Lets talk about books. I don't want to stick my face in The Cuch's area, so we'll keep this to books that don't (directly) feature wrestlers.
What are your favorite books, authors, stories, and genres? Whats your favorite (and least favorite) film adaptation of of a book you really liked, or vice versa?
Some Picks:
Different Seasons - This collection of Novellas by Stephen King includes "Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption", "Apt Pupil", "The Body", and "The Breathing Method". The first three stories are absolute knock outs, and the kind of stories you find looking ahead in page numbers to see how much you have left, because you don't want it to end.
"The Shawshank Redemption" in particular is just stellar, and a wonderful companion to the movie, in one of those rare instances where the differences don't bug you, and one happily informs the other.
"Apt Pupil" is great, and reading it Sophomore year of high-school I remember being about 9 different kinds of freaked out by the crazy ass shit the characters in that book got into, endlessly fascinated by what crazy thing would happen next. That's cool because that's what the book is about, namely, how an obsession with a time period, person, or historical event can be fuel for a poisoned mind to com-bust.
"The Body" went on to be "Stand By Me" which I think I've seen about 15 times in 20 minute chunks. The book is really good, and heart breaking, and when I picture it in my minds eye, the locations and people that flood my senses are so real I can almost touch them. Wonderful at capturing a child's view of the world and sense of adventure, and how everything can seem big and bad and awful, but warm and welcoming at the same time. Secctiooon 8.
The Bachman Books - This includes "Rage", "The Long Walk","Road Work" and "The Running Man" and again, three of the four are really great. "The Long Walk" is such an awesome concept, and "Rage" is a fun little book to read if you're worried about the kind of shit our Nation's Youth has to deal with. "The Running Man" is probably closer to being a TV reality than you may think.
Thinner - I like this one, being a fatty. Guy is fat, gets cursed to be thin, gets part of his hand blown off, and in a fun little tid-bit, steals my neighbor's car. Seriously. It turns out back when that book was written, the main character hits up Bridgewater Massachusetts, and steals a car. My neighbor - relaying this to me at a party a few years ago, mentions that HE got his car stolen, and it was the same make and model as the one in the book.
The Elements of Style - A GREAT book to help you understand a bit of grammar, and one I'll occasionally slot into my potty reading list for a refresher. Seriously one of the most iconic writing manuals out there.
On Writing - Part autobiography, part manual, and part do's and dont's, Stephen King uses examples from his own work to illustrate what he thinks makes good writing. My favorite part about this book is that Stephen King is happy to admit he's a "First class, second class" writer (in so many words), meaning he's very literary, but he appeals to a lot of people, and that folks like John Grisham do the same by writing what they know, and cutting off the bullshit. It's a great read.
Catch Me if You Can - The autobiography the movie is based off of, this is one of my favorite true stories, written by a guy known for lying. While it may have had some ghost-writer help, it doesn't feel it, and every little detail is wonderful to read and ponder, as the author goes into the details of how exactly he forged so many checks. It has a mostly happy ending too, which is neat.
License to Pawn - This is the book by the cast of "Pawn Stars" that is very obviously ghost written, but still *really* fucking cool, you learn a lot about the history of the cast, AND a ton about the inner-workings of the "Pawn" business, including why pimps always wear gold, and that both Chum and Big Hoss were once addicted to the Meth.
Have a Nice Day - Eh, it's not bad.
-----------------------------------------------------
Blog Otter Award: The Blog Otter Award will return tomorrow, I'm writing this from work! So you all win! yay!
1. Someone explain Nook / Kindle sharing to me. Is it possible for us to share our books with each other without contracting STDS?
2. I review a Mega Man-like game that's not bad! / I give "Card Hunter" a perfect 10!
What are your favorite books, authors, stories, and genres? Whats your favorite (and least favorite) film adaptation of of a book you really liked, or vice versa?
Some Picks:
Different Seasons - This collection of Novellas by Stephen King includes "Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption", "Apt Pupil", "The Body", and "The Breathing Method". The first three stories are absolute knock outs, and the kind of stories you find looking ahead in page numbers to see how much you have left, because you don't want it to end.
"The Shawshank Redemption" in particular is just stellar, and a wonderful companion to the movie, in one of those rare instances where the differences don't bug you, and one happily informs the other.
"Apt Pupil" is great, and reading it Sophomore year of high-school I remember being about 9 different kinds of freaked out by the crazy ass shit the characters in that book got into, endlessly fascinated by what crazy thing would happen next. That's cool because that's what the book is about, namely, how an obsession with a time period, person, or historical event can be fuel for a poisoned mind to com-bust.
"The Body" went on to be "Stand By Me" which I think I've seen about 15 times in 20 minute chunks. The book is really good, and heart breaking, and when I picture it in my minds eye, the locations and people that flood my senses are so real I can almost touch them. Wonderful at capturing a child's view of the world and sense of adventure, and how everything can seem big and bad and awful, but warm and welcoming at the same time. Secctiooon 8.
The Bachman Books - This includes "Rage", "The Long Walk","Road Work" and "The Running Man" and again, three of the four are really great. "The Long Walk" is such an awesome concept, and "Rage" is a fun little book to read if you're worried about the kind of shit our Nation's Youth has to deal with. "The Running Man" is probably closer to being a TV reality than you may think.
Thinner - I like this one, being a fatty. Guy is fat, gets cursed to be thin, gets part of his hand blown off, and in a fun little tid-bit, steals my neighbor's car. Seriously. It turns out back when that book was written, the main character hits up Bridgewater Massachusetts, and steals a car. My neighbor - relaying this to me at a party a few years ago, mentions that HE got his car stolen, and it was the same make and model as the one in the book.
The Elements of Style - A GREAT book to help you understand a bit of grammar, and one I'll occasionally slot into my potty reading list for a refresher. Seriously one of the most iconic writing manuals out there.
On Writing - Part autobiography, part manual, and part do's and dont's, Stephen King uses examples from his own work to illustrate what he thinks makes good writing. My favorite part about this book is that Stephen King is happy to admit he's a "First class, second class" writer (in so many words), meaning he's very literary, but he appeals to a lot of people, and that folks like John Grisham do the same by writing what they know, and cutting off the bullshit. It's a great read.
Catch Me if You Can - The autobiography the movie is based off of, this is one of my favorite true stories, written by a guy known for lying. While it may have had some ghost-writer help, it doesn't feel it, and every little detail is wonderful to read and ponder, as the author goes into the details of how exactly he forged so many checks. It has a mostly happy ending too, which is neat.
License to Pawn - This is the book by the cast of "Pawn Stars" that is very obviously ghost written, but still *really* fucking cool, you learn a lot about the history of the cast, AND a ton about the inner-workings of the "Pawn" business, including why pimps always wear gold, and that both Chum and Big Hoss were once addicted to the Meth.
Have a Nice Day - Eh, it's not bad.
-----------------------------------------------------
Blog Otter Award: The Blog Otter Award will return tomorrow, I'm writing this from work! So you all win! yay!
1. Someone explain Nook / Kindle sharing to me. Is it possible for us to share our books with each other without contracting STDS?
2. I review a Mega Man-like game that's not bad! / I give "Card Hunter" a perfect 10!
No Country For Old Men was an even better adaptation of an already amazing book. By cutting out the few shaky parts in the novel and the wonderful performances of everyone involved, it was a case of classic book turned into classic movie. I'm a huge defender of the Harry Potter films, some of which outdid its novel counterparts IMO (Chamber of Secrets and Half-Blood Prince) "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" also went from book classic to film classic in its own right (the 1971 film, of course), a film that I'd put either #2 or #1b as the greatest family film ever made behind Wizard of Oz (yet another great book-to-film).
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do fast-forward through Mrs. Bucket's "Cheer Up, Charlie", which completely kills the film's momentum for a few minutes and plays it too heavy-handed. THAT LAUNDRY WILL NOT WASH ITSELF, MRS. BUCKET.
Damn, I reviewed all those Harry Potter movies and really only liked the 3rd one and 6th one. The rest made 0 sense because I hadn't read any of the books.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.starpulse.com/news/Paul_Meekin/2010/11/10/harry_potter_and_the_chamber_of_secret
The Hitch-hikers Guide the Galaxy is probably my favorite series. I was sad that we were cheated out of one final book before Adams died. (Though it's comforting to note that since he died at the gym, he knew where his towel was.)
ReplyDeleteI remember reading a movie review of Harry Potter 7 part two which was written by someone who hadn't seen any of the movies, nor had he read any of the books and it was hilarious. I recall at one point him saying, "And then the two gingers start making out in a snake basement because something to do with a dead elf man."
ReplyDeleteMy small library is about 50% Star Trek (easily over 200 books total, and still adding as I can), 25-30% history/military (does include a little alt-history), 15-20% sports, and a little Star Wars (<10%), along with isolated other books.
ReplyDeleteMy faves:
Star Wars: X-Wing: Have all nine books, very solid "expanded" series.
Harry Turtledove's Civil War-WWII alternate history series: one book set in a Second Civil War in the 1880s (North v South w/GB + France), three books set in an alternate WWI (North + Germany v South + GB/France), three books set between WWI-WWII, and four books set in an alternate WWII (same pairings)
Shelby Foote's Civil War history: My version is nine smaller books, versus the "usual" three-volume set-up.
book: everybody poops
ReplyDeleteits like... the author really *gets* me, ya know?
re: apt pupil, for you:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH5wl11GUAQ
I remember reading the first X-Wing book in 4th grade, and then after never being able to find "Wedge's Gamble" stumbled across it sophmore year of highschool. It was great.
ReplyDeleteKB, how are the Star Trek Books? Are they based on cool science concepts? The reason I LOVED the 2001 / 2010 books is that they had a little grounding in reality with some cool concepts to ponder and stuff.
I really liked those but got a sour taste in my mouth when the last one kind of rebooted everything (I think?)
ReplyDeleteThat said the Gin and Tonyx stuff is great.
I feel the problem with the movies is that they seem to lose that 'wit' that the books have, a sort of british snarky-qausi-in-on-the-joke sort of thing. The 6th one had it, and I liked it.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing the trailer, and then reading the book, and then watching the movie and being very upset.
ReplyDeleteJesus, I haven't actually read a book in a long time. No time for it. But a few years back I read a few of Ian Fleming's James Bond stories...Casino Royale, Live and Let Die namely. I also read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein several years ago; The Great Gatsby (the Baz Luhrman film adapatation is SHIT - GLITTER EVERYWHERE!); I tried to read James Joyce's Ulysses. I probably got about 2/3 of the way through, right around when the stream of consciousness section hits. I borrowed my younger brother's hardback copies of the first two Harry Potter books...as an adult...and felt they were for a much younger reader than myself. That about sums up my last 10 years of reading books. I was a Stephen King guy back in college, and probably collected his first 20 novels, in chronological order. It's too bad most of the movie versions suck. And can we NOT go through a decade without another Carrie remake?
ReplyDeleteThey're mostly just "unofficial extended universe" books... unlike Lucas, Roddenberry (and others) never recognized any books (other than the movie adoptations) as canon.
ReplyDeleteHahahaha you know at least the first Carrie movie had the balls to make Carrie ugly.
ReplyDeleteCat's Cradle.
ReplyDeleteAnd, while not not my favorite book ever, I highly recommend Evel by Leigh Montville. It's a biography of Evel Knevil and man is it a blast. Also, I am currently in the middle of the new Pynchon novel Bleeding Edge, and it is really entertaining me.
I completely forgot about Vonnegut. I've read a ton of his stuff. The one where he simultaniously helps the Jews and the Germans during world war 2 is a trip. Dr. Rosewater, is it?
ReplyDeleteCucch's area would probably smell of 'terds'
ReplyDeleteSlaughterhouse 5. It's also great. Breakfast of Champions is probably his 'best' book, but Cat's Cradle is the one I go back to the most. I read it about 3 times a year. I usually just devote a weekend to it and knock it out in bout a day and a half. As close to one sitting as I can get without life getting in the way.
ReplyDeleteI guess its Slaughterhouse 5 that you're thinking of, but that description is a bit puzzling.
ReplyDeleteLast book I read was The Idiot. I think I may be done with classical Russian lit for a while.
ReplyDeleteFor a long time, John Irving was easily my favorite author, but I feel like I can't really relate to what he's writing about anymore. We change as we grow, I guess. My favorite book of his has always been "A Prayer For Owen Meany," which is also my least favorite movie adaptation ever, in "Simon Birch." They took all of the heart in the movie and killed it. It was sad.
ReplyDeleteNow, I read a lot of mysteries - Raymond Chandler, Brad Meltzer, Mike Carey's prose stuff, Harry Dolan - with some non-fiction stuff thrown in. Mostly, though, it's just comic books.
Favorite film adaptation easily goes to The Princess Bride. I don't know that a lot of people realize it was a book first (written by William Goldman in the late-1970s). The book is also a lot of fun, but the movie is just one of my favorite things ever.
You might mean Mother Night, in which Howard Campbell is an undercover propagandist for the Nazis. The ultimate question ends up being who he benefited more.
ReplyDeleteI read "The World According to Garp" about half-way through until they got into the meta-narrative stuff, and then I went cross-eyed. I mean, I liked the characters, but I didn't like the characters enough to read what they wrote.
ReplyDeleteYeah, don't read "A Prayer for Owen Meany," then, there's A LOT of meta-text.
ReplyDeleteYup it's Mother Night. They all kind of run together. I read Cats Cradle, Sirens of Titan, God Bless you Dr. Kevorkian, Slapstick, Hocus Pocus, and a bunch more I'm probably forgetting.
ReplyDeleteSadly I read his last little autobiographical thing, and boy oh boy was it sad, he turned bitter like Mark Twain.
Slaughter House 5 I read while listening to U2's stuck in a moment. They gel together really, really, really, well.
I can dig it in small doses, but otherwise it irks me to no end. "Watchmen" had it right.
ReplyDeleteThe Holy Bible
ReplyDeleteFavorite all time book is Watership Down by Richard Adams. The animated film upon which it was based is pretty damn good for its time, but unless you've read the book, it's just not as effective.
ReplyDeleteNext up is probably The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Fantastic book, though as I recall, the first time I read it, it took me a few days to get through the first 100 pages, and then a day or two to get through the rest.
Watchers by Dean R. Koontz is brilliant. Never mind either of the crappy movies that came after; this book is just fantastic storytelling.
I've always had a soft spot for Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King too.
Theses days I don't read much fiction. When I have the time, it's generally non-fiction on a topic that interests me. I'm working on Alien Agenda by Jim Marrs, and have another of his waiting in the wings.
Shantaram by Greg David Roberts. I'd recommend it to anyone!
ReplyDeleteAs for movies, Jaws is generally accepted as a much better movie than book. I never could get through the damn novel, but I *love* the film.
ReplyDeleteThe Stand is a great book, and the mini-series they did was pretty solid.
Shawshank is great, though the effect of the film's ending is kind of lost on someone who has read the book.
I thought The Green Mile was a great film and did the stories justice; may have even been better. I can't really watch it though...it's difficult for me, on an emotional level.
As far as adaptations, the two examples of movies being better than the source books that spring to mind are Jaws and Jurassic Park. But I think that mainly stems from the fact that Spielberg is an amazing storyteller while the authors (Benchley and Crichton) aren't great. Generally a book written by a talented author will always beat a movie adaption (to me any way).
ReplyDeleteHere are some of my favorites:
ReplyDeleteInfinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
Post Office by Charles Bukowski
Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
The Raw Shark Texts by Steve Hall
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Marakami
Civil War Land in a State of Decline by George Saunders
The last novel I read was The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman. It was pretty good, a big step up from his first fiction novel Downtown Owl (which in itself was not awful but also not particularly memorable).
My favorite film adaption is easily Fight Club. I would go so far as to say the movie actually improved on the book, which is a rare case. Chuck Palahniuk is a brilliant but sometimes flawed writer, and Fincher managed to work the kinks out of his story to turn it into a really remarkable cinematic text.
Man, Jurassic Park is wonderful. Like even though they kind of turned it into a "monster movie" thing, it's an AWESOME monster movie with an incredible concept.
ReplyDeleteHouse of Leaves is the one with like, upside down pages, and stuff printed out of color right? For some reason everyone in my school that read that book looked to be about 3-4 bad days away from going bezerk.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading the green mile piece-by-piece from my school library. it was excruciating.
ReplyDeleteTurns out the Zebra did it.
ReplyDeleteDon't get the reference
ReplyDeleteYup.
ReplyDeleteI bought them as they came out and dug them. But, the performances by the actors in the film, particularly Michael Clark Duncan, really brought that fucker home to me. The idea of his character wanting to be executed because life was too hard just resonated big time, and that part of it didn't click with me while reading the books.
Well, there was Mostly Harmless, where everyone died at the end. And then there was a book written by a different author called "Another Thing" which brought everyone back to life and was preposterous hogwash.
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah. JP is awesome, and as much as I love the film, I liked the book better...though I've watched the movie many more times that I've read the book.
ReplyDeleteIt was a joke about the Dictionary. Trying to be all non-sequitor on ya.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to see the movie the whole way through without interruptions.
ReplyDeleteNo kidding? Any particular reason why?
ReplyDeleteLack of access really.
ReplyDeleteI dug Downtown Owl, and just loaded Visible Man onto my kindle a few days ago. I'm a big Klosterman fan. Once I realized Downtown Owl wasn't really going anywhere and was just going to follow the characters while they interacted I enjoyed it more.
ReplyDeleteThe first three Foundation novels are good -- haven't read the rest -- but Asimov just doesn't resonate with me the way Clarke does. My favorite book by Asimov is The Gods Themselves. The first two-thirds of that book nearly got it into my all-time favorite sci-fi list, but the last third is a bit of a letdown.
ReplyDeleteI like spy novels better than their cinematic counterpart. Books can go into so much more depth and tangle more webs. For example, the book version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is great. The movie plays out like the Cliff notes version and can never go into any detail. An exception is the Bourne Identity; the movie was pretty good, but the novel was tripe.
I do have to say, also, I am yet to find a good spy novel written after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The Stranger and The Trial are both on my to-read list, but it will probably be years before I get to them.
I'm one of the small portion of people to have read The Bible cover to cover. Reading it you get the feeling God is the main antagonist.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of the small portion of people to have read The Bible cover to cover. Reading it you get the feeling God is the main antagonist.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Each character in The Corrections was a very flawed person, yet I was able to care about and sympathies with them all.
ReplyDeleteThe Godfather was a page-turner, but ultimately not that good of a book. I'd say it's another one where the movie was better. The movie was wise not to make Johnny Fontane as prominent as he was in the book.
ReplyDeleteI'm still recovering from Crime and Punishment, and I read that five years ago. The Idiot and Brothers Karamazov have been taunting me from the bookshelf ever since.
ReplyDeleteI also loved Confederacy of Dunces. It's one of the few books I think I've ever laughed out loud to while reading it.
ReplyDeleteI also loved Confederacy of Dunces. It's one of the few books I think I've ever laughed out loud to while reading it.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good one, but it requires quite a bit of suspension of disbelief.
ReplyDeleteThat's the one. I read it in a Post-Modernism seminar. There is something about it that puts you on edge while reading it, especially if you're in your early 20s and your life is already kind of a mess, probably the way in which it romanticizes the lovable scumbag protagonist.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even think of Watership Down, but that is a great book for sure.
ReplyDeleteI often wonder what religion will look like in 2000 years. Will it be a jumble of books that are popular today? Will folks be praying to Harry Potter and his half-brother, James Bond, to save us from the evils of Sauron? Will politicians argue over policy based on the moral teachings of Lolita?
ReplyDeleteSo I take it you read the Old Testament then?
ReplyDeleteI read it all and in the Bible Jesus is a cool guy so I guess he would be the protaganist before you get into the mind bendy stuff of God, Jesus and The Holy Ghost (Scooby Doo Villian #253). But you just can't bounce back from multiple counts of genocide and mental and physical torture.
ReplyDeleteThen you apparently have an uncommon combination of intellectual curiosity and masochism -- You should report for reprogramming immediately...
ReplyDeleteFirst of all Meekin.
ReplyDeleteThe Cuch?
The Fuj.
Don't do it again.
Secondly,
fave writers
Iceberg Slim (PIMP)
King (It, Christine)
Ivy Lee (Juicy Deception, Supreme Reigns)
Chris Claremont (Uncanny X-Men)
Least fave writers
Scott Keith (Buzz on pro wrestling, Dungeon of Death)
I was rather disturbed by the film version of "Tough Guys Don't Dance". The book is among my favorites.
ReplyDeleteAlways a fan of dystopian & alternative history. The best novel of all time is still, IMO, Orwell's 1984. And the movie basin the book - Richard Burton in his last role, John Hurt, Suzanna Hamilton - is amazing as well.
ReplyDeleteI had to take a decent break in the middle of BK. He's not an author that can be described as a page turner.
ReplyDeleteKindle/Nook sharing- not without using Calibre to strip the DRM and convert between the two formats (mobi for Kindle, epub for Nook). A wee bit of Googling will serve you well in this regards.
ReplyDeleteBig fan of Puzo's Godfather. Obviously.
ReplyDeleteIf you work or have worked in a kitchen/restaurant at some point, I can not recommend Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" enough.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great book!
ReplyDeleteI'm confused by what you're trying to communicate to me with the "The Cuch? The Fuj" comment.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't matter -- Whatever the source material, it will be interpreted/manipulated to be whatever is convenient to its followers...
ReplyDeleteI vastly prefer the movie version of The Natural to the book. I think that's mostly because by the time I read the novel, I'd already read and seen so many cynical stories about professional athletes that it didn't have much of an impact, but i watched the movie on HBO as a kid all the time because I loved all of the larger-than-life baseball exploits. Plus, the music is just so damned good (between The Natural and "My Little Buttercup" in The Three Amigos, Randy Newman gets a free pass for life from me).
ReplyDeleteThe only McCarthy I've read is "The Road," and the lack of quotation marks didn't bother me; of course, I don't think there are any scenes with more than three people talking, which helps.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite adaptation is Field of Dreams. The book's a bit overwritten and unfocused, and the movie made a couple of really good cuts that focused the story, and I'm one of those guys who can't hear "Hey Dad, wanna have a catch?" without getting misty.
ReplyDeleteI'm also a big fan of A Few Good Men. I've never seen the play, but I've read the script, and I love the changes he made based on what would make for a better movie instead of just doing a rote transcription from stage to screen.
I dig your approach regarding our difference in opinion about The Natural-- Neither of us are wrong, we just disagree -- Randy Newman kicks ass -- We're both right about that...
ReplyDeleteI read that too! (Shoeless Joe)
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me of the scene in Dan In Real Life where Steve Carell shows that book to Juliette Binoche. Funny stuff
ReplyDelete"I dont want to stick my face in the Cucchs area". Howd it smell?
ReplyDeleteIm a non fiction guy...biographies, historical shit, etc. Freakonimcs 1 and 2 are probably the two books Ive enjoyed the most in the past few years.
ReplyDeleteHow many bookstores have you been kicked out of?
ReplyDeleteCheck the last name good sir. I am Sicilian.
ReplyDelete