It has been a looong while since I wrote a blog. Of course it was surprising that was able to move my fingers across the keyboard to write three entries in my blog. I have this habit of watching a movie and then read in detail about the film on Wikipedia (wiki for everything!!!). I don’t know if it is true for everyone, but for me even after I watch the movie, I have this kind of satisfaction when I read the plot of the movie. After I finish reading a good book and find out that there’s a movie adaption of it, I feel excited to watch the movie. After the movie is over, I keep comparing the movie and the book and end up being extremely irritated because, the movie is so different from the book. Someone told me to forget the book when watch the film. “Watch the movie as just another movie and not the adaption of the book” was the advice given to me. After a while I came to terms with the disappointment, but still I held a small amount of resentment. I could just stop watching such films of course, but I guess I have a very subtle amount of masochism. Oh well!
I like to read books but only fiction. Not a big fan non-fiction (I have never read a single one actually), so you could say I am kind of a picky reader (meaning: I like the idea that I read books than actually read them). So, I was watching some movie and then I ended up coming across article (on wiki of course) on the movie “Angels and Demons”. I suppose anyone with decent reading habits would know about the book. If not that book, at least its sequel “The Da Vinci Code” (I never saw the movie adaption of either books, I am growing up). I ended up reading Da Vinci Code because everyone in my class was talking about it. When I read it, I was amazed at how good the book was. Once I found that the author had written three other books, I had to read the other books and I somehow accomplished it. After reading his other books, I was so disappointed that the glow of satisfaction I felt for Da Vinci Code waned completely. Now I wonder how the book became a best seller! All the four books have such similar styles that it became completely predictable (especially when you read one book after the other and the plot of each book is fresh in the mind). Protagonist having a phobia which they have to overcome at least once during the adventure, one of the very enjoyable and good and trusted characters in the book ends being the antagonist, the protagonists go through so much action, suspense, mystery and all for nothing absolutely nothing. You read some 300 pages for nothing. Well some would call it plot twist or something which becomes tedious when found in each book by the same author. Da Vinci Code was a huge success, Dan Brown was a huge success, movie was a huge success (I think, I am not sure and didn’t have the energy to find out). But all the success for a completely useless story (in my opinion please don’t kill me if you are Dan Brown fan). What’s more the author claimed that all the historical events found in Da Vince Code were true initially. But, they are in fact inaccurate. Makes it seem like every Tom, Dick and Harry could write a book if not much research is needed! I never realized the necessity of research until I read some Historical books. After finding out about the controversies and the amount of pains authors go through to write a book, my disdain for the books by the author grew. What adds salt the wound is the fact that, it is a best seller (cries continuously).
Another one of such books is the Harry Potter series. Of course when it comes to Harry Potter books, I guess I am just too old for the books. I am not sure how I would have handled the books if I had read it when I was in my early teen years (that doesn’t mean I am too old I was in the late late stages of teen years at the time when I first read the books). When it comes to Harry Potter books though, it was the other way around. I saw the movie before I read the books. If I hadn’t watched the movie which happened to be a complete accident, I would have never known about Harry Potter books. I wasn’t impressed with the movie in the first place but I still read the book because my cousins had got it and I didn’t have anything better to do during the vacation (of course I had to read it just to find out what was so great about the series). Again I found similarities in each of the books. Harry and Ron just stumble on something, Hermione keeps telling them to stick to the rules but helps them in their activities anyway, during the final battle Hermione and Ron each complete a stage, Harry does the final battle and oh the final scene between Dumbledore and Harry in hospital bed when he explains everything in the end but wouldn’t do anything even though he knows what’s going on and stuff and starting from the fourth book unexpectedly kill a vital character (or maybe the third I don’t remember). But then again the books were a massive success that managed to change J.K. Rowling literally from pauper to one of the wealthiest females. Even now I keep wondering if the reason I hate the books is because I am too old for it or if I would hate it anyway no matter how old I was. My friend, who is actually around my age, liked the books so much that she needed a personal copy of each book despite having read all of them. I was so surprised when she bought the books (since for me, buying fiction books is a big no especially when I have read it. I always read books that I can borrow from a library or someone). Another friend of mine was also impressed by the amount of imagination in the book. But for me I had read books that were more imaginative and impressive. So, I came to the conclusion that I’d have hated the book if I was young or old (the reason behind this conclusion is I refuse to admit that I would ever like the book). I did like the third book though. That book was good enough for me that the movie was a big disappointment.
After reading some more of these best sellers and popular books which I felt were complete waste of time, I came to the conclusion that contemporary popular books should be avoided at all costs and should be read only when they reach the classic status when it might be a good read. I would be either too senile or too blind or too tired or too dead when that happens. Or I should just stick to already classic books or less known authors who actually write some good fiction. If I do that my dose of rants will lessen, which by no means can I stop. God save us masochists (ahem masochism still on the very very very subtle side)!
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