Goodreads: Pros and Cons

I was going to write quite a different post today, but I got sidetracked and went down an Internet rabbit hole, ending up on goodreads.com. And it occurred to me that after using Goodreads since about 2014, I have a number of opinions on it...both good and bad.

Pros

• Goodreads lets you track which books you've read when. This is by far my favorite feature of the website.  Especially when I'm reading a long series of books, I tend to forget which ones I've read. I can't remember whether or not I've read Carry On, Jeeves because I'm getting it confused with Thank you, Jeeves. Goodreads gives me a place to keep track of all that. 
• Goodreads lets you see what your friends are reading. This is very helpful when your friends have similar taste in books. I've discovered so many good books by seeing them on friends' Goodreads updates!
• Goodreads lets you review books easily.  There's a 5-star rating system for those who just want to give a quick impression of whether they liked or disliked the book. (Usually I fall into that category.) But you can also leave as detailed a review as you'd like. When I absolutely love a book and want all my friends to read it, or when I detest a book and want to warn everyone against it, I'm likely to take some time and write a review.
• Goodreads numbers books in order within a series. I hate reading books in a series out of order, so I like this feature a lot!
• Goodreads lets you set your own reading challenge. This is another one of those things that you could do on your own with pencil and paper, but Goodreads makes it really convenient and also tracks whether you're ahead of or behind schedule.

Cons

• Goodreads book recommendations are terrible. I don't know that I have ever read a book that Goodreads has recommended to me. None of them has ever been appealing enough for me to actually read. They say they base their recommendations off the books on people's "read" shelf; I don't know what algorithms and lists they're using to make these recommendations, but they're not working for me. The only way I find new books on Goodreads that I actually want to read is by looking at what my friends are reading.
• The Goodreads blog has an obvious leftist slant. I can't stand to read the Goodreads blog because it seems every other post is advertising books by third-and fourth-wave feminists. When it's not doing that, it's advertising books about gay marriage. 
•  Goodreads can distract people from actually reading books. If I turned all the time I spend on Goodreads into actual reading time, I would surely be farther along in my reading than I am now!

Do you use Goodreads? If so, what are your thoughts about it? Please let me know in the comments!

Movie Review: By Way Of The Stars

Recently my sister and I discovered a six-hour miniseries called By Way of the Stars, which ran from 1992 to 1993. It was produced by Kevin Sullivan, who produced the Anne of Green Gables movies and Road to Avonlea, and it features quite a few of the main actors from Road to Avonlea. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being absolutely horrible and 10 being the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice), I would give this movie a 9. Or possibly a 9.5.

The story centers around a boy named Lukas (Zachary Bennett) in 1800's Prussia.  Everything is going well for Lukas until he sees evil Count Otto von Lebrecht (Hannes Jaenicke) murder a man...and Otto realizes Lukas has seen the murder!  In no time Otto frames Lukas's father for stealing and has him clapped in prison. He intends to murder Lukas as well.

Lukas has a plan: to get himself and his father to Canada and far away from Otto.  With the help of a family friend, he helps his father get free from prison.  But the father and son get separated.  Lukas starts off for Canada by himself.  But soon he has a traveling companion--Ursula von Knabig (Gema Zamprogna), Otto's teenage niece, who now knows about the murder and is running away from her uncle.

Lukas and Ursula's trip is filled with dangers...hungry bears, con artists, river rapids, warring Indian tribes, and the indefatigable Otto, to name just a few.  But it's also filled with good moments.  They meet kind people on a wagon train who help them.  Ursula meets a young surveyor named Ben Davis (Michael Mahonen), and a romance begins between the two young people.  Lukas meets a young Cree brave, Black Thunder (Eric Schweig) who is impressed by his courage and wants to help him find his father.  And that's what Lukas wants more than anything in the whole world.

A lot of this movie rides on the acting skills of Zachary Bennett, who plays Lukas.  If he hadn't been so good at his role, the whole story would have flopped.  Lukas has to be mischievous, brave, stubborn, heartbroken, terrified, generous, and overjoyed, and all of these things have to be convincing.  They are convincing.  Lukas makes the watcher care about him and what happens to him and his father.  I cried when Lukas cried and rejoiced with him when he was happy.

The supporting characters in this movie are great, as well.  Lukas's father Karl (Christian Kohlund), a hot-tempered artist with a fierce love for his son and a passion for justice, is a complex character who goes through a lot of growth throughout the story.  Count Otto, so outwardly charming and friendly to those who don't know his dark secret, is a well-done villain.  (I nearly howled every time he appeared again just a couple steps behind Lukas and Ursula.) Ursula is a great sidekick for Lukas, being spunky and determined, and her romance with Ben is adorable.  (I'll admit, it makes me happy that her name is Ursula.  I don't see characters with my name very often.)  There are many other great characters...Lukas's grumpy grandfather, Ursula's saintly mother, the wagon train leader and his wife, the priest at Fort Garry, and a kidnapped girl named White Feather, to name just a few.

One of the things I always look for when I watch a movie is the costuming, and this movie didn't disappoint me!  The costumes of the Prussian nobility and the Prussian lower class look good (I haven't done research to see if they're authentic to the time period, but they could be.)  Lukas's outfits are especially good as he goes from blacksmith's apprentice to horse trainer to boy on a wagon train.  The children's clothes get gradually raggier and dirtier, just enough to be realistic, the more they travel.

The musical score for this movie, done by John Welsman, is also gorgeous. So is the scenery, especially the Western scenery.  I'm not sure if it was really all shot in the wilderness (the only filming location I can find listed is Uxbridge, Ontario), but it looks like it.

Because I like putting faces to names, here are a few pictures of the main characters in By Way of the Stars. 

Lukas (Zachary Bennett)

  

Lukas has a big heart and great courage.  He loves animals, especially horses.  He's always finding himself in trouble!  You may recognize the actor as Felix from Road to Avonlea.

Count Otto von Lebrecht (Hannes Jaenicke)

  

Otto is pure evil...but unfortunately most of the people close to him don't know it!  He's determined to catch Lukas and kill him so Lukas can't tell anybody about the murder he witnessed.

Ursula von Knabig (Gema Zamprogna)

  

Proud of her position as a count's daughter, Ursula starts out as a stuck-up, spoiled girl.  But traveling across the wild West, she comes to see that true worth doesn't come from someone's rank in life; it comes from the way they act.  You may recognize the actress playing Ursula as Felicity from Road to Avonlea.

Karl Bienmann

Lukas's father is an artist, a dreamer, and a fighter for justice.  He goes to the New World to escape Otto and then goes on a long journey to find his missing son.  On the way, he struggles to understand the attitudes of the people in the United States about race following the Civil War.

Ben Davis (Michael Mahonen)

Ben is a young surveyor traveling west.  He's kind, honest, and sacrificial.  He has also fallen head over heels for Ursula von Knabig.  You may recognize the actor playing Ben as Gus Pike from Road to Avonlea.

Francoise (Tantoo Cardinal)

 

 Francoise is the kindly wagon train leader's wife.  She gives out good advice right and left!

Black Thunder (Eric Schweig)

Black Thunder initially distrusts Lukas, but ends up respecting him deeply for his courage.  He works hard to help Lukas and his father find each other.

In summary: This is an exciting, heartwarming movie with great acting and beautiful costumes, music, and scenery.  I recommend it highly!

A note: If you watch this, make sure you get the 6-hour version.  There's an abridged version out there that has been cut down to two hours and leaves out most of the story.  You can find the full version available to rent or buy on Gazebo TV through Sullivan Entertainment's website.  (You can buy a physical DVD from them too, but since the company is in Canada it's pretty expensive for them to ship to the US.)

If you've seen this movie, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

 

My Favorite Short Story Collections

As much as I love reading novels, I also really enjoy short stories.  They're especially good when you don't know what to read and don't want to commit to a lengthy work.  Here are a few of my favorite short story collections.  I'd love to hear your favorites in the comments!

The Complete Works of O. Henry

O. Henry's short stories speak eloquently of the pains and joys of the human experience.  His characters deal with familiar themes--love, poverty, misunderstanding, and so forth.  The settings for the stories vary; O. Henry's characters may live in the middle of bustling New York City or the vast plains of the West.  His writing style is humorous with a touch of pathos.  A couple of my favorite O. Henry stories are "The Ransom of Red Chief" (a classic) and "Madam Bo-Peep, Of the Ranches." 

End of the Drive by Louis L'Amour

If you like Westerns, you should try Louis L'Amour's short stories.  He wrote a lot of them, and I haven't been able to read many of his collections yet, but one that I really like is End of the Drive.  It contains seven fantastic short stories and one novella, "Rustler Roundup."  In L'Amour's stories, brave men and women of the Wild West face incredible odds from outlaws, rich men running towns, corrupt judges, and the like.  The suspense in the stories is enough to keep you on the edge of your seat, but at the same time you can read with the comfortable knowledge that in a L'Amour story good will always triumph over evil in the end.

The Complete Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton

I've mentioned these stories before on this blog in my post about fictional detectives.  They're not just mysteries; they're also studies in character.  Father Brown, the hero of the stories, understands human nature through shepherding the people of his parish.  He can solve crimes because he understands the motivations behind the criminals' actions.  The stories are often scary, usually humorous, and full of Catholic wisdom.  Some of my favorites are "The Blue Cross," "The Queer Feet," and "The Flying Stars."

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

 

 

It may be cheating to put this book on here, because All Creatures Great and Small has an ongoing storyline as well as individual stories.  But in general it behaves like a short story collection, so I'm putting it in this list.  Herriot's tales of his life as a veterinarian in the Yorkshire Dales of England are exciting, entertaining, and heartwarming.  (One warning: he does talk about animal diseases and operations in a lot of detail, so if that bothers you you probably don't want to read this book!) If you like this book, you'll enjoy its sequels: All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, The Lord God Made Them All, and Every Living Thing.

Lord Peter by Dorothy L. Sayers

 

 

Usually Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries run to hundreds of pages.  This book is the one exception.  Lord Peter's cleverness and wit shine through every one of these short mysteries, which range from mysterious hieroglyphics on tile floors to little boys accused of stealing peaches to murders.  (I just bought this book at a used bookstore a couple weeks ago and can hardly wait to start re-reading it!)

 

 

Why I Love Inter-Library Loan

First of all, I'm sorry for this post being a day late.  Library work and a lot of driving yesterday left me with no time to write blog posts!

I've always loved libraries, ever since I was little.  Starting when I was about five, my parents would take me to the library and keep an eye on me in the children's section while I looked at books.  I would find some great books--(and, admittedly, some duds)--to check out, and for the next day or so it would be nearly impossible for my parents to drag me away from the books to do school or chores.
I suppose my parents must have curated my book selections to some extent, since this was the late 90's and there was plenty of garbage in the children's literature section along with the good books. But the whole experience left me with a deep-seated appreciation for libraries which continued through grade school, high school, and college. 

The only thing that always frustrated me was the limited number of books in any given library.  I wanted more Edith Nesbit books?  Too bad.  I was interested in G.K. Chesterton?  Good luck finding even one book by him in the public library.  Then I discovered inter-library loan and all that changed.

I'm not sure how it works in all the US states, but in Michigan, using a service called MeLCat (Michigan eLibrary Catalog), it's possible to get books from all over the state.  You just have to have a library card from a participating library.  Instead of being limited to the books in your local library, you can now find almost any book you want.  (The only books I've failed to find on inter-library loan, so far, are books that are long out of print.)  Even some big university libraries, like Wayne State's Purdy-Kresge Library, are involved in the inter-library loan program!

There are only a couple downsides to inter-library loan.  One is that books can take a week or two to arrive.  In my opinion, though, it's well worth the wait!  Lately I've been making my way through a lot of P.G. Wodehouse, some Louis L'Amour novels, and some sequels to The Scarlet Pimpernel...none of which are at my local library.  The other downside to inter-library loan is that they usually don't let you check out very many books at a time (I believe five is the limit here in Michigan).  This one is harder for me to work with, but I try to send back my books quickly after finishing them so I'm allowed to check out new ones.

Inter-library loan has expanded my reading horizons greatly.  I no longer walk into my local library and groan about how few books there are there that I would ever want to read.  Nowadays I walk into the library, go straight to the front desk, and pick up the books that have arrived for me from faraway libraries.  It's wonderful.  I don't know who was responsible for starting the inter-library loan program in Michigan, but I would like to shake their hands and thank them.

Poem for the Triduum: "Two Trees"

Short blog post today.  I wrote this poem on Good Friday two years ago, and I thought it was fitting for the Triduum we enter into tonight.

Two Trees

The tree that brought man death

Stood in the garden lush and beautiful,

Untainted by any breath of sorrow,

Risen from the sweet earth

Bursting with the life of God's creation.

And Adam, as yet unfallen,

Master of that garden, having been given

Authority over all other creatures,

A proud lord saw himself

And wished to have the greatness of his God.

So he took the fruit.

And instead of greatness he was given death.

The tree that brought man life

Stood on a bare hill devoid of beauty

And on it hung a Man

Racked with torments, despised by all,

Yet He was in truth the Lord of all creation.

Road to Avonlea: A Fun, Family Friendly TV Show

Recently my family started watching a TV show called Road to Avonlea.  It's done by Sullivan Entertainment (which put out the Anne of Green Gables movie trilogy), and it's based on stories from the Anne of Green Gables books and from other works of L.M. Montgomery such as The Story Girl.  

If you took Anne of Green Gables and crossed it with the Little House on the Prairie TV show, this show would be the result.  The story centers around the King family, a family of farmers in Avonlea, and Sara Stanley, a cousin who comes from Montreal to stay with them.  As the series goes on, the cast of characters grows as more and more of the Avonlea townspeople take on important roles.  Marilla Cuthbert and Mrs. Lynde appear multiple times, played by the same actresses that played those roles in Anne of Green Gables. 

The stories themselves are light-hearted.  Unlike Little House on the Prairie, in which a major tragedy strikes about every other episode, Road to Avonlea seldom features tragic events.  Instead, it focuses on ordinary life and the relationships of the people in the village.  (By the way, I don't mean to bash Little House on the Prairie...I do love that series...but I advise reading episode synopses first if you don't want to be traumatized while watching it!)

Without further ado, I'm going to introduce the main characters of Road to Avonlea.

Sara Stanley

 

Sara comes to the Island for the summer because her father has been framed for embezzlement and is on trial.  She's a town girl and isn't used to the way things are done in Avonlea.  She struggles to fit into the community and to get along with various members of the King family (her cousins, aunts, and uncle).  Sara has a tender heart and will stand up for anyone who is being treated badly.  She's also a dreamer, a player of practical jokes, and a storyteller.  

Hetty King

 

Hetty King is Sara's aunt (her mother's sister).  Hetty is the oldest of the Kings since her parents died, and she never lets her siblings forget it!  She is the Avonlea schoolteacher.  She is crabby, strict, rule-bound, and in many ways unsympathetic to the feelings of others...but occasionally those around her can glimpse the deep-seated love she has for her family.  Hetty takes in Sara when she comes to the King farm, even though she's reluctant to take care of her at first.  (You may recognize the actress, Jackie Burroughs, as the woman who recited that "Ho! Ho! the breakers roared" poem in Anne of Green Gables.)

Olivia King

 

Olivia King is Hetty's younger sister who lives with her in Rose Cottage.  She is sweet and optimistic and is delighted to have Sara stay with her and Hetty.  Olivia has a passion for poetry and journalism and really wants a job with the Avonlea newspaper.  (You may recognize the actress, Mag Ruffman, as Alice Lawson, the storekeeper's daughter, in Anne of Green Gables.)

Alec King

Alec King is Hetty and Olivia's brother.  He runs the farm that his house and his sisters' house are on.  Alec is married and has three children.  He's a good father with a sense of humor (and a little bit of mischief)!  He tends to play peacemaker within his family, although he and Hetty butt heads sometimes.  (The actor, Cedric Smith, was in Anne of Green Gables as Reverend Allan.)

Janet King

Janet King is Alec's wife.  She's a kind mother to their three children and a capable homemaker.  Sometimes she doesn't realize how much mischief her children are getting into, though!  Janet always seems to have her hands full with a million different projects around the busy farm.

Felicity King

Felicity is Alec and Janet's oldest daughter.  When Sara Stanley arrives in Avonlea, Felicity sees her as a threat with her expensive town clothes and her town ways.  She ignores her and plays mean pranks on her (often with the help of her brother, Felix).  However, Felicity soon learns that it's better being friends with Sara than being at odds with her! Felicity likes to cook and do crafts.  She likes being put in charge of her siblings, although when she actually does get put in charge of them there's always trouble!

Felix King

Felix King is mischief personified....and cuteness personified!  He's forever getting into scrapes and playing pranks.  But he loves his family dearly and is sorry whenever he realizes that one of his pranks has really hurt someone.  Felix has a strong sense of justice and gets outraged when he feels things aren't fair (which is about every five minutes)!

Cecily King

Cecily is the youngest King child, and the best behaved.  She is kind to Sara when she first arrives and Felicity and Felix can't stand her.   Cecily is truthful, logical, and never afraid to speak her mind.

Andrew King

Andrew King is a cousin both of Sara Stanley and of Felicity, Felix, and Cecily.  He's been sent to Avonlea while his father, a famous geologist, is doing mining work in Brazil.  Andrew often sides with Sara against Felicity and Felix in arguments.  In his free time, he's nearly always got his nose in a book. 

Peter Craig

Peter Craig is Aunt Hetty's hired boy.  He's kind to Sara when she comes to Avonlea.  He often gets involved in the pranks and arguments going on among the other children.  Peter is a plucky kid who isn't afraid of much of anything, even the so-called "Witch of Avonlea," Peg Bowen.

 If you're looking for a light-hearted, family friendly TV show, you should check out Road to Avonlea!  If you've seen it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it in the comments!

Three More Terrific YouTube Music Channels

I don't have much time to write a blog post today (because today has been crazily busy), so I thought I would do a Part 2 to my post from two weeks ago:Three Terrific Music Channels On YouTube.   So, without further ado, here are three more of my favorite music channels on YouTube!

Home Free

Home Free is an a capella group that sings country music.  The very first time I was introduced to this group, I was totally blown away by their incredible voices.  They're always right on the correct pitch and right in time with each other.  One of the members of the group, Adam Rupp, makes every drum sound imaginable (and many other sound effects) with only his mouth! Home Free specializes in covers of other people's country songs (like this cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire"), but they have many original songs as well.

Owl City

One might assume that Owl City was the name of a band made up of several people, but in fact all its music is done by one man: Adam Young. He does the lead vocals, the backup vocals, and all the instrumental tracks.  His music is God-centered, fun, and kind of weird (in a good way).  Fun fact: Owl City has done credits music for a number of movies, including "Wreck-it Ralph."  Another fun fact: Adam Young's Twitter account is hilarious!  (And no, I don't have Twitter.  I've seen his tweets on Pinterest.)

The Hound + The Fox

This young married couple is just adorable...and their singing is lovely too! They do covers of folk songs and songs from musicals and movies. Listening to their voices is just so relaxing! They play their own accompaniments, especially on harmonica and ukelele (I haven't been paying enough attention to the instruments to remember exactly which ones they play, but it always sounds great)!

 Well, that wraps it up!  I'd love to hear about your favorite YouTube music channels in the comments!

On Living One Day At A Time

"Be not therefore solicitous for to morrow; for the morrow will be solicitous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof." ~ Matthew 6:34

If there's one thing that makes me stressed, it's trying to live in the future.  There's this little voice in my head that constantly reminds me about all the things I have to do this week, this month, and this year.  It goes something like this: Ursi, don't forget you have six commitments this weekend.  You'd better worry about all of them right now.  And you know you wanted to get a book published before you were 25 and you're almost 24.  And you have to go to the dentist this month.  And tax day is coming up. 

I often try to rationalize this little voice by telling myself that I need to think about all my plans and deadlines.  After all, if I don't plan anything, I'll miss deadlines and not get anything done!  But there's a difference between planning for the future and worrying about the future.  And I think I can safely say that 80% of the time I spend thinking about the future is worrying, not planning.

C.S. Lewis warns about the dangers of focusing too much on the future in The Screwtape Letters.  Screwtape, a senior devil, tells his nephew Wormwood that one way to tempt men away from God is to get them to live in the future.  “The Future is, of all things, the thing least like eternity. It is the most temporal part of time--for the Past is frozen and no longer flows, and the Present is all lit up with eternal rays.” When we concentrate on the future, we miss opportunities to do good in the present.  We can also be led into sin.  Lewis warns, “Nearly all vices are rooted in the future. Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, lust and ambition look ahead.”

And then there's that verse from Matthew I quoted at the top of this post.  God doesn't want us to worry about the future.  He wants us to focus on pleasing Him in the present day.

So I'm resolving to stop worrying about the future and start living one day at a time.  I'm still going to write down deadlines and make to-do lists, but apart from that I'm going to make an effort to focus on the present day and trust God to take care of the future.  If you share my problem of worrying too much about the future, please join me!

 

 

Three Terrific Music Channels on YouTube

I listen to a lot of music on YouTube, and today it occurred to me to write a blog post sharing music from some of the terrific musicians that can be found there!  And yes, I'll admit that my taste in music is eclectic. (And apparently I only listen to male singers???) 

Peter Hollens

Peter Hollens uses modern technology to his advantage.  He records himself singing multiple voice parts and combines the parts to make videos that sound like whole choirs.  He also does sound effects that I can hardly believe aren't done with musical instruments.  Peter specializes in doing song covers; he's done all the songs from Lord of the Rings, a lot of songs from Disney movies, and a lot of traditional songs like "Shenandoah."  He does duets with his wife, Evynne (who has her own YouTube channel), too!

Il Volo

Il Volo is a trio of men from Italy that my sister, some friends, and I were privileged to see in concert last March during their "Notte Magica" tour (a tribute to the Three Tenors, They started out doing a cross between opera and pop music, then transitioned to doing more pure opera and Italian folk songs.  Although Gianluca, Ignazio, and Piero are only in their early twenties, their vocal control is a classical singer's dream!  And that's Plácido Domingo conducting them in this video.  

Simon Khorolskiy

My mom introduced me to this artist.  (To be fair, she dragged me kicking and screaming to listen to this artist.)  Simon is a Russian man living in Washington State who does videos of assorted songs (almost entirely in Russian) with his six sisters.  There's an old-world feel about the music that I really like, even though I can't understand any Russian!  Simon is Christian, and the intent in his music is to give glory to God.
 

For some reason this post won't let me embed more than three videos.  When I try to add a fourth, one of the ones I've already posted disappears.  I'm not sure what's going on with that...maybe the files are too big?  I have several favorite music channels left, so I'm thinking of doing a "Part 2" to this post sometime soon. Meanwhile, I would love to hear about your favorite YouTube music channels in the comments!

5 Frustrating Things About Writing

I'm having one of those days where I try to write and the right words just don't come.  Maybe I've got too many writing projects going at once? (I'm working on a novel and a short story at the same time, and I've got my weekly blog post on top of that!)  Anyway, because regular topics just aren't working for me today, here's a post about five frustrating things about writing. 

Plot Bunnies

"Plot bunny" is a term used among writers to mean an idea that distracts you from the thing you're currently writing.  For instance, you're writing medieval fantasy when you get what seems like a really good idea for a story set in 20th century America.  It's really tempting to drop the story you're currently working on and start one based on the new idea.  Don't do it.  Write down the idea and forget about it for now.  If you hop from story to story following plot bunnies, you'll never finish anything. (I need to follow this advice better myself.  I have started countless stories based on plot bunnies, and hardly any of them got beyond five pages.)

Forgetting Details In Your Own Story

 

 I thought this one just happened to me, but I've heard from a few other people who say the same thing.  You're writing along, and you have to invent a name for a minor character, or the name of a town, or something like that.  You put it in and promptly forget all about it.  When the minor character comes up again three chapters later, you can't remember his name.  So you have to search painstakingly through the first part of your book to find him.  I can only think of two ways to avoid this problem...have a perfect memory or make lists of all the details you might possibly have to remember later.

Plots That Don't Work

You've left your character pining away in a tower from which there is no escape, and now you have no idea how to get him out.  The only option seems to be supernatural aid (or a giant eagle, if you're Tolkien).  And supernatural aid (and eagles) seem unsatisfying, at least to me. You want the characters to be able to solve their own problems without the writer dragging in outside help. 

 I think whoever wrote Brigadoon had this problem.  They left poor Tommy Albright stranded in the modern day with no way to get back to Brigadoon.  The conclusion, where Tommy goes back to the spot where Brigadoon used to be and finds it still there, feels like cheating on the writers' part.  The only explanation for why Brigadoon is still there is "if you love someone deeply enough, anything is possible".  Cute, maybe, but it still feels like a deus ex machina to me.  (This is not to say that I dislike Brigadoon.  On the contrary, it's one of my favorite old movies.)

 Characters That Don't Do What You Want

You know exactly what you want your character to do, but he won't do it.  Instead of being a bold outlaw, he's a wishy-washy outlaw with scruples.  (This example is from a character that appeared in a novel I wrote a few years ago.  He was the main character, and the story didn't work well with him being wishy-washy and scrupulous.)  Anne in Anne of Avonlea complains about the same thing when she's writing her short story, "Averil's Atonement." I have no idea why this happens.  I've heard people saying it's all in the writer's mind.  Maybe it is, and if so, I wish I could figure out what to do about it!  

Distraction

Distracted writing isn't dangerous like distracted driving...but it's still frustrating!  There are an indefinite number of ways to get distracted while you're trying to write.  People in the room, music, the Internet, to-do lists, and just ordinary daydreaming are only a few of the things that make it so difficult to concentrate on the project at hand.  It's impossible to completely eliminate distraction, but you can definitely avoid it.  For me, the best place to work and avoid distractions is a quiet room (with no music, not even instrumental).  I often write my stories longhand on paper, because the computer distracts me too!

Do you relate to any of these frustrating things?  Or have others to add?  I'd love to hear them!

 

 

10 Show-Stealing Movie Sidekicks

While figuring out characters for my current work-in-progress, I've been thinking a lot about the importance of some underrated characters: sidekicks.  They support the main characters or try to show them where they're going wrong.  They're often funny without even trying.  There's also a disarming humility about a lot of sidekicks; they're focused on everyone but themselves. 

After thinking about this for a while, I decided to do a post on it.  (Yes, I'm a college grad and this is the way I choose to spend my free time.  You may judge me.)  Here are ten of my favorite movie sidekicks and supporting characters!  I picked movies because I could show pictures of the characters.  Maybe at some point I'll do a post on sidekicks from books too.

Bartok, Anastasia

Bartok is on the bad side.  He's helping the villain, Rasputin, find the escaped Princess Anastasia.  But Bartok is continually dismayed by Rasputin's evil plans.  He tells him to "forget the girl and get a life!"  Finally he decides it's gone too far: "You're on your own, sir!  This can only end in tears."  Bartok's voice is hilarious (not surprising, since he's voiced by uber-talented Hank Azaria).  This is a sidekick who deserved his own movie...and got it, with Bartok the Magnificent (which is a really fun movie, by the way)!

The Captain of the Guard, Cinderella

The Captain of the Guard in Disney's live-action Cinderella is so great.  He's the best friend Prince Kit seems to have at the palace (besides his father).  When the Grand Duke schemes to bring more power to the kingdom at the expense of Kit's happiness, the Captain is always there to remind everyone that Kit is a person too.  He's also really funny!  I love when Kit is telling him all about the girl he's fallen head over heels for, and the Captain says, "Do you think she has a sister?"  The Captain also gets to put Lady Tremaine in her place at the end.  "Who are you to stop an officer of the king? Are you an empress? A saint? A deity?"

 Kronk, The Emperor's New Groove

 

  Like Bartok, Kronk is the villain's sidekick; Yzma is using him to help her track down the escaped emperor-turned-llama.  (This sounds really weird if you haven't seen the movie.)  Kronk is not the brightest bulb in the box, but when Yzma gets deeply entrenched in ridiculous schemes to kill the emperor, Kronk turns out to be the one who uses common sense!  He's friendly, hilarious, and a great cook.  (In fact, the point where he turns against Yzma is when she tells him she never liked his spinach puffs!)  He also talks to squirrels.

Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride

I would be remiss if I didn't include one of the most iconic movie sidekicks ever: Inigo Montoya.  Although I don't hold with revenge or dueling, I appreciate the terrific love Inigo has for his father that makes him chase the six-fingered man for so many years.  I also love his interactions with the other characters.  He's incredibly forthright and will tell you just what he's thinking.  

To Vizzini: "You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means."  

To the Man in Black: "I do not think you would accept my help, since I am only waiting around to kill you!"  

Cogsworth and Lumiere, Beauty and the Beast

I had to mention both of these because they're so hilarious together!  Cogsworth is a mother-hen type and the straight man to Lumiere's funny man.  (Incidentally, my siblings have informed me that he is the Beauty and the Beast character most like me.)  He wants to make sure nobody's breaking rules or making the Beast mad.  Lumiere, on the other hand, thinks that rules are more like guidelines than actual rules.  He wants to show Belle just how hospitable the castle can be!  Their interactions with each other and the Beast are just golden.  

Cogsworth (to the Beast): "Who?  Oh!  The girl. Yes,  the, ah, girl.  Well, actually, she's in the process of, ah, um, circumstances being what they are, ah... she's not coming."

Lumiere (to the Beast): "Master, I could be wrong, but that might not be the best way to win the girl's affections." 

Cosmo, Singin' In the Rain

Cosmo Brown and Don Lockwood started out as good friends who did second-rate vaudeville together.  Then Don Lockwood became a movie star, and Cosmo...well, he played the piano on the set.  All through Singin' In the Rain, while Don's in the spotlight, Cosmo is cheering him up behind the scenes and helping him figure out his problems.  He comes up with terrific ideas, like dubbing Kathy's voice over Lina's in "The Dancing Cavalier."  And he's not looking for fame or recognition, just helping his friends and making people laugh!

Sir Hiss, Disney's Robin Hood

Sir Hiss, evil Prince John's sidekick, always makes me laugh.  On the one hand, he goes around flattering Prince John and even spying for him.  On the other hand, Prince John makes him incredibly crabby...and Sir Hiss is hilarious when he's crabby!  He can see Prince John for what he is: a whiny, cowardly character who's not fit to lead anything, let alone a whole kingdom.  

Prince John: "One more hiss out of you, Hiss, and you are walking to Nottingham"

  Hiss [aside]: "Snakes don't walk, they slither. Hmph. So there."

Hiss: "How nobly King Richard's crown sits on your royal brow."

Prince John [not paying attention]: "Doesn't it?" [realizing, furious] "King Richard?  I told you never to mention my brother's name!" 

Hiss: "A mere slip of the forked tongue, Sire."

 Truman, October Baby

October Baby is a pretty serious movie for the most part.  After all, it deals with a serious theme: the right to life of unborn babies.  But it has some great comedic moments, and a lot of them involve Truman.  

Truman is one of Hannah and Jason's college classmates.  We first see him trying to make a little extra money by "upgrading" people's tickets as they come to a school play.  Next, we see him catching an iron on fire.  No matter what ridiculous thing Truman is doing, he maintains a dignified and gloomy composure that is hilarious in contrast.  And he's nerdy--the kind of socially awkward nerdy that most of us nerds hope we're not.  I love it!

Canoe, That Darn Cat

Canoe is a boy who hangs out at Patti Randall's house, raiding the fridge and taking Patti to surfer movies that make her feel seasick.  But when he suspects that something fishy is going on at the Randall house, he's determined to help Patti out by getting to the bottom of it...and jealous, because he thinks there's a young man involved.  Canoe's bumbling detective attempts are one of the best things about this movie!  

 

Sam Gamgee, Lord of the Rings

Sam Gamgee is an unusual sidekick because he's also the hero of the story!  Sam starts out as Frodo's bumbling, comedic gardener, always needing his master's help and guidance.  But throughout the story, Sam gets wiser and stronger.  As the Ring becomes harder and harder for Frodo to bear, Sam supports him.  He risks his life over and over for Frodo.  Without Sam, the whole quest would have failed.  He's my favorite LOTR character.

These are only a few of my favorite movie sidekicks.  I'd love to see your favorites in the comments!

 

 

 

 

The Scarlet Pimpernel: An Appreciation Post

It's hard for me to describe how much I love this book.  It's one of the few 300+ page books I've read in one sitting.  The characters and the plot are so enthralling I just can't put it down...even after having read it so many times I've lost count!

I told my sister I wanted to do a blog post on The Scarlet Pimpernel, and she said, "Wait...the book or the movie?"  Apparently there are a lot of blog posts out there talking about how great the movie with Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour, and Ian McKellen is, but very few talking about how great the book is.  So I decided to do a post about the book.  I do like the movie, and maybe sometime I'll do a blog post on that, but the book comes prior.

Where do I start?  I guess I'll start with the characters.

Warning: This post does contain spoilers.  If you haven't read the book, go read it.  Then you can come back and read this. ;)

The Scarlet Pimpernel

The Scarlet Pimpernel is a hero shrouded in mystery.  He has one goal: helping French royalists in danger of death to escape to England during the French Revolution.  He carries out his daring rescues in disguise; no one knows who he really is except his nineteen followers.  He's kind of the antithesis of the Phantom of the Opera.  (I can't stand the Phantom, but I'm not going to discuss that at length here.)  The Phantom is a mysterious figure who does awful things; the Scarlet Pimpernel is a mysterious figure who does great things.  The English and the French royalists love him; the French revolutionaries hate him.

As the story goes on, the reader begins to get hints about the Scarlet Pimpernel's identity.  Finally, Lady Marguerite Blakeney discovers the truth.  The mysterious man is the most unlikely man possible--Marguerite's husband, Sir Percy Blakeney, a man known in English society as a brainless dandy, or to put it bluntly, a fool.  Sir Percy's identity as the Scarlet Pimpernel is so important that he puts on the mask of a fool in his everyday life.  And I think that's one of the coolest things about him.

I don't know if Baroness Orczy was thinking of Shakespeare plays when she wrote the character of the Scarlet Pimpernel, but Sir Percy always makes me think of the Shakespearean fool.  Shakespeare's Fool is often the only character in the play who understands what's really going on.  The other characters think he's stupid, but he's actually wiser than they are.  Similarly, Sir Percy poses as someone who only cares about clothes and lame jokes.  This is the safest disguise of all, because who would suspect someone who seems so foolish to be the mastermind behind the escape of hundreds of French royalists?

Sir Percy is also a man deeply in love.  He practically worships the ground Marguerite walks on.  But because at the beginning of the story he can't trust her with his secret, he has to appear to her the way he appears to everyone else.  She thinks he's stupid and doesn't love her.   Wearing the mask of the fool even around Marguerite is breaking Sir Percy's heart.  It's so satisfying when Marguerite learns who Sir Percy really is, and still more satisfying when he learns he no longer has to conceal his identity or his love from her. 

Sir Percy is awesome.  He has enough bravery to walk right up to his worst enemy, clap him on the back, and tell him dumb jokes, all the while coming up with a new plan for outwitting him.  He risks his life again and again for the sake of the people depending on him.  And his schemes are at the same time incredibly clever and outrageously audacious.   He's basically the superhero of the resistance to the French Revolution.  I only wish he was real!

Marguerite Blakeney

 I didn't like Marguerite Blakeney at the beginning of the book.  I think that was the writer's intent.   Marguerite is portrayed as a woman who is blasé, sarcastic, and disappointed in life.  She has married Sir Percy Blakeney, a man violently in love with her, only to find his affection grow cold when he learned she was the cause of a French royalist family being sent to the guillotine.  She's too proud to tell Sir Percy that she made a horrible mistake and tried to save the family from death.  Although she's married to the richest man in England and has everything money can buy, Marguerite is miserable.  There's only one thing in her life that she really cares about: her brother Armand.  

So when she learns that Armand is in deadly danger and the only way she can save him is by betraying the Scarlet Pimpernel to the French revolutionaries, she is torn.  Although she has no idea who the Scarlet Pimpernel is, she has always admired him with something akin to hero-worship.  How can she send him to the guillotine?  On the other hand, how can she let Armand die without trying to save him?  Her love for her brother overcomes her sense of right and wrong.  She finds a clue that puts Chauvelin, the Scarlet Pimpernel's arch-nemesis, on his track.  

But then she finds a gold ring with the insignia of the Scarlet Pimpernel in her husband's study.  All kinds of clues come together in her mind and she realizes that her husband, the "brainless" Sir Percy, is actually the Scarlet Pimpernel!  Never before has Marguerite regretted anything so much as she regrets having put Chauvelin on the Scarlet Pimpernel's track.  So she races across country with a friend of her husband's, Sir Andrew Ffoulkes, to try to get to Sir Percy and warn him before Chauvelin finds him.  She must save her husband, even if it means losing her own life.  

Although Sir Percy is the hero of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Marguerite is its protagonist.  Sir Percy doesn't change throughout the story.  Marguerite does.  She has to learn truths about love and sacrifice.  She has to completely change her perception of the husband she thought she knew. 

Marguerite learns that love does not excuse betrayal.  The love for her brother Armand that led her to denounce a family of French royalists and betray the Scarlet Pimpernel was warped and selfish.  It has caused terrible harm to others.  Marguerite doesn't see this, though, until she learns that her own husband is in danger because of her love for her brother.  Then she sees that love doesn't make the end justify the means.  Betraying the Scarlet Pimpernel to save her brother was a crime that Marguerite spends the rest of the book trying to mend.  And she does this through offering her very life for Sir Percy's safety.  Marguerite may be a character that starts out with a lot of selfishness, but she ends up as a woman of love and courage. 

Chauvelin

Chauvelin is the perfect arch-nemesis for this story.  Clever, daring, and apparently heartless, he's the man the French revolutionaries have picked to hunt down the Scarlet Pimpernel.  All Chauvelin cares about is the success of the Revolution.  And he has an undying hatred for the man who has so boldly outwitted the Committee of Public Safety again and again.  He comes to England determined to find out who the Scarlet Pimpernel really is so he can follow him to France and capture him.

Chauvelin decides to recruit one woman to help him in his task: Marguerite Blakeney.  He knew her in France when she and her brothers were both supporters of the French Revolution.  He thinks he can get her to help him, with the proper persuasion.  Quickly Chauvelin finds a way to persuade Marguerite: he gets possession of a letter that proves Marguerite's brother Armand is really in league with the Scarlet Pimpernel.  He tells Marguerite that unless she helps him find out who the Scarlet Pimpernel is, her brother is going to die.  Heartless, clever man!  He treats life like a chess game.  He'll give Marguerite a pawn, her brother, if it means he'll be able to take the king, the Scarlet Pimpernel.  

I think Chauvelin is a well-done villain because he keeps the stakes of the story high.  Nothing will deter him from following his goal of capturing, torturing, and killing the man who has evaded him for so long.  He's also a well-done villain because he has a good understanding of human nature.  He uses Marguerite's emotions as tools in his despicable scheme.  But the Scarlet Pimpernel understands human nature better yet, as he eventually tricks Chauvelin through his understanding of Chauvelin's anti-Semitism.  Chauvelin never saw that one coming!

There are many other terrific characters in The Scarlet Pimpernel.  There are characters that almost feel like Dickens characters: Mr. Jellyband, Mr. Hempseed, and Mr. Jellyband's daughter Sally.  There's sweet little Suzanne, friend of Marguerite.  There's Sir Andrew Ffoulkes, the member of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel who takes Marguerite to France to try to save her husband.  Baroness Orczy did a great job developing the other characters in a way that doesn't distract the reader from the main story.  

Apart from the characters of The Scarlet Pimpernel, the plot is just so good!  I love the way the reader doesn't learn who the Scarlet Pimpernel is until Marguerite figures it out.  The reader also doesn't learn how the Scarlet Pimpernel is going to defeat Chauvelin until after he's defeated him.  This makes the book wonderfully suspenseful.  The ending, with Sir Percy and Marguerite finally together again, is wonderful too.  I just love this book!