November media
Dec. 9th, 2012 05:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jtniehofThe Brick Moon; Mastering Swimming; Oh My Goddess 26-35; Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
The Brick Moon and Other Stories (Edward Everett Hale): Wildly inconsistent. The titular story is mostly of interest as a historic relic of speculative fiction (indeed, it's why I read the collection.) The Lost Palace is pretty fun, again speculative fiction but very near-term, sort of like Stephenson. Most of the others are Christmas or Thanksgiving stories roughly equivalent to This Year's Christmas TV Special, overtly emotional (even manipulative, ineffectively) and very forgettable. Of these, Thanksgiving at the Polls is at least amusing, and any Bostonian will get a kick out of the plot device in 99 Linwood Street.
Mastering Swimming (Jim Montgomery; Mo Chambers): Not sure how I feel about this book. It's information-rich, not too chatty. But I don't feel it's given me much concrete to work on; in particular I thought there could be a little more on stroke mechanics and timing. I'm looking to be a better swimmer, not have a good read.
Oh My Goddess 26-35: Every time I go back for another round of Goddess I'm a little reluctant, but soon I'm happily engrossed. The plot's useless but the characters are so endearing. Despite the huge volume count it's apparently only been about 18 months in story time, which make the will-they-or-won't-they less obnoxious but wow is that spread out.
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (movie): Brilliant but inconsistent. Overachievers may wish to draw up a list of comparisons to American Graffiti, another "out all night" film. It moves a bit beyond teen rom-com, after the first fifteen minutes (which I spent wondering if I was too old for teen rom-coms since I just wanted to kick every single character in the face.) There's some nice gradual development of Norah's character and the variously-named band is a riot of commentary; sort of a Greek chorus. Tris is the really weak character; she never really gets any motivation beyond "crazy chick! you never know what they'll do!" and the turn in her story seems a LOT like slut-shaming from, let's say the narrator. (I don't think it is from the characters' point of view, and I don't want to ascribe it specifically to the director's decisions, but the final judgment of the film is pretty damning.)
The Brick Moon and Other Stories (Edward Everett Hale): Wildly inconsistent. The titular story is mostly of interest as a historic relic of speculative fiction (indeed, it's why I read the collection.) The Lost Palace is pretty fun, again speculative fiction but very near-term, sort of like Stephenson. Most of the others are Christmas or Thanksgiving stories roughly equivalent to This Year's Christmas TV Special, overtly emotional (even manipulative, ineffectively) and very forgettable. Of these, Thanksgiving at the Polls is at least amusing, and any Bostonian will get a kick out of the plot device in 99 Linwood Street.
Mastering Swimming (Jim Montgomery; Mo Chambers): Not sure how I feel about this book. It's information-rich, not too chatty. But I don't feel it's given me much concrete to work on; in particular I thought there could be a little more on stroke mechanics and timing. I'm looking to be a better swimmer, not have a good read.
Oh My Goddess 26-35: Every time I go back for another round of Goddess I'm a little reluctant, but soon I'm happily engrossed. The plot's useless but the characters are so endearing. Despite the huge volume count it's apparently only been about 18 months in story time, which make the will-they-or-won't-they less obnoxious but wow is that spread out.
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (movie): Brilliant but inconsistent. Overachievers may wish to draw up a list of comparisons to American Graffiti, another "out all night" film. It moves a bit beyond teen rom-com, after the first fifteen minutes (which I spent wondering if I was too old for teen rom-coms since I just wanted to kick every single character in the face.) There's some nice gradual development of Norah's character and the variously-named band is a riot of commentary; sort of a Greek chorus. Tris is the really weak character; she never really gets any motivation beyond "crazy chick! you never know what they'll do!" and the turn in her story seems a LOT like slut-shaming from, let's say the narrator. (I don't think it is from the characters' point of view, and I don't want to ascribe it specifically to the director's decisions, but the final judgment of the film is pretty damning.)