skip to main |
skip to sidebar
i wrote this a while ago, but never got around to posting it:
i have never been much of a comic book fan, in fact, before reading this novel i don't think i have ever read a comic book or even had any interest in reading one. however, after hearing praise for watchmen and noting that it appears in times list of 100 best novels, i decided to give it a try. i enjoyed it for the most part, although it was hard to get into the pace of reading a graphic novel. i often got in the bad habit of reading the dialog and forgetting to look at the pictures, this caused some confusion for me later on. all in all, i am glad i read it, but wouldn't read it again. i do think though, that to truly appreciate this novel you would have to read it several times and actually look closely at the details in the drawings. i am look forward to seeing the movie, when that is released on DVD.
i finally finished let the right one in by john ajvide lindqvist. i had first heard about the novel when the movie adaptation of the same name came out late last year. the novel was originally written in swedish and the movie was done by a swedish director. the rights of the film have now been bought by one of the major hollywood companies. it is set to be directed by the same person who directed cloverfield.
it took me much longer than i expected to actually finish the novel. the story is essentially about the relationship between a young boy and a neighborhood vampire, but beware this is no twilight knock off. on the cover, there are comparisons to stephen king, which i think probably ring true. as i have never read a stephen king novel, i do not know for sure, but it certainly had the dark overtones that i suspect a stephen king novel would contain. this novel dealt with some pretty gritty subjects - pedophilia, violent school yard bullying, revenge, and murder. while there were also some heart warming moments in the novel, most of it raised the hairs on the back of my neck (there was an especially awful moment that involved a number of cats towards the end). i would only recommend this novel to vampire-stephen-king-lovers, the story is just not compelling enough for those of us that do not enjoy a good scare. i still have not seen the film, but i have high expectations (it got rave reviews when it first came out).
on thursday, i finished my latest novel for my book club. the book, never let me go by kazuo ishiguro, was excellent and i am really looking forward to discussing it. it took place in a world almost exactly like today, with one exception (which i will not reveal). i found the story somewhat reminiscent of margaret atwood's the handmaid's tale, but more entertaining. don't be turned off by the fact that the novel is considered 'sci-fi', it is certainly not your traditional sci-fi novel.
after wiki-ing the novel, i found that the movie is in pre-production with some great actors. i am most looking forward to seeing andrew garfield in the role of tommy. andrew garfield was in the movie boy a last year - a movie that will stay with you a long time after it is over. keira knightly is set to play kath and carey mulligan of the bbc's bleak house production will be ruth.
