Half-read

"A half-read book is a half-finished love affair," states Robert Frobisher.

I couldn't agree more.

I'm midway through, and I can't wait to finish this love affair.

Happy reading,
Kaley

The verdict is in.

Cloud Atlas premiered at midnight, and it has received very mixed reviews...

Picture from www.ew.com.

"Hugely ambitious and hugely entertaining, one of the most fun and most provocative films of the year." -MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filospher

Picture from www.heyuguys.co.uk.

"Maybe if you're 20 years old and high in your dorm room with your friends, the platitudes presented here might seem profound. Anyone else in his or her right mind should recognize it for what it is: a bloated, pseudo-intellectual, self-indulgent slog through some notions that are really rather facile." -Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic

Picture from www.slate.com.

"The film is indeed a powerful and engaging piece of filmmaking, once again proving that the Wachowskis (along with Tom Tykwer) are among the most ambitious new-wave filmmakers to emerge out of the late-'90s new wave." -Scott Mendelson, Huffington Post

Picture from blogs.indiewire.com.

"Finally, what sinks Cloud Atlas is not the largeness of its ambitions but the lack of skill it displays in terms of writing, directing and acting. Earthbound when it wants to be soaring, striving for a kind of profundity that is out of its grasp, this is simply not the film everyone hoped it would be." -Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

I'm about halfway through the book. (I told you this is that kind of book club.) I'm hoping to finish it by next week and still looking forward to seeing the movie. We have to form our own opinions, right?

Happy reading,
Kaley

Robert Frobisher, a homosexual?

Not that it matters. I'm just a little confused. Is Robert Frobisher a homosexual? bisexual?

Picture from julianstark-moviesandotherthings.blogspot.com

By now, you should be through with the second part of the book: Letters from Zedelghem. Within it, there are some homosexual undertones.

*SPOILER ALERT* If you haven't managed to turn those pages (or in my case, tap that finger) fast enough. Do not read on!

We know that Frobisher is indulging in a summer fling with a women. He writes, "Summer has taken a sensuous turn: Ayrs's wife and I are lovers." In other words, he's sleeping with the boss' wife.

But later on he goes into town to make a book deal with a man named Jansch who he describes as a "warty old Shylock [that] looks more repulsive every time I clap eyes on him." He's not attracted to the man. But then he goes on to write, "Business over, he sighed, claimed I'd beggared him, smiled that smile, and put his hairy paw on my knee." The first indication of something weird. "Said it was books I'd come to sell." Wasn't interested in his obviously known advances. "He asked why let business preclude pleasure?" Pleasure huh? "Surely a young buck abroad could find a use for a little pocket money?" What the what!? Like a prostitute!? "Left Jansch asleep an hour later and his wallet starved." Clearly he went through with the offer.

Later on, he is complaining about his mistress and writes, "Why is it I never met a boy I couldn't twist round my finger (not only my finger) but the women of Zedelghem seem to best me every time?" Okay, either I have a dirty mind or he is seriously homosexual.

What do you think?

Happy reading,
Kaley

Get excited!

If you haven't started reading the book yet,
 please allow me to intrigue you...

I'm excited!

Happy reading,
Kaley

Haki-haki, pakeha, tapu

The book opens with entries from The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing. The key word here is Pacific. 

He is in the country of New Zealand and uses lots of Maori terms that can be impossible for most people to understand. 

Thank goodness for my Kindle app and my very-well trained index finger. Not to mention, the two and a half years I spent studying South Pacific culture. 

What was that? Oh, you want me to help you out. Well, let me see what I can do...

Ponga-tree ferns or tree fern logs

Haki-haki-smallpox

Maori-a member of the aboriginal people of New Zealand

Pakeha-a white New Zealander, as opposed to a Maori

Moriori-indigenous people of the Chatham Islands (east of the NZ archipelago)

Rekohu-the main island of the Chatham Islands; literally meaning misty skies

Paua-a large edible mollusk

Tapu-sacredness

Tui-a large NZ honeyeater with glossy blackish plumage and two white tufts at the throat

Aotearoa-the Maori name for NZ; literally meaning land of the long white cloud

Don't get discouraged. I'm on page 50, and I can promise you it gets better. 

Happy reading,
Kaley

Chapter 1

I love movies, and I love books. 

But there is one thing that I love more... 

reading a book and then watching the movie.

What better way to celebrate that than 

to create a new kind of book club? 

One for movie lovers too.

You have 17 days. Good luck!

Happy reading,

Kaley & B.Z.