Little, Brown © 2005, 498 pages

When 17-year-old Isabella Swan moves from Phoenix to Forks, Washington to live with her father, she has a lot to get used to: life in a small town, the near-constant drizzle of the Pacific Northwest, and the malevolent snarling of her lab partner in biology. It’s the last of these that most troubles Bella, because despite his hostility Bella can’t help but be attracted to the enigmatic Edward Cullen. He and his four high-school-aged siblings–all of them adopted–are preternaturally attractive. Heart-stoppingly perfect in appearance, in fact. They glide across surfaces with inhuman grace. Their skin is flawless. One looks at them and forgets to breathe, so attractive are they. Bella falls for Edward despite herself, and when he inexplicably turns from snarling loner to chivalrous beau, we have the makings of the hottest teenage romance to come along since Buffy met Angel.

Twilight, published in 2005, is the first in a four-book series that has become a enormous favorite with tween and teen readers. As it turns out, they’re on to something: the book is compulsively readable, a rapid jaunt even at almost 500 pages. The book is part teen romance, part monster story, akin to the aforementioned Buffy saga in that respect. But–at minimum judging from the first book in the series–the world Meyer creates is nowhere near as complex as the Buffyverse (or as the Harry Potter universe, for that matter). Bella is a very likable and powerful character–she’s responsible and intelligent and interesting. She’s the sort of teenager any parent would be delighted to have, the one problem being that she’s drawn to a guy she should be smart enough to stay clear of. Bella’s predicament is unusual, of course, because Edward brings supernatural charms to bear in their courtship–all those vampy good looks and smoldering glances and his tendency to be in the right place at the right time. But otherwise Bella’s situation isn’t unlike that experienced by a lot of teenaged girls who get themselves in trouble mooning after the wrong kind of guy.

If you were dragged to the recently released movie version of Twilight by some squealing teen of your acquaintance, you may have wonderuddy what all the fuss is about: but the movie, as so often, doesn’t do the book justice. Give it a try. Twilight won’t become one of my favorite all-time books, but it goes down easy and it’s enjoyable. Plus, it gets points for getting teenagers excited about books. I’ll certainly be reading the next three novels in the series. Once I wrest them from my daughter, that is.

Original post by Debra Hamel

The film version of the classic children’s book Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak has reportedly run into big trouble. CHUD reported that Warner Bros is so unhappy with director Spike Jonzes’ footage that the entire film may be reshot. In fact at a test screening children were crying and running from the theater: not exactly the reaction Warner Bros was hoping for.



So, what’s the problem? For one thing, the lead is apparently quite unlikeable. Dave Eggers’ screenplay has been described as subversive, dark and frightening, none of which are things that lead to box office gold for children’s movies. There are also major special effects problems. Oscar-winning special effects wizard Howard Berger told Sci Fi Wire that he turned down the chance to do the film because he knew it was going to be a problem the way Jonze wanted to film it. In Jonze’s version, the film uses computer-generated animation and animatronics, with some of the characters in giant suits made of foam, which sounds just awful. And apparently, it is just awful.

In his bio–and speaking backstage after winning an Oscar for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe–Berger said that his fascination with special effects started with his mother, a teacher, as she read him Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. “That’s what started this for me,” Berger said.



So was he disappointed not to work on the film version of his favorite book? “No, I’m not,” Berger said with a laugh. “We were approached four times, and we turned it down four times. [We turned it down] because I’m in love with it so much. I respect it too much. What is happening is what I thought would happen.”


*****


Whether those reports are true or not, Berger said: “The direction that they were taking in the movie was certainly not the direction that I would have taken. It was potentially a catastrophe. I had a sinking feeling about it. I didn’t want to get myself in it. It’s a horrible idea.”



Berger and his partner, Greg Nicotero of KNB EFX Group, in Van Nuys, Calif., met with Jonze, who is helming the movie for Warner Brothers. Berger worked on Star Wars: Episode III–Revenge of the Sith, Land of the Dead and Transformers, as well as The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which comes out on DVD on Dec. 2.



“Even when I heard about it I thought, ‘I don’t want to do it,’” Berger said. “Greg and I met with Spike Jonze a couple of times, and they kept asking us if would we do it.”

Well, that certainly sounds ominous. When Howard Berger says not to do the special effects a certain way, it’s probably a good idea to listen to him. We loved Where the Wild Things Are. The thought of a version that makes children run screaming from the theater is quite off-putting, to say the least.



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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog

Coffee House Press © 2007, 217 pages

Brian Evenson’s The Open Curtain is an unusual and disquieting book. The story is told in three parts. In the first, awkward and impressionable high-schooler Rudd Theurer falls under the influence of his illegitimate half-brother Lael. Once under his brother’s spell, Rudd begins to act erratically–or perhaps Lael’s influence merely coincides with Rudd’s descent. We watch as Rudd becomes increasingly divorced from reality, and increasingly fixated on a story he’s researched for school, the 1902 murder of a certain Anna Pulitzer by William Hooper Young, Brigham Young’s grandson. (The crime is historical, and Evenson includes news reports from the period in his narrative.) Hooper Young’s murder was tied up with Mormonism, and Mormon practices are important to Rudd’s story as well.

In the second and third parts of the book Rudd’s insanity is even more pronounced. He suffers increasingly from blackouts, engaging in actions he is subsequently unable to recall. Much of Evenson’s story is told from Rudd’s perspective. Because of the gaps in his understanding, we are likewise left in the dark about much of what’s happening.

To an extent, because of these lacunae, reading the book is a frustrating experience. We leave the story not completely sure of what was genuine and what imagined. Nor are we sure to what degree blame for whatever happened should attach to Rudd as opposed to Lael. Reading the book, then, is not exactly a pleasant experience. Yet the author does a good job of suggesting events thcoarse the hazy focus of Rudd’s point of view. It feels like we’re watching a madman’s actions from the inside out. It’s not fun, but it’s an impressive feat.

Original post by Debra Hamel

Comics writer Grant Morrison says
that it’s time for Batman’s alter ego, Bruce Wayne, to die. Wait, say what? Yes, it’s true.

n the controversial latest issue of the Batman story, written by Morrison and out today in the US and tomorrow in the UK, Wayne is rumouruddy to either die, or give up being Batman because he is so shaken up by a secret from his past, necessitating a hunt for a replacement.



“This is the end of Bruce Wayne as Batman,” Morrison told Comic Book Resources (CBR). “But like I say, it’s so much better than death. People have killed characters in the past but to me, that kind of ends the story. I like to keep the story twisting and turning. So what I am doing is a fate worse than death. Things that no one would expect to happen to these guys at all.”



Key contenders to take up the cape include Dick Grayson, the original Robin who now protects Gotham City as Nightwing, Batman’s son Damian and the current Boy Wonder, Tim Drake.


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DC Comics handed the Batman baton to Morrison, who also writes storylines for the Superman and X-Men series, in 2006. The Scottish writer has courted controversy from the start, giving Batman “the greatest shock of his life when he discovers that he has a son”.

We say: Bruce Wayne is Batman. No one else is Batman. Time to change writers and write their way out of this disaster.



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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog

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