The Last Temptation (Neil Gaiman)

I promise that this will be my last graphic novel book review for a little while.  I'm sure you guys are getting sick of them.  But, I just had to go on a little mini-rant about how awesome this book was.  First, it was written by Neil Gaiman, who writes nothing but awesome, except for his Sandman series, and possibly Stardust.  I don't remember much of that, except I didn't like it.  Second, it includes Alice Cooper!  That's right!  The Last Temptation was actually written in conjunction with Alice Cooper's concept album of the same name.  So, yay!

The story is about Steven, a high school kid who follows a creepy showman (who looks a hell of a lot like ol' Alice) into an abandoned theatre for a once-in-a-lifetime performance.  While there, the showman invites him to join the show...permanently.  And, being the charming master of dark creepy things that he is, the showman allows him some time to think things through.  He offers him a life of fun and excitement, free from pain and responsibility and growing old.  And in return, all Steven needs to give up is his potential.

It's a creepy story, certainly.  But, it was fun to read.  And it combined one of my favorite authors and one of my favorite musicians.  I never thought I'd pick up a Neil Gaiman book with Alice Cooper in it.  And I found it completely by accident, as I was checking in books at work. 

The version I was reading was in black and white, but there is apparently also a color version out.  I'll be trying to get my hands on a copy of that next.

The best part for me, however, was the concept album, The Last Temptation, that went along with the book.  I read the book first, then got the CD through inter-library loan (ILL).  I won't go into details here, but the music was WONDERFUL.  Gaiman suggests pairing the two together for the ultimate reading experience, but by the time I figured out that there was an album, I was already too committed to "starting this book today, dammit!"  

(Sometimes, I fear I take after Lost in Space's Dr. Smith.  "Smith!  Don't eat that!  You don't even know what it is!"  "Oh, nonsense, it looks delicious.  And if it were poison, I evolved palate would be able to detect it".  Or, in my case: "Em!  Don't read that yet!  You have to wait until the CD comes." "Oh, nonsense, this book looks awesome!  It won't be a big deal at all."  And maybe it was.  I won't really know.  If you do the "correct" thing and pair the two up, please let me know how it affected your reading experience.)

Overall, it was a fun book.  Was it the greatest graphic novel I've read?  No.  But, it was fun.  And that's really what's important to me.  Yeah, sometimes I felt it was a bit hokey.  And the "Lost in America" sequence dragged a bit, because the dialogue was straight from the song lyrics.  Nothing wrong with that, per se, but have you ever heard someone "say" song lyrics?  It just doesn't sound right.  And it doesn't read right, either.  But, the story was cool in that sort of vaguely creepy atmospheric way.  It reminded me of the time I tried to read Something Wicked This Way Comes, and then had to return it to the library because I ran out of renewals.  Or even of the feeling in the air at the end of September to late October when you sit outside in a lawn chair watching the leaves swirl around while reading books about vampires and other bogeymen.  Keeping that in mind, I plan on picking it up again this October.  Hopefully it'll be a fun read.

Scott Pilgrim 1-6 (Bryan Lee O'Malley)

I've been reading a lot of graphic novels lately.  (As I'm sure some of you surmised from my post on Sandman, quickly followed by one on Scott Pilgrim.  I guess a lot of people have been recommending them to me lately (first those two girls at work, and now my brother).  While I was pretty lukewarm about the Sandman series, however, I loved Scott Pilgrim.

Why?  Well, it's a fun series!  And it takes full advantage of its medium as a comic book.  The

plots are over-the-top and outrageous, but great fun to read.  Imagine this if you will: Scott Pilgrim is your average 20-something post-graduate bum.  He lives with his gay roommate, Wallace Wells, sponging off his stuff instead of getting a job, and has just started dating a 17 year old (Scott is 23), much to his friends' disgust and amusement.  Then, everything changes when Scott meets Ramona.  She's the girl of his dreams.  Literally.  Ramona has an uncanny way of wandering through Scott's head on her delivery route for Amazon.ca.  Then, they finally get to meet during the day.  And start dating.  But, before they can get too serious, Scott first has to fight Ramona's evil ex-boyfriends.  All seven of them.  But, Scott has a few skeletons in his own closet, as well.  Drama and hilarity ensue.

I first heard about this series because of the Michael Cera movie that came out a few years back.  I had liked Cera's performance in Juno, and so when my brother told me about Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, I was curious.  And it was a really good movie.  I love video games and comic books, so the film's combination of the two was pretty awesome.

But, this isn't a review about the movie!  We're talking about the book (if you're interested in the movie, you can read my movie review at Cinema Sweetheart's Film Reviews.

If you liked the movie, I would highly recommend the books, since there is so much more to the plot and to the characters in the books.  And if you weren't a huge fan of the film, I would still suggest checking out at least the first couple of books. 

I really loved that the characters were more developed in the graphic novels than in the movies (since there was more room to let them run free).  Plus, there are extra characters who don't make it into the movie at all!  I hope that by this point, most of my readers know how important characters are to me when I'm reading a book.  Plot is certainly important, but highly developed characters are like crack to me.  I was especially pleased with the characters of Roxie, Kim, Wallace, and Joseph.  Roxie is that little pigtailed girl in the picture just above this.  I found her more sympathetic in the books (still evil, but more sympathetic).  Kim comes across as a bit of a bitch in the movie, but in the comics, honestly, she was probably my favorite character (after Wallace, Scott's gay roommate.  That man is perfect).  And of course, I don't think Joseph even makes an appearance in the film.  But, he's bearded and sarcastic, and perfect.

But, it's not just about the characters.  Do you like action?  Well, how about fights with seven evil exes?  Or mysterious sword-wielding Chinese man with sunglasses and an epic black duster jacket?  There are battles of the bands, love triangles, parallelograms, and trapezoids.  Every time I would crack open the next book, I was surprised.  It was just a great collection of books.  I want to go into more details, but I'm afraid I'll start giving spoilers, so I'm going to shut up now.  But, check out the books!!  The first one is Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life.

Sandman 1-3 (Neil Gaiman)

I have a sort of love-hate relationship with Neil Gaiman.  On one hand, I think he is brilliant.  I love his novels, and his short stories are simply to die for!  On the other hand, his writing is pretty dark.  Actually, it can get very dark.  And that's where I have some issues with him.  Not because he's dark (like chocolate, sometimes I like my books dark), but because he can be too dark.  And then I get uncomfortable or depressed.

I think that's sort of where I am right now with Neil Gaiman's Sandman series.  Out of 10 graphic novels, I've read 3.  And I'm seriously considering stopping here.

Perhaps, before continuing, a bit of background is in order?  The Sandman series reads almost like a dream, confusing, convoluted, and fascinating.  The plot lines sort of run all over the place, but the main focus centers around one character in particular: Lord Morpheus, or Dream.  That's him to the left.  Morpheus is one of the Endless, a group of beings who existed before the "gods" of Neil Gaiman's world, and will exist after they have faded away.  There are 7 of these (Death, Desire, Dream, Delirium, Destruction, Destiny, and Despair).

In theory, it's an interesting series.  In Book 1, Morpheus is captured by a scholar who wants to live forever, and believes the best way to achieve this is to capture Death.  But, he captures her little brother Dream instead.  During his 70 years of imprisonment, Dream is unable to control the forces of dreaming and waking, and much of the world falls into chaos.  When he escapes, all hell breaks loose in his attempt to seek revenge and set things right.   The rest of the stories seem to jump around a lot.  Sometimes they are in the present, and sometimes in the past.  Dream meets Shakespeare, serial killers, and ordinary people who have no idea what they are getting themselves into.

I'm just not as into it as I thought I would be so far.  And that's always a disappointing

feeling.  Especially since this series got such high recommendations from two of my co-workers, one of whom enjoys similar books to me.  But, I suppose you can't win them all, and after 3 books of Sandman, I think I'm ready to move on to something new.  With work and classes, especially, I find that if I'm not really into something, then it's best to just pass it on and read something else.  I have time, but I don't have the luxury of infinite time to read as much as I might want to.

(You should see the stack of books lying on my bedroom floor!  Eek!  I'm not sure when I'll have time to read any of them!)

One thing I really liked about the series was in Book 2.  I'm not sure how much I've talked about him here, but I really like the works of British Christian author GK Chesterton, and was delightfully surprised to see him featured in the second installment, Doll's House, as a physical manifestation of a piece of the Dreamlands.  He was actually pretty cool, too, coming across as very heroic, larger than life, and very human for something that is really only the stuff of dreams.  So, that was a nice little tidbit for me.  While I won't be reading much Sandman anymore (or probably NO Sandman, I think I will be picking up more Chesterton.  Just for a change of pace.

Dear Cute Guy at Work

Stop trying to get under my skin.

Yes, you're adorable.  I'm not denying that.  I'm not even going to try.  But, please, stop making me jittery, teasing until I blush, pointing like a kindergartner , making me stick out my tongue in a childish last resort.

And don't give me that "Oh, I'm not that great" line of crap, or the one about how you feel so bad for yourself.  I see that smirk tugging at the corner of your mouth.  And it's really hot.  And that bugs me.

I can't keep hiding my smiles behind my hand.  I'm trying to be professional, and that's hard to do when you're making me laugh.  I'm not interested in this sort of thing.  Not right now.  And you're so not right for me.  On so many levels.  For so many reasons.

But, your eyes are so blue and your curls so blond.  God, you're pretty.

Yeah, just stop, and I think we'll both be fine.

Jeeves and the Wedding Bells (Sebastian Faulks)

Before we go any further, I just want to let you all know that I have written a review for this book and posted it on Goodreads.  I'm not going to post it here, because I feel like there are some spoilers included and I don't want to give away anything.  If you DID read the book already, or really just don't mind spoilers, then here's the link.  By all means, go ahead and read a bit.  Tell me what you think.

I've been reading PG Wodehouse since I was in junior high, and my dear friend Sarah first told me about this awesome author she picked up.  And at the time, I wasn't overly excited about old Plum.  I didn't actually start reading his works seriously until, while working on a project about Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, I discovered that there was a musical about a bumbling aristocrat and his butler Jeeves.  I loved the musical, and that got me to check out the books.

That was as a freshman in high school.  I was, what, 14?  15?  Now, nearly ten years later, I have to admit that I haven't picked up a Wodehouse book since early this past summer.  Scratch that.  It's probably been longer.  And that's a real shame.  However, the appearance of The Code of the Woosters under my Christmas tree this year has sparked a desire to read the books again.

Jeeves and the Wedding Bells is not a Wodehouse novel, PG or otherwise.  It is, however, a tribute novel written by Sebastian Faulks in honor of one of the greatest humor writers of our time.  That being said, I had some general concerns before picking it up.  I mean, I've read tribute novels and adaptations for other characters, such as Sherlock Holmes, but for me, Wodehouse has always been something sort of sacred.  And I was afraid that this wouldn't live up to my expectations.

On its own, it was a fun story.  Bertie Wooster met a girl, Georgiana, while vacationing in France and fell in love.  They treated each other as brother and sister, though, and when they both returned to England, they promised to keep in touch. Well, circumstances bring them back together, and Bertie learns that his new-found love is engaged to someone else (but out of a sense of duty, not love).  Meanwhile, Bertie's childhood friend "Woody" Beeching is having some difficulties of his own.  He's engaged to Georgiana's cousin, Amelia, and unless Georgiana marries a rich man who is able to keep the family patriarch from selling the estate, Amelia will have to marry someone else, since Woody does not have the funds.  Torn between a sense of loyalty to his boyhood chum and the affairs of his own heart, Bertie has to step in and play match-maker in order to make things right for everyone.  To make matters worse, a spot of confusion and a few poorly-worded utterances by Woody has convinced his future father-in-law that Jeeves is actually an aristocrat, Lord Etringham, and Bertie is his valet, Wilberforce.  Only crazy confusion can ensue.  And what follows is a genuinely amusing book.

There were some issues, of course.  But, it wasn't that bad.  My main issue, really, was that while this is advertised as a Bertie and Jeeves book, it doesn't have the same feel.  Yes, the characters have the same names, and their personalities are pretty much the same, but there is something that just felt off.  And honestly, it wasn't until I started writing this paragraph that I figured out what it was.  The focus was not so much on how splendid Jeeves is at getting Bertie out of the messes he gets himself into, or even about how perfect this Wooster plan is before it all goes up in smoke.  It was more of a introspective look at things.  This B. Wooster sounds more mature, if that makes sense.  No squabbling, no childish rants and frustrations.  He seems more mature, more humbled, and more reserved.  Perhaps that's what happens to an aristocrat when he has to act as undercover butler for the woman he loves and her fiancee.  I don't really know.  But, it was a different sort of book than what I have grown accustomed to with Wodehouse.  Sure, it was still funny, but while I would shelve Code of the Woosters, Thank You, Jeeves, and Aunts aren't Gentlemen in the humor section of the Emmy Hart library, Jeeves and the Wedding Bells would fit better in general fiction.  It reads more like a drama.

Would I recommend it?  Yes.  Would I read it again?  Also, yes.  And would I buy a copy for my personal collection?  I only hesitate here for a moment.  Yes, I think I would.  The more I think about it, the more I enjoyed it.  However, I have to say, I don't think this is one of those books which you can tackle expecting it to read like Wodehouse.  If you do, you're going to be disappointed.  I would read it like any other book, but don't expect too much of Plum's flair.  I think if you approach the text with different expectations, you're going to enjoy it a lot more.

Sorry About That!

I've been told on multiple occasions that I apologize too much.  It's not that even something I consciously do.  Sometimes, I just feel really bad that I wasn't able to make things work out for someone the way I thought it should have, or I feel like I've inconvenienced them in some way.  Sometimes it's true.  Other times, no one really cares.

If they were inconvenienced and don't have a heart of stone, even the gruffest library patrons are usually mollified by a steady stream of timid sorry's.

Sometimes, though, they feel the need to point this out to me.  "You know," they say, "you don't have to keep apologizing!"  Or, the more embarrassing "You say sorry a lot."  And what's the proper response?  Probably "Oh, I didn't realize," or maybe I should just laugh it off.

But, instead, I just say "I'm sorry".

A Johannes Cabal Update

Well, it's official.  I've read every available Johannes Cabal story.  I've read all three novels and all five short stories.  Yes, I could also explore the wild world of fan-fiction, but I tried that once as a college freshman and barely made it out with my life and my sanity.  Let a bunch of hormonal teenagers write stories about their favorite characters, and you will not believe the Frankenstein monsters they create.  I'll stick to the series canon, thank you very much!

Still, it's a little sad.  I was so excited to finally get my hands on these books and stories, and now I have to wait for an indefinite amount of time until the fourth book comes out in the States.  (I can't find anything about it on Goodreads, but according to a podcast I found online, Jonathan L. Howard DOES have a book on the way: The Brothers Cabal).  Don't listen to the podcast until you've read book 3 (The Fear Institute) first, however, since the excerpt being read contains a huge spoiler otherwise. 

Educational?  Yes.  Spoilers?  Also yes.  Don't do it.

I did get my hands on the audio book version of book 1 from the library, though, and used my Christmas Barnes and Nobel giftcard to buy the book itself.  My nights have been spent listening and reading along in the quiet of the house after everyone else has gone to sleep.  And so far, it's been pretty wonderful.

I find I've been reading a lot more fantasy lately.  Or, perhaps I've always read a lot of fantasy, but I'm just starting to realize it.  Either way, my days have been crammed with stories of monsters and wizards, zombies, ancient evil, and heroes.  It's been pretty great.  Though, at the same time, I've also been trying to read more non-fiction between books to sort of bring me back down to earth.  Too many good fantasy novels, one right after the other, tends to dilute their potency.  But, if you read a good memoir or a book about animals or space or a famous scientist, then the fantastical aspects of your other reading just sort of jump off the page.  Or, at least it does for me.  Which is why, following The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Neil Gaiman), I've started reading The World's Strongest Librarian (Josh Hanagarne), which is pretty good so far.  I've been reading for about two days, and I think I'm over halfway done.

Still, I'm a bit disappointed about my Johannes Cabal books.  It just feels like a sort of grim finality that I haven't experienced since high school, when I devoured Jasper Fforde's books (all three series of them) with the same voraciousness.

Oh well.  I guess all I can do is wait, right?  At least there will be more Cabal sometime.