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mhalachaiThis is the first of two meta pieces of the afternoon. This is on books. The next is on TV and will be up later tonight.
I'm listening to Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone as an audiobook, which is helpful because when I'm re-reading I usually skip a lot because I know how it goes. Anyway, my point is that I had forgotten what an awesome story this is. JKR does a great job in world-building, not only for a book, but for a children's book. It reminds me why I fell in love with this world.
And let's talk about another set of books.
I'm not sure if any of you out there read the "Cat Who..." series of mysteries (by Lillian Jackson Braun), but there's like 20+ books in the series. The backstory is that the protagonist, Jim Qwilleran, is a reformed alcoholic journalist who inherited a packet and as part of the will had to move to the middle of nowhere, Michigan. While there he gets involved in detecting. Anyway, there have been like a billion of the books and they're nothing to tax your brain. Crime. Cats. Etc.
The problem with the books IMO is that they're in a giant rut. The central character was trapped (probably as the author is trapped in writing such a successful series) with wealth, a girlfriend, and a huge house in a tiny town.
But.
In the latest book (published in early 2007 but I think I was hiding under a rock or something), the main character was a) dumped by his girlfriend of several years (she moved to Paris to escape him) and b) had his goddamned house burn down (don't worry, the cats are fine).
To recap:
In a rut.
THEN girlfriend dumps his sorry rich ass.
AND his house burns down.
That's one way to open up new possibilities. I applaud the author’s balls in messing with her character's life so.
Also, a line I wrote today:
Oh punctuation, how we miss you when you're gone.
I'm listening to Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone as an audiobook, which is helpful because when I'm re-reading I usually skip a lot because I know how it goes. Anyway, my point is that I had forgotten what an awesome story this is. JKR does a great job in world-building, not only for a book, but for a children's book. It reminds me why I fell in love with this world.
And let's talk about another set of books.
I'm not sure if any of you out there read the "Cat Who..." series of mysteries (by Lillian Jackson Braun), but there's like 20+ books in the series. The backstory is that the protagonist, Jim Qwilleran, is a reformed alcoholic journalist who inherited a packet and as part of the will had to move to the middle of nowhere, Michigan. While there he gets involved in detecting. Anyway, there have been like a billion of the books and they're nothing to tax your brain. Crime. Cats. Etc.
The problem with the books IMO is that they're in a giant rut. The central character was trapped (probably as the author is trapped in writing such a successful series) with wealth, a girlfriend, and a huge house in a tiny town.
But.
In the latest book (published in early 2007 but I think I was hiding under a rock or something), the main character was a) dumped by his girlfriend of several years (she moved to Paris to escape him) and b) had his goddamned house burn down (don't worry, the cats are fine).
To recap:
In a rut.
THEN girlfriend dumps his sorry rich ass.
AND his house burns down.
That's one way to open up new possibilities. I applaud the author’s balls in messing with her character's life so.
Also, a line I wrote today:
A security guard, the proper kind with a gun keeping a steely eye on the doorway...
Oh punctuation, how we miss you when you're gone.
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Date: 2008-06-17 01:13 am (UTC)Like I said, a rut since he showed up in Pickax, imo.
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Date: 2008-06-17 01:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-17 02:04 am (UTC)Now I need to go shower.