Kate's Point of View

The Product of Creative Frustration

Month: January 2010 Page 1 of 2

Getting Sucked Right In

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On January 24, 2010

In television

There’s vampire fever storming through my house. Tonight, after months of waiting for the DVD to become available, Wonder Boy and I watched disc 1 of season 1 of True Blood. We both love it!

Alan Ball is a genius when it comes to creating compelling television. We were hooked on Six Feet Under and I still miss those characters. (Towel Head… that was a low point. I couldn’t even make it through the whole movie I felt so nauseous watching it.) Wonder Boy goes on and on and on about American Beauty and what a great film it was. So when the opening credits of True Blood started and we saw his name, it was as if he was sitting there on the screen saying to us, “Welcome old friends. I look forward to spending the next several years together, so that I can inhabit your head with my wonderful creations.” And we accepting little groupies, just nodded and said to each other, “When do we get to watch the next disc?”

The only downside to True Blood thus far, and this is not much, is that the first disc was only two episodes. We are left wanting so much more. So bravo to the creators of this show for getting us hooked so quickly and I have my fingers crossed that I can get the next discs more quickly from the library.

This post originally appeared on Kate’s Point of View. © Kate. All rights reserved.

Team Edward or Team Jacob: How is this even a discussion???

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On January 20, 2010

In reviews

Wonder Boy and I went out for drinks the other evening — delicious Christian Moerlein brews at one of our favorite bars, Arnold’s. Over drink I mentioned that we had seen Twilight and were planning on seeing New Moon. One woman at the table turned to Wonder Boy and asked, “Are you on Team Edward or Team Jacob?”She said it so seriously and he just wasn’t sure how to reply. Finally he said, “Vampires are cooler than werewolves.” “Team Edward!” she said.

Monday night Wonder Boy and I saw New Moon. We are now officially armed with the details necessary to decide our teams. Wonder Boy still sides with Team Edward and I am left wondering why anyone would decide otherwise??? I know lots of girls go for the incredibly built body and boyish charm, and that’s all well and good. But I’ll take some tall, lanky guy with disheveled hair amy day of the week!

All of that aside, the movie was good. I think there are some plot points that weren’t delivered as well as others, but that’s to be expected whenever a book is reinterpreted for screen. In general I am hooked. And I’ll admit it … I may have even put in an order for some of the books online. In doing so, I must truly eat my words and apologize to every woman who I have mocked, and there are many, for reading stories targeted at 13-year-old girls.

*Sigh*

This post originally appeared on Kate’s Point of View. © Kate. All rights reserved.

Unique writing style brings story to life

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On January 18, 2010

In books, reviews

Book Review of “Ellen Foster” by Kaye Gibbons

“When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy.”

That’s the first line of Kaye Gibbon’s noel “Ellen Foster.” How could you not read on?

“Ellen Foster” is the story of  Ellen, a little girl with a hard childhood and how she finds her way to a safe place. Ellen lives with her ailing mother and abusive father. She watches as members of her family kill themselves or die of old age, leaving her more and more alone. But Ellen is an industrious little girl who is not about to let her future just happen. She develops a plan and sees it out so that she can end up somewhere safe, surrounded by people who love her.

Gibbons tells Ellen’s story in first person and while there is dialogue, she uses no quotations. Words, thought and narrative flow into each other to form a fluid story to wade through. In many tale this would be difficult, but “Ellen Foster” is just a short novel and so much of the subject matter is painful reading that I think the challenging writing style helps distance the reader.

A quick read, “Ellen Foster” is an engaging story and it would be difficult to finish and not like Ellen.

This post originally appeared on Kate’s Point of View. © Kate. All rights reserved.

Okay… Only If You Like the Writing Style

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On January 15, 2010

In books, reviews

Book Review of “Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home” by Rhoda Janzen

The most recent venture of my book club was “Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home.” I missed the meeting where this book was selected so had no idea what to expect when I headed out to the bookstore. The sales lady pointed me in the direction of Women’s Memoirs. “Wow!” I thought. “Book club is going high brow!” Not exactly.

I don’t want to suggest that “Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home” is low brow, smutty or anything of that ilk. In fact, the author writes from her own recovering Mennonite, very educated, academic perspective. Her word choice is carefully crafted and impeccable, though at times forcing the reader to his or her dictionary.

It’s her style that made it not high brow. I wish I knew how to explain that in more specific terms. But I don’t. And I didn’t like her style. I dig editorials. I read several blogs religiously. I like writers who write in the same way I imagine they speak. It makes me feel like I am having a conversation with them.
I suspect that for many reader, they will feel like they are having a conversation with Rhoda Janzen throughout “Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home.” But me, I wanted to cut the conversation short.

This post originally appeared on Kate’s Point of View. © Kate. All rights reserved.

Inspired

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On January 15, 2010

In uncategorized

If anyone who is near and dear to me passes, I think I will honor them in the way I saw done today. I will have vinyl stickers that read “RIP {insert name}” and are flanked on either side by a giant marijuana leaf.

It’s just so touching.

This post originally appeared on Kate’s Point of View. © Kate. All rights reserved.

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