White Oleander

I had to read the book White Oleander by Janet Fitch for English this year, because we wanted to compare the book to the movie. I have to say, the book is amazing. The writing style was so delicately beautiful while coming from the first person of a girl who ages from about twelve or fourteen to eighteen while under unimaginable stresses. It's lyrical and artfully weaves figurative language in for a gorgeous experience. Plus, there's so much symbolism planted in it - it's basically a book that screams "I am what happens when hard work comes out right."

The story, while well done, is kind of creepy, in a few ways, though. The story follows Astrid Magnussen, a girl who's mother is quite a character: an incredibly strong, independent woman who lives the life of a cynical poet and takes pride in her Norse ancestors. Together, they have traveled the world, enjoying the poetic wonders. However, one day her mother falls in love...and that brings her world crashing down. Put in a nutshell, some Los Angeles hotshot plays with her mother's heart, causing her to break all the rules she'd carefully instituted - rules that kept her at arm's length and strong. After sleeping with the guy only to find out he had to go, he had a date [with another woman], she takes the insult to an extreme level: murder. In the wake of her actions, Astrid is thrust into the world of foster homes, and grows up in a pretty tumultuous way.

There are some aspects that will make your skin crawl, the kind that a girl will run into learning the do's and don'ts of life, but the book is incredibly powerful. It's such a beautifully written story, and it gets under your skin. I loved it despite having it as necessary reading.

The Taboo Topic: Twilight

Yes, everyone's heard of it, the four-series book about vampires and werewolves that is once beloved and despised by society (two different portions of it, not at the same time, generally). It's true, Stephenie Meyer didn't write them too well - the style is pretty bland. But once you let yourself get into it, the books aren't THAT bad. I'm not saying that they're amazing, and I can't speak any further than New Moon, but they really aren't that bad. The first one I was skeptical the whole way through but I didn't mind it in the end, and the second one I found myself getting into.

The thing about the second one, though, is that I read that AFTER I saw the movie. Now, I heard people screaming about how good it was, but I, for one, HATED the New Moon movie. I found it to be the most bland and boring thing ever on the face of the earth. I know there's a lot of intense drama going on in that book, but that is ALL that the movie is, pretty much: intense drama. I can sum up half the movie like so:

Two characters are talking, staring intensely at each other in the drama of the moment. The camera gives a headshot of CHARACTER ONE.

CHARACTER ONE
(dramatically)
LINE.

There is a pause. The camera shifts to a shot of CHARACTER TWO.

CHARACTER TWO
(dramatically)
LINE.

Seriously, that's what it felt like. The book did a better job of going in-depth and actually made it feel like Bella was a human and not just an Edward-centric puppet. I loathed that movie, I'm sorry. I just did. I couldn't stand it. But it did make the book better for me.

Now I'm going to read Eclipse, the third book (as far as I know). I have NO idea what goes on in this one, nor have I seen the movie (obviously), so this will be a first with the Twilight series. I will actually find out what the hell is going on IN THE BOOK.

Ultimo

Shounen Jump has a new comic running called Ultimo. I've only read a chapter, but so far it looks like it could be interesting. The character designs sure are...I keep on wondering how the pants-skirt thing on the main character stays on, since it looks so loose. He looks like a girl, too...has girlish eyes, and his top looks like a halter top, complete with a crease in the middle that made me swear he had boobs. Who knows. XD

Anyway, the story has to do with these two mechanical boys, Ultimo and Vice. Created in ancient Japanese times, they embody the essences of a soul: ultimate good and ultimate evil, respectively. The old man that created them is accosted by bandits, and they accidentally activate both boys. Naturally, as they are both awakened at the same time and in the same place, they begin to fight. The old man is quite calm over the following calamity, stating he'd wanted to see which was stronger, good or evil, and this was his way of finding out. Cut to the future, and one of the bandits (or his reincarnation or something) runs into an antiques shop - and finds Ultimo there, asleep.

That's as far as I got; I have no idea how the kid remembers Ultimo since it seems like a reincanation. I'm sure as I read on I'll get more of it.

So ends my random and pointless post. Yippee.