muneca_brava | Entries tagged with books are love

I promised, months ago, to do 100 Cultural Lifechangers as a series of Lj posts. I haven’t forgotten, I just don’t feel up to making big lj posts a lot of the time. But, I have just finished Bring up the Bodies, want to rave about it, and thought; what better way to finally start this thing.

I have been making lists of the things – books, movies, art, etc – I want to talk about in this series, and one of the first titles I wrote down in the list of books was Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I was slightly doubtful about including it because I only read it last fall so I worried that maybe I should give it some time to see if it stayed with me. But then the sequel, Bring up the Bodies, came out in May. I reread Wolf Hall and immediately followed it up with the new book, which I finished earlier today. I feel confident that I am not in any way overstating things to claim this as one of the most important books I have read.

I do feel like, since this is basically a post raving about these books, that I should put up a disclaimer, which goes for all future posts. These things are personal. You may not like this book, and I would understand if you dislike it, because while it’s very very good, it may not be your thing. Every one of these 100 Things will by default be a recommendation, and I hope that if you read it (which, good on you if you wade through my word vomit) you want to give the thing a try. But sometimes, probably more often than I realize, the reason I love a story is because of personal taste or the place it has in my life at the time I read it.

Also, a note on spoilers; I don’t think I can really…spoil these books? I mean, plot-wise, these things happened 500 years ago, I don’t think that it still counts as a spoiler if I tell you what happened to Anne Boleyn :P

For those of you who don’t know the books, a short introduction to the plot: Wolf Hall is set in England in the early sixteenth century: the Tudor era, when Henry VIII was king. The main character in Thomas Cromwell, an infamous historical figure who becomes a layered and surprisingly likeable character throughout these books. We follow him as he rises above his humble origins as a blacksmith’s son and becomes the King’s right-hand man. Henry VIII is in this period trying to annul his marriage to Katherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn, and Cromwell helps him to achieve that. In the sequel, Bring up the Bodies, Henry turns against Anne and she famously is convicted of treason, and is beheaded at the Tower. Again, Thomas Cromwell is the man responsible.

( cut for lengthy discussion of why it's a great book )

But why is it a lifechanger, and why is it one of ten books I'm discussing? I can tell this part is going to be a problem for the other 99 things too because damn, that's hard to articulate. Basically, I think what it comes down to is that it hits on the right combination of quality, personal interest, and emotion for me. I wouldn't be as into it if I didn't have all those feelings about the period and the people (ie Anne) already, I wouldn't rave about it as much if the writing wasn't so compelling, and I definitely wouldn't be writing this post of overflowing words if I hadn't had such an emotional reaction to it. On several occasions throughout reading the books I got overwhelmed with emotions and did this. I don't get that enough, that feeling of being completely involved in a story so that you can't put it down and you just have to force yourself to stop and breathe. And this is the first one in a long long time that combines that lovely feeling with extremely good writing. These novels have restored my faith in historical fiction and have assured me that I can truly love books that aren't fantasy or YA.

( some quotes )

Even though, like I said, I'm not starting the 100 Things Challenge until June, thinking about it has made me want to change the way I blog a little. I usually think that nobody will read my posts unless I just make them as short as possible with lots of bullet points and memes, and a lot of the time I love doing that. I react to new episodes best in a fragmented way because I tend to be too overwhelmed to be eloquent, and I cannot stress enough how much I love memes. However, I sometimes want to talk about a book I've read or a movie I've seen or a thing that's happened to me or a thought I've had. And I don't do that because I think 'who cares' or because I'm too lazy.
So I'm going to make an effort to sometimes - in between the fangirly squee posts - write blogs that are a bit longer and about things that aren't necesarily big fandom discussion points or cute questionnaires. This is primarily for myself so I can practise writing and think a bit more about why I like what I like, but if one or two of you enjoy them that would be a bonus of course ;)

I. I finished The Fault in our Stars by John Green and was pleasantly surprised by it. It was the first novel of his I'd read. While I love his videos and knew he was an interesting and intelligent guy I wasn't sure that would mean he's a good author. But while I think I would have treasured this book more than I'm now able to if I had read it a few years ago, I was impressed by how engaging and emotional it was
( NO SPOILERS just a cut for length )

It's not a perfect book, it's not going to become one of my all-time everlasting favourites and I don't think everyone would enjoy it. But I spent a whole day with those characters, I grinned at them in the train and cried over them in my bedroom, and when I went to bed that night I fell asleep thinking of them. So if you're interested in reading this book at all but haven't because you think it'll be too much of a downer or too after-school specialy because of the subject, trust me and go get it. And if you don't want to now because I made a big deal about how much it made me cry, don't be stupid about that either because wouldn't you love to let a book affect you so much it does that? Isn't that the whole point?

II. Audience participation required for the 100 Things! I want to talk about 10 different 'subcategories' of culture so I get a 10x10 format, but I'm having trouble coming up with a tenth. So far I have movies, books, plays, poems, paintings, non-painting works of art, songs, places, and tv shows. Originally I was going to do 10 non-fictional texts but I'm having trouble finding more than two or three that were in any way influential to me.
So is there anything you'd want me to talk about, or do you just have any general ideas for a subject? :)

I. Obligatory YAY FANDOM MARCH MADNESS IS COMING post!

I'm not sure who I'll be backing this year, I'll see how the first rounds go. As long as it's a lady I'm probably okay. Or if we have to have a dude, not Sherlock or Sheldon or Eleven. And that basically comes down to PLEASE LET IT BE A LADY again because those are probably the top three.
Last year I campaigned for Veronica Mars, who did REALLY WELL but I've a feeling this isn't her year. I shall see who takes the lead for Game of Thrones - I doubt it'll be Sansa :/ Maybe Dany though? Or Arya. I'll even support Jaime or Tyrion. There seems to be a pretty big campaign going fo Leslie Knope and I'm willing to go with that too :)

I'm so excited!!

II. I marathoned Cougar Town and I LOVE IT. It's filled the sitcoms-about-friends-hanging-out hole left by HIMYM. It is so much more awesome than that show that I'm kind of pissed I stuck with it for so long when I could have been watching this.

It does make me crave red wine a lot.
And it gives me waaaaaaaaay too many feelings for a silly sitcom. Seriously. They all just love each other so much :'( I want a cul-de-sac crew of my own.

III. I'm trying to force myself to get it together and be productive so I made a bunch of rules - I'm not checking my Tumblr dash all the time, just my favourite blogs, I'm not reading fanfic, etc. It's not working as well as it could (see watching the whole of Cougar Town) but I AM reading more so that's always a plus. I always read a biography-type book and a novel at the same time and right now it's Young Romantics by Daisy Hay - which is honestly a bit disappointing because she keeps discussing boring people instead of lolling at Byron which surely is the main point of the Romantics. I'm also struggling through Great Expectations because I felt like giving Dickens another chance. I would love this book if it was about Miss Havisham and Estella (mainly Estella) and Pip was a side character, but I do not care about his money issues and all the whacky people he meets. Shut up, Pip.

IV. NEW GOT SEASON 2 TRAILER, WHOOOOOO!. I am SO EXCITED about this season!! But seriously, how many trailers can they possibly release?

New Year's Resolution 1: make more posts, be it on Lj or on Tumblr :)

So yesterday Sherlock started again! I shall start with the non-spoilery stuff I liked so that if you are a huge fan you can read this and smile and move on without clicking the cut to read the spoilery stuff I hated. :)

Non-spoilery things I liked:
The way this show is filmed is stunning, and so is the music. Top quality and very enjoyable to watch!
It had some really funny moments. It also had some great exploration of Sherlock's humanity and the limits of it, and very interesting tidbits about the Holmes siblings. I really like their dynamic and their similarities.
The acting was flawless as always.

( spoilery things I didn't like )

And now for something completely different:
( Book Meme! )

I. I started taking driving lessons. I only have 6 hours with an instructor and the rest with my mum, and I am not really enjoying it, to say the least. I know everyone struggles with this but I just get so frustrated when I can't do something despite practising like crazy. I went to drive today and almost ran over two pedestrians. :S

II. This weekend I'm going on another film weekend, same concept as that week I did this summer. The theme is romantic comedy so it should be fun. I'm a bit worried though, because the end of the semester is fast approaching and I haven't really done/finished anything yet. I've only been watching films for my thesis, which means I haven't written anything yet, I only have a vague idea for my film&narrative paper (I'm thinking of writing something on Tarantino). There is another class where we are allowed but not obliged to make our own short film and I didn't think I'd do it, but like yesterday I agreed to maybe do it after all with a few other people. But it's very last-minute and I am starting to freak out.

And add to that the fact that I still don't have a clue what I want to do next year. I really want to go abroad for a semester or a year but I don't know doing what. If I stay here I want to get a job or study something else but only if it really interests me. I'm not doing something economic or whatever just because it would make it easier to get a job because I would just hate every second of it.

III Because I tend to only post about tv shows, some other things I have been enjoying lately:

Music: Stars! I've been listening to them for a long time but I am having a total revival lately. Some favourites are: Barricade, Personal, Your Ex-Lover is Dead, One More Night

Books: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Pretty well-known, but if you haven't read it yet and are into historical fiction: buy it. Now. It's tudor-era, about Thomas Cromwell and spans the period of Henry's struggle to marry Anne Boleyn. It's marvellously written; she can make you laugh or cry in a single paragraph. The ladies are also excellent; I admit I am a bit biased about this period because I love it so, and Anne Boleyn is one of my very favourite historical figures, but how Mantel writes her is amazing. But the best character is probably Mary Boleyn who only shows up now and then but is wonderful.

Movies: I watched Clue the other day and it is hilarious! People kept telling me it was terrible but I still wanted to watch it because of the concept and also Tim Curry. And I love it, idec how ridiculous it is!
I went to see Tintin because those comic books are my whole childhood (I think I read them like over a 100 times). I gotta say I was severely underwhelmed though. Action-adventure movies aren't really my thing anyway and this was just all chases and epicness and the characters were just there to move the plot forward. Which isn't that different from the comics but there it works better?

Is there anything I should be watching in the cinema these days? I hardly ever go anymore. Hell, I hardly watch movies made after 1960 (other than...Asian longtake cinema? :p)
And if you have any music or book recs, feel free to share!

Hi! I'm procrastinating instead of thesiswriting, so here's a fun meme about books and movies, stolen from

shah_of_blah:

Books
( click to read about reading )

Dvds/movies (I changed the questions on this one a bit to make it more interesting)
( In which I fail at making choices )

I. And again, it's been a while! I'm going to stop apologising for things I don't do. I'm annoying myself. ;)

I've had two great weeks. I caught up with friends, made a short film which was a lot of fun to do, and turned 20 (on february fourth). Which is a slightly scary age, I think. I no longer have the excuse of being a teenager when I'm stupid or childish, woe.:/
This past week, I went to the coast for a few days where I mainly stood on the beach in the wind (which is FUN and always makes me feel better) and read. I finished Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, which was better than I expected. Also read The Hours by Michael Cunningham, which was alright, but not as good as I expected (but maybe I just wasn't in the right mindset for it). I'm currently reading Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (have to read it for school).

Today has mainly been spent going through the Tumblr posts I missed. That has taken me HOURS. But of course I had to do it, because what if the most exquisite picture known to mankind had been on my dash and I missed it? :O
Yeah, I'm slightly addicted :P

II. Tv-wise, I'm catching up on Chuck, which I abandoned a while ago in the middle of S2. I'm now up to 3x09 and I'm really in to it again. Not really fannish but it's a fun show and I enjoy it. And where ususally will-they-or-won't-they annoys the hell out of me, with Chuck/Sarah I really like it.It seems more natural than, say, Booth/Brennan or Castle/Beckett.
The episodes are really diverse, as well. It doesn't feel like a procedural, even though the plots tend to have a similar structure.

III. Reaction to some other episodes:

( Being Human 3x3: 'Type 4' )

( Glee 2x12: Silly Love Songs )

I. Finished reading The Time Traveller's Wife. It was better than I'd expected, and the end made me cry HARD. At first I was a bit dubious about the whole 'Hi I'm your future husband/wife' thing because uhm, free choice anyone? But then they were really cute together so I accepted it XD.
I'm not sure if I want to see the movie though. Has anybody seen it & was it any good?

II. Jewel Staite is coming to Belgium in October (to a con) and now I really want to go :/ I've never been to a con in my life though, they kind of scare me :P I'm going to think about this, and then see if I know anyone who want to go with me. :)

III. Day 23: Any part of the books/movies that makes you cry?

Sirius dying had me in tears for days when I first read it :/ It was so out of the blue, and pointless (which was, in fact, exactly the point - anyone can die). I was shocked, and almost personally offended because out of all the characters, my favourite died? And then I became convinced he would be back in some form or other, and there would be some deep meaning behind the veil. Apparently not D:

I didn't cry over Dumbledore.

But I pretty much cried my way through Deathly Hallows. It was a very emotional experience for me, because I'd grown up with those books, I was so attached to the whole world and all the characters, and now it was finally over. I think I started tearing up at the dedication, and then kind of with moments throughout the book. I remember the scene where George loses his ear giving me trouble, and then the final parts were one big emotional turmoil. Especially Fred dying, and the resurrection stone scene where James, Lily, Sirius and Remus are all together omg D:
To be fair though, I read it well into the night so I was very tired most of the time.

Day 24: Any particular scene you wished would have been put in the movie but it wasn’t?

omg, how many times? I THINK WE HAVE GONE OVER THIS. There are lots of scenes that weren't in the movies and I like, and scenes that were there but were different from what I imagined. The first one that comes to mind is Snape's Worst Memory, because it's one of my favourite parts of the books and while it was in the movie, it was terrible and missed the important stuff.

Day 25: Nineteen years later. Are you happy how it turned out, or do you wish something was different, ie Neville married Luna?

Actually, I was kind of rooting for Luna/Dean. :)

I love the epilogue, don't even. Okay, so Albus Severus is the worst name for a child ever, and it was a bit too obviously LOOK EVERYONE IS HAPPILY MARRIED WITH CHILDREN THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS EVER. But I don't think there's another way of ending the Harry Potter series that I would have been this happy about. If it had just ended the chapter before, I would have missed something. I do want to know what happened later, so I was exactly what I wanted.

Also, Draco Malfoy's receding hairline and the following fan rage was hilarious :D

Current Music: Love the Way you Lie - Eminem feat. Rihanna

* I'm up to episode 3x07 on Buffy. I'm definitely going to keep watching and enjoying, but I have to say that I'm... underwhelmed. ( this was getting too long )

* Harry Potter meme:
Day 4: Least favorite female character and why?

Molly Weasley. She just really annoys me. She wants to control everyone and doesn't try to understand what other people are going through. Everything is supposed to be redeemed because she killed Bella at the end, Well, sorry, but that didn't work. I don't like how she treats Sirius and Fleur and basically everyone else.

Day 5: Favorite male character and why?

MR SIRIUS 'PADFOOT' BLACK, people. Obviously :D From everything that was explained in the Shrieking Shack scene onwards, I was so intrigued by his story. And then in OoTP he was even more of a BAMF and I just really really love him. From the flying motorbike to the crazy family, the marauder funtimes and the epic bromance with James, the war and the madness in Azkaban, escaping and having to live in Grimmauld Place. And I may be slightly invested in his friendship with Remus. Slightly.

OoTP broke my heart, as you can imagine. I convinced myself he would come back, because what would have been the point of 'death by drapery' otherwise? Apparently, there was no real point. D:

Day 6: What House would you want to be in?

Ravenclaw. Slytherin is too evil, and Gryffindors are too stupidly 'brave'. And what the hell is a Huffelpuff, right? No, I think Ravenclaws are awesome because they are just as smart or even more so than Gryffindors, but they don't feel the need to try and get killed every other day.

* I don't know if anyone is interested, but whatever I need to squee about this. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami is one of my favourite books, and they are turning it into a film. I'm always a bit wary when this happens, but the stills that have been released look gorgeous. I made the icon I'm using out of the prettiest one :D

I don't know if it'll be released in Belgium, but it had better!
( clicky for prettyness )

EDIT: Source & more pictures