Chekov's works have a reputation of being very sad and very hard to understand.
This one is pretty simple and really funny. You have to understand, thChekov's works have a reputation of being very sad and very hard to understand.
This one is pretty simple and really funny. You have to understand, though, it's quite a black kind of comedy. Most of the humor comes from how out-of-touch almost every character is from reality. Lopakhin is probably the most normal; the easiest to understand: he's looking for money. He's the straight-man to lunatics like Gaev, imbeciles like Firs, and idiots like M. Ranyevskaya.
It's all well and good to feel sorry for these people, but come on, there needs to be a limit. Can you really feel sorry for a slave that pines for his former slavery? Or someone who's head is so far up in the clouds that she gives away the family's money to charity when they're drowning in debt? This family of grotesques can inspire only our ridicule.
The tough part is that they look so prim and proper, especially on stage. We're willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, just because they look so fancy and like they clearly have their shit together. They don't. That's the joke. They spent their entire lives feeding off of others, languishing in sloth and obsessing over their misfortunes.
Chekov never intended his play to be a tragedy. ...more
A retread of The Infinity Gauntlet, but a more nuanced retread, exploring themes that the original merely glanced over.
The original Infinity GauntletA retread of The Infinity Gauntlet, but a more nuanced retread, exploring themes that the original merely glanced over.
The original Infinity Gauntlet was mainly about power. Who gets to use it? Who has the power to control it, and who deserves it? In the end, Thanos rejects power, Warlock is stripped of it, and any other being is utterly overwhelmed by it, unable to control it.
It's not a theme that is easy to relate to. How many of us have had the chance to wield any kind of power?
Infinity War deals with duality. Not just in the brawl between heroes and hero doppelgangers, but in the tension between Doom and Kang; Magus and Warlock, Thanos and his twin, etc etc. Kang and Doom are essentially the same character; and the faults that they find in each other are the faults that others see in them. Personally, I found their bickering hilarious. Through it, they acknowledge that, at some level, they know they are arrogant, pompous assholes.
Thanos may be reformed, but the way he goes about doing "good deeds" would make anyone's skin crawl. He is as ruthless and callous as before, despite aiding the heroes. He is not above frying a secondary character or two if it means furthering the cause of "good".
It's the same with the Magus. Yes, he wants to destroy the universe, but his plotting and scheming is sometimes hard to distinguish from that of Adam Warlock himself. Isn't Warlock the one who's master plan was to send wave after wave of heroes on what was essentially a suicide mission?
Okay, so there is some goofy shit here. Eternity, the personification of the entire universe, is "unconscious" for a few scenes. Like, he's making a funny face and birds and stars are dancing around his head. Sometimes, the characters talk to each other like they're stoned out of their minds. Capitan America is annoying as all get out. But, come on, it's Infinity War. That's par for the course. ...more
1) The story was adapted from the author's weekly D&D group
2) The author was paid by the word
Let me explain. TTwo things seem obvious about this book:
1) The story was adapted from the author's weekly D&D group
2) The author was paid by the word
Let me explain. The worldbuilding is awesome and full of really cool ideas. The protagonists travel through a lot of places that all have an interesting character about them. However, the characters themselves are basically lifeless. You've got the Sexy Enchantress who got her powers drained and so is just Sexy and Vulnerable. You've got Count Dracula (who is a literal Count in the story. Not kidding). And you've got a Warrior Priest. Also you have some nerdy dude that is basically worthless, keeps whining about how worthless he is, and then finally offs himself. The characters keep arguing about how much they hate each other, and that the only reason they're on this quest is that they want to do the Sexy Enchantress.
The end is pretty anticlimactic. The author constantly keeps repeating how, in her fantasy land, earthquakes happen all the time. The Enchantress loses her powers after an earthquake. Most magic is done using the "earthfae" (guess when the earthfae is strongest?). Most of the landscapes they go through are created by earthquakes. The cities are all warded against earthquakes, and the ones that are not are shantytowns that are getting ready for the next earthquake.
A very accessible book written around a powerful (though deceptively simple) idea: using tarot cards to aid in positive visualization. As someone who A very accessible book written around a powerful (though deceptively simple) idea: using tarot cards to aid in positive visualization. As someone who just got a tarot deck last week, I'm basically the definition of beginner when it comes to the occult. Still, I could feel the energy behind the author's seemingly cheesy verses and exercises (the word "spells" makes me think too much of videogames).
The spells all conform to the same structure: There's an introductory verse, you draw out a few specific cards (2 of Cups if you want to hook up, Hanged Man if you want to de-stress, etc), perform one or two ceremonial actions (Write down a worry on paper and burn it in the fire, for example), and recite the closing verse.
The power of this is that the author encourages you to make all this as simple or complicated as you want. Need a little pause in the morning before you rush to work? Renee can help. Want to do the Lesser Banishing Pentagram before and after each spell? Go for it. For those of us who want to learn a bit more about the occult but find Crowley et al. too technical, this is the book for you. ...more
I've never read Lolita, but I got this book as a present, so I figured I'd read it. Nabokov is really good at giving you a full picture of a person wiI've never read Lolita, but I got this book as a present, so I figured I'd read it. Nabokov is really good at giving you a full picture of a person with just one very well chosen detail. You can see this especially during the dinner party scene. The story is supposed to be ironic, so it's very predictable and formulaic. However, Nabokov manages to keep the suspense going, and somehow, the plot developments feel surprising, even though in retrospect they're pretty obvious. What may surprise you is the tasteless and shockingly shameless slapstick that comes up near the end. You don't know whether to laugh or cringe. Having read it, I think I'll tackle Lolita next....more
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