AwkwardInk

Catcher in the Rye;Wicked; The Northern Lights series;

I really enjoyed this one. I didn't know what to expect, and I was unsure of what the title referred to.
I've been thinking about what books I've read this year, and this seems like a good way to keep a definitive list. But it occurs to me that I need to make more time for reading.

Half way through reading this, and I'm quite captivated. I have heard some not too complimentary things about the movie, but reading the book, I am not aware that there is no fighting going on. Its not important.
The author, Anthony Swofford, writes very insightful observations about his life as a jarhead, with the added benefit of hindsight. His life seems filled with interesting and noteworthy experiences. Being in japan as a child, and then going back to a miliary base in Okinawa. I wonder if my life would read quite so well.
But as I said, I'm only half finished, so I'll see where it takes me, but I like the journey so far.

I finally finished this mamoth series of Stephen King's recently. It was a fantastic journey through a weird decaying world, similar to our own but very different. I love the way that he relied on the conventions of fantasy writing, but incorporated contemporary references to give the story a very interesting feeling. I have read quite a few Stephen King books, and the style of writing was very definately his unique style. But it was quite interesting to see his style reorked into a different genre than horror. They might actually be my favourite of his works, for the sheer enormity of the project.
The ending was fantastic, taking you back to the beginning of the series, where the Gunslinger must start his journey from the beginning once more. A Do over type scenario, where subtle details must be changed for the outcome to be altered. But having been on such an epic journey, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Roland having to relive the pain and agony that he is destined to relive.
The killing off of the charaters towards the end was quite sad. But it must be said that it was done in such an unsentimental way. In which the story seemed to decree that their deaths were necessary for the story to come to an end. The death of Jake was particularly heartbreaking. Leaving his faithful bumbler Oy to continue on, to protect Roland to the end.
I think my favourite of the last few books was the Wolves of the Calla. Referencing the Magnificent Seven and the Seven Samurai, telling the story of the impoverished threatened village who hope for a group of strangers to save them from the Wolves. Roland dances for the village despite the onset of athritis and together the group of nine and nineteen, save the village from the robotic wolves who appear to abduct one half of the villages children.
Overall a great journey, and one which I was happy to conclude, being satified with all aspects of the conclusion.

I have never seen the movie, but I was drawn into this story about the life of a black girl writing about the pain and heartache in her life in letters to God. It was a simple structure that explained Cecelia's tragic and hardship filled life in a simple way that wasn't looking to exploit the hardships for any undue sypmathy.Ce cee never seems to feel sorry for herself, despite being raped by her father, having her children taken from her, and then being sold to a lechorous old man to look after his house and children. She sucks it up big time, and eventually finds happiness and some sort of purpose in her life. Perhaps it speaks more about what a young black woman could expect out of life in these times.
The reunion between her and her sister after a life time of sparation is truly heart breaking and a worthy conclusion. Reading this book made me feel closer to Oprah, which in these Oprah-less days, was nice.

So I've been spending much time travelling on the tube lately. I decided to try to use the time usefully and get back into some literature. I chose Franny and Zooey for a number of reasons. Number One. It was available in the libray. Number Two. It was small and easy to carry around. And Number Three. I read an article about Jake Gyllenhal, and he might have mentioned it as his favourite book. The last reason is perhaps a little embarrassing. It might paint me as a bit of a movie star crazed teenage type. But you can't help but read articles like these sometimes.
Regardless of the inane reasons that I decided to choose this book to read, I really enjoyed it. It was small and concise. But the language was really distinctive and quite compelling. I loved the relationships within the family that were presented. The feelings of resentment that Zooey felt for his elder brothers, making him into a freak. I also loved the way that Zoey spoke to and about his mother Bessie.
I could imagine their apartment and the family members moving around it.
My favourite bit was when Zooey attempts to convice Franny that she should come out of her stupor by telling her of how their father had noticed that Franny was doing so poorly, he even mentioned wanting to go to her and give her a tangerine.
'And nobody likes a story about a Tangerine. Especially not me!'

So I have decided to have a separate section for book and movie reviews. I hope I can keep up writing about the things that I am reading or watching!