Maddaddam is a book I just finished by Margaret Attwood. Maddaddam is the third book in a trilogy, the preceding books being The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake. Maddaddam is actually the second book in the chronology of the series, as the events of The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake take place simultaneously. I did not read the Year of the Flood, though I had intended to. I found a copy of Maddaddam at my local library, and I decided I wanted to read it so badly that I could not wait to find a copy of The Year of the Flood. I'm glad I read it, because it is a good book.
The title is also a Palindrome, though I do not know why there are extra letter 'd's in it. Also, the year of April, 2014 has many palindromes in it. For example, today is 4/15/14, or 41514. This will happen four more times this month. Next year it will happen again in May. But back to the book- palindromes are not important to the story, even though there is one in the title.
I read the book Maddaddam, and I enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed Oryx and Crake. There were many different and very likeable characters. There were many different science fiction ideas, and the storytelling was very compelling. I think that Margaret Attwood is a fine writer, and I think she has a good editor too, because I don't think the book ever lagged more than a little. And I like for a book to lag just a little bit sometimes.
Here is a general spoiler warning: If you are skimming this article, and not reading it, then you may encounter spoilers and read them before you realize what they are. I advise reading every sentence in order, because then the natural flow of the writing should give you some warning that a spoiler is coming up. now I'm going to tell you about some of the characters in the book.
The characters of the Crakers have a strong presence in the book. They are a lot of fun to read, and they make me smile and laugh. They are funny, innocent and warm-hearted, and while the story is generally dark, the Crakers do much to make it happy again. I love the portions of the book that feature one-sided dialogues with them, and I also love the two-sided dialogues. I love their questions, and their budding mythology, and their potent sense of trust, and the care they bring out in others. Like Toby.
Toby is a great character, and I think possibly an avatar for the author. Or a partial avatar anyway. I think this because I read Margaret Attwood's first book 'The Edible Woman' and Toby reminds me of the narrator of that book. She is sensitive, neurotic, and deeply caring. She mothers the Crakers in a really wonderful way. While reading, sometimes I want to help protect the Crakers because of their loving innocence, and when I read how Toby treats them, I am relieved because she does such a good job.
Zeb is a great character, and while he brings out the worst in Toby, it is worth it because she loves him. Also, he is a very important character in the story, and he is a fantastic Han Solo type. Total potty mouthed rogue, who both drives the action and brings plenty of levity. As a reader I am comforted by his tough exterior and his soft interior. While this dynamic is not an original archetype, I think he is written will enough to make it work.
Adam is an interesting character as well, and foil to Zeb. I don't know if his character figures in heavier in 'The Year of the Flood.' I think it probably does. Still, from the way he is written of in the story, I imagine he is always a distant and slightly disconnected character. Yet with a good heart. His character is defined by his distance. While Zeb is defined by his presence and his action.
When reading this story and especially the parts about the Crakers, I find that I am inspired to writing. I am inspired to writing specifically like the way the Crakers write and talk. I can't help it, I just love the run-on stream of conciousness that they do, and the deliberateness of their language. And so, I wrote this article in some sense, as a Craker might write. So if you found my writing strange, that is ok. I rather like it. :)
(crakers don't know about smiley faces, but I think they would like them)
Thank you and Goodnight,
-D
Showing posts with label oryx and crake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oryx and crake. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Well, that was one hell of a month
Hello friends and family, anonymous readers and adver-bots. How are you? Welcome to August.
I haven't done much in the video game world lately. After reading this article, on designing difficult games, I played a few stages of Adventures of Lolo. I also booted up VVVVVV just for shits and giggles. That game is still fantastic. Today a game called Papo y Yo went on super sale, so I'll have to buy it. And a good friend - who will remain nameless, hint, hint - went and generously bought me a copy of Worms Armageddon, which I have yet to open. I'll be getting to this stuff soon though, with all the free time I have now that I'm unemployed.
Yes, I lost my job on Thursday. Don't worry, I wasn't alone. Maybe 75 other people lost their jobs. The month of July was spent wondering when this was going to happen, as the month of June was spent watching my workplace crumble while we ran around, working our asses off, but were helpless to do anything to prevent it. It was not fun by any stretch of the imagination.
So yeah, no job, which means no money, which means Papo y Yo will be the last game I buy for a while. But it also means a lot more time, which, as they say is money so-- that's exciting. I will have more time to play games and more time to write, and I plan on doing both of them, so expect to hear a lot more of me in the weeks to come.
Of course, this will only be for a little while. I've pledged to give myself at least one week of unemployment ecstasy before I start earnestly looking for a new job. But I may stretch it for a little longer, depending on how I feel. I am still in the planning stages. I hope to do some soul searching in the time between, and I really hope to not be on unemployment when my meager savings runs out.
I did manage to catch World War Z, and it suuuuuuucked. It was just terrible. Pointless. Bad dialogue, bad action, bad plot. I really need to read the book now, because, the good news is- it's completely different! I suppose the one decent thing about the movie was that it was kind of fun to watch fast moving zombies pile up on one another. There was a sort of concept that the zombies were just one big disease, like influenza or HIV something, and it was just these mad gobbling bacteria, moving like a single large creature. That idea is cool, and if there had been more exposition and less wasting my time I might have enjoyed the movie. Why are so many movies roller coaster rides now? I do not recommend. I do, however, recommend this fun little rewrite of the movie.
I also saw another movie, a kid's movie from the 80s. It was called "Cloak and Dagger" - and this one I recommend. For one thing, there was more exposition in the first fifteen - twenty minutes than the entire World War Z movie. Another is that Dabney Coleman is in it. And a third thing is that the little kid actors aren't bad. Also, it was fun, and interesting. I really liked this movie, I recommend it.
One last bit: I just read Margaret Atwood's "Oryx and Crake." I also recommend this book. I was hooked within a couple pages. Without giving too much away, it's a post-apocolyptic novel. However, it also does the flashback thing. When the flashbacks started, I was annoyed because I wanted more of the present. Then I ended up really liking the flashback portions, and then I just wanted to do nothing else, but read this book. I would think about it while I was at work, or riding the train. I love it when a book or game is so good that I find myself daydreaming about when I get to read it again. Oryx and Crake - I highly recommend it.
-D
***next day update:
I watched the movie Prometheus last night. I'm going to spoil a little bit of it by describing the plot flow. But that's all I'll spoil. Anyhow, at the beginning, the movie takes its time, and I really appreciate it. The scenery is beautiful, and the character introduced is likeable and interesting. The movie progresses slowly until about halfway through, when the action picks up. At this point things seem to change so fast, and characters start throwing out conclusions, and performing actions that don't seem to have justifications. It's very strange that a movie that showed so much patience would ultimately show too little. Anyhow, I recommend the first 30 minutes or so, but I can't really recommend the rest.
I haven't done much in the video game world lately. After reading this article, on designing difficult games, I played a few stages of Adventures of Lolo. I also booted up VVVVVV just for shits and giggles. That game is still fantastic. Today a game called Papo y Yo went on super sale, so I'll have to buy it. And a good friend - who will remain nameless, hint, hint - went and generously bought me a copy of Worms Armageddon, which I have yet to open. I'll be getting to this stuff soon though, with all the free time I have now that I'm unemployed.
Yes, I lost my job on Thursday. Don't worry, I wasn't alone. Maybe 75 other people lost their jobs. The month of July was spent wondering when this was going to happen, as the month of June was spent watching my workplace crumble while we ran around, working our asses off, but were helpless to do anything to prevent it. It was not fun by any stretch of the imagination.
So yeah, no job, which means no money, which means Papo y Yo will be the last game I buy for a while. But it also means a lot more time, which, as they say is money so-- that's exciting. I will have more time to play games and more time to write, and I plan on doing both of them, so expect to hear a lot more of me in the weeks to come.
Of course, this will only be for a little while. I've pledged to give myself at least one week of unemployment ecstasy before I start earnestly looking for a new job. But I may stretch it for a little longer, depending on how I feel. I am still in the planning stages. I hope to do some soul searching in the time between, and I really hope to not be on unemployment when my meager savings runs out.
I did manage to catch World War Z, and it suuuuuuucked. It was just terrible. Pointless. Bad dialogue, bad action, bad plot. I really need to read the book now, because, the good news is- it's completely different! I suppose the one decent thing about the movie was that it was kind of fun to watch fast moving zombies pile up on one another. There was a sort of concept that the zombies were just one big disease, like influenza or HIV something, and it was just these mad gobbling bacteria, moving like a single large creature. That idea is cool, and if there had been more exposition and less wasting my time I might have enjoyed the movie. Why are so many movies roller coaster rides now? I do not recommend. I do, however, recommend this fun little rewrite of the movie.
I also saw another movie, a kid's movie from the 80s. It was called "Cloak and Dagger" - and this one I recommend. For one thing, there was more exposition in the first fifteen - twenty minutes than the entire World War Z movie. Another is that Dabney Coleman is in it. And a third thing is that the little kid actors aren't bad. Also, it was fun, and interesting. I really liked this movie, I recommend it.
One last bit: I just read Margaret Atwood's "Oryx and Crake." I also recommend this book. I was hooked within a couple pages. Without giving too much away, it's a post-apocolyptic novel. However, it also does the flashback thing. When the flashbacks started, I was annoyed because I wanted more of the present. Then I ended up really liking the flashback portions, and then I just wanted to do nothing else, but read this book. I would think about it while I was at work, or riding the train. I love it when a book or game is so good that I find myself daydreaming about when I get to read it again. Oryx and Crake - I highly recommend it.
-D
***next day update:
I watched the movie Prometheus last night. I'm going to spoil a little bit of it by describing the plot flow. But that's all I'll spoil. Anyhow, at the beginning, the movie takes its time, and I really appreciate it. The scenery is beautiful, and the character introduced is likeable and interesting. The movie progresses slowly until about halfway through, when the action picks up. At this point things seem to change so fast, and characters start throwing out conclusions, and performing actions that don't seem to have justifications. It's very strange that a movie that showed so much patience would ultimately show too little. Anyhow, I recommend the first 30 minutes or so, but I can't really recommend the rest.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)