It's poetic injustice really. 50 years ago Walt Disney shamelessly hijacked what can easily be considered the most important literary achievement of P. L. Travers, Mary Poppins. Now, some half a century later, Hollywood takes the story of P. L. Travers herself, twists it into something politically correct, soft and sweet and easy to sell, and feeds it to the world. How many times is P. L. Travers going to be betrayed by the entertainment industry?

Admittedly, up to very recently I had not really read the Mary Poppins books. Not that I wouldn't have wanted to, Mary Poppins simply didn't find her way to my shelf which was  usually crowded with Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and the rest of the sci-fi universe, with a touch of Hermann Hesse and W. Somerset Maugham migrating over from my mom's shelf. Point is, I didn't really read much specifically "children's" books.

My first introduction to Mary Poppins was unsurprisingly through the movie, which I watched with googly eyes when I was about 5 or so the first time. And loved it, really really loved it. And have even watched it many more times since then.

Recently, I watched "Saving Mr. Banks", which was supposedly the story of how Walt Disney approached P. L. Travers to get the rights for the movie, and her reactions, and how the movie was eventually made. Nice movie, which at the same time felt full of plot holes for something that was supposed to be based on a true story. I had a feeling that there was more to the story than met the screen.

So I went and started the research. Did my fair share of reading on P. L. Travers, found what seems to be the most accurate and detailed, and the least "interpreted" biography of her out there, titled "Mary Poppins, She Wrote" by Valerie Lawson. After finishing this book and some more articles and shorter books about her, I read the original Mary Poppins books. All 9 of them.

And now, after all the reading, I am… well… angry.

As P. L. Traverse herself had said many times before, the Mary Poppins books are not exactly children's books. They're certainly books that children can enjoy reading, but the way I see it they're somewhat comparable to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "Little Prince". They're more philosophy books than anything else, and they're nothing like the pink and fluffy image of the Walt Disney movie.

As much as I enjoyed the Disney movie as a child, right now I wish I had never seen it, that it had never been made. From what I understand, what Disney did to Mary Poppins was the source of agony for P. L. Travers for the rest of her days, and it also manage to frustrate just about anyone who had any kind of an actual understanding of the point of the books. Now after having read the books I can understand why. Disney basically took the shell and left the soul behind.

But then, this is not really what "Saving Mr. Banks" shows, is it? The movie is unfortunately yet another bit of fluff, created to please the audience. Everything I've read, everything I've dug out, shows that unfortunately Mr. Disney was not at all the fair and decent character shown in the movie. He basically ambushed P. L. Travers into finally selling him the rights to make a movie [after years of harassing her for it], and then slowly pushed her out of the picture. Despite the fact that he originally promised her that her ideas will be respected, he eventually disregarded all of the very important points that she had made in order for the movie to stay faithful to the books.

The nice and emotional conversations between Disney and P. L. Travers in the movie are all pretty much fictional, and at the end Disney had actually no intention of having P. L. Travers present at the premiere at all. To him, she was only a nuisance. The movie shows a rigid and difficult Pamela, without making any mention of why she was the way she was. Quite unfair.

It's of course even more of a horror reading some of the articles that showed up online after the release of "Saving Mr. Banks". Clueless people writing completely misguided articles about P. L. Travers, her role in the creation of the Poppins movie, and even her personal life and her relationship with the people around her, and with her son. Following the movie, these articles picture P. L. Travers as a despiteful unloving and unloved character, who was responsible for destroying the life of her adopted son. For heaven's sakes, do your research before writing this nonsense. A bit of digging will show you that the horrendous rubbish couldn't possibly be further from the truth.

P. L. Travers was an amazing person with a wonderful mind, and what's being done to her is a crime. This should be stopped.

Labels: Authors, Books, Life, Literature, Motion Picture, Movies

So, well, yes, I did finish reading The Hunger Games trilogy. My thanks to you who forced me into it. ;) I don't however have much to say about it. Not for the lack of thoughts, mind you. But simply because I don't know what to say… I don't know how to put it into words… I guess for me it got a tad too emotional.

As usual, the movies are good but they do not at all reach up to the books. The books tell a story that can very well happen tomorrow, in detail they depict a world that so resembles our current one. That's why it was very emotional for me to read them, because there are too many familiar elements, too much connection to reality. Thanks to all I've seen, I had far too many "oh, I know exactly how that is" moments reading the 3 books.

All I can say is that I hope we somehow manage to skip that. I don't know how likely it is though, as my own experiences living in various parts of the world have shown me too much to leave me with much optimism regarding the direction our race is currently headed to.

And you know what? The ending always looks like that….

Labels: Books, Literature, Reading, Sci-Fi, Thoughts

A few weeks ago I finished reading Orhan Pamuk's historical murder mystery book, "My Name is Red". Honestly I had never even heard of the apparently very popular book or the Nobel laureate author until I saw the book in the hands of an acquaintance, and well, the cover of all things took my attention. =P

The book goes deep into the culture and mentality of the society of miniaturists in the Ottoman empire, and through that, reveals many interesting facts about the general life style, religious views and beliefs in different classes of the society. But I guess what really got me reading, was that the book talks more about Persia even that it does about Turkey! Seeing that the Persian miniaturists and calligraphists of the time were considered pretty much deities of the field, there's a great deal of discussion and historical facts regarding Persia.

The books touches upon topics that I in the past couple of years I haven't read much about, and it gave me a rather nostalgic feeling. It also brought a few historical facts to my attention that I actually did not know about, despite the fact that I myself practice the Persian calligraphy and have done my fair share of reading on the topic.

And well, the story was also pretty good. =) So yes, recommended reading.

Labels: Authors, Books, Literature, Reading

After reading Cory Doctorow's "Little Brother" last month, I decided to read the sequel named "Homeland". It turned out to be a good idea.

For the first 3/4th of the book, what I would say is pretty much the same thing I said about the first book. In terms of the style, the sequel is even more sloppily written than the first book, if that's possible. I would have been very happy reading far less about the burning man and other horribly stretched topics throughout the book. But the good ideas are still there.

But I feel that during the last 1/4th of the book, there's a slight shift in the mood and the direction. It feels like the ideas are finally properly cooked! The characters actions become more realistic, actually everything becomes a lot more realistic. The points are clearly made and the conclusion has a nice balance to it.

All in all, I think that I like "Homeland" better than "Little Brother"!

Labels: Authors, Books, Literature, Reading

Last week I finished reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb's "Fooled By Randomness". What I would say about it is pretty much the same as what I wrote about "The Black Swan". This is something to read for anyone who wants to know how the world works, and why we generally don't/can't do a good job in predicting what will or will not come next.

Though I think I'm still a bigger fan of "The Black Swan", I really enjoyed reading this one too.

Labels: Authors, Books, Economics, Literature, Mathematics, Reading, Science

Last week I finished reading "Roadside Picnic", the 1972 sci-fi novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky [as per suggestion of a friend]. For me, the book "felt" quite a bit  similar to  Huxley's "Brave New World". Dystopian society built around one major life changing element which is a source of unnatural luck for some and unfair disadvantage for many others.

I did enjoy reading the book, I really liked the central idea. But I must also say that this is generally not my cup of sci-fi. I am much more into Asimov's style of sci-fi. When I read a science-"fiction" book, I am not really looking for a window into the future of the mess we currently have, what we are already experiencing. I'd like to look further forward, perhaps to what comes after that mess.

But if "Brave New World" or "1984" are for you, then this is totally recommended.

Labels: Authors, Books, Literature, Reading, Sci-Fi

Last night [well, basically 'till morning] I finished reading Orson Scot Card's "Ender's Game", the first book of the "Ender's Saga". The series have been on my reading list for basically ever now, but somehow I never got to it. Then the movie showed up which I don't want to see before reading the books. [I'm a much bigger fan of books than movies and I don't want watching the movie to spoil the books!] So a week ago I finally started reading the first book, and well, looks like I pretty much devoured it.

Once I started reading "Ender's Game" I simply couldn't put it down. The book definitely is one of the best sci-fi I've ever read, as was suggested to me by several of my friends. [You were all right! =) ] Now I'm going to start with the 2nd book… I'm of course very happy that there's already 12 books in the series, and the author is writing some more…. I really do want more of this!

Labels: Authors, Books, Entertainment, Literature, Reading, Sci-Fi

Last week I finished reading [or more like devouring] Dan Brown's latest book, "Inferno". And well, wow! For me this book is now in a tie with "The Da Vinci Code" for Dan Brown's best. As usual he has managed to put a lot of interesting ideas and generally "food for thought" in the book. But then the plot was also amazing this time, and felt like a bit of an evolution. So, I really enjoyed it. Totally recommended.

Labels: Authors, Books, Entertainment, Interesting, Literature, Reading

On Sunday night we went to see the Hobbit [3D]. Yes, the opening week, in fact just after the opening day. =P I was in a pretty big hurry for this one… Couldn't wait! And I'm so not disappointed!

The movie was simply great. As I wrote about the first part, in comparison the LOTR movies, the hobbit movies have the advantage of being truly faithful to the book, which naturally comes with making 3 movies out of the one book. Every important detail is there, with some cute additions, and altogether things just feel right. The visuals are quite stunning, and if you're going to see the movie, make sure to see it in 3D.

I still have a problem with a blonde Orlando Bloom. That really doe NOT work. But I don't think I had enough time to pay attention to that given Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel, and Benedict Cumberbatch's voice on Smaug. =P

All in all it's a lovely movie. The only "issue", is the humongous cliff-hanger at the end. Of course when you divide one single book into 3 movies, every conclusion, every important event, everything that you are waiting for, will be at the end, waiting for the last movie. So now I have to wait a year for… well… everything. Meh. =P

Labels: Entertainment, Fun, Literature, Motion Picture, Movies

Of all the versions of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" that I have seen so far, old and new, classic and modern, my favourite has to be Joss Whedon's! I watched it  some weeks ago for the first time, and a few nights ago again. I never thought I'd enjoy a version more than the digital theatre one with David Tennant and Catherine Tate, but I liked Joss Whedon's even more than that! It's just too cute! =D

Of course Joss Whedon and Jed Whedon also created their own version of "Sigh No More", the famous soundtrack of Much Ado [with Shakespeare's own lyrics!]. It's quite nice, definitely the nicest version of it I've heard. =)

Labels: Entertainment, Joss Whedon, Literature, Movies, Music

Meanwhile, in my so called "parallel reading", I finished reading one of the most amazing, most brilliant non-fictions I've ever read. "The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb is must read for anyone who has an interest in thinking / learning about how the world functions!

I came across this book completely accidentally, and it truly took my breath away. And now I think I'm going to read the rest of what the same author has written…

Labels: Authors, Books, Literature, Mathematics, Reading, Science

Couple of weeks ago I finished reading Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol". I'm big enough a fan of his writing I would say, and had already read everything else he had written a long time ago [before the Da Vinci Code movie was made...], but somehow never got to this one. When I heard the news that "Inferno" was finally released, I picked up "The Lost Symbol" and pretty much devoured it!

Plot-wise this was probably not my favourite Dan Brown book. That however does not mean that I didn't enjoy the book. It just means that this book was even more of a textbook than his previous ones. Generally Dan Brown has the tendency of teaching through his books and getting many messages through. In "The Lost Symbol", there is simply much more of that, than story telling. That being said, I really found what was being "thought" quite interesting, and in some ways very much in line with my own way of thinking. So I did in fact enjoy the book quite immensely.

Now, finally to "Inferno". =)

Labels: Authors, Books, Fiction, Literature, Reading

Well this is interesting. Apparently, recently a never published unknown tale of Andersen's has been discovered! The story is said to be one of his earliest works. Here you can read a translated version of the story. And here's the most informative article that I've so far found about it. I've read the story a few times already… for some reason I really love it.

Labels: Authors, History, Literature

I just finished reading "How We Are Hungry" by Dave Eggers. The book is a collection of short stories, most of which are more like images of a situation than actual stories. I've read books in this style before and I've not always been a fan of them, but I really enjoyed reading this one. The very last story, "After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned", which is told by a dog, is probably my favourite. =)

Labels: Authors, Books, Literature, Reading

I read the book "Life of Pi" a few years back, due to the suggestion of one of my profs. I enjoyed reading the book quite immensely, and felt quite moved by it. Somehow I felt a lot of connections between the life of Pi and the life of myself. The book is definitely one of the best I've ever read.

When I heard that "Life of Pi" was made into a movie, and especially after reading up on the crew and the cast, I figured this is probably not yet another case of a really good book being mutilated into a movie. The book, as deep and wonderful as it is, it also tells a very simple story which I didn't imagine would be too hard to make into motion picture. And then I saw the trailer, and I knew that I absolutely had to see the movie.

As it turns out, the movie is indeed a very good adaptation of the book. Aside from remaining completely faithful to the book, the visual aspects of the movie are quite marvellous, and the music is breathtaking. And I'm also very happy to see that they didn't try to somehow hollywoodize the whole thing. =)

So for anyone who is a fan of the book, as well as anyone who's never heard of it before, "Life of Pi" is totally recommended. Best if you actually go to a movie theatre and see the 3D version, as there are some truly spectacular scenes in there. I enjoyed it very very much. =)

Labels: Books, Entertainment, Literature, Motion Picture, Movies

It's a pretty long list of reasons why I've always been a huge fan of Tolkien's books, one of the main ones being the way there is a million and one story lines happening parallel to each other. There's a lot of important information, as well as major and minor characters in each of these streams, contributing to the depth and the complexity of the story as a whole, and making the whole Tolkien universe a lot more of an intriguing place.

That is why, when the 3 Lord of the Rings movies officially took over the world, I was one of the very few people not to be that big of a fan of them. I did of course enjoy watching the spectacular visuals of the movies and many other great aspects of them. But my problem was with the amount of information, story pieces and even some very significant characters [Tom Bombadil being the best example] that were removed, in order to fit books of that magnitude into 3.5 hour movies. In my opinion, these modifications have altered the story line, and have caused irreparable damage to much of what Tolkien was trying to communicate through his stories.

When last year I read that for the single "The Hobbit" book, three movies were in production, I had to smile. I've been very much looking forward to seeing the movies, and last week I finally got to watch the first part, "An Unexpected Journey". As I suspected, having considerably more time means that the movie is a lot closer to the book than the LOTR movies. The important parts are all there, and the story hasn't really been altered in any way. And then there's of course all the visual gorgeousness and the lovely scenery, and the truly awesome collection of actors and actresses. On that note I must say I'm really happy with the choice of Martin Freeman as Bilbo, him being one of my favourite actors and completely perfect for the role too. Oh, and was anyone else excited to see "Being Human"s Aiden Turner as Kili? =D

So all in all finally there's a Tolkien book made into movie that I'm happy with. Now waiting impatiently for the 2 remaining parts....

Labels: Entertainment, Fantasy, Literature, Motion Picture, Movies

Couple of nights ago I finished reading "A Dance with Dragons", book 5 of "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R. R. Martin. Meaning that now I have to wait till next year [supposedly] to get my hands on the next book. Too much of a bloody cliff hanger.... *sigh*

Well, it's been quite a trip. It's an amazing universe GRRM has created, with characters that are believable and understandable, and plots and events that are impossible to predicts. Everything can happen, everyone can die... and apparently everyone does die... =P Heroes make disastrous mistakes and the most brilliant set ups go gloriously wrong, and then the devil saves the day..... And you can't put the bloody book down. =)

Oh, and regarding the TV series... as great as the series are, they're not nearly as good as the books, so if you're a fan of the TV series just go and read the books... Especially in the more recent episodes the TV series has been deviating more and more from the books, somehow annihilating some interesting aspects of the story line.

So, now I'm going to go about finally finishing Codex Alera [which I've been stretching as much as I could! =P]. And after that... we'll see.

Labels: Books, Entertainment, Fantasy, Literature, Reading, TV

A friend was asking me today if I finally read "Inheritance", the last book in the "Inheritance Cycle" by Christopher Paolini, and what I thought about it. I remembered I never wrote anything about it...

So yes, I read Inheritance some months ago and actually like it quite a bit too. As I wrote here before, the trilogy was not exactly among my favourites. But the 4th instalment really did save the whole thing. Even though the very end left me somewhat unsatisfied, but the 4th book was able to give a new depth and direction to the cycle.

I truly enjoyed reading the 4th book, and now I'm hoping that Christopher Paolini will, as he said, at some point go back to Alagaesia and show us a bit more about the future of the main characters. I don't want to give spoilers here since a couple of friends are going to read the book soon, but lets just say that I would like Eragon to reconsider his choice of residence location eventually. ;)

Labels: Books, Fantasy, Literature

A Dream Within a Dream by Edgar Allan Poe

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

Labels: Life, Literature, Poems, Poetry

So here's another example of how my movie taste is so totally incompatible with... well... most people! Last night I watched M. Night Shyamalan's true masterpiece [at least in my book], "Lady in the Water". Apparently the rest of the world considers this movie a failure. I can't for the life of me understand why. There aren't many movies nowadays that have so much to say... so many messages to send, and it's so disappointing to see how this rare one got beaten to death by the critics. I really truly enjoyed watching this movie, and I'm totally going to get me the book.

Labels: Entertainment, Fantasy, Literature, Motion Picture, Movies