books are cool

This information is collected from Amazon.com and from these statistics alone, it may be safe to say that Girl on the Train is certainly the more popular read- even though both books are considered in different genres. Gone Girl does have the up in the film section because GOTT doesn't even have a movie out. I have't read Gone Girl but I have read a different piece of work from Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects, I feel that she has the talents to write a good mystery/thriller novel. You can refer to my previous blog post 'Gone Girl vs. The Girl on the Train' to read about the similarities and differences within the two books.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

The Girl on the Train vs Gone Girl

***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***

After completing Paula Hawkin's first thriller novel The Girl on the Train, I can see why some readers may see the connection between last year's most popular novel Gone Girl. Both being thrillers with unique twists capture the interest of all readers.
The basic plot of The Girl on the Train is told from three different female perspectives; Megan, the victim, Rachel, the alcoholic and Anna, the perfect housewife. Although I never read Gone Girl, I did watch the movie- which in today's society "if I watched the movie, it's pretty much like reading the book right??" (wrong). Obvious similarities between the two include the different perspectives from unreliable narrators all leading to the big question: what really happened to X?
Other similarities include a man being accused for his wife's disappearance, when in reality neither were guilty. Gone Girl is pinned with a psychotic woman whereas The Girl on the Train is just a bunch of unreliable narrators whom you gradually grow to hate (at least that's how it was for me). One reader reviews the women as "...[U]nreliable narrators with something to hide. In fact, most of the characters in this novel, including the men, lack veracity, and are a self-serving and unsympathetic group with plenty of skeletons in their closets" (Amazon.com).
Two books cannot follow the exact same layout or there would lawsuits, so the differences in these two are Gone Girl has it's "victim" Amy plan to frame her husband for murder whereas in The Girl on the Train, it's very unclear who killed Megan Hipwell until the end when pieces of the puzzle start to become more clear. The sequence of events is another major factor in both books as Gone Girl moves forward in time after Amy goes missing with the occasional flashback and The Girl on the Train has multiple jumps forward and backward in time, mostly just a few months.
Perhaps I will give Gone Girl a try now that the hype over it has died down but for now I will continue my search for another great book.

Friday, May 1, 2015

Post #6: Listicle

5 REASONS WHY TEDDY DANIELS IS NOT A GOOD COP

He suffers from intense migraines: Teddy Daniels experiences extremely painful migraines while on the island and it often puts his investigation to a halt. Although he tries to deny the medication give to him by the Warden, he cannot withstand the pain of his migraines. "Fingernails pried open the left side of his skull and poured a shaker of thumbtacks in there..." (Lehane 179). For a normal person, this wouldn't be such a big deal- they could go somewhere quiet and rest, but for Teddy, his job is so demanding that he needs to be constantly aware of what is going on. Suffering from a migraine keeps him from being taken seriously if he often takes ill.
He has woman problems: Throughout the book, the reader is able to get small glances at who Teddy's wife was as a person. She was quite the charmer when they first met but then Teddy describes her as someone who has changed- something he doesn't like. Dolores, died in a burning building, now haunts Teddy during his investigation. Before she died, it was as if she could not be controlled by Teddy, she became a pretty unstable being. "Teddy hated when she did this. Memory Lane. She couldn't adapt to the present, to who they were now, warts and all, so she drove winding lanes into the past to warm herself" (Lehane 127). For Teddy, along with everything else going on, having his dead wife constantly be coming up is extremely distracting and Teddy isn't the best multi-tasker.
He has an inability to follow the strict guidelines: On Shutter Island, there are three wards. Ward A and Ward B are the separated men and women's ward. Then there's Ward C. Maximum security for the maximum offenders. All the 100% insane people live in Ward C, like Rachel Solando, who was in for drowning her three children while he husband was away at work. Upon arriving on the island, Teddy and Chuck are told that only authorized officials are allowing into Ward C and even though the two are federally appointed marshals, it doesn't matter. But being the officer that Teddy is, he convinces Chuck to sneak into Ward C disguised as orderlies in order to gain more information about Rachel Solando and who the mysterious 67th patient is. Chuck tries to get Teddy to leave, immediately regretting the decision to enter, "We need to go right back out, Teddy. We need to leave. This is bad. You can feel it, I can feel it" (Lehane 221). Again, being the great cop that Teddy Daniels is, he proceeds into Ward C.
His need for danger: During an intense tropical storm on their first few days on the island, Teddy and Chuck are determined to find Rachel Solando, this missing inmate, and set out on a search to find her. A clue left by Rachel infiltrates Teddy's mind and he is set on discovering out what it really means. The only set back being that it is pouring rain and the men are soaked to the bone. Eventually, some of the orderlies come driving down the beach in a Jeep searching for the two stray marshals. " 'This has just been upgraded from a tropical storm to a hurricane. Winds are coming in at around a hundred miles an hours right now. By midnight, they're expected to hit a hundred fifty. And you guys go strolling off in it?'" (Lehane 158). By putting himself in danger, Teddy is only looking the quickest route to getting killed. Especially with such a high security mental institute plus having no authority, Teddy and Chuck should've aired on the side of caution but instead they go wherever the storm takes them.
**SPOILER!!!**

He isn't a real cop: Yes, unfortunately true but Teddy Daniels is just a crazed mental patient at Shutter Island. The whole gig of him trying to find out about the mysterious Rachel Solando was just an act to amuse Teddy and hopefully try and get him back to normal. All was an experiment done by the doctors and orderlies. When Teddy tried to plea his case that he's actually a real cop, they give him his gun and let him shoot. "And Teddy shot him dead center in the chest. Then he raised his hands a half an inch and shot Cawley in the face. With water" (Lehane 339).

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Post 5: Truth in Memoirs

In today’s world, our society has become so obsessed with putting labels on everything. This can range from people, food, movies and literature. For a book to be considered a “non-fiction”, I think it really depends on the person. For me, personally, I feel that a book should be at least 98% true, allowing room for those tiny details to be exaggerated so the author seems cooler than they really are. Focusing on the main story of any work of writing is extremely important and if an author has to go so far as to faking their entire life in order to write a story- it might as well be considered “fiction”. I became very angry during Wednesday’s class when we were given four stories and asked which we think were true and which were not. One of the stories about a half Native American girl raised with gang members seemed like a heart-breaking yet inspiring tale of how she overcame her hardships, when in reality she was a white American that went to private school and lived a happy life. She ought to get “LIAR” tattooed onto her forehead. This leads into the half-truths dilemma and I’m pretty sure it’s already been addressed about how I feel towards half-truth stories. With the twenty-first century booming with all kinds of grand technology and innovative ways of thinking, nothing can remain a secret. In Frey’s case, he was a complete idiot to think that lying about medical records and criminal reports would actually go unnoticed. Everyone is nosey and putting yourself out there for the media to judge you, you better know you’re going to get ripped apart. With David Shields, he brought up an interesting idea, a way to write a book that wasn’t in any of his own words. I do think that he was a bit cocky to go forth and say on the Conan show that he gave no credit to the origin of the quote except for in the back of the book where it was written in small print. He really didn’t need to go that far into making his point across and it actually made me despise him. But he does bring up a good point about putting labels on things. However, books have always been this way. Order and stability are what we (try to) thrive on. Changing it and completely getting rid of genres would cause chaos. I think everyone just needs to stop trying to sound smarter than they really are and leave the author/artists purpose to itself. Quit trying to change everything to fit your way of standards.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Post 4: Adapting Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I believe that in order to make a successful adaption for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, you would need to make sure these things are included in the film;

The grandfather's past needs to be accurately portrayed in the film in some kind of flashback that resembles the letters he writes in the book. Also putting these letters in somewhat of an order, as one segment in the movie rather than having them scattered throughout like the book does- I found this very hard to understand who the letter was addressed to especially when the grandma wrote a letter and attached a letter inside of that letter (letterception!).

This is important because throughout the book, we read these letters that the grandfather writes and we learn about his past and how he lost his words. As a reader, we can start to develop an emotional connection to him and we want things to turn out alright for him. Although he plays such a small role within Oskar's father and Oskar’s life, in the end, Oskar does join up with the grandfather even though he is still unaware that the renter is of relation to him.

I would cut the scene involving Oskar acting in Hamlet. Although this was an amusing scene featuring all of the Black's he had met sitting in the audience, as well as his intense and graphic description of beating a fellow actor- it would just take time up in the movie that could be better focused on some other scene. This scene in the book is also very focused within Oskar’s thoughts and not very much dialogue so it would be more work to come up with a dialogue that would suit this scene.
Oskar is the narrator of the book and having this in a film would obviously be very boring to an audience if they had to listen to a voice over the entire movie. I suggest giving Oskar some sort of outlet to express his inner thoughts and feelings because in the book, they were very apparent and actually made the book very interesting. This could be done in a variety of ways, maybe a journal or adding another companion. Mr. Black does come in to join Oskar's journey but this is only towards the middle-end of the book. Having him join earlier could be beneficial rather than pairing Oskar up with some made up character that doesn't follow the book. It would be quite tricky but I feel that as a film producer, having Oskar’s thoughts cut out would really take away from the character and only leave the audience to interpretations of who he is rather than getting the full feel of him.

(Also he isn't wearing white! What's up with that Hollywood?!)

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Post 3: Book 1 Project

*Website includes disturbing images and may be too offensive for minors. Recommended for viewers over 18 or with parental supervision.*

No one is perfect in Wind Gap. Pretty girls don’t live forever and everyone has a dark side. Explore the mind of Gillian Flynn through this puzzling website filled with more in-depth facts about the characters of her novel Sharp Objects, solve mysteries and explore the rest of Wind Gap. In the mystery game, you can play as Camille and fight her temptations to drink and cut, or you can give in. Each choice you make will alter that gameplay…so choose wisely. Learn more about the characters and their history while going on a virtual, interactive tour of Wind Gap. Just try to make it back alive.

When Camille is assigned to do a report on the murder of a young girl and the disappearance of another back in her hometown of Wind Gap, she knows she’ll have to stay with her psychotic mother and mysterious half-sister. Going back to the place that holds so many memories will surely be a struggle for Camille, as she’s just been discharged from a psychiatric hospital. “For no good reason, I held my breath as I passed the sign welcoming me to Wind Gap, the way kids do when they drive by cemeteries” (Flynn 10-11). Explore the world of Wind Gap through the eyes of Camille through our online virtual tour of this eerie city. Visit the homes of Camille’s suspects, wander through the forest where Ann Nash’s body was found or spend your time fighting the temptations to etch words onto Camille’s skin. “I’d written Richard cop Richard cop twelve times down my leg, and had to make myself stop because I was itching for a razor” (Flynn). Make sure you watch your health bar when interacting because if it gets too low, Camille will succumb to her darkness. There’s more to just the interesting city of Wind Gap to explore, you can also learn more about each of the characters and interact with other readers with a multitude of discussion boards. Camille’s problems with cutting and family aren’t the only thing she deals with, she’s also an alcoholic and always needs a drink to be able to complete something. Fighting her temptations are going to be the biggest struggle of playing the game so make sure you’re up for it. Dealing with Amma, her half-sister is going to be a big influence on how Camille does with solving the murders. With her persuasive ways, this child always gets what she wants and makes sure of it. “[Amma] lapped the pill up, and, tongue soft and little and hot, passed the X into my mouth, wrapping her arms around me and pushing the pill down hard on my tongue until I could feel it crumble in my mouth. It dissolved like cotton candy” (Flynn 281-282). Amma is one of those characters that holds Camille back from completing her job, but there may be a motive behind it, or perhaps Amma is just trying to express her affection towards the sister she hardly knows.

The Sharp Objects website was created to further enhance the reader’s experience of this novel. With Flynn’s most popular book Gone Girl being such a huge success in theaters and talk of Dark Places soon being on the big screen, Sharp Objects deserves its recognition. This mysterious book surely keeps readers guessing and the website was created to do just the same. Flynn’s creation of such interesting and round characters keeps people wanting more. Explore the world of Wind Gap and fill your every desire.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Post 2: What is a book?

Posing the question ‘What is a book?’ is sort of like asking ‘What is the meaning of life?’ or ‘What is one moment of your life that changed who you are?’ It’s one of those stupid nit-picky questions that gets under your skin and forces you to spit something intellectual-sounding out. I look over at my classmates screens and see them furiously typing away their answers to this mind-blowing question. Probably saying how deep and meaningful books are to them blah blah. Meanwhile, I’m here struggling to even form a sentence that completes a coherent thought. I always make answering these questions more difficult than they need to be and that’s because I refuse to give into the norm. I'm just a stubborn angsty teenage girl, what did you expect. Not really though, I’d like to be held to a higher standard.

So what is a book? I cannot pin-point an exact word to describe a book so I’ll just give a few examples of what a book is to me. A book is something you can enjoy no matter what the weather outside is. It is the perfect gift for anyone, even if they’re illiterate! They are the second leading cause to the cuts on my hands, following cat bites and scratches. Books are like a little gift from a stranger, the stranger being the author. One day, maybe you’re browsing the book store and you come upon a book that you think looks interesting. You buy it and take it home to read. Suddenly you've fallen in love with everything that this book has to offer, the characters, the plot, the way the book smells, and now the real world has no real meaning to you. Everything in your life becomes dull and gray and you find yourself slowing transforming into Gollum from Lord of the Rings, hiding your ‘precious’. Your parents become worried and suddenly you’re in a mental hospital. All because of a book.

Okay…maybe books aren't that big of a deal, but they kind of are. To quote Nancy Jo Sales on her perspective of books “They remind us we exist; they show us how we have lived”. Even if you don’t like reading, you are forced to. Unless in the near future, everything becomes audio read to cut down the painful task of tracing your eyes over words. Let’s hope nothing like that ever happens.

But in all honesty, books are something I've come to rely on again. (Yes I say again because I've just come back from a book hiatus lasting my sophomore and junior year. And boy does it feel good to be back!) Books help me pass the time and enjoy the simple things. They’re so great and I don’t know what I’d do without them.

Well technically without ever living with them, I wouldn't know what it’s like to live with them. But you get what I mean right?