Book vs. Film: Dune

The Book:

Last fall, I saw the trailer for the latest Dune film, starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, and I knew I was ready to finally tackle the book. I was expecting an Ender’s Game meets Star Wars epic space fantasy. But that’s not quite what the book is. It’s much more like Lord of the Rings with tons of characters and exposition.

The beginning (half) of the book is excruciatingly slow. The verbose language, the made-up technologies and titles, and the world-building makes reading clunky and dense. It takes a long time for the book to become fun or exciting. The book follows the classic Hero’s Journey plot line, where Paul is clearly a Chosen One, though he denies it for a majority of the book.

The most interesting part of the story to me was surviving on a harsh, desert planet. I liked hearing about the different survival techniques and technological solutions, and how the culture had adapted to the land. I wish we had gotten to this part sooner. It would have made sense, seeing as we knew from the beginning that there was going to be an assassination. We even knew who was going to commit the murder and the reasons why. I kept thinking, “Okay, it’s finally going to happen in this chapter,” but no, just more exposition.

I’m interested to see how the film will condense the book and make it more engaging for audiences. I’m assuming the time constraint will help pick up the pacing considerably. I’m not in any hurry to pick up the next book of the series, and can’t fathom reading the many sequels and spinoffs and prequels related to the Dune universe. For now, I’m just proud that I managed to finish this 1965 sci-fi classic.

The Film:

I watched the film on HBO Max, from the comfort of my couch. I haven’t been to a movie theater since before the pandemic. I’m sure the movie would be even more impressive on a big screen with theater sound. My husband hasn’t read the book, so I often had to explain or fill in missing details. Without reading the book, I’m not really sure whether the film makes sense. Is the entire plot there? One part that was missing for me was the set-up for the assassination. In the book, it’s very clear who is going to commit the murder and why. The other characters know it’s going to happen, too, even though they don’t know the exact details. It feels like the audience has to infer a lot. 

One positive is that everything feels bigger in the film, including the tension. There was an ache in my chest building as the film progressed. This was lacking in the pages and pages of exposition in the book. The big attack scene is epic in scale and shows how horribly deadly a battle can be. Speaking of scale, the spacecraft shown throughout the film are massive and incredible. This glimpse of the future is what I love about sci-fi. 

While the tension helps to drive the pace of the movie, I was surprised at how little of the almost 800 page book made it into this film. There are a LOT of pages and action left to cover in the next film. My understanding is that the second film will cover the rest of Dune, and then a third film will take on the sequel, Dune Messiah. There’s also talk of a television series called Dune: The Sisterhood, which would focus on the Bene Gesserit, a powerful group of nun-like women that has secretly set a lot of the plan in motion. 

As I mentioned before, my favorite part of the book was reading about how the people adapted to survive on a harsh, desert planet. We only get to see a little bit of this in the movie. So in the film, I enjoyed watching the dynamic between Lady Jessica and her son, Paul. It was fascinating to see them use the voice and communicate through hand signals. But the best part of the movie has to be the character Duncan Idaho – played by Jason Momoa. In a cast of stellar, stand-out actors (seriously – have you read the cast list? Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Stellan Skarsgárd, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista, and Josh Brolin), Jason Momoa still manages to steal the scene.

I think the Dune film upholds the character of the book, but because of time constraints, has to cut out a lot of nuance and subplots. Overall, I’m glad I watched the film and I will definitely watch the next film in the series. I still don’t think I’m going to read the second book though!  

Have you read or watched Dune? What did you think?

Breaking the Streak

After a somewhat sluggish summer of reading, I’ve been on a roll this fall, reading one great book after the next. 

Until Realm Breaker, that is.

Realm Breaker is the latest fantasy novel by Victoria Aveyard, author of the Red Queen series. I read all of the Red Queen books and even saw Aveyard at a speaking event in 2018 (she signed my copy of War Storm – read about the fangirl experience here!). While it wasn’t my favorite YA girl-rebel-overthrows-the-government series, it was popular at the time and felt worth reading. 

In Realm Breaker, an ancient evil has been unleashed. The only people who can protect the world are a pirate’s daughter, a squire, an immortal, an assassin, a sorceress, a forger, and a bounty hunter.

Does that seem like a list of too many disconnected characters to you? Because that’s how it felt while I was reading it, too – and I haven’t even been introduced to all of these characters yet. The characters feel forced to join a noble cause, but for unexplained motivations. The pacing is unbearrrrrrrably slow. How am I possibly going to get through 576 pages of this book? And why would I bother reading the next two (unpublished as of yet) books in the series? The world building is vague – the word “spindle” is used over and over and over again, yet I had no idea what Aveyard was writing about. I just kept thinking about Sleeping Beauty pricking her finger on a spinning wheel. And to make it more of a challenge to read, the names of characters and places were difficult to figure out how to pronounce. I couldn’t get into the story when the words were pushing me out.  

I spent some time reading reviews on Goodreads to see if it was just me. Maybe I just wasn’t far enough into the book yet, and things will become clearer soon. But the reviews look pretty split: either readers loved everything by Aveyard so they loved this book, too, OR they didn’t finish the book. 

There are just too many other things I could be reading, so I think I’m going to become part of that second group and give up on Realm Breaker… 

Do you give up on books? Or do you feel forced to finish them? 

Short Story Success

Well, maybe I’ve been missing out on short stories! I don’t know if it’s the fact that I’ve enjoyed this author in the past, but I flew through Curtis Sittenfeld’s collection of stories, You Think It, I’ll Say It. 

Having read four of Sittenfeld’s books in the past: Prep, Eligible, American Wife, and Rodham, I knew that she was a talented writer. But those were all novels. Would she be able to bring her modern, complex, flawed characters to life in such few pages? Sittenfeld has a way of getting into a character’s brain and revealing insecurities that are so relatable. Through ten stories, Sittenfeld ruminates on marriage, parenthood, and our perceptions of other people’s lives. Each story has a twist that leaves you thinking. It was easy to read a story in 20-30 minutes. With novels, each chapter leaves you wanting more. There is suspense and tension and cliffhangers. You have to keep reading to find out what will happen next. With short stories, you reach the end and that’s it. You don’t get to know anything more. Somehow, Sittenfeld made each story feel totally complete. And sure, maybe a few of the stories felt like they could have developed into novels – but this condensed format made every page more urgent and important. Nothing was unnecessary. Sometimes, adult fiction feels very dull to me. Too pretentious. Not enough action. But the short story format meant that flowery, literary language didn’t get in the way. Sittenfeld got to the point.   

The Goodreads blurb has it right:  

Curtis Sittenfeld has established a reputation as a sharp chronicler of the modern age who humanizes her subjects even as she skewers them… With moving insight and uncanny precision, Curtis Sittenfeld pinpoints the questionable decisions, missed connections, and sometimes extraordinary coincidences that make up a life. Indeed, she writes what we’re all thinking—if only we could express it with the wit of a master satirist, the storytelling gifts of an old-fashioned raconteur, and the vision of an American original.  

Because this was such a positive experience, I think I’m going to keep experimenting with short stories. Plus – maybe this will help me complete my Goodreads challenge! Last year, I surpassed my goal and ended the year with 77 books read. But for most of this year, Goodreads has been telling me I’m behind in my reading. I’ll be happy if I meet my 60 book goal. 

Do you set a Goodreads challenge for the year? How are you progressing? 

Make one for me!

When my seven-year-old daughter saw my shoe drawings, she was impressed! She couldn’t believe I drew them. Next, she asked, “Can you draw one for a book I like?” 

Sure, kiddo, I can do that. We looked at the books on her shelf and picked a couple out. From those, I narrowed it down to Sanity and Tallulah by Molly Brooks. 

Sanity and Tallulah is a cute, middle grade graphic novel series with three books so far (#2: Field Trip, #3: Shortcuts) about two girls who live on a space station and constantly find themselves in trouble. Sanity is super smart, in fact, she creates a three-headed kitten! But making new life forms on board a space station is a big no-no. The kitten escapes and things on the station go haywire. The mutant kitty is blamed for the destruction, but Sanity doesn’t believe it. Together, Sanity and Tallulah search for the kitten and the reason for the station’s troublesome malfunctions. 

In the second book, Sanity and Tallulah take a class field trip to another planet, but chaos ensues and they end up separated from the rest of their class. It takes bravery, smarts, and luck to save the day. In Shortcuts, there is a shortage of workers due to a flu outbreak, so Tallulah finds herself piloting a spacecraft to make deliveries. She and Sanity end up in the middle of a military blockade. Tensions rise as the adults attempt to de-escalate a tricky situation. Shortcuts ended up being one of my favorite reads of the year.    

The books are funny, smart, and beautifully illustrated. The artwork is not as colorful as the cover implies. The images inside are a bit more detailed and delicate, using shades of navy, gray, and peachy pink. There’s quite a lot of text (and some challenging vocabulary for young readers) and inferencing required, so for people who think graphic novels aren’t real reading, I beg to differ! Because of this, I wonder if kid readers actually understand the “mysteries” in the books. They seem a bit complex, and I even find myself re-reading sections in order to understand what’s going on. I have a feeling these books can be enjoyed at different ages for different reasons. For a seven-year-old, they are fun, space adventures. For grown-ups, there is nuance and real-world commentary. Having thoroughly enjoyed all three titles, I’m a fan of this smart, creative, best friend duo and hope there will be more books in the series.

Finding Another Favorite

On day two of NaBloPoMo, I listed six of my favorite reads of the year. But I already need to add on to that list! I finally got a chance to read Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library, and it was wonderful – how refreshing to read a popular book that lived up to its hype.

Nora Seed’s life hasn’t amounted to much. She didn’t accomplish any of the dreams or plans she had for her life. She didn’t get married, have kids, move to Australia with her best friend, stick with her band, become a glaciologist, or succeed as an Olympic swimmer. On a night when she feels particularly hopeless, Nora decides to end her life. But her story doesn’t end there; instead, she finds herself in an infinite library – complete with a kind librarian she knew as a kid – where each book offers up a life that could have been. Can Nora move past her regrets and find a life worth living? 

The Midnight Library puts “what if?” to the test. I loved following Nora as she stepped into different lives. It was fascinating to watch her attempt to blend in to what was happening around her. Each life was so completely different. I bought into the concept and truly enjoyed the book. In fact, I finished it in four days. I didn’t want to put it down. Reading it does require suspension of disbelief. If you start wondering about the mechanics of how it all works and what happens to Nora when she’s in and out of the various lives, you’ll get bogged down and miss out on the fun. Matt Haig’s writing style was easy to read, quirky, smart, and enduring. I was excited to learn that Haig has several other books – including some for children – so I’m hoping I’ll enjoy other books he has written, too.     

Have you read The Midnight Library yet? Did you love it as much as I did?

Reimagining Rodham’s Narrative

“The margin between staying and leaving was so thin; really, it could have gone either way.”

Curtis Sittenfeld’s novel Rodham opens with Hillary Clinton’s own words: “My marriage to Bill Clinton was the most consequential decision of my life. I said no the first two times he asked me. But the third time, I said yes.” The whole premise of Sittenfeld’s novel is that Hillary turns him down and doesn’t marry Bill Clinton. She doesn’t become a wife or a mother or First Lady. Instead, Hillary becomes a law professor, runs for senator of Illinois, and has several failed presidential campaigns. But Sittenfeld doesn’t make the journey easy and she doesn’t make Hillary out to be a saint. Hillary is flawed and makes mistakes, and also has the impossible task of presenting herself as a viable candidate for president.

“I don’t know if this sounds pathetic or conceited,” I said. “But I always hoped a man would fall in love with me for my brain.” Again, Phyllis and Nancy exchanged a glance. Phyllis’s voice was kind as she said, “Hillary, no man falls in love with a woman’s brain.”

In short, author Curtis Sittenfeld is just so talented. Intimate and captivating, Sittenfeld takes us into the personal side of politics. Add this to a line-up of Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win and Young Jane Young and you’ve got a good picture of the double-standard women face in politics. Sittenfeld also has the advantage of knowing how history turned out, so when she discusses Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall’s retirement and the controversial confirmation of Justice Clarence Thomas, it’s hard not to see the parallels in the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh. This was also timely as I read this book shortly after the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, making me think that there has to be a better way of selecting Supreme Court judges. The book isn’t all heavy, though. There’s romance – both sexy and sweet – and levity. Supporter Donald Trump’s lines would have been hilarious were it not for the fact that millions of people seriously voted for him again in 2020. 

But as much as I wanted to be president, I wanted a woman to be president—I wanted this because women and girls were half the population and we deserved, as a basic human right and a means of ensuring justice, to be equally represented in our government. Yet it was hard to explain because no man had ever run for president for this reason; even Barack, who’d surely run in part for the racial version of it, had never to my knowledge articulated it as such.

This book makes me so eager to see a woman as President of the United States. I was ready to vote for Hillary in 2008 and I voted for her in 2016. I’ve read Hillary’s book What Happened and think she’s so smart and could have made an incredible president, let alone, first woman president. Even though this book is a work of fiction, I feel like we missed out on calling Hillary Madam President. 

And really, wasn’t this endless ruminating over my own likability in itself a thing only a woman would do? Did Bill—or Ted Cruz or Rand Paul—ever ponder their likability, or did they simply go after what they wanted?

Beautiful Words from Other Words for Home

Other Words for Home is a coming-of-age Middle Grade novel told in poetry. Seventh-grade Jude lives in Syria with her parents and older brother. Her brother wants to fight for change in Syria, but this puts his life in danger. Jude and her mother travel to America and stay with relatives, leaving their beloved home behind because it’s simply not safe anymore. As a Middle Eastern, Syrian, Muslim Girl (she learns Americans love labels), Jude struggles to find her footing. She misses home and misses her family and friends, but also wants to try to like America.

The language is poignant and says so much in the spaces between the lines. I highlighted fantastic stanza after fantastic stanza. Jude’s observations are thoughtful and sincere. There is so much feeling in her words. Hope, bravery, happiness, and love are apparent. But even still, this Middle Grade book doesn’t gloss over the tough parts. There is loneliness, fear, and pain, too. Since this book is written in poetry, it’s a quick read, but special. I honestly can’t figure out how the author told us a complete, endearing story in so few words.

What We Read Before Bed #2

Here’s what I read out loud to my five year old:

First, we finished up a graphic novel that we started while on vacation last week, Frozen: Breaking Boundaries. I found this book at Walmart before our trip. All the Frozen II merchandise came out just in time, so I picked up some new items to take along in our airplane bag. In Breaking Boundaries, Anna questions what her purpose is. Elsa makes all the important decisions for the kingdom, so what does Arendelle need a princess for? Anna meets a girl named Mari who is also questioning what her purpose is. Together, they try out different jobs in Arendelle, but they always seem to cause trouble. Luckily, because of Mari’s knowledge of animals and animal behavior, she’s able to fix many of the problems. Meanwhile, Elsa is trying to figure out why trees are being cut down in the forest. Olaf makes an appearance, of course, as does Kristoff and Sven. The artwork is just like the movies. We enjoyed the book and would read another one of these Disney graphic novels. 

Next, we started another chapter book. This time, an Amelia Bedelia book from a four-book collection my daughter received at her fifth birthday party from a great-aunt. Amelia Bedelia has been revamped for the next generation of readers (the newer stories are all written by the original author’s nephew). Instead of a maid in a blue dress and white apron who needs specific instructions to “undust” the furniture, she is a young kid. In Amelia Bedelia Means Business, the titular character sees a classmate’s shiny new bike and decides she needs a fancy new bike, too. Her parents tell her that if she can earn half of the money, they’ll pay for the other half. “Which half costs more?” she asks. Amelia Bedelia tries to earn money, but she obviously struggles with the turns of phrase people use. For instance, when a customer asks her to bring a piece of cake, “And step on it!” Amelia Bedelia doesn’t understand that the customer is in a hurry, and literally steps on the cake. These word plays are sometimes tricky to explain to a five year old, who – much like Amelia Bedelia – takes words at their literal meaning. However, my daughter sat and listened to the story (while also breaking in to tell me lots of other things she was thinking about!), and we made it through four chapters before stopping. While reading, I was also reminded of my mom, who has told me that Amelia Bedelia books are some of the hardest to read out loud because of the tongue-twistery name! I would have to agree. Amelia Bedelia always goes by her full, first and last name, so the book definitely gave my tongue a work out!

And here’s what I read on my own:

I’ve been reading Girls of Paper and Fire, a young adult fantasy series by author Natasha Ngan. Forwarded by James Patterson (and published by JIMMY Patterson Books), the series has gained quite a lot of hype and positive reviews. The author has a multicultural background, which influenced her storytelling, as did her own experience as a sexual abuse survivor. 

In this series, there are three castes of people: Paper, Steel, and Moon. Paper caste is at the bottom and they are lowly humans. Steel is in the middle, and they are humans with animal characteristics, like fur and tails. Moon caste is the highest and they are animal demons. The kingdom is ruled by the Demon Bull King. Each year, eight Paper girls are brought to him as concubines – which is supposed to be an honor to their families. Main character Lei is ripped from her country home and taken to the king as a gift because of her stunning eyes. She must go along with being a Paper Girl in order to keep her family safe. She is given beautiful clothes and lessons to make her civilized, but when the king calls for her, Lei can’t submit. When he tries to force himself on her, she runs away. She is punished for her disobedience, which only solidifies her distaste for the Paper Girls tradition. Along the way, she also falls in love – but that love could prove dangerous in more ways than one.

While some of the girls in the story view Paper Girls as an honorable job, it clearly isn’t. At best it’s sex slavery and at it’s worst, rape. It’s rather disturbing. To me, this is not a young adult book at all. On the Goodreads page, the author responds to a reader’s question about how vivid the sexual abuse is in the book, saying that she “tried to write it as delicately and respectfully as possible, so the scenes are…not graphic, but the characters do talk and think about what happened afterwards. [She] didn’t write it with the intention to distress or shock readers – it’s written with love and care.” However, when a 16 and 17 year old girl are expected to sleep with a man/bull/whatever he is, despite their fear and own desires, we’ve tipped into some heavy stuff. I haven’t read any of the reviews yet on Goodreads (I wait until after I finish a book so I don’t accidentally see spoilers) to see what other readers thought, but I’ll be quite shocked if other readers didn’t have an issue with the maturity level of the book. Will I keep reading it? Yes, because I want to see where the author takes this and find out what the lesson will be, but this is really more of an adult book with the fast pacing of a young adult novel.

What did you read today?

Rating + Review: A Study in Charlotte

When Victoria Aveyard’s War Storm book tour was in my area, I was lucky enough to attend, and Brittany Cavallaro was another author who shared a stage with Aveyard. I got to hear Cavallaro talk about her books and writing process and found her to be a really great speaker, but I hadn’t read any of her books prior to the event. I wanted to remedy that and gave A Study in Charlotte a read.

A Study in Charlotte uses Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock novels as the jumping off point, imagining that Holmes was a real man and had descendants who would carry on his name and detective abilities. Embarrassingly enough for an English teacher and an avid reader, I’ve only read one Sherlock Holmes novel: The Hound of the Baskervilles. I’ve also seen the early 2000s films starring Robert Downey Jr., and Jude Law. Even though I may not be a Sherlockian expert, the atmosphere and intellect of A Study in Charlotte felt spot on.

In this book, James Watson – a descendant of John Watson – finds himself at a boarding school in Connecticut near his estranged father. Charlotte Holmes – the great-great-great-granddaughter of Sherlock Holmes – also attends the boarding school. Even though Charlotte is a teenager, she’s just as neurotic as Sherlock. She’s also a great detective, as she’s been trained since she was a child. Not long after James comes to school, a classmate that both he and Charlotte despise winds up dead. All the evidence points to Charlotte and Jamie because the killer has recreated scenes from the original Sherlock stories. Holmes and Watson have to prove they’re innocent and find the true killer before anyone else gets hurt.

I was really impressed by this book. The writing was dark and formal, making it feel very different than the usual YA books I read. Charlotte even has Sherlock’s drug habit, which I thought was pretty risky for the author to include in YA. The writing style was refreshing – despite feeling old-fashioned – and such a good match to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s work. Since the book was a mystery, it was also suspenseful and it was fun to make predictions as I read.

“We’re not on who, or why, Watson, we’re still working out how. You can’t theorize in advance of facts, or you’ll waste everyone’s time.”

Even though I assume the rest of the books in the series will be formulaic (like most mystery series are), I feel like it’s worth it to continue reading this series. Charlotte and Jamie are complex characters with a complex relationship. They understand each other and need one another’s friendship, but they are also just teenagers who have a lot of family pressure on them.

I wanted the two of us to be complicated together, to be difficult and engrossing and blindingly brilliant.

There is room for Charlotte and Jamie to grow personally and I appreciate the diligent work Cavallaro has put into crafting this novel.

Rating + Review: The Width of the World

I was so excited to find the third book in the Vega Jane series available to read on the OverDrive app right after I finished the second book. How refreshing to get to continue on in a series! This rarely happens to me. Even though I quickly completed the third book in the Vega Jane series, I ended up waiting a full week before writing my review for The Width of the World because I couldn’t figure out what to say about it. Why? Well, because even though there were a lot of plot holes and moments of “why are you doing that?!” and “shouldn’t you be doing this instead?” and “how did the character assume that?” I still really, really enjoyed this book! 

Goodreads Blurb:

This is it. Vega Jane’s time. She’s been lied to her whole life, so she breaks away from Wormwood, the only home she’s ever known, in search of the truth. She battles horrors to fight her way across the Quag with her best friend, Delph, and her mysterious canine, Harry Two. Against all odds, they survive unimaginable dangers and make it through.

And into a new world that’s even worse. Not because deadly beasts roam the cobblestones, but because the people are enslaved but don’t even know it. It’s up to Vega, Delph, Harry Two and their new comrade, Petra, to take up the fight against a foe that’s unrivaled in savagery and cunning. Not only is Vega’s life and the lives of her friends on the line, but whether she triumphs or fails will determine whether a whole world survives. 

Beloved author David Baldacci delivers a shockwave of destruction and shattering revelations in The Width of the World, book three in his instant #1 global bestselling Vega Jane series.

At first, I was not sure that I would like this book. When Vega, Delph, Petra, and Harry Two escape the Quag, I was momentarily reminded of the crushing let-down from the Divergent series when Tris escaped from her city and into the unknown. It was underwhelming. I thought, “Nooo! Don’t take all of this epic adventure and turn it into a lame experiment and dystopia!” Luckily, that’s not quite what happened here, so I was relieved. 

Another reason why I was initially cautious about this book was because in the second Vega Jane book, I felt that some of the plot points seemed too reminiscent of other literary sources. This third book felt that way, too. Certain scenes reminded me of events from Harry Potter, Star Wars, A Discovery of Witches, and even Beauty and the Beast. However, I still enjoyed this book so much. I read it quickly and was invested in Vega’s journey. 

The conflict in this book was very interesting, or as Vega puts it, “It really was quite brilliant. But more diabolically evil than brilliant.” The Maladons are manipulative and evil, all right, just not as blatantly as we had been expecting. I agree with Vega when she says, “I had to admit it was all very well planned. And yet the Maladons had had centuries to perfect what they were doing: unobtrusively enslaving an entire people while at the same time destroying all those who could rise up against them.” These Maladons are bad dudes, and Vega is so pure-of-heart compared to them. 

I cannot wait to find out what happens in the fourth installment of the Vega Jane series. This series has kept me on my toes the entire time, and I know Baldacci is saving some great twists for the final book.

This book almost deserves a 5 star rating, but I was annoyed at how Vega would get tunnel-vision and just focus on one thing – totally forgetting about lots of other things she should be thinking about. I don’t want to let any spoilers slip, but, what about her family? Learning more about the resistance? Warning other people about what’s going on? None of that seemed to be addressed, but I find it all rather important and obvious. I’m curious if other readers noticed this, too.