Andrea’s Two Cents

I’ve always wondered what the fuss was all about- I thought this would be mere child’s play, but I have been enlightened! I think these may be my favorite books of all time. This series has got it all- fantastic, multi-faceted characters, edge of your seat storyline, morals to rival Aesop. Mike and I read them right along with the kids- we had so much fun! Wren is mid-series- she has 3 more books to look forward to and I’m filled with envy!

Re: the Golden Compass movie coming out. This is an update to my previous entry.

I read the whole His Dark Materials Trilogy about a year ago, so some of the details are a little fuzzy in my memory. The author is definitely an atheist and some of his anti-religious feelings come out a lot more in the last book (I think). I was disappointed by that because when I was reading it, I was hoping for a more God-positive resolution. When you read it, it really comes across as more anti-organized religion of the oppressive, power-hungry variety (the Pharisees in Jesus’ time, the Catholic church during the Crusades, or the Religious Right in present times). But there were definitely some parts in the later books that I was very uncomfortable with because it wasn’t heading in the direction I wanted it to go. I was hoping it would conclude with separating the pure goodness of God with the misguided dogma of certain “Christian” groups. At the time I was reading it, I didn’t know the author was an atheist so I was obviously hoping in vain. I’m going to let the girls read the books if they want and we’ll probably see the first movie. They already know that there are other world religions and they already know that some people don’t believe in any God at all, so, I guess I’ll just explain why I think the author might feel the way he does about religion. I think many non-Christians clump all Christians into one group with the greedy, judgmental, power-monger “Christians” they see or hear in the media (I guess because they’re the loudest- so they hear more from them). So many unbelievers with strong social consciences say- “Look at those hypocrites- Christianity is not for me!”. Obviously that’s just a simple theory, I’m sure there are as many reasons as there are people, but that’s what I’ll go with for now.

Now that I’ve babbled on- besides the issues I mentioned… the books were amazing fantasy/science fiction! I mean creativity, plot, and character-wise. The armored bears were the coolest ever! And the daemons (not devils but spirits) were incredible- animals that were like a manifestation of your soul, that stayed with you at all times. I remember feeling sort of lonely when I was reading the books because I didn’t have a daemon of my own. Super cool. I’ve read that they’ve watered down the anti-religious element in the first movie so it probably won’t be too objectionable, but I don’t know what they’ll do with the next three.

If it stars Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, and/or Will Ferrell, I have to see it in the theatre- I just can’t wait for a DVD. This was typical, raunchy Farrelly brothers fare, and a lot of fun. Not Ben Stiller’s funniest movie ever. I mean, how do you compete with Meet the Fockers and Zoolander? Oh- and Night at the Museum? Still- lots of laughs- and wait for the end scene after the credits.

Hilarious movie about an overachieving London police officer who is sent to a station in the English countryside. This pastoral setting becomes the site of a slew of grisly “accidents”. I enjoyed the movie thoroughly, but the graphic scenes were way too difficult for me to stomach- Mike was laughing while I shielded my eyes. It was written by and starring the Shaun of the Dead writer/actor. I didn’t see that one, but the guy’s an excellent actor- even though I can’t remember his name and am too lazy to look it up I recommend this one if you have either a strong stomach or quick reflexes. As I have neither, a few disturbing images will be embedded in my brain for a long time to come.

This show is like watching a train wreck. You’re horrified, but you can’t look away. (Actually, I would definitely look away from a train wreck, but is sounded like a good opening.) The lead character- Bill Henrickson is a normal suburban business man with a nice family- except…. his family consists of 7 kids and 3 wives! After a while, I have to admit their middle-class, suburban polygamist lifestyle begins to appear sort of normal. There’s so much intrigue in this show, between wife issues and crazy pioneer-era, compound-living relatives, I just became totally addicted. Now I have to wait for season 3 to start next year. Bummer!

This book was amazing. A memoir about a Caucasian girl and her adopted African American brother. They grow up in the 70s in rural Indiana and later at a “Christian” reform school in the Dominican Republic. This is not for the faint of heart- the racism and misguided “Christianity” these children are subjected to are heart wrenching. This is the only book I remember actually making me weep out loud. It paints such a vivid picture of how organized religion can go so terribly wrong and become the complete antithesis of what Christianity is supposed to be about. There is the strict Calvinistic upbringing they endured at the hands of their parents, and the zealous, born-again exuberance they were subjected to at the reform school- both groups completely lacking in the key ingredient of Grace. Small wonder the author became an atheist.

These books were recommended to us by the lovely Caroline, our host at the wonderful Carnbren vegan bed and breakfast in Lairg- way up in the Highlands of Scotland. Of course, the bed and breakfast was amazing, Scotland was incredible, and these books were fantastic. (I need check my thesaurus for some adjectival variation, I know) I read them a while back, but since the first in the trilogy- The Golden Compass, will be out in the theatres soon, I thought I’d better get in my two cents now. Super exciting adventure/fantasy/science fiction. The atheistic bent was a bit off-putting, I kept hoping it would resolve to embrace what I think organized religion ought to be, but I didn’t find that to be the case. But still highly recommended and worth a re-read for myself.

Wow- now I know what all the hype was about. These books are so much fun! I just finished the third- “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”, which was my favorite so far; but they’re all great. And the movies too. Reiley and I are reading each book first and then watching the movie, although she’s way ahead of me in the reading at this point. Mike’s watching the movies with us and trying to catch up on the reading by switching between book and audio-book. And Wren’s coasting along with the movies, and has convinced Grammy to read the books to her. We hope we get through book 5 before it leaves the theatres.

This was our book club selection, and while not necessarily a page-turner, it was excellent in a philosophical, new-agey sort of way. But as it turns out, it is not autobiographical as claimed during the original publication, and it was written by a confirmed white supremacist. I definitely did not see that one coming. There were a few anti-government and anti-politician sentiments expressed, which were not surprising coming from a mountain man/Native American perspective. But I truly did not detect any overt racism. The only negative thing I could say was that some of the portrayals were a bit stereotypical- but definitely only positive stereotypes, such as Native Americans being completely in tune with nature, etc. The Trail of Tears was portrayed very sympathetically. And the message of only using what you need from the earth and eschewing greed and material gain at another’s expense was pervasive. There was even a gentle, kind Jewish character who was a friend to the main characters. Not something you’d expect from a KKK member! Very odd. Maybe the author was schizophrenic?

I usually like to reserve my posts for “picks” instead of “pans”, but I feel unusually compelled to lament my waste of $9 and 2 hours. “George Michael” from Arrested Development (my all time favorite TV show) was in this, and he did a fine job- as a matter of fact, it would have been unbearable without him. To put it bluntly, it was mostly a stupid, nasty movie. I expected it to be raunchy and silly, but I guess I was hoping for it to be funnier too. There were some cute moments, such as the scene in which Evan sings the Guess Who’s “These Eyes” to some coke heads, but most of it was just not clever enough to be funny. I can’t even think of any good lines to quote! I’m not sure what I’m missing, (and no, it’s not a sense of humor!) because it seems to be getting great reviews (this includes Mike). Maybe Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson have set the bar too high. Oh Well.