Join for FREE | Take the Tour Lost Password?
Shop deviantART for the
holidays and save BIG!
Click here! :holly:
[x]

deviantART

:woohoo:
 

Book 1, Chapters 1 Through 5

Journal Entry: Thu Nov 26, 2009, 6:21 PM
So I guess the best way to do this would be to present a summary and critique on that. Here goes:

The book starts with Isabella Swan (who insists that everyone call her "Bella") leaving Phoenix for Forks - a town in 'the Olympic Peninsula of Northwest Washington State.' Bella's mother, Renee, is fretting as mothers are oft to do when a child travels alone. Bella is less than enthused about leaving, describing Forks as Hell on Earth, and that she'd rather travel anywhere else. Both the girls describe Charlie, Bella's father and Renee's ex-husband negatively.

Upon getting to Forks, Bella is picked up by Charlie who is somewhat unsure of how to act, or what to say, but begins by talking about the car that he got for her, refusing re-reimbursement for it, describing it as a 'welcoming gift.' Bella, unsure of what to expect - but still thinking fairly pessimistically - sees the car in the driveway and is happy with it. She's also happy she doesn't have to start her first day at a new school being driven in her dad's cop car. She is, however, slightly concerned with fitting in at her new school.

The next day, she discovers that her fears are unfounded when she quickly meets some new friends and the admiration of "chess club" Eric and "golden retriever" Mike. A third male admirer joins, Tyler, after he narrowly avoids hitting her with his car in the student parking lot. Narrowly avoided in this case being that a young, perfect boy named Edward Cullen saves her. It's not entirely certain how Edward did it, and Bella did sustain some head trauma, but she's fairly certain that he saved her life.

Edward is a bit of a mystery - he's the adopted son of a well respected doctor, and lives with his other adopted siblings. They always sit together in the cafeteria, but never touch the food they buy. They're well-dressed, and physically attractive - Bella describes one of the girls as "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model" material. However, her attention is drawn more to Edward since he's in a few of her classes. Edward is a bit of a mystery since he's prone to sudden mood swings - when he first meets her, every time he looks at her Edward glares malevolently, tries to change out of the classes he has with her, and skips a week just to avoid her. He comes back though, and begins chatting with Bella, always stating that they should stay away, that he's not the type of person she should be friends with. Bella, however, still has the truck incident on her mind and thinks that there's something strange with Edward.

The three boys - Eric, Mike and Tyler - are all vying for Bella's attention in order to take her to the upcoming school dance - though Bella declines on all fronts, stating that she's headed to Seattle. She is, however, headed to the beach with the boys and their pseudo-girlfriends. Edward manipulates the situation to allow each boy the chance to ask her out, and then offers to drive her to Seattle. Bella, mesmerized by his eyes, accepts. She also starts the disturbing trend of dreaming about him.

----

I could go on about sentence structure and grammar and things that don't make any sense - there's a few sentences. And yes, there is the ""No." I didn't bother to tell him my stomach was full - full of butterflies." So yeah.

There is the issue of Bella, however. Bella describes to Edward that she left Phoenix because it would allow her mother to travel with her new husband, staying with her dad. Far from happy about this, she takes the chance to gripe about everything - having to come to Forks, she didn't get all the clothes she needed for the change in climate, it's always raining or snowing, she's far too uncoordinated for... well, pretty much everything.

Somethings are understandable - Bella is worried about living in a new place and not fitting in at her new school. However, her father - who she only calls "Dad" to his face, buys her a new car, takes the time to wake up early on the first snowfall she has in Forks to put chains on her tires and shows care and worry during the aforementioned truck incident and there's still the impression that Bella secretly dislikes him. She patronizes her mother, and informed Charlie that she meant to keep the truck accident from Renee. Isabella Swan has two loving parents who, though divorced, try to make her happy and safe and all she does is gripe about how loud the engine on her car is, or complain about the weather, or that all the affection from her fellow students is unbearable.

While the Eric thing seems kind of creepy, both Tyler and Mike seem like pretty good guys, unfairly labeled by Bella, who just tunes them out as she's dreaming of Edward. Her friends all begin to pair up with each other, Eric, Mike and Tyler included, though the three guys would probably stick a knife each other if offered a look from her, while her female friends shoot daggers into her back the moment she's noticed by Edward Cullen.

Now, the Cullen clan doesn't really sound that strange - a young doctor and his wife adopt a few kids, they enjoy family activities; Edward it seems is kind of flakey. He's prone to anger, manipulation and sounds far too uncaring. But physically, he's gorgeous - bronze hair, ocher eyes and perfect teeth. Bella has a recurring dream where she's chasing after him but never quite reaching him. School seems to be a breeze for the pair - Bella stating the she was in an advanced course for Biology in Phoenix, and having read most of her assigned English stuff, Edward proving to be adept in the only paired Biology assignment the two had, and later states that sometimes it's healthy to skip.

Bella finds him infuriating, and spends a few sentences wondering whether she should ram his car while stuck behind him - further proving the Bella is much too wrapped up in her own self-importance, angry that someone is challenging her perceived self-image. Bella is somewhat strange, because she's everything that Edward is not - he's visually stunning, she believes herself to be rather plain. He's tall and graceful, Bella trips over her own feet at least once every three pages. Bella seems satisfied with her misery in her "self-imposed Purgatory," (that's Forks, by the way) while Edward seems to laugh at everything she dislikes.

The point I'm trying to make is that Bella is.. well, to keep this PG, an arse. She's constantly complaining despite being well liked, well educated and popular. Edward feels like the guy in class who never had to try, just cruises by on charm - though in this book his family is well-off and he's apparently gorgeous, if not bony. He's got this love-'em-and-leave-'em attitude that makes you want to stay far away. Oh boy - a match made in heaven.

  • Mood: Nervous
  • Listening to: The Fratelli's - Flathead
  • Reading: Twilight
  • Watching: Invader Zim
  • Playing: Oblivion
  • Eating: Sugar Coated Watermelon Candies
  • Drinking: Coke

Take This, Stephanie Meyer!

Wed Nov 25, 2009, 6:29 PM
  • Mood: Nervous
  • Listening to: The Fratelli's - Flathead
  • Reading: Twilight
  • Watching: Invader Zim
  • Playing: Oblivion
  • Eating: Sugar Coated Watermelon Candies
  • Drinking: Coke
I have a young, teenage sister. Being a girl, and also being between the ages of eleven to twenty-nine, she has a thing for the strung-out stink bomb known as Robert Pattinson - or, as many others (dreamily) refer to him, "Edward."

After numerous... "observations" and "critiques," I was told by the folks that I wasn't allowed to do so until I actually read the book. So I bought it today. The first few pages are sort of what I expected - sort of middle-school level writing, too over descriptive without detailing anything of importance.

So I thought I'd go by every few chapters and we can talk, ending with a "strongly worded" review that will give me a few jibes to let loose 'round Christmas break when I head home. Who's with me?

Dear Silent Hill: What The Fuck?

Thu Aug 20, 2009, 4:15 AM
  • Mood: Lazy
  • Listening to: Stuff
  • Reading: Stuff
  • Watching: More Stuff
  • Playing: Other Stuff
  • Eating: Weird Stuff
  • Drinking: Coke
Now, I'm a fan of horror. I love old horror flicks, campy horror flicks - but I'm not that big into the horror game genre. That's because I find that most games that belong to the genre aren't really scary at all. Doom 3, F.E.A.R, Resident Evil - they have plenty of things that jump out and shout "Boo!" but then again, so does the Haunted House at the carnival. Silent Hill is one of the only series - if not the only - that actually makes me scared. The games are a little difficult to explain and tend to have a lot of parts open to interpretation. Which is why I'm going to say screw it, and go with a fan favorite, (as well as my personal favorite from the series)Silent Hill 2.

In Silent Hill 2, you play as the protagonist, James Sunderland. James has recently received a letter from his wife asking him to meet her at their "special place" in Silent Hill. He's understandably confused, since his wife died three years ago. However, he decides to go anyway, and once he's in Silent Hill, he actually stays there, trying to find his wife, even with hideous monstrosities trying to kill him. That's not even the scary part - it's that the monsters are all symbolic, James' adventure based around him and his psychological problems. A neat technique, and the game manages to show the few other normal people in the town are facing their own demons.

For starters, an enemy called the Numb Body symbolizes James' detachment and lack of emotion after his wife's death. The large bosomed, bubble-headed nurses symbolizing both James' sexual frustration and his idea of the hospital, and subsequently its staff, as a source of torture every time he went to see his wife before she died. Pyramid Head, who you may know from anything Silent Hill related ever, the unofficial mascot for the games, first appeared in this game both as James' subconscious need to be punished. But, the great thing is that it's open to interpretation, so that it's whatever you feel it is.

The series started with the debut of the town of Silent Hill and the local cult. The cult believes in a female God who will create Paradise. The game revolves around a writer named Harry Mason. The second game is detailed above, and deals with James Sunderland. The third game continues the plot from the first, and focuses around a girl named Heather Mason. These are all great additions to any game collectors library. They've got great writing, atmosphere and plot - though the combat is a bit stiff.

Where the series starts to go downhill is in Silent Hill 4, and it continues to descend with the release of the Silent Hill movie, Silent Hill Origins and Silent Hill Homecoming. In other words, the Americans screwed everything up. Silent Hill 4 was not a radical departure from the series, but began to waver with the addition of the "Hole" mechanic, as well as a few aesthetic departures. It still retains the originality of the series, but Origins really starts to rock the boat with the addition of breakable weapons, a dispassionate lead and a story that seemed to get lost halfway through the first area. Silent Hill 5, named Silent Hill Homecoming, is in no uncertain terms Silent Hill: The Movie: The Game.

Now, two new Silent Hill games are scheduled for release: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, a "re-imagining" of the first game, [link] , and Silent Hill Escape, [link] . Now, these games arguably look alright, in keeping in with the whole idea of Silent Hill - but keep in mind, these are the trailers. The Silent Hill movie trailer looked good when we first saw it, as did Origins and Homecoming.

What I'm suggesting is not a boycott, a petition, or a march. All I wanna say is please, Japan? Take back the franchise. At least we've still got Metal Gear Solid.

James Bond!

Sat Jun 20, 2009, 12:40 PM
  • Mood: Tired
  • Listening to: Stuff
  • Reading: Stuff
  • Watching: More Stuff
  • Playing: Other Stuff
  • Eating: Weird Stuff
  • Drinking: Coke
So a bit ago, me dad got the first two boxes of the James Bond collection from relatives. After a bit, I sat down to watch a few - Goldfinger, The World Is Not Enough, Thunderball, Die Another Day... I noticed a pattern: crazy gadgets, beautiful women and awesome action were not it. Sure, those things were there - they're a staple of the franchise. But I also noticed that despite the talents of Sean Connery, older 007 movies have not aged well.

Thunderball, for instance, is a sixties Bond flick - and if you can imagine all the technology in the sixties compared to now... well... and the finale of this big underwater battle atwixt Her Majesties men and the henchmen of Spectre where the best way to defeat your enemy is to sever their scuba oxygen tube - what? Oh, yeah, they're underwater, armed with dart guns and knives. It's a big underwater knife fight. Somehow, the villain having a swimming pool with sharks in the backyard of his island estate didn't tip anyone off that they need to watch him. Oh well, at least there's a jet pack.

And Goldfinger? Everyone always mentions this film when James Bond is brought up, if for nothing than to note the villains obsession with leaving Bond strapped to some big death-dealing machine, leaves and is somehow surprised that he manages to escape. Which I find weird, because the scene most commonly referenced is James Bond strapped to a table with the laser about to slice him in half. The thing is, in the movie, at this point Goldfinger knows who and what Bond is, trapped him in his underground lair with bodyguards all around, and has him strapped to a table without any of his gadgets and a laser about to slice him in half. James escapes this by - stay with me here - convincing Goldfinger that he'd be more use to him alive. After which, Goldfinger keeps him locked in a prison cell in his home in the States, and describes his plan to throw the economy of America into chaos and subsequently make himself very rich.

And how does Bond stop this from happening? He sleeps with the girl. Octopussy, then swayed by James'... passion for justice, alerts the authorities and helps stop Goldfinger.

Don't think I'm complaining, I love the Bond flicks - I'm just trying to address my opinion on the aging process. Because, if you look at it, Bond is either a terrible spy, or a bad-ass superman. Not to say that he doesn't meet his share of dim-witted henchmen; in Die Another Day, the villains have Jinx, Halle Berry's character, strapped to a beam in the basement greenhouse of an Alaskan ice palace. (Go with me here, it makes sense if you watch the movie.) Anyway, the villain gets a henchmen to shoot Jinx, and he's like "Nah, I'm gonna use the laser." And then James Bond swoops in and manages to fight him - in a very bad-ass way - amidst a skew of dancing laser beams. It's just... well, it's pretty awesome. You can't really deny that. James Bond is awesome. But usually, the only thing that saves him is his partner, a gadget that had a lot of emphasis put on it in the beginning of the film or the girl. 'Cause every evil bad guy has to have one hot girl on his research team/crew of assassins/girlfriend/Bond girl reserve.

However, while I may trash talk the older Bond films - and the newer for their dependence on more technological means - there's only one real Bond; Connery. The close second is Brosnan, and while I thought I'd go with Craig for a third, I have to say that his latest movie is a bit of a... well, it's good - but it's no From Russia With Love.

What Do You Think About The Level Of Censorship...

Tue Jun 2, 2009, 4:28 PM
  • Mood: Tired
  • Listening to: Stuff
  • Reading: Stuff
  • Watching: More Stuff
  • Playing: Other Stuff
  • Eating: Weird Stuff
  • Drinking: Coke
Full title: What Do You Think About The Level Of Censorship We're Faced With In Television?

Joi the debate here: [link]

But be prepared to talk about Sesame Street a bit.

Site Map