For the Birds

This Halloween I watched Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds (1963). I had seen parts of it before, but I realized that I had never seen the whole movie from beginning to end. I remember people telling me how much it frightened them, but I honestly didn't find it find it that scary and would have a hard time classifying it as a "horror" picture. The scenes where we are all waiting for the birds to attack are quite suspenseful.

It had its moments, and it was an enjoyable film overall, but I won't include it in my any of my top-movies-to-see lists. My favorite scenes are the ones where the characters are walking to and from the school house with all of the ravens or crows perched on the monkey bars in the playground. Watching. Waiting. Creepy.

According to IMDB there is a remake in production that is due in theaters in 2009, starring Naomi Watts and George Clooney. It would be interesting to see with better special effects (visual and sound), but I don't have high hopes that it will be better as Hollywood doesn't have a great track record with remakes.

I searched for, found, and read the 1952 short story of the same name by Daphne du Maurier it was based on. I should say inspired by. Both had a coastal town attacked by birds, neither had an explanation for the birds behavior, and the endings of both left things unresolved. I am not saying that any of these are bad, it is just how it is.

Being a short story, it needed some padding to be a full length feature. Hitchcock added a few elements and made some changes that you typically find in movies made by Hollywood. Luckily he didn't slap on a happy ending or a pat explanation tied up in a nice little bow.

As to the additions and modifications, first there is a love interest. The book actually follows a man and his family and doesn't stray very far from his house the entire time. None of this man with a mysterious past (and possible mother issues), or single woman with too much money and time on her hands.

Second, the action was moved to the United States from Great Britain. Why we feel the need to Americanize things is beyond me. Orson Welles moved H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds in his 1938 radio program, as did Steven Spielberg in the most recent movie version. The first Peter Pan (1924) movie based on J.M. Barries' play and book actually did the same, completely loosing the British elements that are core to the story (but doing a pretty good job with everything else). Maybe they don't believe that we would watch a movie that didn't have the United States as the center of the universe - saving the world.

The only thing that the book had more of than the movie is types of birds. Probably due to the cost of the special effects, the movie really only had seagulls and crows (or ravens), while the town in the book was being attacked by all types of birds, from the sparrows to raptors. In the original story the characters learned from the radio that similar events were taking place through out the country as well.

I thought the Simpson's might have done of spoof of The Birds, but I realized it was actually from an episode of Arthur (based on Marc Brown's children's books). In it Arthur, Buster and their friends all watch The Squirrels on TV and become frightened of squirrels. (It even had a scene with squirrels gathering on monkey bars in a school yard.)

I tried to think of some other books or movies with nameless flocks of birds and really couldn't come up with much. I just finished reading Sabriel (1995) by Garth Nix, Sabriel herself is attacked by a flock of dead, black birds who are being possessed by the spirit of a dead magician. There are also some scenes in The Messengers (2007) starring a pre-Twilight Kristen Stewart with black birds watching and eventually attacking.

So there you have it. If you haven't seen the The Birds, or if it has been a few years since you have, you could start a tradition of watching it on Thanksgiving - a holiday that is even more fitting than Halloween if you ask me.

Breaking Dawn vs. Forever Dawn

With the release of the Twilight movie this weekend, I thought I would share another thought I had on Breaking Dawn (2008).

I already talked about the Twilight series here. Quiet some time after I wrote that, something Stephenie put in her Breaking Dawn FAQ finally clicked. In the FAQ she explains that she originally wrote the series as two books - Twilight and Forever Dawn. After the success of Twilight, she wrote two more books, bringing the total to four in the series (so far).

She also outlines the differences between Breaking Dawn as it was published, and as it was originally written (read after "How different is Breaking Dawn from Forever Dawn? What changed, what stayed the same, and why? Will you ever post extras from Forever Dawn?")

What I realized is Stephenie allowed her characters to grow organically as she wrote New Moon and Eclipse. But with Breaking Dawn she was trying to bring the many of the story elements back to what was in her original Forever Dawn. Many of the characters evolved and grew in these two books and wouldn't be the same as they were in her first treatment. Stephenie still brought these characters back to many of the same situations with the same actions in her original version. This resulted in deeper and more complex characters being forced into roles, reactions, attitudes and outlooks that probably made more sense and felt more natural without the middle two books. This explains the disconnect that I, and many other readers, experienced in reading Breaking Dawn.

Now enjoy the Twilight event of the moment and feel free to let me know what you think of the movie if you see it (and if you have any more thoughts on Breaking Dawn, now that more time has passed).

I Want Candy

Here we are less than a month since Halloween, and just over a month away from Christmas - two of the biggest holidays for candy sales. If you are already tired of sugar, or if you are looking for a way to enjoy your sweets vicariously for fewer physical side effects, there are several stories in which magical candy plays a major role.

Candy and childhood seem to go hand in hand. Roald Dahl incorporated candy into many of his stories. In 1964 Dahl unleashed the unusual, unforgettable, and uber-creative confectioner extraordinaire Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory upon the world. This story made into two movies, the 1971 musical Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2005 with Johnny Depp.

In 1971 the Willy Wonka Candy Company began. Eight years it later became part of Nestle, providing versions of the Everlasting Gobstopper and the Wonka Bar, among other treats. You can enter an online wacky Wonka world full of Oompa Loompas various games and activities at www.wonka.com.

In Dahl's book The Witches (1983), the witches insidious plan to rid the world of children involves setting up sweet shops and selling candy spiked with Formula 86 Delayed Action Mouse Maker. This was made into a film in 1990 with Angelica Huston as the Grand High Witch.

Hansel and Gretel were captured by the witch in the Brothers Grimm story with the house made of candy. You can read an annotated Hansel and Gretel here, as well as view lists of modern versions and similar tales from other cultures. (By the way, if you find the short story Crumbs, by Esther M. Friesner, in a collection and you enjoy reimagined fairy tales read it. It is a sequel of sorts to the original story involving descendants of the witch and the children with a different explanation of what happened and a twist.)

Joanne Harris published Chocolat in 1999, in which Vianne Rocher sets up a chocolaterie in a small French village and shares chocolates that seem to have unusual properties. Interestingly Johnny Depp played a gypsy in the movie in 2000. The sequel to the novel follows Vianne and her daughter Anouk in Paris years later. For some reason, in the U.K. the sequel's title is The Lollipop Shoes, while in the U.S. it is The Girl with No Shadow, losing any reference to candy.

Clover is always giving Levin Thumps candy with unusual side-effects in the uneven childrens' series by Obert Skye starting with Levin Thumps and the Gateway to Foo (2005).

Four children get involved in a war between magicians who make candy that gives the person eating it temporary, supernatural abilities in the highly enjoyable fantasy novel The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull (2007).

Now, maybe you have read any of these books, or watched any of these movies by yourself, with friends, or with your family and you are now in the mood for some candy related activities. There is plenty you can do.

You can always play the almost 60 year old boardgame Candyland, especially if you don't mind the possibility of a never ending game trapsing through the Candy Cane Forest or the Molasses Swamp.

This time of the year, making gingerbread houses is always in fashion.

Go ahead and watch the 1939 film Bright Eyes staring Shirley Temple, and learn the lyrics to "On the Good Ship, Lollipop," which became her trademark song. (You probably won't be able to get the music out of your mind now. You are welcome.)

If you live somewhere along the Wasatch Front, this Friday and Saturday you can attend the 4th Annual Utah Chocolate Show and sample and purchase all kinds of chocolates. (Click here for more information.)

Now, if you are in Utah and looking for cheap (mostly free), candy-themed activities for all ages, here are some other places you can go and, in some instances, get free samples:

Mrs. Cavanaughs in North Salt Lake (click here for information about tours)
Taffy Town in Salt Lake City (click here for information about tours)
Sweet Candy Company in Salt Lake City (click here for information about tours)
Kencraft (Peppermint Place) in Alpine (click here for more information - I don't think they have tours, but they did have an observation area and a video you can watch)

If you are in Las Vegas, you can visit M&M's World next to the MGM Hotel, and even watch a free 3-D movie starring Red and Yellow after making your way through three floors of M&M merchandise (click here for more information). You can also take a tour of Ethel's Chocolate Lounge in Henderson (click here for more about tours).

Lastly, if you are ever in Utah travelling on U.S. Highway 89 between Richfield and Junction, you can stop at and hike Big Rock Candy Mountain, see the Lemonade Spring and even stay at the Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort. Click here for more information.

If you pace yourself, you should be able to read a book, watch a movie, then go on a tour or to an event every other month next year. Have a sweet 2009!

Writing Outside the Lines

In a post in October, I mentioned that I discovered that James Clavell of Shogun fame wrote the screenplay for The Fly with Vincent Price and I got to thinking about some other movies I knew with screenplays written by authors better known for other works.

After suffering an heart attack in 1964, Ian Fleming decided to try his hand at writing a children's spy story. Originally published as three separate books, they were later published together as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In 1968 the movie musical was released (and now you can see stage musical based on the movie). The movie boasts music and lyrics by the Sherman brothers Robert and Richard, the same team that Disney used on many projects and movies including Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book.

I found the book to be dreadfully boring. Perhaps that is because I read it as an adult, and after seeing the movie numerous times (it used to be a Thanksgiving Day afternoon broadcast tradition of sorts). The screenplay was co-written by Roald Dahl, author such children's classics as James and the Giant Peach (1961), Charlie and Chocolate Factory (1964), The Witches (1983), and Matilda (1988). The movie actually feels more like one of Dahl's stories then Flemings', with a dark humor, and role reversals between children and adults.

Interestingly, Dahl also worked on the screenplay for for the Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967).

Michael Crichton, known for books like The Andromeda Strain (1969), The Great Train Robbery (1975), and Jurassic Park (1990) that were made into movies and television shows, also wrote screenplays for movies such as Westworld (1975) and Twister (1996) and episodes of television's ER (1994-2008). He also was involved in many of these projects as director and/or producer.

Earlier this year my son and I watched all five movies in the Planet of the Apes cycle (and the Tim Burton movie remake). The first one from 1968, which was based on Pierre Boulle's book Planet of the Apes (1963) actually has held up pretty well for being 40 years old. (Much better then the subsequent four that had lofty ideas but degenerated in quality and diverted more and more from the original source material.)

The book is more of social commentary like Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1926), and less of an action adventure story that the movie is. While it has it's own twist ending, it is different then the movies. Once you realize that Rod Serling, writer Twilight Zone in print and on television, was involved with the screenplay, the atmosphere and ending of the movie falls right into place.

I would love to add more to this list. Let me know if you know of other screenplays for movies or television shows that were written by authors who may be better known for their work in other media or genres.

Cruel and Unusual PUNishments

Many years ago I went through a period that I loved puns. If you watch the Today show on NBC, some days Al Roker and Matt Lauer can really get on a roll with puns.

In addition to writing in a very broad range of genres, from history to science fiction to fantasy to mystery to science, Isaac Asimov also published joke and humor books including Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor (1971). (You can read parts of it online here.) He was quite fond of puns and whether he was the first to say it or not, I remember him commenting that puns were one of the highest forms of humor.

One of his groan-inducing, pun-driven jokes that I remember goes something like this:

A man with the last name of Stein committed a crime, then used a time machine to escape to a point in the future just after the statute of limitations on his offense ran out.

He was found, arrested and brought to trial on the theory that since he did not actually live through that passage of time, the statute of limitations should not apply.

After hearing arguments on both sides and examining the evidence, the judge issued his verdict in Stein's favor and the headlines read: "A niche in time saves Stein."

If, for whatever reason, you are looking for some additional reading punishment, here are a few suggestions.

Several years ago I went back and reread many of the books and series from my childhood. This included the book that sparked my interest in reading - The Wizard of Oz (1900) and the subsequent 13 sequels by L. Frank Baum. The story had many elements I had completely forgotten about, especially since they weren't in the movie. In some regards I was a little disappointed as the story had lost some of its magic, but in other areas I found it more meaningful so it is still one of my favorites despite its meandering plot.

Anyway, upon my rereading I was surprised at the sheer number of puns in all of the Oz books. I must not have caught them when I was younger, or the magical newness of the characters, creatures and events overpowered the puns at the time.

In Junior High one of my teachers exposed me to books written and illustrated by Fred Gwynne. (Yes - the same Fred Gwynne who played Herman Munster on The Munsters TV series.) He also loved puns and his books, The King Who Rained (1980), The Sixteen Hand Horse (1982), A Chocolate Moose for Dinner (1987), and A Little Pigeon Toad (1988) are full of puns created as a child tries to visually reconcile what common phrases, many with homonyms mean.

I read an interview with Gwynne in which he showed many sculptures and various odds and ends he created himself, included a small bell shaped like a banana. The sole purpose behind this nick-knack was to set up the joke that when it is rung it peals.

As a teenager, I read several of Piers Anthony's Xanth stories. The sheer volume of groan-inducing puns in these books is staggering. These are not for young children like the Oz or Gwynne's books, however, as some of the plots, jokes and characters can be risque (to put it mildly). Starting with A Spell for Chameleon (1977), Anthony has continued to publish these formulaic stories (well, at least they were formulaic up through the sixth or seventh book and I stopped reading them) for 30 years now with the 32nd in the series, Two to the Fifth, published last month.

More recently David Farland's younger young adult Ravenspell series with Of Mice and Magic (2005) and The Wizard of Ooze (2007) uses a few puns, but not nearly to the extent of the other books I have mentioned here. Younger readers might enjoy the stories solely for the fantasy elements while older readers will pick up on jokes and pop culture references that pass completely over their heads.

Let me know if there are other books I should add to this list.

Movies inspired from Books -Another Halloween

I knew I was forgetting one from my list last week, and there could be more before the 2008 Halloween season is over. So again, I am interested to know if any of you have read any of this, and how the movie compares to the book if you have:

In 1957 George Langelaan published a short story, The Fly, which was made into a movie the following year with Vincent Price. (Interestingly, James Clavell, who eventually wrote Shogun (1975) and other historical fiction novels, wrote the screenplay adaptation of for this movie.)

Of Red Tape and Paper Pushers

Recent events in the news and in my life started me thinking about bureaucracies. I realize that as organizations grow they need to have a structure of some sort with levels of specializations in order to be efficient. Unfortunately, it seems bureaucracies tend to forget their original purpose for being created and become intent on their self-perpetuation and growth for growth’s sake, often eventually undermining the very cause they were initially created for.

If terms such as pencil-pusher, paper-pusher and red tape, didn’t originate because of bureaucracies, they have gained their status and are continually used because of them. At their worse, the people within these organizations become depersonalized cogs in the organizational mechanics.

Bureaucracies set themselves up quite well for satire. Here are some of my favorite books and movies that include bureaucratic elements as part of the story:

Joseph Keller’s Catch 22 was published in 1961, and made into a movie in 1970, and set the standard for lampooning the military bureaucracy. The very phrase “catch 22” is now synonymous with rules and regulations bureaucracies tend to create. After reading it I challenge you to forget characters like Captain John Yossarian and Major Major Major Major.

Keith Laumer wrote a dozen or so books and an assorted number of short stories about Jame Retief, a lower level member of the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne (CDT) who manages to solve galactic issues in spite of the diplomatic bureaucracy. His superiors always take credit leaving him in the same position. The first book was Envoy to New Worlds (1963) with the last being Retief and the Rascals (1993). Some stories are better and funnier than others, and you can read them in any order.

Douglas Adams published the first book in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in series 1978. From what I remember, while commercial and governmental bureaucracy runs throughout all of the books in the Guide itself, the first three (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1978), The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980), and Life, the Universe and Everything (1982)) deal with it more directly.

In 1985, Monty-Python alum Terry Gilliam (the animator and only American in the troupe) released Brazil. This is one of my favorite movies of all time, with Jonathon Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Jim Broadbent, Bob Hoskins and fellow Python Michael Palin. This 1984-ish world has innumerable stabs at bureaucracy gone wrong from the ever-present ducts (and the required process to get them fixed), to mistakes made and unclaimed by departments more concerned with their own jobs, to the dehumanizing and dream-killing effects of the system, to paper shuttling tubes, to crowds of yes-men following management, to underlings fighting over office supplies and space, to one an unforgettable ending. (Make sure you don’t get the version with the TV ending if you haven’t seen it yet.)

The Keys of the Kingdom series by Garth Nix, has the main character thrust into the politics of the House (basically the center of the Universe). The first six of seven books have already been published (Mister Monday (2003), Grim Tuesday (2004), Drowned Wednesday (2005), Sir Thursday (2006), Lady Friday (2007), Superior Saturday (2008), and Lord Sunday (2009)). Within these stories, you will encounter characters with titles like “Thesaurus Minimus Second Grade,” and “Primary Paper Pusher on the Extremely Grand Canal,” and “Master Foiler in the Foil Mill of the Guild of Gilding and Illumination.” Every citizen of the House knows exactly what position they fill in rank from the Architect by number. The series started off with a bang, but in subsequent books it sometimes felt like Nix was being weird and clever just for the sake of being weird and clever, but things really started picking up in the last couple of books. The sixth book has some great bureaucratic moments including cubicle-bound sorcerers attacking another who is promoted as her cubicle is physically moved.

As I was looking for any other stories I might have forgotten about, I discovered that science fiction writer Jerry Pournelle created the following "law", which he calls Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy:

In any bureaucracy, the people devoted to the benefit of the bureaucracy itself always get in control and those dedicated to the goals the bureaucracy is supposed to accomplish have less and less influence, and sometimes are eliminated entirely.

It is also stated as:

...in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself. Examples in education would be teachers who work and sacrifice to teach children, vs. union representative who work to protect any teacher including the most incompetent. The Iron Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization, and will always write the rules under which the organization functions.

(You can read about this Law on several pages on Pournelle’s site, including this one.)

Well, on that note, let me know your thoughts on bureaucracy and your life or our current state of affairs, and if you have read any other books, or seen any television shows or movies that deal with the ridiculousness of organizations that have achieved this level of efficient inefficiency.

Movies inspired from Books - Halloween

For several years now, my wife and I go on an annual quest for decent (IE: not necessarily child-friendly, but family-with-teens-friendly), creepy, and suspense and dread-filled movies for Halloween. (On some future post I will go through our experiences and the shows we have liked and not liked.) While we try to find movies we haven't seen, sometimes we watch movies one or both of us haven't seen since we were children and consequently don't remember many details from.

This year I've encountered a couple already that are based on books that I haven't read (yet), and I am having a hard time finding. Anyway, I would be interested to know if any of you have read any of these, how the movies and books compare.

Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963), based on the short story or novelette of the same name by Daphne du Maurier from 1952.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) (as well a remake from 1978 with the same title starring Donald Sutherland, Leonard Nimoy and Jeff Goldblum, and The Invasion (2007) with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig) based on the novel The Body Snatchers (1955) by Jack Finney.

[10/19/08 EDIT:I listed a movie I forgot in a new posting here.]

Return to Robinson Crusoe Island

On Friday we had a chance to witness the premiere of the Crusoe series on NBC, based on Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. (Please see my post here for a discussion of the original book). I did not manage to catch much of the two hour show, but I probably won't go out of my way to try to catch the parts I missed, or any of the future episodes.

As I suspected from the commercials, the story seems to be a politically-correct, mish-mash of elements of the original story with the Disney Swiss Family Robinson and Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Besides things like a sprawling tree house with anachoristic amenities, various Home Alone-styled booby traps, and sword fights with swaggering, wispy-bearded and bejangled privateers, I also don't remember Crusoe being married or the deserted island having so many visitors. This version also flashes back (ala J.J. Abrams' Lost on ABC) to Crusoe's pre-island childhood and adult life, introducing us to his father, his wife and children, and others.

On its face value, it could be an enjoyable ride. It is certainly a nice looking production.

According to Neilson's overnight ratings, it garnered 4.3% of the households watching television tuning in at some point during its first hour, and 4.7% in the second. During the second hour it had the highest ratings of all shows that hour, so it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks.

If it is successful, I wonder if he will ever get off the island as the members of Oceanic Flight 815 will (maybe it will have flash-forwards as well), or if he will be perpetually stuck there much as the castaways from the S.S. Minnow were.

Tim Burton on Alice in Wonderland & more

If you didn't already know, Tim Burton is working on a 3D, motion-capture movie of Lewis Carroll's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland due out in 2010. In this version, Johny Depp is the Mad Hatter and Anne Hathaway is the Queen of Hearts.

In this interview, Burton talks about being awarded the Immortal Award at the Scream 2008 Awards, Batman movies, Johnny Depp, and other film versions of Alice in Wonderland. In it, Burton also discusses how much of his work is based on movies from books he watched while growing up.

Enjoy.

[10/18/08 EDIT - I have come across conflicting reports on the type of movie it will be, live action, CGI or a combination so I am not sure of the format. If any of you have an official link, let us know.]

Happy 50th Paddington! (and thoughts about anniversaries)

Just a quick note to acknowledge that 50 years ago today that Michael Bond's first book featuring the bear from "darkest Peru" was published. Bond went on to write 13 more books with Paddington, as well as other books for children and adults.

The original Paddington books were illustrated by Peggy Fortnum in black and white, with others, including her niece, adding color. Others provided illustrations for versions of Paddington stories for younger readers, and R.W. Alley illustrated Paddington in the 1990's as well as providing new covers for the original books.

There have been three animated TV series featuring Paddington. The first one from 1975 was different in that Paddington himself was a 3 dimensional character animated with stop-motion, while the backgrounds and other characters were two dimensional. The backgrounds were black and white line drawings. There is a full-length feature film in the works with Paddington done in three dimensional computer animation which will be combined with live action footage.

While not on the same scale of A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh, with all of the Disney marketing might behind him, you can still find a wide range of Paddington-licensed products, including games, toys and clothes. According to wikipedia, you can find street vendors selling hand-made Paddington Bear finger puppets on the shores of Lake Titicaca in Peru.

You can read more, and keep up with the latest Paddington news on his official website www.paddingtonbear.co.uk.

Fifty years is an impressive amount of time for a character to remain popular, especially if you look at how many characters are created in children's books alone each and every year. For any character to survive in this day and age, they need to have TV or movie exposure as well. A healthy dose of merchandising doesn't hurt either, but it doesn't guarantee longevity either.

I wonder though, when do we recognize the anniversary of the creator's birth (or death) and when do we focus on the creation's first appearance? Or in some cases do we do both? Who is it that decides - descendants, publishers, copyright and trademark holders, fan clubs, official societies, cities where the person was born or lived? My gut feeling is that those who have the most at stake financially, and the greatest opportunity to make money are ultimately the ones who have the incentive and the resources to organize and publicize these types of events.

Do we need to wait until the author or illustrator is dead, or even dead a certain number of years before we start celebrating them instead of the work? Michael Bond is still alive, which could be why the focus is on Paddington. Should we expect Charles Dickens' festivals in 2012 recognizing his 200th birthday? Where there any events around J.R.R. Tolkien's 100th birthday in 1992? Perhaps Tolkien does or did not have the cultural acceptance that traditional children's or non-fantasy authors have, or we needed to wait until The Lord of the Rings was made into movies for him to achieve this iconic status. Maybe anniversary events in general have only taken off in popularity after 1992.

Does it depend on the scope of the author or illustrator's work , meaning if only one of the the author's works has made any lasting impression on our cultures or society we focus on that? Using Paddington as an example again, Bond created other characters, including a guinea pig named Olga da Polga in a series of children's books and Monsieur Pamplemousse in an adult mystery series, who aren't as well known - so perhaps the focus will always be on Paddington. Peter Pan, James M. Barrie's most well-known creation, had a 100th anniversary in 2004 (which is when the play premiered, not the book in 1911), but I haven't heard of anything for Barrie himself. Maybe in 2043 we will have celebrations recognizing 200 years of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, if someone deems Scrooge and company warrant special notice above and beyond Dickens' other works. I guess we will either have to wait and see, or start something ourselves.

Anyway, make yourself a marmalade sandwich and let me know if you know of any rhyme or reason to these celebrations and what you think of these anniversaries in principle.

Let Your Hair Down

While I haven't avoided reading variations of the the Brothers Grimm Rapunzel fairy tale (first published in 1812 as part of Children's and Household Tales), I have honestly not actively sought them out either.

In my attempts to keep up with books published by authors with Utah ties I read Shannon and Dean Hales' Rapunzel's Revenge (2008).


This graphic novel, illustrated by Nathan Hale (which every single reference you encounter will point out is no relation to the Shannon and her husband Dean) is a fun amalgamation of the Rapunzel story, with Jack and the Beanstalk, as well as other traditional fairy-tale and fantasy elements - all mashed together in a western setting with a various western twists. The Hales actually draw upon many of the overlooked, yet still child-friendly elements of the original fairy tale. The art is good and the layouts varied but easy to follow, although Rapunzel's face is inconsistent. Being a graphic novel, it is a rather quick read.

I get a little hesitant to read some of these modern interpretations of fairy tales where the female characters traditionally have been "damsels in distress" because the authors tend to swing the other way making all the male characters buffoons. This is not the case here - it is a well balanced book.

After reading this western telling of the tale (which I wouldn't be surprised if it is followed by sequels or companion books with similar takes of other fairy tales), I did a little research online. Wikipedia has some interesting tidbits, including a note that the story 'Of Beren and Luthien' in The Silmarillion (1977) by J.R.R. Tolkien seems to draw upon this tale. I didn't know that there is a Rapunzel Syndrome caused by the consumption of hair. Having younger daughters, I knew about the computer animated Barbie version, but I didn't know that Disney was working on a new, animated version with the working title Rapunzel Unbraided due out in 2010. I had forgotten that Rapunzel was in Shrek the Third (2007), and she is a character in Into the Woods (1986 - music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine).

In fact, you can see Into the Woods at the Hale Center Theatre in Salt Lake City from October 1st through November 29th. Click here for more information if you are interested.

Back to my research, I also encountered a new, favorite website for me - www.surlalunefairytales.com. While it has only covered nearly fifty fairy tales so far, for those tales it has the most complete listing of commentaries, illustrations, modern interpretations of, history of, related websites, etc. for those stories. You can even read annotated versions of the stories. Here is the link to the Rapunzel section on Sur La Lune.

One of the reasons that I don't think I ever really liked the basic story is that I couldn't understand why Rapunzel didn't figure out she could use her hair to escape herself since she did let the witch and prince use it to climb up the tower. I guess we could give her the benefit of the doubt since she was raised by a person who might not have let her develop these capabilities for deductive reasoning, but she managed to figure plenty out on her own once the witch cast her out.

OK, lets accept the fact that Rapunzel just didn't make that connection. This makes the prince a complete and utter cad. He should have figured it out. If you read the original version he only suggests that each time he visits he brings a little silk and eventually they will build a latter so she can escape.

In the sanitized version, the witch discovers Rapunzel has been seeing the prince because one time after bringing the witch up Rapunzel comments off-handedly that the witch is not as easy to lift up as the prince. In the original version, Rapunzel off-handedly remarks to the witch that her clothes are getting tight around her waist. Yes, Rapunzel was pregnant meaning that the young, handsome prince was keeping her up in the tower so he could take advantage of her and her naiveté. Yet no one ever complains about the princes' behavior or intentions in this fairy tale.

That being said, enjoy these family-friendly video versions of Rapunzel:

Ray Harryhausen did an 11 minute stop-action animated version back in the 1940's



Jay Ward's Fractured Fairy Tale version on the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show (1959+)



Lastly, Kermit the Frog reported on the breaking Rapunzel story from Sesame Street.

Odds & Ends: Events and Local Theater

You can see Jay Richards' musical version of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women in Logan this October 16th through October 25th at the Ellen Eccles Theatre in Logan. Click here for more information.

Also in Logan, Monday October 13th through Saturday the 18th you can see the another side of Shakespeare's Hamlet at Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (by Tom Stoppard) at Utah State University Chase Fine Arts Center. Click here for more details.

Pinnacle Acting Company is performing William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet October 16th through October 25th at the Highland High Little Theater in Salt Lake City. Click here for more information.

In Provo you can watch a stage production of Henry Jame's Turn of the Screw at the Covey Center October 16th through November 1st. Click here for more information.

Lastly, also in the Halloween vein, you can see the 1925 silent movie The Phantom of the Opera starring Lon Chaney at the Organ Loft in Salt Lake City October 22nd, 23rd and 24th. (Click here for more information.) This version follows the original 1910 story by Gaston Leroux much closer than the popular Andrew Lloyd Weber musical. I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't already seen it - especially with live organ accompaniment much like it was originally performed is an experience (and at $5 a ticket, it is a bargain to boot).

Changing the World

What book of fiction sold more copies than any other in 1998? Who won the Newberry Award or any of the Hugo Awards in 1978? I doubt many of us could answer these without really trying to think it through or by researching it online. Books that make headlines today, especially fiction, more often not eventually fade from memory (except for those working in libraries and the publishing industry).

A few authors create characters that outlive them for decades and centuries. You could probably find a fair share of people who could recognize Long John Silver, Sherlock Holmes or Pollyanna even though they never actually read Treasure Island ( 1883) by Robert Louis Stevens, any of the 4 novels or 56 short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, or Eleanor H. Porter’s Pollyanna (1913). (It is conceivable I have too much faith in people, now that I think about it and consider some of the participants on The Tonight Show’s Jay Walking segments.)

Some books become regional, national or international forces – which in our day equates to spawning movies, games, and toys, becoming targets for parodies and copy-cat efforts. They may have the positive effect of reinvigorating genres, increasing interest in reading and possibly even helping to foster careers in writing, acting and other story-telling related industries.

Regardless of the media hoopla, or lack there of, around any given book you have probably read a book or two that affected you, changing your life to some degree. There is the motivational poster that says something like “A mind once stretched can no longer return to its original shape.” Fiction can definitely stretch our minds, but not always in ways that are quantifiable. It would be interesting to find out how many people do selected their course of study or their chosen profession because of characters or concepts they encountered in books of fiction.

Novels can change our opinions about issues or cause us to reexamine, shift, or define our perceptions about an issue or principle, but typically these are on small and personal levels. Perhaps while enjoying a book for its story or characters, you learn something new or understand something better. As a trivial example, even though I had never covered mitochondria in any of my classes previously, I was able to correctly answer questions about it a standardized test in high school because I read Madeleine L’Engles’ A Wind in the Door (1973).

Occasionally a work of fiction moves beyond affecting individuals in individual ways, and affects communities and cultures. Their books not only work on a level with plots, settings and characters, but the ideas or concepts worked intentionally or unintentionally into the story, or discussion about those ideas, take on a larger life.

If done well, the story continues to be read even after society has changed because it tells a universal story. More often than not, if an author writes with the sole intention to change people, they don’t. And typically if they do, their book is quickly forgotten after their issue passes from focus and new problems capture the attention of the public.

While you could argue that whenever there is change, other social, political, and economic forces were at work at the same time and that something might have happened without these books, the popularity of the stories themselves can be a catalyst.

I can think of four examples of fictional books that had long-lasting or far-reaching effects.

In the midst of the Industrial Revolution in England, Christmas was becoming less and less a recognized holiday. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (1843) reinvigorated the practices and purposes of Christmas as it is recognized today.

It is said that when Harriet Beecher Stowe met with Abraham Lincoln near the beginning of the Civil War it is said he said something along the lines of “So this is the little lady who made this big war”, referring to her book Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852).

Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty (1877) is told from the horse’s point of view. One of Black Beauty’s complaints is being subjected to the checkrain – a common practice of the time which forced horses pulling carriages to keep their heads up. Shortly after its publication, the practice was banned and the popularity of this book is attributed to the change.

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906) resulted in drastically decreased meat sales and consequently the meat packing industry welcomed government regulation to instill confidence in the packaging process – even though Sinclair wanted more, including better conditions and wages for the employees.

We are still faced with many issues, but I can not think of any other books that have these types of effects, although maybe Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975) could qualify. Perhaps it is too soon to know the actual, long-term consequences for any published more recently, or maybe books have simply lost this force in our culture and movies or TV have the reach and power that books once had.

I realize my horizons are limited and would love to hear of any others that you are familiar with, or what your thoughts are on this subject.

Halloween Parallel Stories

I recently discovered that Science Fiction and Fantasy author Fred Saberhagen wrote The Dracula Tape (1975), a version of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) from Dracula's point of view. In it Dracula survives Van Helsing and Harker's attack, and Saberhagen went on to write another nine books with Dracula as the main character. In fact, in the rest of series Dracula encounters several other fictional characters, including, in the second book The Holmes-Dracula File (1978), Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.

With the success of his Dracula series, Saberhagen also wrote The Frankenstein Papers (1986), which continues the story of Frankenstein's monster from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818) retelling the original story from the monster's point of view as excerpts from his journal. Apparently, the monster even meets Benjamin Franklin in Paris as part of the story.

So there are a couple of books you can look for this Halloween season if you are interested. I haven't read either of them so anyone has read them, or does, let us know what you think about them. (Click here it see my previous post on other parallel stories.)

My Big, Fat Greek Post

We just can't seem to get away from our western heritage -not that it is necessarily a bad thing, but when done poorly I am sure there are many an ancient Greek turning in their graves.

I went through a Greek Myth phase after encountering and being enthralled by the D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths (Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire - 1962) in my elementary school library. This opened my interest in myths from other countries and cultures. I started running into mythological characters like Hercules in movies and comic books. When DC Comics had George Perez reboot Wonder Woman, he took her back to her Greek roots with major arcs involving gods and creatures from Greek myths while he was involved in the title from 1987 to 1992.

As I have mentioned before, Jim Henson's Storyteller (1987) series is one of my favorites. The second season of covered four Greek Myths. Michael Gambon, who took over the role of Professor Dumbledore after Richard Harris died, is the story-teller in these four episodes.

Watching Star Trek reruns with my dad, I remember seeing the episode Who Mourns for Adonais (1967) in which Captain Kirk and company encounter a being who claims to be Apollo, the last of the Greek Gods.

Eventually I read Homer's Iliad (ca 800 BC) and the Odyssey (ca 800 BC), as well as Edith Hamilton's Mythology (1942), among other books that included Greek myths. Knowing even the basic myths, you begin to see their influence in stories everywhere. I would bet that at least 80% of fantasy games (especially role playing and video games) and fantasy stories include creatures, plots and characters from, or inspired by, those in Greek myths.

As a child I became a fan of Ray Harryhausen movies, many of which draw upon mythological creatures and stories. In his Clash of the Titans (1981), we actually get to see the Greek gods messing around directly with the lives of mere mortals, or at least half-mortals and the mortals they are involved with. As with most projects Harryhausen has been involved in, he took many liberties with the actual myths. In spite of these changes, it is still fun to watch - especially the imaginative interpretations of most of the creatures. It is also interesting to picture Laurence Olivier as Zeus (although he is underwhelming in this role), Ursula Andress as Aphrodite and Maggie Smith, who went on to play Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies, as Thetis. According to IMDB, there is a remake of this in production that is due to be released in 2010, for what that is worth.

Earlier this summer, I had the chance to play Risk: Godstorm. It is a great variation of the classic Risk board game set in ancient Europe and, among other modifications, players get to use gods from the Greek, Egyptian, Norse and other pantheons to affect the play of the game. A couple of other twists include the ability to draw troops back from the afterlife and the opportunity to sink Atlantis - killing any armies on it and taking it completely out of play for the rest of the game.

For a fun, quick, twisted light read, or if you are looking for something a six to eleven year-old would like that includes Greek gods, try Its All Greek To Me (2001), book 8 in the Time Warp Trio series written by Jon Scieska and illustrated by Lane Smith. It follows the exact same formula as the rest of the books, but instead of just traveling through time, Fred, Sam and Joe end up dealing with the gods on Mount Olympus. It includes a glossary of gods and monsters with a pronunciation guide.

Right now I am in the middle of Rick Riordan's young adult series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I read the first one, The Lightening Thief (2005), out of curiosity, with mild to strong recommendations from a few people I knew. The idea behind the series is that the Greek gods still exist and meddle in human affairs, which intrigued me. The gods, monsters and other creatures followed western civilization to the United States of America, but we don't recognize them due to a combination of a magical mist and our own unbelief. There is a summer camp for the various half-bloods the gods continue to sire.

I was not really impressed with the first book - I found elements of the plot awkward as it tried to cleverly force Greek monsters into modern-day settings, all while attempting to be a Harry Potter-type story without being Harry Potter (as I mentioned in this previous post). I ended up reading the second book, The Sea of Monsters (2006), anyway and I felt it was better than the first. It didn't consistently force the Greek elements, but it did still suffer being in Harry Potter's shadow. On the other hand, it fleshed out many of the characters from the first, introducing new characters that seemed to start off being more likable.

I just finished the third book, The Titan's Curse (2007), and it feels like Riordan has finally hit his stride. This was the best, most original book of the series so far. Everything feels organic and unforced, the characters and events flow naturally and I really started to care for all of the characters.I hope The Battle of the Labyrinth (2008), the fourth book, doesn't fall back into any previous patterns, and that The Last Olympian, the final book due out next May, continues along an original path, free of the problems that plagued the first two books.

At this point, I would recommend this series to those who are new to Greek mythology, or those who enjoy seeing slightly different interpretations of familiar characters and ideas from traditional stories. (If you do read these, keep in mind they are written for tweens and if you are older and have read this type of story before, you will be able to foresee how some of the elements will be resolved, but starting with the third book I experienced a few more pleasant surprises.)

If you are enjoy stories that include the Greek gods, and you have already read or seen these that I have mentioned, the CW network has another show you might be interested in. This series, Valentine, premiered Sunday night on the CW (you can watch it on Sunday nights at 8/7 Central for as long as it lasts). In it, Aphrodite, Hercules, Eros and others are undercover in modern-day Los Angeles and have to help others fall in love or they risk becoming mortal.

It reminds me of the short-lived ABC series Cupid (1998-1999) in which Jeremy Piven played a character who claimed to be cupid, sent among mortals to help 100 couples as penance. As Cupid only ran one season we never found out if he was, or not cupid after all.

If you are drawn to stories with the Greek gods, but a romantic comedy like Valentine doesn't really pull you in, you can always watch any of the five stand alone made for TV shows in 1994 starring Kevin Sorbo as Hercules, or episodes of the subsequent series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995-1999) or Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001). In fact, there have been dozens of movies and TV shows with Hercules and consequently the Greek gods, including Arnold Schwarzenegger's unforgettable (and embarrassingly, badly dubbed and acted) movie debut Hercules in New York (1970).

I think these stories and characters are, and will continue to be used over and over and over again because they are recognizable and they are in the public domain - so there are no royalties to pay or copyrights to worry about.

In the sea of many poorly done versions of Hercules and Greek Myths, Disney's Hercules (1997) stands out and is one of my favorite animated Disney movies in the post-Little Mermaid period. Besides some great songs, and a story that works on several levels, it also has Charlton Heston as the narrator, Rip Torn as Zeus, Paul Schaffer as Hermes and James Woods perfectly plays Hades. It is not perfect show - I could have done with smaller doses of Danny DeVito, but it is better than most movies that are out there.

Mentioning Hercules actually brings up an observation I've made. In reality, if these are stories with Greek gods, shouldn't it be Heracles - his Greek name as opposed to Hercules, the Roman version? Or, if he is going to be called Hercules, shouldn't we also call Zeus "Jupiter", and Hermes "Mercury" in the same stories? Over time it seems we have combined the Greek and Roman names, preferring some over others and interchanging the two sets. You can even see this in the latest incarnation of Battlestar Galactica (2003+) where the gods mostly have Greek names (like Zeus and Ares), yet some places or items use the Roman names Jupiter and Mars. I would bet that eventually, in popular usage it is going to be a mix of the two and most people won't even realize it.

I am sure I have missed stories with the Greek gods, so please let me know if there are any that you have liked (or hated), or if you have any thoughts about Roman versus Greek names.

Odds & Ends: Events, News & Local Theater

If you are in Mason, Texas on October 4th, you can participate in various activities on Old Yeller Day related to the book and the Disney movie (1957). Fred Gibson, the author of Old Yeller (1956), lived most of his live in Mason. Here is an article about the festivities, and here is the calendar of events on the Mason city website.

Apparently Ludwig Bemelmans' grandson has created a new Madeline story. You can read about it here. I think they could have just left the character well enough alone in print with the five original stories (you can see my thoughts in general about this practice here in part 1 and part 2), but perhaps this is one that will work. (According to a couple of reviews mentioned in the AP article, it looks like it does not though.) I will probably take a look at it once the library has it.

The Earnest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West, Florida has worked out an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to allow the six-toed cats to stay. Here is the AP story.

If you are in Northern Utah, here are a few productions you might want to see:

Jekyll and Hyde - Rodgers Memorial Theater in Centerville is performing this musical based on Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) through October 30th. Go to www.rodgersmemorial.com for more information.

In American Fork, through October 13th, you can experience the Legend of Sleepy Hollow Concert, based Washington Irving's short story originally published in 1820, with an orchestra, a sound effects artist, and a fully costumed chorus and narrator, as well as other activities for the whole family. Go to www.sleepyhollowshow.com for more information.

And lastly, BYU is hosting the University of Utah's production of the Classical Greek Tragedy Medea (431 BC), by Euripides on September 29th. Get production and ticket information at www.byuarts.com.

Brisinger Launch

With the release of Brisinger (2008) last week, I have been asked what I think about Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle. I only read Eragon (2003), the first book and haven't had much desire to read any of the others.

While I was impressed that Christopher was 15 or so when he wrote it, the story just didn't intrigue me. I would suppose if I were younger and had not read Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings or Anne McCafferty's Dragonriders of Pern novels, or seen Star Wars (1997), I would have found the characters, world, and ideas interesting. Since I have though, there weren't any surprises or real originality so I didn't continue with the series.

Besides the derivative nature of story, I have one other complaint. Keep in mind that I have read, seen and enjoyed plenty of books and movies that push credibility and I believe I give authors quite a bit of slack - but I still expect some internal logic. I bought the magic, history, etc. in Eragon except that Eragon himself was able to not only learn to write his own language in the space a a few weeks, but also other languages. I have studied languages and I just could not accept that a person could become proficient in either in such a short time. Perhaps I missed the explanation, or it was cleared up in the second book.

It is heartening that the Inheritance Cycle is getting so much attention with midnight releases and all. I wish Christopher great success. Maybe someday I will catch up on the series (I do understand his writing has improved and I would hope the story has started to incorporate more original ideas - even Terry Brook's The Sword of Shannara (1977) is a retelling of The Lord of the Rings and look were it has taken him), but for now there are just too many older stories I haven't read and new, original ones coming out.

Free Neil Gaiman & Brandon Sanderson Books

Neil Gaiman gives a link in his blog (here) to a site where you can download an electronic version of Neverwhere (1996). This eBook has a shelf life so you have until a set date to read it after you have downloaded it. If you haven't read it, and you don't have access to a library for whatever reason, this is a great way to sample without buying.

Until September 30, 2008 you can also go here on the Fantasy Book Critic's blog to enter win copy of Gaiman's forthcoming The Graveyard Book (2008).

While you are on the Fantasy Book Critic's blog, you can enter to win several other books, including Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy until October 14. (Here is a direct link to the form for the trilogy)

Both of the Neverwhere and Mistborn stories are well written and set in refreshingly (and increasingly hard-to-find) original fantasy worlds. Let me know if you win one of the drawings or what you think about any of the books if you read them.

Cabinet of Wonders: Evil, Incarnate

In Cabinet of Wonders: Evil, Incarnate, Heather McDougal present ideas and illustrations related to how storytellers use negative physical characteristics to represent evil. and what it says about us.

It is not often you can read references to Leonardo da Vinci, Heath Ledger as the Joker, the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, and Beowulf, as well as works by William Shakespeare, Frank Herbet, Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket, and Charles Dickens among others - all in one discussion.

While you are there, check out some of her previous, facinating posts.

And now, the rest of the story ... (part II)

(a continuation of part I from the previous post, looking at continued works of authors after they have passed away, starting with the list)

• While various authors have written novels with Ian Fleming's James Bond, Sebastian Faulks was commissioned to write Devil May Care (2008)
• Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson have written several prequels and a couple of sequels to Frank Herbert's Dune novels
• Roger Zelazny's estate authorized John Betancourt to write a five-prequel series to Zelazny's ten Chronicles of Amber books (this Dawn of Amber series was cancelled after the four books)
• Robert Ludlum's estate gave permission to Eric Van Lustbader to write new Jason Bourne stories (and three have been published)
• Robert Jordan's widow selected Brandon Sanderson to finish the last book in Jordan's Wheel of Time series (which is still in progress and unpublished)

Honestly, I have only read one series of these authorized continuation books in this list, so I can't comment on most of them specifically.

I did have the misfortune of listening to the Legends of Dune trilogy [The Butlerian Jihad (2002), The Machine Crusade (2003), The Battle of Corrin (2004)] This trilogy takes place thousands of years before Dune (1965), to explain how the technology, social structure (including ruling families and other organizations) and culture in the Dune universive began. If I had other audio books to listen to at the time I probably wouldn't have finished these.

Some of it could have been the reader, but beyond that I found the stories to be cliche ridden and void of the plot complexity, thought provoking themes and ideas, and realistic characters and character development that Frank Herbert had in his Dune novels (well, OK, most of his Dune novels - at least the original trilogy and the fourth). With these I felt like I was listening to the first attempt of an author from the 1950's to write a space opera. I kept hoping that each book in the Legends trilogy would get better than the previous, but they didn't. (If I had to recommend one of the three to read upon pain of death, it would be the middle one though. But you have been warned.)

As you might guess, I doubt I will read or listen to any more Dune books by these two. I have read and enjoyed other books by Brian. Perhaps the collaboration of these two authors actually produces something a minuscule of a fraction of the work as their individual and independent worked combined. I assume Brian Herbert worked from notes or outlines his father created at some point, but I started to wonder more and more how much Brian, or Kevin Anderson, followed or modified those notes. I would have preferred an original timeline with notes to these bloated doorstops.

Where am I going with all of this? I would guess that it boils down to if the new author manages to continue with the characters, worlds, or ideas in a way you would feel the original author would, you will like the book. And this is going to vary from author to author, and story to story. With stories that are your favorites, I would guess you are going to be less likely to enjoy the new versions.

I wish Colfer the best of luck with his book (even though I think Terry Prachett might have been a better choice). As Colfer has written six Artemis Fowl books I would imagine he is use to getting both criticism and praise for each new book in that series, which should prepare him for the response from Adam's Hitchhiker fans.

Regardless of what you think about a non-Adams Hitchhiker book, or about Colfer as the choice, I hope that this exposes the Hitchhiker universe (and everything) to more people so they can experience the original books themselves where they might not have otherwise.

What are some other official, authorized or commissioned sequels or prequels of contemporary authors would you add to the list? How do you feel they did with the characters, worlds and ideas they were working with? I am interested to find out.

And now, the rest of the story ... (part I)

Jane Belson, Douglas Adams' widow, authorized Eoin Colfer, the author of several young adult and children's books including the popular Artemis Fowl series, to write the sixth book in the even-MORE-increasingly misnamed Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy.

The announced title is And Another Thing ..., and you can read Belson's and Colfer's thoughts on this here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/sep/17/douglasadams

This got me to thinking about other stories officially sanctioned by a writer's estate, or by the legal copyright holders.

While some estates would sanction this type of work to appease the fans, especially in the case where the originally published work is unfinished, most of the commissions are made because the estate and the publisher think they can make some money. That isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as the new author produces something the readers enjoy.

I would imagine it would be difficult for a writer. First the writer would need to be a fan of the original, or perhaps is just looking for a challenge or possible notoriety, or he or she may just need some cash. Second the writer would need to decide if they were going to write it in their voice or try to imitate the original voice of the author. Both paths are fraught with danger. To some extent, this would probably depend on how much the author left behind. Were some parts already written? How much of an outline did the original author provide? The new author would also have to take into consideration how different her or his style is from the original author's.

In some cases, the new author is left to use the character(s), world(s), and ideas however they like. These are probably the types of continuations I am less of a fan of. I don't know if Colfer is basing this new book on notes and ideas the Adam's left behind or not. That will probably push me a little in one direction of the other. The fact that I have read some of Colfer's other novels makes it more likely that I will read this one, but I will still probably wait to get a feel for the response of others. I just don't have time to read everything, or maybe I am just a literary sheep.

Much like the movie versions of a book, my opinion is the original is still there to love, enjoy, ignore or loath regardless of how I feel about the new prequel, sequel or adaptation. If I really don't like it, I can just compartmentalize it as non-canonical. There is not any guarantee I would have even liked the prequels or sequels written by the original author had he or she lived - there are times I wish the original author would have left things well enough alone as they were. We have WAAAYY too many unneeded sequels and story extensions with living authors.

Using the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy as an example, I really liked the first two books [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979) and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980)], and I thought the other three books had their moments, but for me the went sequentially down hill and I found Mostly Harmless (1992), the fifth book, mostly neh. (Interestingly, the books were based on a radio program (1978), and a TV series followed in 1981, with the movie in 2005. Adams was directly involved with the radio and television programs, and the movie followed a treatment he worked on before his death, and still all of these differ from the each other and from the books.)

Anyway, as I mentioned somewhere near the beginning, this announcement got me thinking of some other authorized completions, continuations and prequels:

• Lee Nelson finished Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer Among the Indians (2003), a recently found, half-written sequel to Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)
• The Special Trustees of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, who hold the copyright to J.M.Barrie's Peter and Wendy (1911), selected Geraldine McCaughrean to write the official sequel - published in 2008 as Peter Pan in Scarlet
• Margarett Mitchel's estate authorized Alexandra Ripley to write Scarlett (1991), a sequel to Gone with the Wind (1936)

(the list and discussion continue in the next post)

Breaking Dawn, Midnight Sun & Note to Stephenie Meyer

If you are planning on reading Breaking Dawn (2008), Stephenie Meyer’s 4th book in the Twilight Saga, you might not want to read any further as this is full of spoilers. Although chances are that if you are going to read it, you already have.

My cousins touted Twilight (2005) since it came out. After two more books [New Moon (2006) and Eclipse (2007)], and deciding to catch up on young adult fantasy written by authors with Utah connections I jumped in. I listened to the first three books (Ilyana Kadushin does a GREAT job with the audio versions).

I found the books full of intriguing twists on vampires and werewolves, quite intense emotional energy and engaging characters. I found Bella frustrating - I didn't agree with a lot of her decisions. I have never been a 17 year old female, but due to the response of those I talked with Bella Swan really resonated with them. So if you are looking for a window into the 17-24 year-old female psyche, this could be a pretty good one. I never really connected with Edward Cullens in the four published books, but I did feel for Jacob Black. New Moon, which focused more on Jake and Bella's relationship is still my favorite of the series.

Breaking Dawn started off quicker than I anticipated and ended up going in direction I didn’t anticipate. It was unexpected to switch to Jake’s perspective, but it made sense as Bella wasn’t doing or seeing much. I enjoyed the book, but I was disappointed.

Throughout the other books becoming a vampire is presented as a sacrifice – loosing connections with family and friends, the ability to have children, control for a year, freezing your character and development. Yet Bella manages to not only keep it all, she even manages to control her vampire urges from the beginning. In fact, with Jake imprinting nobody suffers at all in the book.
It just seemed that Meyer didn’t want to have anyone not have a happy ending. It is not that I wished ill toward anyone, but I feel that some suffering or sacrifice or pain could make the happy endings happier and more powerful. It was a lost opportunity, a chance to add some contrast to the story and make the ending more of a cathartic experience. This is something that J.K. Rowling didn't shy away from in the Harry Potter series, as a recently well known example. Well known and liked characters suffered and died. It made the eventual triumph sweeter - more meaningful, poignant and real. Decisions usually come with consequences, including potentially painful trade offs, but at this point in the Twilight world, apparently they don’t.

Besides the universal lack of afflictions, there were a few other small issues that prevented Breaking Dawn from being more than just an enjoyable story for me. Alice’s disappearance didn’t throw me (perhaps I have just read too many books with psychics), but the deus ex machina revealing of Nehuel was jarring. It also would have been nice to spend more time with some of the other characters, but I realize that would have made the book waaay too long.

The stand off of the Volturi and the Cullens (and friends) was disappointing, but Stephenie did address that in the Breaking Dawn FAQ on her site (http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/bd_faq.html). The whole Volturi/Cullens collecting of gifted vampires (whether planned or not) started to remind me of the Magento/Professor X mutant gathering in X-Men.

I kept waiting for either the vampires or the werewolves to realized that none of them asked to become what they had become. In fact, Bella is the only one out of the multitudes of supernatural creatures that consciously decided her transformation. No one ever verbalized this though.

Do I still recommend Breaking Dawn? Yes, but not as not as strongly as I felt I could have. It does appear to be the end of Bella’s story as the uber-Bella is now immortal and unchangeable.

Luckily, Meyer opened up so many plot threads that I am sure she is planning to return to this world of sparkly vampires and werewolves/shape-shifters the size of buffaloes. First we have the introduction of several new and intriguing vampires. The Volturi are still in power. Then there is news of Johann somewhere in South America trying to create a super-race of half-breed vampires. (Do you think there is any chance he was involved with the Nazi’s?) Something is going on with Billy Black that was never explained. And while this is not the last loose thread, Edward commented that Jake could have competition for Renesmee with Nehuel. With all of these elements that Meyer can pick up and use in new stories, I would probably hold off on buying the forthcoming The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide (due out Dec 30, 2008) because at some point they will need to update it.

Meyer could use Midnight Sun (unpublished but available on http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html) to begin to address some of the shortcomings in the series by filling in holes and providing explanations missing in the other books. So far she hasn't, but in the dozen chapters available in the partial draft I finally began to identify with Edward. (Although I don’t buy it that after 80 years a mind reader doesn’t realize that he dazzles and overwhelms human females. Also, I must have skipped over it but when did Edward tell his family that he couldn’t read Bella’s thoughts? Let me know where it happened if you know. Thanks. It just seemed that this would have, or should have been quite a discussion among the Cullens. It intrigued the Volturi after all.)

I imagine that after things blow over with the Midnight Sun leak, and perhaps Meyer has written another book or two, she will come back to finish this. I would also be interested to get Edwards perspective on the New Moon events, especially the time he spent in South America after Victoria.

As if Stephenie Meyer would ever read this, my recommendation to her would be to take the opportunity in writing companion books to the original three Twilight Saga books to fill out the vampire characters some more, and to lay some background so some of the events and “revelations” in Breaking Dawn don’t feel like they are coming out of the blue just to help tie up the story line. If you are interested, Stephenie, just let me know and I can go over my concerns in more detail and even some possible ways you could address them. I will just wait for your email.

For those of you who can't wait for any more Twilight books, at least you will have the movie in November, and if that does well I am sure more movies will follow.