Non-Book Reviews

Twin Reviews: YOU MEAN THAT'S IT?


Lust, Caution
2007, directed by Ang Lee

Apprentice Writer struggles to find words to express how much she felt frustrated by this film.

Directed by the respected Ang Lee, preceded by megabuzz, set in a fascinating time/place combination about which AW knew nothing and was eager to explore, with the still stunningly beauteous Joan Chen in a secndary role and the highly convincing young actress Tang Wei as heroine - it had all the elements of a fabulous film. And parts of it are. The premise is intriguing: a group of drama students in Japanese occupied China during WWII plan to assassinate a powerful Chinese collaborator via an illicit relationship with a young woman.


SPOILER WARNING!



After all the pedigree and period costume and much-touted non-chronological sequence is stripped away, though, the overriding messages this viewer was left with were that women in groups like to gossip about shopping, and women individually secretly enjoy being dominated and physically abused, so much so they will sacrifice principles and people if someone flashes impressive enough bling.

Even without the female-negative messages, Apprentice Writer would have been unhappy because of the seeming total lack of movement in the sociopolitical context of the film. By the time end credits roll, the Japanese remain firmly ensconced in Shanghai and Chinese collaborators continue collaborating blithely on, as if the whole drama of the past couple of hours (for the viewer) and years (for the characters) made not the smallest blip. Which may, perhaps, have been the Big Point, but for AW it was all tremendously frustrating.


SPOILER WARNING CONCLUDED


Having said all this, AW will concede that Tang Wei is an actress she hopes to see again, and that this film raises the silent, meaningful glance to an art form.







No Country for Old Men

2007, directed by Ethan & Joel Coen



Another movie reaping reams of praise and armfuls of Oscars, AW approached it with great anticipation. Ultimately unfulfilled.

A Texan hunter stumbles across the gory scene of what appears to be a drug deal gone wrong: human and canine corpses strewn about, large load of suspicious powder packets in pickup truck, and some distance away another corpse guarding a case containing wads of cash. A psychopathic killer meanwhile has been psychopathically killing, is called in to retrieve the goods, and the chase is on.

With the possible exception of Woody Harrelson's character, the acting was convincing. In Javier Bardem's case, riveting, despite sporting the worst male cinematic haircut since the teenager in "Little Miss Sunshine". The dialogue was convincing, the cinematography and pacing fine.

SPOILER ALERT!



What left AW scratching her head about the accolades was in part, the feeling that she didn't really get anything out of it. Was the concept that it's risky to butt in on a drug deal gone bloodbathedly wrong news to anyone? Was anybody surprised that Tommy Lee Jones is good at playing crusty old curmudgeons? Is it really not possible to predict that someone described as a 'psychopathic killer' will be a little unpredictable and it might not be best to attract their attention?

And what left AW ultimately frustrated was the open ending, in a bad way, of the whole story. (The contrasting example of open-ended in a good way would be the Tom Hanks' movie "Castaway".) In the final confrontation between villain and innocent bystander when a challenge is issued to stand by choices rather than hiding behind the facade of chance, the viewer cannot be sure what choice was ultimately made. In another type of movie, that could have been a thoughtful and even satisfying cinematic decision. In this case, it nullified even the parts of the movie that AW thought were well done. Or perhaps this is just one of the those movies that you need a Y-chromosome to understand.

SPOILER ALERT CONCLUDED


So, tell us, Gentle Reader: have you seen either of these films? Agree? Disagree?

Expressions of Strong Emotion

One of the things writers need to decide when creating characters is how they will express strong emotion.

Will it be a surface description?
"Frothmeister beheld the damage, and cursed."

Or will it be explicit?
"Frothmeister beheld the damage, and said (insert phrase of choice)."

If explicit, will it be some oft-heard phrase, or will the author take the delicious opportunity to be creative in a manner that reflects that particular character?
"Frothmeister beheld the damage, and bellowed 'Seeping slough of a half-giraffe, I'll thwortle those gronzites till they float!"

Sci-fi and fantasy writers have greater than usual opportunties for this sort of thing due to alternate world- and races- building that is part of their genre. The trick is for the reader to be able to figure out what is meant by a totally new-to-them word, via clues of context and personaltiy. In Ann Aguirre's GRIMSPACE, the characters eschew the regular version in favour of a different F-word: "Frack." There was a whole lot of fracking going on.

This was fine since it was clear from the first what was meant and why the characters felt it was called for. What threw Apprentice Writer out of the story was the sudden insertion of a conventional f-bomb. Why this change? Was it a typo? Was it an intentional contrast to the previous expression, for some purpose Apprentice Writer couldn't fathom from the text? Whatever the reason, the inconsistency brought the pace of the story to a crashing halt for this reader.

Then there is the opportunity provided by characters who have special interest in language. Daphne, the heroine of Loretta Chase's MR. IMPOSSIBLE, is a brilliant linguist, fluent in living and dead languages. And what is the expression of choice for this vocabulary-gifted character? "Good grief." A surprisingly conventional choice. Perhaps, intended to reflect Daphne's restricted nineteenth century social position.

In Sherry Thomas' PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS, the heroine has a larger-than-life personality and does nothing in half measures. Her expression of choice is "Crumbs!", which amused Apprentice Writer very much as it made perfect sense that the tiny, broken bits of dust leftover from anything would be regarded negatively from her tycoon, big-picture perspective. It made perfect sense for her character.

Then we come to Apprentice Writer's current #1 favorite expression of strong emotion, taken from Joanna Bournes' MY LORD AND SPYMASTER, in which a hardened old spy learns of something surprising and responds,

"God's avenging chickens!"

Apprentice Writer defies any reader not to laugh. This is the second of Ms. Bournes' "Spy" books; the same character made a divine fowl reference in the first one too, but AW was so intent on blazing through the most excellent story that she didn't take the time to write it down. One can only hope that there will be a new and wonderful chicken expression in each of Ms. Bourne's books to come.

Gentle Reader, what unusual expressions have you come across?

Book Blogger Appreciation Week, Day 5

Today is the last official day of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, and many a raffle prize has been ruffled, and many a Blogger of Distinction Award distincted. To see how the voting went, and perhaps get some new ideas of where to look for reviews, industry buzz, and like-minded readers, take a look at a preliminary list created by Anna at

OCD, Vampires, and Amusing Rants, Oh My!
http://community.livejournal.com/genrereviews/61183.html


Also, there are still many prize draws crossing many genre borders open at BBAW mastermind Amy's blog till Sunday, take a look:

My Friend Amy's Blog

http://www.myfriendamysblog.com/

Book Blogger Appreciation Week, Day 4

Today, two more bookblogs of note:

The Novel Challenge

Tagline: The Place to Find Your Next Challenge

This is a great place for readers searching for an online reading community. Many is the reader who doesn't know anyone in their real life circles who shares reading tastes. Courtesy of the internet, and this blog founder - voila, problem solved.

http://novelchallenges.blogspot.com/



And here, a blog with a most creative review style - haiku:

Fyrefly's Book Blog

Tagline: Sparking Your Literary Interest

http://fyreflybooks.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/review-haiku-and-giftcard-giveaway/

Creative and fun!

Bookblogger Appreciation Week, Day 3

Today's feature: blogs that encourage the Gentle Reader to broaden horizons.



First,



The Book Mine Set



Run by John who is based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (in other words: Arctic, for those who may not be aware), this blog is currently hosting the second annual Canadian Book Challenge. It runs for a year and involves participants committing to read 13 Canadian books (i.e. by or about Canadians/set in Canada), one from each province and territory. John has a handy list broken down by geography for readers who are still seeking something for their 'Saskatchewan' slot, say, or want to round out their 'Newfoundland' one. So far Apprentice Writer has ticks for:



Alberta - (to be filled!)

British Columbia - Wayson Choy, "The Jade Peony"

Manitoba - Carol Shields, "The Stone Diaries"

New Brunswick- (to be filled!)

Newfoundland/Labrador - (to be filled!)

Northwest Territories-(to be filled!)

Nova Scotia - Anne Marie MacDonald, "Fall on Your Knees"

Nunavat-(to be filled!)

Ontario - Margaret Atwood, "The Robber Bride"

Prince Edward Island- Lucy Maud Montgomery, "Anne of Green Gables"

Quebec - Yann Martel, "Life of Pi"

Saskatchewan -(tobe filled!)

Yukon -(to be filled!)



All titles read so far highly recommended.



http://bookmineset.blogspot.com/2008/05/2nd-canadian-book-challenge-eh.htm







Next, a blog with similar concept but broader application:

Book Around the World

Bonnie describes the goal: "The world has many countries. Let's "book around the world" and find at least one excellent book for each country in the world. The book should help us learn something ABOUT that country and not just be one written by somebody who lives there."

The sidebar lists a host of countries which link to reviews on books for that country.

Apprentice Writer thinks this is a brilliant way to promote the concepts of global village and world citizenship. So far, her personal literary world collection includes the all continents but Antarctica. But even that is sort ofcovered by making an appearance on her WIP, "Cupid and a Suitcase". Time to collect more individual countries!

http://bookaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/

Book Blogger Appreciation Week, Day 2

Today, a few blogs that caught Apprentice Writer's fancy due to most excellent names:





The Tome Traveller

Tagline: Globetrotting with My Nose in a Book



http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/



Apprentice Writer likes the clever play on words, and broad range of genres reviewed.





Fashionista Piranha

Tagline: Because a Good Book is the Perfect Accessory



http://fashion-piranha.livejournal.com/



As is to be expected, many books reviewed deal with fashion (has Apprentice Writer mentioned that she adores 'Project Runway'?), but not solely restricted to the world of apparell. And who can resist a blog with 'Piranha' in its name?

A Platypus with a Book Walks Into a Bar...

Tagline: A Literary Journey

http://inkhornplatypus.livejournal.com/

A Platypus! This masterstroke of imagination clearly needs no explaining as to how it managed to charm Apprentice Writer.

The Toasted Scimitar

Tagline: Like in a Fantasy Pub, you get lots of Information and Opinions here. No Tavern Brawls, Unfortunately.

http://toasted-scimitar.blogspot.com/

An informative fantasy genre review site, with a sense of humor (judging by the site contributors' bios). Always a plus in Apprentice Writer's view.

Gentle Readers, any other sites with excellent names you 'd care to share?

Book Blogger Appreciation Week

Ladies and Gentemen, welcome to the first day of Book Blogger Appreciation Week!

In the words of Amy, BBAW's mastermind:

"The gloom and doom news tries to tell us that reading is dead, we say look at our addiction. We transform reading books from solitary activities to shared conversations through our blogs. We carve out extra time to share book club tips, interview authors, and learn about the technical aspects of blogging. Our blogs are like a part-time job and the only payment is the pleasure we get when someone takes us up on a recommendation. This week, you will hear from the other side...the people our blogs help promote. And you'll get the chance to enjoy the reality that what we are doing is making a difference. You will have the chance to win books and prizes, the opportunity to speak out and the chance to make a difference in the lives of others. And we'll celebrate the blogs chosen by the book blogging community as the best in their categories. It's going to be so great!"

Find more info, plus a ginormous list of bookblogging participants and a mega-list of raffle prizes here:

http://www.myfriendamysblog.com/2008/09/welcome-to-book-blogger-appreciation.html

Apprentice Writer applauds Amy's appreciation- and community-building initiative. In recognition of the massive co-ordination and thought putting together this week took, Apprentice Writer will not have fun exploring many new-to-her sites, but feature some for the Gentle Reader's pleasure every day this week.

Please get in the spirit and mention others you feel may be undiscovered treasures!