Wow! I'm going to try to keep my thoughts laid out in a way that makes some kind of sense, but I'm unsure if I can. I'm still recovering from earlier today and I'm half lackadaisical right now. I fell asleep around seven and woke up at eleven. Just my luck. I'm still exhausted, so much though that nothing feels right, but I can't sleep. As Becky number 1 would say....sucks for you.
Tonight I thought I would start the blog out with a puppy and kitty picture again. The puppy is Munchkin, aka Munchie for short and because it sounds more fun. My mom brought her home. The lady she cleans for went into the hospital and so my mom offered to temporarily babysit Munchie for her, but now it looks as if we will be keeping her. Munchie is a fifteen pound Pugapoo (a pug / poodle mix). Before I tell my story, you must understand that. The picture I posted isn't without reason, as you must see her to really get a good feel for this story. The picture also is not upside down. I was sitting on the couch and she was leaning up against it, so that was my direct view of her.
Around five this evening I heard quite the clatter in the dining room. My mom and I sat here for a few minutes trying to figure out what was going on. Were we being robbed? Did someone break in and we didn't know it? Was one of the dogs chasing a cat sporadically around the house and making it sound like terror? Just when we were ready to get up to go and see what all the fuss was about, Munchie came bounding into the living room with a stuffed bear dog toy. The toy is a good inch taller than her, and wider than her as well. She had it in her mouth and she was throwing it from side to side. As we watched her enter the living room we realized she was the one making all the noise, as the bear was so big that she kept tripping herself on it, falling, and then getting back up and trying to run with it. Dog toy, $8. Dog, free, but initially cost the original owner $250. The dog with a toy that is larger than her....priceless! The big dogs now think she's nuts and are not speaking to her. You'll have that.
Now for the promised update on how the conversation with my mom went about her SUV. She was in shock and horror. She wasn't mad at me, which made me shocked and slightly horrified that she had been replaced by some alien life form. She's actually going to go and get the SUV checked out so this hopefully doesn't happen again. I am amazed.
As promised, I am actually going to review the Twilight book tonight. I'm going to try to be as objective as possible. I don't like to say mean things about anyone or their work, but I am honest. That being said, I'm sure some of the things I say aren't going to thrill everyone, but honestly, I am not trying to be mean or offend anyone. Feel free to comment me and post your own thoughts about the book. I've talked to several people about their view on this book, or more or less Stephenie Meyer's writing, which I will get into in just a second, but first, let me just start with the concept of the book in general.
First of all, I am not and never have been into the whole vampire scene. I have nothing against it, but it never tickled my fancy, so to speak. I really hadn't heard of Twilight to be honest until the movie came out. I didn't realize that there was this whole phenomena out there just waiting for me to explore it. Still though, it didn't spark my interest. The movie trailers, posters, and propaganda were pushed in my face everywhere I turned. Hot Topic, the internet, television, theaters, just everywhere. I began to wonder what the fascination was with this whole Twilight thing, and after hearing that, when you go to see the movie, you don't feel like you're watching a vampire movie, I decided to check it out. Lies, I tell you. It's quite obvious that you're watching a vampire movie, but I still really enjoyed it and decided that I wanted to venture into the books.
I think what made Twilight unique and made me enjoy it was that the vampires are very human, for all intents and purposes. They aren't savages that go out and are constantly sucking the blood of those around them. It's obvious they're vampires, but they're extremely civilized, which left many unexplored dynamics that intertwined with the plot. These vampires don't even suck the blood of their worst enemies. Also, the addition of the Indian's, friends of the Swan family, and their legends made the story ten times better and gave it a hefty backbone. This concept gave Stephenie Meyer a lot to work with. The dynamic simply worked.
The beginning of the book, just as in the movie, is slow moving. The movie and the book fall together pretty verbatim for the prologue and first half of the first chapter, so much so that it's scary. I know this review is more on the book, but it's kind of bilateral in a way, as I wanted to throw in the comments on how it compared to the movie so that I covered everything full circle. In all honesty, had I not seen the movie and was reading the book out of pure curiosity, I'm unsure of how far I would have actually gotten through the book. This is true for several reasons.
The first reason is that, as I said, it's slow moving at the beginning. I understood why the book was formatted and written in the way that it was, but I felt like I wanted just a bit more action. Comparing the book to the movie, I actually liked the element of having the other three vampires in the movie through out stages in the beginning a little better, however, I can see how that would have been difficult to write into a book that is told in one characters point of view. One thing the book had going for it though was that no one died from the wrath of the other vampires like they did in the movie. This just made things better for whatever reason. (Sorry if I'm giving stuff away. Insert your kicking of me here.)
The second and most prominent reason that I had issues with the book was the writing and editing. I honestly have not met anyone who hasn't had an issue with this aspect of the book. As my one friends said, her writing is good for children and illiterate people. This is true in a way, however, I don't really know if I blame Stephenie Meyer or her editor, but I'm more apt to blame the editor. There are so many problems in the book esthetically that it is unbelievable. The grammar is bad, the use of punctuation is worse, there are spelling errors, and several places where two different tense are used in the same sentence. Also, there are several places where someone will say one thing in one paragraph, and contradict it in the paragraph directly below it, almost as if a train of thought was lost between the two, having some parts make no sense, so you have to take it for what it is. In all honesty, if it wasn't for seeing the movie first, I'm unsure of how much sense some things would have made due to this. These are things that the editor should have caught. If I was a publisher, I could not have warranted publishing a book with this many mistakes. It almost seemed as if the rough, non proofread draft of the book got published. I know I'm not the only one thinking this.
It was a rough read, but overall a good book. I'm glad that I did stick with it because I immensely enjoyed the story as a whole. I am slightly reluctant to see how the second book is going to go. Hopefully there will be less errors, making it an easier read. I'm already seeing where the movies are going to veer away from the books, so I would like to get the books read before the movies come out, which shouldn't be too hard. Famous.last.words. So how did the movie compare to the book?
I actually liked the movie better, but I know there's a very strong split line between people's opinions when it comes to that. The book had a lot more romance, whereas the movie didn't really showcase Edward and Bella kissing, cuddling, and doing other such romantic but not sexual things as much. Their relationship seems very deep on a spiritual and emotional level, but the physical part seems almost absent in the movie. In the book, it's apparent that every time Edward kisses Bella, she has some sort of weird reaction as it's such a sensory overload for her. This was not shown in the movie, and I'm still unsure of which I liked better. Because the character of Edward is so very different, it was slightly uncomfortable to watch the romance develop between he and Bella in the movie, but beautiful at the same time. It's something I don't think I can really explain.
I personally liked the way that the movie was formatted a little better than the book. The same events happen, just in a different way or in a different place in both. The way things happened in certain places in the book seemed a little more unrealistic than how they did in the movie. The book is much more fairy tale like in a dark way, whereas the movie tries to make this fictionally intriguing story more realistic, or as realistic as it can be. That being said, I'm a fan of fairy tales and romance, so had I read the book first, I would have probably liked it better, if I could have gotten through it. However, after seeing the movie, I was thinking more logically and realistically than romantically and didn't let myself get caught up in the story as mush as I should have. I'll be interested to read New Moon before the movie comes out, and then compare and see which I liked better. I think that will really be a good test.
As suspected, the movie and the book ended the same, but differently. There was one additional scene added onto the end of the movie that was not in the book. I suspect this is for two reasons. One, I don't know if the book was ever meant to turn into a saga, so she ended it infinitely instead of leaving it hanging. Does anyone else know if the book was supposed to be a lone one, or a saga from the start? Two, they had to add some movie magic to keep you wanting to come back for me, and so you knew there would be a sequel. (As long as someone agreed to actually produce it and add the necessary financial backing.) The movie foreshadows, which is good, but in a way it almost ruins part of the next movie by giving something away, however I think you about figured what it gave away already. I'm interested to see though, if, in the books, Victoria does pop up again in New Moon, or if this is just going to be a movie thing. I'm assuming she would, but I don't really know as the book doesn't touch on it at all. It is what it is in the book, the focus being more on James, so I want to see where this goes.
All in all, if you're looking for a book that holds an age old concept with a new, fresh, wonderful twist, Twilight is that book. Just be prepared for the errors and a little bit of a tough read. If you focus on the story though, you will really enjoy the book. It's easy to get lost in and a good way to get rid of some stress at the end of the day.
I want to continue with the subject of books, but first I must add something random to the mix. I got up to "take care of some business," so to speak. When I came back out into the living room I caught Munchie and Play (the cat pictured at the beginning of this blog) having an awfully intense stare off. Please understand that when Play is sitting down and straight up, he is taller than Munchie. They were both just standing there so very still, an inch from each other's face, staring menancingly at each other. I had to break it up with a treat, however I wish I would have gotten a picture first. Damn me, but back to the books.
For the books I am currently reading section of this blog, I shall put New Moon by Stephenie Meyer from the Twilight Saga. (See links to all of these things in my review of the book above.) Big surprise there, no? I literally just started it, and by just, I mean I got through the prologue and a page of the first chapter, totally reading two full pages, or three book pages. So far, and I know it's a little early to tell, but there seems to be less errors and issues compared to the first book. I also really like how she adds a short prologue, foreshadowing a part to come later. It really pulls me and in and it's almost rare to see an author add prologues and epilogues anymore, or am I the only one who thinks that? Maybe it's just the books I'm reading.
My aunt that's not really my aunt lent me a book the other day, as she thought I would be interested in it. Initially I was going to start it after I finished Twilight, but I haven't as of yet for two reasons. One, I really want to get through all the Twilight books in sequential order and without interruption. Two, I am unsure of what I think of reading the book. In one way I am totally intrigued and in another the concept of it is very unsettling, so to read a real life story about something as such does freak me out just a little in the scared kind of way.
The book is called He Came to Set the Captives Free by Rebecca Brown. It is the first of two books, the second being Prepare for War. The writer is an ex MD, and from what I understand, the story is her true life journey of the battle between good and evil. Dr. Brown was losing many of her patients at a local hospital for absolutely no reason and could not figure out why, enter Elaine. The book has a lot of elements of Satan worshiping and what not from what I understand, so I'm unsure if I really want to read the book. I personally believe in God, and although I would never shove my beliefs on anyone else, it's a belief I hold strongly, and anything involving Satan makes me naturally uncomfortable. I would like to figure out what I'm doing with it so I can give it back to her ASAP, even if it means interrupting my reading of the Twilight saga. However, she has had a book of my moms from over a year now, so I doubt she'll notice how long it's gone. Has anyone read this?
A friend of mine suggested a series of books to me the other day. She forewarned me that the books are about witches, elves, vampires, and the like. I've never really gotten into that sort of thing, but she assured me that they were amazing books, and if I liked Twilight that I would also like them. I shall post about them on here and hopefully some of you read them, or will read them and give your opinion on them.
The books are from a series called The Hollows and are written by Kim Harrison. As of now, there are seven books in the series, and from what I understand, there are more to come. I'll list the books for future reference.
1. Dead Witch Walking
2. The Good, the Bad, and the Undead
3. Every Which Way But Dead
4. A Fistful of Charms
5. For A Few Demons More
6. The Outlaw Demon Wails
7. White Witch, Black Curse
I'm almost tempted to read these out of curiosity alone. If you have read them or want to read them, please feel free to sound off about them. Thanks.
While I'm still on the subject of books, I would like to point out a book that I recently read and really enjoyed. This book was made into a movie adaption for the Lifetime Television Network. I had not heard of the book until that time, but apparently it was a New York Times Best Seller. I watched the movie and was unimpressed, but already knew that I really loved the works of the author who wrote the book, so I instantly knew the book would be better and had to read it.
The book is called The Tenth Circle and it is by Jodi Picoult. It focuses on the rape of a daughter by her ex boyfriend and how the family deals with it, as well as how they deal with the mothers' infidelity. The book is chalk full of comic strips that go along with the theme, as the father is a comic strip artist and writer. Jodie Picoult is a graceful and poignant writer and I think everyone should read at least one book by her before they die. Honestly, she's written a ton of books, so take your pick. You don't necessarily have to read this book, per say.
The book and the movie follow right along in unison until the last third of the book. In the movie, they completely cut out the last third of what's in the book. They simply skipped it and ended the movie in the same place, but in a totally different way without the third part. Honestly, after seeing the movie, you would have never known or seen a reason for the last third of the book, but that third was the most amazing part of the book and I sank my teeth into all one hundred and fifty pages, staying up late just to finish it. It is definitely worth your time, if you can spare some.
I think that's all for tonight. I am still inspired by KC and I already posted a song earlier. If I had another one stuck in my head, I'd post a new one, but I do not. I'm having dinner with Becky number 1 tomorrow pre her birthday, so I'm unsure of what time I will be home. It's hard telling knowing the two of us, but I normally update late anyway.
Tomorrow should be pretty interesting in general, as I have to go to the County Assistance Office. My doctors have all signed papers, although I didn't ask them to do this, stating that I am not allowed to work. This has been the case for about a year and they're not changing their minds until they absolutely, one hundred percent, know what is going on with me. That's great and all, and I appreciate them looking out for me, however I am bored not working as I always have to be doing something, and I am broke. It is hard to pay bills, such as make a car payment or pay your cell phone bill with no money coming in. The County Assistance Office and I must have a talk about cash assistance. I really hate asking for state help, but in the position I'm in, what else am I going to do? My hands are tied. *Sigh* I'm sure I'll have a hell of a story tomorrow.
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