jabberwockypie

jabberwockypie @ 2006-06-28T00:05:00

2006-06-28T04:07:29Z

I am utterly thrilled because I recommended Discworld to someone and she actually read it! I have this ~~tendency~~ obsession with buying any used copies of anything by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, or Diana Wynne Jones that I find, so I get doubles and sometimes send them to people. There are at least two people that I sent books to who never mentioned them again. In retrospect I realize that one of them probably wouldn't have liked it much and that the other was caught up with a bunch of stuff in her life (she seemed to like Gaiman a lot, though), but you know how it can be when you're excited about something and you want everyone else to be excited, too. I still sometimes have the urge to ask "Why did you say that you were interested and said you'd read it if you had no intention of doing so? Gimme my books back!" but I also realize it's silly.

I have a cousin who's 12 and my aunt says he's very immature and just starting to get into Sci-Fi/Fantasy and asked for recommendations. She said "Well he likes Science Fiction and Fantasy, and YOU like Science Fiction and Fantasy, so . . ." and I'm not sure if she realized that that's a really diverse range of stories fall under those labels. (I've never met the kid as they live all in New Jersey.) So then I was mentally running through my favorite books to see if there was anything she might get upset about. I wouldn't recommend American Gods (okay, pretty much anything by Neil Gaiman), for example, to just anybody because of *hem hem* certain scenes.

Matters aren't helped by the fact that I've only met her three times and I have no idea how or if she limits what her kids read. (I'm guessing not, but it would be a good idea not to piss her off at this juncture.) She said that Discworld was too mature and I didn't really understand that since I heard worse than anything in the series by the time I was in fifth grade. I only recall one time in the whole series where it is unarguably stated that someone had sex and it isn't descriptive at all.

And then she said I should think about what I liked when I was 10 or 11. I only started to really focus on fantasy when I was about 12 and before that I would read virtually anything (lots of historical fiction, some of it very Mary Sueish). I also don't really know any males to ask about "What would a 12-year-old boy like that won't get me in trouble with his mother?"

I typed up a big list and e-mailed it to her, praising the Artemis Fowl books and Pratchett's Johnny Maxwell trilogy (the logic here being that they're both well-written, by men and about 12-year-old boys), Coraline by Neil Gaiman, the Chrestomanci Chronicles by Diana Wynne Jones (because I like DWJ and there's not really lots romance in them, unlike in Howl's Moving Castle or Deep Secret), and a few other things. I skipped books that were a lot older, like Half Magic, because while I liked it when I was 11, there was a different expectation for kids' literature when the books were written and I figured they'd probably come off as babyish. I gave her one of my extra copies of The Princess Bride (warning her that it starts off kind of slow), but that may have been a mistake.

Meh, I tried my best, and that's what matters.

jabberwockypie @ 2006-06-13T22:29:00

2006-06-14T02:31:09Z

Took my Mom to the emergency room yesterday for chest pains and exhaustion. She was admitted and was discharged this evening. Doctors and hospital staff were utter assholes, but I'm too tired to write about that tonight.

I saw about half an hour worth of Howl's Moving Castle in the ER waiting room. I am a huge Diana Wynne Jones fan. I know that some people really like Miyazaki (probably misspelled that, but it has been a really draining couple of days and I'm too lazy to google it) and that's okay. I have no problems with people who like things I don't like (except for people who constantly watch reality tv).
Anyway, it looked awful and was not like the book. (I didn't expect it to be, which is why I didn't see it when it came out.) Howl was just . . . not Howl. I will admit that I had a huge crush on book!Howl when I was about 14*, but anime!Howl was . . . just not Howl. I'm not sure what the deal was with Michael being a little kid or with the really fat woman(?) who was there. Calcifer should have been less cute. Sophie annoyed me. She had a British accent (the author is British and I really like British accents!) but EVERYONE ELSE sounded American! What was up with all the airships and bombs, anyway? What happened to Howl being a coward? Furthermore, HOWL IS NOT A BISHIE!

This concludes my obligatory movie-hating-fan-of-the-book rant. Just don't speak to me of Jurassic Park. Lord of the Rings movies were better than the books (and I read the books first). Harry Potter movies aren't great, but some of the effects are cool and I heart Moaning Myrtle.

* I do not generally find appearances to be sexy. I don't know why; I'm just weird. I'm much more likely to read a book and be attracted to a character in the book based on their personality. Or a movie in some cases, but it's always the CHARACTER not the actor (ie - I like Captain Jack Sparrow but I'm not a fan of Johnny Depp except in that role.)

jabberwockypie @ 2006-06-13T21:51:00

2006-06-14T01:55:32Z

If I think of anything clever to say, I'll post it here. If you want to read a wonderful series of stories that mock batshit insane fandom, go here:
mina-de-malfois.livejournal.com Someone (can't remember who) on Fandom_Lounge recommended it to me and it is hilarious.

This journal brought to you by the wonderful White_Serpent who has given free accounts to many former anonymice, including me. Thanks, White_Serpent!