Monday, July 5, 2010

Getting Lost, I am Legend.

Finished up the June Books a few days late.

1. Getting Lost by Orson Scott Card. Part of the Smart Pop book series, first published in 2006, this collection is made up of fifteen essays and an encyclopedia that cover the first two season of the show. Some essays are very good (Oceanic Tales; Have You Been Framed? and Cosmic Vertigo on the Isle of Lost) some are marginal, I won't name names. There is a reading list, of course, probably because you can't talk about Lost without talking about books and stories too, but David Lavery's (Lost's Buried Treasures) is much more in-depth. There are some cool suggestions made; one essay author totally called what ended up happening with Hurley, another posits deep meaning while analyzing Jack's tattoos. Bottom line? It's fine. Did not blow my skirt up, though.

DICK MATHESON, HOWEVER, IS A HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR.



2. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, a collection of short stories, many of them first published during the 50s. I snagged this from the Book Nook (that I co-created) at Starbucks, how glad I am that I did! First off, I AM LEGEND? I doubt there was ever a better book title, anywhere. This entire collection was right up my proverbial alley, all the way. Many of the stories had connections to Twilight Zone episodes, I'm sure many of them became Twilight Zone or Night Gallery episodes (The Near Departed, Prey, Dress of White Silk, Mad House, From Shadowed Places). I also could tell that these must have influenced Stephen King, too, because some of the prose seemed very similar, but more housebroken than King, calmer, grandfatherly, if that makes sense. I very much enjoyed all of them. I haven't seen the film yet, it's next on my netflix, but really I cannot wait. And while I Am Legend was probably the most engaging, the weightiest story in the collection, it was Mad House (a writer is full of rage because he cannot write? um. . . ) that packed the biggest punch for me. I hope I never become an angry writer, I'd hate to have my bathroom, you know, KILL ME. Also, I would leave this in the bathroom after my bath and every time I did, my daughter would carry it out, refuse to look at the cover, and bury it somewhere. It is rather creepy, I suppose.

All these DID blow my skirt up. It's still up, actually. If you like crafty, scary little stories, read these now.

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