Review: Twilight

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

My rating: ? of 5 stars



Before anyone starts jumping down my throat about my unfair judgement, let me start by saying that this is sort of like my "Pre-test" to reading Twilight. This is the "First Impression" opinion; the future still holds many possibilities to whether or not my opinions change. And you know what? I'm entitled to first impression opinions too. In the future when I've read and decided whether or not I actually enjoy this book (or even the entire series), THEN we can let the "I told you so's" commence. Until then, bear with me because I DO have lots of opinions.

For as far as I've read (probably just chapter one), Twilight reminds me of something painfully embarrassing about my own past: my first couple attempts at writing my own stories.

Basically this is how it adds up: I take a basic plot and add an ideal heroine to it. Along the way, that ideal heroine ends up becoming more and more Mary Sue to the point that even I start to become annoywed with her. In fact, I keep adding on self-claimed traits that make absolutely no contribution to the story outside of bolstering my Mary Sue into a bigger Mary Sue. While I'm at it, I make said Mary Sue into a self-proclaimed loser... however, due to all of the other descriptive factors about her, we are pretty hard-pressed to believe half of what she says about herself. In essence, she has become the resident high school drama queen despite the fact that she has nothing to throw around about dramatic woes. She's the pretty, smart, misunderstood girl with a heart of gold; but in reality, she's got a nice family, people willing to get to know her, and she's really not as individualistic or alone as she keeps claiming, and honestly NOT that witty either.

For instance, Bella's little cheek about the high school kids of Forks not understanding sarcasm. This is a little snit that would have had more conviction if it had come from someone who was naturally sardonic to begin with; however, so far in her own narration, I have sensed no colorful or creative witticisms. In fact, she's really just telling things as they occur, making a comparison here and there, every so often that seem like an attempt to be witty, but ultimately just end up being flat analysis. If there had been some sarcasm intended in any part of her narration, I must have missed it completely, or just didn't understand it all (my bad).

At best, she seems pretentious and extra-emo-wannabe (which I don't condemn her for because she IS a high school girl after all and we've all been through that phase). At the very least, could she have been written a little more in style rather than on such a bland first impression?

What else can I add? Oh yes. Writing style. Simple, straight forward, yet unattractive and almost too monotonous. Once again, very much like the way I used to attempt writing my own stories -- like I had a stunted vocabulary or something like that.

Bella Swan is an extremely one dimensional character for all I can see right now. It's probably unfair of me to judge her so prematurely (only one chapter into the book), but the fact that she seems to have a lot of qualifiers for her own personality versus how she really sounds versus how she sees herself... it makes it hard to know in which direction she's supposed to eventually develop. She sees herself as an outcast, takes no pleasantries with her mood, attitude, or looks, but almost has an air of feeling like she's the one being singled out when in fact she's the one shoving people away. In terms of character, I'm already not liking her.

HOWEVER, to the benefit of the story itself, I have to admit that it's quite intriguing already. Its only downfall is that it's written with a style very akin to someone at third grade vocabulary level. Short descriptions, using the same expressions and words, no analogies, no words worthy of imagination... Random tidbit information that does story progression no good, but at the very least, they are brief and so you forget about anyway (which makes it kind of unnecessary and you wonder why we need to know about each and every class Bella is attending throughout the day). But the story's idea isn't bad; the premise is attractive enough that its gotten my attention for the next scene or the next chapter to come.

Why is Edward Cullen so hostile to Bella before he's even met her? What's up with the entirety of the high school who seem so curious about Bella? Most of all, already knowing the premise of this story line, what ends up drawing a vampire to Bella when he starts off the very first chapter resenting her very being, repulsed by her presence, and simply angry that he even has to breathe the same air as she does?

For the most part, I have enough of an interest in the story line to continue on with this book. At least I have an idea where it's going and where it will end up. I just want to know what happens to get it there. Unfortunately, it's the character of Bella Swan as well as the writing style that's got me conflicted about how well I'll be able to follow the rest of the story. Nonetheless, after this first chapter, I'm going to be adding this book to my reading list permanently. I'm a sucker for romance anyway, and so if the story develops ideally, then at the very least, I've got a nice romance and a possibly interesting story to follow.

After all, there HAS to be a reason why so many people are so in love with this entire series, right?

I realize that my opinions might seem rather harsh for only having read one chapter. And I realize that people might think that I'm not interested in giving Twilight a fighting chance either. And I admit openly that I really DID start reading this book with the intention of fully NOT enjoying it. Yes, I was looking for faults, which conclusively resulted in my finding of so many of them. Call it bias or call it an anti-popular trend streak I have, but whatever it is, this is exactly how I felt about the beginning of the book.

I'm not the type to be pretentious and hate everything that's popular. I've been on the Harry Potter bandwagon, the Hunger Games tent... so I'm not averse to popularity. And yes, I DO admit that I've had my criticisms of Twilight, prejudged before I've even read or seen the movies. I'm not a fan of vampire genres outside of the original Dracula novel, and have always had issues with weak female leads (of which I've heard so much from others, seems to fit Bella Swan's description). BUT, I'm willing to give this series a chance to change my mind because I don't want to be told that I can't judge a book before I've even had a chance to experience it.

And so, come what may... Maybe by the time I've gotten to the heart of Twilight's conflict (which I've heard doesn't even quite come around until Book Three?), I'll be fully engrossed with the entire world and the story. Maybe I'll even come around to like Bella. But for now, in this present, this post is exactly how I feel about Twilight: my pre-judgement and my "only-one-chapter-in-impression-so-how-dare-I-pass-judgement-so-quickly" first impression opinions.



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Review: The Woman in Black

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Okay, so maybe I don't quite understand the concept of "older style" writing, which is why I was a little reluctant to enjoy this book. However, having read my fair share of Jane Austen books as well as those high school required classics, I have an idea how to follow books like this. Unfortunately, I probably just couldn't get into this one enough to fairly judge its premise, story line or even character develop (all of which felt like there really was none, save for the same old, same old).

This is a book described as a Victorian ghost story by some. And while it seems that MY concept of a ghost story and some OTHER people's idea of a ghost story might be a bit different, I had at least been expecting SOME element of ghostly wonder. At the very least, I wanted it to be creepy or scary or that it would instill some sort of fear or spine-tingling chill up my spine. Instead, it just turned out to be a long drawn out narration about how one particular duration of time in one man's life had completely changed his life and scared him into silence.

And to be totally honest, while there were some points in this book that I could follow really well and enjoyed, those moments disappeared pretty quickly as I easily lost interest after a few more sentences and started wandering around to find something else to do. The entire first half of the book was awkwardly loaded with detail about the narrators life and his take on his own personality as well as vague detail about how some incident he came across affected him immensely. And of course, there really was NO NEED for Mr. Kipps to keep referencing that incident in such secretive terms because, as the summary of the book would tell you, this is a ghost story and we are all aware that he had encountered something awful and haunting.

So a lot of the beginning of the book was build-up that just seemed like it was awfully unnecessary. In fact, if we just skipped straight ahead to the moment where he arrives in Crythin and starts going through the home of the deceased Mrs. Drablow, it would have cut off a whole lot of boring. However, even were THAT the case, it seemed like the heavily loaded descriptions about the narrator's state of mind and how he comes to have that state of mind (from childhood revelations to current knowledge and insight) still made up at least 90% of each chapter. Very little of the narration draws upon the historical happenings of Eel Marsh House, and very little of the narration deals with the horror of the actual haunting. And in turn, the same events seemed to happening nightly and we only get to see what the narrator is feeling and thinking, each and every time that the horrific hauntings take place.

I'll admit: I got frustrated and bored and even a little ready to just drop the book and move on. But I've already dropped too many books this year and I figured that I would be damned if I didn't finish this one (especially since I somehow managed to get through more than 50% of it). I remember very little of the story line, however, save for the same repetitive haunting of Eel Marsh House told in three or maybe four or maybe even five separate parts of the book. I read, but didn't pay much attention to all of Mr. Kipps' narration about his own feelings and emotions. And I was quite disappointed that the story was NOT scary and didn't even wager a cent of spine-tingling eeriness.

And of course, since a lot of the haunting seemed like typical, standard ghost story lore, none of it was surprising to me. And the rest of the book was quite predictable.

Maybe this just wasn't a book for me. Or maybe I had been expecting too much out of it, or expecting something quite different. There were moments where I DID enjoy it if only because I thought that the story line was starting to get a little exciting. But then when it kept on going in the same way it had been, I just couldn't find it in me to like it at all. It IS well, written, in terms of description and style; but it just wasn't very attractive, at least not enough for my taste.

So basically, while some may find this writing style great, I just couldn't find it in myself to enjoy the book. It says a lot when I can barely remember certain details about it to be memorable at all. And the fact that everyone was so closed-mouthed about the historical events surrounding Eel Marsh House and the woman in black and the deceased Mrs. Drablow... but then finally, one of the characters decides to suddenly talk about it quite freely without any goading or such... Really, what was THAT all about? Faux de machina to shed some light on the entire haunting debacle?



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Review: Stardust

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I'm not too good at reviewing books, but here goes:

I chose this book (yes, superficially) based on the fact that I enjoyed the movie. The premise was cute and interesting and the story was written well. But I don't know if it's because of the fact that I saw the movie first, or just some forms of continuity, but the book version didn't really do much for me. Yes, I enjoyed it, but ultimately, it's not like this is something I would rave about or lose sleep over.

Nonetheless, I liked Stardust and Neil Gaiman does excellently in writing detail and painting his descriptions with his words. It just wasn't something that I would put on my favorites list since (as my only complaint) the ending was kind of bland. I really WAS expecting a whole lot more excitement towards the second half of the story line, but it almost seemed as if we were in a hurry to finish up so that we could get Tristran and Yvaine closer towards their happy ending without anything too demanding happening to them -- more paraphrased (at least that's how I felt about it) narrative than action (and I don't even mean that combats and fights and running around type of action).

Still, it was fun while it lasted.



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In which I make a new goal...

This is technically my second time using the Nike+ technology, but with this particular run, I was finally able to calibrate the sensor a bit more properly. It was pretty much a "start up sensor, run, pause sensor, walk, un-pause sensor, run, pause sensor, walk, walk, walk, un-pause sensor, run..." Rinse, wash, repeat. Nonetheless, it didn't take long for me to finish "running" that one mile even if there were multiple "walks" in between.

Here's hoping that sooner or later I'll be able to run more than two laps without hyperventilating. This new goal will require a LOT of motivation and a LOT of discipline. The only thing that kept me going was a little bit of "Only four laps left... two... one..." And then let the huffing and puffing commence.

Yea... I feel like a dead turtle right now.

Hopefully I'll be able to make it again tomorrow morning?

Lunar New Year of the Dragon

Happy New Year to all of the Asian and non-Asian community out there!

I typically have more of a sense of excitement for our culture's new year than the universal new year. Call it tradition or even call it just a sense of fondness for something that NOT everyone else in this country celebrates, but I'm fairly content. For one, the new year allows us more food and festivities than the typical universal new year invokes.

On December 31, 2011, I awaited patiently for the new year to approach while sitting (bored) at a bar with friends all around. It wasn't like I didn't enjoy myself, but to be totally honest, I'm not a bar person and I'm not a heavy drinker. And we ALL know that I am the last person in this world to initiate being a social butterfly. But spending time with friends was great, so there are no complaints there.

As for this upcoming Chinese New Year (which I simply refer to as a new year), our festivities have always included visiting family, receiving lucky red envelopes (with money, of course), and eating ton-loads of great traditional Chinese dishes made by either Mom, Grandma, or some random relative. There are also lots of candies and gifts passed around.

It's typically a pretty nice time and I am honestly a tad more excited for this particular holiday than I have been for others from the most recent line-up. I know I don't look enthused, but the extent of my emotions is only so wide.

So anyway, here's to the new year, Year of the Dragon, and let's hope that we have a good one!

My Bon Voyage Treats

Technically it's not like I'm really going anywhere, but as the "official" last night working 3rd shift at one campus in our hospital network, my manager brought in cupcakes. Aren't they pretty? I especially love the cupcake stand (never thought that I would actually be squeal-y about a cupcake stand). It's so cute that I want one even if I never really eat cupcakes (I'm not a fan). This little set up is especially nice because of all the pretty colors.

I didn't even want to make a big deal about my "going away" since I'm pretty much a prime candidate to return to help cover shifts if it's necessary. And it's not like I'm going away forever either. But anyway, it's all good. I had my celebratory "congrats on full time position and we'll miss you, but not really" dinner with my only few coworkers from 3rd shift and now cupcakes on my last night.

So sweet! (No pun intended.)

Oh, the holiday cheer (or lack thereof)

I've come to the conclusion that the holidays are some of the most depressing times in the entire year. Or I could just be a regularly boring and depressing person. It's hard to say what comes first: my own sense of melancholy or a lonely imitation of holiday highs. Either way, ever since a few years back, I've begun to associate the holidays (subconsciously) with a melancholic loneliness; maybe it was about two or three years ago that I began to acknowledge this fact. When did it actually start that I stopped caring about the holiday season?

Who knows?

Returning to some old journal entries and blog posts for Decembers in the past, I've come to find that my thoughts never stray too far from melodramatic woes. There are some specific common factors that even accompany these low moments, on repeat: 1) angry holiday shopping and shoving and cursing and more shoving; 2) unexplained bipolar tendencies wherein I go from excited about one moment only to follow through almost too quickly with a sudden low that makes my heart hurt; 3) the resentment I hold towards people around me (in general) and also towards my older brother (mainly) for the fact that I've made myself into an outcast; and finally, 4) a strange regret that I can't find any reason to be excited about the holiday seasons anymore, and because of that, I'm sad about it.

Life does amusing things to your head once you start thinking too hard. And then even happy thoughts can lead to hypothetical "What if I disappeared from this world tomorrow? Who would care?" questions. Where do I stand in this life time with all of my friends and all of my family? Where do I stand with myself? What do I want? What DO I want?

What do I want?

A little research into the past didn't quite clear up my curiosities. I wanted to see when it was that I actually stopped caring about the holidays. It turns out that nowhere do I make mention about anything to do with my melancholy during the holidays. I talk about a lot of other things I'm preoccupied with such as books (mainly Harry Potter, apparently), upcoming tests, upcoming holiday vacations and the like. And then there's a lull from 2005 until 2007 when either I just didn't feel motivated to write or I didn't have time. And then, in a private journal entry in 2007, I think I make the connection for the first time that Christmas just doesn't feel like Christmas of my childhood anymore.

What happened in 2007? Where did that revelation come from? Did I already feel this way before then and just didn't realize it? Or was that feeling just never written down on paper because I never had the time for private journal mutterings?

I'm having snippet flash backs of a possible connection to Faith Hill's "Where Are You Christmas?" that might have catalyzed my "holiday emo" era. The song is quite depressing until you get the last verse where it finally picks back up when she "finds Christmas" again. But you're already put into a jaded mood from the beginning of the song. This would put my issues back into high school in the year 2000. So it's not right, because back then (as I am slightly today) I was a big drama queen and overdid EVERYTHING. Maybe there was carry-over and I just didn't realize it.

And then college came around the corner and I didn't have the time to think about Christmas losing its magic for me.

So apparently going back and looking at old histories of "The Life of Ani" doesn't really do squat to help pinpoint my frustrations. Of course, it's not like it would have helped my case anyway; it doesn't help bring back my cheer. Instead, I'm finding that it's just further escalating that sense of boredom accompanied by a very dormant yearning for the holidays to actually MAKE me excited again.

Really... I really DO want to feel happy about the holidays. I don't want to drive by lights and Christmas decorations or listen to holiday music or hear about seasonal celebrations only to come up with one single depressing thought:

"I really wish I could feel excited about life again."

Good old Fairy Tales...

What else is there for a hermit to do other than sit around all day long and live in a fictional world? Reading, watching television, playing games... That's life (or lack thereof).

During my perusing of something new to do (after finishing another marathon of a Korean drama rom-com), I suddenly had the urge to check some other old television series classics (or at least the cult favorites). That eventually lead me to remembering a series that my friend had brought up a while back that I had intended to check out, but got side tracked with other things instead.

Once Upon A Time is currently airing on ABC and has a little modern-day slash fantastical Fairy Tale twist (Yes, Fairy Tale MUST be capitalized). For a summary on the series itself, feel free to Google it, but for a quick down low, basically, Emma Swan is brought to a place called Storybrooke when her long ago given up son comes tracking her down. He's got this wild imagination that all the people of Storybrooke are trapped in a curse and that Emma is the only person who can save them. Running parallel to the modern setting is said Fairy Tale wherein all the Storybrooke characters are introduced through various episodic story arcs as their Fairy Tale counterparts.

To be totally honest, for a better summary, you wouldn't be reading my version, because while I'm kind of enjoying this little adventure, I'm not quite certain I know what's really going on aside from the curse and Emma Swan's role in breaking it.

We are told that the entire Fairy Tale debacle is quite real through that parallel telling, slipping back into the Fairy Tale back story while moving right along with the modern day Storybrooke version. But as you flip back and forth, part of you can't quite keep from wondering whether or not this Fairy Tale and curse might not really be a figment of young Henry's overactive imagination -- maybe he IS compensating for his loneliness by creating a fantastic world simply because, as he says in Episode Five, "There's gotta be more to it." (Or something like that, because I'm terrible with quotes, so forgive me.)

I didn't start getting into the series until about Episode Three when we back-pedal into the brief "How Snow White met Prince Charming" love line. And to be totally honest, I'm kind of digging the Fairy Tale story line more than the Storybrooke telling -- I guess I'm just a sucker for Fairy Tales and some adventure. Without this parallel story telling, it would be quite hard to suspend that disbelief that everyone in Storybrooke could be Fairy Tale characters who just don't know it because of a curse that has kept them suspended in a prison of time standing still without their memories. It's a long shot, but I think with more development, the series will come together.

Ginnifer Goodwin does a rather good bumbling Mary Margaret Blanchard as the Storybrooke version of the character, but then she switches gears pretty quickly to become a rather kickass Snow White for the Fairy Tale version of herself. Good touch.

The only complaints I have are the CG and magic illustrations, which look pretty awkward and comedic (it's not a good kind of comedic). The Fairy Tale world is a bit of a "fusion" of American cultural tones (from speech to analogies) which gives it a pretty interesting spin.

My hope: That this series doesn't end up dragging itself out like the typical American television series does (for five seasons with extensions). After spending so much time with Asian series, there's much to be said about having a finite quality for many, many story lines, television series included. The one thing that American series suffer from is their lack of a defining ending that hadn't been brought about by dropped ratings or loss of new material to write about. For this reason, some series would probably do much better as a mini-series while sometimes there ARE series that have it in them to be ongoing for four or five years.

Once Upon a Time, unfortunately, can only be taken so far before the writers run out of ways to continue on without solving the main issue. So, like it or not, this is one of those series that would do well as one with a projected ending rather than a hoped for extended, ongoing series with multiple seasons.

But what do I know. I just watch for entertainment and the series will entertain me until... well, until it stops entertaining me. Then I move on to other things.

***

Still continuing on with reading Micro by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston. It's getting exciting, but there are some complaints I have about it, which I don't quite know how to pinpoint yet. I've put A Great and Terrible Beauty on hold for the time being as it just wasn't drawing me in. But I need to finish reading it when I get the chance, if only because I want to tell all the people who recommended it to me as "an awesome book" that I just didn't enjoy it. Because, as I mentioned to a friend, so far, aside from the attention to detail in the author's writing style (some cute little analogies and the female lead's cynical sarcasm) I'm not quite sure I'm getting what's going on.

It wasn't like reading The Hunger Games where I suffered from a "Let's read one more chapter then go to sleep" dilemma, where about six hours later, I've done gone through ten more chapters and am already more than halfway through the book when I'd just started reading it.

Anyway, I guess that's life.

Micro Teacup Yorkie

http://pinterest.com/pin/170714642094662185/

Just: Awww....

That's all.

http://pinterest.com/

The little things in life

I realized just now that, while perusing my storage of pictures, I have never talked about my wonderful new E-reader. The Nook Simple Touch, which has been named simply, Nook has taken over as THE Nook... if that makes any sense. Another way of saying this is that now the original Nook that first came out has been cast aside as "1st Edition Nook" and whenever you say the word Nook, you are almost always supposed to be referring to the Nook Touch.

Yea, a lot of marketing mumbo jumbo, but I learned this a little after I went and bought one. When I told them I wanted "that new Nook" the question I got was, "Oh, the Nook or the 1st Edition?" Oh... So the other one has been grounded already, so much for loyalty. Not that I blame them, I wouldn't have bothered to get this E-reader had I not found out that it was much improved for the 1st Edition -- pearl e-ink with smoother page turns and easy to use navigation.

The only complaint I have about having a Nook (which I'm sure is probably the same with any other E-reader out there) is that it is extremely dangerously easy to buy a new book. I actually had to force myself to quit reading from the Nook for a while so that I wouldn't think about spending more money. I mean, with the touch of a button, you confirm a buy and then "ZIP!" the book is now part of your library.

Case in point, within the past two weeks, I ended up pre-ordering three books and buying three more. While you don't get charged for the pre-ordered book until it is actually available, you've still spent that money.

Otherwise, I love my Nook! No one seems to understand just how much of a bookworm I am and just HOW much I love that I have an entire library in one little package. Yes, I still have a bunch of paperback books to try reading, but I'm still in that "My Nook is so cool to make use of" phase that I don't care to pick up a real book and flip through real pages again... at least not for a while. I still have dreams of owning an entire library fit with rolling shelf ladders, a giant fire place and cushy seating and all... but that doesn't mean I have to read ALL of those books. Although it would be cool if I can claim to have read all the books I own.

Once again, the book worm nerd in me is all squee about stuff like that.


In other news, the holidays are approaching and one of my closest friends will be coming back for some relaxing and hanging out and fun.

Otherwise... well, not much else is going on. *sigh*