Review of Jumper by Steve Gould

This is not a review of the novelization of the movie, but of the original book the movie is loosely based on. My husband had read the books and watched the movie, he enjoyed both and encouraged me to read the books and watch the film. We watched the movie together, and then I read the first book. It's interesting to watch a movie with someone that has read the book it's based on, and he wanted an opinion on the movie without the knowledge of the book. The movie is interesting and exciting, but I think the original novel is better. (Aren't they always?)

There are many things the same in the book and the film. The main character is Davy, a boy with an abusive, alcoholic father. Davy discovers his ability to jump when his dad is beating him very badly. His mother left in the book as well, though not for the same reasons. (I'm avoiding two different spoilers here.) We follow Davy on a journey of learning about the outside world and his gift of teleporting or jumping as he calls it. He meets a girl named Millie and falls in love. He struggles with whether to tell her about his gift, afraid it will scare her off.

There are also many differences. He is not being chased by an organization out to kill jumpers. The book is more of a drama and character study. Don't get me wrong, it has lots of action too. We see our protagonist struggle with choices, such is life I suppose. One of the big things Davy struggles with is his anger, which is very common among abuse victims. While the movie makers made Davy less appealling, though not unappealling, they made his Dad more so.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was entertaining and well paced. I will probably read the sequel. I'd say this is a good summer read, a great way to relax for a weekend.

Second Block

I thought I'd show some of my progress on the set of baby blocks I have been working on. I've finished stitching 12 of 26 in the set. I have to stitch the outline, which I'm doing in a heavier thread that changes shades of red along its length. This block has a butterfly on it. The designs that act as the border about the picture and letters are in two separate shades of red. The letters and picture are done in a third shade. A single block can be completed in one day.

Thank you to those folks that helped me find pictures to use. The area is only 1.1" square, and this makes if very difficult to find something that is recognizable as they are all in silhouette. The butterfly wasn't hard, but some of the others were very difficult. In fact, some of the letters you would think would be easy, proved to be the most difficult.

Blaze Review

I have been a fan of Stephen King for a very long time, including his works written under the name Richard Bachman. Bachman seems to be King's way of getting really vicious and dirty, his Dark Half, if you will. Blaze is not a horror novel, but a crime drama. In the introduction, King talks of how he wanted it to have the feel of the old hard core crime stories, I think he did well at maintaining the fast pace of that genre. This work is closer to Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (aka Shawshank Repdemption) than his more famous horror works.

Our main character is a giant of a man called Blaze by everyone he knows. His real name is Clayton Blaisdell, Jr. He begins life as a very intelligent young man, but soon ends up brain damaged and in an orphanage thanks to his abusive, alcoholic father. He grows up to be a small time thug and con man. His best friend, and the mastermind of his career in crime, is George Rackley. George is three months dead at the beginning of our story. Blaze is struggling to accept the loss of a friend and cope with continuing to function with him. He decides to continue a caper they had planned before George's death. George "talks" to Blaze and gives him advice during the course of the tale. I found Blaze to be a very sympathetic character. The book moved very quickly and kept me reading to the end (though that is probably an obvious statement when taken literally.)

In addition to the main tale, you get the short story "Memory". This is a tale that Duma Key is based on. After reading the short story, I look forward to reading the novel.

The Dark Knight

Yesterday morning, the family and I went to see The Dark Knight. We have been looking forward to this movie for a very long time, as have many Batman fans. I know everyone is writing and talking about this movie right now, and I will probably not say anything that hasn't already been said. I've heard talk about people being tired of comic book and superhero movies, I can understand that to a certain extent. Despite the fact that this movie is based on a comic book, it's not a superhero or comic book movie. This movie is emotionally tense, I would not recommend it for younger viewers, though there isn't really any blood shed (not on screen anyway).

Christian Bale gives a masterful performance as usual. Michael Caine, as Alfred, is wonderfully understated as the father figure. He provides Batman with support and acts as a foil for his guilt when needed. Morgan Freeman returns as Lucius Fox acting as Batman's conscience and the CEO of Wayne Interprises. Rachel Dawes, now played by Maggie Gyllenhaal (a big improvement), is back. She is working with and dating Harvey Dent, the new D.A. Heath Ledger was beyond phenomenal as the Joker. Traditionally, because of the genre, Ledger would not be nominated for an Oscar in this role. I am hoping that all the buzz in Hollywood is right, sadly it will be posthumous, but greatly deserved.

In many ways, this movie was more of a Joker movie than a Batman movie. This Joker was terrifyingly insane. He was cruel, vindictive, devious. The elaborate schemes he develops while claiming to not be a schemer. He sees himself as an agent of chaos. The mannerisms used by Ledge intensify the lines of the Joker. The body language is far from over the top, in fact they seem restrained. This aids in the feel of a barely controlled madness, which is at the same time not controlled at all.

I have to admit when the credits rolled, I got a little teary. Not just because of the psychological horrifying situations in the movie, but because of the loss of such a talented man as Heath Ledger. I had just watched the last performance, and in my opinion the best, of this young man.

Monster Planet, the Final Installment

I use to hate critics, book and movie alike. I still dislike them, most of them are cynical and seem to desire to destroy authors' careers. However, now that I have written a few reviews I have more respect for their craft. It is incredibly hard to write a coherent review without including spoilers, especially when dealing with a series.

I just finished the last segment of David Wellington's zombie trilogy. In this book he focuses on Sarah, Dekalb's daughter, and Ayaan, the young lady that fought at Dekalb's side in New York. We get an insight into what Sarah's life was like in the Somali camp as an outsider. Ayaan has become a leader of her people and well as Sarah's protector and parental figure.

Dekalb and Gary return and feature rather prominently in the second half of this book. We meet many old Egyptian mummies, which do not hunger for human flesh. We are also introduced to a young Russian boy/zombie that can control other zombies. He has created a society in which the dead and living work and reside together. As I have said in my other two reviews, this is a very unorthodoxed set of zombie lore.

Sadly, I can't give a more thorough look at the plot, because then I will spoil the first two books for you. Wellington's style is easy and quick to read.

I have one question for you all. What's more important than the end of the world?