Sunday Morning Book Thread - 10-15-2023 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...(primitive weed-whacker not included)

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

I recently traveled to University of Missouri-St. Louis to attend a conference there related to my field (instructional design). While there, I decided to visit their campus library, which was right next to the student center hosting the conference. Although the main library is pretty unexceptional--and also undergoing renovations--they do have a section for the St. Louis Mercantile Library, which was established in 1846 by civic leaders and philanthropists in the St. Louis region. St. Louis, of course, is known as the "Gateway to the West" and was a major port of call for river travel and railroad travel during America's westward expansion phase. The Mercantile Library houses an impressive collection of artifacts from that era, including rather large steering wheels from steamships that traveled along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.

DESECRATION THROUGH ADAPTATION

Brace yourself...

We've had some interesting posts from Ace and Joe Mannix this week that tie into a topic that I'd like to discuss--the deliberate desecration of a story through adaptation. Shad (of Shadiversity and Knights Watch YouTube channels) has been watching and reviewing individual episodes of Amazon's Wheel of Time series, adapted from Robert Jordan's best selling epic fantasy series (90,000,000+ volumes sold and counting!). I was able to make it through Season 1, but refused to watch Season 2 because of how Rafe Judkins, the show runner of the series, and his writing team handled the adaptation from book to screen. I'm glad I skipped Season 2 because it was even more atrocious than Season 1.

From Shad's epic rants--especially the two-hour-long rant embedded below--Rafe and his writers have deliberately and maliciously inverted all of the themes and morals to be found in the original series so that the opposite of what you find in the books is meant to be imprinted on the minds of the viewers. Shad has quite a bit of evidence to support his assertion, but his main point is how the character of Moiraine in the show says she is willing to kill 1,000 innocent people in order to save the life of Rand Al'Thor, the Chosen One, destined to save the world. Note that Moiraine is one of the two girl-bosses in the series. She is always right. She will never be defeated. She can take down the most powerful enemies without no help from no man (even though she has a male protector). Shad rightly points out that this is explicitly "the ends justify the means" and the writers want the viewers to take away the message this is this a good thing, rather than Marxist collectivist ideology.

Now, before you think that I'm turning this Sunday Morning Book Thread into an all-Wheel-of-Time-thread, I assure you that's not my intention. I use Wheel of Time specifically because it points to a much larger issue that we've all seen in Hollywood writing in recent years--the removal of Judaeo-Christian ideals from characters that should exemplify the highest conduct, serving as paragons of virtue for the reader/viewer. Again, using Wheel of Time as an example, there is a hugely significant scene from Book 2, The Great Hunt, where a character, Ingtar, reveals himself to be a traitor. His treachery drove most of the plot, as he struggles in vain to atone for his actions. In the end, he confesses his sins to Rand and asks him for redemption, not knowing that Rand is destined to be the savior of the world (Jesus, basically). Rand forgives Ingtar and Ingtar makes a heroic sacrifice in defense of his friends, as his final act of atonement. That scene is one of the most powerful in the entire series of books. It was omitted from Season 2, which is meant to follow the events from Book 2.

Rand is meant to be both a deconstruction and reconstruction of The Chosen One. Throughout the books we see Rand grow from a sensible, if somewhat naive, young man into a strong, capable leader and ruler, though he grows ever harder and harder towards the end until he is able to find his core values again. In the show, Rand is nothing more than a sniveling coward who is routinely dominated by all of the women he encounters, including his female "friends" from his home village. He's worthless in a fight and is incapable of standing up for his own values. In the books, he draws upon the lessons he learns from his father, his male mentors and teachers, and yes, even the women who have much to teach him. Integrating all of those lessons from both men and women into his identity as the Dragon Reborn is absolutely crucial to the plot. His final stand against the Dark One is far more spiritual and philosophical than it is physical, and he only succeeds because of his humility, which is as it should be.

All of the themes from Wheel of Time--primarily the duality of men/women and good/evil--have been removed from the show. All the evils in the world stem from men. The evil characters from the books are re-imagined to be compassionate, caring humans while the good characters are selfish nihilists who have no business trying to save the world. It's disgusting. All of the explicit heroism and decency found in the books have been removed.

As Ace pointed out in his recent post on The Exorcist: The Believer, today's writers are determined to create "requels" of existing intellectual properties in favor of their woke ideology. This new version is based on the original movie, which itself is based on a book by William Peter Blatty. In the original book, both priests put their immortal spirits and mortal bodies on the line to save a young girl possessed by a demon. One of the priests is experiencing a crisis of faith, which the demon can and does exploit. Their faith in God and Jesus Christ was put to the test, but they were able to prevail because of that faith, though it cost them their lives and possibly their sanity. I'm sure the writers of the new film believe they are very clever in inserting their woke ideology and forcing the exorcists to make a difficult choice (which is no choice at all because of how they write this dreck.) As Ace says, though, "If there is no God, what are you fighting Satan with? The power of friendship?" Yes. That's what the writers believe, as they cannot conceive of any power greater than themselves.

Last week, one of the Moron Recommendations was for Dracula by Bram Stoker (it's on my bucket list, I swear!). You had some excellent comments about how much has been lost in translation to other versions:

When I first read Dracula a few years ago, I too was surprised by how adamantly Christian it was in many places (in fact, about as crypto-Catholic as it could be in Victorian Britain).

I'm sure that has nothing to do with why the modern adaptations are so different from (and inferior to) the original.

Posted by: Dr. T at October 08, 2023 09:54 AM (m9hmt)

I love Dracula -- maybe I should re-read that in honor of October as well as the Zelazny book.

One thing which disappoints me horribly about film adaptations of Dracula is that they skip over the middle. The "Jonathan Harker in the Castle" sections are usually rendered pretty well, and Lucy in Whitby, but there's the whole procedural section in which the heroes are hunting Dracula's hidden refuges in London which would be enough for a whole season of a Netflix series.

The other thing that pisses me off is how terribly movies treat Jonathan Harker. At best he's a mutton-headed stiff (as in the older films) and modern adaptations have to make him an actual villain so that Mina can be a Strong Independent Woman and get it on with Dracula.

Because there's nothing more empowering than having sex with a corpse, I guess.

I want Book Harker, who fought his way out of a vampire-haunted castle single-handed and is stalking the King of Vampires around London with a Gurkha dagger.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 08, 2023 10:00 AM (QZxDR)

In the end, we can see that there is a deliberate attempt to destroy stories that will ultimately stand the test of time, regardless of how much they are mutilated and mangled beyond recognition by today's "storytellers." This is also being targeted toward young adults and children to reprogram them to accept unconditionally the woke, progressive ideology.

"Why is it okay to pump out trash so long as the intended market is under the age of 21 or so?"

Another example of living in upside-down land. The under-21 audience especially should get high-quality stories of bravery, selflessness, hard-work, achievement, etc as examples to learn from and emulate.

Instead we glorify madness, violence and perversion and then wonder what's wrong with kids nowadays....

Posted by: Anonymous Rogue in Kalifornistan at October 11, 2023 11:35 AM (3k7Yt)

Even though things look grim, we can always share the classic tales from our own youth that inspired us to become who we are today. That's why the Sunday Morning Book Thread is so important--it shows us we are not alone and that we can always find great literature to share with the people that matter most.

IT PAYS TO INCREASE YOUR FICTIONAL GEOGRAPHY

Stormspike -- In the frozen north of the lands of Osten Ard is a mountain known as "Stormspike" in the Westerling tongue, "Sturmrspeik" by its Rimmersgarder neighbors, and "Nakkiga" by the ancient race of Fair Folk who have called it home since long before men entered these lands. It's ruled by Utuk'ku, the Queen of the Silver Mask, who is the heart and soul of her people. They live and die at her whim, glad only that their death has meaning in Utuk'ku's mad plans to dominate the world and rid it of those pesky mortals who drove the Fair Folk from their homes in Osten Ard.

Pico Mundo -- Located on the outskirts of the Mojave Desert in California, this small town in the home of Odd Thomas, a short order cook who can see the dead, though they never speak. He doesn't know why. But they can communicate somehow and Odd Thomas uses his gifts to bring the spirits of the dead their final rest. Also, he hangs out with the ghost of Elvis (yes, THAT Elvis) who is still clinging to this world. The town itself seems to be a weirdness magnet of sorts, like Sunnydale from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I suppose, though I don't know if a Hellmouth is involved.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

Did somebody recommend The Ninth Metal by Benjamin Percy? If so, thanks. Fun read.

It's a cosmic horror/crime/SF story about the aftermath of Earth passing through a comet's debris trail and being bombarded by meteorites. Some of them contained a new metal dubbed "omnimetal", which has unusual properties. A tiny mining and lumber town in northern Minnesota is chock full of the stuff and is being transformed by all the money (and industry and crime) flooding in.

Percy describes a protest by the usual NPR crowd and eco-warriors (in the shadow of a forty-foot Paul Bunyan statue):

"This has been standard in Northfall since he was a kid. The region is defined by protest. That's what happens when you live in a place remarkable for its in-betweenness; the extremes yank it in opposite directions. Was it the crown of the United States or the ass of Canada?"

There are a lot of unsavory elements establishing themselves here, including a top secret DoD research facility where a child is being held captive as a test subject for cruel experiments.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 08, 2023 09:18 AM (Fannw)

Comment: Isn't this how Wakanda ended up with "vibranium" in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? This story also seems to contain elements from Stranger Things with the description of the top-secret government lab experimenting on children.

Finished The Law of Self Defense: The Indispensable Guide for the Armed Citizen by Andrew Branca. This is the hardback signed copy the author provided to the Horde at a discount. Clear and lucid, it flows easily.

The take home messages are: Protect your life and those close to you. Strangers are on their own. Do not protect strangers. Don't protect property.

Calling 911, give name and location, and three phrases:
I was attacked. I was in fear of my life. I had to defend myself. Request medicinal help, if needed.

When police arrive: Identify yourself. The same three phrases. Identify evidence that helps you, and witnesses.

At the police station: "I assert my right to silence. I assert my right to counsel." Then shut up until you have a lawyer present.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at October 08, 2023 09:44 AM (u82oZ)

Comment: Johnny Law is not on your side these days, if he ever was. The cops where I live are pretty decent folks for the most part, but I do tend to keep a bit of a wary eye on them when they are nearby. It's sad that we can no longer be allowed to protect our neighbors and property without running a risk of going to jail ourselves.

In the current week of putting off Anna Karenina and Bleak House, I read A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand. It's set in Hill House (yep, THAT Hill House), and while it ain't Shirley Jackson -- what is? -- it's not a bad read and there are some nicely creepy moments to it. Jackson's estate was on board with Hand doing the book, and while I think some of the blurbs on its Amazon page are just a tad extreme, it's a good one. A nice Halloween season read.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 08, 2023 10:00 AM (a/4+U)

Comment: Sometimes it's fun to read an "authorized" sequel to a story, as long as the authors are respectful of the original tale and maintain the spirit of the original author's writing style. Not that long ago I read an "authorized" sequel to H. G. Wells' The Time Machine written by Stephen Baxter called The Time Ships. In this re-imagining, the Time Traveller from the first story goes on another trip through time and space, eventually going to the end of the universe and coming out the other side. It's Stephen Baxter so the ending is pretty far out there...

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (1000+ Moron-recommended books!)

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

• The Last King of Osten Ard Book 3 - Into the Narrowdark by Tad Williams -- This is really the first half of the last volume, but Tad is incapable of writing trilogies, so the last book is often split into two volumes.
• Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz - This was recommended last week, and several folks had positive things to say about Koontz. I'm giving it a try because it was available for checkout from the library in which I work (but do not work for). Not bad.

That's about all I have for this week. Thank you for all of your kind words regarding the Sunday Morning Book Thread. This is a very special place. You are very special people (in all the best ways!). The kindness, generosity, and wisdom of the Moron Horde knows no bounds. Let's keep reading!

If you have any suggestions for improvement, reading recommendations, or discussion topics that you'd like to see on the Sunday Morning Book Thread, you can send them to perfessor dot squirrel at-sign gmail dot com. Your feedback is always appreciated! You can also take a virtual tour of OUR library at libib.com/u/perfessorsquirrel. Since I added sections for AoSHQ, I now consider it OUR library, rather than my own personal fiefdom...

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