were all as compelling and I appreciated that no one was of the flat kind, and especially how she dealt with the protagonist's assassin/parents/sister. And how she dealt with her family's reaction, because it all seemed very plausible. Also as the review on the back of my edition said, the best thing about it is that it's all about death but it's written in such a light way that it's more uplifting than depressing, and she really pulled that off. I thought that the ending could have been longer, but it did make sense with what was happening by then. Definitely very well written and a pretty nice read, though not in the masterpiece range.
e. Forest Of Flowers by Ken Saro-Wiwa: I'm really not familiar with much African literature if you don't count Coetzee (and I read just one of his), and I picked up this one because it was recommended by Roberto Saviano (for not Italians: he wrote a book about the mafia, now has to live under constant surveillance) during a tv transmission. It's a collection of short stories divided in two parts, the first being all set in the same small village in Nigeria and the second outside it. And if I didn't know zilch about how people live in Nigeria before reading it it did give me an idea of how it works. You get a pretty good image of, other than the traditional village, how it works in a big city if you have a position, if you don't, if you live in a slum or if you just have a small shop. And it's pretty straightforward in saying everything that doesn't work (which is a lot), including how oil wells are exploited (and the writer was executed in the mid-nineties mostly because he was very vocal about the issue). It definitely gives you a lot of things to think about, and I'd definitely recommend it. Also the writing itself was very good and at times it felt like you actually were there. Not to mention that it takes skill to denounce things and doing it well but while writing fictional stories and not a non-fiction book. Clearly it was the only one that was published here, but I might hunt down some other book by the same author if I manage.
And, that was all for now. Or well, I also read a book on how to write your degree thesis but I can't exactly rec that one.
4. Noow, a couple of memes! Just because I need to make more than four points in this entry. Soo, first, from snowweisz:
If you’ve been tagged, you must write your answers in your own LJ and replace any question that you dislike with a new question.
→ What song are you currently addicted to?
Loverman by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, but also Out In The Street, Bruce & ESB, London Calling version. Also I should probably add some opera but I'll spare you that. XD
→ What's your favorite season?
Spring. I hate cold and I hate extreme heat, but I hate cold more and in the fall you're going towards winter, so.. also, it's always been the season with less school crap to deal with.
→ What’s the latest movie you watched?
Hellzapoppin' before I left. It was crack on a stick and I loved it.
→ What is the one skill you wish you had?
Singing. Or drawing. Tho since my dream job when I was six was being an opera singer I guess the former. Sigh.
→ What’s your current fandom/obsession/addiction?
Always the same. Lost, SPN (Dean/Cas, really), Misha Collins, His Prettiness and all the rest. If opera singers were a fandom I should probably throw in the girl crush I got on the protagonist of the opera set in the insane asylum. (Who played a man, but she still was amazing.)
→ What's one live show (opera, concert, ballet, circus- anything!) that you want to see before you die?
BON JOVI, GODDAMMIT. I just want to go see goddamn Bon Jovi some-fucking-where. One day I will manage.. though well, I also want to go to the NY MET. (And to the Chicago opera, but just because my favorite-opera-singer-ever plays there on a regular basis. Only there, sadly.)
→ What web sites do you always visit when you go online?
Lj, yahoo, wikipedia, youtube and google.
→ What was the last thing you bought?
.. er, a dvd at the opera place? Tho it was my mom's money and it wasn't for me. In that case, a wacky philosophy book and two Bresson movies.
→ If you won 10,000 bucks today, what would you do with it?
Go to see the live show that I want to see before I die. Considering that they are three, the money would probably be over after that.
→ Favourite time of day?
Late afternoon. Because it's when I actually do stuff.
→ Explain why you have your username
LJ: I was twelve, I wanted a Bon Jovi related username which wasn't too obvious, I checked songs and there was a Janie in one. It was short and functional and pretty, so I picked it. Tangerine is my favorite fruit and Led Zeppelin song. E-mail/twitter/etc: Janie is always the same, Dean is the surname of my favorite literary character ever. And the name of a bunch of people I like, anyway.
→ Do you want to learn another language?
I need to pick up my German asap. And learn it fastly.
→ Five things you can’t live without.
Books, music, internet, movies, coffee.
Tag eleven people. Don’t refuse to do that. Don’t tag who tagged you.
Ew, I hate tagging. Whatever, whoever wants to. XD
5. Stolen from all my fl, and since it's a very Nick Hornby meme I want to do it:
Ask me my Top Five Whatevers. Fannish or personal or pointlessly random. Any top fives.
6. And, to close this, Misha Collins is a wonderful human being. End of story. I might have cried sometime after the middle.
7. That said (because it needed to be posted), I'll be off tidying stuff and betaing things. If I manage everything I should before this day is over I'll be very, very happy. *waves*
2. The opera frenzy went great! Also more people should set operas in insane asylums because the one which was... well, it was one of the most awesome settings I ever saw. Not to mention that I ended up with fic ideas because of that, but that'll be written... a very long time from now, since I need to finish a bunch of stuff before.
3. Between four days without the net and being stuck in Sicily I read a bunch of books. Therefore, some recs! I'll try not to spoil, but some will happen.
a. Under The Dome by Stephen King: or, the more serious/detailed review. First thing: even if the mole is more or less the same, it isn't The Stand (definitely not nearly as complex, and there's a device he used both times which in The Stand worked better imo). In the sense that that other one is still the best out of all the epic stuff he ever did imo, but with that out of the way, this one is pretty good. It has its flaws, mainly that after the town gets put under the mysterious glass, sane people stay sane and people who were evil-ish before go even more evil (it would have been nicer if he had spiced it up a bit, which he totally can do), and that if you don't buy the solution to the hot question (what the fuck is the Dome?) you'll probably shake your head through all the last one hundred pages. But, if you do buy it, then the whole thing holds up together pretty nicely. Also, I think it was the first King book where my favorite character was the main character, who is imo lovely and most definitely interesting, and thankfully he's not too much of a stainless hero. Also even if the evil people are downright evil they're very well written and the character development is all pretty much excellent, but then again I like King because I like how he develops characters. Also, I lol-ed at Zevon's Play It All Night Long being quite important to the plot, but that's just because I wrote 43000 words of fic with that title. Er. Also, despite the flaws, the thing is damned compelling/readable. I mean, it's 870 pages long (my edition) and I finished in one seven-hour setting. I swear I couldn't put it down. Also, the Corgi is adorable.
b. The Ghost Writer by Robert Harris: I'll admit that I read this one just because I'm in Ewan McGregor withdrawal and I want to pick up the movie, but I was pleasurably surprised. I'm not too much into political thrillers, but this one had a good pace, the plot was well done, the protagonist was one you could identify with, I was pretty much able to get the whole Blair-Lang parallel even if Brit politics isn't exactly my field (or well, I have enough on my hands worrying about Italian politics..) and I liked that he didn't have a character that was one-dimensional. Also, I hadn't totally guessed the ending, and the actual ending paragraph totally sold the whole thing. It was.. solid, I'd say? Anyway, enjoyable read, it doesn't have a dull moment and I guess it's what everything in the genre should be. And while Robert Harris isn't like his brother-in-law (Nick Hornby. Shows I've read all of his book reviews) in the I-have-a-quite-personal-prose department (or one I could tell from any other book of the same genre) it's still a nice read.
c. Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy: okay, this was amazing. Even if, I'll have to admit, I'm not sure I understood the last six pages. (Anyone who read it and wants to discuss it, please tell me in comments. I need to talk about it!). Or well, I guess I did, but I've been thinking about that goddamn ending for three days and I still didn't decide what I think of it. But I always took it as a sign that if you keep thinking about some book for days after you finish it's obviously good, and well, I think I got all the rest pretty much right. Anyway, while I liked the two other McCarthy books I read better (The Road and No Country For Old Men) this one was.. uh, wow? The writing itself was gorgeous (when I wasn't figuring out the vernacular) and while the subject matter starts icky and becomes ickier (brother and sister commit incest, she gets pregnant, he leaves the child out in the woods to die, she finds out and sets off to find the child, except that it's more complicated than that) I think no one does apocalyptic settings like him. Or well, this is the second I read which was of the apocalyptic kind and it totally delivered. It had such an eerie atmosphere, and I still don't think I fleshed out all the layers I should have fleshed out. There were some things that could have been more fleshed out, but maybe it works also because it doesn't do it and because neither of the two main characters are the most sympathetic. Or well, the sister is more than her brother, but finding him sympathetic after the first five pages is hard, if you ask me. Anyway, definitely not what you'd bring to read on the shore or easy (actually I think it was the most complex of the three of his I read), and it definitely stays with you. Also I really need to discuss the ending with someone who actually has clear ideas about it. Still, most definitely worth it. (Though, if you don't like incest or cannibals, I'd avoid it.)
d. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold: I'm probably the last person to jump on the wagon because apparently everyone has read it already (and I had it on my shelf for two years or so), but since I did get around to read it, I'll throw in my two cents. It won't get into my top ten, but the writing itself was absolutely lovely and the prose matched the narrator incredibly well (kudos to anyone managing a just-killed-13 year old so well), and the story was very compelling. Also the characters were all as compelling and I appreciated that no one was of the flat kind, and especially how she dealt with the protagonist's assassin/parents/sister. And how she dealt with her family's reaction, because it all seemed very plausible. Also as the review on the back of my edition said, the best thing about it is that it's all about death but it's written in such a light way that it's more uplifting than depressing, and she really pulled that off. I thought that the ending could have been longer, but it did make sense with what was happening by then. Definitely very well written and a pretty nice read, though not in the masterpiece range.
e. Forest Of Flowers by Ken Saro-Wiwa: I'm really not familiar with much African literature if you don't count Coetzee (and I read just one of his), and I picked up this one because it was recommended by Roberto Saviano (for not Italians: he wrote a book about the mafia, now has to live under constant surveillance) during a tv transmission. It's a collection of short stories divided in two parts, the first being all set in the same small village in Nigeria and the second outside it. And if I didn't know zilch about how people live in Nigeria before reading it it did give me an idea of how it works. You get a pretty good image of, other than the traditional village, how it works in a big city if you have a position, if you don't, if you live in a slum or if you just have a small shop. And it's pretty straightforward in saying everything that doesn't work (which is a lot), including how oil wells are exploited (and the writer was executed in the mid-nineties mostly because he was very vocal about the issue). It definitely gives you a lot of things to think about, and I'd definitely recommend it. Also the writing itself was very good and at times it felt like you actually were there. Not to mention that it takes skill to denounce things and doing it well but while writing fictional stories and not a non-fiction book. Clearly it was the only one that was published here, but I might hunt down some other book by the same author if I manage.
And, that was all for now. Or well, I also read a book on how to write your degree thesis but I can't exactly rec that one.
4. Noow, a couple of memes! Just because I need to make more than four points in this entry. Soo, first, from snowweisz:
If you’ve been tagged, you must write your answers in your own LJ and replace any question that you dislike with a new question.
→ What song are you currently addicted to?
Loverman by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, but also Out In The Street, Bruce & ESB, London Calling version. Also I should probably add some opera but I'll spare you that. XD
→ What's your favorite season?
Spring. I hate cold and I hate extreme heat, but I hate cold more and in the fall you're going towards winter, so.. also, it's always been the season with less school crap to deal with.
→ What’s the latest movie you watched?
Hellzapoppin' before I left. It was crack on a stick and I loved it.
→ What is the one skill you wish you had?
Singing. Or drawing. Tho since my dream job when I was six was being an opera singer I guess the former. Sigh.
→ What’s your current fandom/obsession/addiction?
Always the same. Lost, SPN (Dean/Cas, really), Misha Collins, His Prettiness and all the rest. If opera singers were a fandom I should probably throw in the girl crush I got on the protagonist of the opera set in the insane asylum. (Who played a man, but she still was amazing.)
→ What's one live show (opera, concert, ballet, circus- anything!) that you want to see before you die?
BON JOVI, GODDAMMIT. I just want to go see goddamn Bon Jovi some-fucking-where. One day I will manage.. though well, I also want to go to the NY MET. (And to the Chicago opera, but just because my favorite-opera-singer-ever plays there on a regular basis. Only there, sadly.)
→ What web sites do you always visit when you go online?
Lj, yahoo, wikipedia, youtube and google.
→ What was the last thing you bought?
.. er, a dvd at the opera place? Tho it was my mom's money and it wasn't for me. In that case, a wacky philosophy book and two Bresson movies.
→ If you won 10,000 bucks today, what would you do with it?
Go to see the live show that I want to see before I die. Considering that they are three, the money would probably be over after that.
→ Favourite time of day?
Late afternoon. Because it's when I actually do stuff.
→ Explain why you have your username
LJ: I was twelve, I wanted a Bon Jovi related username which wasn't too obvious, I checked songs and there was a Janie in one. It was short and functional and pretty, so I picked it. Tangerine is my favorite fruit and Led Zeppelin song. E-mail/twitter/etc: Janie is always the same, Dean is the surname of my favorite literary character ever. And the name of a bunch of people I like, anyway.
→ Do you want to learn another language?
I need to pick up my German asap. And learn it fastly.
→ Five things you can’t live without.
Books, music, internet, movies, coffee.
Tag eleven people. Don’t refuse to do that. Don’t tag who tagged you.
Ew, I hate tagging. Whatever, whoever wants to. XD
5. Stolen from all my fl, and since it's a very Nick Hornby meme I want to do it:
Ask me my Top Five Whatevers. Fannish or personal or pointlessly random. Any top fives.
6. And, to close this, Misha Collins is a wonderful human being. End of story. I might have cried sometime after the middle.
Click to view7. That said (because it needed to be posted), I'll be off tidying stuff and betaing things. If I manage everything I should before this day is over I'll be very, very happy. *waves*