Week 10: The Fiction of Ideas

This week I read Farenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. I know it was on the watching list, and not the reading list, but I've heard so many good things about the book, so I decided to read it instead.

I thought the book was absolutely brilliant. I thought a world without books would be absurd, but Bradbury manages to make the world seem like reality with his writing. I found several things in the book interesting.

Two of the most interesting characters in the novel are Captain Beatty and Faber. They seem to be central to the novel, but at the same time play no active role. Beatty provides the history and background to the decline of books in society and role of firemen burning in them. Faber on the other hand guides our main character, Guy Montag through his mundane existence using an ear-piece after witnessing his attempt to tear pages from the Bible. The two characters help the reader understand the theme, the damage some forms of media will have on literature.

Montag meets a girl Clarisse, who basically changes his life forever. I think Bradbury is trying to show that relationships can change a persons outlook on life very drastically. After meeting her, Montag starts noticing aspects of life he never noticed before and begins to do simple but spontaneous actions like tasting the rain and laughing. Bradbury also shows the contrast between two entirely different worlds, Montag's and Clarisse's.

Week 9: Space Opera

Well, pretty much like everyone else in the western world, when I hear the words 'space opera', I immediately think of Star Wars. And then I think about Star Trek. Mostly because they're the most popular space operas to come out to the public and were of course, widely successful.

As a child (actually even now I would read it) I read a bunch of Star Wars novels involving Anakin Skywalker's life from when he was picked up by Qui-Gonn, to when he became a Jedi Knight (Revenge of the Sith). I thought these were super interesting to read actually, especially knowing that the main character would eventually become one of the most feared villains of all time.

In addition to these, I also really loved the books that illustrated long after the Empire fell; when Han and Leia's kids had grandkids! It was very enjoyable to read and very refreshing.

I even went so far as to write my own sequel to the sixth book, involving Luke Skywalker and a lost spirit recalling technology that was found to bring back Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader as two separate beings. It also (somehow) brings back Yoda and Anakin's rival from his Padawan days (Ferus Olin), who Darth Vader killed between the fifth and sixth movie. It was a fairly complicated plot, there were a bunch of scraggly drawings at the bottom of each page(the drawings were probably worse than I remember) and I don't think it made a WHOLE lot of sense, but I thought it wasn't bad for a ten year old!

But yeah, Star Wars is my space jam. Haha get it. Space Jam. Okay I'll stop.

Week 8: Mythic Fiction and Contemporary Urban Fantasy

Today in class we watched Coraline and seeing how they translated the novel to the movie was very interesting and fun to watch. I actually didn't see the movie; this was the first time I was seeing the movie. Given that I already knew the plot, I was focusing on the cinematography and animation (mostly cause we're learning both in classes: I'm a Computer Animation major).

I think that the fact that LAIKA endeavored on this film was very surprising, but also very unsurprising. The plot is pretty perfect for an animated film: interesting, exaggerated, and suspenseful. Although some of the themes are cliche (curiosity kills the cat, be careful what you sit for), the visuals made up for whatever doubts I had about the movie. The mere fact that this movie was made with stop-motion makes it all the more creepy and hooking. The slight stiffness and surrealism of the animation totally fits the tone of the movie. I thought it was a very good balance, fluid when it had to be, yet "jagged" in some instances. The interesting thing was that I thought that the Other Mother and her world's animation was more fluid and interesting than the real world's animation.

The movie also had another key character that wasn't present in the book: Wyborn "Wybie" Lovat wasn't mentioned at all in the book, but in the movie he was seen as annoying and quirky. His other, mute self is a strong ally in the Other World, essentially sacrificing himself for her. In the end he saves her life again by crushing the Other Mother's hand.

The movie definitely succeeded in thoroughly creeping me out, and I didn't even get to the scary part yet! Definitely would watch, and I'm going to finish it soon.

Week 7: The Novel of Spiritual Education

When I saw we were watching Harry Potter during class, I got very excited. Like a lot of people, I read all the books religiously, and watched the movies so many times I pretty much have each and every line memorized. I still have a tradition of reading these books every single year without fail, and will probably do so until I die. It would be funny I just died reading these books, because that might actually happen?

In Harry Potter, the values learned and presented connected with not just me, but with almost everyone who read it. One of the values I personally connected with is that friends are extremely important. The author, J.K Rowling, stresses that interacting and being part of a community is basically the definition of humanity.

Another part of Harry Potter that is stressed, even over stressed in my opinion, is the value of sacrifice. Harry's mom, Lily, sacrifices herself for Harry in the beginning, resulting in Harry having a protective charm over himself, shielding himself from Voldemort until he turns 18. I believe that sacrifice for the greater good is important, but I think self protection is more important. The will to survive is more important than sacrifice for another.

Okay its very tempting to keep talking about Harry Potter, but believe it or not, I've also read other fantasy books! I've read The Chronicles of Narnia multiple times. I fell in love with the first book, the Magician's Nephew, because he literally brings a new world to life in a book. He establishes a world in which many more books can preside in. I went through The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, Voyage of the Dawn Treader really quickly, but I kind of struggled with the Horse and His Boy and the rest of the books, because the original characters (Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy Pevensie) weren't "invited" back to Narnia after the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. 

In addition to The Chronicles of Narnia, I've also read the Spiderwick Chronicles. These series successfully merge the real world and a fantasy world into a hybrid world of the characters and the readers second guessing what's real, and what's not.

Week 6: A Rich Fantasy Life

    This week I read Eragon, by Chrisopher Paolini. I actually don't particularly enjoy the setting in which there are are knights and kingdoms (because I've just seen so many that bore me), but I actually really enjoyed this book. This fantasy book fits the hero's journey pretty well, as it is about a farm boy who finds a dragon egg, which is very, very rare. This story could be summed up simply with just a few sentences:

Once upon a time, there was a farm boy named Eragon.

Then one day, he finds a dragon egg in a forest. (Inciting incident)

Because of this, Ra'zac(assassins) come and try to find the egg. They kill Eragon's uncle.

Because of this, Eragon vowes revenge (call to action) and travels with his dragon, Saphira (supernatural aid/helper), and Brom, his mentor.

Because of this, the evil shade, Durza, finds out about them. He sends the Ra'zac and other minions to kill them.

Because of this, Eragon discovers he is magical, and has more supernatural aid. (Start of transformation)

Because of this, they get hunted even more, and Brom dies.

Because of this, Brom gets replaced by Murtaugh, another helper. He also frees an elf named Arya from jail.

Because of this, she leads them to the rebellion's hideout.

Because of this, Durza the Shade comes to kill Eragon.

Because of this, Eragon kills Durza.

From then on, Eragon is no longer a farm boy, and is a dragon rider.

Everything pretty much fits into the hero's journey pretty perfectly; when he's in the village, he is in his known space. When he leaves, after the call of action, he goes into an unknown space, which becomes known after he reaches the rebellion. He has a mentor, and helpers to help him in his journey. Eragon is tempted by Durza with power when he confronts him. His transformation "finishes" during his final battle with Durza.

This book fits the important mandatory (and sometimes cliche aka Brom, his mentor, dying) storytelling points on the dot. In the final battle, it looks like the rebellion is losing and Eragon is badly hurt (ABYSS), but then has a REVELATION, which allows him to win the battle.

Week 5: Witches

In Kiki's Delivery Service, by Hayao Miyazaki, a young witch, Kiki, sets out to make her mark on the world. In the film, witches aren't portrayed as they usually are in older western media. usually they would be portrayed with the cliche of them having a hooked nose, a pointy hat, scraggly hair, warts, ugly teeth and horrible skin. On the contrary, Kiki is seen as young, pretty, innocent and pure. There are shared themes, such as brewing potions, flying using broomsticks, a black feline companion, and wearing a big black robe. But the difference is, in old western media, those things were seen as horrible and unholy, whereas in the Kiki's Delivery Service movie universe, witches are generally seen as rare but amazing people.

           Adding on to this, Aunt Maria by Diana Wynne Jones was very similar to Kiki's Delivery Service. The first half of the book could totally be a Studio Ghibli movie. It shared all the Ghibli themes: cats, children, nice houses by the sea, mysterious forests, spirits, and beautiful scenery. Just like the movie, it was thrilling, mysterious, supernatural, and quirky.   

       I also thought Aunt Maria has a lot of similarities to the writing style of Harry Potter. If we're talking about witches in Harry Potter, the tone is very normal, as if they were talking about humans. There are good witches and evil witches and its like a social norm in the story.

             Like Kiki's Delivery Service, Harry Potter is a good story in which the witches are not viewed as evil, dastardly beautiful, or anything else; they are seen as just members of society trying to fit in. Kiki seems more human than a supernatural being. Recently, media is trying to go for a witch character as one that is more normal and human (like Hermoine and Kiki).

Week 4: The New Weird

           
               Recently I read a series of books that could DEFINITELY be called weird. Darren Shan's Demonata series is extremely weird in the sense it has many, many themes going on. But it also definitely counts as horror, because its super gruesome.

               In the very first chapter of the first book, it starts off with the main character's parents' death. They were killed in an ALTERNATE universe by a DEMON who lives on human misery and CHESS, who they were fighting for a cure for LYCANTHROPY for their daughter. So many factors come into play in the very first chapter. The whole series covers demons, werewolves, magic, the origin of the universe, time travel, alternate universes, death as a physical being, and gods. Quite a bit of topics to cover in just 10 books.

               He wraps all these themes around the fact that demons, who live in the "Demonata universe" want to cross over into our world and destroy the human race. The whole series gets more gory as it goes along, even though it was very gory from the start.

There's a lot descriptive, disgusting imagery as well. For example:

Blood everywhere. Nightmarish splashes and gory pools. Wild streaks across the floor and walls.

Except the walls aren’t walls. I’m surrounded on all four sides by webs. Millions of strands, thicker than my arm, some connecting in orderly designs, others running chaotically apart. Many of the strands are stained with blood. Behind the layer of webs, more layers—banks of them stretching back as far as I can see. Infinite.

My eyes snap from the walls. I make quick, mental thumbnails of other details. Numb. Functioning like a machine.

The dripping sound—a body hanging upside down from the webby ceiling in the centre of the room. No head. Blood drops to the floor from the gaping red O of the neck. Even without the head, I recognise him.

“DAD!” I scream, and the cry almost rips my vocal chords apart.
To my left, an obscene creature spins round and snarls. It has the body of a very large dog, the head of a crocodile. Beneath it, motionless—Mum. Or what’s left of her.

A dreadful howl to my right. Gret! Sitting on the floor, staring at me, weaving sideways, her face white, except where it’s smeared with blood. I start to call to her. She half-turns and I realise that she’s been split in two. Something’s behind her, in the cavity at the back, moving her like a hand-puppet.

The ‘something’ pushes Gret away. It’s a child, but no child of this world. It has the body of a three-year-old, with a head much larger than any normal person’s. Pale green skin. No eyes—a small ball of fire flickers in each of its empty sockets. No hair—yet its head is alive with movement. As the hell-child advances, I see that the objects are cockroaches. Living. Feeding on its rotten flesh. 

               This is only the beginning of the first book. Shan doesn't waste any time setting up a backstory in the first chapter, then just tearing it apart in the beginning of the second chapter, and in the third chapter sets up a transition from the main characters original home to his next living space.