KSena's Journal

More reading!

Great things to read! (Books/Comics/Fanfic)

Going back to books again! :-)

This book I read when I was quite young, which might not have been to smart.... *lol* I actually blame spicehobbit for this one to! I think I was 15-16 years old when I read this... I think because she had seen the musical for the first time around there and was squeeing all over the place. Not sure.

Anyway, the book I am talking about is Phantom of the Opera written by Gaston Leroux. It was published in book form for the first time 1910. Didn't go so well, until various film adaptions and musical adaptions were made.

But the book, people... The BOOK! It is quite amazing actually. Sure, the language is a bit aged, but it all adds to it. It is a very gothic mystery story, if you can call it that.

And there are a a lot more interesting side-characters in this book then there is no room for in the musical (I especially love the Police Inspector who tries to solve the phantom-mystery...). Also, quite a bit of hints as to where the Phantom, or Erik as his name is, where he comes from... where he has been... and what he has done before he ended up under the Paris Opera. Only hints, but they give a lot to the story. Gives it another life then the musical, I feel... but that might just be my personal opinion.

Very poetic, sad, melancholy... and beautiful. There is romance to, of course. And one can discuss if the right guy won the girl in the end... One never really knows. But that is the beauty of the book. There is nothing right or wrong with the characters action. On the surface, yes... but then you start to think... and this book makes you think... why is it right? And wrong? Could it be seen in another way? And usually you can...

Sad story, with no real winners I'd say.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. It is a classical book that I think as many as possible should read.

It is most likely available in most libraries, but if you can't find it there...

Amazon has it available right here:
The Phantom of the Opera (Penguin Classics)




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Alright!

Great things to read! (Books/Comics/Fanfic)

This time... I'll be talking about a comic. That's always been with me from when I was a little girl. You think I'll be talking Donald Duck now, right? X-D Nah, I'll save the ducks for later. :-) Nope. This time I'll talk about...

The adventures of Tintin!

And no. I don't mean the movie. (Even though it was actually much better then I thought! A pleasant surprise!)

I mean the original comics. :-)

If you haven't read them? You are missing out. Good as the movie is, the comics surpass them by far! Hergé (aka Georges Remi) was a BRILLIANT artist. If you look at the artwork in Tintin, the backgrounds and areas and houses and cars... and everything.... is amazingly detailed. While the characters... are not. More or less caricatures. Still, he makes it work. And makes it work wonderfully. :-) So art-wise, the comics are amazing. The stories? Yes. They are amazing to. Hergé did a TON of research for his stories. He didn't necessarily travel to all these places, but he did extensive research still. And it shows in the stories. When they take place in a real area, most of the places described do exist. Or has existed. Or is based on places already in existance, and Hergé figured out his own versions of various places. He even invented new countries for Tintin to visit! That are so well-described and researched, they feel very very real. :-)

So that is awesome. And then.... then there is all the characters. My gosh... Such a myriad of characters he created for this series. SURE Tintin is the lead, but seriously? There are a TON of characters in these comics, all just as colourful and just as important for the stories. My favorite is Captain Haddock! :-D Who, in himself, is interesting... since he is an alcoholic... and Hergé plays his alcoholism for various jokes. As a kid, I didn't reflect on it as such. But as an adult, you see so much more in the comics then you do as a kid. Not just with Haddock, but with Professor Calculus as well... Well, to be honest, as an adult you see all these quirks with ALL Hergés characters, that you didn't think about as a kid. Quirks that are quite serious if you examine them closer as an adult. :-) Makes re-reading them very very interesting.

Not to mention all the... not so cool views of race in these comics, that you didn't react to as a kid either, but really really react to today. But one has to remember when these were published. The first one, Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, was published 1930... as was the second one Tintin in the Congo... The harsh view of race was widly spread them, and everyone, well... most... didn't see any strange with it. Hergé did later admit he could have done those better, but alas... To late then. :-) He did do some re-drawings of some of the comics, and they did get re-releases. So those out on the market today are not quite as harsh when it comes to race and such. :-)

I am actually planning to re-read them in the right order, since I have never done that. They have them all at the main library. I've read them all at various times during my childhood and teens and as an adult too. But really... I haven't read them in order. :-) And I kinda wanna do that. So I think I will! :-D So yes. Read The Adventures of Tintin - the comics! They are very very worth a read-through and holds up VERY well, despite being quite old by now!

Ageless classics!

The order they were released:

1. Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
2. Tintin in the Congo
3. Tintin in America
4. Cigars of the Pharaoh
5. The Blue Lotus
6. The Broken Ear
7. The Black Island
8. King Ottokar's Sceptre
9. The Crab with the Golden Claws
10. The Shooting Star
11. The secret of the Unicorn
12. Red Rackham's Treasure
13. The Seven Crystal Balls
14. Prisoners of the Sun
15. Land of Black Gold
16. Destination Moon
17. Explorers on the Moon
18. The Calculus Affair
19. The Red Sea Sharks
20. Tintin in Tibet
21. The Castafiore Emerald
22. Flight 714
23. Tintin and the Picaros
24. Tintin and Alph-Art (Unfinsihed work, published posthumously)

And lastly, the dogs name is Milou, gawd dammit! NOT Snowy, wth? Now that was one thing that bothered the FUCK out of me when I watched the movie! Milou... MILOU!!! NOT SNOWY!!! *grumbles*




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