John Winchester's Journal
Whew! It's been a while since I've posted here. I totally blame Plurk for taking up so much of my time! But I decided I was going to take a break from Plurk and post my thoughts on John Winchester's Journal.
I finally finished reading John Winchester’s Journal. And to be honest, I didn’t actually read the entire book. I kind of skimmed over most of the monster explanations and stuff unless something caught my attention. I was more interested in anything that would directly relate to the Winchester family. And besides, a lot of it was the same stuff he had already published in the "Supernatural" Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons, and Ghouls.
The book overall was,'t too bad. There were some things I had a problem with, some things I found myself questioning a few things that I thought were just fun tidbits that tied into things we’ve learned on the show. Here are some of the things I liked and disliked about the book.
Dislikes:
- Alex Irvine must have been reading the original run of the comic books because he made reference to John inheriting his car from Mary’s uncle, which we all know didn’t really happen that way.
- Jo is not older than Sam!! This is something they did not correct in the comics and it irritates me beyond belief. Then Irvine makes reference to Jo being about a year older than Sam in the book too. No. In Jo’s blog, which was made available through the season 1 DVD and which I read several times before the start of season 2, makes it clear that by the time Jo met Sam and Dean she would have been around the age of 21.
- Unless John had two different journals, or tore pages out of his journal this could not be the same journal we’ve seen in the show. This journal references Sam being kidnapped by Ms. Lyle/Lilith when he was young (see the second comic series) and there’s a small passage about Azazel. It doesn’t say anything about him being the one who killed Mary, but it’s still more than Sam and Dean know.
- In the Pilot of Supernatural Sam seems surprised that John has been letting Dean hunt on his own, to which Dean replies, “Dude, I’m 26!” I remember this moment clearly. However in this journal it sounds as though John has been letting Dean hunt on his own since he was 17, which Sam would surely remember if it had happened.
- The story of Bill Harvelle’s death. While it’s interesting to read how this happened, I didn’t feel like this account lined up with what Meg!Sam told Jo in BUaBS. While it is possible Meg!Sam was lying, that seems like one of those instances where the truth could be so much more painful, so I’m a little uncertain about this account of Bill’s death.
The list of what I did like is a lot shorter.
Likes:
-While this may not have been an accurately portrayal of John’s personality, at times it really did sound like John could be writing it and it was interesting getting a look inside his head and at his perspective as he was raising the boys.
- There were a few hints of things that we have learned during the course of the show, John mentions Dean’s bad mood after leaving Ohio and his suspicions it had to do with a girl (Cassie), Dean taking the car for a weekend while Sam and John worked a case (Gumby Girl). There was also mention of the soccer trophy Sam won, which we know John kept in his storage locker. Little things like this amused me. Though I was disappointed there was no mention of the incident that had Bobby pointing a gun at John; which was supposedly the last time John and Bobby saw each other.
There were a few other things of interest throughout the book.
- A quote in Latin, which John translated: “All angels, good and bad, have the power to transform our bodies.” He also mentions a design used for summoning Angels, though he claims to not believe in them.
- There are drawings labeled “Saturnalia Agrippa’s seals of Saturn.” One looks a lot like the design John used to summon Azazel to the hospital.
This book is far from perfect and could be better, but I wouldn’t deter any fan from reading it. Though it may not be completely accurate, it’s still interesting and amusing at times.
I finally finished reading John Winchester’s Journal. And to be honest, I didn’t actually read the entire book. I kind of skimmed over most of the monster explanations and stuff unless something caught my attention. I was more interested in anything that would directly relate to the Winchester family. And besides, a lot of it was the same stuff he had already published in the "Supernatural" Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons, and Ghouls.
The book overall was,'t too bad. There were some things I had a problem with, some things I found myself questioning a few things that I thought were just fun tidbits that tied into things we’ve learned on the show. Here are some of the things I liked and disliked about the book.
Dislikes:
- Alex Irvine must have been reading the original run of the comic books because he made reference to John inheriting his car from Mary’s uncle, which we all know didn’t really happen that way.
- Jo is not older than Sam!! This is something they did not correct in the comics and it irritates me beyond belief. Then Irvine makes reference to Jo being about a year older than Sam in the book too. No. In Jo’s blog, which was made available through the season 1 DVD and which I read several times before the start of season 2, makes it clear that by the time Jo met Sam and Dean she would have been around the age of 21.
- Unless John had two different journals, or tore pages out of his journal this could not be the same journal we’ve seen in the show. This journal references Sam being kidnapped by Ms. Lyle/Lilith when he was young (see the second comic series) and there’s a small passage about Azazel. It doesn’t say anything about him being the one who killed Mary, but it’s still more than Sam and Dean know.
- In the Pilot of Supernatural Sam seems surprised that John has been letting Dean hunt on his own, to which Dean replies, “Dude, I’m 26!” I remember this moment clearly. However in this journal it sounds as though John has been letting Dean hunt on his own since he was 17, which Sam would surely remember if it had happened.
- The story of Bill Harvelle’s death. While it’s interesting to read how this happened, I didn’t feel like this account lined up with what Meg!Sam told Jo in BUaBS. While it is possible Meg!Sam was lying, that seems like one of those instances where the truth could be so much more painful, so I’m a little uncertain about this account of Bill’s death.
The list of what I did like is a lot shorter.
Likes:
-While this may not have been an accurately portrayal of John’s personality, at times it really did sound like John could be writing it and it was interesting getting a look inside his head and at his perspective as he was raising the boys.
- There were a few hints of things that we have learned during the course of the show, John mentions Dean’s bad mood after leaving Ohio and his suspicions it had to do with a girl (Cassie), Dean taking the car for a weekend while Sam and John worked a case (Gumby Girl). There was also mention of the soccer trophy Sam won, which we know John kept in his storage locker. Little things like this amused me. Though I was disappointed there was no mention of the incident that had Bobby pointing a gun at John; which was supposedly the last time John and Bobby saw each other.
There were a few other things of interest throughout the book.
- A quote in Latin, which John translated: “All angels, good and bad, have the power to transform our bodies.” He also mentions a design used for summoning Angels, though he claims to not believe in them.
- There are drawings labeled “Saturnalia Agrippa’s seals of Saturn.” One looks a lot like the design John used to summon Azazel to the hospital.
This book is far from perfect and could be better, but I wouldn’t deter any fan from reading it. Though it may not be completely accurate, it’s still interesting and amusing at times.