The Celestine Prophecy

One of the last books I read for this year was The Celestine
Prophecy by James Redfield. This book is an adventure book about people being
united and finding spiritual enlightenment. I’ve been describing the spiritual
enlightenment as the "Alex Grey Way"
to my friends so that they will understand that it is about energy.

The book starts off in the states with the main character, John, feeling
restless with life. (The book does not actually say his name but it is John in
the movie.) Then his old friend, Charlene, calls him and tells him about a
manuscript. In this manuscript there are insights. Charlene reveals the first
one to John but in order to find out the others, he goes to Peru.
When he gets there the man he met on the plane is captured and then he meets Wil
who takes him on this journey to learn the 8 insights and find the 9th.

On this journey John meets many people; each at the right time to help him
learn the next insight. And, throughout the whole book the characters rely on
their instinct and do not take coincidences for granted. The journey is
dangerous due to the government not wanting the manuscripts revealed. So, many
people do get captured and some are even killed.

This book was a good book. I loved the idea of all of the insights. I also
liked the adventure part of it. I thought that this book managed a good balance
of the different aspects a book should have. Apparently there are two more
books following this one. I can’t wait to read the next one.

Technorati Tags: TheCelestineProphecy, JamesRedfield, 9Enlightenments, PeruAdventure, AlexGreyEnergy,

Dorothy Parker

Last night I read a short book with three of Dorothy Parker’s short stories in it. They were Big Blonde, The Sexes and Dusk Before Fireworks. All three amused me equally. I really liked the “reality” in them. The women characters and the way they thought or acted was very realistic. The way that she portrayed relationships was also very realistic.

Dorothy Parker was a critic, satirical poet, and short-story writer. She started her career as Vanity Fair’s drama critic and moved on to the New Yorker’s theater and book reviewer. She published many books throughout her time and even wrote some films for Hollywood. She also wrote two Broadway plays.

After researching her biography and finding out that she was a “Jersey Girl” I think that explains the realistic humor in her books and stories.

Technorati Tags: DorothyParker, BigBlonde, ShortStories, Poems, Movies, Plays, Critic, VanityFair, NewJersey

Watership Down

I read the book Watership Down. It is one of my good friend’s favorites so I was excited to read it. I had seen bits and pieces of the movie in religious education about a year ago but I didn’t know that the book would be so much better.

In the movie they switched around certain parts. Like who finds Erafra and the end scene when the farm girl, Lucy, takes Hazel home in the car. One thing I also didn’t like about the movie is that they made their journey seem a lot shorter than it really was. The movie also did not get into detail about rabbit behavior. The movie did show how the rabbits were tricky but it didn’t give the behind the scene look like the book did.  I think that it was cool that they showed the characteristics of rabbits and how they live well.

Over all the quality of this book was exceptionally high. Some of the
descriptions of the scenery were dragged out too much. It was just too
long for me and it didn’t read as well as I’d have liked it to. I wouldn’t say this book was my all time favorite book because it wasn’t. But I guess I would say it is a must read. The only warning I would give is that the beginning may seem too slow but it gets better at the end.

Technorati Tags: watershipdown, rabbits, literature, movies

Bleak House Movies

I was watching Bleak House on PBS every Sunday. I missed a few episodes so my mom got me a movie series. It wasn’t the same one as the PBS series but it was just as good.  I kind of thought that this one had poorer viewing and the actors weren’t as good. The story is still pretty cool though.

V for Vendetta

Yesterday I decided to go see a movie. The only one that looked slightly apealing to me was V for Vendetta. I went to this movie not knowing much about it except that it was about "bringing true justice" to a society that’s government was dictating them. I also knew that Natalie Portman got her head shaved which I thought was cool.

After the movie was over I was amazed. It had so many similarities to the book I read about a year ago for school, 1984. They both had the same sort of big brother aspect where they were being listened to and watched all the time. Also there was curfew and kidnappings of people who didn’t follow the rules. In V for Vendetta, however, the main character V was trying to start a revolution against this government.

This movie was awesome. I loved the references to the "U.S war" causing a lot of opression. I think that everyone should watch this movie or read the book.

Technorati Tags: VforVendetta, 1984

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

Ever since the movie came out my friends have been talking about this series of books. I never read them when I was younger so I decided to pick up "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe". As I was reading it, I was bored. The book was way too childish for me so I guess I should have discovered it when I was younger. I didn’t like the lack of details or the fact that the animals talked. I didn’t like the idea of two kids riding on the back of a lion. The way the book was just made Narnia seem so small to me, like the size of my neighborhood. I guess it’s a good book. It was just a little too late for me to read it.

White Oleandor

One of my favorite movies is White Oleander. Recently I decided to read the book. In the movie the main character, Astrid’s mother, is an artist who kills her boyfriend and goes to prison for it. Astrid then goes through 3 different foster homes in a few years. In the book however, Astrid’s mother is a poet and Astrid goes through six different foster homes. In both Astrid is an Artist. I guess that the reason that the movie didn’t include the other 3 foster homes is because the things that happen to her are too extreme for a PG-13 rating. She prostitutes herself, does a lot of drugs, gets starved, etc. I guess that it might have also had something to do with there not being enough time in the movie. I did like both the book and movie. They have their differences but both are equally good.

Hamlet Starring Mel Gibson

After seeing this movie, I really like the idea of Hamlet as a movie. Ethan Hawke as Hamlet might as well find every copy and burn it because no one can beat Mel. He seemed to find the balance between showing Hamlet’s insanity and pain. Ethan could not find that balance. I found his performance filled more with blankness. He portrayed Hamlet as shy to let the world know how he feels. But that’s not Hamlet’s character. Hamlet has no shame because he’s trying to revenge his father’s death. He’s trying to show everyone the wrongs that are happening right beneath their noses. Hamlet’s character doesn’t care what anyone thinks about him. It seems to me as if he wants them to see him as insane. Mel Gibson nailed Hamlet.The rest of the cast was awsome. I loved the castle that the story took place in. The whole movie was done really well.

Hamlet The Movie Starring Ethan Hawke

Last night I watched Hamlet starring Ethan Hawke. Over all I like the idea of a Hamlet movie but I feel like the director didn’t do his job very well. I’m not sure that Ethan Hawke plays a very good Hamlet. I did like however that Opheleaa was played by Julia Stiles and Bill Murray as her father. The thing that I thought the movie most lacked was the insanity behind every line. All of the characters acted as if what Hamlet said when he was going insane was normal. And Hamlet himself just didn’t seem convincing at all. I also thought it was kinda weird that Hamlet and Ophelea had a lot to do with films and photography.