Just Readin'

Poet William Blake once said of John Milton's Paradise Lost , "he [Milton] was a true poet and of the Devil's party without knowing it" (side note, I actually had to write a short paper on this quote for one of my English classes a few months ago and it was a thoroughly deplorable experience). Though I'm not going to talk about Paradise Lost today, this quote rather reminds me of a book I recently read: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. That's not to say that the angels are the bad guys or anything like that. Actually, if I had to pick, I'd say that the demons come across as rather villainy (shocking, I know). However, they're not the real villains of the story. Actually, thinking back on it, I'm not really sure who the villain is in this story.  In a nutshell, without giving away anything, the book is a comedy about the apocalypse, the son of Satan, and an angel and a demo...

So, I just finished reading Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris, the last book in the Sookie Stackhouse series (actually called The Southern Vampire Mysteries , but I don't like that title, so I'm going to ignore it), a series I only started reading after I watched the TV show, True Blood . Now, I have to admit that, while usually I'm a proponent of the whole the-book-is-better-than-the-movie thing, I liked the first season of True Blood more than I liked the first book. And I definitely liked the second season way, way more than I liked the second book. Despite it's unabashed use of profanity, gratuitous violence, and the tendency of many of it's characters to do unfaltering things with their hair (season one Eric, I'm looking at you), I like True Blood . But after season three, the TV show definitely took a bit of a nose dive. The sixth season of True Blood is about to start and I'm definitely up to giving the show another chance, but it seemed to ...

So, yesterday I read Lysistrata (I can say that because I've recently discovered that if you cut out video streaming on the internet (aka YouTube), you can read a lot more), and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Not only was it a quick read, but the version I read had illustrations by Picasso, which was a real treat. Considering that, previous to this, my only exposure to ancient Greek drama was when I read Oedipus Rex , Oedipus at Colonus , and Antigone in 9th grade English. Now, I understand that most people would probably consider Lysistrata slightly inappropriate for high school, given that it's essentially about a sex strike. However, I have to say, I think The Three Theban plays are far more disturbing. I mean, if it's okay to read a play centered around incest, I think it's okay to read a play about a bunch of women who decide to go abstinent. I think that's a better message for high school kids. Besides, the play is defined as a comedy, so I t...

So, I read a lot. I read a lot of different genres and a lot of different authors and I have to say, I have never stumbled upon a writer I identify more with than Neil Gaiman. I mean, when I read his writing, I just get it. It's like "yeah, my sentiments exactly" or "yeah, I know whatcha talking 'bout". Well, maybe not exactly like that. Anyway, I'm working on reading all of his novels and I just finished reading Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch . I'm going to write a full review of it later, but I don't think the apocalypse has ever been so funny. In fact, I usually find it to be rather somber and distressing for some reason. Huh. I would say that it sort of reminded me of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , but I don't like comparing books in that way. Let's just say, that if you like the Hitchhiker's Guide, you'd probably like Good Omens . Actually, if you have a basic understand...