But Orisi's Blah Blah Blah is officially on holiday. Not for long though folks.
You can check in here on Tuesday 11th June for more reviews and rantings from your very own Orisi!
See you guys soon, and thanks for stopping by!!
In the meantime, you can check through my audiobook, book or movie reviews. Or if you want to know what's on my reading list you can click right here. You can still find me on Twitter @OrisiB and I always welcome a new stalker on GoodReads!
I'm currently reading Wool - so expect a review soon!
“Young man," he said, "understand this: there are two Londons. There's London Above―that's where you lived―and then there's London Below―the Underside―inhabited by the people who fell through the cracks in the world. Now you're one of them. Good night.”Neil Gaiman,Neverwhere
“Somehow, this was one oddity too many. He could accept "Mind the Gap" and the Earl's Court, and even the strange library. But damn it, like all Londoners, he knew his Tube map, and this was going too far. "There isn't a British Museum Station," said Richard, firmly.” Neil Gaiman,Neverwhere Richard Mayhew is an ordinary Scot living and working in London. He is so ordinary in fact, that he's boring. He works, he goes home, he goes out with his tempestuous fiancée and then starts that all again, day in, day out. He is also a very simple man. He is not particularly assertive, brave, brash or short-tempered. One night, walking with his fiancée to have dinner with her boss, he happens to catch out of the corner of his eye an injured girl. Richard cannot leave the bleeding girl and picks her up and takes her home although his fiancée is outraged. Nursing the girl back to health he suddenly realises that things are no longer as they were. Two strange looking men march in to his apartment looking for a girl named 'Door', suddenly his friends and family have no idea who he is... and to top it all off his landlord walks in to his flat with new tenants. Unable to live in the real London he is pulled kicking and screaming in to 'London Below' the fantastical London that thrives through the underground. Richard is pulled in to a quest, and whilst trying to go back to his old life, finds himself instead. The Audiobook This audiobook is narrated by Neil Gaiman himself. I'll be honest, when I downloaded the book from Audible I was cynical. I thought that this was going to be an author with a big ego convinced that he'd do the voices better than anybody else. I kinda feel embarrassed. I obviously had not done enough research as I had no idea that Gaiman has narrated lots and lots of books. I'd also like to add that he was pretty spectacular! He was well paced, the differentiation between the voices were awesome and even his Scottish accent was excellent! The Story This is my first Gaiman novel, and I imagine it'll probably be my last. That sounds like such a negative way to start, but I don't mean it in a negative way in the least.
The novel falls under the 'Urban-Fantasy' genre. Gaiman understands fantasy. He does not feel obliged to go the high-fantasy route, what with giants and fairies, instead he turns something as mundane as the London underground in to something animated and literal.
It seems silly to say 'literal' when talking about fantasy - but here, let me explain. Each underground station has a different name. He takes those names and forged characters out of them i.e. Earls Court in to the 'Earl's Court', and has a subway train home to the Earl and his court. There's a district in London called 'The Angel, Islington' and lo and behold one of Gaiman's main characters is 'Angel Islington'. I really enjoyed this play on words, I found it witty and comical, and a homage to London.
It's worth noting that you can also read this as a Graphic Novel!
Although the book is quite witty the protagonist is soooooo annoying, and soooo boring. He's the most unlikeable character in history. He was unsympathetic and just generally wimpy and whiny. In fact, he reminded me a lot of Arthur Dent from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and not in a good way considering that I didn't particularly enjoy that book. The storyline is pretty slow as well. I had to drag myself through it kicking and screaming, and luckily, because it was in audiobook form I could do that, if it had been paper and ink though, I don't think I would have been able to finish it. It finally picked up speed in the last two hours of the audiobook and that is when I found myself finally enjoying the writing and the storyline.
Although both Gaiman or his books will never be favourites of mine, I am pretty certain that for some, his books are on par with Terry Pratchett's fantasy works. If you're a fan of Alice in Wonderland and want a new spin on it, this may just be the book for you! Also, if you liked The Hitchhiker's books I think you'll love this! It exhibits the same wit, comedy and joy. It's worth a try! You may discover a new found love!
Have you read this book? What did you think? Have I missed something? Let me know what you thought/think right here or over on Twitter @OrisiB
P.s. I do plan on watching the dramatisation... OH, OH, OH and if you're a James McAvoy fan I do believe they've put together an all-star cast to narrate the book on BBC 4, so check it out!
Did any of you read that article? The Thrillist.com's 'Why Girls Hate Game of Thrones'? If not, you may want to read it before reading the rest of my post here... it may just cause capillaries in your nose to explode, resulting in nosebleeds of rage. This is the most amazing, backwards and Victorianesque piece of writing that I've read in quite a while.
Renata Sellitti has written a post, for men, as to why their girlfriends just hate Game of Thrones. She lumps us all together as hating it because our sensibilities cannot cope with the incest, our ovaries cannot cope with the corporal punishment, our puny little girly-brains cannot follow all the 'intricate' plot details and story lines, and the Mean Girl in all of us just cannot cope with the idea that the show may be watched by people who used to play 'Magic Cards at the Cafeteria. And people who go to Renaissance festivals.' Who is this lady? The piece is so condescending, and so, so offensive I just want to clothes-line the hell out of it.
But it doesn't stop with her little discussion on why their girlfriends hate it... oh no, she goes on to advise these men on how to convince their significant other to give it a try. Apparently, according to Sellitti, he should 'downplay the incest', 'tell us about the romantic crap', and apparently the real winner is to tell us about Sir Loras because 'girls love gay guys.' It's just wow!
I'm surprised I can get in to my pyjamas at night without having an aneurysm; because according to this lady, my poor little female brain just could not cope with the task! Every girl friend that I know LOVES Game of Thrones, and I dare say, potentially more than guys I know. I also have at least three girl friends who are currently reading through the series.
The show is full of very, very powerful ladies! We do not see women with as much power in any other show on prime time TV these days. I don't care how you try to spin it, but one of the leads is the 'Mother of Dragons'... she's the khalisi man! Another, is Lady Stark, holy moly, she's cold, beautiful, loving, independent and also loyal. We also have her daughter Arya who is intelligent, quick thinking and leads a bunch of boys out of their prison. Let us not forget the psychotic Queen Cersei who will do anything to keep her son on the throne and protect her family. We also have a lady-knight who can beat the crud out of most of the guys who challenge her. I'm not saying all women love Game of Thrones. I'm sure there are many who just don't like it, or get it. I can accept that; but I wont accept being lumped in with a bunch of stereotyped women who exist only in the movies Mean Girls and The Hot Chick. What do you think? Have you read the original article? Let me know right here, or even on Twitter @OrisiB.
Remember all those cheesy Stephen King movies? Yah, me too (not all of them were cheesy, but let's start with the cheesy ones).
There was IT [1990], about the scary monster Pennywise that had a penchant for dressing up as a clown and eating children (and it was quite scary)! There was Secret Window [2004] which starred Johnny Depp and was just awful. Oh my goodness... remember Christine [1983] the killer car? What about Dreamcatcher [2003]? Firestarter [1984]? Of course there have also been gems, but they have been few and far between. The Green Mile [1999], Carrie [1976], The Shawshank Redemption [1994] and of course The Shining [1980] to name but a few. ...but guess what. I'm not joking. They're making a comeback. So much so in fact that... Tod Williams the director of Paranormal Activity 2 has been pulled on board to direct CELL by Stephen King, and, and and, it's starting filming this Autumn...
... and that's not all! Pet Sematary is also being pushed forward. The screen play is being rewritten by the same guy who wrote the screen play for Stephen King's 1408. I'm terrified! Anybody watched Pet Sematary? Holy moly, that freaky zombie child and the scary woman in the attic... I can't contain my goosebumps! I'm waiting with bated breath... ...and that's not all! So the biggest piece of Stephen King movie news is... IT is coming back, but not as a made for TV movie.
Oh no. It's coming back as a HARDCORE big screen, gonna make you cry yourself to sleep theatre spectacular. I say this because they have pushed for AND been given approval for what we'd call in the UK an 18 rating. That means it's gonna be gory. It's gonna be fowl. It's gonna be scary, and hopefully, it's going to terrify future generations as much as the original IT movie scared us.
Get ready to be scared my friends. Very, very scared!
Joyland, the novel, which is gonna be released on June 4th has ALREADY had film rights bought up. The book hasn't even come out yet!!!! In fact, the guy who's producing and directing it is the very same guy who adapted and directed The Help (random)! Also Stephen King's 'Good Marriage' has just started filming in Sleepy Hollow. There's enough King movies coming soon to get me reading! Oh, and here's some quick news about CBS's Under the Dome. They just released a commercial for it! And because I'm so so wonderful I've got it for you right here!
I spoil you guys huh, haha! On a side note Sadly, and once again, any talks on making the EPIC Dark Tower series by Stephen King in to movies has flopped. It's so sad. We have the movie technology to turn his wild-west fantastical sci-fi awesomeness in to feature length films. I'm waiting though. Waiting as patiently as I can muster.
