Rob and Grendel.

My character Rob from High Fidelity, could be compared to the protagonist Grendel in John Gardner's Grendel. While Rob is a plain, middle-aged, owner of a failing record shop in London, and Grendel is a a huge hairy beast that feeds on flesh of the Danish people, there are some strange similarities. First of all, both the middle aged man and the god knows how old monster are jerks. Rob even describes himself, mulitple times, as an "arsehole." So there you go. Rob was in a relationship for a while with Laura. While they were dating, he willingly accepted a lot of money from Laura to help keep his record shop going, while she worked at an attorney's office. At the same time, Rob was having an affair with another woman, and Laura also happened to be pregnant. Rob and Laura eventually break up, which sets off most of the plot to the novel. Rob still owes Laura a lot of money. Grendel is a savage beast who eats people. For approx 12 years, Grendel has been eating the Danes of Hrothgar's kingdom. From that, it's easy to see that Grendel is a jerk. Both, however, are antiheros, rather than villains. The books both explain why Rob and Grendel are this way. Isolation is a big factor in to why the characters act the way they do. Rob has always felt isolated and lonely, due to the rejection that he has dealed with throughout his life with women. After Laura, Rob is even more bitter towards people. He really isn't close to anyone. The only people that he spends time with are the store clerks that work with him, and a few college friends that he rarely sees, and Marie. On his birthday, he gets a last minute get together at a pub, and only 4 people show up. Rob is most likely bitter towards people because he isn't close to anyone. He has dealt with rejection all his life, and the last thing he wants to do is try to become closer with someone else. Grendel is similar because of the way the Dane's treated him. Grendel wonders the wilderness alone, frusterated with life and all its mysteries, and is always asking why he is who he is. The Danes give him no chance to interact peacefully with them and attack him when they first see him. Grendel has no choice but to defend himself. This leads to Grendel's anger with the Danes and his hatred towards their worldview. Over time, he begins to despise humanity, and makes them his enemy. The fact that both Rob and Grendel deal with injustices through negative actions towards people, makes them sort of antiheroes (Rob is more an antihero than Grendel). They both want to have a connection to someone. They are lonely, and have dealt with isolation and have no one to really be there for them. They deal with this through hatred and bitterness, and violence and eating in Grendel's case.

Truth in Bookz

In order to be non-fiction, a novel should have no fiction in it. Fiction is defined as the class of literature comprising works of imaginative narration. So if there is anything untrue or imaginary in a non-fiction novel, then it is no longer non-fiction because there is fiction in it.

I don't think half-truths are really acceptable. Obviously a memoir is the author's own account of their own events, but the author should at least be able to back up everything that they include, otherwise they could write that they had the ability to turn into a baby seal as a child, still calling their work with an obvious fictional element a memoir. Even if there is one untrue event in the novel, like baby seal morphing, then it shouldn't be a memoir, or non-fiction. Authors shouldn't be able to say whatever they want about their life and let people eat is up as truth. It's unfair.

I do not think there needs to be a line between genres, because genres typecast and categorize authors and novels too much. When it comes to ficion vs. non-fiction, I think that the line is quite clear anyway. If everything in the novel is true and happened, then it's non-fiction, because it contains no fiction. If there is something fictional in the book, then it becomes fiction.

I would not say that Genre Fiction is less worthy than Literary Fiction, but there certainly is a difference between the two. Yes, both Genre Fiction and Literary Fiction can have the same themes and motifs, but the difference is that these themes and symbols are delivered in a different way. Literary Fiction tends to have more depth and takes more dissection in order to understand the less apparant symbols, while in Genre Fiction, the themes are more apparant and the reader is carried by a faster, plot driven story, that takes little, in-depth examination. Popular books can still be great, it's just that popular works tend to be more accessable to the public, so it's less likely that the majority of readers who read for entertainment will choose a deep, "artisticly" written book, not to say that great books can't be artistic or very well written. It's just that someone looking for an entertaining book will be more stimulated by a plot driven book that doesn't hide its details. The reader is always the one who decides what good writing is. No one else.

I personally do not think that genre fiction really has its place in schools. I think that the way that literary diction is taught is the issue, not the fact that its exclusive. If there's no content in a genre fiction novel that cannot be uncovered through analytical practices that will help us in the real world, then there is really no point in teaching us that, since there isn't much to teach other than "read it."

Anyway. The way that literary fiction is taught is something that should be changed. If students are rushed, and are taught to read for test answers, then I feel that there is no point, because it's not like later on in life people will read so they can answer a test question. I like the way that I was taught to read Great Gatsby, for example. There was a deadline to finish, but it was not danger close. We were told to read at our own pace, but still dissect each chapter and try to develop an understanding of what the author was really saying, given the context of the culture that he wrote the novel in. While no one could uncover every single symbol and meaning in Great Gatsby, there was a sense of enjoyment and accomplishment to doing that. If I read the novel without any close examination, it would've been just a boring book about the 1920's. However, thanks to the way that I was encouraged to read the novel, I was able to find that the novel was much deeper than that, and I learned a new way of reading and analyzing text, which can help later in life.

I really hated the way I read Of Mice and Men though. We read it for test answers, reading only a few chapters, and then watching the movie. I feel like I missed out on a lot of good content and detail that I could've discovered if I had read the entire novel myself, rather than being guided through quickley, for test answers.
If kids are taught to read for test answers, then there's no authenticity, and the books hold little meaning to them. If people are taught to own what they read and read to find a meaning for themselves, then perhaps kids would be more enthusiastic about it.

A Clockwork Orange would be very difficult to adapt into a film. The novel is filled with so much detail, and trying to figure out the dialogue can sometimes be like trying to solve a puzzle. Filmmakers would definitely have a hard time writing the script, in a way that the dialogue stays true to the Cockney Russian dialect that young Alex speaks yet is able to be understood by an audience watching the film. Filmmakers would also struggle with the violence of the novel for a film. It would also be tough for actors to learn the accents and dialects. The first part of the novel is Alex's moloko plus (milk spiked with absinthe) induced adventures as he commits ultra-violence, and it would be very difficult to cast someone who would have to act out violent brawls and intense rape scenes, because very few actors would want such a role.

The first scene that is essential to a Clockwork Orange film would be ultra violence in part one. At the height of their rage, Alex and his droogs Pete, Dim, and Georgie break into a house in a village outside the city and rape a woman in front of his wife. As terrible as this is, this scene is very necessary because it is the most raw and coarse way to show Alex and his droogs' total disregard for people, and the recklessness of their youth. Stanley Kubrick includes this rape scene in his adaptation, and probably directed one of the most disturbing scenes in film history. This definitely gave people a visual of Alex's crave for orgiastic violence.
Another scene that should be in an adaptation is the brainwashing that Alex volunteers for in prison so that he may regain his freedom. During the brainwashing, doctors condition Alex's body to become sick and ill whenever he even has the thought of committing violence. They do this by giving him chemicals as he is forced to watch extremely violent acts while his eyes are held open by contraptions. This is very important, because it leads to Alex's inability to free will, which is very important to the title "Clockwork Orange". This is used very well in Kubrick's adaptation, and is quite disturbing, seeing the way that even a violent person like Alex is feeling tortured by being forced to watch pure violence.
The last scene that needs to be in a film is after Alex's conditioning has wared off, and he has regained the ability to commit violence with new droogs. Later Alex is thinking about starting a family, and he has been less prone to violent acts. I think this is necessary because people need to see that Alex has the potential to change without the conditioning, and that he is capable of sweetness and juice without being programmed and mechanised like a clock.

The scene that I would not include in the novel would be when Alex drugs and rapes a pair of girls that he says look no older than 10. Kubrick includes this scene in the film, but the girls are much older than 10, and consenting, so Alex doesn't rape them in his adaptation. I can't really think of a filmmaker who would include that part of the noel verbatim. I would probably change up the circumstances like Kubrick did.
I would omit most of the scenes that Alex speaks with his parents. I would include them a little bit, but not a ton. Without the audience seeing Alex's parents, I think it would help with the mysteriousness and the lack of morals that Alex has, because his parents are rarely seen. I omit the part where Alex returns to them after prison to suprise them, and finds out that someone else took his place on the family. I found that part in the novel sort of irrelivent and did little to the plot.
The last scene that I would omit would be Alex being cured and actually deciding to leave violence behind. Kubrick's adaptation does this as well, and it leaves the audience wondering what Alex is going to do with his life, and if he'll continue with violence or choose a more righteous path.

"It would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the ol' ultra-violence."

Book 1 Project

Lisbeth Salander’s Style

Lisbeth Salander’s clothing and over all style would be a good way to promote the novel and Lisbeth’s character. The items and clothing that could be promoted would be: her trademark leather jacket, ironic tee shirts with sayings such as “I AM ALSO AN ALIEN”, heavy punk Doc Marten boots, and temporary tattoos of a dragon or wasp. There are many descriptions of Lisbeth’s style in the novel, one being “She had on a black skirt that was frayed at the hem, worn-out black, mid –length leather jacket, rivet belt, heavy Doc Marten boots, and horizontally striped, green and red knee socks” (Larsson p. 48).

I feel that this idea would market well to fans of the novel, especially fans of the character Lisbeth. Along with the film about to be released, I think Salander’s apparel and temporary tattoos would market well, because of the collectability of the items and clothing, and because many people like Lisbeth and her relatively unconventional fashion. Many fans would also feel like they are a part of the world or culture that Lisbeth is a part of, and will have a way of relating to the character by having real tangible representations of her. Salander’s fashion could also be picked up by designer stores such as American Apparel, Urban Outfitters, Forever Twenty One, and others, to help promote the clothing, which would greatly help market the character, perhaps turning people to start reading the novel.

An example of Salander's Wasp tattoo

 

Collectible Millennium Magazine

 In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, one of the lead protagonists is a journalist and co-owner of a political magazine called Millennium. I think that producing a limited amount of collectible Millennium magazines would be a really cool way to promote the Stieg Larsson series.

In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Blomkvist’s magazine Millennium is important to the characters because Millennium’s reputation was tarnished after Blomkvist committed libel. In order to save Millennium’s reputation, Blomkvist agrees to solve Vanger’s murder, so that Vanger can help prove Mikael Blomkvist’s innocence and Millennium’s credibility. The magazine is a target of Wennerstrom, the man who was a victim of Blomkvist’s libel, and the novel says that “Wennerstrom isn’t going to fall for it. He’s going to keep on destroying Millennium” (Larsson p. 124). It’s obvious that Millennium magazine is central to the novel’s plot, so the magazine would be very marketable.

This would be an excellent way to market the series, one reason is because of the fact that the magazine supply would be limited, and therefore could be considered collectible. The collectible magazine would contain actual articles about the events pertaining to the novel. Perhaps there could be an article about the controversies of the Vanger family, or about the Wennerstrom Corporation’s illegal and criminal activities, and maybe just random articles about the culture and life of Sweden and its politics. All the articles could say that they were “written” by Mikael Blomkvist himself. For even more authenticity and relevance to the novel, there could be Vanger Corporation ads (and only Vanger ads because Millennium lost all of its advertisers) that help fund the magazine. The goal of the collectible Millennium magazine would be to make its owners and readers have what seems like an actual artifact from the novel, as if they were reading the events and were actually apart of the culture and world of the Millennium Series. The magazine’s collectability and limited production could make many fans of the novel try to get their own copy of a real Millennium magazine.

 

Viral Campaign

 “You’ve been inside my computer. You’re a hacker” (Larsson p. 343). That was when Blomkvist confronted Lisbeth Salander about her being a very skilled computer hacker in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The underground world of computer hacking is an important element to Lisbeth’s persona and the plot of the story. One way to market the novel would be to do a viral campaign, relating the Lisbeth’s computer hacking world. Similar to the Dark Knight Rises and The Dark Knight’s viral campaign, there would be a series of web quests, scavenger hunts in selected cities, and codes and passwords, along with collectible mail items sent to those who “crack” the codes of the website that the viral campaign takes place on. The campaign could have passwords and puzzles to solve, similar to hacking, like Lisbeth Slander does. There could be a map of the participants selected city, giving clues to a scavenger hunt, which reveal facts and secrets about the plot of the novel. The winners of the scavenger hunts and code cracking could be mailed collectible items from the novel (like a Millennium magazine!) or tickets to the film or even a free copy of the Dragon Tattoo novel.

Lisbeth Salander is a very popular character because of her mysteriousness and the fact that she is a computer hacker. Fans of her character and those who are interested in her hacking skills and the underground culture that she is a part of would be very interested in the viral campaign. The fact that people can find out secrets about the plot or win collectable Dragon Tattoo items would also draw people to the viral campaign and eventually the novel.

Fer Dennings Sake, Whut is a Book?

A book is another name for a story.

Right now, that's all a "book" is for me. I don't think that the physical way that a story is presented determines whether its a book. When I look at the book vs. ebook debate, I really just see a debate over conveniences vs. inconveniences, and preferences vs. other preferences. Some people don't want to have to go to a library or a bookstore, so they would prefer to have a library in their hands, an ebook. And some, would rather hold a book, and be able to turn to any page they want, and have that more personal and physical feeling of reading a book. Even though an ebook isn't physical a book, it's still a book. It contains a story, just like a book. The difference to me is that some would prefer to read a story in a different way.

Like Joe Meno said, it doesn't matter which form the book takes on, it's always a book.

As I see that there really is no difference between the two, I would still somewhat prefer a physical book over an ebook. Like I said, it's really a battle of preferences and conveniences and inconveniences. I have to use an ebook for English because I couldn't find a copy of Brave New World. So I used my sister's ebook. I really don't like it, at least for school. It's slow, the "page" numbers are different, and I wish I could just flip to any page I wanted to, rather than having to press a button, at home it's not so terrible, I have an entire library in my hands, which is cool, but I would still prefer to have a physical book. Being the visual person that I am, I love the cover art on a physical book. While not all are great, most are beautiful, and make a bookshelf look cool and colorful. I also feel like a physical book is more personal. It may be mass produced, just like an ebook, but a physical book just seems more personal. They feel more real and human, and honestly, I find myself more protective over a physical book than I do an ebook. Physical books are always things that were passed down and kept, while an ebook has books that you rent, so it doesn't seem that important. You have to go out and make an effort to get the book, you have to really want it. With the ebook, you get things with the touch of a button. Like the internet, it all seems to be quick fix, and not as rewarding.

I refuse to panic, and I don't think that people should panic about the "future of books". I think that people are blowing the whole issue out of proportion. No matter what form a book takes, I think that reading will live on. What we really should be worrying about is if people stop writing. That would be bad.

Y I Reed.

I read because there are so many books that have had an impact on culture and society. When I read these impactful and important books, I feel as if I'm apart of this culture and I feel like I have a greater knowledge of history and context of the time that the book was written, along with context of culture itself. Novels such as Great Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye, and To Kill a Mockingbird were all novels that I loved because of the impact that they had on society. When I completed reading each of those novels, I had a reassuring feeling that I was a member of humanity and that I was apart of its culture. It's a rad feeling, because I don't think we realize it, that were all members of this, and books are one of many things that remind me of this.

I love interpreting and relating to characters when I read as well. Great Gatsby was such an incredible book to me, because it was full of so much content and symbolism, especially for a relativley short novel. The symbolism of East and West Egg, the vivid discriptions and hidden meanings found in every color that Fitzgerald uses all meant so much to me in a weird way. I loved just reading over and over again and dissecting the symbolism that he provides. The characters felt so strangley relateable: Gatsby and the way Fitzgerald used him to depict the strong and passionate yearning for something, the longing for the "green light", Nick and isolation and alienation, with a pure desire to find and know people to simply connect with. I loved it all, and I probably wouldn't be reading as much had I not read Great Gatsby. When I read, honestly just love the accomplished feeling of finishing and understanding something, and having a connection with someone elses thoughts.