Great resolution to the major plot arc -- and set up for what's to come.Great resolution to the major plot arc -- and set up for what's to come....more
I feel like I'm saying the same thing in each of these reviews -- mostly, how much I adore this series.
So I'll skip that part (but know, I truly, trulI feel like I'm saying the same thing in each of these reviews -- mostly, how much I adore this series.
So I'll skip that part (but know, I truly, truly do) to say how much I appreciate the structure. Most of this volume was the tale of a heretofore minor character who suddenly becomes vital to the overall arc. And beloved in an entirely different way than he had been in Fabletown.
I know the critics ADORE this book. And I fell head over heels for the series, so I thought I would, too. (There's no way for me to know what I'd haveI know the critics ADORE this book. And I fell head over heels for the series, so I thought I would, too. (There's no way for me to know what I'd have thought had I read it first, of course.) There's a lot to like about the memoir, first and foremost the inside look at the federal penal system. But as far as Piper's story? Meh. (And I think that's more about the writing than the experience itself.)
First, obviously, many of the show characters -- including Piper -- are caricatures. Over the top, as they need to be to carry a visual medium and keep folks watching. Lots of the details of prison life are straight from the book, and the characters become amalgams of the real people in Piper's story. Then they're blown up screen size, partnered with lots of clichés and set lose to have sex, do drugs and be nasty and nice to one another, in equal doses. Whereas in the book, they're real people with real lives, of which we see very little.
Other than the journey from "confined" to "free," not a whole lot happens in the book. There are hints of Piper's growth, and there's clearly a chronology to follow, but I didn't feel like I got to know her or any of her fellow inmates, at all. And that was disappointing.
I am properly horrified at how the system forces convicts to live, how little it gives them to survive after release and how petty and expensive the whole mess is. (Having the Con Air hub in OKC, 20 miles from me, was pretty shocking. I had no idea it was there or what it did -- interesting that there's so little media attention about it locally.)
So. I might do some more research on the subject as a whole, which is a call to action from the book itself. That's a pretty meaningful take-home. And I'll definitely watch next season of the silly, sweet, shocking show -- knowing how little it has to do with her actual experience....more
OK, so it sort of killed me to finish this one and not have another waiting to start on my to-read shelf. Looks like I'll need to borrow a bigger stacOK, so it sort of killed me to finish this one and not have another waiting to start on my to-read shelf. Looks like I'll need to borrow a bigger stack this time ...
The friend who loaned these to mean warned this one felt like a filler. I didn't notice, at all.The friend who loaned these to mean warned this one felt like a filler. I didn't notice, at all....more
Have to admit, if it weren't for Christopher Nolan (and a geeky friend who went on and on about this plotline), I wouldn't have read Knightfall. But pHave to admit, if it weren't for Christopher Nolan (and a geeky friend who went on and on about this plotline), I wouldn't have read Knightfall. But pieces of the story are familiar enough to make it feel worth my while.
And it's engaging and interesting in its own right, of course, if not my usual style. I'll be borrowing the next one to see how it all plays out....more
Reread this for the first time in more than a decade (took less than 24 hours -- would've done it in one sitting, had life not been in the way). And tReread this for the first time in more than a decade (took less than 24 hours -- would've done it in one sitting, had life not been in the way). And the reread was years after reading all its sequels (some of which I loved, some of which I liked, all of which I respected, even when they confused me), more Card (none of which begins to compare) and hundreds of additional sci-fi novels.
It's a chicken or an egg question to wonder if my love for Ender drove me deeper into genre reading or if my stumblings into genre were just fortified by him.
I got chastised, a little, this time around by a friend for loving the book so, despite its author. I argued that the book was bigger than the man (who seems particularly tiny, indeed). Another friend responded along the lines of: "If a writer's moral compass dictated the quality of his literature, the library would likely be a boring place indeed." I have to agree.
I stopped about every 15 pages with a declaration of awe. It's simply one of the best tales I've ever read. Hands down. I'm equal parts terrified and excited about the movie to come.
Bought Ender's Shadow as soon as I put Game down. I didn't read them back to back last time (went through the "first" series first), and it's going to be fun to experience the slightly skewed worlds so close together.
Just like the novel is bigger than its author, it's also bigger than its genre. It transcends it. Even so, it neatly exists in a world far, far different from our own. And exactly like it all the same.
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