Seasonal Plume

After picking up Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia from a book sale a few months ago, I finally took it along on the way to Ikea last Sunday. And it affected me so much that I had to distract myself–I was in danger of crying right on the bus on the way home while reading.

I’m glad I finally picked up this book. Initially I was rather unsure about it–the start wasn’t entirely too good for me, although the writing style itself was interesting and kept me going. Sure enough, soon Jess, Leslie, and even May Belle gripped me and made me feel for them, and appreciate their simple adventures. You could feel the simple joys they had, mixed in with all those little “life and death” issues we always have as kids ;)

As a child who was (is!) interested in fantasy, and stories, and creating make-believe worlds and scenarios with various versions of myself, I could relate a lot to Leslie–or at least the Leslie that we are given a treat to see from Jess’s eyes. I could certainly relate to the two children, being a kind of wallflower when I was in grade school–a bit of a geek, but not even geeky enough to be notorious. How they interacted with the worlds mentioned in the book–Lewis’s Narnia, and Alexander’s Prydain–was similar in many ways to how the books affected me. Jess’s hunger for these worlds and Leslie’s transformation of her fantasy-enriched imagination to Terabithia struck familiar chords in me.

The next afternoon they called P.T. and headed for Terabithia. It had been more than a month since they had been there together, and as they neared the creek bed, they slowed down. Jass wasn’t sure he still remembered how to be a king.

“We’ve been away for many years,” Leslie was whispering. “How to you suppose the kingdom has fared in our absence?”

“Where’ve we been?”

“Conquering the hostile savages on our northern borders,” she answered. “But the lines of communication have been broken, and thus we do not have tidings of our beloved homeland for many a full moon.” How was that for regular queen talk? Jess wished he could match it. “You think anything bad has happened?”

“We must have courage, my king. It may indeed be so.”

I will have to find the movie to borrow somewhere and finally check it out–I’ve been wanting to watch for a while now, but have been holding off as I wanted to read the book first. :)

I watched Prince Caspian with friends last Thursday at Cathay Cineleisure Orchard. Like previously mentioned, I’m not a book purist, but there is that line that mustn’t be crossed when we’re talking above movie adaptations of well-loved books. While Prince Caspian was not unsalvagable, I didn’t care overmuch about a few of the glaring differences.

(Warning: spoilers ahead!)

I didn’t mind that they “hurried” the children’s arrival in Narnia, that certain events (well, almost all events) became rather jumbled, that they added fight scenes where there was none (a bit on the fence with that one, though). I liked how Susan was in the midst of the fighting. I don’t even mind how far they got the White Witch present in the movie, and I actually like that because I rather like how Edmund was the one to resolve that issue, and his quip “Yeah, I know. You had it sorted” was good and well delivered. Being the one who suffered under the White Witch’s “affections”, it felt apt to have him deal that blow.

(I shall have to watch Skandar Keynes, who played Edmund–seems to be shaping up to be a good actor.)

But I do mind that they added a Caspian/Susan twist, and topped it all off with a kiss. Yes, I notice the tension between them, and yes, I laughed when Lucy exclaimed, “‘You might need to call me again’?!” The tension is enough, thankyouverymuch. I didn’t need to see the kiss. I’m not a prude–I like a good kiss–but you know that feeling that it just isn’t right? That’s how I felt. Maybe it was not handled well enough by the actors and/or the scriptwriters, I don’t know; but all in all I had much rather they left the kiss off.

Peter and Caspian, as well, felt like two teenage boys with these oversized egos. I realize they’re teenage boys trying to find their place in the world, but it just felt like they were immature kids, and their “bickering” was annoying. Is it just that the acting wasn’t good enough? It’s good to have a bit of rivalry within the ranks, but if they did this to just add some grittiness to the story, then it was poorly written/done.

Thank goodness there was plenty to save this movie: Reepicheep is wonderful, and I knew something was up with Nikabrik–I only found out afterward that it was actually Warwick Davis, of Willow fame! I have to say it is odd to have him play a villain, but maybe that’s why they made him practically unrecognizable? (His eyes almost gave him away though; I just knew that I knew that actor.)

Lucy and Edmund are wonderful in this film, as is Georgie Henley and Skandar. Great acting, and I have to say my favorite lines are from the two of them, like Lucy’s aforementioned “You might need to call me again” outburst, and gems like this from Edmund:

King Miraz: Tell me, Prince Edmund…
Edmund Pevensie: King.
King Miraz: I beg your Pardon.
Edmund Pevensie: It’s King Edmund, actually. Just King though. Peter’s the High King. (Pause) I know, it’s confusing.

If you’re a Narnia fan, then it’s a given: you should watch this movie. Just don’t expect a lot from it.

I created an account on Shelfari a while back, but never really got into using it. Just today I decided to revisit it, to see a lot of really nifty improvements, both in the look and feel and with the feature set. I love that you can segregate books according to once you plan to read, are reading, and have already read — plus you can specify if it’s a favorite, if it’s a wishlist item, and/or if you own it.

The last few meta information that the collect is fabulous. I’ll admit I haven’t frequented a lot of book library sites (because it’s always frustrated me at some point) but this last bit was something I was looking for in these types of sites for a long time. I don’t necessarily have all the books I’ve read, after all. A lot of my books are kind of co-owned with my sister. Having these options made me go into a book-adding frenzy.

Until I got frustrated because the editions I wanted weren’t exactly there, did not have the right title, and/or did not have the right cover. For example, I have The Gunslinger put up as The Dark Tower, even though it’s obviously not — it’s only part one of The Dark Tower series, people!

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’m nitpicky enough to need them to list it correctly, and to get annoyed that I can’t get the right entries. I had the same problem with the books from The Chronicles of Narnia, which is a travesty! I now don’t have Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Prince Caspian in my shelf precisely because of this. Not to mention, the books in my shelf aren’t all from one edition! It’s annoying, really annoying.

What online book library sites do you use? Is there something better than this, that maybe I just haven’t explored enough? Or should I just roll my own?

I just finished Christopher Paolini’s Eragon, after resolving to read it since it’s been turned into a movie (no, I haven’t watched the movie, and yes, I heard it wasn’t good). As a YA fantasy novel, to me it was pretty typical: fast-paced adventure, magic, dragons, a likeable protagonist who is coming of age. It was an enjoyable read, and I’ll definitely be picking up the next installation soon.

(Spoiler warning! I will be talking about some plot elements that affect the ending of the book.)

I don’t exactly know if I feel it’s doing a good bit of foreshadowing or if it’s too much. I obviously haven’t read Eldest, but already I feel like it’s going to be a no-brainer. For one thing, Angela the witch’s foretelling of Eragon’s future felt like… wait, already? So we already know there’s a near-death, someone who’s family will betray him, and there’s a noble love on the horizon.

I felt the near-death would be Brom right off. I mean, seriously, who else was it going to be? Who else (who’s still alive) was close to Eragon other than Roran, Brom, and Saphira? If Saphira dies, there goes the story. There was a chance it would be Roran, but I felt that Brom would make more sense, more impact.

And besides, there was the whole thing about the betrayal of someone who’s family. That instantly pointed to Roran, but! We skip to the end of the book, where we, omg, find out about Murtagh’s past. Murtagh Son of Morzan who, when sparring with Eragon, was his equal in every respect, even when they tire. There was mention of them being so alike each other, but yet differing in beliefs. Let’s not forget Murtagh’s mother, who came from an unknown village, who mysteriously left when Murtagh was three, and returned just as mysteriously.

Oh, what’s that about Eragon’s mother? His mother, who had become apparently rich, went home to Garrow five months pregnant with Eragon, gave birth, and then pleaded that he be raised there, and then disappeared. I mean, seriously? You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to put, omg, two long-lost brothers together and, in the end, have them face each other in a heart-rending, emotional battle between good and evil! Not to mention battle for the heart of a noblewoman, Nasuada, apparently. There was a stray thought about it being Arya, but you never know. Would that be possible in Eragon’s world?

Okay, maybe I’m wrong about some of these points. I don’t even know what I think about all these guesses of mine. I feel like, what, why is this so easy?? I don’t know if I enjoy it, making all these guesses.

Lately I’ve just put down Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire and I have to say that it was brilliant — I loved the fully-realized political and spiritual backdrop for the tale, and Elphaba was certainly a character. She’s the title character, but it was so well written that you actually feel and know her to be an outsider. The outsider? In her own book. Hence the politics and the spiritual/religious backdrop aren’t really a backdrop after all, but they’re pretty much the meat and core of the tale.

Being the hopeless sap that I am, you’d probably guess what my favorite part is. Spoiler alert, for those of you who don’t want to be spoiled ;) but Elphaba and Fiyero’s ultimately-doomed relationship was a treat. I was half expecting her and Boq to end up together — the other half was that I didn’t feel like I wanted her to be in a relationship. But when Fiyero and she did end up in a rather complicated relationship, it was a suprise, a good surprise, a treat. She was a little “closer” then, not so much an outsider, while it lasted.

I think I’m definitely picking up Son of a Witch now, which I had read a bit of in a bookstore back in the Philippines. It’s definitely an intriguing read.