liaku

Day 20 – Favorite kiss

...I dunno man. I've been stuck on this for days (weeks?), and it's getting ridiculous. I'm just not into romance in my books.

But the Kiss of Judas from The Bible (The Holy Bible?) is always a classic and has plenty of historical, social, religious, etc significance. That's enough for me.

Yeah, I'm not feeling inspired. Honorable mention goes to Sansa's imagined kiss from the Hound in A Feast for Crows though.

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Day 18 – Favorite beginning scene in a book

I'm going with Arthur Conan Doyle's "Study in Scarlet." There's a lovely sense of beginning there, a genuine promise of more to come, whereas I find most stories I read are bogged down by exposition in the early scenes (understandably so!). Alternatively, they just suck.

Starting a book isn't easy. That beginning scene? I don't think I've genuinely liked any. Ever. I've been struggling all day to think of something, and I really haven't yet. The number of books I've not read past page 10 or so is staggering. I don't particularly adore A Study in Scarlet's opener--and I'm iffy about counting it here altogether since it's a short-story--but it's a good, solid scene.

There are a few sequels or later books in a series that I thought had a strong start, but then it's a beginning scene that's not actually the beginning, so I disqualified those (though ASOIAF would've finally get its overdue mention here with Storm of Swords). I also counted out plays and comic books because, well, for some categories, they're on equal footing with books. For this one, the visual aspect, or the insinuation of it for plays, is too large a handicap imo (RED would've won far too easily). Considered comic books and manga as well, disqualified for the same reason, though I don't think they're so strong in this category anyway.

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Day 16 – Favorite poem or collection of poetry



Don't judge.

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Day 14 – Favorite character in a book (of any sex or gender)



So I'm going as far back into my life as I can, and I can only say that Sun Wukong aka The Monkey King of Journey to the West is still my hero. Backstory in a nuthsell: He was born from stone and became, unsurprisingly enough, king of monkeys. He studied under a buddha until he was effectively expelled from his studies for his (albeit rightful) arrogance, but by then he had a host of shiny powers that Sun Wukong abuses like nothing else. Later, heaven insulted him, so he allied with some demons, decimated an awful lot of the celestial army, and then Gautama Buddha put him in his place. Which was under a mountain. Sun Wukong stayed there for a few hundred years until Guanyin Buddha granted him limited freedom if he would protect Xuanzang on his pilgrimage to India. And that's basically where Journey to the West picks up for reals.

I love Sun Wukong. He's so clever, witty, not afraid of anything, and nothing brings down his spirit. Heaven locks him up in a burning prison for eons, and when they expect to find him dead, he bounces out stronger than ever before. I mean, who needs white knights and disney princesses when you've got this badass?

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Day 12 – A book or series of books you’ve read more than five times

The Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce. Accept no substitute. (Except her Circle of Magic quartet, which is basically superior in every way. Not as classic though, but originality is generally considered a virtue, so I suppose that's not even a point in her favor.)

Tamora Pierce writes fantasy, generic medieval magic stuff with knights and etc. The only twist, and it was a twist back when she published her first Tortall books, was that her protagonist was female. This didn't happen much in young adult/children's literature back in the day. The Lioness Quartet is about Alanna, a noble's daughter that masquerades as a boy to become a knight. A classic tale, sure, but it's done right. DISCLAIMER: um, at least my childhood memories claim it's done right, I haven't read it since middle school.

I don't normally care much for girl power, but it was seriously craptastic for me as a kid to read book after book where the story always follows a boy. There are some girls for main characters, but they were either wusses or effectively a boy with a girl's name anyhow. Alanna was a revelation for me. She's strong and smart and obviously female, and that was unheard of for me at the time. I loved Alanna. She was my hero. She's kind and good-hearted without being a doormat, and her drive to achieve her dreams is something I think every girl should admire.

The tragedy is that I don't like Tamora Pierce anymore. Alanna, I adored. The Immortals felt like a Mary-Sue power-trip. Keladry was boring (sorry, but she was). It's rather upsetting, really. If I had any excuse to set Tamora Pierce upon an altar, I would, but as it stands, I can't.

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Day 09 – Best scene ever

Fred and George Weasley leaving Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JKR. It's not that grand of a moment, really. Even within Harry Potter, it's not a moment where good triumphs over evil or anything spectacular like that. And it's certainly not the sort of scene that hurts your brain or hurts your heart or both at the same time. But it's victorious, and that victory is so beautifully sweet.

Honestly, picking just one scene (only one!) was a bitch. In the end, this one's clearly imo the best scene ever (JKR has flashes of genius--I just wish they would come more in chunks than in flashes). Umbridge is my favorite of the characters that JKR wrote, and I adore how she's such a human monstrosity, oozing a non-epic but just as frightening sort of evil. When Fred and George turned their backs on the Hogwarts that she'd crafted, you heart can't help but grow three sizes.

It's rare for characters in a children's fantasy to achieve the ranks of all time badasses, but Fred and George managed it. On the downside, I don't actually like Fred and George, but at that point, it didn't matter. I loved anyone that scored any sort of victory against the terror that is Umbridge. They were cool at the moment it mattered, and that's the most important thing.

Honorable mentions: John Watson meets Sherlock Holmes in "Study in Scarlet" by Arthur Conan Doyle; Tower of Joy in A Game of Thrones by GRRM; Mau burying the dead in Nation by Terry Pratchett. Others too, but those were the only honest challengers.

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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.

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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.

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I just ordered the green PSP + Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker pack, as well as Dissidia, Crisis Core, and FFT. I feel slightly guilty because I bought them all new, and who buys games new? Besides me, apparently. I believe I'll be holding off on Cata until the summer, and I'll be holding off on a PS3 until PS4 comes out. Alas.

So while I was in Bosnia, I really wanted to pick up a Dzeko Wolfsburg jersey, except they only carried his Bosnia NT kit, which makes sense, but I didn't want a Bosnia kit. But bizarrely enough, there was a random little store that had a RM Özil jersey on display, so I got one of those. The shopkeep was delighted with me--apparently, the Özil kits had just arrived the day before, and I was the first to buy one. He gave me free whistles. Go me, I guess.

Anyway, ganked from savepureness.

Day 01 – A book series you wish had gone on longer OR a book series you wish would just freaking end already (or both!)

Mike Carey's Felix Castor series (starting with The Devil You Know) needs to go on for longer. It's terribly similar to the Dresden Files; Felix Castor's an exorcist in an AU London where the dead, zombies, weres, ghosts, etc, walk the earth, and he just needs to eke out a living busting ghosts. And then there's some demons. My favorite character's a vain, paranoid zombie that's an ace hacker and collects jazz records in his abandoned movie-theater turned fortress. He's kinda cool, though I do like everyone.

The series is not technically over as far as I know, since they never specify how many books are within the series, and the fifth book's ending definitely leaves plenty of room for more story-telling. I'm pretty sure he was only contracted for five books though, so I don't see any more coming in the future.

( book meme: what's to come )

I am so cutting class.