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I KNOW, I know, I blog at strange hours. I have the most upside down sleep schedule of anyone I know, but it keeps me on my toes. My blog now, at just-past-seven-o'clock-Sunday-morning, is actually the blog for Saturday. Keep up, kids, let's hold it together. Choo-choo!
Anyway.
So I didn't make much progress with Atwood this time around. She's the boss, applesauce, but I don't know how much I dig her style. I like reading between the lines as much as the next person, but I feel like I should do a little bit more research on her life before I can actually know what the hell she's writing about. So far all I'm getting are feelings of isolation.
Oh, and that female empowerment thing. Good ol' Wikipedia says she was well known as a feminist so I must be heading in the right direction. Watch, I say all this about not understanding or knowing what's going on and when I'm finished with it I'll be in love. I, dear friends, am a sheep.
OH, AND GUESS WHAT! Jurassic Park was on the Sci-Fi channel tonight. I shit you not. The book was way better. Tch, as if that was even a question...
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Whoops, I forgot to blog yesterday.
Okay, I'll be honest. I didn't forget, I was just too drunk. You're welcome.
But I did finish Jurassic Park. See, my day wasn't completely useless. I thought it was excellent. I mostly just read at work, and this one guy from somewhere in Wisconsin came in and asked if I was reading it for the first time, so we got into a little discussion about how great Michael Crichton is. He suggested I read Eaters of the Dead, one of Crichton's less-known novels, and I promised to look into it. I also explained my Contact (by Carl Sagan) theory and he agreed that they were both science writers and that's how I would come to that conclusion. He was a nice guy. I should have given him a better price.
I digress.
I finished it, like I said, and I loved it. The velociraptor scene did not disappoint, folks. Hooray! That kid, Tim, he's a smart little guy, isn't he? I was into dinosaurs when I was a kid too but that's just above and beyond. If I were stuck in Jurassic Park I'd probably want him by my side instead of Dr. Grant. Or not. I'd be that other kid, Lex, and I'd just whine about being hungry the whole time.
And without writing out a real spoiler, let me just say that that Hammond fella got what he deserved. Kind of. Why didn't the kids seem more upset about it?
I almost wish it was possible to create dinosaurs from DNA found in bugs in fossilized amber, and then I remember that they would KILL US ALL and decide against it. Maybe just the herbivores, y'know?
Next on the list is Bluebeard's Egg and Other Stories by Margaret Atwood. I've never read any Atwood. Hope I'm not on the wrong path.
But I did finish Jurassic Park. See, my day wasn't completely useless. I thought it was excellent. I mostly just read at work, and this one guy from somewhere in Wisconsin came in and asked if I was reading it for the first time, so we got into a little discussion about how great Michael Crichton is. He suggested I read Eaters of the Dead, one of Crichton's less-known novels, and I promised to look into it. I also explained my Contact (by Carl Sagan) theory and he agreed that they were both science writers and that's how I would come to that conclusion. He was a nice guy. I should have given him a better price.
I digress.
I finished it, like I said, and I loved it. The velociraptor scene did not disappoint, folks. Hooray! That kid, Tim, he's a smart little guy, isn't he? I was into dinosaurs when I was a kid too but that's just above and beyond. If I were stuck in Jurassic Park I'd probably want him by my side instead of Dr. Grant. Or not. I'd be that other kid, Lex, and I'd just whine about being hungry the whole time.
And without writing out a real spoiler, let me just say that that Hammond fella got what he deserved. Kind of. Why didn't the kids seem more upset about it?
I almost wish it was possible to create dinosaurs from DNA found in bugs in fossilized amber, and then I remember that they would KILL US ALL and decide against it. Maybe just the herbivores, y'know?
Next on the list is Bluebeard's Egg and Other Stories by Margaret Atwood. I've never read any Atwood. Hope I'm not on the wrong path.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
I'm burning this book up, guys.
Another 150+ pages today in Jurassic Park. I'm pretty sure the people who told me to read Michael Crichton were not crazy. This is good news coming from the peanut gallery and restores my faith in suggestions from my friends! I should never have doubted. Forgive me, amigos, for I have sinned.
The point I'm trying to make is that this Crichton fella is a genius, or so Jurassic Park is telling me. When was the last time YOU read about a tyrannosaurus rex ripping somebody's leg off without feeling sick, hmm? Crichton writes it, and he writes it well. There's gore, oh yes!, but it isn't unbearable. As a matter of fact, it's almost tasteful when you think about the scenario. What would you expect coming from a park full of ferocious and [mostly] carnivorous dinosaurs? It's certainly not a children's book, but it's also no Stephen King. And that's a good thing.
There's a little over a hundred pages left for me to go before I'm done, and I'm eagerly anticipating the velociraptor scene that I know must be coming. Or. Well. That I hope is coming. That scene scared the bejesus out of me when I saw the movie as a kid and I can visualize things so much better when I read them. Is it wrong for me to hope those kids are terrified of being eaten alive? Probably. But damn, that's what I call entertainment.
Oh, and I take back the Crichton/Sagan comparison. That was short-sighted and I hadn't read enough of this book to make that kind of judgment. Dr. Ian Malcolm would be so disappointed.
He doesn't die, does he?!
The point I'm trying to make is that this Crichton fella is a genius, or so Jurassic Park is telling me. When was the last time YOU read about a tyrannosaurus rex ripping somebody's leg off without feeling sick, hmm? Crichton writes it, and he writes it well. There's gore, oh yes!, but it isn't unbearable. As a matter of fact, it's almost tasteful when you think about the scenario. What would you expect coming from a park full of ferocious and [mostly] carnivorous dinosaurs? It's certainly not a children's book, but it's also no Stephen King. And that's a good thing.
There's a little over a hundred pages left for me to go before I'm done, and I'm eagerly anticipating the velociraptor scene that I know must be coming. Or. Well. That I hope is coming. That scene scared the bejesus out of me when I saw the movie as a kid and I can visualize things so much better when I read them. Is it wrong for me to hope those kids are terrified of being eaten alive? Probably. But damn, that's what I call entertainment.
Oh, and I take back the Crichton/Sagan comparison. That was short-sighted and I hadn't read enough of this book to make that kind of judgment. Dr. Ian Malcolm would be so disappointed.
He doesn't die, does he?!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
First post. Let's jump right in.
Hello, all! In this blog I'm mostly just going to chronicle my daily reading. It'll contain the my thoughts on however much I managed to digest.
I like to start things off with a bang, so for my first book I'm reading Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Don't ask me what possessed me to pick this one up because I'm not really sure. I bought it at a used bookstore and I think someone had mentioned previously that Michael Crichton was brilliant, so I don't think I had any choice. In an attempt to make up for lost time on my bookshelf, I've been reading everything I have that I haven't opened yet.
Which brings me to my next point. I've read just over 100 pages of this book today and I just finished up Contact by Carl Sagan last week and I can't help but compare the two. Mr. Sagan is probably trying to claw his way out of his grave to kill me for that, but-- honestly!-- they're so similar. Maybe I'm comparing the two because both novels are inspired by science and both authors know their way around the fields about which they're writing, but it's pretty weird to think about. Are they both equally as plausible? Maybe. I'm leaning toward Sagan's being more realistic, but what do I know about space travel or genetics? Absolutely nothing. Who knows.
So anyway, about the book. I'm loving it. It didn't take five years to get into the plot and we had some action starting at something like page three. SPOILER WARNING. Not to mention how when the baby was eaten by the three small dinosaurs I hadn't seen it coming. That was within the first few pages! I'm impressed. END SPOILER WARNING.
Luckily I haven't seen the film in years so I don't remember how much it was butchered from the novel. Also luckily, the images of the characters in the film were so emblazoned in my head from the traumatizing experience of watching it at as a six-year-old that I can still see Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill [among the rest of the cast] in my head acting out Crichton's words.
The dialogue, while much too smart for me (but tastefully dumbed down for the inevitable slower dinosaur enthusiasts), is effective in progressing the story and explaining the situation.
Nothing bad to say so far. Let's hope it stays that way. Usually I've decided by about 30 or 40 pages whether I'm going to like a book. This one may just turn me into a Crichton fan after all.
I like to start things off with a bang, so for my first book I'm reading Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Don't ask me what possessed me to pick this one up because I'm not really sure. I bought it at a used bookstore and I think someone had mentioned previously that Michael Crichton was brilliant, so I don't think I had any choice. In an attempt to make up for lost time on my bookshelf, I've been reading everything I have that I haven't opened yet.
Which brings me to my next point. I've read just over 100 pages of this book today and I just finished up Contact by Carl Sagan last week and I can't help but compare the two. Mr. Sagan is probably trying to claw his way out of his grave to kill me for that, but-- honestly!-- they're so similar. Maybe I'm comparing the two because both novels are inspired by science and both authors know their way around the fields about which they're writing, but it's pretty weird to think about. Are they both equally as plausible? Maybe. I'm leaning toward Sagan's being more realistic, but what do I know about space travel or genetics? Absolutely nothing. Who knows.
So anyway, about the book. I'm loving it. It didn't take five years to get into the plot and we had some action starting at something like page three. SPOILER WARNING. Not to mention how when the baby was eaten by the three small dinosaurs I hadn't seen it coming. That was within the first few pages! I'm impressed. END SPOILER WARNING.
Luckily I haven't seen the film in years so I don't remember how much it was butchered from the novel. Also luckily, the images of the characters in the film were so emblazoned in my head from the traumatizing experience of watching it at as a six-year-old that I can still see Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill [among the rest of the cast] in my head acting out Crichton's words.
The dialogue, while much too smart for me (but tastefully dumbed down for the inevitable slower dinosaur enthusiasts), is effective in progressing the story and explaining the situation.
Nothing bad to say so far. Let's hope it stays that way. Usually I've decided by about 30 or 40 pages whether I'm going to like a book. This one may just turn me into a Crichton fan after all.
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