2009-09-30

Th'XVIIIthV

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090) Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1, Unmanned by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, finished September 30
    I've read a couple volumes from the famed Y before [incidentally, its launch marked the demise of my own last-man project] but was always underimpressed. Starting from the beginning however, it's an impressive story and much more interesting. I'm not dying to read more, but it's definitely worth your time. Check it out. Read #1 and then go or not go from there.

    a week or two




P&P&Z 089) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, finished September 24
    Adjacent to this recent article in the Wall Street Journal bout the postpostmodern novel (hint: though gasping for breath at the end of the last era, plot makes a stunning comeback) a "selection of books that are rife with action" --- one of which is Pride and Prejudice.

    I told my AP kids that P&P was an action-packed never-stops-popping fun machine after they read the first five chapters. At that point they doubted me. But the came back they next day, having read with that in mind, and they saw that I was exactly right.

    The back copy of P&P&Z suggests that without added "scenes of bone-crunching zombies mayhem" the original is not really "something you'd actually want to read."

    I wonder if many people do mistake P&P's quiet surface to mean nothing is happening below the surface. Because below the surface the action is fast and furious. P&P never lets up.

    But anyway. Deliberate misunderstandings of the original notwithstanding, how does P&P&Z hold up?

    Well, for 99 pages all I could ask was what's the point? There are occasional (and rather boring) scenes of zombie mayhem, sure, but instead of adding anything fun to the text, they mostly chip away at the original's strengths. The important parts of the story were diluted and the added parts were dull and tacked-on. As I was reading this section I happened to read this quote from Salon.com: "The real question is: If Mr. Darcy became infected, would Elizabeth have the fortitude to behead him in time?"

    Ah, I said to myself. That's the problem here. This book wants to add gore and violence but has absolutely nothing of its own to say. Instead it lessens what the original text has to offer, while giving nothing new in return.

    Until, as I hinted, until page 99. When Charlotte reveals that she has agreed to marry Mr Collins because she has been stricken and in mere months will be a zombie herself.

    "I don't have long, Elizabeth. All I ask is that my final months be happy ones, and that I be permitted a husband who will see to my proper Christian beheading and burial."

    And at that moment I decided I would finish the book.

    In addition to adding a tangy zombie flavor to Austen's original, P&P&Z also adds a kung-fu zing. The Bennet sisters were trained in China in the arts of Shaolin (one more reason for Lady Catherine to look down on them --- the Chinese are peasants after all; proper training in the deadly arts can only come from Japan).

    And while many of the original's best jokes are made unfunnily obvious here, it doesn't hurt, I suppose, to have the option of now making lots of puns on the many meanings of balls. Plus this, plus that....

    (Worth noting: even the addition of zombie mayhem shows some Austenian restraint. Elizabeth and Darcy, at the end, newly engaged, come across their first opportunity to battle side-by-side, they grasp hands, and the camera cuts away.)

    I don't know whether or not to recommend this book. If you've never been interested, stay not interested. If you, like me, thought Brilliant! upon first hearing of it, then proceed with caution.

    I do wonder if reading Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters might not be a better experience for me since I am not familiar with the source material. But I don't plan on making that decision anytime soon. I'll wait and see what else Quirk Classics has up their sleeve. What other highly readable novels they intend to pervert. I'm guessing Dickens will be next. (And if they need a writer, it would be a fascinating exercise and they have only to ask. May I have an American classic to ruin, please?)

    (Closing slam: Illustrations pretty weak. I would have expected better.)

    two weeks




088) Tales From the Bog by Marcus Lusk, finished ~September 18



087) The Complete Peanuts 1969-1970 by Charles M. Schulz, finished September 13
    We have a strict rule at our house. And that rule is that I'm not allowed to buy Complete Peanuts box sets for myself. Which means I have to make what I have last for as long as I can.

    This volume delivers a great two-year period for Peanuts. I laughed plenty. Snoopy's writing career kills me. And it was fun to finally see the random birds become a single character who is then named Woodstock. (Don't miss the Sunday in Feb-70 when the stick breaks on him!)

    One thing that makes this volume better than many others is Mo Willems's introduction. They've had some grossly mediocre intros in this series, but Mo's is excellent. Don't skip it.

    Sigh.

    Peanuts, I tell you. That's where it's at.

    And to prove, Behold! Snoopy writes a novel! (One really big so you can appreciate the linework. Now. Go buy your own.)

    from The Complete Peanuts 1969-1970
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    many happy weeks




086) Crush by Murphy Hall, finished September 1
    Terrible. The dialogue was my first clue, but then everything got ridiculous. To enjoy this book you have two options: Forget everything you know about logic and taste, or laugh at it cruelly as you point your finger and laugh.

    one afternoon and evening


Previously:


the first five, 1-5
the second five, 6-10
the third five, 11-15
the fourth five, 16-20
the fifth five, 21-25
the sixth five, 26-30
the seventh five, 31-35
the eighth five, 36-40
the ninth five, 41-45
the tenth five, 46-50
the eleventh five, 51-55
the twelfth five, 56-60
the thirteenth five, 61-65
the fourteenth five, 66-70
the fifteenth five, 71-75
the sixteenth five, 76-80
the seventeenth five, 81-86

8 comments:

  1. I think P&P&Z is an interesting read for some folks if only to chuckle at the added Zombie stuff -- otherwise, it's quirky like a certain movie that's a ubiquitous social meme (GOSH!)

    And I empathize with Snoopy's writing.

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  2. .

    One thing I forgot to say about P&P&Z is that its biggest misstep is the opening line: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

    Stupid.

    This opening line suggests this is a book about zombies. Not so. This is a book about a boy and girl (with added zombie mayhem).

    I understand the impulse to add zombies to the famous opening line, but it could have been done intelligently. Some examples:

    "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife just as a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

    "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, no matter the amount of satisfaction he receives beheading and burning the minions of Satan, must ultimately be in want of a wife."

    "Much as zombies in the possession of hell are in want of quivering human flesh to feast upon, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

    Pick one. Any of those add zombies without potentially misleading the reader as to the book's central story.

    Remember, Seth: the zombies are window dressing.

    Gosh!

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  3. I am 100% with you on P&P&Z.

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  4. Thanks for this. That quote from Charlotte does make me feel that it might be worth reading the first 99 pages of P&P&Z.

    I think Quirk's next title should be A Tale of Two Werewolves.

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  5. .

    Not a bad idea at all. That could work very nicely.

    I've decided I want to rewrite The Scarlet Letter, but I haven't decided what to introduce. Given the geography, maybe Cthulhu. But is that in the public domain? Or zeitgeisty enough?

    I suppose it wouldn't hurt to send a letter.....

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  6. I liked P&P&Z. I especially liked the discussion questions.

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  7. .

    I did like those. Definitely.

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