Non-fiction (Reflection 7)

I think that book does not have to be completely true to be considered non-fiction. But, it should be mostly true. Of course, some small details will not be remembered so the author may have to budge them. I hardly remember what I had for breakfast yesterday so I don’t think I would remember the exact dialog I had with someone or sensory details like how the warm air caressed my face or something like that. In regard to being labeled as a memoir, as long as it isn’t a major flat-out lie that was totally made up and holds some element of truth, then I think half-truths are ok. I don’t mind that Frey bent the truth in his story because it was still a good and uplifting story. What I do mind, is when the completely white, private school attending, never been in a gang girl writes about how hard her life was as a half Native American who was involved in gangs and drugs.  It could be labeled as non-fiction and in first person, but ifs he budges the truth too much then it is a flat out lie. For example, Mortenson said something about 60 schools being built when in reality I guess it was only about 20. That is a huge difference and I am annoyed that he felt it necessary to triple the amount.

Wither Genre (Book 2 Review 3)

My second book, Wither, is a dystopia novel. It’s set in some sort of alternate future where all girls die at the age of 20 and boys die at the age of 25 because of some unknown disease. Then it goes through how the population would have dealt with it. It could also be dabbling a bit in science fiction. Although they are unsure what is happening to the young adults, they do know why. Apparently, there was an attempt to make a generally healthier and longer-living population which succeeded . . . at first. After the first generation of “advanced humans” their children were only living to their twenties. The same with their children, then the children after them and so on. This is an element of sci-fi having to do with superhumans. Of course, since it is set in the future there are also many futuristic innovations. We have our classic holograms and moving pictures as well as alternate reality devices. There is a funky piano that projects lights and designs in the air according to the mood of the piece that is being played.

Of course, in the main story the young female protagonist falls in love which adds a romance quality to the book, although I wouldn’t categorize it as a romance (much like Nicholas Sparks does with his books) because it is not solely focused on the relationship. Instead, it is of how society has evolved to deal with the dwindling maximum age.

Although Wither dips into a few subgenres, overall it is speculative fiction. What if people only lived to be in their twenties? What if there was no known cure? There are quite a few “what if” questions that spurred the thought process for this story.

Genre Lables (Reflection 6)

My favorite genres to read are speculative fiction. I like imagining something that cannot happen in real life. I already experience one life, so why not experience another that is completely unobtainable in mine? I sometimes think that when books are non-fiction that the plots are too predictable. There are limitations to our own world but in a made up one there are none so an unpredictable twist is possible. Although, I will say that when books (usually fantasy) get too out there, I lose interest. It has something to do with the idea that the world is so complex and so completely different from our own that I have difficulty imagining it.

I have usually stayed towards this genre my whole like. I grew up reading the Magic Tree House series and Harry Potter which both have elements of speculative fiction. Occasionally I will attempt other genres (usually if gets stellar reviews from my friends/family) once I deem it a worthy read.

I personally like the genre labels. If I like one book from a certain genre, then it is a good possibility that I will like another. But, it works the other way too, unfortunately. If I don’t like a book from a certain genre, then I tend to label the whole genre as something I should stay away from. I know that this bad and I shouldn’t judge whole categories of books based off of one, but I can’t help it. This narrows my search down significantly but I could be missing books that are very enjoyable.

The Cover of "Wither" (Book 2 Review2)

I am currently reading the book Wither by Lauren Destefano. The book is about a girl named Rhine who is taken and forced to be a bride to a wealthy young man along with 2 other girls. The reason is that all women are dying at the age of 20 and men at the age of 25 because of some biological defect. It’s a stretch right? I thought so too. The supposed reason is that this man wants to live out the rest of his life in happiness and ignorance (When in reality, his father wants the girls because he wants to test on them and their children for a cure). This is bleak. And for that reason, the cover is bleak as well.

It’s sort of a dark cover, showing a young teenage girl (Rhine) in a stunning dress but she is solemnly looking away. There is also a bird in a beautiful gilded cage, probably relating to how Rhine is trapped in a beautiful place but is trapped nonetheless-- just like the bird. It is mainly dark colors with some rich undertones of scarlet, plum, and copper that almost implore the audience to see that the book is dark (Everyone dies under the age of 25 for reasons unknown and scary father-in-laws want to experiment on kidnapped brides. That seems pretty dark to me.) But, the rich colors have a redeeming tone to them which, in turn, redeems the book so that it doesn’t seem all that bad.

I personally love the existing cover. It provides just enough insight that you can kind of tell the main gist of the book but it also has an air of mystery around it that entices readers to pick it up. If there were to be another cover, perhaps it could just be the picture of the bird cage. This would allude to the book’s premise.

If you are not careful, covers can break the book but in this case, it makes it.

Movie Adaptation (Book 2 Review 1)

Adapting the book "Wither" into a movie could either be very good or very bad. There are no major special effects that would need to be made but the sets would have to be very eleborate to get the right feel for the scene. I would also say that finding the right actors/actresses would be difficult as well. All of the characters have very distinguishable traits that would need to be met so that they seem true to the character. I think the best thing to do would be to use not well known actors that way the audience can visualize the character instead of visualizing the celebrity as the character. It is always distracting when a big name celebrity is put in a movie because then you only think of them as theirselves instead of the person they are trying to portray.

There are some scenes that must be kept in the movie. One scene is when Rhine (the female protagonist) is walking down the isle with her sister wives to be married to their husband who they have never even seen before. During this scene, one of the sister wives, Cecily, is very excited and bouncy while the other, Jenna, is morose and solumn. It would be important to show these personalities so the audience can understand the different viewpoints of Rhine's situation instead of just her own thoughts. Another scene that must be kept is when Rhine tells Cecily the story of her and her twin brother before she was forcibly taken to be a bride. This would establish the reasoning for why Rhine is trying so hard to escape. The audience needs to understand why she is giving up her new cushy life to go back to harsh conditions with her much loved brother. One final scene that would need to be kept is when Gabriel goes missing but leaves a June Bean. This is subtle but an important part in the story as it is one of the only scenes where Gabriel really shows his affection for Rhine.

Book Covers (Reflection 5)

 

I usually have no opinion on book covers, unless the cover is really strange and I would be embarassed showing my friends the book. In some cases I like it one way and in others I like it the opposite way. When you take the idea of showing people in the cover, I actually don't mind the "severed" body part concept. If there is a book that shows someone with out their head or not all of their face, I like to use my imagination to picture what they look like. But on the other hand I like seeing the face that comes with the character. One thing I absolutelycannot stand is the overly girly cover. If it shows shoes and bags and clothes I will absolutely not buy it. That cover leads me to believe that the book is about trivial matters like shoes and bags and clothes. No. Just no.

                                     I can now imagine what I think the character should look like.

                                    Now I can picture the character while I am reading about her.

    I would probably never buy this. Ever.

 

I am unsure as to why, but I find that I like covers without real pictures better. I think it may be because if there isn't a real picture, then the covers are a bit more mysterious. Decoding the cover while reading the story is something I look forward to because it is just another part of the story. Although that is not the case for all books (I love the cover for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as well as Water for Elephants and a few Nicholas Sparks novels) I find that I just like it better.

Book to Movie Adaptation Awards (Reflection 4)

Many books have been turned into movies that end up with many differing audience opinions. Here are my book to film awards.

Best movie that turned out better than the book:

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

 

I believe that The Lord of the Rings movies turned out way better than the books. I know that a lot of the content was changed so that they could fit the stories into 2-3 hour movies but I find that I like it better. The books were difficult to read but the movie sums up all of the important parts. I also just think it was an awesome series of movies.

 

Best Movie Adaptation:

Water for Elephants

 

This movie turned out to be very satisfactory because of how it was just like the book. They covered the most appropriate details in a way that made the movie flow with out getting hung up on insignificant specifics. Book readers would have been very happy with the outcome.

 

Worst Movie Adaptation:

My Sister's Keeper

 

The girl with cancer dies. Period. But apparently the producers decided to change the ending of the much loved to be something completely opposite of what was intended causing many to be upset at the drastic changes.

 

Adequate Movie Adaptation:

The Hunger Games

 

I love the Hunger Games. The book that is. I just sorta like the movie. It followed the book alright but there were some details that I felt were important that they left out or changed. I know that they may not have been detriment to the plot and therefore could be changed to save time, money, ect. but it was just bothersome. Yes, I was one of the fans in the theater yelling "That didn't happen in the book!" when Katniss bought her mockingjay pin instead of being gifted it.

 

Best Dramatic Change from Book to Movie:

Twilight: Breaking Dawn part II

 

I was always so-so on the Twilight books. They were interesting and different but the final one killed me. There was a huge build up to a battle scene that ended up hanging me out to dry from the lack of action. Where was the mauling and killing? The movie turn around completely with a fun twist that incorporated my much wanted fight scene (complete with character death) without changing the plot. Kudos to the director who's decision that was.