Arise

03:13, 31-Dec-2008 .. Posted in Writing Suffs .. 8 comments .. Link

From Discworld Monthly:

On December 30th it was announced that Terry Pratchett has been
awarded a Knighthood in the New Year Honours list. We would like to
pass on our huge congratulations to Sir Terry Pratchett (and his
squire Rob Wilkins).

*salutes*

Late Delivery

11:02, 28-Aug-2008 .. Posted in Writing Suffs .. 7 comments .. Link

Frustrating news in this month's edition of Discworld Monthly:

"The bad news is that it looks as if, for various reasons, Going
Postal The Movie will be delayed and shooting will not begin until
the start of next year."

The good and, to my mind, more important news is, they're making a movie of Going Postal!

Moist Von Lipwig is an absolutely brilliant character, but they're going to need someone of immense charisma - who can, in turn, play it down to a whisper - to pull it off.

Also, has anyone out there seen the adaptation of The Colour of Magic? I’d be particularly curious to know how Jeremy Irons measured up as Lord Vetinari, because the role is a significant one in Going Postal.

***EDIT***

A quick browse of Wiki has revealed a little more interesting news. With Nation due out next month, Pratchett has stated that his next novel is likely to be I Shall Wear Midnight; the fourth Tiffany Aching/Nac Mac Feegle novel. I love those books!

And: "Pratchett hinted when questioned during his Wintersmith tour that Esk, the female wizard featured in Equal Rites, may reappear for the first time in this book if it is written."

Major Disappointment

10:57, 23-Aug-2008 .. Posted in Writing Suffs .. 7 comments .. Link

For those who avoided my Disappointment post for it's warning of a spoiler, the crux was there is a major event in Philip Pullman's The Subtle Knife that was dealt with very poorly.

I've just read the following section of that chapter, only to find that it is, in fact, the end of the novel!

I'm all for a cliff-hanger ending, and there's no doubt that is exactly what Pullman was aiming for here, but he is so far of the mark I could weep. A cliff-hanger is supposed to make you think, Oh shit! What’s next? What’s next?!

My only thought at the end of The Subtle Knife is, That’s it?!

Don’t get me wrong, the events at the end of the novel should certainly add up to being a cliff-hanger, but they are down-played so much, it’s as if Pullman ran out of steam and decided to call it a day. Northern Lights/The Golden Compass has a brilliant ending, which not only rounds off the story perfectly, but leaves you gasping for more. In comparison, The Subtle Knife reads almost like a necessary evil that Pullman had to get through to bring up some plot-points and move the story on. It has its moments, but in the end I’m just grateful it’s only the middle of the story.

Disappointment

08:41, 22-Aug-2008 .. Posted in Writing Suffs .. 11 comments .. Link

For those who haven’t read Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, and at some point intend to, look away now. A major spoiler follows (as well as a long rant).

I’m currently reading The Subtle Knife, and while it so far isn’t a patch on Northern Lights/The Golden Compass, I am enjoying the story as a whole.

However, I’ve just read the scene where Will finally meets his father, only to see him die after all those years of searching, and it is one of the most shoddily written scenes I have ever read. After building up the meeting throughout the first half of the novel, it comes and goes in the blink of an eye and in the coldest and least emotional way possible.

Feeling desperate, tired and utterly alone, Will wanders up a mountain on his own. A deep darkness descends and he’s suddenly accosted by some strange man, whom he fights and knocks the wind out of. Why this supposedly spiritual man would come across this kid on a mountain and decide to grab him and crack him across the back of the head when the kid tries to get free is beyond me.

When Will does free himself, does he call for help from the witches? Does he escape back to the camp to warn the others he’s just been attacked? No. He sits quite calmly and has a conversation with the man, going so far as to proffer him his wounded hand.

In darkness still too deep to see each other’s faces, the man applies a healing ointment to Will’s wounded hand, dresses it, then decides to light the lamp he’s carrying so he can see the boy’s face.

A brief flicker of recognition from them both, and the man’s shot and killed by the witch whose love he spurned many years previous (a plot point fleetingly referred to way back in the early part of the novel).

If it had been a cinematic scene, the moment between father and son, when the realisation dawns, would’ve been drawn out a little to show some kind of emotion between the two - confusion; relief; joy - and to allow the audience to connect with what’s happening. Obviously this is a bit trickier in a novel as simply stating, “The two experienced confusion; relief; joy,” is very dry and in no way conveys the intended emotions, but there are options. You could back-reference some of things each character has gone through to bring them to this moment; the trials they’ve overcome so they could finally find each other. You could delve into the characters’ memories of all the things they’d missed while they were apart. You could even have each character looking forward to all of the good things that will come now that they’re together again.

“But in that moment, as the lantern light flickered over John Parry’s face, something shot down from the turbid sky, and he fell back dead before he could say a word, an arrow in his failing heart.”

That’s it? They recognise each other, he’s shot with an arrow and dies?!

The confrontation between Will and the witch was well handled, but after she’s topped herself and Will has said an emotional farewell to his father, there immediately follows a bizarrely cold description of Will taking ‘the dead man’s’ things and spying his feather-trimmed cloak. “His father had no more use for it, and Will was shaking with cold.” I wonder if anyone could come up with anything more emotionally detached than ‘His father had no more use for it…’.

I know it’s only a small scene in the grand scheme of the trilogy, but that in itself is part of the problem. It should be one of the most emotionally powerful scenes in the novel and is instead dealt with as if it’s just another little obstacle along the way; as if Pullman wanted to get it out of the way so he could get to the ‘juicier’ stuff.

I such a huge and intricate story, crammed with such high quality writing, the whole scene is a massive let-down; a bizarre and confusing disappointment.

I Vant to Suck Your Bluuurrrrrd

04:14, 31-Mar-2008 .. Posted in Writing Suffs .. 9 comments .. Link

After a long fascination with vampires and the surrounding mythos, I’ve finally gotten around to reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and I must say, so far, I’m unimpressed (sorry Nicola).

It opens with the diary of Jonathan Harker, travelling to Transylvania for some dealings with one Count Dracula and, my god the man is dull! From his tedious observations of the places he sees and the people he encounters on his way to the castle, to the laborious description of his growing unease in the company of the Count, I couldn’t help thinking, Please, bite this doofus, already! It was a relief when the juicy stuff about the Count’s strange behaviour and supernatural abilities finally started, but then it ends and we’re whisked away to jolly old England for the even greater tedium of Mina Murray’s journal. To Stoker’s credit, the betrothed Jonathan and Mina are perfect for each other; witless, dull and freakishly obsessed with their respective dreeries...um, diaries. Jonathan goes so far as to sit down in the middle of an attempted escape from the castle to detail his plight.

The only convincing thing about the novel so far is the diary of Dr. Seward; the shrink taking care of a nutter named Renfield.

It doesn’t help that the timeline is all over the place. It’s forgivable when Stoker tells Jonathan’s tale, then back-tracks to tell Mina’s side of things (but I think it was a mistake to cut the action dead just when it’s getting going to revert to the simpering boredom of the brooding missus), but he can’t even keep on track when only focusing on one character. At one point, Mina’s journal jumps two weeks between July and August, then later jumps back to July to run further into August. I can kinda see why, but that doesn’t stop it feeling clumsy and totally unnecessary.

The ghost ship has just crashed on the beach, which, in every film adaptation I've seen, signals ghoulish craziness. I can only hope (though the newspaper correspondence that accompanies that part of the tale was as unconvincing as the rest).

Showing Off

11:19, 19-Feb-2008 .. Posted in Writing Suffs .. Link

This morning I received a letter from London Metropolitan University regarding my application. They're after two pieces of writing covering any two of prose fiction (no more than 500 words), poetry or drama (no more than 5 sides of A4) by the 4th of March. I'm thinking of sending them Brotherly Love and Styx, but if anyone out there thinks there's anything better or more appropriate in my Portfolio I should send, do let me know.

I also have to write a paragraph (no more than half a page) about the kind of writing I do... *ponders*

Portfolio

11:11, 10-Feb-2008 .. Posted in Writing Suffs .. 3 comments .. Link

According to my tutor at college, a couple of the universities I've applied for might require an interview and/or a gander at my portfolio before offering me a place, and so I've thrown one together covering (I hope) the range of my writing.

Subsequently, I've also decided to put it together on line. Some of you might have read some (or all) of this stuff already, but, if you haven't, and you're curious, go check it out and let me know what you think... ;)

I'll get around to polishing the place up a bit another day. 'tis bed time.

Pre-Emptive (review) Strike

10:53, 5-Feb-2008 .. Posted in Writing Suffs .. 5 comments .. Link

I read James O'Barr's The Crow yesterday; something I've been wanting - but never had the opportunity - to do since first seeing the film back in the early '90s. I've just spent the past half-an-hour trying to review it, but not really getting very far. I want to put the novel into some context, but the story behind the writing of it is quite long and tragic, so I'll simply say the worst thing that could possibly happen to anyone happened to James O'Barr. The Crow was his attempt at catharsis.

As such, it's difficult to comment on the story, suffice to say it's quite different from that of the film. It's not that the film was a bad adaptation; simply that the story of the novel wouldn't have worked as it was on film. The main thing was to maintain the essence of the novel, and in that they most certainly succeeded.

What is easy to review about the novel is the art work... IT'S FUCKING AWESOME!!

*ahem*

I've read a number of comics and graphic novels with varying degrees of artistry - some great; some not so much - and not one has even come close. Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita has some truly stunning art-work, but O'Barr makes Kishiro look like a five year-old with crayons.

Today I finally finished The Flood; the second of the Halo novels (thank's again, Nicola ;), but that I'll review later (along with The Fall of Reach, which I forgot to do on finishing that). 'tis bed time...

Love Bug

11:30, 29-Nov-2007 .. Posted in Writing Suffs .. 4 comments .. Link

In last week's creative writing group we were set an exercise to write something based on a promt. Mine was, "A story about a man who wakes up in the form of an animal, and falls in love with something." This is what came to mind:

My brother warned me Geordie girls were weird, but this is taking the piss. All I said was, “You look cold,” and five minutes later I’m staring into a puddle, seeing a bemused frog staring back at me.

Okay, so I might’ve said, “Smuggling peanuts tonight, darling?” but it’s not like I meant anything by it!

Just wait till I catch up with her, I’ll…I’ll…do what, exactly? Get slime in her ear? Poke her in the eye with my tongue? Ribbit at her in a derogatory tone? She’ll probably tern me into a sodding newt!

I suppose I could always… What is that noise? It sounds like a giant fly.

Bloody hell, it is a giant fly!

A huge, disgusting…hairy…juicy…fly, swooping majestically through the air… Its crunchy, segmented body twisting this way and that as it pirouettes in a mid-air ballet… Its four elegant, gossamer wings fluttering playfully… The moon sparkling like a galaxy of stars in its big, red, hexagonal eyes…

That’s it, my little friend, come closer. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to say hello…and give you a quick…gentle…kiss!