The Shining by Stephen King. Not only does a man go completely insane, he becomes ONE OF THEM, the Overlook Hotel claims him! Lots of very scary and very creepy ghosties and scary moments in that one.

Most of the fairy tales I had read to me as a child, in fact. I was too young to put two and two together to get a lot of subtext. Red Riding Hood? A classic werewolf story. Hansel and Gretel? OMG cannibalism! Those are just more obvious examples. As an adult I did some study on fairy tales and there is some pretty scary stuff lurking there! I made a post a bit earlier about one book I read regarding fairy tales and their true meanings.

The Giving Tree? Not disturbing, but I always thought that the boy incredibly selfish. Took everything from the tree, gave nothing back.

Eric Idle reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is the bestest thing. Evar.

Anyone who knows me knows I adore books. I like having them in my hands, I like the smell of the print on the pages of a new book, and the library-smell of an old, loved volume. However, my books are so loved, that I can't possibly bear to part with them.

So I've decided. Go digital!

Audio is good, for lighter fare. I wouldn't do something like "War and Peace" on audio, but there is something wonderful about a great reading.

I was also looking into Amazon's Kindle. It's a $350 contraption that looks nice and light and thin, on which you can download and read books, blogs, and newspapers. Sounds wonderful! And it keeps me from stockpiling more volumes on my shelves! Has anyone had any experience with the Kindle reader? Do you like it? What are its drawbacks? Are there other methods you recommend to actual printed tomes?

Right now, I'm in between books, but think I'm going to start "Son of a Witch" by Gregory Maguire, and it's the sequel to "Wicked".

Reading has always been very, very important to me. It has been instilled in me for my whole life... I have a family of avid readers and we're always trading off books, and suggesting the next good read to each other.

Recommend? Not sure. I have a friends list of wide and varied tastes, so I would say just pick something that speaks to you and ENJOY. A good book is a WONDERFUL thing.

I had recently read a very good book called The Witch Must Die: The Hidden Meaning of Fairy Tales by Sheldon Cashdan. It was well written and made me rethink many of my favorite fairy tales from childhood. He's a psychologist, so this is from a psychological standpoint.

( more... )

What were your favorite Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes growing up? Any other "true meanings" you want to share?

This is a great question! I'll list a couple favorites from both movies and books then. And I don't know why any of them work so well except that they stay with you for whatever reason, unforgotten. With both books and film, a good opening line sets the tone and feeling for the entire piece.

Movies

"Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again.". (From "Rebecca")

"ROSEBUD". (From "Citizen Kane")

"Call me Ishmael." (From "Moby Dick")

"My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighborhood; this is my street; this is my life. I am 42 years old; in less than a year I will be dead. Of course I don't know that yet, and in a way, I am dead already." (From "American Beauty)

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . ." (Title scroll from Star Wars)

"Maycomb was a tired old town, even in 1932 when I first knew it. Somehow, it was hotter then. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon after their three o'clock naps. And by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frosting from sweating and sweet talcum. The day was twenty-four hours long, but it seemed longer..." (From "To Kill A Mockingbird")

"There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence." (From "A Clockwork Orange")

"Marley was dead, to begin with." (From "A Christmas Carol")

Literature

As mentioned above, the opening lines to Moby Dick and A Christmas Carol still apply here. :)

"During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher." (The Fall of the House of Usher - Edgar Allan Poe)

"All children, except one, grow up." (Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie)

"Elmer Gantry was drunk. He was eloquently drunk, lovingly and pugnaciously drunk." (Elmer Gantry - Sinclair Lewis)

Well, those are just a couple. I could probably think of more but am running short of time.

Just got done watching "The Mist". Rented a couple things from Blockbuster and this was one of them. I'll have to say I had great expectations since Frank Darabont directed and he did such a brilliant job with both "Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile".

I remembered reading the short story, rather, "novella", in "Skeleton Crew" which is still my favorite collection of his short stories. Anyway, I thought oh no, a movie of this. It's so hit or miss with Stephen King. The movies are either really good or they suck. Anyway I always make "mini movies" in my head as I read, I have the characters, the situation, everything and I see full "scenes" in my mind.

The movie stayed pretty true to the novella, and the story in my mind for a really good chunk. Then it really started to disappoint me. Too much with the religious nut lady Mrs. Carmody, played by Marcia Gay Harden. It just grated on me after awhile. To the point where we were yelling at the screen to go to the stationery or hardware aisle and get some duct tape and tape her mouth shut.

However I was able to put up with that because there were genuinely good moments that made you literally jump and gasp, and even let out a yelp!

I'm avoiding spoilers so I won't go into any detail. If you haven't grab a copy of "Skeleton Crew" and read the story again.

I will only say that the ending was a real and I mean REAL bummer. And I hated it. HATED.

Anyway out of four stars I'll give it maybe a two and a half.


The trailer:


And don't read the comments over on You Tube if you click over there because there be spoilers, mate.

I wanted to post with the top five books I read in 2007. I'm a bibliophile full stop, I am always reading something. Here are my favorites from the past year.

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini.
From the author of "The Kite Runner". While "Kite Runner" focused on a pair of fathers and their sons, this book focuses on mothers and their daughters. It's just as beautifully written and just as emotional.

2. Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen.
A well researched book that is wonderfully, colorfully written and gives a good insight into circus life during the Great Depression.

3. The Book of Bright Ideas - Sandra Kring.
This came out last year, but I just finished up reading it. It's totally engaging. It's like reading a diary. The story is set in Wisconsin, summer 1961. You'll get wrapped up in the characters and won't want to put the book down.

4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling.
I was happy with the way Jo ended the series. The only thing now is that she needs to step down and stop talking. Just leave things to my own imagination. The more she tells of the characters fates after the events in Book 7, the more I want to scream. And who cares if Dumbledore is gay?

5. Schulz and Peanuts - David Michaelis.
I had no idea whatsoever what the man behind Peanuts was like. I can't say if I was surprised, shocked, disillusioned or what, I wasn't I guess. But it was interesting reading the background behind the man who created one of my favorite comic strips ever.

And do I need to read "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" by Michael Chabon? It's on every single year end list. Recommendations too please!! :)

I wake up to this news:

Dumbledore + Grindelwald = OTP.

Yes our dear Dumblydore was gay. Confirmed by Rowling herself to a full house at Carnegie Hall in NYC last night. Now can I hear a resounding "DUH!"?

I do kind of wonder why if she wanted this to be canon, wouldn't she have just written it? Then I remembered yeah, to outright write it in a children's book would just have freaked many people out. Not to mention there are still many many people out there just not comfortable with / able to deal with homosexuality. Then again, she *did* write it. So obvious. I want to go back and read the books for the subtext now. LOL!

But yes, this all makes sense, and explains a lot.

Ah fabulousness.

*grabs popcorn, sits back to watch the Potterverse go 'splodey one way or the other*






ETA
As usual, ONTD brings it.

EATA
Oh yeah, and Neville / Hannah? No. NO. Too random. She just wanted to pair Neville up with someone, anyone. Bad JK.

I've had a tiny bit of time to digest and turn things over in my mind. So here we go, random thoughts, favorite scenes, etc... just all over the place and not in any real order, as they hit me.

( Spoilers lurk here and in comments, mate, be warned. )

*sighs*

So now what? Any other good series along these lines to get me obsessed? LOL! Recommendations please.