Graphic Novel: Post #4 - Closing Thoughts

As a closing post, I won't bore you with a summary or a description of the end. However, I will share my thoughts and opinions on the book as a whole, because I think that is more interesting. My general view of the book is very good; I enjoyed reading it, even though I had a rough idea of the plot, along with (like in most books) being able to guess what will happen next. I thought the ending didn't really do much tone wise, to change form the beginning. What I mean by that is that I would think in the end the author would make things perfect and peachy like in a lot of novels, but the very dark mood and tone was kept consistent throughout the novel. Also, keeping a consistent mood/tone is something I obviously enjoy because otherwise the book would be unorganized and confusing. One thing I would change about the novel is the insight into Neville's sexual desires. Although I found the personal battle interesting, not the sexuality, I think it was unnecessary to bring it up as many times as it was. I don't say this because I think it's inappropriate or anything, I just thought it was trying to be pushed on the reader too much. Interestingly enough, the part I enjoyed the most was the insight into Neville's thoughts. The author went into depth with Neville's thoughts on the important things, and when things were important, the author, Richard Matheson made sure you knew.

Graphic Novel: Post #3 - General Discussion

In my last two posts I haven't been focusing mainly on the graphic novel because I was attempting to prove my point that the book is almost a whole different story. Now, however, I will focus on the graphic novel. What i want to discuss, and also what I have found to be most interesting and surprising to me, is the tone and/or mood of the book. the book is actually very dark, and doesn't hesitate to discuss very "taboo" topics. A reoccurring struggle Neville deals with is his lust for women, and since the only women are vampires, he can't satisfy this want.  This is brought on by the vampires trying to lure him out by having the women be overly promiscuous and show their body parts to Neville, trying to get he best of him. I found this interesting, not in a necessarily typical manor; I thought that how the author went into such depth with Neville’s thoughts, and the battle between his minds “hypothalamus” (thank you St. Olaf ‘s human sexuality course) which is the part of ones brain that “drives” one’s sex drive (of course the cerebral cortex is what allows you to fantasize and what not) and his frontal cortex (which controls ones thinking and reasoning)…. Now that I have explained that, I shall rephrase it as well, “ the battle between his minds hypothalamus and frontal cortex”. It was actually significantly disturbing thinking about the situation afterwards. Even the thought crossing his mind of losing his life just to have sex in a way, shows our human instincts in a somewhat pure form, if the word “pure” can even be used in relation with this sentence. I don't think the author will allow him to give into these temptations, just because the way it would change the plot, but I do think, in real life, that somebody with Neville's personality,and situation, would eventually give in to their natural instincts. sadly, it would most likely be a male, I'm not being sexist, it's just men are more attracted to physical objects, and that's the only thing the vampires have to offer. 

Graphic Novel: Post #2 - Similarities

In my last post I mainly discussed the differences of the novel and the movie. In this post, I will discuss the similarities the two stories share. Mainly, they both have the same general plot of the last man on earth trying to stay alive. They both have a monster that only comes out at night and that carries a virus in their blood. Obviously they both have the same name, and family members names. Although the presence of the dog is seen throughout the whole movie, and doesn't appear until over half way through the novel, the dog still plays a role in Robert Neville's fight for life. Overtime, in the movie, Robert becomes lazy about cleaning in his apartment which his like the novels version of Neville, except he starts out being lazy. In both versions of this story, the main character, Robert Neville, deals with psychological problems revolving around his/their famil(y/ies). The main one is about his daughter Kathy, in both they have memories and flashbacks of her when she was happy and living safely with them. Kathy is remembered typically when something bad happens, like having to kill a zombie/vampire, which was a person, and could have well been her. Although there are many similarities and it is the same story technically, the differences still outweigh the similarities.  

Graphic Novel: Post #1 - Differences

          In addition to Persopelis, I am reading the original version of I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, which is a graphic novel of course. Although it may be seen as "taboo" to report on a book that is also a movie, but this book is different. The movie version starring Will Smith is much different. Although the book has the same general idea, it also shares the same "general" idea with many science fiction movies or novels about survival. The graphic novel follows the life of Robert Neville, a middle aged, a philosophical, sarcastic, chain-smoking drunk, who also happens to be the "last of his kind". Neville, surrounded by vampires at night who are trying to break into his house, and obviously, suck his blood, is confined to a days drive from his house. In the Hollywood film, the main character, still Robert Neville, is more of a heroic character whose purpose is to discover a cure for the zombies’ contagious virus. One character is heroic fighting off zombies, the other is self pitying and lazy who fights off vampires - very different. Also, in the movie, the setting is in a large city, with many skyscrapers and other buildings. In the graphic novel, the setting is placed in a suburban town, with all of the surrounding houses burned down (which Neville did to stop the vampires from jumping from one house to another). The setting and different characters with different specifications to plot lines, makes the two stories very different. Yes, they do have similarities, which I will discuss in my next post, but overall, the differences outweigh the similarities

http://h1.ripway.com/EricsMyBeau/03%20The%20Twilight%20Zone.mp3

Outside Reading: Day 9 - New Book

In an effort to not ruin the ending of Jerk California, written by Jonathan Friesen, I have started to read a new book and blog on this new book instead of continuing to blog about my last book, resulting in "spoilers". The new book i have began to read is one of the three book choices we were given in class recently. Of course I didn't choose this book to read then, I choose Slaughterhouse V by Kurt Vonnegut, but I chose one of the other books presented. This book is called The Weight of all Things by Sandra Benitez. So far, I have enjoyed this book, evcen know I know most of the beginning of the story through our classes fellow students presentations. Although this book is much different than Slaughterhouse V, it isn't that hard to transition between the twpo writing styles because The Weight of all Things has an interesting story, with a attention getter in the beginning. Instead of just giving a bunch of semi relevant details to the point of a literay induced coma, this book begins the story with the most "exciting" part of the book, which is the death of Nicholas, the main character's mother.

Outside Reading: Day 8 - Final Predictions

In an effort to write something new and not just blog about the same old thing I find interesting in this book, however interesting it may be. I'm going to make some very broad, general, but also specific predictions about the ending results of the book. First of all, obviously, I predict that Jack will "hook up" with Naomi, and she will overall help him with his problems. Helping Jack with his problems would be more than just being supportive; I predict that she will help him, not only with his family problems, but also with his tourette's syndrome. In relation to his family, I think, and hope, that Jack’s mom realizes she’s better off without the boob of a man old Bill is. This would result in her leaving Old Bill and his beautiful “prized” child. If Old Bill had any “man” in him, he would know he has medical issues as well, and apologize to Jack. From my personal experiences, having all of this stress taken away reduces the affects of Tourette’s syndrome, making life easier. Although losing stress doesn’t eliminate jerking movements, and ticks, having extra stress, especially a certain situation, makes any ticks and jerking movement’s sky rocket.