The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: Food For Thought

This book was itself magic. Much as the circus "arrives without warning", without warning I was lost in it, completely engrossed and utterly swept away in the tales of The Night Circus. I felt as if I was a part of it myself. Perhaps that was because of the way that it was written. Throughout the novel there are sections describing a tent or attraction within the circus, written in the second person, so you really feel like you are walking through it yourself. As I researched some discussion questions for our book club meeting a majority of them revolved around the way the book was written in fragments. Not just the attraction descriptions, but also the fact that some of it was out of order and going from character to character. The questions were asking if this was jolting, or too disconnected, or did it suit the book by mirroring the circus itself? Most of us weren't taken back by this style. While it may be slightly confusing at first, once you get the hang of it, I believe that it actually enriched the novel.

SPOILER ALERT:
This book is sort of a warped version of Romeo and Juliet. Two fathers who are in a war against each other pit their talented "children" against each other to basically use magic in a battle, the Night Circus being the venue in which they will do so. This will only end when one of them dies. These two children, bound to together from such a young age can not help but to fall hopelessly in love with eachother when they finally meet. The novel follows the story of them and the people that surround them and the Night Circus. The fathers do not want them together, ironically, even though they are the ones who bound them together in the first place.

I also can not help but connect it to The Hunger Games. We have two talented young people fighting (this time with magic) eachother and must do so against their will until one of them dies. That is almost identical to the Hunger Games. In the end of the novel, they find a way to escape by what you might call suicide- or a version of suicide if you may.  (I.E. Romeo & Juliet's poison, Katniss & Peeta's berries...) This act finally ends the nightmare of the "fighting" and makes way for peace.

It's a beautiful story. And besides the story, the writing was immaculate and creative. It was so colorful and vivid. I loved the description of the food at the midnight dinners. One in particular stays in my head. The food was described as being all gray and once you cut into it, it would burst with different colors. The plates were flat circular mirrors which just added to the beauty and depth of it. My favorite scene, at one of these dinners, was when time litterally slowed down and Celia and Marco finally kiss. I felt as though it was me he was kissing. And how sad that he made them all forget it....

END SPOILER

I truly loved this book and felt like I watched it or even like I lived it rather than read it. I would love to see it turned into a movie but I don't know how it could be done justice. Plus they'll probably cast Anne Hathaway and then I'll want to shoot myself! Even the ending was truly satisfying and tied all the segments together in an interesting and thought provoking way. I sat staring into space when I finished it, saddened. It was a dream I did not want to wake from.

If you've read this book, please post comments and or good discussion questions you can think of!

Thanks for reading!

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Book Vs. Movie

Seth Grahame-Smith's Choose Your Own Adventure

Let me start by saying that I LOVED the book. I thought it was brilliantly written with the exact amount of history versus sci-fi to make it actually seem believable. It felt as though I was in Lincoln’s mind and understood his every movement. I felt as though it explained the civil war in a way I never understood before. I became more interested in history and made me decide to name my son Abraham if I ever have one. That was a joke. I won’t be naming my son Abraham, but I did thoroughly enjoy his character and have become a fan of him historically. Then I watched the movie. Not to say it was a bad movie- even though the reviews were not to great- I thought it to be a decent flick. As I watched the movie, from basically the first word, I sat there and said “That didn’t happen! THAT didn’t happen either! What about this? How could this be left out?” to the point where I annoyed my company watching with me who didn’t read the book. Then as the credits were rolling I was very surprised to learn that the screenplay was also written by Seth Grahame-Smith. Suddenly it shone a completely different light over it. He was not just okay with the changes and the holes I felt were in the movie- he actually wrote it himself! While it was basically, absolutely nothing like the book, it forced me to reevaluate and rethink the book under the notion that perhaps  I had been reading it differently. But after reevaluation and discussions with other readers of Lincoln, I feel that the screenplay is more of an alternative story to the book. For example- sometimes, when I’m writing a story,  I have characters and ideas but there are two directions I can take the story, unsure of which one would work out better, I’m forced to chose just one. I feel that Grahame-Smith’s screenplay  here was his alternative story, using the same themes and a similar plot but going in directions he decided against for the book. Do you remember the choose-your-own-adventure books? I don’t know if they still have them but those were my favorite books because you got to explore the alternate choice, the “if-only” we so often want to explore.  That’s how I felt when watching the movie, like I was reading a second choice in Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’s Choose Your Own Adventure.

From here on I will say SPOILER alert because if you haven’t read the book AND seen the movie I will be ruining both for you as I outline a few of the very huge differences and holes I felt there were in the movie.  There are many more but these were the ones that stood out for me:

• The opening was completely different. I’m wasn’t surprised because in the book it opens with “Seth Grahame-Smith” receiving the journals from Henry so I can see why they cut that out and instead opened with Lincoln writing in his last entry that he leaves the journals to Henry.
• You do not see Abraham’s hatred for his father in the movie- at all. In fact the one beginning scene in which you do see his father- his father is standing up for slaves and seems much stronger willed than in the book.  His family is barely shown in the movie actually- you know nothing of his sister, stepmother, step and half siblings which are all present in the novel.
• The character of “Will” in the movie, a black slave that is Lincoln’s best friend, does not exist in the book. He is in the first scene of the movie when Lincoln is a child, but in the later scenes he seems to take the place of Jack Armstrong, as Jack does not exist in the movie.
• Edgar Allen Poe, one of my favorite touches in the book, is not even brought up in the movie at all. In fact the scenes in which Lincoln travels via flat boat with his father’s associates son and stays in different towns, etc. was all eliminated.
• You do not understand Abraham’s vengeance against vampires in the movie. While you do see his mother die from a vampire, you do not see the hatred toward his father, and the amount of exploring and investigating Lincoln did himself to figure out about vampires. How Abe learned his story telling skills from his father- the one positive thing his father gave him. A pivotal moment in the book is when his father gets drunk and reveals the truth about vampires. This is when Lincoln vows to kill them all and thus begins his journey. I did not like in the movie how he hunted the “man” who killed his mother not knowing he was a vampire.  
• Still early in his hunting (in the novel), Lincoln watches slaves being sold- the most disturbing scene in the book in my opinion- and follows a man who bought all the weak or old slaves and sees that vampires are basically feasting on them. This further compel s him to hunt and kill vampires. You do see this in the movie but toward the end of the movie, after Lincoln has been hunting for a very long time.
•  To go along with that, on his first “hunt” in the book, he waits for a vampire and he is shocked when it’s a woman and taken aback that she is about to kill a child and so he hesitates and is almost killed until Henry kills her and saves Lincoln. This scene was completely different in the movie. Lincoln was trying to kill the “man” who killed his mother and the “man” almost kills him until Henry chases him off and saves Lincoln. Even when Lincoln wakes up from recovering, he still does not realize that the man was a vampire until Henry tells him. Lincoln is clueless about vampires in the movie- until Henry fills him in- not so in the book.
• Furthermore, he has no idea in the movie that Henry is a vampire. This I do not understand. He does not find out that Henry is a vampire until half way through the movie.
• Which leads me to the character of Henry. He was NOTHING like how I believed him to be written in the book. Henry, in the book, was kind and Lincoln, although he didn’t trust him at first because he knew he was a vampire, could not help but like Henry. Henry supported him and was always there for him and in fact pushed him to become the President. In the movie, he was mean, he was more secretive and he was against Lincoln’s political career. You don't get the idea of the bond between Henry & Abe like you do in the novel which is disappointing.
  
•  In the novel, to further Lincoln’s anguish, his first girlfriend, Ann -his true love- is killed by her vampire fiance after breaking it off with him to be with Lincoln and she dies the same way Lincoln’s mother died. This gives him even more of a drive to kill all the vampires and to later lead the war against them. This is completely eliminated in the movie; her character is not even so much as mentioned.
• Speaking of deaths in his life- in the book we learn about the death of 3 out of 4 of his sons. In the movie- only one son is seen and he dies from a vampire- not a lady vampire such as is pictured in the movie.
• This is a simple thing but one of my favorite scenes in the movie- his first hunt ordered by Henry. In the book he just says his name and simply cuts his head off. “I cut his head off with my ax and left” (pg 93).  It’s so simple- and such a great start. It shows how Lincoln has grown- no hesitation and such determination. It seems too easy- and it is. It proves to get harder as he becomes more known to vampires. In the movie, the vampire ties him up and Lincoln has to escape, etc.
• The scene in  the movie in which Lincoln finally kills Barts is a bit ridiculous. They are running on a pack of horses and doing Kung Fu basically. There is a scene in the book when Speed helps him chase down a vampire (not Barts)  on a horse but it’s that simple. Barts’s death in the book is much, much cooler if you ask me. Lincoln was a mere 12 years old and sends Barts a letter from Thomas Lincoln (unknowingly to Thomas) stating that he had the money which was owed to him. Barts shows up and Lincoln kills him with a stake to his heart. It is confirmed that vampires exist and then he begins his hunt which leads him to Henry. This builds Lincoln’s character as we see what he is capable of- even as a child.
• Speed doesn't die in the book. In the movie it is the character of Adam who kills Speed, a character who does not exist in the book.  Again I think Adam was a character Grahame-Smith had in his mind that he decided against in the book. In the movie, he is basically the main evil character who leads the bad vampires. I kind of liked his character in the movie. I can see why he was put in.
•  Mary Todd, Lincoln’s wife was very sane in the movie which goes against the book- and history. What really shocked me in the movie was that Lincoln tells her about the vampires and she helps lead a part of the war and takes vengeance on the lady vampire who killed her son. Interesting- but unnecessary in my opinion.
• The character of his attorney friend who he practiced law with John T. Stuart was completely eliminated. 
• The character of Seward, a fellow vampire hunter and in the running for President, but stepped down in order for Lincoln to take over, was eliminated.
• The character of Mary Todd’s father was eliminated as well as her prior suitor and Lincoln’s nemesis Davis (Although mentioned but not of importance in the movie).
•  One scene in the book that showed the real evil of the bad vampires which was eliminated in the movie was the scene in which Jack and Speed are hunting a doctor vampire and they find a room in which the doctor vampire is keeping people alive and nourished enough, via feeding tube, to survive but so very close to death so that they can just continuously drain them of their blood. Jack loses his hand in this hunt.
•  The whole idea that the civil war is fought because of vampires is not clear in the movie at all. In the book- vampires existence explains the Civil War. In the movie it seemed more like it was just a part of the Civil War. Let me clarify if you haven’t read the book. There are good vampires- which aren’t portrayed enough in the movie- and bad vampires. The bad vampires, beginning with slaves and ending with all of mankind, seek to rule the world and use humans as nourishment. The good vampires, such as Henry, remember what is was like to be human and seek to live in peace with humans- not above them. The Civil War is between these two sides. In the book, the good side chooses Lincoln- and needs Lincoln- to lead their side, become President and defeat the bad side.
•  In the movie why Henry calls on humans to kill vampires is explained because “the dead cannot kill the dead”. Interesting explanation but this is not so in the book.  In the book, Henry believes in destiny and he uses Lincoln to kill vampires because he believes that they are all part of a bigger picture, the war that is coming and he basically he could use all the help he could get. He says his destiny is to guide Lincoln.
•  Henry was not simple made into a vampire while on a carriage ride with his fiancé as explained in the movie. Rather it’s a long and historical story- perhaps my favorite part of the book. It explains the mystery of Croatoan—a true event in history in which an entire town disappeared. It was vampires- or one particular vampire- names Crowley – who killed everyone. Henry- dying- tried to carve “Crowley” into the trunk of a tree which gave Crowley the idea to change it to “Croatoan” to make people think that the people were trying to get to Croatoan . He then turned Henry into a vampire. Part of Grahame-Smith’s mastery of weaving history into science fiction successfully. 
•  Abraham Lincoln is severely depressed in the book and wishes for his death after all of the tragedy he saw in his life. You do not get this sense in the movie at all.
• Lastly- and the most shocking difference was the ending. In the movie- you do not see into the mind of John Wilkes Booth as you do in the book. You do not know that he too is a vampire and has a plot to kill not only Lincoln but all of the political figures on Lincoln’s side. Again an awesome weaving of history and science fiction. The movie ends with Henry offering Lincoln immortality and Lincoln turning him down as he is on his way to the theater to meet his death. Then you see Henry in the present day soliciting a new “hunter”. In the book, the awesome ending is that even in Abraham’s assassination he doesn’t get to be put out of his misery. Instead, you realize, as Henry and Lincoln are watching MLK speech in 1963 that Henry took it upon himself that night at the Ford Theater,  to make Lincoln into a vampire because, a reoccurring line in the book, “some men are just too interesting to die.” Why was this line not in the movie? It was such a GREAT last line. Lincoln lives! He IS a vampire! The ending in the movie, while so ironic with Henry offering him immortality at that moment- was so utterly different it was most certainly an “alternate ending” that Grahame-Smith decided against for the novel, which I’m happy he did.
• Furthermore in the ending, since they do pan to the present with Henry recruiting a new hunter, why then, not start in the present? The book begins in the present- and never goes back all the way to the present- only to MLK in 1963 as I mentioned. The movie cuts that out but then ends in the present.

This list could go on and on but I am forcing myself to stop here. So, what was alike you ask?

•  Abraham Lincoln was a vampire hunter.
•  He liked his ax.
• Abraham Lincoln was a President.
• There was a vampire named Henry who advised him.
• He had a friend named Speed, a son named Will and a wife named Mary Todd.
• There was a war.
• He won it.

If you like history, if you like sci-fi, I urge you to read the book. It was full of character development and historical facts blended so well with fiction that you will feel compelled to go to Google and search what was actual fact. Don’t miss out on the fantastic scenes  that were not in the movie that make Grahame-Smith the acclaimed writer he is. Then after you’ve read the novel, do see the movie. Let me know which adventure you would choose!

~Judge us not equally~

 

[Good] Discussion Questions for Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

1) If you are attracted to men- Do you find Christian Grey attractive? Why? If you are attracted to women- Can you understand the attraction to Christian Grey? Why?

2) Did you find any of the sex shocking? Would you consider this book "risque"? If you don't mind sharing,  has it changed your view on sex? Improved your sex life?

3)What do you think about making this book into a movie? What will it be rated? Who do you think should star in it?

4) What were the first signs of Christian being "bad news"? Was Kate right in pointing some of these things out and telling her to stay away?

5) Do people really change in relationships?

6) Do you think that by this book being mainstream that the message it's putting out there is that it's okay to have a controlling significant other? Is this giving women who date "bad boys" hope that they can change them? In turn does that say that it's okay to be in an unhealthy relationship?

7) What did you think about the writing? The story? Does the novel deserve all the hype it's getting?

8) Do you think that "Mrs. Robinson" a.k.a Elena was a evil as Ana made her out to be? How did Christian's views of her change in each book?

9) If you dated someone with a billionairre salary, would you have trouble accepting expensive gifts from him/her?

10) What parts of the novel did you find unrealistic? What did you find to be realistic?

11) If you've read the series Twilight, compare and contrast the two. See my post "Fifty Shades of Grey vs. Twilight..."

12) Supposedly E.L James is writing a fourth novel. How do you feel about that?

13) What do you think attributes to the success of Fifty Shades of Grey?

14) What did you think about Ana & Christian naming their son "Ted"?

15) What would you say is the ultimate theme of this novel? Compromise? A Coming of Age?

*If you like these discussion questions, please subscribe to my blog and comment below. If you are commenting on a certain question make sure to write the number of the question. And if you have any additional questions that you think would be good for discussion, I welcome them!

Fifty Shades of Grey vs. Twilight: Fan Fiction or Plagiarism?

When I first chose Fifty Shades of Grey for our book club I received some grief from my fellow members because we heard that the writing was less than average. But I am the type of person who just has to read what is so popular because I have to know what the hype is about and be able to judge for myself before I put the book down. So popular that when I was in Vegas for my honeymoon, you could literally walk around the pool and see like every other woman who was reading, holding Shades of Grey. Sex stores have themed their shops to Shades of Grey even down to packaging products to match the cover of the book. My husband and I ventured into one of these shops also while in Vegas and we were questioning the employees about this. They said business has never been better- especially in the fetish department. He said he can't even keep anal beads in stock! And now that I have read the series, I can say, quite accurately that the writing is juvenile. I think I have the write to assess this having my masters degree in Creative Writing. E.L.James would have never made it into my program. Not even close.

Just starting with the following phrases she repeated a ridiculously amount of times within the trilogy:

• my inner goddess
• he cocked his head
• I bit my lip
• tenacity
• my subconscious
• oh my!
• hugging myself (WTF is this by the way- she really hugged herself? Who does that?)
• Christian constantly says "you're always ready" over and over and over. I think quite possibly every time they do IT.

I was so sick of these phrases. Jesus! Didn't anyone ever tell her to crack open a thesaurus? Also, I don't get how people think this book is so "risque". Has no one ever read erotica before? This is fluff. There are no crude words or even curses really. Nothing was shocking- but maybe that says more about me than it does about the book! Yet, I can't say I altogether did not enjoy the books. In fact, the second and third book I read straight through in one day. So something was driving me to read it. I do think as the series went on it got a bit more interesting. When the reader started to learn a bit more about Christian's background and more subplots started to evolve it was definitely more driven. The first book dragged a bit and I think that is because it was basically only about Christian and Ana. When the story is more interesting it makes it easier to not obsess over the ridiculous amount of times Christian "cocks his head".

I also mostly did not like Ana's character. I am tired of the heroin's who are so clueless about how beautiful they are. It's one thing if the character doesn't have confidence or doesn't care about outward appearances much but I don't buy the complete unaware thing. But after a while it almost seems like an act of being coy- How many times did Ana say "Why me?" much like Bella in Twilight. Hmmmm is that a coincidence?

As I was trying to gather questions for book club, I started reading into more about Fifty Shades and discovered that it was initially written as fan fiction in the world of Twilight. Well- now it all makes sense. Fifty Shades of Grey practically IS Twilight!!!! When I read Twilight, I thought Stephanie Meyer's writing was cliche and mundane but her writing is fantastic compares to E.L.James. But if you have read both series, let's just take a look at a few of the identical characters and events in these two novels. Please post comments if you disagree or if you find even more similarities.

• Bella vs. Ana: First their names: Three syllables non American names- Isabella vs. Anastasia  but goes by two syllables Bella- Ana- Beginning and ending with a vowel. They are ridiculously unaware of their beauty. Stand up to/Not afraid of Christian/Edward. Both "innocent", awkward/clumsy, etc.
• Edward vs. Christian: Both Adopted. Both have a dark secret they must control in order to be with Bella/Ana.
• Jacob vs. Jose: Both in love with Ana- also great looking. Come on they are even both Spanish! AND both of their fathers are BFF with Ana/Bella's dad. The ONLY difference I see here is that Ana never acts interested in Jose, while Bella does act interested in Jacob.
• Charlie vs. Ray: Identical- the way Ana/Bella feels about him, needs to take care of him etc. He is single, basically still loves Ana/Bella's mother. The way Christian/Edward and his family has to protect Charlie/Ray.
• Renee vs. Carla: Identical- Flighty, goes through boyfriends/husbands like crazy, seem very distant toward Ana/Bella, more like a friend than mother, etc. 
• Edward's Family vs. Christian's Family: Both have adopted children, Influential, affluent family, Parents are rich doctors!
• Edward vs. Christian's ability to rush to her side at any given moment: I mean- Christian "tracks" her with technology while Edward tracks her with his vampire abilities but how else is it different? It's not. 
• Bella vs. Ana's pregnancy: Ok so there's no vampire baby basically killing her. But still. Similar.

The list just goes on and on and on. Fifty Shades is basically an adult, non-sci fi version of Twilight. I get the whole fan fiction thing and think it's awesome to write within another writer's world. In fact, as a writer, that could probably be the biggest compliment. But, when has it gone to far? When does it become Plagiarism? If I were Stephanie Meyer, I'd be angry that someone else basically took all my ideas and my characters and is making a fortune off of it! Then again, she has her own fortune so maybe she just doesn't care. Maybe this gives her publicity. But it's not like E.L. James acknowledges that it was taken from Twilight. Do most people reading Fifty Shades of Grey know the connection to Twilight? Did you? Do you foresee a lawsuit between the two authors? Have you heard that E.L.James plans on releasing a 4th novel? Yet, another comparison to Twilight?

On another note, there are also many moral questions surrounding this book which I am not going to get into. I'll leave this for my friend Sonya to rip apart in her soon to be blog. But I will just one question her and I have discussed: Is it okay for women to read this book and think it's ok or even good to have a relationship with such a controlling man- hoping he will change? Not the BDSM but the way he exerts control over her in all other ways. Speaking of Sonya-  she found this great link- a spoof with Gilbert Gottfried reading from Fifty Shades of Grey. It's hysterical!!!!! http://www.jest.com/video/174214/gilbert-gottfried-reads-fifty-shades-of-grey

Please leave your comments and feel free to disagree with me also! I love a good literary battle! :)

I'm going to go cock my head and satisfy my inner goddess with such tenacity that I have to bite my lip to keep my subconscious from screaming out because let's face it- I'm always ready. Oh my! I'll have to hug myself for that one. Laters!





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