OTOMEN: The Sunday Salon.

I’ve been reading New Moon in preparation for the movie, which I admit I am very excited about. I will never like the style, but the pacing is totally engrossing. I forget where I am and what I’m doing every time I open that book… But I left it at Jonathan’s, so I’m using my day without New Moon to read volume 4 of Otomen.

Otomen: 1) a young man with girlish interests and thoughts; 2) a young man who has a talent for cooking, needlework and general housework; 3) a manly young man with a girlish heart.

This is the first manga series I’ve ever followed, and it’s pretty darn cute. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone, but it’s very interesting, and I might not even have as much of an appreciation for it as I should if it weren’t for the fact that I am constantly looking for books that are safe to share with my students.

The protagonist, Asuka Masamune, was abandoned by his father at a young age when his father became a transvestite and decided he wanted to live his life as a woman. Ever since, there has been extreme pressure on Asuka from his mother – and society in general – to be manly, to shy away from “cute” things, and not to end up like his father. Asuka is generally respected as the toughest, manliest man and fighter in his high school, and the only people who know that he is an otomen are his love interest, Ryo, who is not very girly at all, and his friend, Juta, who is secretly using his relationship with Ryo as the basis for the shojo manga he writes. In other words, it’s just adorable. It’s a very quick read, and each chapter is like a separate episode.

I didn’t know that the fourth volume was out until I happened to see it when Jonathan and I were at a comic book store on Friday. I don’t know what made me think that there were only going to be four volumes in the series, but now there is a volume 5 and volume 6 in the works, apparently. They’re a lot of fun to read and a few of my female students just love them.

“How to Write a Great Novel.”

An article I loved on authors and how they write, courtesy of Maud Newton. I’m a Junot Diaz – what are you?

Buffy vs. Edward.

Bryan J.L. Glass – who I also met in Baltimore and was also a doll – posted this link: Buffy vs. Edward. It’s actually kind of funny. If you don’t find it funny… well, you’re lying to yourself. Don’t pretend to be cool.

25 Most Influential Writers.

So apparently back in March, the fabulous Emily Barton tagged me for this meme and at the time I was not blogging as I should so I missed it. So I’ll do it now!

“Name 25 writers who have influenced you. These are not necessarily your favorite writers or those you most admire, but writers who have influenced you. Then you tag 25 people.” In no particular order:

1. Louisa May Alcott: Little Women was for me, as it was for many avid female readers, a very influential book. I loved Jo, was in love with Laurie – especially later when he was played by Christian Bale – and wanted to become famous for writing my own thinly-veiled autobiography.

2. Judy Blume: I didn’t actually read a lot of Judy Blume when I was younger; I’m basing this largely on Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge, which are the greatest young adult books ever.

3. Bram Stoker: Maybe not for the best of reasons, or at least not the most obvious. I only read about two-thirds of the book before I puked all over it in a road-trip incident, so I have never read Dracula in its entirety. But no one is unaffected by Dracula, whether they have read it or not. I used to read How to Care for Your Pet Monster over and over and over when I was little and memorized everything I would need to know to care for a vampire. (Yes, at a point in time I thought horror movie monsters were potential pets; the humor of the book was lost on me.) I also used to type the text of my Children’s Classics version of Dracula on our computer, pretending that I was the author of the book.

4. William Peter Blatty: My aunt had an old paperback copy of The Exorcist that I stole and read when I was staying at her house one night. That is, I read about half of it – I was 10 years old. I borrowed it when I returned home. It hid at the bottom of a pile of junk so that I wouldn’t have to look at it until I eventually returned it to her.

5.  Mary Shelley: I have a love/hate history with Ms. Shelley. I resented the hell out of tenth grade English for requiring me to read Frankenstein. I hated it so much I even delivered a speech about it in my Speech and Drama class. Of course, I was required to read it again in college, and when I was old enough to appreciate it, it became one of my favorite books of all time. I’ve read it, I believe, three or four times now.

6. Charles Dickens: If I had to credit one and only one book for my extreme love of reading, it would be A Tale of Two Cities. I read it for the first time when I was thirteen, and only because I knew the entire plot already – otherwise I don’t think I could have stuck it out. (Ever notice Dickens is a bit wordy?) But the feeling I got from the very last page of that book is the feeling I’ve spent the rest of my reading life trying to recapture.

7. Joyce Carol Oates: I know, these are some pretty obvious people. It wasn’t until J.C.O. that I knew that I could like short stories. I always had a weirdness about short stories and it still lingers a bit, but what Oates could/can do with such limited ink is amazing.

8. Ann Patchett: Bel Canto is one of those books I wish I could write – or it was when I read it. I adored Truth & Beauty a couple of years later, but I liked The Patron Saint of Liars far less. Ann Patchett herself, though, was a wonderfully sweet person when I met her. I was the very last person in line at her very last stop on the Run tour, and she was kind enough to humor my dad and me for several minutes.

9. Elfriede Jelinek: There’s only one way to say this: bitch scares me. How she won the Nobel I will never understand. Bitch is crazy. Read her work and you’ll never want to have sex again. EVER. The Piano Teacher I was able to struggle through because I found it fascinating: the subject was sincerely fascinating while her style was fascinating in that horrible bloodbath of a train-wreck kind of way. It will certainly stay with me for a long time, though.

10. Toni Morrison: For weaving impossibly beautiful and intricate stories like Jazz and Song of Solomon.

11. Cynthia Ozick: If you’ve read The Shawl and The Puttermesser Papers, it’s self-explanatory.

12. Alan Moore: He’s responsible for the first graphic novel I read as an adult… the first I read actually expecting a sophisticated story.

13. The Luna Brothers: While I’m on the subject, I should probably throw in the guys who got me into graphic novels in the first place. Not only do they write some amazing stuff, but they are my go-to people to discuss other comic books. Jonathan always buys graphic novels that I insist that he read – although he never gets around to reading them – while from time to time Josh will borrow a book I recommend and read it before I even leave the house.

14. J.K. Rowling: I actually have not read any of the Harry Potter books (I want to someday), but she was my first real understanding of how freaking successful a person can be just by using their imagination.

15. William Faulkner: I took a class on Faulkner in college and even learned to pronounce “Yoknapatawpha” like it was my middle name. The professor made me crazy, but that didn’t ruin Faulkner for me. While As I Lay Dying still may be my favorite, in reality nothing beats Absalom! Absalom!

16. John Irving: As soon as he offers a class on “How to Be Quirky on Paper,” I’m there. The World According to Garp made me love him.

17. Michael Chabon: I haven’t even read much by Chabon, but not because he’s not amazing. It’s actually really, extremely depressing for me to pick up one of his books. He is SO GOOD it just depresses the hell out of me. He’s so good it’s physically painful. Damn you, Chabon.

18. Stephen King: His imagination, mostly. As far as the books go, I’ve only read It, which was painfully long, and Carrie, which was just painful. I admire his… work ethic? I mean, it has to take a lot to crank out as much as he does, right? And he spawned the author of one of my current favorite graphic novels, so there you go.

19. Anais Nin: I know, people don’t like her… I’m not one of those people. I could read those stupid diaries forever.

20. F. Scott Fitzgerald: He wrote The Great Gatsby, not to mention This Side of Paradise. Need I say more?

21. The Marquis de Sade: The mere fact that his work still exists is influential enough. I could never seriously recommend it in good conscience for reasons not unlike the reasons I wouldn’t recommend Elfriede Jelinek, but he’s there and he’s… unforgettable.

22. Mark Z. Danielewski: House of Leaves is the scariest book I’ve ever read. Period.

23. Stephanie Meyer: While I am not a fan of her style, she is influential for reasons similar to #14, as well as her impeccable plotting and pacing – at which I suck.

24. Sylvia Plath: The Dangers of Taking Oneself a Mite Too Seriously.

25. Virginia Woolf: Oh, Mrs. Dalloway, always throwing parties to cover up the silence! Or something.

I’m sure I butchered that.

***

I won’t tag 25 people because I’m sure 25 people don’t even know that I’m blogging again, but if the spirit possesses you, I’d like to see others’ 25 most influential authors, as well.

This means you, Luna.

THE SWORD, VOL. 3: EARTH.

Volume 3 of 4 of Jonathan and Josh’s The Sword is out now. Jonathan gave me my copy last weekend, and while he was still having sleepy time on Sunday morning I read the entire thing – again – in one sitting. I also find that it helps to take your mind off of any scary movies you may have watched the night before….

WAKE THE DEAD and NEW MOON: The Sunday Salon.

Modern reworking of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

The lovely Steve Niles has an instant fan for life, as much for his books as for being just a generally awesome kind of guy.

When I accompanied Jonathan and Josh to the Baltimore Comic-Con, I had the pleasure of eating breakfast with ericstevensen (did I do that right?), Robert Kirkman and Steve Niles… and those pesky Luna Brothers, all of Image Comics.

Anyway, I went by Niles’s table at the con after breakfast and asked if I could look through his books, telling him that I had something of his on my Amazon wish list, but I couldn’t remember what – because I was interested in so many of his books. I eventually determined it must have been his adaptation of Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend, even though all of Niles’s books look so good. He snatched up the book, signed it and handed it to me. What a doll. As I said, a fan for life.

A gift from the magnanimous Steve Niles

I read Wake the Dead, his reworking of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, on the airplane with Jonathan on the way to L.A. a couple of weeks ago, and it was lovely. I don’t know who this “Chee” person is – and maybe this reveals what I newbie I am to comics – but the art was beautiful. What amazed me was that this modern retelling of the story matched the original almost beat by beat without feeling at all diluted. Frequently, an adaptation of an original story will only make sense if you are already familiar with the original story, and of course I am quite familiar with the original Frankenstein, but there didn’t seem to be anything terribly cryptic about this version. All that said, I don’t want to give away the details of the modern story, because that’s half the fun of reading it.

Anyway, what am I reading now? While vampires may have been slightly more appropriate for last month, I am trying to finish New Moon before the movie comes out… meaning I have just begun the book today. Sigh. I’m excited to read it, but I’m going to miss reading a new comic book every couple of days.

Two Vampire Graphic Novels.

 

Halfway-grounded vampires

Let me preface this by saying that, although they are quite trendy right now, you can’t possibly resist vampires, no matter how absurd or melodramatic they become. Or, at least, I can’t. I am indeed a Twilight fan, for starters: I read the first book, dragged a friend to the theater when the movie came out, and bought the DVD within the first month it was out. There you have it – my name is Jordan and I’m a Twilight fan.

That said, I’m still terribly pleased when vampires turn up in a slightly less melodramatic form, which is becoming increasingly rare. Nothing beats the original Dracula, but, just in time for the (arguably) most deliciously terrifying holiday there is, here are some awesome vampires I’ve come across in graphic novels recently:

In Judd Winick’s Blood + Water, Adam is dying due to a lack of regard for his own life until his two best friends reveal that they are vampires and would like to go to the ultimate extreme to “save” his life… or at least ensure he won’t die. If I had to attribute the appeal of this graphic novel to one element, it would be the fact that the story and characters are painfully grounded. Adam’s personal back-story is well established within the first issue , to the point that I actually began to think while reading, “Wait… where are the vampires?” Not that the back-story ever becomes tedious and boring – rather, it establishes the setting and relationships that make the rest of the story. I am typically more fond of ongoing series of graphic novels because it seems that it takes multiple volumes to come to understand and care about the characters and the location. In this one, however, Winick takes care of that in just a matter of a few pages.

Similarly, Howard Chaykin and David Tischman’s Bite Club achieves in one volume what usually takes an entire series of trade paperbacks. This story is, more or less, “The Sopranos” starring a family of vampires. It begins when Eduardo Del Toro dies, leaving a Miami vampire crime family without a decided leader. It’s an amazingly intricate plot for just a single volume – and I had the misfortune (or stupidity) to have read the tiny paperback version – and while that is a feat in and of itself, it actually ended up being a win-lose. Win: it’s awesome and engrossing. Lose: it made me wish I had more time (more story time, that is) to settle into the characters and their relationships. For example, certain betrayals and double- (triple- and quadruple-) crosses might have been more astounding if the relationships were established longer before the truth was revealed. But again, the story was well-grounded and a definite page-turner, so what more can you really ask for?

Both are highly recommended, even after Halloween.

 

Meme Theft: Part I.

I found a nice Halloween meme, courtesy of Telecommuter Talk. After a couple of miles with my Halloween playlist (“Halloween”: The Misfits, “Miss Murder”: A.F.I., “Run For Your Life”: The Beatles, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”: The Charlie Daniels Band, etc.), I want a nice, easy topic while my heart-rate returns to normal.

1. What’s the best (a.k.a. scene that scared the crap out of you) scene in a horror movie?

"Paranormal Activity"

The bathtub scene in “The Shining” is a good one, but foremost in my mind right now is “Paranormal Activity.” Every single time the text “Night #Whatever” came up, my breathing stopped.

2. Who hangs out in the scary dark corners of your basement (nobody, I know, but if someone did)?

Linda Blair as Reagan McNeil in "The Exorcist"

Various horror movie characters have been hanging out in various corners of my house at various points in time, but Reagan McNeil has always been in every corner of my house. From time to time I forget that she’s there, but she’s always there. From the time I was 11 to the time I was 13, I slept with the lights on. From the time I was 11 to the time I was 16, I slept with the covers over my head. She’s in my room at night, sitting in the corner next to my window, watching. And if I move or breathe, she attacks. So I don’t move. Or breathe. Ever. (And so was my life for about seven years.)

3.Who writes/wrote the best ghost stories?

I don’t care what anyone says, those Alvin Schwartz Scary Stories books

One of said "scary ass pictures"

are scary as shit. Yes, there is some more sophisticated stuff out there, but very little has creeped me out as much as those stories have, especially with those scary ass pictures. When I was little, I would have to cover up the pictures to be able to read the stories – they scared the hell out of me.

4. What was the last book you read that made you want to check all the locks on your doors?

Ooooh, I can’t believe I made it this far into the meme without mentioning House of Leaves. That book fucked with my head big time. It was so good that I even try to repress the horrible things I’ve heard about Mark Z. Danielewski.

5. Have you ever been spooked while listening to music?

Heck yes. How about “Tubular Bells”? Creepy.

6.If you had to be the victim of a mythical monster, who would it be?

Mythical monster? Does a ghost count? Because all you need to do typically is to figure out what it wants and help it. Easy enough.

7. Were you afraid of the dark as a child?

Only after watching “The Exorcist.”

8. What do you most like in a good horror story?

A creepy surprise ending that stays with you for a while. A la Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Not that that was necessarily supposed to be a horror story, but it scared the shit out of me.

Dead@17 by Josh Howard.

 

Dead@17

Y’know… I have to be honest. I was very excited about Dead@17. I thought it would be a nice, quick read – despite the fact that it’s the heaviest book I’ve carried since the complete Norton Shakespeare – that features cute-yet-edgy(ish) art and may potentially be suitable for my students. I was slightly mistaken.

The art is, in fact, quite cute without becoming dreadfully cutesy. However, even a nice balance of cute-not-cutesy doesn’t do it for me when we’re dealing with demons from hell. Our Bolabogg here is only slightly less terrifying than Disney’s Hades.

Hades, of Disney's "Hercules"

With all due respect, though, I thoroughly enjoyed the personal relationships between the characters, which I thought were well-developed. I always enjoy seeing a plot that can be taken seriously despite the involvement of teenagers… Or – and this is the teacher coming out in me - because of the involvement of highly-dramatic teenagers. On one hand, Dead@17 answers the frequently-begged question, “What if teenagers were half as important as they go around seeming to think they are?” (This question was begged many times when Jonathan and I sat behind a row of teenagers during a showing of “Paranormal Activity” on Saturday night. [If you haven't seen it, do so immediately.])

Andi Watson's Clubbing

That said, let me send a brief shout-out to Andi Watson’s Clubbing, for which Josh Howard also did the art. I was particularly fond of this book and found the art appropriate to the subject matter: a teenage wannabe waffles in the face of real live occult activity. Or at least that’s what appealed to me – I love a protagonist who takes herself far too seriously and eventually realizes it. And also, to be fair, I <3 Andi Watson big time. So as a sidenote, I recommend it as a nice, quick, fun read.

But as far as Dead@17 goes, nothing strikes my fancy more than an all-out battle between heaven and hell… which is why a less-than-ambitious take on the story is less-than-enthralling for me. I’d like the gratuitously violent heaven-versus-hell stories left to the likes of “Legion” and Preacher, please. Spend your graphic novel time on the latter – not Dead@17.

 

 

 

5 Classic Scary Stories

Eduify lists 5 Classic Scary Stories but leaves out my favorite, which is not so classic.

(You ask what it is now.)

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”! Alright, it’s not quite scary in the same way the “stories” featured in the list are, but I found it profoundly disturbing and I was afraid to hang my feet off the bed the night I read it for the first time.