Prince of Persia, The Good Thief, The Cardturner
So I took the CEP state exam thingy yesterday and I passed. Can has certified CNA! \o/
Also, I just saw Prince of Persia and here are my non-spoilery thoughts:
- BRIGHT YELLOW PAPYRUS FONT: it was bad enough that they used it in the first place, but then it kept on appearing throughout the movie to caption certain places and stuff. My sister and I are not graphic designers or anything, but our visual sensibilities were offended enough to send us writhing in our seats every time that BRIGHT YELLOW PAPYRUS font showed up.
- Character deaths = PREDICTABLE. SO MUCH.
- Fight scenes: Super cool, actually. Sometimes confusing, but I think I was just tired.
- Oh, there are so many aspects of the movie that showed it was originally a videogame. I'm not sure if it was a bad thing, just amusing.
- Tamina's voice at the beginning: aw, kinda cute and girly.
- Tamina's voice at them end: aw, kind of annoying now.
- CHEESY LINES ARE CHEESY. I can take all the stuff about "destiny" and "chosen one", but the romance between the leads was just... aksjdhfalksdjf-
- Speaking of which, I do not mind Dustan/Tamina.
- Rushed. omg. this movie was so rushed.
- Running ostriches had me giggling far more than any of the witty banter. :T
The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
Basically there is a one-armed orphaned boy (Ren) who is taken away by a man (Benjamin) that claims to be his older brother. This man, by the way, is a lying thief.
From there Ren is pulled into this colossal adventure involving a well-meaning, murdering giant, a dwarf, a hilarious SPEAKS-IN-ALL-CAPS deaf woman, and an alcoholic ex-school teacher.
Also there are assassins in top hats.
The one complaint I’ve seen involving this book is that it is so miserable. Ren is pretty much the only ‘sane’ guy in there, and he’s only a twelve, so basically this is a boy trying to deal with a bunch of crazy adults. He gets manipulated and exploited, passed around the rest of the cast in such a way that is so disgusting that it’s funny.
No, I’m serious. I’ve read reviews saying that The Good Thief has no humor-and this is pretty much not true. The comedy is subtle, if not all out wry and morbid. A good example would be when Ren is leaving the orphanage: On his way back down the stairs Ren ran his hand along the old banister. This is the last time I will touch this, he thought, and just as he did a splinter jammed its way into his palm.
Yeah, its that kind of humor. But aside from that, I really liked the subtle relationship between Ren and Benjamin, all the twists, doubt, and hinted affection they have towards each other. In Ren's case, I love that he knows that Benjamin is a bad person, but at the same time, Ren cannot help but feel this attachment because it is so heartbreakingly obvious that he wants a family, or, more specifically, a father- even if it's Benjamin.
And throughout the book, I got the impression that Benjamin loved Ren as well*: "Is that the reason why you picked me?”
“One of them.”
Ren lifted his head. He felt like he should thank him. And so he did.
For once Benjamin seemed at a loss for words. He cleared he throat and gathered the plates. … There was a knock on the window. Benjamin seemed relieved.
Aw, and I love how Tom just BARGES in after that and brings in the twins and is all "NOW WE'RE A FAMILY AGAIN." And Benji is angry, "No, you are taking them back, you can't have these kids. You're not their father." And Tom replies, "Why can't I? You've got Ren."**
*Before I got to the end. Which, honestly, was almost like a mindfuck because so much lying went on with Benji, lol.
**Totally paraphrased, but I went "d'aw" outloud.
And now that I'm knocking down my readinglist somewhat, I've started on the Cardturner by Louis Sachar. Nowhere near done yet, but I really like where the book is going. Even if its about the card game bridge. >__>;