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Wednesday Reading Meme
Going back to cutting parts of the post for a bit. We'll see how that goes.
What I've recently finished reading
Maggie Stiefvater: Blue Lily, Lily Blue
I'm constantly left feeling that the books in this series is just meandering for meandering's sake, and yet I keep reading. I mean, the characters are interesting, I want to see what happens, but mostly, what happens is meandering.
Ed Brubaker: Kill or be Killed vol. 1.
Greg Rucka: Wonder Woman: Year One
Oh look. A story about Diana leaving Themyscira that isn't creepy or involves her being a spoiled brat. Amazing. It defies belief.
Barbara Yelin: Irmina
I very much enjoyed this graphic novel. We meet Irmina as she arrives in 1930s London to study to be a secretary. She wanted an academic education, but her parents already spent the family money on her brothers, and besides, as a German woman in Hitler's Germany, her place is not at university. Still, she mostly thrives in England - she makes friends with one of the first black students at Oxford or maybe more than friends. Except - bit by bit, her support system fades away, mostly due to the political situation back home, until she ends up going back...
It's not a nice story. It starts nice and then just gradually tears Irmina down, more and more, undoing her. Still - I like the graphic novel. What I really didn't like was the afterword, purporting to be about the historical background. I mean, if that was what is was, that would have been fine - instead, the afterword basically tells the reading "this is how you are to interpret Irmina's story". And frankly? Save that sort of bullshit for school. I'm an adult, I can interpret things just fine myself.
Martin Jensen: Helligåndens gæster
What I've recently watched
37. Qeda
I liked the imagery of Copenhagen of the future, flooded and hiding behind walls. It's always nice to see places you go transformed like that. The storyline, on the other hand - honestly? It felt like the movie was simply aiming at being a very deep movie, and it just never gets there.
38. Hannah Gadsby - Nanette
I thought comedy was supposed to make you laugh, not make you occasionally want to cry and hug the comedian. But this is a really, really excellent stand-up comedy special, about LGBTQ and art history and - you should watch it.
39. Manden der tænkte ting
And from the newest Danish sf to a movie from the 60s. Very stilish, black and white. The main character is an arrogant brain surgeon (I'm not sure how much he's really supposed to be an ass and how much is that it's a movie from the 60s) who is approached by the mysterious Mr. Steinmetz, who has the ability to conjure things forth with his mind, and wants the brain surgeon to help his powers grow. The start of the movie is the best part, really - I found the second half, with Steinmetz torturing the arrogant surgeon, somewhat annoying, until I realized the story was basically retelling old HC's The Shadow, and frankly, the conclusion felt un-earned. But it's a good movie. I really need to watch more old Danish movies.
What I'm reading now
Plato's The Laws (yes, still), Henrik Pontoppidan's Lykke-Per (because I need to see how much of the movie was the book and whether Per's grand plan was half as steampunky as it came across), Carol K. Carr's India Black and the Widow of Windsor, and Olga Ravn's De ansatte
Total number of books and comics read this year: 142
What I've recently finished reading
Maggie Stiefvater: Blue Lily, Lily Blue
I'm constantly left feeling that the books in this series is just meandering for meandering's sake, and yet I keep reading. I mean, the characters are interesting, I want to see what happens, but mostly, what happens is meandering.
Ed Brubaker: Kill or be Killed vol. 1.
Greg Rucka: Wonder Woman: Year One
Oh look. A story about Diana leaving Themyscira that isn't creepy or involves her being a spoiled brat. Amazing. It defies belief.
Barbara Yelin: Irmina
I very much enjoyed this graphic novel. We meet Irmina as she arrives in 1930s London to study to be a secretary. She wanted an academic education, but her parents already spent the family money on her brothers, and besides, as a German woman in Hitler's Germany, her place is not at university. Still, she mostly thrives in England - she makes friends with one of the first black students at Oxford or maybe more than friends. Except - bit by bit, her support system fades away, mostly due to the political situation back home, until she ends up going back...
It's not a nice story. It starts nice and then just gradually tears Irmina down, more and more, undoing her. Still - I like the graphic novel. What I really didn't like was the afterword, purporting to be about the historical background. I mean, if that was what is was, that would have been fine - instead, the afterword basically tells the reading "this is how you are to interpret Irmina's story". And frankly? Save that sort of bullshit for school. I'm an adult, I can interpret things just fine myself.
Martin Jensen: Helligåndens gæster
What I've recently watched
37. Qeda
I liked the imagery of Copenhagen of the future, flooded and hiding behind walls. It's always nice to see places you go transformed like that. The storyline, on the other hand - honestly? It felt like the movie was simply aiming at being a very deep movie, and it just never gets there.
38. Hannah Gadsby - Nanette
I thought comedy was supposed to make you laugh, not make you occasionally want to cry and hug the comedian. But this is a really, really excellent stand-up comedy special, about LGBTQ and art history and - you should watch it.
39. Manden der tænkte ting
And from the newest Danish sf to a movie from the 60s. Very stilish, black and white. The main character is an arrogant brain surgeon (I'm not sure how much he's really supposed to be an ass and how much is that it's a movie from the 60s) who is approached by the mysterious Mr. Steinmetz, who has the ability to conjure things forth with his mind, and wants the brain surgeon to help his powers grow. The start of the movie is the best part, really - I found the second half, with Steinmetz torturing the arrogant surgeon, somewhat annoying, until I realized the story was basically retelling old HC's The Shadow, and frankly, the conclusion felt un-earned. But it's a good movie. I really need to watch more old Danish movies.
What I'm reading now
Plato's The Laws (yes, still), Henrik Pontoppidan's Lykke-Per (because I need to see how much of the movie was the book and whether Per's grand plan was half as steampunky as it came across), Carol K. Carr's India Black and the Widow of Windsor, and Olga Ravn's De ansatte
Total number of books and comics read this year: 142
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