Since everyone is talking about it...

To be honest, one of the things that inspired me to resume writing this blog was the frequency with which I was getting asked my opinion about the new Hunger Games movie. So, that is where I am starting. And this way I can say it once and for all and then not have to repeat it! :-)

I read the entire Hunger Games trilogy over the course of four days last spring. I admit to loving young adult literature and had been meaning to look into this trilogy for awhile, having heard what a stir it is causing. So, when I saw it listed on the required reading for my English Teaching Methodology class that quarter, I was extremely pleased. And I was not disappointed.

If you have not read the series yet, just go ahead and do it. It is going to be one of those icons of our time, like Twilight and like Harry Potter before that. And it is a little closer in general appeal to the latter than the former in that there is a lot more action and a lot less romance. So there is definitely appeal to a wider audience.

I often get asked if adults would like it even though it is YA lit. My response: it should only barely be YA. In fact, I hesitate to recommend it to kids, although I was not surprised that almost every seventh grader in my classroom this year had read it. This series is intense and often violent. I won't lie, it took a four hour walk and some rum to recover after I finished the third book. Intense.

But this isn't a review of the books. The people asking my opinion have all read the books and if you like to read enough that you are here, you probably have too. This is about my feelings on the movie.

So, what I have failed to mention is that in my year long absence I have also returned to another passion of mine: acting. I resumed training last spring and have been doing some filming on various Indie projects through the fall and winter. I even did a stint as Associate Producer for a webseries briefly to help develop my understanding of the production side of things. This, combined with my background in literary studies, means that I watch films with a different eye than a lot of people. And that eye left me with mixed feelings about this movie.

First, I have to acknowledge that any time a director or a production team takes on filming an icon like this series, they face a lot of pressure from fans to get it right. And a lot of money rides on this. So, I get that the decision about what should carry over are difficult.

I think that there is a lot to praise about this project. First of all, the books are incredibly internal and a lot of the plot revolves around Katniss, solo in the arena, thinking things through. How do you film that? In this regard, the film makers took an approach that I think worked well. I loved the expansion of the roles of Cesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith as narrators, allowing them to explain some of the things that Katniss would have been thinking. Further, I really enjoyed seeing the games from the gamemakers and Capitol citizen's perspectives. This added some depth in areas where it was needed. Similarly, I enjoyed the expansion of the roles of Seneca Crane and President Snow as well. I think it was a good idea to establish Snow's character early on and his juxtaposition with Crane's relative "innocence" was beautifully written. Particularly because the role of the stylists will be more limited, I liked using Crane as a vehicle to show how Capitol citizens understood the games in a shallow entertaining manner and failed to really examine their brutal impact. And I admit that I really enjoyed the plot twist in which (movie/book difference spoiler alert, if you haven't seen the movie and care about this stuff, skip ahead...) Haymitch is responsible for convincing Seneca Crane to allow two winners! I think that adds a cool new dimension.

Although I was initially skeptical about the decision to use the Shakycam style of filming, I think it worked here and it wasn't overdone. When I first heard about the decision, I was having flashbacks to being motion sick while watching Blair Witch Project and got a little nervous. But no worries, they keep it in control and it game the film a more documentary feel. Now, I still have a few thoughts about this ahead, but at least it didn't DETRACT from the film.

Finally, I loved, loved, loved Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. Nailed it. No one else can ever be Katniss. The girl owned it. I also adored Lenny Kravitz as Cinna. He embodied that role so beautifully and I get angry at all the haters out there. I get especially angry at the ignorant racial comments about Lenny as Cinna or about the casting of Rue and Thresh. Read the books, folks. And even if it wasn't already in the books, GET OVER IT PEOPLE. I, for one, am always thrilled when solid, choice roles can go to people of color. Hollywood could still use some work in the diversity department.

Ok, now for what was missing. And for me, this was huge.

This saga is going to suffer from the opposite problem that Twilight had. In that case, there was not a whole lot of action in the plot and thus the films could revolve entirely around the character developments. In fact, there was so little real plot action that the film had to add stuff to make it viewable. In this case, however, there is way too much action. So the filmmakers are faced with a huge dilemma. What do you cut without upsetting fans? So, they made the decision to cut almost nothing, as far as action goes. And, in my opinion, this sacrificed so much more.

What I loved most about the books was the emotional richness of the characters struggling to comprehend and deal with their realities. This is a classical dystopian series and is meant to leave the reader really examining social issues. Further, Collins has written it well enough that, at least for me, I could really feel the knitty gritty realities as if I were there. There were so many stunning points of emotional tension that it was a truly powerful read. So, I was really excited to see what could be done when put into the more versatile media of film. However, in trying to keep all of the action points while still fitting into a feature length film time frame, there was little room left to really allow these points of tension to settle in. Everything moved way too quickly for any one issue or moment to resonate.

Let's start with the obvious. I am not overly emotional. But I have never been able to make it through a reading of Rue's death scene without sobbing. Like really, full on crying. It is that well written. And each time I would sit there contemplating all the great ways that film could represent this scene using all of the resources available. Music, editing, perspective...so many possibilities!

When I watched this scene in the movie I didn't even feel a tug. The only emotion I felt was disappointment. And this is in NO way a reflection on the acting talents of Jennifer or Amandla. Both of them are tremendously talented and powerful actresses and I look forward to seeing more from both of them. No, this was an issue created on the other side of the camera.

Similarly, in the novel, the scene in which Thresh spares Katniss' life in exchange for her treatment of Rue is incredibly powerful. There are so many layers of feeling there. He knows it is life or death. She knows this. Neither likes to owe someone. There are duty, compassion, confusion, anger, and so many other emotions going on in this scene. And again, both actors have the range and talent to represent this scene. But we weren't given the time for them to do this! The moment was lost because we needed to see every action high point.

I could go on and on like this. But the bottom line for me is that something that can be and has already been such a vehicle to provoke thought about social issues and the human experience has been sacrificed on the alter of entertaining action scenes. And that breaks my heart. But I don't blame the filmmakers either. When you are dealing with a series like this, you know you will be making difficult decisions and that it will be impossible to appease all of the fans. I think, in general, they made the decision that will appease the most fans because, sadly, I think most young fans are not going to interact with these texts as deeply as they could. Most won't even have the frame of reference with which to do so. They will be looking at the film in the only way they know how and that means they want to hit a checklist of scenes to feel satisfied.

Finally, one last note, bringing us back to the shakycam technique decision. I see where there were going with this approach and in considering the choices they needed to make and the direction they had to take, I think it is a cool choice. The use of this technique lends the film an almost documentary feel, almost as if you are there with the characters. And for this product, I like it. HOWEVER, a side effect of this technique is that is reinforces a distance between viewer and characters because if you are there with them then you can't BE them. And I am afraid that this might have lent to the final effect of being lacking in the emotional richness of the books. More traditional methods could have allowed the filmmakers to use different techniques to "emotionally manipulate" the viewers into feeling tensions and emotions through perspectives, lighting, music and so on. But it is what it is and I think the choice fits well with the product they created.

Ok, so I think I put it all out there. Hope that makes sense to all of you. And I have to reiterate that my overall opinion of the series is still very positive and I can't wait to see how they continue it! And I would still KILL for a role in this franchise! ;-)

So, that said, looks like it is back to final writing. Yaaaaayy...{silent sob} I think I can, I think I can...

Sairs

I'm back!

I know it has been a long time...ok, more than a year. But I finally decided it was time to come back and talk books again! A TON has happened in the last year and some of that will influence how this blog looks going forward. Remember the PhD program I was in when I started my book project? Yeah, I got fed up with it. Long story, but basically, although I had been blessed during my undergraduate and first masters program with AMAZING professors and an academically rich and supportive environment, that was NOT the case this time around. I realized that I did not want to spend my life working with people as....well, let's just say I didn't want to be around an environment if it wasn't as enriching as the one to which I had grown accustomed at the University of Arkansas. Further, if I was going to be teaching people, I wanted to return to working with young people. So, I switched to the Masters in Teaching program last April and have been hard at work on that program ever since. As of this coming Friday, I am done and ready to put school behind me! That also means that I will finally have the opportunity again to really put some time into reading good books, which brings us back to you...

I have missed reading books and thinking about them! And I have missed sharing that with you! (Yep, all seven of you... ;-) ) But I realized that there is a lot more out there to discuss than just literary works. Now that I am no longer confined by a 100 book project, I can take the time to examine other media as well. So you might see some movie or television reviews. You might even see some music reviews. And if you want to see something else, just ask!

One other change you might see: new voices. As tedious as this last (and, I swear, FINAL) academic program has been this past year, one bonus has been the acquisition of some amazing friends. Several of them have expressed interest in contribution thoughts on books and other media as well. So I have invited them to submit their reviews and thoughts. In the case that a post is coming from someone else, you will see their names in front of the title. Ideally, I will also give you a little blurb about them so you know who they are. I think this is a great way to bring some other perspectives into the blog.

Ok, so, full disclosure, I am writing this as a break from my finals, so excuse the frantic, random nature of this post, but, hey, it is what it is!
Thanks to the seven of you still with me!
Sarah

Literary Comfort Food

Hey all! As indicated in my earlier post about how this year was going to play out, I took January more or less off from reviewing. I have read ten books this month, but I won't be reviewing them as they were all fun books. I love doing the blog and the reviews, but sometimes it is nice just to read guilty pleasure books and not have to think about things to say for them. It was a good mixture of classics and sentimental YA stuff. I have started my project of working my way through Dickens with Oliver Twist. So glad I finally read it. And it was interesting to read Dickens again after having studied other notable novalists from whom Dickens derived inspiration. Specifically, Dickens is said to have admired and to an extent emulated the amazing yet less often known by modern readers Henry Fielding. I can very clearly see his influence in Dicken's writing now. That is kind of fun, making connections and stuff. I am also working through Shakespeare. I will try to hit one Dickens and one Shakespeare a month roughly. I started with Romeo and Juliet. I swear that story never gets old. And I adore the fact about myself that I can read it again and again and each time honestly and genuinely hope it will play out differently this time. But seriously, that story is pretty much the original YA fiction novel, right? Beyond that I took several strolls down memory lane, rereading series and books from my teens and youth. Overall, it was refreshing to read randomly. Which brings to mind a caution I would like to remind myself. I started this as a break from reading for requirement. Should I worry when I really enjoy a break from my break reading?? Oh well, let's see what next month brings. Valentine's day is coming up, so maybe I need some good sappy books. Or not. Whatever.
Keep reading!
Sarah

Reading means READING, not listening

Hey everyone! Still working on my first book of the year. Dicken's is decidedly wordy, but decidedly worth it. But I just wanted to throw a quick thought up on the board. I just now stumbled upon an eHow article allegedly providing instructions on how to read 100 books in a year. I was, naturally, intrigued and wanted to see how they recommend going about such a feat. Much to my surprise, they instructed the potential "avid reader" to march directly to the audio section of their local library. Sorry folks, unless you have a legitimate reason (i.e., you are physically unable to read because you have no vision), listening to audio books does not count! I know people are busy. I get it. But the skills used in passively listening to a book being read at you are entirely different from those skills used in actually sitting down and using your own mind in reading. Among other things, it is well proven (trust me, I study language instruction and acquisition) that when people read, they do so in a circular fashion, sometimes reading straight through a section, but often re-reading passages or lines multiple times to get the right feeling or understanding. When you listen, the material is presented in a linear fashion. You can't "re-read" a line, you can't go at your own pace, in short, you will not get the same understanding or experience. Further, if you are listening to an audio book while you drive, I sincerely hope you are not getting as into that book as when you actively read, because if you are, that means you are not as focused on the road as you should be. I have a long commute of an hour or more each way, daily. I listen to music.

Come on folks, turn off the technology and pick up a dadgum book. No cheating! If you need or want to count a small handful of audio books a year, fine, but please don't go all audio on me!

On that note, have a lovely (book-filled) day!
Keep reading (not listening...)
Sarah

Final thoughts for 2010 and welcome to 2011

Well, 2010 has come and gone. I didn't quite meet my goal of 100 books but I came pretty darn close and I learned a lot along the way. I tried never to read when it was a chore. The last thing I wanted out of this was to find myself forcing reading time in a way that would lead to book burnout. That being said, it was a fine line, because when I shifted focus into looking at different kinds of books and reviewing, I felt the need to finish books I might not otherwise have finished. So I never felt the urge to not be reading, but often wished I were reading something else. I often debated the benefits of this approach. On the one hand, in effect I wasted some time by pushing through books that were real duds (ahem, TruBlood books...), but on the other hand, I ended up discovering some real jewels among books that I would have discarded after the first couple of chapters if I didn't feel pushed to finish them. A friend recently asked what I did in situations where I was non-plussed after the first chapters and I honestly don't know what to recommend. It is so hard to anticipate which books will get better as the pages go by! Perhaps the easiest approach, for those who are pressed for time, is to find a book "guru" or reviewer with tastes similar to your own. And I stress that it is important that you have similar literary tastes! Don't just go to a mainstream reviewer, say New York Times or Oprah, unless you have agreed with their conclusions in the past. But even with good reviews, there is no guarantee with reading. It is so personal!

As the year progressed, so did my book speed. Some asked me whether or not I was still reading the books thoroughly. I hope my reviews attest to the fact that, yes, I did read them all completely. Even when I didn't like them! The change in speed is a reflection of my changing habits and schedule. As I started to make reading more important, I started devoting more time to it. We cancelled our cable subscription over the summer and I made other similar changes which allowed increasingly more time for reading as the year went on. Similarly, in the late winter and spring I was enrolled in reading heavy course. Long term followers will remember my struggles with completeling Richardson's Clarissa while also maintaining my personal reading. By the time I reached fall quarter I was enrolled in more practical application classes which involved significantly less reading, thus freeing up more space for personal reading.

I began one of my new classes for this quarter yesterday and as part of an ice breaker we were asked to tell our favorite book or movie of the year. Surprisingly, I was stumped. This happens all the time. I frequently get asked for the best book I read last year or for good recommendations. I wish such an answer were so easy! I read 82 books (or 104, depending on how you look at it) and I have to admit that the books I read last February, for example, are starting to get fuzzy. I can't call a list to mind instantly of all the books I read and sort through it for good ones. Inevitably I forget great books when faced with these questions. I could, perhaps, more easily answer a question broken into categories, such as "What was the best memoir you read last year" or "what was the best of the YA fiction you read?" But even these would be hard to answer with finality. Take for example, the YA paranormal review I did. I found several really great books (and some duds) in that genre. But to name a favorite would be hard because several come to mind depending on my mood. Stiefvater's, Kate's, and Mead's series all resonated well with me, but I couldn't tell you unequivically which one is best. So, I am happy to provide recommendations, and in fact love to do so, but if you really want a solid one you need to give me more of a framework! Tell me who you are, what you love, how you read, how you want to read, and so on.

Ok, moving on to the new year. In 2011 I will be continuing the blog and it will continue to evolve. At the beginning of last year I indicated that I was chronicaling my experience I would avoid reviewing. Obviously that didn't last and, actually, I quite enjoy reviewing the books. So I will continue to do that this year. I will once again, much to my husband's dismay, be trying for 100 non-required reading books in 2011. This should be easier this year, as I am switching programs away from a literature based one to a practical (teaching) program. That being said, don't expect all 100 to be reviewed and posted. I will continue to post reading experience and insight blogs occasionally, but if I am reading an older book, or a classic, I won't feel obligated to post a blog specifically for each book. You already know that Shakespeare is good. And I have a large pile of Dickens and Shakespeare waiting for me. This also allows me to read books that I don't necessarily want to talk about, but rather just want to read for sentimentality, etc. There were several books that I wanted to read or re-read last year which I avoided because I didn't know how it would come out in blog form and I don't want that to always be the case. If I want to read a crappy novel, I get to do it. I will, however, try to read and review a handful of new books each month.

Ok, that about wraps in up! Welcome to the new year and I hope this year encourages you to keep reading!
Sarah

Here is what I read in 2010:

Ok, for those of you keeping track, here is a list of all of the books I read and blogged this year. This list does not include the 22 books I read for required class reading, which included such titles as Pamela, Clarissa, Tom Jones, 1984, Hamlet, and many others. Looking back, it is a great list!

1. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier-Ishmael Beah
2. Chosen by a Horse- Susan Richards
3. The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel-Maureen Lindley
4. Sarah-Marek Halter
5. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet-Jamie Ford
6. The Wednesday Sisters-Meg Waite Clayton
7. The Gargoyle-Andrew Davidson
8. Running For My Life-Ann Gonzalez
9. The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry-Kathleen Flinn
10. The Forbidden Daughter-Shobhan Bantwal
11. Chasing Harry Winston-Lauren Wiesberger
12. The Big Bad Wolf- James Patterson
13. The Birth of Venus-Sarah Dunant
14. Wedding Girl-Madeleine Wickham
15. The Nanny Returns-Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus
16. The Art of Racing in the Rain-Garth Stein
17. The Commoner-John Burnham Schwartz
18. The Lost Symbol-Dan Brown
19. The Heretic's Daughter-Kathleen Kent
20. Mornings in Jenin-Susan Abulhawa
21. Please Stop Laughing at Me-Jodee Blanco
22. A Rather Charming Invitation-C.A. Belmond
23. Eve-Elissa Elliott
24. Good Things-Mia King
25. Nefertiti- Michelle Moran
26. The Heretic Queen-Michelle Moran
27. The Book of Night Women- Marlon James
28. Raven Stole the Moon-Garth Stein
29. In the Convent of Little Flowers-Indu Sundaresan
30. Dragon House-John Shors
31. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner-Stephenie Meyer
32. Christie-Catherine Marshall
33. Part of the Pride-Kevin Richardson
34. The House at Sugar Beach-Helene Cooper
35. The Scarlet Letter-Nathaniel Hawthorne
36. Gulliver's Travels-Jonathan Swift
37. I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced-Nujood Ali
38. Chef-Jaspreet Singh
39. Twenties Girl-Sophia Kinsella
40. Dracula-Bram Stoker
41. Beowolf-Anonynous
42. The Faerie Queene-Edmund Spenser
43. A Midsummer Night's Dream-William Shakespeare
44. Kidnapped- Robert Louis Stevenson
45. The Catcher in the Rye--.D. Salinger
46. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings-Maya Angelou
47. Wuthering Heights-Emily Bronte
48. Beloved-Toni Morrison
49. Persuasion-Jane Austin
50. Honolulu-Alan Brennert
51. Molokai-Alan Brennert
52. The Concubine's Daughter-Pai Kit Fai
53. Treasure Island- Robert Louis Stevenson
54. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde-Robert Louis Stevenson
55. Confessions of a Shopaholic-Sophie Kinsella
56. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan-Sophie Kinsella
57. Shopaholic Ties the Knot-Sophie Kinsella
58. Shopaholic and Sister-Sophie Kinsella
59. Shopaholic and Baby-Sophie Kinsella
60. Mini Shopaholic-Sophie Kinsella
61. Heart of Darkness -Joseph Conrad
62. Kim -Rudyard Kipling
63. The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening--.J. Smith
64. The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle-L.J. Smith
65. Dead Until Dark-Charlaine Harris
66. Witch & Wizard-James Patterson
67. Shiver-Maggie Stiefvater
68. Linger-Maggie Stiefvater
69. Marked-P.C. Cast, Kristen Cast
70. Fallen-Thomas Sniegoski
71. Leviathan-Thomas Sniegoski
72. Wuthering Bites- Sarah Gray
73. Hush, Hush -Becca Fitzpatrick
74. Crescendo- Becca Fitzpatrick
75. Vampire Academy-Richelle Mead
76. Frostbite- Richelle Mead
77. Blue Bloods-Melissa De La Cruz
78. Fallen-Lauren Kate
79. Torment-Lauren Kate
80. The Forgotten Garden-Kate Morton
81. Little Bee-Chris Cleave
82. Girl in a Blue Dress-Gaynor Arnold


If you really want the full list of required readings as well, just ask.

Ok, that is all I can do tonight. Chech back tomorrow for 2010's wrap up and concluding thoughts and an intro into what to expect in 2011.

Good night and happy reading to all!
Sarah

Fiction about a great fictionalist

Dickens is a literary great, there is no denying that. He also happens to be a favorite of mine. For my birthday this year, my husband got me all of his works in a matching set and, dork that I am, I am itching to start reading/re-reading them all. Great writer, excellent philanthropist and public moralist, however as a husband it appears he was a real dud. My final read of 2010 presents his marriage wrapped in fiction.

Title: Girl in a Blue Dress
Author: Gaynor Arnold
My start date: 12/27/10
My finish date: 1/1/11
Book count: 82

While it is currently known and excepted that Dickens ditched his wife for an affair with an actress, at the time it was much hidden to prevent scandal. Arnold tells the story of Dicken's previously voiceless wife in this novel, which is set during the week of the great author's death. However, technically, this story is a work of fiction and rather than calling her characters by their real names, Arnold has created pseudonyms for them. So, this is really a story of Alfred and Dorothea Gibson. But don't be fooled, it is really Dickens and his wife under scrutiny here. And Arnold stays pretty darn close to the truth. While the use of pseudonyms allows her a greater degree of artistic liberty, most of the major details seemed easily enough confirmable on wikipedia.

Arnold's narrative flips between the events in the week following the author's death and the wife's flashbacks and memories of their past together. The time flips are all very digestable, as they are almost, if not entirely chronological within their timelines.

The story itself is great. It is Dickens after all. What's not to love? Arnold clearly put a ton of research into her work and her attention to detail and obvious love of her characters is very transparent. This novel is a diamond mine of information for the Dickens-lover. Further, Arnold manages to very cleverly work in some very Dickens-esque aspects to her story, making the great author's life read very much like one of his own stories.

That being said, the prose was a little stiff in areas. Perhaps there was simply too much information being presented, but a lot of the conversations were too contrived, as if they were nothing more than pretty showboxes for the information which needed to be presented at that juncture. People don't really converse in that way. Similarly, the way the events flowed from one moment to another simply didn't feel right and often the required literary tension seemed to be missing. I couldn't quite put my finger on the problem. The material was all there and Arnold has a lot of talent, but it needs a little more development perhaps.

I did like the ending though. I won't spoil it, but the ending was right. Dickens would approve.

On that note, perhaps I will start the new year with a Dickens.

Ok folks, that is it for 2010! Check back for the year wrap up!

Keep reading!
Sarah