Little Talks

The Casual Vacancy  is the first (and only) non-Harry Potter book I've read by J. K. Rowling. And it was a really interesting read. I tend to read fantasy/SF or historical fiction...fiction in a day-in-the-life sort of style is not something I've ever found myself drawn to. But I enjoyed this book. The time-span covered by the book is not long, there is not one major crisis event at the centre of the story; instead it is a deep exploration of a handful of characters in a small English village as they deal with the sudden and unexpected death of a well-known and important figure in the village. The constantly shifting narration was confusing at moments, but the characters were extremely interesting. No one is straightforward. Every character has vices and flaws, dreams and ambitions, and they all experience hurt and insecurity. There were moments when I hated most of them, and felt bad for almost all of them. You never consider how one man's death could tear a village a...

You may have noticed that I haven't posted a Sunday Saying in a few weeks. I've been a little busier than I expected to be this month, now that I am home. Yup, I flew into Canada a couple of weeks ago. Now I have to get back into routines here at home. (And think about what I'm doing with my life after school, but we won't talk about that). It's nice to be home, but I did like England.

[Warning: This post may contain spoilers - read at your own risk.] The Fantastic Beasts movie franchise is a clear cash-grab, right? We all know it, but that doesn't stop us fans from flocking to the theatres to see the latest addition to the Potterverse. After all, I think we're all a little curious to witness the creative genius that is J. K. Rowling. The fact that she has all of this extra material about the wizarding world that hasn't been used is amazing, and it keeps the fans hanging on. It's a win-win; we get the continual release of new materials, and Rowling gets crazy rich and famous for all of the work that she put into this series. I was particularly excited for this movie when I saw that Eddie Redmayne was cast as Newt Scamander. I also loved the idea that this movie featured a Hufflepuff as the main character. Nice to see my house represented! And, on top of all of that, the movie is set in 1920s New York, which is just amazing! The city is wonderful, a...

[Warning: mild spoilers] Many people may be unaware that Les Misérables  was originally a novel by Victor Hugo, the man who wrote The Hunchback of Notre Dame . And just like his other novel, Les Mis is extremely long. The book tells the story of Jean Valjean's redemption after getting out of prison and the way that he tries to do whatever he can to assist others, until the day when Inspector Javert realizes who he is and he is forced to spend the rest of his days running and hiding from the officer who is bent on revenge. The one thing that continues to push Jean Valjean to run is a girl named Cosette. He adopted the girl when her mother, who had worked for him, passed away. The girl was in the care of a selfish couple whom the mother had paid to raise the little girl. It's very much a Cinderella story, with Cosette being treated more like a servant than a part of the family. Jean thus dedicates his life to caring for the young girl, but the Thenardier family repeatedly co...

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's Roadside Picnic is unlike any book I've ever read. It tells the story of a sort of post-apocalyptic world in which aliens landed on Earth and left very shortly afterwards. No one saw the aliens or knows what they were doing and why they did it, but they left behind zones which have remnants of their presence: objects left behind, forces and earthly things which have been altered, etc. Certain risk-takers sneak into the zones in hopes of collecting objects to sell (for collection or scientific exploration). Scientists also hire some of these men to guide them through the zones to study them. Red is one of these men, and the novel's main story concerns the way that the zone affects Red and his family. He marries the woman of his dreams, but he puts himself in danger, their daughter devolves and his father is brought back to life (in a zombified state). There are some insightful speeches about things like religion, politics, humanity, and scien...