Author: Brian Azzarello
Christopher Nolan’s film The Dark Knight rekindled interest in one of Batman’s most recognizable villains. Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker in that film was met with such acclaim that DC decided to release a one-off graphic novel, simply titled Joker. Written by Brian Azzarello, Joker tells the story of a low-level thug named Jonny Frost and his encounters with the titular character. Frost is tasked with picking up the Joker after he is released from the insane asylum and then proceeds to work for him as the Joker tries to take back his criminal empire.
Azzarello succeeds in producing a grittier, more realistic version of the character. Those familiar with Frank Miller’s Sin City series will be right at home with this neo-noir interpretation of the character. It’s not a Batman story, who’s only in the book for about five pages. Joker is also completely lacking in any of campy humor older versions of the character often displayed; there’s nothing funny about the Joker here, and his crimes are repulsive and disturbing, not to mention gory.
There’s a couple flaws to The Joker. Comic purists may take issue with changes to some of the characters in Azzarello’s Gotham; Harley Quinn is a gun-toting stripper with one line of dialogue, the Riddler is now a gun-runner who walks with a cane, and Killer Croc is a stereotypical hulking thug. Not all of these changes work, but a bigger problem lies in the storytelling and the nature of the character. Part of what makes the Joker such an interesting villain is that it’s impossible to know or understand him. The Joker’s actions are irrational and don’t really have a point, which makes for difficult storytelling. Nor are we really given much of a reason to care about Jonny Frost, who’s mostly just along for the ride.
But somehow Joker still works for the most part. It’s one of the few Batman stories to successfully probe the mind of one of comics’ most depraved and complex characters. It may not quite be up the standard of The Killing Joke (which is probably still the best Joker story) but it’s still definitely worth a read for comic enthusiasts.
Author: Ray Bradbury
Shortly before Ray Bradbury’s death in 2012, Harper-Collins published a collection of Bradbury’s short stories entitled A Pleasure to Burn. Containing numerous short stories, many of which are thematically related to Bradbury’s best-known work, Fahrenheit 451, A Pleasure to Burn is a must read for fans of Fahrenheit 451 and science fiction.
The stories in A Pleasure to Burn have much in common with Fahrenheit 451. Like the latter, these are science fiction and fantasy stories that are concerned with real world issues. Themes Bradbury explored throughout his career are all present, including censorship, government surveillance, our infatuation with mass media and technology, conformity and resistance to conformity, and our marginalization of art and literature. Critics have noted that Bradbury’s work often seems prophetic and A Pleasure to Burn is no different. Mildred’s seashell ear thimbles are a lot like an Ipod, and the reduction of meaning to a few lines of text sounds suspiciously like a meme.
One of the most surprising aspects of A Pleasure to Burn, and something that seems to have gone largely unnoticed, is how meta some of Bradbury’s work was. This is literature about literature, but more specifically it is fiction about fiction. Classic horror authors (along with Nathaniel Hawthorne, who complains he doesn’t belong) are the main characters of “The Mad Wizards of Mars.” The plot of Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is re-enacted in “Carnival of Madness,” with an element of black humor as the censor who gets chained up in a wall by a former librarian doesn’t understand the reference.
There’s a couple downsides to A Pleasure to Burn. More than half the book is taken up by earlier versions of what would become Fahrenheit 451, so it’s sort of redundant. Fans of Bradbury’s work may find the work unnecessary, since much of A Pleasure to Burn has been available for some time in other short story collections. However, for those like myself who have not read much of Bradbury outside of Fahrenheit 451, A Pleasure to Burn is also a pleasure to read.
Author: Denise Kiernan
In The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women who Helped Win World War II Denise Kiernan explores the lives of the residents of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Oak Ridge was the location of the Clinton Engineer Works, whose purpose (unbeknownst to most of the workers) was enriching uranium for the atomic bombs. Many of these workers were young women, including many recent high school graduates, and interviews with the surviving workers form the core of Kiernan’s work.
The Girls of Atomic City works best as a recollection of daily life in Oak Ridge. We get numerous anecdotes about the challenges workers faced, including difficulties with housing, rations, working conditions, and, as the book repeatedly stresses, the necessity of keeping everything going on in Oak Ridge a secret. We follow the lives of a rather large cast of women through their time at Oak Ridge, many of whom would meet their husbands while working on the project. The book also excels at providing insight into the largely unknown women scientists who helped develop the science behind the bomb and explaining that science in an accessible way.
Still, there’s too much left unsaid in The Girls of Atomic City and Kiernan seems intent on avoiding many important issues. How black workers felt about segregation, how women felt about sexism in the workplace, health problems arising from handling nuclear material, and whether the workers had any moral dilemmas about the need for secrecy or guilt over the destruction the project produced are only touched on briefly, if at all. And there’s too much feel-good patriotism in the book; Kiernan has produced a linear story of American ingenuity in which we collected the scientists, we built the bomb, we won the war, and the workers lived happily ever after. The legacy of atomic weapons and government secrecy is, of course, much more ambiguous than that.
Despite these flaws The Girls of Atomic City is an interesting read on an important subject. Its emphasis on the everyday women whose work was instrumental in winning WWII is fascinating, even if I wish it was more analytical and less anecdotal.
Author: Robert S. Wistrich
Few events in history are as difficult to understand as the Holocaust. Debates over how and why it happened continue to rage in academic circles, to say nothing of the vast amount of fiction the topic has produced in film and literature. Robert Wistrich’s Hitler and the Holocaust is an admirable attempt at writing a concise and accessible introduction to this immensely challenging subject.
Wistrich’s approach is straightforward and chronological. It covers Hitler’s rise to power, early anti-Semitic legislation, the beginnings of World War II, Nazi collaborators, Jewish resistance, and the camps themselves. Wistrich focuses much of the book on the role of anti-Semitism in producing the Holocaust, reminding us that regardless of how historians choose to interpret the Holocaust or its meaning, it could not have happened without anti-Semitism, the war, and the personality of Hitler himself. Wistrich also neatly summarizes and adds to other historical topics, like the role of bureaucracy and modernity in the Holocaust.
Few books are as concise and as informative as Hitler and the Holocaust. Historical scholarship, in an attempt to explain an extremely complicated subject, has gotten increasingly specialized, so a good overview that attempts to be comprehensive and interesting to non-historians is important. At providing such an overview, Wistrich succeeds brilliantly.
Author: Stephen King and Peter Straub
The Talisman is the first collaboration between Stephen King and Peter Straub. It features the tale of a 12 year old boy named Jack Sawyer on a quest to retrieve a magical artifact known as the talisman, which has the power to save Jack’s terminally ill mother. The problem is Jack has to travel through another world (known as the Territories) in order to reach the talisman, and is pursued by his father’s business partner, Morgan Sloat, who wants the talisman for his own purposes.
While The Talisman is much more of a work of adventure fantasy than horror, it should come as no surprise that there are horror elements present. Jack encounters all sorts of monsters (both human and non) during his travels and his best friend for much of the novel is a werewolf simply named Wolf. Meeting Wolf is in many ways the turning point of the novel; before Wolf it seems as though Jack is just kind of wandering from place to place as he makes his way towards the talisman, after meeting Wolf the story takes a darker, more suspenseful turn, especially as Wolf does what werewolves tend to do.
The Talisman has some minor flaws. It takes a while to get going, at least until Jack meets Wolf. Jack is likable enough as the main protagonist, but doesn’t feel as fully fleshed out as many of the other characters, particularly Wolf and Jack’s other main travelling partner, Richard Sloat. While this may not be a reasonable complaint, The Talisman pales in comparison to what each author is capable of individually; King’s Dark Tower series is a classic, as is Peter Straub’s Ghost Story.
Still, those looking for a good fantasy book should check out The Talisman. It’s world-building, character development, and story make it a consistently enjoyable book.
Originally debuting in 1987, The Princess Bride is a timeless classic that can be enjoyed by audiences of all ages. Featuring such stars as Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Billy Crystal, Fred Savage, and André the Giant, this film tells the tale of Princess Buttercup, a beautiful young woman engaged to the feared and loathed Prince Humperdinck. One evening, in an attempt to find peace from her chaotic life, she takes a horseback ride in the woods. Along the way, she is kidnapped by a trio of criminals. In close pursuit, however, is Buttercup’s rescuer. But who is this masked hero? Watch as epic sword fights, puzzles of wit, and tales of revenge play out in this must-see movie. Request it through the SWAN catalog today!
Italian Cinema
Reviewer: Danielle
In The Bicycle Thieves and Cinema Paradiso, we are transported into the lives of two boys in post-WWII Italy as they encounter the many frailties and strengths inherent to a country and a people who have suffered so much. We see hope and we see despair. We see dreams of futures that might never happen. We see resignation and we see passion. Ultimately, we see life through the eyes of Bruno and Toto as their childlike innocence begins to come to terms with the emerging realties of a world trying to right itself after a devastating storm and the role human love and resilience can play in such a story.
The Bicycle Thieves tells the simple story of a stolen bicycle and the repercussions it has in the life of the poorest of families. Bruno and his father try to find the bicyle while walking the beautifully filmed streets of Rome and, in doing so, we see the cycle of poverty and crime and hopelessness possibly perpetuated into yet another generation. Bruno’s eyes hold the despair of youth at the very moment hope starts to fade, where the heroes lose their shine and where reality supplants the unquestioned trust that what is right and wrong is always a simple choice. A simple story with modern-day resonance.
In Cinema Paradiso, we have a more hopeful but deeper story of a lifetime of hopes and dreams played out through a love of movies and ultimately broadcast in the loving and self-sacrificing actions of one man, Alfredo. Toto (Salvatore), is a boy in love with movies, a young man in love with Elena and an older man who is jaded by the loss of both. The movie starts with a young, precocious and rather precious Toto as he discovers his love of movies at the side of Alfredo, the town projectionist. Anyone who loves movies will recognize the joy in the face of little Toto as the lights dim and the movies come to life. This love, both for the movies and for Alfredo, will color Toto’s existence for the rest of his life. This is a story of following one’s passions, no matter what the cost even when you don’t know you are paying those costs. It is also a beautiful meditation of the sacrifices born of deep love. A touching movie going experience not to be missed by anyone who loves movies or just loves in general.
Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination
Author: J.K. Rowling
We all know and love J.K. Rowling for her incredible tales of adventure and triumph in the wizarding world. On a very different note, Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination is the documentation of the speech she gave to the Harvard graduating class of 2008. We learn a lot about her life personally and how her experiences shaped her into the woman that she is today. She shares with us emotional moments and valuable life lessons as she attempts to demonstrate the importance of failure and the power of imagination. A quick read, roughly 70 pages with lots of imagery thrown in, it’s more than worth the 45 minutes it will take to finish it. It can be found on the shelves of Acorn Public Library or requested through the SWAN catalog: https://swanlibs.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/ads/search/results?qu=Very+Good+Lives&te=
An Animated ‘Feast’ for the ‘Hero’ in Us All
Reviewer: Danielle
It’s a rare treat to be able to sit and watch two Oscar winning movies in one evening in the short span of two hours but such a treat will be yours simply by taking home a copy of Big Hero 6. Now, some of you might be thinking, “But, I’m an adult and don’t watch children’s films!” To that, I simply must reply, “Like, OMG, you, like, totes have no idea what you’re, like, missing, ya know! I mean, come on, what are you, like, forty or something?! That’s barely elderly, so just, like, ya know, watch it already!”
What you would find upon viewing both the Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature, Big Hero 6, and the accompanying Oscar winner for Best Animated Short, Feast, are two films that will speak to the heart of every viewer. Themes of love, heartbreak, loss, friendship, loyalty and empathy are evident throughout…and that’s only in the ten minute masterpiece of animation about a dog named Winston and his person. After that, you can venture into the animated feature where you will revisit all of those with the added themes of redemption, devotion, justice and vengeance mixed in, all swirling around in a colorful and beautifully rendered environment where both tears and laughter will be evoked in equal measure by a cast of relatable, lovable, and fully-embodied nerd-ly characters.
What more could you ask for…like, for reals?
And, honestly, take a look at that face up there…how can you possibly resist? Am I right? Why yes, yes I am.
I Called Him Necktie
Author: Milena Michiko Flašar
Reviewer: Danielle
A story of two men at opposite ends of their lives exploring their loves, their losses and the ultimate meaning of it all. Taguchi Hiro and Ohara Tetsu meet in a park and don’t speak, lost in their own worlds for different reasons. But, once they decide to reach out, both of their lives, and the lives of all those around them, are changed in ways both large and small.
The work is simply beautiful and beautifully simple. Resonant in the same way a piece of music, caught in passing, or a comforting scent from your childhood can transport you through time. Melancholic poetry and elegiac prose swirling together in a vortex of emotional purity forming shapes, recognizable to all, before losing focus again only to reform into another heartfelt shape spelling out its message of hope to a disconnected world.
Sci-Fi, ScarJo and Black Ooze
Reviewer: Danielle
I’ll admit, Scarlett Johansson is not my favorite actress. For me, she usually shines with a brightness and luminosity reminiscent of heavily scuffed linoleum on the floor of a decades-closed mental institution. So, imagine my shock when I found her starring in two of the more original science fiction movies to grace theaters over the last year…Under the Skin and Lucy.
While not masterpieces, both films are thought -provoking, imaginative, interesting and, strangely, involve black ooze. They reside at two ends of a spectrum. One end has an alien seeking out and discovering its inner humanity and evolving in the process while the other end has a human ultimately evolving into a creature only recognizable as alien to the world, if not the universe, it inhabits. Ideas of identity and what makes one human play through both movies in vastly different ways.
In Under the Skin, we follow the alien as it immerses itself in our world and habituates itself to our human (sometimes horribly too human) ways. The movie is definitely not for everyone. It’s a slow build with nary an explosion or raygun to be found. It delves, appropriately enough, under the skin of humanity to show us our inner alien – that hidden part, the dark side, the ultimate id. And, in the end, when the skin is pulled away, we finally see the reality of our existence in the countenance of an exposed and vulnerable alien, the shell of what once was and what now can never become.
In Lucy, we envision the evolution of nothing less than the human mind. We enter one vision of what might be possible if humans accessed 100% of the power of the human brain. With a combination of science and philosophy (and a lot of gun-filled violence), we travel into realms seemingly beyond imagination but, then, is anything actually beyond imagination…beyond the reach of all human possibility? Here we reach for the ends of the universe and into the depths of time to see what humanity might become with Lucy, both modern and australopithecine, as our cyphers.
Both films have their mis-steps. Under the Skin will be the more difficult for many people to enjoy and many will find our projected future evolution in Lucy unbelievable but, for me at least, these films are more than the sum of their parts. Their gifts lie less in the concrete story shown on screen and more in the thoughts they provoke and the fact that those thoughts will be completely and utterly unique to each individual viewer.
Reviewer: Danielle
The Skeleton Twins is a laugh-out-loud, side-splitting comedy…as long as the only thing you watch is the gag reel or outtakes. The actual movie is a funny and heartfelt look at people living lives of loud desperation. Milo (Bill Hader) and Maggie (Kristen Wiig) are twins living a continent apart but still seemingly connected as illustrated through their mirrored actions in the opening scenes of the movie. Milo eventually comes to stay with Maggie and her husband, Lance (Luke Wilson), to ostensibly straighten out his life but, in reality, the situation forces a reckoning with and a reconciliation of a shared past filled with scarred nostalgia, solitary despair and, most of all, deep and abiding regret that changes both siblings.
The Skeleton Twins is ultimately an effective look at depression and hopelessness. It examines how they can both be tempered and, perhaps, overcome by the indomitable human spirit, as ragged and tattered as it may become over a lifetime of abuse and neglect where change and loss and disappointment are the primary constants. We see that every burden is more easily borne when shared. We see that humor can be found in even the darkest of places. We see that shared misery is, indeed, misery halved…eventually.
The movie finds the joy in living one’s truth because, as harsh and lonely and crazy as that truth may be, at least it’s honest. We begin to see that in that honesty we just might be able to find that one person, that single, enduring connection that makes the ultimate difference. We may finally come to recognize that one person who sees us as we are and says, “You’re crazy and annoying but you’ll be okay because, no matter how many times you say ‘see you later’, I still love you and I won’t ever let go.”
Sometimes, that’s all anyone needs…well, that and maybe a few goldfish.
