If I Stay

A week ago, I read Gayle Forman's book If I Stay, mainly because Kaleb Nation wrote a review of it for NPR. I tacked the book onto an Amazon order so that I could get free shipping, as one does.

The premise is similar to The Lovely Bones, yet very different; that book did not resonate with me the way that this one did. Instead of a 13-year old who is tells us on the first page that she was murdered and then explains what happens as she watches down on her family as they deal with/don't deal with the trajedy, If I Stay is in the voice of a 17-year old whose entire family is in a fatal car crash in the first chapter. She realizes that she is still alive (for now) and struggles to accept her new situation and what decision she must now make. The Lovely Bones was about "an event;" If I Stay was more about plain emotion.

At times, it was greatly saddening: descriptions of Mia's life and her relationships are set against what is happening now at the hospital. It is a short book that I thought at first would only take me a day, but I had to slow down for the first half. After that, I moved more quickly because I simply had to know what Mia would do. She becomes so important to you as you read: it's more like reading someone's memoir than a novel.

And when I finally closed the back cover, I felt like calling everyone I know to tell them how I appreciate them . . . I didn't actually do that, but the point is, this book made a definite impact on me. That's a big statement for me. I found this book so close in with human experience that I had to take something from it and continue pondering its content.

It seems Summit Entertainment is trying to make a movie out of it. We'll see how that goes.

Two Movies, Two Bands, and Two Sisters

I realize that I like going to see movies. That used to be an occasional, almost rare thing for me, but now that I'm just a few minutes away from a theatre, I find that it tempts me. When I went to buy a much-needed new hairdryer, for instance, I thought I'd pop in to Harkins first. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus looked kind of interesting; I might have saved it for a movie to rent, but it seemed like it had visuals that would be better on the big screen. Definitely had the visuals, which were Alice-in-Wonderland-trippy at times and obviously green-screened, but still a bit of a feast for the eyes. That was all I was expecting to get, but the plot was good, as well. It plays with the Faust idea of bartering with the devil, only Doctor Parnassus is bartering with his daughter instead of his own soul. That sounds just as much like Rumplestiltskin, which happens to be one of my favorite fairy tales, to me. This movie hooks your interest all throughout; definitely one to watch. The ending was too anti-climactic, though. Instead of drawing to a close, it dwindled down. There was something missing, one extra step that should have been taken. All the same, this will probably be a movie I buy.

Classes started again on Tuesday, ending my lovely, long break. They do promise to be interesting, even if I shall have many, many books to read this semester, but I decided I should have a treat Tuesday afternoon. A pre-semester award, if you will. I went to see Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones. As you will recall, I first read the book because I thought I might like to see the movie. The trailer looked good, if action heavy. And during the first part of the movie, I was impressed. Another visual movie, with stunning CG crisper than most of Parnassus and excellent cinematography. But after the halfway point, I was waiting for certain things from the book to happen. They didn't. The movie ended. I didn't expect the man who made all the intensely long Lord of the Rings movies to have cut too much out of this one. Maybe because he was trying not to get the same King Kong criticism? Too long, cut all of such and such out? Now, in the book, the Salmon family really goes down to the depths. They went down in the movie, but they weren't far enough. Abigail's affair with Len Fenerman isn't exactly something I fancy, but it was an important part of the book. At least a hint should've been in the movie. In the book, though the family knows the truth, Susie's case is never solved. It essentially is in the movie. I think that fact, however subtle, is close to fatal. I was surprised when I read the book to find that the peace at the end didn't come from the solving of the case, but from acceptance and love. I didn't get those same vibes from the ending of the movie. Just a couple of tweaks and I think it could have been so much a better adaptation. All the same, I do think it was well-done . . . the things it does achieve aren't easily reached . . . it just wasn't my absolute favorite book to begin with.

A couple of notes:

My new band (for listening, not playing in) reminds me of Blondfire, just a little older and a little more fey. They have some intriguing music, so check out Metric at their site.

Heard of The Hillywood Show? No? Then you must watch them (two sisters, Hilly and Hannah, who do this all non-profit). They parody like no one else, using amazing imitation, fan film experimentation, and parodying that laughs with movies rather than against. Their greatly-awaited New Moon Parody came out earlier this month and already has 811, 281 views. It's unlike any parody I've seen before; they take the opposite approach most New Moon parodies do, focusing on Bella's rebellion instead of her depression. Hillywood, besides being meticulous about detail, also is into layers. You'll notice a new edge each time you watch a parody or episode. Take a look at their website here.

Fireflight's new album, For Those Who Wait, comes out next month. You should really go pre-order it . . . .

And it is very cold today. Methinks I shall go make some hot chocolate now.

Various Forms of Entertainment

I've been busy this past week, I guess. On Thursday, I stopped to watch Where The Wild Things Are on my way home; I'd been to the Toy Story 3D double-feature a couple weeks earlier, so I guess I'm falling for the kids' movies lately. I know the former book is such a classic and I remember seeing advertising and such for it, but I don't remember actually reading it. I knew the gist of the story, at least, though. It makes for an interesting movie, not the average fuzzy family film. Even better that I saw it on the Harkin's Cine Capri screen for the first time. That screen is huge, especially given that there were only sixteen people watching. Yes, I counted.

Sunday night I went to the Fireflight concert. I've known they'd be in Arizona for a while, but I didn't think I'd be able to make it. I was glad I did. Abandon and Remedy Drive also played; nice to hear live, but I don't plan on getting into their music. This was probably my first rock concert . . . I didn't like "loud" music before. And the upside to liking a small band is that you can actually meet them. I got to have my bag (which I bought there before the show started) signed by the band.

Yesterday, I finished Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones. It was one of those books I'd heard about, thought I should maybe read, never got to. With Peter Jackson's movie version coming out soon, which I thought I might like to see, I decided I'd better get to reading first. I knew the basic story: a girl is murdered and she watches her family in the aftermath from heaven. I can't say it was quite what I expected, though. I don't want to go off and give spoilers, but I will say that it was a good read. I like imagery (along with metaphors and such), which this book has in clear originality. And predictable can get boring . . . this book wasn't all predictable. I expected Susie's case to be solved at the end; it wasn't really because there was another point to it all. I like that this book remains simple while still making you think. (Molly really liked it, too. She said it tasted delicious, hence my taping together of the cover after her teeth attacked it. All this time, I thought she was a good dog.)

And today I got the CD's for the audio drama on CS Lewis's The Screwtape Letters (which happens to star Andy Serkis aka Gollum as Screwtape.) So far, I'm loving the design work on the website and packaging. It fits in perfectly with the crazy tone of the book. I listened to the first two letters when I got home; I'll give my opinion when I've moved through the whole thing.

Last thing: today was freezing. I know, a high of 60 degrees isn't that bad, but it was 87 two days ago. A little transition, please? And the wind. It would've been nice weather (except for the cold morning -- and evening that's settling in) without the wind. I don't like wind. A bit of breeze on a hot day is nice; rushing wind on a cold day is horrible. But it seems that the weather will go back up soon.