liaku

Day 08 – A book everyone should read at least once

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JKR, and I highly recommend following it up with Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban. After that... well. I made it to the sixth book, and I do intend on reading the seventh someday. Eventually. Maybe. I'd like to think it might happen, basically for the same reason that I think everyone ought to give Harry Potter a shot.

Harry Potter has defined a generation. By this point, it's not so much a series as it is a phenomenon, and while you can duck under a rock and pretend it doesn't exist--c'mon. Don't be so hipster.

It's a children's book, Philosopher's Stone, and it's delightful. If you're the right age for it, then it can single-handedly convince you that magic is real, and despite what the Papacy thinks, that's a beautiful thing. If you're not the right age, you've still got to have quite the icy heart to not even be reminded of a time when your imagination ran wild and maybe, just maybe, magic is real, and it's all hidden away from you in its own little part of the world, too shy or too scared or simply too damn elitist to come out to play with the rest of us. You know, maybe. Could be. It'd be nice to believe so.

Imo, just maybe is enough.

( the rest of the meme )

Day 06 – Favorite book of your favorite series OR your favorite book of all time

RED is a play by John Logan, premiered last year in London and then closed in New York. I'm not sure if it's kosher to use a play to answer this meme, but it's published as a script in book form, so I think it counts as a book, though it certainly doesn't count as a novel.

RED is a one act play with only two characters: the artist Rothko and his new assistant Ken. Rothko's been commissioned for his Four Seasons paintings, the most expensive commission of all time, and he's going to talk about it. A lot. (Though he still doesn't talk as much as the General in Embers, that'd take some doing.)

Rothko's infamous for his egotism and humorless vanity, and in RED, he often speaks of seriousness in art, all grand sweeping monologues about Art and Immortality and Significance and Tragedy, but that's peppered still with fatherly love for his paintings, his creations, the necessity of treating them well and protecting them. There's discussion of light and color, movement, intensity, sanctity, painting, preparing, and everything you'd expect in a play about art--yet I don't think you need to be an art critic to find these dialogues spell-binding, even if it's only because Rothko's own passion is contagious.

My friend saw the play at my recommendation and thought it was passably decent at best, reminding her of two drunken art students debating a stream of consciousness that really amounts to nothing more than extravagant philosophizing over their favorite pastime. Needless to say, I disagree, and so do the Tony awards. However, I do think it may come across this way in text alone. Like any play, it has a hard time standing on its script alone since that's not how it was meant to be experienced. That being said, I still think it's a worthwhile read anyway, even if the reading isn't bolstered by memories of the live performance.

( the rest of the meme )

Day 04 – Your favorite book or series ever

The Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett. It's not so much a series as it is a setting and itself a genre. Satirical fantasy, someone else should've come up with that idea sooner! All the books are good, but some are significantly better than others, and there's a noticeable jump in satire. The earlier books are mostly just a fantasy-comedy hybrid, which is also a fantastic idea, but starting with Small Gods, the genre is firmly satire. All the novels are capable of being standalone, but there are some sequential storylines, most prominent being the Witches, the Unseen University, and City Watch. The City Watch sequence is undeniably the most reliable in terms of high quality.

Recommended starting books: Guards! Guards! is the first of the City Watch storyline, my personal favorite, and it's older than the previous two so less satirical, and it's about the Watch (basically the city misfits and deadweight) saving city Ankh-Morpork from a dragon. Small Gods is about the god Om, powerless and stuck in the body of a turtle, and the boy Brutha, who is the only person that can hear his voice. It's completely standalone in the series. Going Postal! is about Moist von Lipwig, a con artist of epic proportions, who is saved from the noose only to be tasked with reviving the disused and rundown postal service. It's better than it sounds and absolutely hilarious.

Guards! Guards! was actually one of the last books I read in the City Watch stories, so it's not like you have to read them in order. I assume it helps though, and some people are sticklers for getting things chronological. My first was Lords and Ladies, which has since defined the elves of my imagination. After that, I read a smattering of random books (Mort, Hogfather, Reaper Man, Witches Abroad), all of which were entertaining, but I sold my soul for good to Night Watch. That being said, it seems like fans of the series have VERY mixed opinions on the books. For example, I love Monstrous Regiment, but many consider it the worst of the series by a long shot. (Sure, Jingo is a better satirical piece criticizing war, but while Monstrous Regiment passes the same message along, they're really not at all comparable.)

Basically, you should check out the series. It'll be worth your time. If English is your second language, they're not terribly difficult reads, plus I've heard that most of the translated versions are excellent as well.

( the rest of the meme )

Day 02 – A book or series you wish more people were reading and talking about

Nation by Terry Pratchett. There are actually tons of books that I wish more people had read, but Nation's such a gem that I feel a lot of people have passed over because it's not a Discworld book (that'd be Terry Pratchett's fantasy-satire series) and it's also a children's book to boot. It's about an island nation that's swept away by a storm, and all that's left is a boy, who's soon joined by survivors from neighboring islands and a lone shipwrecked girl from Britain. Boil it down enough, and it's boy meets girl, but it's not a love story at all, even though I expected it to be.

I read Nation in such a way that it should've been impossible for me to like it: whenever I went for Chinese carry-out, I had the book in my purse and read a few pages while I waited for my food. By the time I was nearly done, I sat my ass down to finish it proper, without the smell of stir-fry over my head. I shouldn't have, because it was right before midterms, and it broke my heart and then had the mercy to piece it back together again. It'd been so long since I'd last sat down to read a truly excellent book that I'd forgotten that books could even do that.

It is a beautiful, poignant story that I don't think anyone should miss out on. You should read it, all of you.

( the rest of the meme )

To the ASOIAF fans, Finn Jones (aka Loras) was in two episodes of Sarah Jane Adventures. To DW fans, these would be the same episodes Matt Smith's in, so worth checking out for that maybe. [Part 1] [Part 2]

Just wanted to say that last night's Rebecca was fantastic. I basically missed the entirety of the Broadway festival thingmabob though I caught a few songs from Atti before the show. So, so sorry baby_mammoth, I did get back in time to meet you, but I was feeling horribly sick and not in the mood to be in a crowd.

I am fucking in love with Polyák Lilla as Mrs. Danvers, and I'm delighted that she's the Danny in the official recording. Never liked her voice in anything, and I've always been confused when people said she had a stunning voice, but holy shit last night left me stunned. What a voice! So far, most of the casting is working out for me (though I don't want to see SzPSz!Max or MÁZs!Favell except out of morbid curiosity), but Lilla blew me away. Despite not liking the book, I somehow still really appreciate accuracy to it because it's still a good book nevermind my opinion, and Lilla nails the canon perfectly imo.

Will definitely post my thoughts on the show at length on magyar_musicals, ideally after I finally catch SzPSz and VágoZ.

Will post about Eger too. Visegrád was rained out, so we went to this gimongous cavern by Miskolc. I have zero appreciation for nature, but it was pretty fucking stunning, so more photos are on their way. In related news, Eger now ranks as the absolute most adorable city in the world. I want a snow globe of it.

1) In Budapest and alive. So so so tired though. I only got to my room around 9PM, and then I moved furniture with my roommate until 11PM or so before crashing. Yesterday was busy busy busy from 8AM to 9PM. Today wasn't much better. I'm not even jetlagged, but I'm tired.

2) Photos forthcoming. Turns out my camera isn't compatible with macs. A bit of an oversight, but I'll use one of the school PC's when I find time. I've only taken a few so far anyway--the weather's been utter shit, so the lighting hasn't been fantastic enough for me to bother except for things that amused me.

3) My other pair of boots broke. A stone scraped a chunk of rubber off the heel, and now its all shaky and unstable and incredibly straining to walk in, which I had to do for a few hours yesterday. My right foot is in a world of hurt now.

4) Crazy American students are going out for a drink despite being dead tired and it's raining like the apocalypse out there. I'm going to sleep, thanks. I enjoy ditching my sobriety just as much as the next person, but I'm pretty sure all the rain would give it right back.

6) The 6 trolley is my new best friend. It stops both at Oktogon and LUSH. How brilliant is that?

Özil to Real Madrid. DNW. Are there even any Madristas happy with this?

I mean, I wasn't happy about Khedira going there because I didn't think he'd get much playtime. Now he really won't get much playtime. Not so worried about Özil in that regard at least.

So. At least Neuer did good.

I don't even mind Spain winning. I don't like their bandwagon fans, but I'm happy for Spain and all they've accomplished nonetheless. I just wish I could be proud of my team right now too, but I can't. That was an ugly game from Germany.

Maybe more thoughts later. Doubt it though.

ETA: One thought, at least: Spain fans are well on their way to persuading me to support the Netherlands again. Oranje, I want to love you so much, and I certainly love you more than Spain, but every time one of you fall down, I want to spork my television screen. Spain doesn't make me put my bitch face on, and that counts for a lot.