Review: Why We Broke Up

First of all, I need to preface this by saying that I really love Daniel Handler's writing style. It's one of the best most fluid things I've ever experienced. He leads you into a character's thoughts and actions with this wonderful almost stream-of-consciousness style of verbs and adjectives and nouns that is absolutely a pleasure. You get glimpses of it in A Series of Unfortunate Events, when the narrator will go on a bit of a tangent, but in Why We Broke Up it is the main method of exposition. And I love it. And if you don't love it and can't get over it, then you should go away because there's nothing I can do for you here.


I wish I had read this book when I was still a teenager. It is really the perfect coming of age story, and more than that, it is a perfect story of a person discovering herself, which is something people can and should be doing at any age. To talk about any specific parts would almost be giving it away; besides, it all flows so beautifully, why would you want to spoil it? I will say this: the way the main character Min handles herself, she is accessible to anyone at any age. Of course, the scenarios and experiences she has are relevant to anyone who ever went to high school or fell in love or was abandoned or abandoned someone else. If you haven't done any of those things ever you should probably reassess your life or get off the internet or something. Anyway, Min is a wonderful mix of insightful and foolish and her diatribes and discussions are really enjoyable. You know how the story ends when it begins, but the way you're drawn through it is an incredible testament to strong characterization, writing style and conceit. 


Each "chapter" starts with an illustration by Maira Kalman of an object in Min's box of things that she kept during her relationship with Ed. And Min chronicles each object and its part in the tale of why they broke up. Instead of being vignette-ish, these objects work chronologically to paint a complete picture of a relationship gone sour in ways that are both predictable and heart-wrenching. We all make mistakes, and often, we make the same mistake: the mistake of not being able to see what's right in front of us and eventually discovering it. Sometimes the thing we missed works to our detriment, and sometimes to our benefit, and that is part of what Why We Broke Up was about. 


I also really would like to leave quotes from this book all over this review because they're so good. But I don't want to spoil anything (like I said) and pulling things out seems wrong. You need the whole flow to get the power of the emotion behind it, so I'll give you this one instead: "Chestnuts in stuffing tastes like someone chewed up a tree branch and then French-kissed it into your mouth." This is true and not a spoiler. Everyone should be warned.


Read Why We Broke Up. Really really do. You should check it out at your local library. Or come to my local library and check it out from me. I'm returning my copy today, so you can have it then. And then we can talk more about it once you've read the end.

XOX

Reading next: This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel (I couldn't help it. I sat at the circ desk at the library for at least 45 minutes reminding myself that I had told my brother I would read World War Z so we could talk about it, but the cover of this book is so appealing, and guys I seriously judge books by their covers... It enticed me, and now I'm here reading a book about teenage Victor Frankenstein instead of one about our apparently inevitable zombie doom. Oh well.)

Gatsby, Good Omens and Catching Up

Guys, I am behind on blogging about stuff! I am very behind! This is a catch-up post. After you read this, you will be up to date on my goings on and we can all be goings on with our lives. And I will blog more frequently. Promise.

• I finished my librarian training and I start work tomorrow and I am SO EXCITED.
• I finished reading Good Omens by the illustrious Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. It was VERY GOOD. I finally understand what all the fuss is about. I don't know if I should go through the trouble of reviewing a 22 year old book here, but I will just say it was: very funny, very poignant, very very clever, and extremely enjoyable. A unique take on Revelations and the apocalypse and so nice to read when all we seem to get these days are zombie apocalypses. Guys, the Bible did the apocalypse first, and it was scary as all get out. And Good Omens made me think about the apocalypse again, but in a new, cool and interesting way. Zombie apocalypses just don't hold a candle in my mind.
• ...that being said I'm about to start World War Z by Max Brooks which is about... the zombie apocalypse... *sigh*
• Also reading: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler. I can't get enough of Daniel Handler. I just started this and so far so good. This one I absolutely will review. 
• Also also reading: The Adventure Time Comics. Just finished issue 4. These comics are so well written (by Ryan North of Internet Comic Fame, and my first internet celebrity crush) and capture the tone of the TV series so well, I challenge you not to fall in love with them. I hope you accept. 
• The end of Sherlock Series 2 just finished airing in the US and now I finally feel like I can talk about the ending out in the open to everyone. If you haven't seen it yet, don't talk to me about Sherlock. I might spoil it. Even if I try not to, I still might. It's a bad habit. To be fair, my whole relationship with that show could be categorized as a bad habit.

I think that's it. I can't come up with anything else. Now I'll act like a real blog. This is the trailer for a movie titled The Great Gatsby:

I have very mixed feelings about every frame of this trailer. I will say that Leonardo DiCaprio looks more like Gatsby than I thought he would. And Carey Mulligan looks like she might make a good Daisy, even though I think she's a little young ( I did just watch her play a silly, frivolous Isabella Thorpe in 2007's Northanger Abbey; she played naive and foolish very well and that may bode well for her as Daisy.) Toby McGuire is just not my Nick. At all. Or my anyone for that matter. And I'm worried about the trapeze artists, and the glitter, and Gatsby throwing his shirts. And hopefully it will all come together and be one big beautiful Baz Luhrmann film and not.. a mess of symbolism and excess and flapper dresses. I'm not above bringing my heavily annotated copy of the novel to the theater and getting up to go read it somewhere if the movie goes horribly awry, that's all. Ugh. 

XOX

P.S. Northanger Abbey was so good! It was introduced to me as "fluffy and silly and wonderful" and it was all of those things. I'll be sure to write something up about it later, as it will give me an excuse to talk about JJ Feild as Henry Tilney who is very nearly my favorite Austen leading man. 

-Em

Today Was Weird

Guys, I just have some stuff to get off my chest. It's all ridiculous. Ready?

• At the gas station, I got to watch an underage girl smoke a cigarette while she was pumping gas. Girl, you are an idiot. Straight up, no lie. There is nothing cool about being stupid enough to get yourself blown up. All your friends at high school aren't gonna be like, "Man, it's such a bummer that Shelby died. At least she died looking cool, smoking by the gas pump." They're going to be like, "Man, what a fucking idiot Shelby was. Bummer about her blowing up the cheapest gas station in the county." There should be a law. Against stupid teenage girls. 
• I cannot CANNOT remember my Apple I.D. password. Ever. I've changed it every time I've logged in in the past 5 months. I don't know why it wont save my password, and maybe this slight inconvenience is the iTunes store's way of getting back at me for using the Amazon mp3 store, but it is slowly driving me crazy. 
• I got off Facebook. I didn't realize how much I used it until I stopped using it and now... I'm just dicking around on the internet wishing I could find out who's going to be bringing their kids to our 5 year high school reunion. Because, as it turns out, that's what Facebook is best for. I reconnected with more people in my leaving Facebook than I really did when I had it. But spying on people I've done much less of. I may have to invest in a telescope and become unduly interested in my neighbors. 
• The Avengers
  Starring: Everyone
  
  Really fantastic. I can't say anything more than that because then I'll end up giving you a play by play of the whole film because I loved every second of it. I went to a prescreening last Wednesday, and at one point during the film I thought to myself, "Wow, I can't wait to see this again." Really, if you liked any of the previous Marvel movies (maybe not Spiderman... did people like Spiderman? He is my least favorite superheroes so my opinion is very biased) you're almost guaranteed to like this one. Acting is on point, the script is good, the action is great, overall, just a really enjoyable movie. When you go, don't forget to stay after the credits... and then after the next set of credits as well. I've seen it twice now, and it only gets better with a second viewing. It has tied for first in my mental list of "Best Action Adventure Film" with Raiders of the Lost Ark. For anyone who has never heard me talk about it: I LOVE Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Avengers, ladies and gentlemen:

From: http://gingerhaze.tumblr.com/
All actual lines from the movie. Also, if you like amusing art, this comic and others like it are all done by a lovely lady named Noelle.  Go to her tumblr. While there, make sure you also look at Broship of the Ring. It is incredibly incredibly good. 

Movie Reviews and Life News As Seen Through A Haze of Cold Medicine

At home, sick with the sniffles. Thus, not too too much to report except all the lunatic ravings that develop in your head as you cocoon yourself in fluffy blankets, tea-drunkeness and tissues. Instead, how about a movie review:

A Dangerous Method

Starring: Michael Fassbender('s moustache), Viggo Mortensen('s cigar) and Kiera Knightley('s jaw)

Interesting but not engaging. The acting was solid and the story was interesting, but I've always had a problem getting behind something where I actually hate every character. Even the characters who are being wronged are sort of generally unlikable due to their inability to see that the are obviously about to be wronged. The movie just ends up being a sort of "who's the most petty psychoanalyst?" contest, which, while perhaps historically accurate, isn't the most engaging topic for a film. In case you're interested, I think Freud wins; he was a huge dick (and I'm sure he's have worlds to say about that phrasing.) If you're interested in psychology, Kiera Knightley getting spanked or horrible people being horrible to each other, this is the movie for you. Otherwise, I don't think I'd recommend it. (Oh, by the way, I watched this at a friend's house, and he was kind enough to note when you first see Kiera Knightley's boobs- 1 hour and 13 minutes in. However, he also said that said boobs were not enough reason to watch the movie. So, there's the masculine opinion.)

Oo! How about another? Just remembered that I also went and saw The Pirates! Band of Misfits this weekend. This one featured the vocal stylings of Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, David Tennant, Salma Hayek and tons of other talented actors. And it was very good. It was done by Aardman animations, and their absurdly lovable humor is potent here. It was a very fun hour and a half and I would highly recommend this to anyone. Particularly though if you have a love of claymation, redemption stories, or have ever thought that Queen Victoria might have been a bit off. Also, a fantastic soundtrack, which I will say no more about here, but you should really go see it. And -another bonus- no obnoxious psychoanalysts!

Also, I said I was going to blog about things, and so here I am blogging along without mentioning something that is pretty important to me: I just got a job as a librarian. This is something that I think I might really want to do, and I am beyond thrilled to get an opportunity to try it. Hopefully I will be admirable at it and will grow up to be a sexy librarian, a sassy librarian and then a sweet old librarian (as this is what I assume the life-cycle of a librarian is.)

There is other stuff that I could say but I'm a bit grumpy due to the whole strange gravelly sound my vocal cords are now appropriating. Guys, I thought we sounded good before. There's a reason I've never taken up smoking, okay? Self prescribed antidote: more tea. Surely this will help.

Other things that I'm doing today: reading Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, posting stuff on a friend's Etsy site for her, sleeping. Oh man, I am gonna sleep so good. We'll talk about Good Omens once I've finished it. 

XOX