Silent Hill Homecoming-Short Review

*Minor Spoilers Ahead!

Welcome home, Soldier...

I don't want to do a whole review for this. Quite frankly, I like it a lot. Yes, we all saw the end coming. I think it's more pertinent to make Alex realize the truth, and the player needs to find out why Alex can’t see it like we can. The graphics are great, I liked the interaction with The Order, and I liked the story with Shepherd’s Glen. I’m tired of people exclaiming, “OMG YOU LIKED THIS GAME?!” Yes, I do. It’s why I got all the achievements for it. It’s why I’ll play it a billion more times before I die.

There are a few things I'd like to post though. You know who my favourite character is? This guy:

Curtis Ackers

People cite him as one of the main antagonists, second to Judge Halloway. I don’t really consider him a main, more like a mini-boss, and I’m not convinced he’s always been evil. I don’t think he was part of The Order until after you find his shop all locked up. I think they took him then and he converted.

What I find intriguing about him is his focus on fixing and maintaining. He runs the scrap yard/repair shop and he sees how people can neglect their possessions. With The Order, he “finds clarity.” I’ve been wondering what his clarity is. He isn’t part of the four families of Shepherd’s Glen, so I am uncertain if he was part of that religion too. His clarity might have been religion. And since he seems to be a grumpy guy who prefers to be alone, perhaps he found the people of religion to be of his social taste. And they gave him a new job-to fix...broken people. With a circular saw.

You know who I hate? This lady:

I'm busy looking for my son. Oh, wait..no I'm not.

Totally useless. Yes, I get her emotional trauma. She had to pick one son, but she gave birth to both. She’s mentally unstable now, but you know how short/different the game would be if she was like, “Oh, hey, about your brother...you know [insert plot reveal], right? Remember? Oh yeah, I guess you’ve forgotten [other big plot reveal]. Guess you have to go to Silent Hill now instead of meandering all over this town. Bye!”  

I could go on, but I think I'll leave it at that. 

Devilish By Maureen Johnson-Discussion Questions and Answers

I haven't been reading much for myself lately. Mostly for book clubs that I organize. I've decided to start doing review/rants about the teen lit we read for Teen Book Club at the library I work at. My group is still pretty small, as we are relatively new and getting new teens to come in is like pulling teeth. Lil Bunny is one though. I've decided to post up my discussion questions, my answers, the answers from my group of clever little cookies, and some ranting.

*Note: I did some research on the ol' internet and it seems that people either loved this book or hated it. There are a few questions that I asked them if they agree with the criticisms or not.

Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Teen Book Club Discussion Questions, Some Answers, and Some Ranting.

Summary: Quirky outcasts Jane and Ally are seniors at their Catholic high school. On Little Big day, the day when seniors get younger girls to mentor, something so horrible, so unfortunate, happens to Ally that she is embarrassed enough to just want to die. And out of the blue comes the younger Lanalee, who offers to be Ally's Little despite the shocking display. However, once Lanalee arrived on the scene, Ally begins to change. She stops hanging out with Jane, she gets a new haircut, new clothes, and a new phone. Jane is confused, and eventually hurt. What follows is a tale we are all too familiar with: Ally has made a deal with a devil, and only the highly intelligent Jane can figure it out.

Spoilers Ahead!  

Did you find Jane's character to be believable? Did you connect with her?
On the internet I've read lots of criticism about Jane's character. I found her to be believable as far as any character goes. She didn't touch my heart like some characters do, but she seemed more believable than a lot of characters. For instance, she tells the reader that she has totally gotten over her ex, Elton. But she hasn't. Not really. She has her faults-she talks too much and is a bit of a know-it-all. The teens had no problem with her; they liked her and thought she was believable. Our verdict: The Internet Is Dumb.

Did the story seem unoriginal? 
The teens didn't even know what I was talking about. As teens, they have yet to encounter the vast field of literature of the "deals with the devil" type. They liked it, and they said that they had no idea that it was going to happen, nor who the devil was. I saw it coming a mile away, and I chalked it up to being an "adult".
I got to rant a bit about Dr Faustus (oh lord, I heart Faustus!), who had a similar encounter and a similar contract, and this mythology is entrenched in our culture, and has been since around 1590. Deals with the devil are not new, and maybe not so scary since we've lost the "OMG every stranger could be the devil trying to temp you-even if they are really nice and good looking men OMG stranger danger!" attitude.
I also tried to explain the trope about "the new student" (you can find info on that here) who just comes in as the new kid and suddenly they stir up all the events of the story. Side note, anime needs to think of a better plot device, damnit!

Would you have signed the contract to save Ally after everything she had done? 
The big "everything" was threatening to kill herself and then say that she didn't do it to make Jane look like a complete lunatic. To be honest, I wouldn't have given too much thought to her after this. I would have wiped my hands dramatically, thrown them up in the air and been like "Nope, I don't care. Have fun in hell, I'm going to be awesome over here, without you two losers." I thought I would have been alone in my view but the teens had the same view as me. Why go out of your way when she did that? There is the whole matter of Ally dating Jane's ex, but we came to the conclusion that while it might seem bad, we could get over the idea with time. Turns out my teens in my group would also have walked away from her and not given a damn either. We suppose it makes Jane a much better person than us, and that works to her benefit.

How did you feel about the snarky remarks about the popular girls?
I thought I could get some "Jane seems to be unjustly hard on them" out of the group, but nope. They see the A3 as the mean popular girls. I see them differently. While they don't ever include Jane or Ally, they don't seem to outright antagonize them either. Instead I found Jane to come off as mean as she related to the reader that they are constantly putting moisturizer on. And I, an admitted addict to scented moisturizer, don't really see a problem with this. I'm probably worse, as I've been caught a few times at work putting moisturizer on my hands and elbows. I have an obscene collection now, to the point where my male friends scratch their head in confusion. What am I getting at? Well, I don't see much reason to really despise the A3 on their behaviour. I feel that Johnson just told the reader that they are the popular ones that need to be hated. If you hate the A3, lets face it, you hate me too because all we see the A3 doing is moisturizing.

116-year-old love interest? Is it creepy? 
The answer, a resounding YES! We even discussed if we are Team Elton or Team Owen. Turns out, we are all Team Neither. While my sister said that Owen was better, she was also a team Neither. They couldn't really explain why they didn't like Elton, and I say it's because Jane realizes that she doesn't like him either. I told them that Jane realizes that he buckles under pressure and that he is little more than the "nice guy". So, then there's Owen for the love interest. He's 116-years-old, with a 14-year-old's body. Creepy? This was met with a resounding: "OMG YES! EWW!" Gross that he looks 14 and she's about 17-18, and gross that he's much older inside and going after a minor.
Side note that we talked about: Why didn't anyone just tell Elton to kill Jane so Ally didn't have to enter the second contract?! Argh!

What did you think about the "dream" with Mr. Fields? Do you think it was necessary?
I thought it was kind of boring. It didn't really add anything though. If we really needed confirmation that Lanalee has had dealings with other terrible people in history, it could have been done in a different way that didn't take up so many pages. I got some agreement on this one.

Did you like how Ally broke Jane's contract with the "kiss"? 
I liked it. I didn't see it coming and I was like, AWESOME! Why didn't I think of that?! So bloody clever.
And the teens thought it was ok. Shot down, QQ.
We talked a bit about the intelligence levels in the book, which I don't think they gave much thought to. Jane is the uber intelligent one. Cassie is just under her. Ally is the "average" student. Joan, Jane's sister, is pretty and has lots of friends, but is sadly considered to be dim.
I want to talk about Ally and Joan.
Neither are considered to be bright. No colleges are fighting for them. But in the end, they make all the difference because they think differently from Jane. Ally gave Elton the "kiss" to save Jane. Ally alone broke Jane's contract. Joan was the one who brought it to Jane's attention that she could very well go after Lanalee with a steak knife if she wanted. Also, I hate it that "the pretty sister" is also surrounded by friends but ultimately dumb as a door nail. Why is this also so formulaic? I dislike it, but I also liked how Joan got her moment in the end with Jane.

Did the devil seem just too easy to defeat? 
Jane is exceptionally intelligent but educated adults who know the bible inside and out AND a 116-year-old couldn't figure it out. Yes, the rules. That apply to them, not her. The teens didn't have much to say about this. I think it's something they didn't really think about it much. In the end it's Joan and Ally that are breaking contracts and putting Joan in the right direction.

Did you really think that either of them (Ally or Jane) was going to die?
Jane really did cut it down to the wire. In the end she doesn't die, but Lanalee still does some damage with Ally's contract. The teens were like, "main characters never die." I was nice enough to burst their bubble and say that sometimes main characters, even the protagonist, do die. I couldn't give examples without destroying the plot of some fantastic books. They said it couldn't work, and I said that killing off the main character has a different affect on our minds and our reading experience. "You know," I said, "sometimes people that we are attached to do die in real life." Snarky-snark-snark.

Lets talk about Jane cutting off Ally's toes!
CLEANEST MUTILATION SCENE EVAR! I got lots of agreement with this. First off, Jane cut off all 10 toes in one swipe with a steak knife. No. That's not happening. You have bone to go through, and to get off JUST the toes you would have to curve your cut. This would take more than a clean swipe through butter. Ally/Lanalee would have LOADS of time to, as one girl put it, "use my other foot of toes to kick her in the face!" I thought maybe they would be too squimesh to talk about it, but my group is awesome and weird like me and got into it.
We've read gory scenes in YA lit. That's not a new thing. But why is this so...unrealistic?

Have you read any other Maureen Johnson books? How does this one compare to the others? 
And they hadn't so it was just me talking to myself. Johnson is probably better known for her other novels like Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes, The Bermudez Triangle, and Girl at Sea. These are all based in reality and revolve strongly around human relationships. In reviews from even this year, I see criticisms along the lines of "why is she writing paranormal fiction? Where does she get off doing that? She writes slice-of-life stories! Blah blah..." However, she also wrote The Name of the Star in 2011 which deals with ghosts.Why does no one go look at her bibliography before writing such dribble? Yes, I can excuse the reviews that were actually from 2006 when Devilish was published. But the newer ones? No, stop reviewing and hang your head in shame for not even looking at her bibliography. Second, stop saying that people shouldn't step into another genre just because YOU don't like it. The teens were kind of lost on my rant but I think they understood. My sister said something along the lines of, "if they don't like this kind of story...just don't read it." Exactly! I have some very beloved authors whom I follow, but if they release something that just isn't my cup of tea, I a) don't read it, or b) read it and take it as is. Let's take Anne Rice. I LOVE her Vampire Chronicles. I haven't read her Christ The Lord series because...er, it just doesn't float my boat. Would I criticize her for writing something other than paranormal fiction? Nope. You don't need to read everything, you don't need to love everything, but you sure as hell don't get to dictate what an author writes. Bam.
Side note: I would LOVE to read The Bermudez Triangle when I get more teens in the group, but I fear the conservative nature of this small town. It could only lead to me being run out of the town by torch and pitchfork wielding illiterates.

A criticism is that this book isn't "deep" enough. Do you agree?
I don't think they really understood what I meant here. Here's how I tried to explain:
High schools have you write essays basically about "deep" stuff, called themes. Themes are the big issues of the work, such as racism, sexism, sexuality, political issues, poverty, social status, etc. In Devilish we have some social issues with the A3s as they tend to dominate, and I'm sure you could write an essay about the intelligence levels of the characters in this novel. But other than that...there's not much. There's a lot of "because friendship!" and that's the main driving force for Jane.
I compared it to The Hunger Games. There we have poverty, social injustices, human rights issues, political issues, etc. They got that. THG is HUGE with them. They understood that completely and they seemed ready to write essays on it if given the chance. But for Devilish? They couldn't really do it.
So I asked, does this novel NEED "bigger issues?" Response: No. The story was great and it held our attention and made us care about the characters. Inserting bigger issues would have been weird. Verdict: The Internet Is Over-Thinking.

A criticism is that there is no enough action. Do you agree?
My favourite part of the novel is when the devil gets a cupcake smooshed right into her face! I wish I someday will have reason to smoosh a cupcake into someone's face. One girl said that she had-"Did you have a good reason?" "Kind of. He was trying to take my cupcake away so I squished it into his face." "Then I fully endorse your actions."
Is this really considered "action"? Not really in the right sense of the term. Just like the "deep themes" discussion, does crazy heart pumping, car explosions, chase scenes, etc, fit in here? Response: Um, no. It is a story that takes place in high school. Although we have deals with the devil here, it is basically a slice-of-life high school story. I asked, don't the days just blend in to one another? One girl's response-"I saw four kids get pushed down the stairs all at once today. That was exciting." But admittedly, these things don't usually happen. You go to class, there might be typical drama between students, and that's basically it. Jane had to deal with the situation in the realm of her universe, which is very similar to our own.

And that's it. I enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. Everyone seemed to like it and that makes me especially happy! Next up is Neil Shusterman's Unwind.

The Hunger Games Trilogy-Spoilers Ahead!

The Hunger Games Trilogy

 

Yes, I’m going to jump on the bandwagon and write about The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. With the first movie out in theaters now, everyone is reading and blogging about the books. I’m going to try to steer away from topics that have been beaten, stabbed, and set on fire to death. What I’m going to talk about is a little personal experience and force my opinion on the internet. 

My sister lent me her books, none of which are actually hers. The first one, The Hunger Games, is borrowed from my cousin. Fine. But when I opened to the first page behind the hardcover, written in pen is “Age 14+” in black pen. In adult handwriting. My cousin is a teenager. Where did she get this book and who wrote this? I can’t contact her for a while, but when I do, I’ll ask.

Something that I have noticed is people groaning that either a) adults should not be reading The Hunger Games or b) that The Hunger Games is inappropriate for young people/teens to read. Well then, the question remains: who the hell should be reading these books? Here’s the answer: everyone.    

Elaboration on point A is unnecessary, as I can write a whole post on people should mind their own fucking business and let other people read whatever they want. A rant on this topic is warranted, as I find people like to poke their noses into all areas of others people’s business. So, side note: stay out of other people’s business, damnit.

But what I really want to write about today is The Hunger Games. Point B, at the core, is much more involved. I’m going to write about why teens should read these books.

The argument against these books that I hear most is that they contain violent imagery and violent concepts. The actual Hunger Games is a game/reality television show set up by the government as a means of suppressing future rebellions. Children aged 12 to 18 are put into a draw, and one female and one male from each District have to enter an arena and fight to the death. Only one comes out as the victor. Yes, violent indeed. My sister, let’s call her Lil’ Bunny, is 12 (below the “Age 14+”). She’s afraid of everything. Seriously. You can’t even watch the show Cops around her because it makes her think criminals are out to get her. Did this book, with all the killings freak her out? She says no. She says that she hates the thought of Clove’s head after Thresh puts that fatal dent into her head with a rock. The image of the dent preoccupies her, and she wonders how the movie will portray the dent (we are going next Saturday).

All people are different, though. Will this freak out some readers? Of course. But some adults read “adult” books and are freaked out or insulted, etc by the slightest things too (I kind of want to tell them to grow a pair and stop reading instead of complaining about the damaging effects of violent imagery or opposing viewpoints, but who would be around to argue with me if I did that?). The story is intriguing and you genuinely want to continue reading. With this kind of story, you know that 23 of the 24 contestants should die, and while the protagonist is up for being murdered in the arena, it is pretty obvious that she won’t die. It comes down to some complicated emotions and concepts that readers are faced underneath the violence of the Games.    

Lil’ Bunny and I talk extensively about the dystopia of Panem, and what it means to be oppressed, the politics involved, and what it means to stand up and rebel (and I speak ad nauseum about V for Vendetta all the time). How the government gives its people “bread and circuses” (food and entertainment) in exchange for their right to participate in the government. It is the government of Panem that has decided to oppress their people. They also reap all the goods from the Districts and give luxurious lives to those who live in the Capitol with those goods. The Games are in place not only to quell dissent among the poorer Districts, but as entertainment. People say “but dear God that’s disgusting! Who can watch children murder each other?” Then you get into issues of desensitization, especially those who live in the Capitol  and the richer districts. They have grown up with these games, which are mandatory to watch, and are celebrated like no holiday we have. The richer Districts have Careers-people who train from a young age to compete because they want to win for the glory-and the poorer Districts...they face starvation, everyday. If you win, you get money, a house, and your district is rewarded with grain and oil for a year. Not that you have a choice to decline, though someone might volunteer to take their place, which is what Katniss does for Prim.

The moral issues in these books are prominent, especially in the last book, Mockingjay. In real life we have to make moral judgements all the time. Some people epically fail in the moral development area. We might hate them for their disgusting behaviour, but that is also a moral choice (forgiveness or revenge or eternal hate?). Focusing on Mockingjay, the morality of the characters really come to light. As Peeta has gone insane and is trying to kill Katniss every couple of hours, she has to decide if she can, and should kill Peeta. Katniss is being used by Coin, leader of District 13, for her own personal gain. She resents Coin but Katniss uses the opportunity to aid in the rebellion, though she is hell bent on killing President Snow. In the Games, you will probably have to kill in order to survive, and quite possibly you will have kill someone you know from your District. One moral dilemma is obvious even to younger readers: Katniss is torn between Peeta and Gale, and she lets both love her without rejecting or accepting either one. Morally, this is a terrible thing to do to two people, yet it is understandable why she does it. In the first book, she probably will not survive the Games and she doesn’t want to marry and have children in a Panem that reaps its children for the Hunger Games. In the second book, she has to go back into the arena. In the last book...well, I can’t say I’m so impressed by Katniss. Hey, Katniss, can you maybe not kiss both men and string them along? Although, she does admit that she isn’t the most adorable person in the world, and her negative characteristics is what keeps her from being a flat character like Bella Swan.  

One thing my sister and I spoke about is Katniss’s final decision to marry Peeta and reject Gale. Not only does she reject Gale, it seems to me like he never comes back. I’ve thought about this, and I think Katniss would have been better with Gale if she could come to terms with Prim’s death. Prim dies trying to tend to the wounded children in the Capitol-a scene in the book that had me choked up (don’t judge me!). Silver parachutes descend from the sky from a hovercraft-parachutes usually have relief items of some kind-and they exploded, killing or wounding the children who had them. Once the medics came, including Prim, they exploded again, killing the people trying to save them. This kills Prim and sets Katniss on fire as she was trying to run to Prim. What does this have to do with Gale? Gale was working with someone else on weapons that are based on hunting strategies, namely, to trap or kill one animal to attract the real prize in a second trap. What complicates this further is that Katniss does not know if the Capital ordered the parachutes, or if the rebels did it “for the greater good” and sacrificed some lives. While she believes that she will never know who set the parachutes (though she doesn’t actually try), she believes that Gale at least contributed to Prim’s death because he designed the strategy. That’s like blaming all gun related deaths on the person who invented guns! Morally, Gale is alright with sacrificing some people to get the job done. Should she be angry with Gale? Obviously I don’t think she should be blaming him for her sister’s death.      

In conclusion, I think the whole “OMG what a deplorable, violent concept! Shield our children/young people!” is true, to an extent. Yes, the concept is violent. As a society should we shield our children/teens against everything? I don’t think so, and these books are written to not be splatter porn. They certainly do not glorify killing people. In fact, you read more about how the Games has emotionally and mentally damaged Katniss and other victors. Reading these books can make young people think about oppressive governments and moral choices. (Hell, they can make adults think about these things too.) Critical thinking is always a good thing that should be encouraged, not stifled.        

The Film

The only preconception that I have is that Katniss has been whitewashed. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what race a character and their film version actor are. Sometimes, like in this case, it does matter. Katniss is “olive skinned” with dark hair and eyes-she looks like everyone else in her District, District 12. Her mother and sister, Prim, are fair hair and light skinned. While Katniss provides for them, there is still an obvious element of “otherness” to Katniss that I believe is vital to the story. She is not like her (remaining) family in the way that she can hunt and provide and in the way that she looks. Katniss is also not like Prim, who is a sweet girl who matures into a calm figure of steady wisdom. Katniss is the opposite in looks and character.

Battle Royale

I read a while ago that a Japanese film called Battle Royale is extremely similar, with being even more violent (yay!). I then realized that I actually have this movie. A review of this will come shortly, as I love me some Japanese horror film.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Royale_(film)

   

Other Things-Finnick Odair

Lots of people have criticised Collins for writing poor male leads, a sentiment I do not particularly agree with. But I think the best written character, for me, is Finnick Odair. Initially he is a ridiculously handsome young man from District 4, which specializes in fishing, and who is adored by everyone. Now 24 years old, he is brought back into the Hunger Games and becomes a rebel. It is in Mockingjay that his character really shines because of his brokenness. He is worried because his love, Annie Cresta, another winner of a previous Game who went insane after, has been captured by the Capitol. Additionally, he and other victors are used as prostitutes in the Capitol. It sheds a terrible truth to his beauty, and his affection to Annie is absolutely beautiful. Even though she is mad and can barely function sometimes, he loves her. When she is still captive, the image of him wondering around in a hospital gown, tying knots in a length of rope, is probably the most vivid in my mind. He is funny, striking a seductive pose in his underwear, offering sugar to Katniss, and brave, fighting the muttations even though the odds of surviving are against him.