Apostrophe S

I just finished reading Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s “V for Vendetta,” a serial comic from the mid-to-late ’80s that, if you didn’t know, is being released in movie adaptation form on St. Patrick’s day. It’s a strange day for a big action movie to be released, and in fact it was supposed to be released last fall, around Nov. 5, I believe, but was delayed because of the London subway bombings, probably because the movie contains scenes of anarchic destruction of London icons. If it follows the book, it may even have a subway bomb sequence. So you can probably understand why it was delayed.

But anyway, I’m still reading “Age of Spiritual Machines,” but I decided to divert to read “V for Vendetta” so that I could know the material before I saw the movie, which I hope to see on the big screen. And I’m glad I did. However, the ten collected issues that make up the “V” story are about 5 more than needed. The art is not inspiring, and the pacing of the story caused me to put the book down (well, the PowerBook) several times while I was reading through it. The main story arch is breathtaking in its imagination and roots in history. But unfortunately it’s interspersed with so much boring crap that it’s amazing anyone had the patience to read it in the first place.

Everyone knows the Wachowski brothers have their hand in the movie adaptation, although I question how much of their influence will be seen. But it’s all going to depend on the script. It would take some serious balls to make a straight adaptation of the source material, because it deals with a tyrranical government and an anarchist hero who blows shit up to make a point. He’s called a terrorist in the book, and he is. He’s not altruistic. He wants to free the English people from fascist control, but he also has a personal ax to grind.

One thing I both liked and disliked about the book is that we never really find out who V is. On the one hand, you really want to know who the man behind the mask is, but on the other hand, as one character points out, his power would be diminished as an idea. Which is really what V’s whole existance was. I wonder if they’ll change that for the movie. Although we already know it’s Hugo Weaving behind the mask, so we know what his face looks like…

I guess the lesson for modern audiences is that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. And that’s pretty true.

[This article is only kind of part of the 26 Books project that I'm doing this year. I added it in.]

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Kurt Vonnegut book. Probably since the ol’ high school reading of “Slaughterhouse 5.” I remember enjoying that book, and saying to myself something like, “I should read more books by that guy.” And, less than 10 years later, I’ve done just that. Actually, my college roommate has asked me if I’ve read this book at least a dozen times, and now I can finally say yes. And I finally understand the source of the name he gave his computer in the dorms, Ice Nine. Totally nerdy, and totally awesome.

The book gets off to a bit of a slow start, what with talk of Bokononism and the father of the Bomb. But once the narrator gets to San Lorenzo and starts shaking things up, the book gets very interesting. I wonder if there going to make a movie out of this. Hold on, let me hit The IMdB.

…

OK, turns out there is a movie being made of this, and the only problem is that Terry Gilliam’s not yet slated to direct it. But Leo DiCaprio is producing it. Hmm…

Oh, and it’s currently classified as an Adventure / Comedy / Drama / Fantasy / Mystery / Sci-Fi / Thriller, so I’m guessing it’s gotta be good. But I’ll have to wait til 2007.

…

But anyway, this review has turned out to not be much of a review at all. I don’t mind, though. To describe the events in the book would be pretty mundane, until the end anyway. The real enjoyment is in the irony and humor Vonnegut attaches to such a tragic event, namely the end of the world. Not that I would expect anything less.

Oh, and it took a little bit longer to read this book, because, well, I moved. And I’ve been reading a lot of graphic stories, aka comic books, lately.

Next book, “The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence” by Ray Kurzweil

[This article is part of the 26 Books project that I'm doing this year.]