Wells is famous for changing the course of science fiction. Up to the time of his writing, science fiction was more about the science than it was abouWells is famous for changing the course of science fiction. Up to the time of his writing, science fiction was more about the science than it was about the fiction: a reader need but pick up one of Jules Vernes' famous adventures to see that the science is painstakingly presented as quite real, quite feasible. Wells, however, opted to go further afield, using science that was not yet possible (indeed, we've yet to invent the invisible man or a time machine, and the latter seems entirely impossible in the sense that Wells wrote of it). More importantly, Wells decided to focus on the fictional elements - his stories are not about the machines, but about the characters using the machine. He wanted to explore his characters in an engrossing plot.
The Invisible Man does not do this. The plot is boring, there's an almost complete lack of characterization besides the Invisible Man (and even his is quite superficial), and at no point in the story did I feel like something was at stake. Sure, the science of invisibility was believable enough for a layman, indeed, I'd never actually considered doing invisibility by matching the refraction of air. But that didn't cause me to care one bit about what was happening in the narrative.
It's easy to see that Wells was primarily concerned with explaining a phenomenon that would have been quite bewildering to his audience. There are long passages in which people wrestle with the invisible man and Wells describes these at great length and detail. And yet we who have seen (or not seen, as the case may be) the invisible man on the big screen have little enough need for such descriptions.
You should read this only if you are a die-hard sci-fi fan or on a quest to conquer the classics....more
I liked it okay. The literary significance aside, which matters not one bit to me, I basically felt distracted all throughout reading this. You've gotI liked it okay. The literary significance aside, which matters not one bit to me, I basically felt distracted all throughout reading this. You've got a rape casually tossed in, but it's not explored enough to seem necessary. You've got a child's essay that very briefly touches upon Truman's use of the atomic bomb. You've got a tomboy, sexually confused taxi driver and her lesbian girlfriend. You've got the "world's smartest man" making typos in a memo (that, or an incredibly lazy publisher). You've got this strange pirate aside, a very clumsy analogy to one of the novel's main characters. I could go on and on, listing these rough edges, these spiky unnecessary appendages on a beast that is gruesome and terrible and otherwise a delight to behold.
Some may call these details an essential part of fully realizing the world - and you should make no mistake, Watchmen is real and gritty and believable - but I found them distracting. Every time I came upon the sections involving the newsstand seller (and the aforementioned pirate "comic within a comic"), I groaned my frustration. So very clearly symbolic and so very clearly meant to represent a sort of common man perspective - it was just awkward.
So I give it 3 stars out of 5. It's good, possibly great, but I'm too young to have been blown away by its cultural significance. I liken it best to watching Star Wars. Earth breaking then, but now...? The effects are dated and the script is clunky....more
If you liked the movie (by Miyazaki, aka AWESOME ANIMATOR GUY), then you'll probably like this.
If you didn't like the movie but you still like slightlIf you liked the movie (by Miyazaki, aka AWESOME ANIMATOR GUY), then you'll probably like this.
If you didn't like the movie but you still like slightly bizarre fantasy books, then you'll probably like it too.
There's some really trippy stuff in here. Where, basically, people like Howl jump between the real world and the "fantasy world." Definitely adds an extra layer to the story and cleared up quite a few confusing details from the movie (like why in the world were demon/stars raining down from the sky)....more
This book is, basically, a blow by blow account of the game Halo.
Halo, although the first truly successful cYou can read this, or you could play Halo.
This book is, basically, a blow by blow account of the game Halo.
Halo, although the first truly successful console shooter, does not have a particularly amazing story.
Using my large, moderately unused college educated brain, I therefore deduced that a blow by blow account of a story that wasn't that great to begin with is also probably not great.
And I was correct.
In other news, Eric Nylund is a sweet writer....more
I know, I know, you're probably thinking right now...
has Erik really profaned himself by reading VIDEO GAME literature?!
The answer is yes. For two reaI know, I know, you're probably thinking right now...
has Erik really profaned himself by reading VIDEO GAME literature?!
The answer is yes. For two reasons:
A) My friend Gad told me that I absolutely had to read these. As I am a friendly person who firmly believes in heeding the advice of friends, I did so. B) Eric Nylund is the bomb.
These were pretty good. If you're a Halo fan, you should definitely read them. I'm not really a Halo fan, and I still enjoyed 'em so what can I say? I try my best to maintain my literary elitism and snobbery, but I'm just not very good at it....more
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