Books that Matter: The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Books that Matter

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux was the first book by a French novelist that I finished. I remember reading this book the summer before starting my freshman year of high school and loving it. I hadn’t seen the musical, I wasn’t familiar with the story at all (apart from an episode of Wishbone I may have seen six or seven years before).

Leroux’s tale captivated me. The story of a disfigured, mad genius living under the Paris Opera House…just the sort of exciting, nailbiting stuff I loved to read (I haven’t read the book in five or so years, but I read it pretty frequently my junior year of high school). It was suspenseful. It got me thinking, wanting to write stories of my own. I wanted to know more about Erik, Christine, Raoul…I found them to have an interesting dynamic. Love triangle and all that.

Most of all, I liked the style that Leroux wrote the story in (or more correctly, the style it was translated in). My copy was almost journalistic, before it switched to a more traditional story. And I liked the opening, with the narrator finding the gold ring beneath the Opera House. The style worked brilliantly for keeping me on the edge of my seat, even with later readings.

I need to get my copy back. It’s been too long.

Books that Matter: Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian

Books that Matter

Where would this list be without at least one mention of Patrick O’Brian? For a long time, I considered O’Brian to be my favorite author. Growing up, his name was one that I knew as well as Dr Seuss. For as long as I can remember, my father read O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series. I came to recognize the titles, the author, and the book covers painted by Geoff Hunt.

When O’Brian died in 2000, I remember reading the article in the paper and being a bit sad myself. I grew up around his books, even if I hadn’t read any at the time. I knew that there wouldn’t be any more of his books coming into the house.

As with The Lord of the Rings, I was motivated to read O’Brian’s books because of the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (even as a die-hard LotR fan, I still think this movie should have won best picture).  But let me return to the subject at hand before I lapse into a Hug0-esque digression.

2003. My father and I went to the movies (as no one else would join him to see the film). I went it expecting to be entertained for a few hours. What I emerged with was an obsession with the Napoleonic era, and with a need to read all of O’Brian’s works. I still haven’t accomplished this, but I have read the entirety of the Aubrey-Maturin series.

Already a fan of historical fiction, this series prompted my first serious attempts at writing historical fiction. My own stories, as impeccably researched as a high school student in suburban New England could manage, focused on, naturally, the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars. I had a great time writing these stories, and one day would love to revisit them. One of them in particular is a favorite of mine.

Not only inspiring me to write historical fiction, O’Brian’s books really inspired me to focus on the personal relationships, regardless of the genre. People are the driving force, their friendships, interests, loves. Character, to me, drives the story–at least in my own work. The friendship between Jack and Stephen is marvelous. It adapts, changes, strengthens through the series.

Plus, the books are just awesome. They are funny, action packed, suspenseful, emotional. What more could I want in a book series?

Lost: A Few Impressions

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

Well. Due to my overseas adventures last year, I missed the final season of Lost as it aired. My friends and I sat down and watched it, finishing the other night.

I wasn’t disappointed by the ending. Sure, they left some things fall by the wayside (such as why Claire could be the only one to raise Aaron, among other things), but ultimately, I was pleased with the ending. I wasn’t expecting a “Fall Out” style mayhem fest–in fact, I would have been sorely disappointed if it came to that. Fortunately, it didn’t.

I came to the end expecting nothing but to be entertained, which I was, so that’s what matters.

I’ve always watched Lost for the characters rather than the sci-fi elements. The human drama has always been the reason why I return; the sci-fi is a nice bonus. As such, the character heavy, ‘we all go off together’ thing worked for me.

I guess what it comes down to is that it isn’t the adventures that we get into, the briers we’re entangled with–its the people we meet, the friends we make, those people who have our backs regardless. It’s our support net, the people who we carry in our hearts, if not actually by our sides.

That’s ultimately what Lost came down to: a story about a group of people who formed a deep bond that ends up being the most important aspect of their lives. It doesn’t matter that Jack is a doctor or that Hurley won the lottery. What matters is the friendship that the Losties formed.

Books that Matter: The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

Books that Matter

I remember the day I started The Fellowship of the Rings. I was thirteen years old, in the seventh grade. It was mid-December, just before winter break. The first Lord of the Rings movie had just been released, and my family planned on going to see it on Christmas Even.

I had just over a week to read it. I finished The Hobbit the day before. I couldn’t wait to start.

My Language Arts teacher lent me the book. That afternoon, I started to read. The book was dense, but I devoured every word. I finished on December 23, 2001. For Christmas that year, my parents gave me the trilogy. Those copies are dog-eared now, the covers ripped and peeling, the pages still in tact (somehow). I am not certain how many times I read them, but the number is probably close to 20.

The stories captivated me. They entranced me. The elves, the hobbits, the orcs and the men of the West. Gollum. Gandalf. After many readings, my favorite characters have changed. These days, I am very fond of Faramir and Eomer, and Eowyn as well. I will always be fond of Sam as well.

The Lord of the Rings inspired my writing. I discovered it about the time when I determined that I could write novels if I really wanted to. Naturally, my first attempts were blatant rip-offs as I attempted world building, but I soon realized that I could take inspiration from the world. Already a mythology nut, I delved deeper into the Nordic, Irish and Welsh stories, learning and reading.

I also realized, importantly, that making up a language is tough. It wasn’t just random words thrown together. There needed to be continuity, traceable roots, rules, etc. You can’t just chuck vowels together and call it a day. At this time, I also began learning German, followed by Spanish. Seeing how these languages worked gave me great respect for Tolkien’s linguistic capabilities; I’ve resolved to stay away from creating my own languages.

It’s been years since I have read the trilogy, must be senior year of high school. The stories, the characters, stay with me fondly. I look forward to reading them again some day, to bask in the epicness of it all.

Revisiting Old Stories

General Geekiness

I was poking about on my hard drive today when I discovered some stories written through the years. Some of them I wrote over four years ago; its enjoyable to look back and see what I was thinking about then. I reread one of my favorites from that era, a story about super heroes and villains who, apart from being superpowered, are normal folks. I still like my plot and the idea, but I could do a lot with the writing. It has been four years, and I have improved.

The other story is the one that was giving me so much trouble last year. All I could remember from it was that a) I hated the protagonist, b) it is set somewhere in Italy and c) it’s a bit obvious that I adore The Prisoner.  And while I still hate the protagonist (funny, because in rereading I see myself in him. Not a great deal, but enough), I still think the story has potential. I am quite enamoured with the setting and with the basic premise. I had some good descriptions.

I need to revisit the first story, rewrite it so its cleaner, more epic and awesome in scope. I had a pretty decent world built up, I’d like to explore it more.

For the second story, I need to work on defining the main character, the primary antagonist, and the plot. Once I have these elements figured out, I should be able to press forward.

Looks like I’ll have some creative writing projects this summer. Hurrah!

English Major Nerdiness Ahead (consider yourself warned).

General Geekiness

Hipster Beauty & the Beast

This kind of sums up my life at the moment (actually, for the year). But let’s substitute “Foucault” for “Kenneth Burke”. Alas, he is an American theorist, not a French dude. Still, love it.

Some days I wonder why I just didn’t read Foucault for my paper. And then other days, my brain thanks me. And thanks me even more for not reading Derrida. Because I am zombified after Derrida. Burke’s pretty straight forward for a theorist. And I like him for that.

More thesis updates: the paper has been titled. My final draft is due Friday. It will be excellent.