New Posts on Other Blog

I added a bunch of new posts on woldumthisisnotamovie.blogspot.com. More coming soon!

Books Read This Summer

The Madonnas of Leningrad
On Bullshit
I Capture the Castle
Death in the Andamas
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl Who Played with Fire
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Bastard Out of Carolina

Theres more but alas, I cannot think of them! This list is mostly for my sake, so I do not forget.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

This morning I finished the last couple of pages of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, written by Stieg Larson.

This is definitely the first page-turner I've read in a long time. Not since The Mystery of Things have I been so engrossed in a book...not bad for a 50 cent garage sale purchase. It first caught my eye because I recently read an article in a magazine about the casting for the American version of a film adaptation that's in pre-production. Apparently Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Johnny Depp are all rumored to be fighting over the male lead for the role of Mikael Blomkvist, but so far it seems most likely that the part will go to Daniel Craig, of recent James Bond fame. In my opinion, he would by far be the best choice of the actors listed above. For the female lead of Lisbeth Salander, the names of actresses Kristen Stewart, Natalie Portman, Carey Mulligan, Ellen Page, Mia Wasikowska, Keira Knightley, Anne Hathaway, Olivia Thirlby, and Scarlett Johansson have all been thrown around. I can actually envision Kristen Stewart doing a fine job, as well as Mulligan and Portman. Keira Knightley fits the role physically but might be too big of a name...Lisbeth Salander is one of the most interesting, albeit off-kilter heroines to grace the pages of fiction in recent literature, and it would be a shame if her character as written on the page was overshadowed by the fame of the actress playing her. Anne Hathaway and Scarlet Johansson would, in my opinion, be TERRIBLE, especially Scarlet. Neither of them fit the role physically even the slightest bit, and I feel that the physicality of Lisbeth is an integral part of her character.

Anyways...this book was originally published in Swedish but translated into English. It is one of the only if not THE only translated novel to reach the top of U.S. bestseller lists. It was actually published posthumously (author Stieg Larson passed away in 2004), but luckily there were drafts of the two sequels already written (The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest), which have both been released.

I had no idea what to expect from this novel. I didn't even know that, genre-wise, it was a mystery/crime thriller. The first thing I noticed after reading the first page was that the prose didn't immediately annoy the heck out of me. I find that most modern books are either overwritten (more details than you could possibly ever want to know about more characters than you could possibly ever care about or remember, with authors throwing their snappy sentence structures and rhetorical acumen around) or underwritten ("He stood. The moon rose white over the hill. What was can be no more. He retreated to the house where horror awaited"...cryptic and stream-of-conscious). Both styles I loathe (as both seem showy and focused disproportionately on style rather than content).

The first few chapters are not necessarily slow, but they jump around a lot and initially I had trouble determining which characters were going to be the main ones and which characters I didn't need to pay as much attention to. However, the book picks up around Chapter 4 and after that it's a bonafide page-turner.

Mikael Blomkvist is a 40-something journalist who has recently been charged with libel for publishing an inaccurate story about one of Sweden's most prominent businessmen, Erik Wennerstrom. Down on his luck both financially and professionally, he accepts an obscure offer from an eccentric old man, Henrik Vagner, to move to the small town of Hedeby and write his autobiography. Once the proprietors of a dominant business empire, the extensive Vanger family is now estranged and their empire faltering. Much of this estrangement is due to the disappearance of 16 year-old Harriet Vanger some 40 years ago, the favorite niece of Henrik. Mikael soon discovers that Henrik's ulterior motive is for him to discover once and for all what happened to Harriet. The old man believes she was murdered, and by someone in the family. He's obsessed with the case and wants it solved before he dies. Mikael agrees to the task only because Henrik promises him scandalous scoop on Wennestrom from years back that could prove Mikael's innocence and bring down the corrupt businessman once and for all.

Meanwhile, Lisbeth Sanders, a slight, sullen, tattooed 24 year old, is a ward of the state who has obviously suffered from some unknown tragedies in her past. Despite her surly demeanor and complete lack of social skills, she works as a freelance investigator for a prominent security firm. She's hired by Henrik's lawyer to do a background check on Mikael, which is how to two are initially linked. Later, when Mikael has progressed far enough into the case to require a research assistant, Salander is recommended to him and she too moves out to Hedeby, where her skills as a hacker and photographic memory prove invaluable.

Together, they pour over years of case notes and also manage to unearth some yet undiscovered clues. Their findings show that the Vanger family has secrets far darker and more gruesome than they could have possibly imagined, and eventually they find that their own lives are in danger.

Besides its "you-can't-put-me-down" quality, this book is also so enjoyable because of its memorable heroine. It's been a long time since I've encountered a female lead as engaging as Lisbeth Salander. Despite her rather extreme characteristics, she comes across neither as a stereotype nor a caricature, and even though she is nothing like me and not exactly what you would call likable, I found myself extremely invested in her well-being and absolutely fascinated by her actions and personality.

However, I still cannot wholeheartedly recommend this book. The extremely gruesome scenes of sexual violence are wholly disturbing (I had to take a break for a while after reading the first); for me, they elicited not only outrage, horror, and a deep sadness, but also a physical nausea. One of the running themes in the book is the violence of men towards women (the Swedish title is actually Men Who Hated Women), and though these issues are dealt with seriously, they are rendered no less difficult to digest. But, if you can handle these scenes, or tread carefully enough to avoid them, this book is thoroughly compelling read from start to finish. I know that I myself will read the two sequels (both of which have been reviewed as positively as the original) if I can get my hands on them.

Masquerade Characters

Kurt Faulkner, age 25, tawny curly hair that he wears long to his shoulders or pulled back in a pony tail. Flirts with anything and everything female, has a great singing voice and knows it, and as a result sings lines from songs to people whenever the opportunity arises (or even when it doesn’t). Wears a brown suit with boots and a Zorro style mask.

Abby Lane, age 21, long blond hair that loosely curls at the ends, short and small but curvy. Drinks too much but can hold her liquor, always wears green and tonight is no different as she sports a short emerald cocktail dress and a vibrant green and gold peacock feather mask. Enjoys stealing small valuables.

new blog

Hey guys...I started a movie review blog. Who knows how well I'll keep up with it, but it's there for your perusal. I don't have much on there yet; hopefully I'll add more soon.

The address is:
http://woldumthisisnotamovie.blogspot.com/

Once I actually have some reviews up there, I would appreciate your comments and feedback!

a fellow creative blogger

...just found this blog. The girl who writes it is a freelance photographer from New York who is obsessed with color. The Blog chronicles her own day to day creativity, especially the photos she takes and the beautiful and whimsical designs she makes on her wall with brightly colored paper. Worth a look simply for the visuals!

http://colormekatie.blogspot.com/

journaling

I've decided to start journaling again. I haven't in the longest time, and I realized it's because I'm too self conscious to be truly honest, and when I wasn't being honest the words weren't flowing. My problem was that I couldn't write fast enough by hand, and writing in a Word doc felt too dangerous because so many people use my computer regularly. I also got overwhelmed by trying to write everything that happened, which read like a play-by-play completely devoid of feeling, or by just writing my feelings without any details of the circumstance, and then it ended up vague and stream-of-consciousy.

So I decided I will write my thoughts as they come but not get overwhelmed by trying to write EVERYTHING.

The event that inspired me to do this is re-reading I Capture the Castle. I'm not quite done, but I think I'm enjoying it as much as I did the very first time I read it. There are so many profound simple truths hidden within that I don't remember noticing the previous times I read it. It is also much better written than I recalled.

FUNK

I've been in a creativity funk lately. My story is in a rut. I've been in a HUGE movie mood lately, what with the Oscar's and watching a bunch of interesting movies semi-recently (Shutter Island, An Education, Up in the Air, The Hurt Locker), but there is no outlet for my movie-loving other than...watching more movies. Which isn't exactly creative. I am even feeling too much in a fun to finish this post! I really need money so I am thinking of donating plasma...thoughts?

For Future Inspiration

My old roommate showed me this awesome site called Modcloth.com. Each day they place a new vintage item of clothing for sale, as well as feature the new designs of a modern designer. Their dresses are AMAZING! Some of them are no different then things you would find at Forever21 or Urban Outfitters, but some of them are really cute and retro. All of the dresses have really cute titles and descriptions too, like "Gidget Dress" or "Beach Picnic in the Afternoon Dress." I thought they would be good inspiration for this summer when we sew sundresses. The pictures are of some of my favorite.

brain fart

I've been trying to start up this next short story to no avail. I dreamed up what I thought was a wonderful idea, and upon revisiting said-idea while sentient, determined that it is a horrible, ridiculous idea! And very very gory. We'll see what becomes of me. Where are you two at?

Character Criteria

Girl

Miscellaneous Qualities:

-Divorced Parents
-Used to be quite rich
-Father was murdered

Physical Attributes:

-very short hair
-never wears pants/shorts (always a dress or skirt)
-gets mistaken/compared to someone else

Personality Traits:

-very vain
-not afraid to talk to people she doesn't know
-doesn't ever talk about her feelings or emotions with/to other people

So....with that I think Assignment #2 has officially commenced! Have at it ladies.