I'm Super Girl and I'm Here to Save the World

I’ve always been a dabbler in the comic book world. I know enough to get by in a conversation about the difference between the movie and the comic book (be that X-Men or Batman, so on and so forth).

However, recently I’ve discovered there’s so much more to the comic book world than the simple Batman, Superman, Spiderman, X-Men. Much more. The comic that I’m currently enjoying is the critically acclaimed event 52. 52 was a year-long weekly comic detailing the events of the year after Infinite Crisis in the DC Universe when there is no Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman. We learn more of the lesser known heroes (Booster Gold, the Question, Black Adam, etc) and see how their lives and stories are all woven together in the DC Universe.

No worries - I won't give away any of the plot since we all hate *spoiler alert* spoilers.

The beauty of the overall story is that you experience the events of the DCU in real-time since each issue took place over a week and was issued every week. There are so many plot-twists and rich character developments that you can’t help but get lost in the story. Not to insult any hard-core comics fans, but the comic reads like a soap opera. You jump into an episode of All My Children and you know who Erica Kane is . . . but Greenlee and Jackson, how do they all fit together? You keep watching and realize everyone in Pine Valley is connected and their stories more complex than you could imagine. Gotham and Metropolis don’t appear to be much different than Pine Valley.

Right so. To sum: politics, mythology, globalization, commercialism, homosexuality, inter-galactic bounty-hunting, and spandex. Lots of spandex.

New Year, New Friends

I have invited a couple of my friends to start posting.  I am hoping that it will bring a little bit of diversity to the blog.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions

Like Me by Chely Wright - Final

I finally finished this biography in its entirety.  I have a great amount of respect for Country Singer, Chely Wright right now.  Though I am a little concerned that at the time the book was written, Chely had not yet come out to her mother.  I hope that she was able to tell her before the book was on store shelves, though I know it was probably difficult.

As I said before, I would recommend this for anyone struggling with their own issues.  Whether it's coming out to your family or having had a family member come out to you.  This isn't a how-to manual, but it does show that there are, indeed, people like you.

Editing Twain

Yesterday afternoon, I was listening to NPR and I heard a very interesting conversation.  It has to do with this new edition of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, by New South Books,where the N-word is replaced with the word, "slave."  (If you've followed the link I attached to "NPR" it's down towards the bottom of the transcript after the discussion about the Health Care bill.)  I know this is the Hot-Topic in literature right now, but the NPR article really raised a lot of questions I felt were interesting. 

1) Is it better to change one aspect of the book so that it will be read or to keep it as written and risk the message being lost?

2) Does changing offensive language allow us, as a culture, to forget the mistakes in our history? And do we run the risk of leaving ourselves open to future problems?  Or is it a way to eradicate that type of prejudice from society?

I am personally concerned that we run the risk of over-sanitizing our lives, just like with germs and bacteria in our physical world.  If we do not build up a natural immunity to certain illnesses, there is a chance we will always being at risk for infection.  Or as with certain medications, the viruses and bacteria evolve to a point that the old remedies don't work anymore.  Is this change in Huckleberry Finn merely a temporary remedy for a much larger problem?

On the other hand, in college, there was a girl who could not get through Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.  Not because the language was difficult to navigate, but because the language choice personally offended her.  She had suffered a lot at the hands and words of others during high school.  So much so that reading Heart of Darkness made her physically ill and she could not continue reading.  I remember her tears in our discussion and I felt so sad that someone had had to endure that kind of torment; that this level of hate existed in our current society.  So I can definitely understand how a message can be lost because of a few words.

But had those words not been there, the opportunity to discuss that specific issue would not have happened.  She would not have been able to share her story and let the rest of us see how thoughtless words and actions will affect someone negatively.  If these words are removed from a classroom textbook, where is the opportunity to talk about it and safely instruct the next generation on the history and connotations.  Can we hope that parents will have this discussion with their children outside of the classroom?  If we remove these words from our life altogether, will they lose their power?  Words only have the power that we, as a society, give them.  By removing them from a text, do you think that gives them more, or less power? 

To Kindle, or not to Kindle?

For some strange reason I have gotten it into my head that I want an e-reader.  I don't know why exactly as I am a pretty hard-core physical book person.  (Bad days can be better with a simple trip to the library or bookstore.  Something about the smell just eases any tension.)  It might have something to do with the XKCD Comic, actually.  Ever since they linked it to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I've been a little obsessed with the idea.  Then, with my plans to travel to Europe in the near future, I have these wonderful visions of how useful it will be. 

Imagine standing by an old church on a street in London, for example.  The sign says, Temple Church, but you've never seen/read the DaVinci Code and have no idea what it is.  Pull out the Kindle, go to the search feature and type in Temple Church on the "use Wikipedia" feature and Voila!  All the information that public forum of knowledge has to offer on Temple Church, PLUS links to other interesting sites in the area.  Not to mention, one could download a travel guide (if one is offered on Amazon) as well as any books to read on the journey.

And yet, I went to Target and I held a Kindle in my hands.  I seriously thought about buying the 3G version, but I just couldn't get excited about it.  I went to Barnes & Noble and looked at their Nook.  I found the touch screen at the bottom neat but not as easy to use as I would like.  If there is touch screen, I want to be able to touch the whole screen not just part of it and the 5-way rocker button on the Kindle is more natural to me for some reason.  Now the Nook Color, could be be more natural to me than the 5-way rocker button but it's not exactly in my price range.  I held the Nook in my hands and I couldn't get excited about it.  The ideas of what I could do with either device, see Temple Church above, are exciting.  But the actual device itself did not induce the same impulse-buy feeling I get when I see a new book.  Still, I have plenty of time before I take my European Vacation and that should give me time to make up my mind about whether or not to get one.

Comments Encouraged

Since we're starting off a new year, I thought I might open up the floor to book suggestions.  I'm really looking for a new series to read, though any book is welcome.  Typically, I would pick a fiction book over a non-fiction but I will always make an exception for something interesting.

Is there a book that has really captured your attention?  Something that you just couldn't put down?  Maybe an old favorite you wish people read more often...Let me know and maybe I'll check it out.

K

New Year, New Lists

Okay, I am starting this year with a brand new reading list.  I will start with all the books I am currently reading and then add ones I actually intend to read.  Not like last year where I listed things for the fun of it.

The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter by Russell T. Davies & Benjamin Cook (11/14/10) - Started 11/15/10
Changeless by Gail Carriger (10/16/10) - Started 10/24/10
Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas (6/01/10) -Started
A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin (08/01/10) - Started 10/25/10

I just need to clear these out of the queue and then I can start adding new and exciting books.