My podcast has decided to do a little book club and now I’m into reading another book every four weeks. The good part of this one is that I get a bigger say into what is read and I might actually like the books chosen. Although, I had my doubts when we first chose this one.
I’m pretty sure everyone knows this story. Young lawyer goes to Castle Dracula on business and it turns out his client is a member of the evil undead. This walking fiend has plans on relocation to London and wreck havoc on its citizens. Wackiness ensues.
I had started this book before, ages ago and didn’t finish it. The first time I tried reading this book, I gave up after about the third chapter. Really boring. This time I stuck with it and realized it got really good once we get some good supernatural action. During the first go, I likely wasn’t responding too well to the diary like way the story was told. This time, I’ve been so desensitized by the world of blogs that it didn’t bother me that much.
The most interesting thing I got out of this reading was the fact that they have changed Mina’s character in every movie I’ve seen her in. In a lot of the movies, she is portrayed as someone who is in love with Dracula. In the book, she is an example of the modern woman, smart, articulate, and not afraid to work to carry out what needs to be done. That part was quite refreshing to read. She was definitely the brains and the strength behind the group of merry men banding together to kill the little nuisance.
Anyway, it was good to read and if you are low in money, a copy of it can be downloaded from Project Guttenberg.
Showing posts with label classic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label classic. Show all posts
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Normally I wouldn't write an InCoHerEnt review of short stories but I'm bored and this one has a little story.
My parents moved into a new house and it needed a lot of renovating. They worked one whole summer throwing out junk, tearing off wallpaper, painting, re-wallpapering, refinishing the hardwood floors. Lots of work. And it does look nice now that they have it done. But I'm not a big fan of their choice of wallpaper in the guest bedroom. It looks like a meadow puked all over it... and that meadow had very, very tiny flowers. Basically, it has these green vines, or stems, and these little dark blue flowers. If you stare at the wall long enough, it looks like the wall is moving and you will get nicely dizzy. It doesn't seem to have a pattern that you can focus on so you end up just feeling a little seasick after a bad acid trip. You wonder that if you stare long enough at it, you might get lucky enough to see a 3D image like a sailboat in one of those posters from the mall, but it never comes through. Messes with the head, it does. (And I have learned to never make fun of the wallpaper as Mother seems to love it and will take offense.)
Anyway, a friend of mine came over the other day and she got to experience the psychedelic fun of the guest room which is really my room as I am the only one to visit. She told me about this story and she dared me to read it in there. And boy, did that add an interesting effect to the story.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is about a woman, an author, who is sick and is made to rest in this room to recuperate. She is not allowed to write and all she is has to focus on is this horrible yellow wallpaper. They are only going to be there for three months which is not long enough to go to the expense of re-wallpapering. She starts seeing something in the paper that starts moving and then that something seems to be able to escape the paper and creep along outside during the day. At night, that something looks like it is trying to escape.
Very creepy story. Very good. One of those American classics that everyone should read. (Go here if you want to read more about Charlotte Perkins Gilman.) It reminded me a lot of The Hours, it had the same tension, not sure who was going to die, the same feelings that make me think of depression. Reading it in the crazy wallpapered room and the effect of the story left me feeling a little woozy. Not sure if I'll do that again but I will read the story again. Very cool.
My parents moved into a new house and it needed a lot of renovating. They worked one whole summer throwing out junk, tearing off wallpaper, painting, re-wallpapering, refinishing the hardwood floors. Lots of work. And it does look nice now that they have it done. But I'm not a big fan of their choice of wallpaper in the guest bedroom. It looks like a meadow puked all over it... and that meadow had very, very tiny flowers. Basically, it has these green vines, or stems, and these little dark blue flowers. If you stare at the wall long enough, it looks like the wall is moving and you will get nicely dizzy. It doesn't seem to have a pattern that you can focus on so you end up just feeling a little seasick after a bad acid trip. You wonder that if you stare long enough at it, you might get lucky enough to see a 3D image like a sailboat in one of those posters from the mall, but it never comes through. Messes with the head, it does. (And I have learned to never make fun of the wallpaper as Mother seems to love it and will take offense.)
Anyway, a friend of mine came over the other day and she got to experience the psychedelic fun of the guest room which is really my room as I am the only one to visit. She told me about this story and she dared me to read it in there. And boy, did that add an interesting effect to the story.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is about a woman, an author, who is sick and is made to rest in this room to recuperate. She is not allowed to write and all she is has to focus on is this horrible yellow wallpaper. They are only going to be there for three months which is not long enough to go to the expense of re-wallpapering. She starts seeing something in the paper that starts moving and then that something seems to be able to escape the paper and creep along outside during the day. At night, that something looks like it is trying to escape.
Very creepy story. Very good. One of those American classics that everyone should read. (Go here if you want to read more about Charlotte Perkins Gilman.) It reminded me a lot of The Hours, it had the same tension, not sure who was going to die, the same feelings that make me think of depression. Reading it in the crazy wallpapered room and the effect of the story left me feeling a little woozy. Not sure if I'll do that again but I will read the story again. Very cool.
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