The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Coraline, was my first encounter with Neil Gaiman as a child, the powerful imagery that was created within the story, the plot and just over all the general writing style used slipped under the radar. So reading "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" was quite and enjoyable experience for myself. 

Taking these factors into account really gave me a second chance to read his work for what it was, to understand what was going on within the story, as well as to see some of the literarily risks he took while writing. 

He possesses the ability to capture you typical "myth" and create a world around it like no other. You are forced to continue to read what you start because of the way he hooks you with his words. 

I feel like Neil Gaiman work, was something that makes this class complete, his work, most certainly contains all that fantasy is, even just by looking at how Coraline translated to a movie, was in my opinion executed as well as it was because of the imagery you could take away from the writing. 

Night Circus

My entire life, I grew up around the Circus, the people, lifestyle and mystery have always intrigued me almost more that anything else in the world. Before this class I had actually gone out and bought the book "Night Circus" as a personal read.
"Night Circus" being similar to "Harry Potter" having the magic aspect, as well as being in the set in the 20th century was enough to instantly hook me, the dark alluring discriptions Erin Morgenstern created were breath taking, I knew exactly what it looked like whenever Prospero the Enchanter, was doing his illusions, I could place myself within the Circus and the lives of the cast. 
Not to mention every girls favorite type of story the love story, which is a huge factor into making this book successful so far. 
Now I have no gotten very far within this book, simply because I would really like to take my time and enjoy it. This might be my favorite book we have looked at this semester. 

The Hobbit

Normally, I would honestly have to say I would stay away from reading "The Hobbit" or similar literature.  But since it was required reading for this class, I decided to go ahead and give it a try.
Biblo the main Hobbit in the story, like many others finds this gold ring is the all powerful, when you possess it you become invisible.
Now it seems a little silly,yes but as I read more into the story, it was completely evident that this was  their God, and how these Hobbits felt about the ring is similar to how Catholics feel about God.
Now this completely intrigued me, because I was raised Roman Catholic and was taught God was all powerful, for reasons that some choose to believe while others do not. I always questioned wether or not my Religion was always completely correct or not. Reading something about a culture, of some sort real or make believe, so devout to one being or object, made me want to  continue reading because the idea of having something that one could believe in, and feel so strongly about they truly believe with all of their being that this powerful object is so important to a community.
Although I still feel that "Hobbits" are silly creatures, the message I took away from this read was most certainly appreciated.

Witches

As far back as I can remember, the idea of "Witches" fascinated me, there was such an allure about them, dark powerful women, who could cast a spell on you, for love, death, good and bad. It was as if I  wanted to become one, subconsciously for the power I felt as if they held.
Witches, in my opinion have always been the female equals, if not almost the more powerful female to the male, so it was interesting to me to hear a class discussion about the "gender" struggle between witches and wizards, and the "inequality" factor there is.
Ironically enough I read "Equal Rites"for class,  Esk, a young girl, it thrown into the position of becoming the new "Wizard", because Drum Billet, is soon going to die and has waited to long to find his male replacement. Also because the new born child was actually supposed to be a boy, but was apparently a girl.
The story is the struggle and rise of Esk, becoming and accepting her new given powers, and title. Though I thought the book was well written and I did in-fact enjoy reading this story, the discussions had in class left me wondering, as if all these "Witches", I once thought was so powerful, was actually all women fighting to over come their male "successors", or am I just at a place within life, and within this class is it actually is more of just a personal type of opinion deal. Granted yes "Equal Rites" was actually written for that purpose, if possibly I may have had a better overall feeling and outcome, with this read if I had gotten through the entire book with out a more biased class opinion.
With that said, I still personally find "Witches" to be powerful women roles, created to show and empower females, with the sense of being equal. strong, independent humans that have the ability to control their lives.

Archetypes of Women

A huge favorite in many movies types from, drama to fantasy has always been the simple plot, man saves the girl. You know, the pretty girl is captured, or in some sort of danger and the strong male heroine comes in and saves the day. Very rarely do we see something where the woman saves the day. 

From early on black and white films, to current horror movies we see in theaters today, the female 9 out of 10 times is the victim and needs assistance. 

Even in children's cartoons we had the typical archetype female, for example we have Scooby Doo, the beautiful Daphne need Fred to save her at most costs, granted we have the strong intelligent Daisy who tends to be one step ahead of even the boys. The show, and movie are a great example of not only the typical female archetype, but also that of the newer "stronger" woman, who does not always need the male figure to come in and save her. 

Even in books such as Twilight, we have Bella who just cant seem to keep herself out of all sorts of danger. She has the two strong male figures Edward, and Jacob who continue to fight for her and save her, what seems like day after day. Bella is your typical helpless girl, she can surly put herself in all sorts of danger, but can never see to get out alone. 

The Classical plot of boy saves girl, is a timeless tradition something readers and movie watchers for years to come will all forever find themeless getting completely wrapped up in.

The New Weird

What is "Weird" and why as humans are we completely obsessed with it. I feel like its a way for us to live out our secret fears and thoughts we wouldn't necessarily want to share otherwise. Horror movies, a perfect way for people to let out their inner weird, think about it like this, what other time aside from Halloween do we have to really tap into are inner darkness.
For generations we have been using the horror genre to let go of what we know of reality and embrace that which is not normal, from movies like "The Exorcist" to "Cabin in the Woods", we get to watch people doing everyday things, living everyday life suddenly have their worlds turned upside down. Ghosts, zombies, vampires, demons appear in their lives and completely alter everything that is normal. It is a way for us to live our nightmares,fantasies,day dreams whatever.
Today with the technologies we have to really enhance our experiences, the future of "weird" is going to push the boundaries in the future, make the ghosts more ghost like, the possessed seem more legitimate, I think we are going to keep out typical plot lines and darker style, but i think we are going to continue to twist weird, find new ways to make everything more life like, as if it really is something that could happen to anyone of us tomorrow. We want to see weird as if it was our own, the more real it becomes the more we will be drawn to it.

Interview With a Vampire

"Interview With a Vampire", is line no vampire story I have ever read before, this is not your typical horror story, where the vampire sucks your blood and you die, or the recently more common theme of romantically beautiful ones thats sparkle.
This is the story, of what it is like to be in the heads of essentially three different vampires. Lestat, the elder, responsible for turning both Louis, and Claudia into the beasts they will eternally be. Lestat, a blood thirsty beast has no remorse for killing mortals, his thirst for human blood over powers all other. We also have Louis, the main character who after feeling like he has nothing to live for in his human for, he is turned by the one and only Lestat. Unlike Lestat, Louis is not much for sucking the blood out of humans for pleasure. He has morals and regrets, he has compassion for the humans, and has completely conflicting emotions on being a vampire.
Lastly, we have Caludia, also changed by Lestat, at the amazingly young age of five. Her purpose was to be a companion/ family for Louis so he would not be alone. Her dilemma is that, vampires can mature mentally, but not physically. Claudia is trapped in a five year olds body for the rest of eternity.
Now, I must admit I am both a fan of classic vampire stories, as well as Twilight, after all I was a young teenage girl when they first came out, but the plot to this book definitely kept my attention. I liked how the book switched between first and third person, it kept you in a place where you had no choice but to read on. The emotion Ann Rice conveyed in this book, makes it almost as if these, blood sucking creatures could be real. It makes you love and hate them all in one.