The book is a favorite of mine, so I was was warily excited to see it brought to life even if it was a TV miniseries. Wary because I can count 2 King adaptations that are GOOD. Stand by Me and The Shawshank Redemption. My gut feeling is that these 2 are so good because they were based off of short stories. Bag of Bones is a huge book (although not King's biggest book) and I knew stuff would be cut.
First, I do love Pierce Brosnan. I do! But he is too old for this role! He's 58 and Mike Noonan, I think, was in his late 30's/early 40s. Pierce is still quite handsome, but just wasn't right. His acting was good but the maniacal cackling was a little ... campy. And excessive.
While I was expecting stuff to be cut, I didn't expect so much to be changed. It felt like it was changed to be shocking to the viewer instead of heartbreaking as it was in the book. Jo didn't get hit by a bus (really????). She died of an unexpected aneurysm while running to help victims of a car accident.
The "Once for yes, twice for no"? Oh so creepy and awesome in the book, happened WAY too soon in the movie and not in the right places. They lost the oomph that the phrase had. The history of the cabin was left out, as well as the name (Sara Laughs). It never even said where the story was set which I thought was weird. I watched this with my family and my sister's friend had to ask questions that should have been answered by the show. Heck, I was confused and I read the book several times.
The book was published in 1998 and the movie makers decided to update that by putting iPads and iPhones in nearly every scene. It irritated me to see that simply because I wouldn't think someone going away to a cabin in Maine and being haunted by ghosts of his dead wife and a dead singer from the 30's is going to worry that much about new technology.
The racism issues were completely erased. Along with the bonding scenes between Noonan and Maddie and the kid. Those were needed, in some shape, because it made no sense that the kid would just adore this old guy after meeting him once for less than 2 minutes.
And finally.... the kid's mom had her head blown apart by a bullet and less than 24 hours later watches this strange man murder another lady, and yet, the kid and Noonan go off hand in hand to go frickin' canoeing. WTF?
If you think it would be easier and less time consuming to just watch the show, delete it from your DVR now and go read the book. The book is a beautiful piece of literature that deserves the attention that you give it. It doesn't try to hit you with a bus or spurt blood all over your carpet. It takes your hand, gently guides you through a haunted and stunning love story. Please, trust me. You won't end the book wishing for those hours of your life back.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Shakespeare by Bill Bryson
For someone who is so well known, there is really not much known about Shakespeare. You'd be hard pressed to find a person who didn't know of Shakespeare, which is pretty impressive for a guy who lived in the 1500s.
Bryson is such a good writer when it comes to fleshing out facts into something that is entertaining and memorable. Even he concedes that this is a very short book because if we're going on fact, there isn't much to go on. Shakespeare led a life off the papers, showing up only sometimes in court documents. We know he married young, had children and went to London for the theatre and wrote fantastically brilliant plays. Little else is known but much else is speculated.
Bryson tries to weed fact from fiction in this book and, when laid out as such, it's amazing to me how much is just guessed at about Shakespeare's life.
This is an interesting little book if you like the bard but you won't really learn a lot. But if it's facts you're after, they are here.
Bryson is such a good writer when it comes to fleshing out facts into something that is entertaining and memorable. Even he concedes that this is a very short book because if we're going on fact, there isn't much to go on. Shakespeare led a life off the papers, showing up only sometimes in court documents. We know he married young, had children and went to London for the theatre and wrote fantastically brilliant plays. Little else is known but much else is speculated.
Bryson tries to weed fact from fiction in this book and, when laid out as such, it's amazing to me how much is just guessed at about Shakespeare's life.
This is an interesting little book if you like the bard but you won't really learn a lot. But if it's facts you're after, they are here.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
The Front by Patricia Cornwell
I only got this because it was in the bargain bin. I really should have saved my $5.
This is an extremely small book (about 180+ pages) and contain none of Cornwell's characters that I normally care about. The plot was awful, the characters were awful and made me want to punch them. In short, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK.
This is an extremely small book (about 180+ pages) and contain none of Cornwell's characters that I normally care about. The plot was awful, the characters were awful and made me want to punch them. In short, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Books into Movies!
Although I didn't get the hype of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, I didn't think it was a terrible book. I just didn't think it was as great as what most people proclaimed.
Well, the new US movie trailer is convincing me to give it a chance as a film (Daniel Craig!). For me, this might be another case where the movie turns out to be better than the book. Limitless turned out that way. So we'll see. In the meantime, the trailer:
Well, the new US movie trailer is convincing me to give it a chance as a film (Daniel Craig!). For me, this might be another case where the movie turns out to be better than the book. Limitless turned out that way. So we'll see. In the meantime, the trailer:
A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Finally finished this audiobook today. I'm not saying that in a way that is derogatory towards the book, but in a way of "I had time to finally finish!!"
Firstly, the audiobook was well done and I really enjoyed the reader.
Secondly, what an interesting book. Not so much in plot but in layout. Because it was an audiobook I couldn't flip back and forth to get things straight, so it might be easier in a real, hold-in-your-hands book. This isn't a complicated book either. What it really does is follow 2 characters, Sasha and Bennie. Bennie is a record exec who longs for the old punk rock days and Sasha is his assistant.
It sounds simple enough but the way Egan laid out their storylines was the most intriguing part of the book. Many places I was left wondering how we got to point C from point A but it usually became clear fairly quickly.
This review is sounding as confusing. Basically, we're introduced to Bennie and Sasha's lives through a series of, I'm going to say, short stories of other people's lives. These new characters somehow always connect back to Bennie or Sasha and managed to not only introduce a new character (that will show up later) but provide a substantial portion of Bennie or Sasha's life. It works amazingly well.
The characters themselves may not be amazing, some are even whiny and kind of annoying, but how the book was laid out and unfolded for the reader was worth it.
Firstly, the audiobook was well done and I really enjoyed the reader.
Secondly, what an interesting book. Not so much in plot but in layout. Because it was an audiobook I couldn't flip back and forth to get things straight, so it might be easier in a real, hold-in-your-hands book. This isn't a complicated book either. What it really does is follow 2 characters, Sasha and Bennie. Bennie is a record exec who longs for the old punk rock days and Sasha is his assistant.
It sounds simple enough but the way Egan laid out their storylines was the most intriguing part of the book. Many places I was left wondering how we got to point C from point A but it usually became clear fairly quickly.
This review is sounding as confusing. Basically, we're introduced to Bennie and Sasha's lives through a series of, I'm going to say, short stories of other people's lives. These new characters somehow always connect back to Bennie or Sasha and managed to not only introduce a new character (that will show up later) but provide a substantial portion of Bennie or Sasha's life. It works amazingly well.
The characters themselves may not be amazing, some are even whiny and kind of annoying, but how the book was laid out and unfolded for the reader was worth it.
11/22/63 by Stephen King
It's amazing how less monstrous books seem when they are on the Kindle.
Time is a funny thing. While reading this book, I kept remembering something I said to my mom, when she lamented about wishing her father (who died when she was just a small kid) was still alive. I said that would have changed everything, for one person to be alive when they weren't supposed to be. My grandpa was my grandma's first husband. It took my grandma's 3rd husband's stepson to introduce my mom to my dad. If my grandpa had lived? I, for one, believe things would be worse (I wouldn't be here....duh).
In 11/22/63, a time portal is found in a diner. The diner's owner was using the portal pretty frequently and made a decision that he had to save JFK from assassination. His logic was all well and good and he was rife with good intentions, but he didn't get the deed done before getting to old and ill to carry it out. So he passed it on to Jake Epping, a newly divorced high school English teacher.
The time portal always starts out on 9/9/1958. Always. For as long as the traveler is in the past, it only appears they are gone from the present for 2 minutes. In order to save Kennedy, the traveler would have to stay in the past for over 5 years (and age five years - this isn't magic). Which is exactly what Jake does.
I'll try not to give away spoilers but I'm putting this book on par with Bag of Bones. King has somehow turned from a scary horror writer into an epic storyteller. I'm not sure where the transition happened, although I'm thinking it was around The Green Mile.
Clearly a lot of research went into this, because it felt like authentic 1950's/60's. But how would I know? I'm eager for my mom to read this and let me know what she thinks.
You'll learn a lot about the butterfly effect in this novel, something I've always been intrigued by. The tiniest change or action by one can cause a huge chain of events somewhere else. A good time travel book expounds on this theory and King didn't disappoint.
Now, that I'm finished with the book, the only thing I keep thinking is "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". Was it really a good idea to try and save Kennedy? What kind of President would he have been? Clearly people assumed he would have been a great one. He's still talked about in awed tones. But no one knows. And frankly, it's probably best left unknown.
Time is a funny thing. While reading this book, I kept remembering something I said to my mom, when she lamented about wishing her father (who died when she was just a small kid) was still alive. I said that would have changed everything, for one person to be alive when they weren't supposed to be. My grandpa was my grandma's first husband. It took my grandma's 3rd husband's stepson to introduce my mom to my dad. If my grandpa had lived? I, for one, believe things would be worse (I wouldn't be here....duh).
In 11/22/63, a time portal is found in a diner. The diner's owner was using the portal pretty frequently and made a decision that he had to save JFK from assassination. His logic was all well and good and he was rife with good intentions, but he didn't get the deed done before getting to old and ill to carry it out. So he passed it on to Jake Epping, a newly divorced high school English teacher.
The time portal always starts out on 9/9/1958. Always. For as long as the traveler is in the past, it only appears they are gone from the present for 2 minutes. In order to save Kennedy, the traveler would have to stay in the past for over 5 years (and age five years - this isn't magic). Which is exactly what Jake does.
I'll try not to give away spoilers but I'm putting this book on par with Bag of Bones. King has somehow turned from a scary horror writer into an epic storyteller. I'm not sure where the transition happened, although I'm thinking it was around The Green Mile.
Clearly a lot of research went into this, because it felt like authentic 1950's/60's. But how would I know? I'm eager for my mom to read this and let me know what she thinks.
You'll learn a lot about the butterfly effect in this novel, something I've always been intrigued by. The tiniest change or action by one can cause a huge chain of events somewhere else. A good time travel book expounds on this theory and King didn't disappoint.
Now, that I'm finished with the book, the only thing I keep thinking is "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". Was it really a good idea to try and save Kennedy? What kind of President would he have been? Clearly people assumed he would have been a great one. He's still talked about in awed tones. But no one knows. And frankly, it's probably best left unknown.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Bag of Bones by Stephen King
This is my second read of this book, the first being when it came out in 1998. Upstairs in my parents house, reading at night, scaring the bejeezus out of myself in the dark. My second read is me in my home, with tears in my eyes, seeing the love story for what it is. This is not just a ghost story, it's a haunted love story. Age apparently brings wisdom.
I started reading this again in anticipation of the TV movie with Pierce Bronsan. I had a few hundred pages left to read tonight and decided to read a chapter or so once I got home from work. Which turned into me grabbing another mug of hot tea and reading some more. Which turned into me curling up under a blanket and forgetting I had homework and laundry to do. Which turned into....well, hello night time, where did you come from?? But I finished it. And laundry be damned.
Mike and Jo Noonan are a couple in love when Jo dies rather abruptly in the beginning of this book. Running across a parking lot towards an accident, an undiagnosed aneurysm bursts. We follow Mike through his grief, through his writer's block (he's V.C. Andrews with a prick) and back to his cabin at Dark Score Lake, Sara Laughs.
Sara Tidwell was a traveling musician who played at Dark Score back in the early 1900s. Untimely deaths were the rage then and the ghost of Sara continues her revenge on the residents of Dark Score.
Mike meets up with Mattie, a young widowed mother, and Kyra, her cute 3 year old daughter. And from there, we just spiral into a world of centuries of murder and ghostly vengeance.
I believe this is truly one of King's best novels. I don't say that lightly, as I rank several of his books among my top favorites. But this, this is a work of art.
I started reading this again in anticipation of the TV movie with Pierce Bronsan. I had a few hundred pages left to read tonight and decided to read a chapter or so once I got home from work. Which turned into me grabbing another mug of hot tea and reading some more. Which turned into me curling up under a blanket and forgetting I had homework and laundry to do. Which turned into....well, hello night time, where did you come from?? But I finished it. And laundry be damned.
Mike and Jo Noonan are a couple in love when Jo dies rather abruptly in the beginning of this book. Running across a parking lot towards an accident, an undiagnosed aneurysm bursts. We follow Mike through his grief, through his writer's block (he's V.C. Andrews with a prick) and back to his cabin at Dark Score Lake, Sara Laughs.
Sara Tidwell was a traveling musician who played at Dark Score back in the early 1900s. Untimely deaths were the rage then and the ghost of Sara continues her revenge on the residents of Dark Score.
Mike meets up with Mattie, a young widowed mother, and Kyra, her cute 3 year old daughter. And from there, we just spiral into a world of centuries of murder and ghostly vengeance.
I believe this is truly one of King's best novels. I don't say that lightly, as I rank several of his books among my top favorites. But this, this is a work of art.
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