Przepraszam, pomyłka - "La La Land"

Hello!
Poszłam. Zobaczyłam. Zdenerwowałam się. Ale plus jest taki, że mogę napisać o "La La Landzie" tak jak lubię, czyli czepiając się czego się da.


Ładny - szczególnie na początku, im dalej w las tym gorzej i nie wiem, czy to zaplanowane działanie, aby pokazać, że większość znajomości na początku jest taka ładna i kolorowa, a potem przychodzi życie i robi się szaro. I nie wiadomo, czy to po prostu tak wyszło, bo skończyły się pomysły jak dalej robić tak, aby było ładnie, czy faktycznie docenić twórców, że tak przemyśleli obraz.
Uroczy - momentami, ale gdy one występują, to są definicją uroczości
Nudny - potwornie. Gdy zobaczyłam napis "5 lat później", to wyraz ulgi na mojej twarzy był nie do opisania, ale końcówka filmu też jest niemiłosiernie, niepotrzebnie i denerwująco przeciągnięta i do tego jeszcze wrócimy. Dłuży się ten film niemiłosiernie.
Przewidywalny - ale to oczywistość i podobno nie powinno się tej cechy filmu wyciągać, bo to nieuczciwe. 


Musical? Nie wiem. To bardziej film, któremu przydarzyły się piosenki. Na dodatek pierwsza robi tragiczne wrażenie. Niektóre utwory nawet wpisują się w fabułę, inne to takie typowe "nie wiadomo skąd piosenki". Nawiązania do innych musicali, szczególnie do "Deszczowej piosenki" i "Amerykanina w Paryżu" są zrobione na chama, ale do innych arcydzieł gatunku "La La Land" nawiązuje w mniej (przeważnie) lub bardziej subtelny sposób. Po wyjściu z kina ciężko było zanucić choć jedną piosenkę, teraz nie jestem w stanie zrobić tego wcale. Tyle jeśli chodzi o chwytliwość ścieżki dźwiękowej. Z jednym rozkładającym na łopatki wyjątkiem, czyli "The Fools Who Dream", boto jest mistrzostwo świata. Po prostu. 


Ryan Gosling nie będzie drugim Genem Kellym, on sam chyba nawet nie próbuje, ale w takiej pozycji jest stawiany w tym filmie. Nie przepadam za nim, ale całkiem dobrze się na niego patrzyło jako Sebastiana. Słuchało średnio. Większy problem jest z Emmą Stone. Wiem i doskonale zdaję sobie sprawę, że jest bardzo utalentowaną aktorką, ale dla mnie zawsze gra za bardzo, wolę nieco subtelniejsze wykorzystanie umiejętności aktorskich. Co nie zmienia faktu, że to postać Mii dźwiga ciężar całego filmu. 


Marzyciele? Przypuszczam, że za mną jest coś nie tak, ponieważ ani trochę i zupełnie nie czułam, że jest to film o spełnianiu marzeń, podążaniu za nimi, czy cokolwiek innego. Nie udało się "La La Landowi" mnie porwać, cały czas odbieram ten film jako romans i tyle. Ale jako romans ze słodko-gorzkim zakończeniem (czyli a. przewidywalnym; b. uwielbiam to wyrażenie więc musiałam go użyć) też się w sumie nie sprawdza. Jeśli prześledzimy, ten wycinek rzeczywistości bohaterów jaki twórcy nam pokazują, to okazuje się, że ich jedyną rozmową jest TA kłótnia. Życie tak nie działa. 


Kostiumy. Jest jedna rzecz w tym filmie, do której nie można mieć zastrzeżeń i są to kostiumy. Chętnie przygarnęłabym szafę Mii (a jeśli nie całą, to chociaż zieloną i niebieską sukienkę) oraz buty i marynarki Sebastiana. Stroje są bardzo ładne, bardzo retro i bardzo pasują do postaci. W większości scenografie i miejsca, w których toczyła się akcja, także były bardzo ładne i zawsze ciekawie pokazane. Ujęcia i kadry widać, że były bardzo, bardzo przemyślane i zaplanowane.


Rzeczą, która najbardziej jednak denerwowała mnie w tym filmie, był brak możliwości zdecydowania czy traktować go serio, czy jednak z przymrużeniem oka, bo on sam nie wie, czy jest poważny czy nie. Może poważny to niedobre słowo, ale lepszego na ten dysonans nie ma. I nie będę próbowała go wyjaśniać, bo obawiam się, że bez znajomości konkretnych scen z filmu nie za bardzo jest to możliwe.


Końcówka jest denerwująca. Będą spoilery. Ponieważ "La La Land" często i gęsto porównywany jest do "Titanica" (a ja zaniedbałam tradycję i nie obejrzałam w okresie bożonarodzeniowym, za to uczułam się do egzaminu słuchając ścieżki dźwiękowej i ogólnie mam silą potrzebę obejrzenia tego filmu w najbliższym czasie) otóż więc wyrokuję, że "Titanic" jest lepszym filmem bez względu na to, ile Oskarów "La La Land" dostanie, bo "Titanic" kończy się i jest koniec, a "La La Land" w perfidny, złośliwy i długi sposób pokazuje nam, jak mogłoby by być, gdyby bohaterowie zostali razem. A jak by było? TAK SAMO. Co w sumie prowadzi do wniosku, że można spełniać marzenia i być z osobą, którą się kocha, a nasi bohaterowie popełnili straszną głupotę rozstając się. 

Jeśli ten film miał być o marzeniach, to mu nie wyszło. Jeśli miał być musicalem, to też nieszczególnie. Jeśli optymistyczny. to poległ. Jeśli romansem. to istnieje dziesięć tysięcy lepszych. W skrócie: nie ma się nad czym zachwycać. 

Pozdrawiam, M

REVIEW: The Galloway Road (e-novella) by Catherine Adams

The Galloway Road is a fantasy story published by Less Than Three Press. It's only 19,000 words long.

Review: 

Renna is a young mage on her way to her first job. Her traveling companions include a pair of musicians specifically requested by Renna’s new employer, plus Brett, the mercenary hired to protect them all. Brett is closed mouthed about himself and his past, and Renna has secrets of her own. However, none of that may matter if they can't manage to survive the Galloway Road’s deadly horrors.

This story takes place over the course of 11 days and mostly features the group traveling from one inn to another. The beginning was boring, dull, and a little confusing, although the Galloway Road’s creepy atmosphere eventually grew on me, as did Renna and Brett (sort of). A word of warning: some of the descriptions are gruesome. The Galloway Road is called that because it's lined with gallows and gibbets. Sometimes the people Renna, Brett, and the musicians pass are dead, and sometimes they're not. Honestly, if I had been Renna or the musicians, Galloway Road alone would have had me questioning the wisdom of agreeing to work for Lord Galloway.

Okay, on to the characters. The musicians made so little of an impact on me that I had to check the story just to make sure I had the number of characters right - I had thought there were three musicians, not two. Brett was an intriguing character, apparently competent and yet prone to self-destructive behavior (he’d been banned from at least one or two inns because of his drinking). Renna...was just there. I never felt like I really knew her beyond the most surface level. I did gasp at the big revelation about her, but that was in large part because I hadn’t noticed any sign of it in her behavior or thoughts up to that point. This bugged me a bit, because the event had happened so recently. I suppose it could be explained away as emotional numbness on her part, but still.

The main reason I got this story was because it was one of Less Than Three Press’s recent releases in their “asexual” category. Renna was asexual, possibly homoromantic depending on the specifics of her feelings for her best friend. There was a hint of something that might have been ace-related angst - at one point, Renna wondered if she was “stone-hearted, cruel-hearted” (37). It was a bit ambiguous, though, and might have also been inspired by the thing that happened shortly before she was hired by Lord Galloway. I honestly don’t know.

I appreciated what this story tried to do, but overall my reaction was just “meh.” I didn’t care enough about the characters for the ending to have the kind of emotional impact that it should have had. Also, I hate to say this, but I laughed a bit during some of the events in the tomb. I know that stuff was probably supposed to be horrifying/scary, but I kept imagining B-movie special effects.

REVIEW: Big Windup! 2 (anime TV series)

Big Windup! 2 is the second season of Big Windup!, a baseball anime. Although the first season was licensed by Funimation, it apparently didn’t sell well enough for them to license the second season. Instead, Right Stuf licensed the second season and released it only a couple months ago.

Review:

This second season picks up right where the first one left off - the game between Tosei and Nishiura ended only a few hours prior. Nishiura plays against Sakitama in the first half of the season, and against Bijou in the second half. There are also a few prominent themes and storylines: Bijou’s assistant coach, an ex-Tosei player who wants to win so badly that he encourages a Bijou player to cheat and to injure other players; Abe and his efforts to properly communicate with Mihashi; and Mihashi’s blind obedience to Abe.

I’ve now seen this season twice, and while I definitely enjoyed it, I didn’t think it was as good as the first. A large part of the problem was that I didn’t like Roka, Bijou’s assistant coach, and was mostly uninterested in the storyline dealing with him. A lot of time and effort was put into making Roka this big and menacing figure, and yet nothing ever really came of that. It was clear that he’d used a Bijou player to cheat in the past, but, in terms of what viewers got to see, it was all just talk - Bijou didn’t cheat against Nishiura, and the entire cheating scheme petered out into nothing.

The stuff about life after high school baseball was somewhat interesting, but this didn’t feel like the right time to be showing it. I mean, yes, Kawai (Tosei’s captain) had to do some hard thinking about his future, and there had been vaguely bittersweet mentions, in the first season, of how quickly the three years of high school baseball would go by, but the Nishiura team was the series’ main focus, and they were just getting started.

One thing that Roka did highlight for me was how much I generally loved the adults in this series, because he was the exception to the rule. For the most part, the adults in both the first and second season were wonderful, supportive, and excited to see high school baseball players improving and enjoying themselves. Bijou’s head coach actually enjoyed his job, unlike Roka, and while Momoe wanted Nishiura to win, she also wanted them to grow. For example, she purposely put Hanai in a position that she knew would put pressure on him because it was what he needed to improve as a player, but she also kept an eye on him in case she was pushing him too hard.

Then there were the parents, who clearly loved helping their kids out. I liked that this season finally introduced us to Mihashi and Abe’s dads. Mihashi’s dad was adorable, and Abe’s dad seemed gruff and scary at first but turned out to be extremely perceptive and kind. After meeting Mihashi only once, he immediately figured out a large part of what was going on between Abe and Mihashi and tried to make Abe aware of it, while also taking care not to trample on Abe’s feelings too much.

Now on to the games themselves, which were just as riveting as the ones in the first season.

The outcome of the Sakitama game was fairly easy to predict, since even the team’s captain didn’t expect them to be able to beat Nishiura. Still, it was fun seeing how Nishiura would deal with Sakitama’s incredible cleanup hitter. Also, I enjoyed watching Sakitama’s terrible and inexperienced battery stumble along - Abe and Mihashi’s mental commentary about them amused me.

Bijou’s team switched between multiple pitchers, and only one of them really got a chance to show off his personality a bit. It was kind of nice, seeing the catcher gradually figure out how to properly work with him, but mostly the Bijou game was about Nishiura dealing with something like the Tosei game, only with the tables turned - Bijou using data they’d collected about Nishiura against them. Despite the annoying interruptions for quick peeks at Roka, the Bijou game was nerve-wracking and exciting. It was well worth watching, if only for Mihashi’s epiphany about his reliance on Abe’s signs.

That said, I wish the season had continued for at least one more game past the Bijou match. I needed the series to end on a higher note than it did. I appreciated Mihashi and Tajima’s conversation when they biked home together, and Mihashi and Abe’s conversation at Abe’s house, I really did. I just wanted more.

Despite my dissatisfaction with the Roka storyline and the end of this season, I’d still recommend it to fans of the first season. The games were a lot of fun, Abe's efforts to have proper conversations with Mihashi and to listen to him more patiently were hilarious, and overall it was just nice to see all the Nishiura players again.

Additional Comments:

Whereas Funimation used white subtitles for both foreground and background dialogue, Right Stuf used yellow subtitles for foreground dialogue and white subtitles for background. This made busier scenes a lot easier to follow. On the minus side, I think I noticed slightly more typos in Right Stuf’s subtitling than in Funimation’s, mostly near the end of the season. I can’t comment on the accuracy of either company’s subtitles.

Extras:

A cleaning opening, clean closing, and this season's trailer - just like Funimation, bare bones stuff. Since I'm not much of a real-life baseball fan, I would have loved extras that explained, in greater depth, some of the things that happened in the two games in this season. Also, profiles of a few real-life pitchers and catchers might have been nice.

REVIEW: Justice, My Foot (live action movie)

Justice, My Foot is a Hong Kong action-comedy movie.

Review:

Sung Sai Kit is the best lawyer around, willing to take any case (as long as he’s offered plenty of money) and say anything he has to in order to win. His wife, Madam Sung, appreciates all the finery that Sung is able to buy for her, but she also superstitiously believes that Sung’s work is the reason why 12 of their 13 children have died. When their 13th child dies right after Sung’s most recent court win, Madam Sung decides she’s had enough - Sung will retire, even if she has to push him every step of the way. She even goes so far as to curse the child she’s carrying. If Sung breaks his promise and goes back to being a lawyer, then their son will be born without a penis. (They just assume it’ll be a son, since all 13 of their other children were.)

However, it’s Madam Sung herself who eventually convinces Sung to go back to work. She meets a pregnant woman whose husband died under suspicious circumstances, and she argues on the woman’s behalf after the woman gives birth and then tries to kill herself. Sung takes the job on, but the corruption he finds himself up against may be more than even he can handle.

Netflix thought I would love this, probably because I enjoyed Wing Chun, a comedy with a similar feel. Unfortunately, this was one of those times when Netflix was wrong. There were aspects of this movie that I enjoyed, but the humor generally didn’t work for me.

This was primarily a broad comedy with a bit of wire-fu mixed in. There were visual jokes (the portraits of Sung’s parents), gay jokes (two male officials were very clearly a couple, which was played entirely for laughs), fart jokes, and sexual jokes (a racy love letter read aloud in court, a boob joke, accidental drinking of breast milk, etc.). I was a bit stunned at the way the 13th son’s death was handled - lots of drama and fake-looking crying, and yet everyone seemed to be pretty much over it by the time Sung’s retirement ceremony happened. I eventually adjusted to the movie’s tone, which I realized reminded me a lot of stuff like Robin Hood: Men in Tights, but the child’s death happened fairly early on and was extremely jarring.

I didn’t like Sung very much. I wanted him to win because the widowed woman’s situation sucked, but I didn’t get the impression that he was defending her because he cared much about her, or even justice in general. This was the guy who argued that a man whose son was killed should be required to pay the medical bills of a man who hurt his pinky while killing the son.

I did like Sung and his wife as a couple, though. Not only were they openly affectionate, they made a good pair: they were both incredibly clever, and Sung had his education while his wife had her martial arts skills. The only thing I disliked, as far as their relationship went, was when Sung’s wife became extremely jealous of the woman with the murdered husband. Most of the time, though, they were a strong couple that worked well together and had faith in each other’s abilities.

All in all, this had a few good moments but wasn’t really worth watching. I did like Madam Sung, even though she (like everything else in the movie) was ridiculous. She battled people for her husband’s sake while 9 months pregnant (not physically possible, but still kind of fun to watch), refused to let him bow out of promises he made to her, tried to defend the widowed woman in court when her husband wouldn’t, even though she couldn’t really write, and generally let nothing stand in her way.

Oh, one more thing: I was pleasantly surprised at the way the penis curse turned out. I mean, I guessed what would happen the instant the curse was mentioned - it was pretty obvious. The thing that pleased me was Sung's reaction. I may not have liked the guy much, but at least his 14th child made him happy.

Dobrze, lepiej, dobrze - "Bungou Stray Dogs" S2

Hello!
Czasami od samych zapowiedzi wiem, że będę nie tylko dane anime oglądała, ale także, że będę je kochała. Zbyt wiele takich przypadków nie ma, ale "Bungou Stray Dogs" jest jednym z nich. O pierwszym sezonie pisałam tu, a w połowie grudnia skończyła się jego druga część, o której przeczytacie dziś.


Sezon zaczyna się w dziwny i nieprzewidywalny sposób. Spodziewaliśmy się już w pierwszym odcinku zobaczyć The Guild i nowych uzdolnionych bohaterów, a  zostajemy przeniesieni w czasie do przeszłości i nie wiemy za bardzo co się dzieje. Początkowo narzekałam, a później okazało się, że te 6 odcinków to najlepsze, co przydarzyło się temu anime. Naprawdę. Ta część dotyczy przeszłości Dazaia i jest fantastyczna. Chociaż sprawa jest bardzo skomplikowana i poruszająca. I zdecydowanie dużo bardziej mroczna niż wcześniejsze i późniejsze odcinki. Dotyczy  czasu, gdy Dazai był jeszcze członkiem Mafii i całej historii tego, jak i dzięki komu z tej organizacji się wyrwał. Kolega Osamu - Oda Sakunosuke to najciekawsza postać jaka pojawia się w serii. Momentami nawet ciekawsza od Dazaia, ale nie ma też dwóch lepiej uzupełniających się bohaterów niż ta dwójka. 


W końcówce jednego z odcinków tej części jest taka scena, którą przeżywałam dwa tygodnie, albo i dłużej, bo jej zakończenie było w kolejnym odcinku. Przeważnie przeżywam rzeczy krótko acz intensywnie, a tym razem nie mogłam przestać o tym myśleć. Z resztą, wszystkie 6 odcinków zostawiają widza z mnóstwem przemyśleń. Co ciekawe, mogłoby się wydawać, że ta przyciężka i nieco filozoficzna część nie będzie pasować, do tego raczej lekkiego (aczkolwiek też nie do końca) anime, a stanowi jego idealne uzupełnienie i wyjaśnienie. 


Zasadniczą różnicą pomiędzy pierwszymi 6 odcinkami a resztą sezonu jest to, że na początku jeśli jest źle to jest źle i koniec, dobrze nie będzie. Natomiast w drugiej mamy pewność, że co złego by się nie wydarzyło, to skończy się dobrze. Chociaż zanim okaże się, że będzie happy end, rozwój wydarzeń poprowadzony jest w taki sposób, że choć się o tym wie, to jednocześnie dobre zakończenie nie jest oczywiste. Umiejętność tak dramatycznego pokazania wydarzeń jest ogromną zdolnością twórców anime. Napięcie jest wielkie. Jednak odrobinę w tym sezonie zabrakło mi komediowego aspektu, ale jest to do przeżycia. 


Część druga jest już bezpośrednią kontynuacją części wiosennej. I niestety pod wieloma względami  nieco gorsza. Dużo mniej spójna i bardziej epizodyczna, a postaci jest dużo więcej, więc jeśli się nie skupia, można się pogubić kto z kim i dlaczego walczy. Do tego poszczególne epizody różnią się między sobą poziomem. Na przykład wspólna walka Dazaia i Chuuya jest niesamowita, podobnie Rampo i jego rozwiązywanie zagadki z zamkniętym pokojem, ale o większości tych scenek zapomniałam. 


Dwa ostatnie odcinki, co prawda nie dorównują poziomowi emocji zakończeniu 6 odcinka, ale połączenie sił Akutagawy i Atsushiego to także jedna z lepszych rzeczy, jakie się temu anime przydarzyło. Ich walka z Fitzgeraldem jest absolutnie niesamowita. Robi ogromne wrażenie, chociaż pod względem choreografii nie wydaje się wybitna, ale nadrabia emocjami. Bardzo. Do tego, już po punkcie kulminacyjnym, anime robi się znów totalnie urocze, ale co ważniejsze pojawia się ogromna nadzieja na kolejny sezon. Czekam bardzo.

Pozdrawiam, M

Elie Saab Haute Couture Spring Summer 2017 Fashion Show

Hello!
Oto nadszedł ten dzień, gdy na moment zamieniam się w prawie blogerkę modową. Odkąd kilka lat temu w głowie zawróciła mi błękitna sukienka, w której Blair Waldorf w "Plotkarze" brała ślub z Chuckiem, z uwagą śledzę wiosenno-letnie kolekcje Haute Couture Elie Saab. Inne w ciągu roku też, ale tę konkretną najbardziej. 

Na oficjalniej stronie oraz na facebooku można obejrzeć nagranie z pokazu. Zdjęcia pochodzą z facebooka - Elie Saab.












Pozdrawiam, M

1360. Zastanawiałeś się kiedyś, jakie warunki trzeba spełnić, żeby zostać astronutą?

Hello!
.... ja nie, przestrzeń kosmiczna jest przerażająca, ale gdyby Was to interesowało - Możesz otrzymać ankietę, pisząc do NASA, Johnson Space Center, Attn: AHX Astronaut Selection Office, Houston, TX 77059.

"Modern Franz Kafka Statue In Prague. The statue is made from steel and horizontal parts are moving. Sculpture is located in Národní Třída, next to Quadrio shopping center in the Prague downtown. Statue was made by David Černý. Franz Kafka was famous Prague (german speaking) jew writer."

1365. Krytykuj zachowanie, nie osobę. - "I śmiech niekiedy może być nauką, kiedy się z przywar, nie z osób natrząsa", jedno bardzo ładnie uzupełnia drugie.

1370. Odbuduj zerwany związek. - Szkoda tylko, że łatwiej napisać niż zrobić.

1379. Znajdź kwiaciarnię z fantazją i zawsze tam kupuj. - Rada świetna jeśli kupujemy kwiaty na konkretne okazje, a od siebie dodałabym, że cudnym gestem ze strony chłopaka/dziewczyny na randce/spotkaniu byłoby, spontaniczne kupienie kwiatów od pań, które sprzedają je na przykład na Długiej w Gdańsku.

1380. Kup tani aparat Polaroida. Czasami nie zechcesz czekać przez godzinę, żeby zobaczyć zdjęcie. - Poważnie rozważam.

1384. Pamiętaj, że pech, podobnie jak szczęśliwa passa, nie trwa długo. - Na szczęście fortuna kołem się toczy.

1392. Naucz swoje dzieci, że kiedy one coś dzielą, to drugie dziecko wybiera swoją część pierwsze. - A gdy dzieci jest więcej niż dwójka, które z pozostałej trójki, czwórki ma wziąć pierwsze, drugie i dalej? To jest naprawdę poważny problem, coś o tym wiem.

1393. Ustąp miejsce w kolejce do kasy osobie stojącej za tobą, jeżeli ma tylko dwa lub trzy artykuły w koszyku. - To najmilsza rzecz na świecie, można człowiekowi w bardzo prosty sposób umilić dzień. 

Dziś zwięźle, ale z krótkim komentarzem, bo w końcu studiuję dwa kierunki i wisi nade mną sesja. Cytaty oczywiście pochodzą z "Dużego Małego Poradnika Życia", którego autorem jest Jackson H. Brown.

Trzymajcie się, M

Theishter - Anime on Piano

Hello!
Dokładnie rok temu pisałam o Pelleku (język polski jest piękny, ale obce wyrazy, a tym bardziej pseudonimy, odmieniane przez przypadki, wyglądają i brzmią dziwnie), a dziś co nieco o kolejnej osobie zajmującej się na YT coverowaniem utworów z anime. Ale tym razem w wersji czysto instrumentalnej.

Pierwszą piosenką jaką włączyłam było "Krone" z "Guilty Crown", ale poniższa wersja to, jak widzicie, re-arrange i nieco się różni od pierwszej. Na niekorzyść drugiej.


Theishter jest na bieżąco z anime i na kanale pojawią się najczęściej utwory z serii z sezonu bądź z wychodzących filmów.


I jeszcze w temacie "Yuri!! On Ice" - Theme of King J.J.

Kilka innych pięknych przykładów:




I jeszcze jedno z "Kabaneri", na które warto zwrócić uwagę - Ninelie.

LOVE, M

REVIEW: Big Windup! (anime TV series)

I’ve already reviewed Big Windup! twice, but I figured a third time wouldn’t hurt.

Anyway, I’ve watched this twice in the past month. The first time was intended to be a refresher before watching Big Windup! 2, while the second time was a bit of presidential inauguration self-care.

This first season of Big Windup! introduces viewers to the Nishiura High School baseball team. The team barely has enough members, and they’re all freshmen. Mihashi, in particular, stands out. He says he doesn’t want to be on the team, but it’s obvious he desperately wants to be a pitcher. He pitched all throughout middle school, and his experience on that team was so bad that it emotionally scarred him. He’s now convinced that he’s a terrible pitcher and that no one could possibly want him on a team. However, Abe, the catcher, recognizes his determination and skill and wants him to stay on the team.

The first half of the season shows the whole team training and learning to work together, after which they play against Mihoshi, the team Mihashi would have been on if he hadn’t purposely transferred to another high school. In the second half of the season, Nishiura plays against Tousei, the winner of last year’s National Koshien Tournament.

I rewatched the entire series during my end-of-2016 rewatch and was surprised at how many details I had forgotten: Tajima’s habit of loudly announcing how often he was able to masturbate, much to everyone’s discomfort and horror (oh Tajima, dude, stop); how much of those early episodes featured mental training, such as meditation; and all kinds of details about how the various games went. Although I’d seen the series before, the games against Mihoshi and Tousei still had me at the edge of my seat. I remembered how the one against Mihoshi ended up, but I couldn’t recall if Nishiura had won against Tousei or not.

During my next rewatch, I skipped all of the mental training stuff and went straight to the things in the show that I loved most: Mihashi becoming part of the team, Abe trying to bond with Mihashi, and every moment of the games against Mihoshi and Tousei.

Abe was a bit of a jerk to Mihashi at the beginning of the series - he planned to use Mihashi like a puppet in order to get the results he wanted, and Mihashi was too timid and easily manipulated to resist. Thankfully Coach Momoe put a stop to that pretty quickly, but the damage had already been done: Mihashi had no intention of ever going against Abe, even on the rare occasion when his instincts said he should. I don’t think I noticed how much of a problem this was, or how potentially damaging it could be, when I first saw the series - it was Yuri on Ice that got me to thinking about it. At any rate, this season doesn’t really delve into any of those issues, but I can now say that Big Windup! 2 does. But more on that when I review that DVD set.

While I loved watching the games (the first point scored against Tousei was just as hilarious and exciting the third time around as it was the first), my absolute favorite thing about this series remains the relationships between the various pitchers and catchers. The big one was Abe and Mihashi, of course. In this first season, Abe learned to genuinely care about Mihashi, even though he couldn’t always understand him or properly communicate with him. He respected Mihashi’s dedication to pitching and wanted Mihashi to enjoy playing baseball and being on Nishiura’s team. The next season went even deeper but, again, more on that when I get around to reviewing it.

Kanou (Mihoshi’s pitcher) and Hatake (Mihoshi’s catcher) had their own issues to work out - with more experience, they’d probably have worked really well together, but they weren’t quite there yet. Also, their differing opinions about Mihashi’s pitching put a bit of wedge between them. I loved Tousei’s battery. Kawai (the catcher) was usually pretty steady but not always sure about how to handle Junta (the pitcher - Junta is his given name, so calling him Takase would be more consistent, but “Junta” is how I think of him). Junta tended to be quiet to the point of seeming withdrawn, so Kawai had to guess how he was feeling and how to bolster his mood. It wasn’t until a bit later in the game that he started to relax and really pitch his best.

I like to think of Junta and Kawai’s relationship as a glimpse at what Mihashi and Abe’s relationship might be like in the future. The characters had some similarities, but unlike Mihashi and Abe, Junta and Kawai’s communication efforts went both ways - Kawai would notice that something was off with Junta’s mood and try to help, and vice versa. Abe would do that with Mihashi, but all Mihashi ever did was look for signs that Abe was mad at him or feel stunned excitement when Abe praised him.

Other characters I enjoyed: Tajima and Sakaeguchi. Both of them took special care to watch out for Mihashi, something that became even more obvious in the next season (again, more on that when I review that DVD set). Tajima was the confident and relaxed big brother who cheerfully translated for Mihashi when Mihashi was too stiff and awkward to communicate clearly, and Sakaeguchi watched Mihashi carefully and tried to smooth things over between him and Abe whenever necessary.

All in all, I highly recommend this series, and this season in particular. I sincerely wish that there were English-language editions of the manga that I could buy, or that the anime had a third season.

REVIEW: Mayday: A Kaiju Thriller (e-book) by Chris Strange

Mayday: A Kaiju Thriller is a sci-fi thriller with a bit of a hardboiled detective story mixed in. It's self-published and 83,930 words long.

Review:

About 19 years ago, enormous monsters that were later dubbed “Maydays” appeared all over the world. Over the course of 9 years, they killed 1.1 billion people. Nothing anyone did seemed to have any effect on the Maydays, until Professor Nikolai Volkov unleashed his newly invented mind control technology. Humans still couldn’t harm Maydays, but now they could at least control them. Volkov decided to combine entertainment and punishment and created Volkov Entertainment Incorporated, a company specializing in broadcasting “Mayday vs. Mayday” battles.

The company has been doing pretty well for the past 10 years. Then something shocking and supposedly impossible happens: Yllia, one of the Maydays, dies. Jay Escobar, head of Volkov Entertainment’s Investigative Division, declares that Yllia was murdered. But who could murder a Mayday? Nukes couldn’t put a scratch on them, and even other Maydays are only able to do a little damage.

Mayday: A Kaiju Thriller was one of my impulse buys. The premise sounded interesting and the excerpt seemed readable, so I figured why not?

The beginning read like a hardboiled detective story. About halfway through, the story morphed into a sci-fi thriller that reminded me of Jurassic Park (the movie more so than the book), complete with deaths, severed body parts, and the booming footsteps of enormous and deadly monsters. I loved the book’s premise, the Mayday battles were loads of fun, and the Maydays themselves were each unique and fascinating.

I wish I’d gotten a chance to see Yllia as a living being, since she was probably my favorite of the bunch - my mental image of her looked a lot like Mothra. Serraton was another Mayday whose design I liked: a slim and agile snake with legs, a lot like a Chinese dragon. I don’t think there was a single Mayday I didn’t enjoy reading about (in the sense of getting to see them in action), although I liked Tempest (spider-like), Nasir (squat and humanoid), and Grotesque (crocodilian, with poison-filled pustules along its back) less than Yllia and Serraton.

The mystery could have been better, since I figured out a large part of it only a third of the way through. However, the action helped make up for the weak mystery - even if Escobar and the others had managed to figure things out faster, they’d still have had their hands full trying to keep from being killed by the Maydays.

That said, one of the book’s biggest weaknesses was Escobar. Everything was written in first-person POV from his perspective, and I really, really disliked him. He was overconfident, misogynistic, and unnecessarily violent. His inability to dial down his general jerkishness hurt his investigation and led to the deaths of maybe thousands of people. I frequently found myself wishing that someone else had been the main character. Healy would have been great, or maybe Priya. Healy seemed like a decent enough guy, and he was certainly steadier and smarter than Escobar. Priya’s POV would have removed a few of the book’s surprises, but I’d still have preferred her determination and anger over Escobar’s...everything. I really hated that guy.

I saw one review in which Escobar was referred to as “self-aware,” but that was only later on, after several people had had cause to tell him that he was a ham-handed investigator and terrible human being. And the thing was, he didn’t change his ways after he realized how awful he’d been - he just made more conscious use of his terribleness. I couldn’t really blame him for killing one particular character, but shooting another character he’d hoped to interrogate further was just plain stupid.

One bit that really bugged me was when Escobar was trying to distract Tempest. The best thing he could come up with to keep Tempest’s attention was to comment on Tempest’s lack of a penis and apparent inability to have sex (either due to a lack of a partner or a complete physical inability). Those two long paragraphs didn’t seem to have much of an effect on Tempest’s emotional state, but they did say an awful lot about Escobar.

The mystery was interesting, even though I was able to figure out a good chunk of it early on, and the Maydays and Mayday battles were wonderful. I just wish the book had been written from some other character’s POV.

Additional Comments:

At one point, a character bit a chunk out of Escobar's left hand. Later, Escobar broke what I assume was his right wrist. I don't recall Escobar ever getting proper treatment for his left hand (no time), so it bugged me that he kept using what I assumed was his bitten hand to hold his broken wrist against his body with no mention of his hand hurting. Even if the pain in his wrist was overshadowing the pain in his hand, his bitten hand would have still been difficult to use, and I'd have expected that, at least, to be mentioned. Other than that, though, I didn't notice much in the way of errors.

REVIEW: Tales from Outer Lands (e-book) by Shira Glassman

Tales from Outer Lands is fantasy.

Review:

My edition of Tales from Outer Lands was published by Torquere Press. The author has since rereleased it as part of Tales from Perach.

This collection contains two stories, which I’ll write about separately.

“Rivka in Port Saltspray”

This takes place a year and a half after Rivka left her home, so I think it’s maybe a year and a half prior to the events in The Second Mango. Rivka is stuck in Port Saltspray with no way to get her dragon-horse to Zembluss, where she’d been hoping to fight in a civil war and earn a much-needed paycheck. A man named Waterweed seems to be the answer to her problems: he wants to hire her to fight in a competition for him. The prize, he says, is his beloved’s hand in marriage - because he’s missing an arm, he’d never stand a chance on his own.

This was a bit predictable, but still enjoyable. Rivka was my favorite character in The Second Mango, so it was nice to see her again. She hadn’t managed to make a name for herself yet and was in dire straits - nearly broke, stuck in a corrupt town, and in danger of losing Dragon, her loyal companion, if she couldn’t earn some money fast.

I loved that Rivka spent so much of the story basically looking out for others, both unconsciously or on purpose. She’s very much a “protector” sort of character. Not even her terrible financial situation could get her to compromise her morals, and I was really glad that she asked the questions I felt she needed to ask - I had suspicions about one particular character and was worried that this would be one of those “the main character doesn’t see the trap coming until it’s too late” stories.

Rivka’s analyses of the various fights were interesting, although I found myself wishing that the fights had been more vividly described. The absolute best part of the story, though, was probably when Rivka and Stella had some time alone together and, even though they didn’t speak the same language, figured out how to communicate via their shared religion.

All in all, this was pretty good. If I remember right, this story was what prompted me to buy a couple of Glassman’s works in the first place. I had heard that it contained an asexual character. If I interpreted things correctly, that character was probably Stella. The way her aunt described her made me think she was probably aromantic:
“‘No, she really doesn’t ever want to get married!’ said the aunt. ‘I even thought, you know, maybe she doesn’t like a man, then she can have a female companion. I had someone like that once. But no, not even that… she says she’s complete with family and friends.’”(28)
It was a nice little detail, although I had sort of been hoping for a bit more from the story. Ah well, at least I enjoyed getting to see more of Rivka.

“Aviva and the Aliens”

This takes place about 7 months after the end of The Second Mango. The people of Perach are preparing for Passover. Aviva is getting ready for the royal seder, putting away ingredients in her kitchen, when she and her entire kitchen are abducted by aliens. They’re tired of their flavorless ship food, and they want Aviva to cook them a good meal. However, if Aviva isn’t careful, she might end up being forced to cook for them forever.

The first story was about 30 pages long, whereas this one was about 15 - very short. It was bizarre and silly, too much so for my tastes. If the Mangoverse is going to be odd, I’d much prefer it to stick to fantasy oddness. Locust-like aliens abducting a random human in order to make her their new cook just didn’t seem to fit. I wouldn’t have been the least bit surprised if the story had ended with “it was all a dream,” but no, as far as I could tell it was all supposed to be real.

It also didn’t help that the story’s logic didn’t hold up very well. The aliens’ reasons for abducting Aviva didn’t make much sense. What if the random person they chose had been a terrible cook? How did they know that Aviva’s definition of tasty food would fit their definition? What had they planned on doing after Aviva ran out of ingredients? The aliens’ reason for letting Aviva go again wasn’t much better.

Of the two stories, I only really liked “Rivka in Port Saltspray.” It’s probably for the best that Glassman’s newly released collection contains more stories, since I don’t think I’d recommend this two-story collection on its own to anyone except big Rivka fans and Mangoverse completists.

Popkulturalne cytaty z "Pani Noc"

Hello!
Prawie zapomniałam, że został mi jeszcze jeden komplet cytatów z "Pani Noc"! Gdy czytałam książkę początkowo prawie nie zwracałam na nie uwagi, ale potem okazało się, że jest ich całkiem sporo i niektóre są całkiem zabawne.

To zdjęcie miało być przy którymś z poprzednich postów, ale o nim zapomniałam. Więc jest w tym.

> " - Kapitan Ahab i wieloryb - powiedziała Dru, z roztargnieniem kreśląc wzorki w syropie na pustym talerzu.
Emma zakrztusiła się sokiem.
- Ale Dru, kapitan Ahab i wieloryb byli wrogami.
- Fakt - przytaknął Julian. - Wieloryb bez Ahaba jest zwyczajnym wielorybem. Wielorybem pozbawionym problemów. Wielorybem beztroskim."

> "Malcolm wyraźnie się ucieszył.
- A moglibyśmy obejrzeć Notting Hill?"

> " - Proszę. - Livvy sięgnęła po jedno z leżących na stole jabłek. - Zjedz. - I podała jabłko Markowi. Z długimi, ciemnymi włosami i jabłkiem w jasnoskórej dłoni wyglądała jak współczesna Królewna Śnieżka. - Jabłka chyba lubisz?"

> " - Waga decyzji przypomina precyzyjnie wymierzony atak sokoła, który pozwala mu zniszczyć ofiarę.
Julian spojrzał na Emmę z niedowierzaniem.
- To ze Sztuki wojny?
- Być może."

Cytuję, cytowany w książce cytat. Bo mogę.

>  " - Skoro mówimy o filmach... - Livvy zmarszczyła brwi, upodabniając się przelotnie do Ty'a. - To mi przypomina Złoty Bilet. No wiecie, z Charliego i fabryki czekolady. - Pomachała błyszczącym kawałkiem laminowanego papieru."

> " - To znaczy... - zaczęła się plątać Livvy - ...gdyby komuś podobał się rudowłosy Kapitan Ameryka... a mnie się akurat nie podoba...
- Kapitan Ameryka to najprzystojniejszy z Avengerów - powiedziała Cristina. - Bez dwóch zdań. Ale mnie podoba się Hulk, chętnie uzdrowiłabym jego złamane serce.
- Jesteśmy Nefilim - zauważył z naciskiem Julian. - Nie powinniśmy w ogóle wiedzieć o Avengerach. A poza tym najprzystojniejszy jest Iron Man, to chyba oczywiste."

Kocham Julesa, ale widzę tu zalążek Civil War. Już ja bym go przekonała, kto tu jest najprzystojniejszy.

> " - Zawsze chciałem mieć budzik Batmana, który zamiast dzwonić, mówi "Obudź się, Cudowny Chłopcze". Ożywiłby mój pokój."

> "Zniknęła w przymierzalni za zasłoną z prześcieradła z motywami z Gwiezdnych Wojen."

> "Mark spojrzał po sobie.
- Wyglądam przyzwoicie?
- Wyglądasz jak James Bond."

> "Wszędzie byli piękni ludzie, hollywoodzki tłum, jaki Emma często widywała w Los Angeles - ludzie, którzy mieli dostęp do siłowni i solariów, drogich fryzjerów i najlepszych ubrań. Ci tutaj wyglądali, jakby przebrali się za statystów z filmu z Humphreyem Bogartem: jedwabne sukienki, pończochy ze szwem, fedory, wąskie krawaty, szpiczaste klapy. Garnitur od Sy'a Devore'a Juliana okazał się proroczo trafionym wyborem."

> "Osiem pozłoconych belek dzieliło sklepienie na segmenty, na których namalowano sceny z klasyki filmowej w soczystych, głębokich odcieniach. Emma rozpoznała Przeminęło z wiatrem i Casablancę, ale nie kojarzyła pozostałych: wizerunku mężczyzny, który niósł drugiego przez gorące złote piaski, dziewczyny klęczącej u stóp chłopca trzymającego broń, kobiety, której biała sukienka unosiła się wokół niej jak płatki orchidei."

Też nie skojarzyłam z opisów tych filmów, ale postanowiłam poszukać. Oprócz tego ostatniego, bo to chyba Wichrowe wzgórza. Pierwszy skojarzył mi się odrobinę z Ben Hurem, ale pojęcia nie mam czy to dobry trop. Szukałam, pytałam, ale znajomi nie kojarzą. Może Wam te opisy coś mówią?

> "Szli śpiesznie, pchani prze tłum ku wyjściom. Orkiestra grała As Time Goes By z Casablanki, słodką melodię zupełnie niepasującą do panującego w sali niepokoju."

> "Może to dowód dla Strażnika, że ktoś zginął - zasugerowała Livvy. - Tak jak kiedy Łowca miał przynieść w pudełku serce Śnieżki."

> " - Zaczęliśmy się więc zastanawiać jaka miłość jest zakazana (...)
- Między fanami Gwiezdnych Wojen i wielbicielami Star Treka - dodała Emma. - I tak dalej. Dokąd to zmierza?"

Trzymajcie się, MP

Manuscripts Don't Burn: Books for This

Ellen Manning's poster for The Master and Margarita


This is by no means what I consider a comprehensive list. I have no doubt there are a multitude of works from a multitude of people and places covering these issues, from tomes written by those who have lived in any of the world's dictatorships to the popular genre of dystopian science fiction novels. But these are the ones I know and suggest.




The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Perhaps ironically, the book that's buoyed me the most since November is a Russian novel. 1930s Stalinist Moscow is already such a surreal place that demonic visitation is hardly the weirdest aspect. There are mysterious disappearances, labyrinthine but unassailable rules about everything, and overbearing but unspeakable truths, so what's a talking cat or a dance for hell's denizens? Muscovite Margarita has lost her lover, a writer who was whisked away by the authorities due to the subject of his novel. Will a mysterious stranger and his mischievous coterie be able to help her get him back?

Bulgakov wrote The Master and Margarita knowing that it could never be published in his lifetime. He even burned an early draft, wary and despairing, but later soldiered on with his secret writing. The book's very existence is a testament to the survival of art in impossible situations and support for one of its claims: manuscripts don't burn.




By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño

By Night in Chile is a feverish novella told in (mostly) one paragraph: the deathbed ramblings of fictional Father Urrutia, a priest and intellectual who was recruited to teach the "enemy tactics" of the left to the top brass of the new (and covertly USA-assisted) Pinochet regime. The defensive, opaque narrator is unsympathetic, but one wonders what he or she would have done differently, and what difference it would have made. While maddening in parts (it includes a Bolaño trademark: a lengthy, esoteric list - in this case a survey of churches using trained falcons to protect historic buildings from pigeon poop), the work reaches a heart-pounding climax when what lies beneath a literati dinner party is revealed.

By Night in Chile is a stark reminder that dictatorships come and go, but for their survivors, actions taken or not taken can last a lifetime in one's conscience.




The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

I admit I haven't been able to re-read this one recently; much like George Orwell's 1984, it's too close to home now. However, I plan to steel myself and dive in, since it has an eerily well timed miniseries coming in the spring. The Handmaid's Tale, a novel of women's oppression under a far-right group that has seized power in America, is an important reminder of how quickly the unthinkable can turn into something you're being told to get used to.




The Rougon-Macquart series by Émile Zola

During this election season, I've been thinking of the French disaster (or La Debacle, as Zola put it) that was the Franco-Prussian War, where seemingly every bad decision that could be made was made. Zola's series of novels covering the years leading up to this war and the fall of the Second Empire - a time Zola lived through - has some intriguing parallels to today's society, especially the extreme social stratification. As a conduit of mid-to-late-19th Century French history, with its many protests and rebellions, the novels are also a reminder that progress is a struggle, and it's not always clear where or when a decisive victory will arrive.

In L'assommoir, blacksmith Goujet decides not to join in the protests of Napoleon III's 1851 coup d'etat, feeling burned out and discouraged by the protests of 1848. However, he does hesitate and wonders if, "one day the people might regret having stood by with folded arms." 




Suite Française by Irène Némirovksy

Successful writer Irène Némirovksy was living in France with her husband and children when Germany invaded. She immediately began work on a planned series of novels which were to chronicle the invasion, the resistance, and then whatever the outcome of the war would be. After finishing drafts of the first two novellas, however, Némirovksy, who was Jewish by birth (she and her husband were converts to Catholicism), was arrested and sent to Auschwitz, where she died. Her husband's arrest and death at Auschwitz soon followed, but the nanny managed to get the children to safety. Némirovksy's eldest daughter, Denise Epstein, found the drafts and an outline for a third book many decades later, when she was going through her mother's papers before donating them.

The surviving writings were published as Suite Française, a captivating and near-contemporaneous account of the chaos of the initial siege of Paris and then the strange new reality of life under German rule. Knowing Némirovksy's fate, the glimmers of hope are all the more bittersweet. 




Courbet's Le Pont Ambroix

And to finish, here is the poem "Good Bones" by Maggie Smith. "Good Bones," both comforting and clear-eyed, went viral in the wake of the Orlando massacre - a rare feat for a poem. A broadside is available here.


Images:
"Manuscripts Don't Burn" poster by Ellen Manning: Master & Margarita website
Le Point Ambroix: wikimedia

Sherlock? - "Sherlock - The Final Problem"

Hello!
Bez zbędnych wstępów kilka słów o ostatnim odcinku czwartego sezonu "Sherlocka". Obrazek poniżej obrazuje jak mniej więcej czułam się po jego zakończeniu.


Chyba odkryłam gdzie leży problem całego sezonu. Otóż twórcy gdzieś po drodze zgubi detektywa w czasie dodawania do postaci Sherlocka większej ilość uczuć. I nie chodzi o to, że stracił on swoje zdolności, tylko odpowiednie motywacje do ich używania. Co gorsze, utracił prawdziwe powody, aby je wykorzystywać. Odkrycie jest wielce niepokojące. Chociaż końcówka sugeruje, że status quo jako tako został utrzymany. Wierzę też, że będzie kolejna seria, tylko błagam niech będzie taka jak pierwsza lub ewentualnie druga. Bo problem jest taki, że "Sherlock" się pokomplikował tam, gdzie nie powinien. Po drodze zgubił też sens.

Jarałam się, że zgadłam, iż Holmesowie mają siostrę, ale to jest taka słaba postać, że szkoda słów. Ogólnie z "Sherlocka" zrobił się jakiś sentymentalno-rodzinny twór, którego momentami nie da się zwyczajnie oglądać. I piszę to ja, zwolenniczka uczuciowego i emocjonalnego Sherlocka. Ale wróćmy do bohaterki czy antybohaterki dnia, czyli Euros. Sherlock był raczej dość racjonalnym, prawdopodobnym serialem. Do tej pory. Bo wątku Euros nie da się nijak logicznie wyjaśnić. Ani dlaczego teraz, ani po co, ani nic. Ogólnie to bardzo ciekawa koncepcja, dziewczynka bez emocji, uczuć, odczuć, moralności. I charakteru, pustość, nawet tak wygląda jak lalka czy marionetka. Ktoś próbował chyba zrobić gorszą, kobiecą wersję Jima, ale nie wyszło.

I nie wspominam o nim bez przyczyny, bo najlepszym momentem całego odcinka, jeśli wręcz nie całego sezonu, jest ten krótki moment, gdy wydaje się, ze Moriarty żyje. A potem okazuje się, że to było 5 lat temu i było on prezentem od Mycrofta dla siostry. Ogólnie oprócz tego, że nagrał jej parę filmików i głos, nie za bardzo wiadomo jaki ona mogła mieć wpływ na jego późniejsze działania i odwrotnie. Naprawdę wiele rozumiem, ale łączenie w jakikolwiek tych dwóch postaci nie jest popisem kreatywności pod żadnym względem. Chociaż to podobno od spotkania z Jimem Euros postanowiła planować swoją zemstę na Sherlocku. Musiała wiedzieć, że Jimowi nie wyjdzie.

Jeśli jest problem z motywacjami Sherlocka, to nawet nie wiem jak skomentować całą historię idącą za siostrą. Ona zabiła przyjaciela Sherlocka umieszczając go (how?!) w studni, z zazdrości, bo to ona chciała być jego przyjaciółką, bo nie miała innych przyjaciół, a Mycroft nie był taki fajny. Drugi dzień próbuję to sobie poukładać w głowie. Nie da się. A już szczególnie biorąc pod uwagę jej późniejsze lekkie traktowanie ludzkiego życia. W naszym społeczeństwie to nie przejdzie, nie ma szans.


Euros miała być aż tak wyraźnym kontrastem dla "nowy rok, nowa ja" Sherlocka? A może pokazanie, że gdyby SH naprawdę nie miał uczuć, to nie byłoby absolutnie żadnej możliwości polubienia go. Albo, że pomysł robienia postaci bez uczuć, musi spalić na panewce? Albo była potrzebna po to, aby pokazać siłę rodzinnych więzi, moc wyrozumiałości, okropność samotności. Wszystko to można byłoby spokojnie osiągnąć lepiej wykorzystując motyw Johna oskarżającego SH o śmierć Mary. Która notabene w dość żenujący sposób znów pojawia się w odcinku i nie tylko wymienia jak jej chłopców z Backer Street najpierw Sherlocka, a dopiero później Johna, ale także prowadzi fragment narracji typu: "I żyli długo i szczęśliwie". Chociaż szczerze wierze w kolejny sezon. Bo w odcinku były znaki, iż jest możliwość jego powstania. 


Problemem jest też to, że problemu nie ma. Bo na koniec dostajemy coś na zasadzie, chciałam Cię zabić od małego, ale w sumie to cię lubiłam, więc planowałam zemstę, ale tak naprawdę to nie była zemsta, tylko chciałam, abyś mnie uratował i został moim przyjacielem, i to cały plan. Oprócz tego, że Euros jest psychopatką, to chyba ma też rozdwojenie jaźni, albo nie jest aż taką psychopatką i potrzebuje, aby ktoś ją ratował. Jak czytacie próbuję tę postać ugryźć (ależ to źle brzmi) z każdej strony, ale nie mam pomysłu, co o niej myśleć. 

 "Ale to sprawa rodzinna" 
Ten "he" to oczywiście John.

Ale zanim sistra Holmesów da się uratować (powiedzmy, z braku lepszego słowa) prowadzi ich oraz Johna (i chyba też teleportuje) przez szereg bardziej zadań niż zagadek, wszystkich okropnych. Już wspominałam o tym jak Wiatr traktuje ludzkie życie, ale najbardziej zniszczył mnie motyw z Molly. Prawie jej nie było w tym sezonie i tak ją skrzywdzili, bo inaczej tego nie można nazwać. Niby scena z wyznaniem miłości, na dodatek udowodniająca na dodatek, że Sherlock wcale nie wie wszystkiego co dookoła niego się dzieje, i był to mniej więcej poziom emocji jak na reakcję Johna po śmierci Mary. To było okropne. Molly jest najbardziej pokrzywdzoną postacią wszystkich sezonów, ale trzeba było jej dodać jeszcze prawda? Nie żebym wierzyła, że oni mogliby być razem czy coś podobnego, ale to był cios poniżej pasa. 


To nie tak, że wszystkie sentymentalne elementy tego odcinka są złe. Siostra każe SH zabić, albo Johna albo Mycrofta, który nota bene ma wyrzuty sumienia, bo to on sprowadził Moriartiego na wyspę, a Sherlock jest zdecydowany popełnić samobójstwo. Nic dobrego by z tego i tak nie wyszło, jak wiemy z wcześniejszych zdarzeń, ale liczy się gest. Miłe było, to że detektyw w końcu nauczył się imienia Lestrada, a John dostał kocyk. Kocyki są ważne. 

Wszystko bez sensu. Idę obejrzeć pierwszy odcinek. Albo sezon. Albo oba. I starczy. 

Trzymajcie się, M

REVIEW: The Second Mango (e-book) by Shira Glassman

The Second Mango is fantasy containing both f/f and m/f romance. It's very short - I don't know the word count, but it came out to 140 pages on my Nook Simple Touch.

Review:

The Second Mango is the first book in Glassman’s Mangoverse series. I’m reviewing the Torquere edition. The author has since gotten the rights back from that publisher and rereleased it, and I don’t know if the two editions differ in any way.

The Second Mango stars Shulamit, the new queen of Perach, and Rivka, a female warrior for hire who travels disguised as a man. Shulamit’s father died two months prior to the start of the story, and since then she has both been trying to deal with her grief and find herself a lover - a difficult task, since she’s a lesbian and the only other lesbian she’d ever met was Aviva, who’d been her first and only lover and who had left her without explanation. Rivka agrees to help Shulamit find a woman who might love her and who she might love in return. Their journey brings them to a temple filled with nuns who have been turned to stone by an evil sorcerer. Rivka and Shulamit are the only hope the nuns have of breaking free of their curse.

Several aspects of this book intrigued me: the Jewish fantasy setting, the lesbian main character, and Shulamit’s food sensitivities. I enjoyed Shulamit and Rivka’s discussions comparing their two cultures - they both celebrated Chanukah, for example, but associated different foods with the holiday. I didn’t understand all of the Hebrew and Yiddish words the text was peppered with, but the context usually gave me some idea of what was being said, and I googled whatever else I wanted to know more about.

As far as Shulamit’s food sensitivities went, I can’t recall ever reading something dealing with similar issues. The closest I can think of, at the moment, is C.J. Cherryh’s Foreigner series, in which Bren, the human main character, has to be careful about what and how much he eats, because he can’t tolerate the same things his atevi hosts can. Shulamit’s biggest problems were 1) finding out which foods were the problem and 2) convincing everyone that she really did need to avoid certain foods (wheat and poultry) and that her sensitivity wasn’t just in her head or evidence that she was a spoiled princess hoping for more attention. Aviva, the person she eventually fell in love with, was the only one who believed her and made absolutely sure that her food never even touched surfaces contaminated by wheat or poultry.

I liked how sweet and fluffy the overall story was. The beginning of Shulamit and Rivka’s adventure was a lot of fun, and I particularly enjoyed the bittersweet flashback to Rivka’s earlier life, defying her uncle and gradually falling in love with Isaac, the wizard who secretly taught her swordplay.

Unfortunately, I did have a few issues with the book, mostly centered on Shulamit. It seriously bugged me that, only two months after her father’s death, Shulamit’s biggest concern wasn’t finding her footing as the new queen and ensuring her country’s continued stability, but rather running off to find herself a new lover. Shulamit herself felt a bit bad about this later on in the story, but that didn’t negate the fact that she’d done it.

Granted, she was young and sheltered, but she still came across as flightier and, well, hornier than I’d have liked. She told Rivka that she needed to join her in the search for a potential lover for her because she wanted to make sure that the woman was someone she could love in return, but I got the impression that she’d have given any pretty lesbian Rivka managed to find a shot. During the course of the story, she tried to find a potential lover at a brothel, hit on Rivka at least once, almost landed them both in a trap due to her attraction to a pretty stranger, and found herself attracted to a pretty nun in statue form. All of that, combined with my assumption that Shulamit had probably just been too focused on her own emotions to notice what was bothering Aviva enough to make her want to leave, made it difficult for me to enjoy how her romantic storyline turned out.

My other issue with the book was that the writing felt simplistic, which meshed oddly with some of the sexual content. It also made Shulamit come across as being even younger than she might actually have been. I can’t remember if her age was ever stated, but for a while there I assumed she wasn’t much older than maybe 16.

Despite my issues with the book, I’m glad I already own a collection of Mangoverse stories. I’m looking forward to reading them, especially since I already know that one of them features Rivka, my favorite character in The Second Mango.
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