Taking a hiatus

Just to let you know, I'll be taking a break from blogging for a while.  :)  In the meantime, please peruse the archives, the "Sites I follow", and my other blogs--Just a Trifle and Tulgeywood.  I'll probably start posting again sometime in March!

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Moby-Dick book review: Part II

(Part I:  Moby-Dick as a story)

Moby-Dick as history

I would venture to estimate that literally 60% to 70% of this book is purely educational (and mostly nonfiction), in which Ishmael describes whales and the process of whaling...in great detail. He can go on for chapters about it, actually taking a break from the story. Needless to say, unless you are interested in learning about whales and whaling, you'll probably find this book to be quite boring. At times, I found much of it to be quite tedious; but in the end, I rather liked the educational stuff and even enjoyed reading some of it. Sometimes I could almost sympathise with the narrator--writing about a topic that few people care about, and yet writing with such persuasiveness and enthusiasm that he makes you care about whales, too (at one point, I seriously wanted to become a whale conservationist). The information about whales and whaling became genuinely fascinating--the size of the whales, their habits, the process of hunting whales, how the whalers get the oil from the whales, etc... Melville's writing perspective also varied a good deal. Sometimes he portrayed the whales as vicious, and the whalers as victims; but probably more often, he took the whale's side, and portrayed the whalers as cruel, murderous hunters. Though I think he unnecessarily went to both extremes, having these two perspectives was pretty fair of him.

As for all the various whaling accidents and things that happen throughout the book, we are told that some of these things did actually happen in real life (Moby-Dick was actually based on the real-life "Wreck of the Whaleship Essex", a book I recommend). It gave me a much better understanding of whaling, and I felt more interested in the book, since it's so largely based on fact and not fantasy.

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Moby-Dick book review: Part I

Or, The Whale

by Herman Melville

Edition: Barnes & Noble Classics, paperback.
Pros: Readable, affordable, nice cover picture, has an adapted version of Richard Henry Dana, Jr.'s Dictionary of Sea Terms.
Cons: It would be nice to read an edition with illustrations, diagrams, or stuff like that. I would've also rather read a version without the footnotes, because whenever Ishmael says or quotes something in Latin, it's his way of censoring something.  

My overall rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars. Would've given it more if not for the objectionable content. 

{This is an abridged version of a very, very long book review. Let me know if there are any typos or anything.}

Moby-Dick as a story

   When Ishmael, the narrator, joins the crew of the Nantucket whaling ship, Pequod, he doesn't quite know what to expect. A newbie to whaling, he finds a whaler's life a whole different world; and the Pequod itself--surrounded by foreboding and under the command of a mysterious captain--is not a typical whaling ship. Once out at sea, Captain Ahab makes his agenda plain to everyone: he's sworn not to return home unless he kills Moby-Dick, the monstrous white whale who injured Ahab on his last voyage. And so, imprisoned on the Pequod and to Ahab's reckless command, the crew begin their maddened hunt, around the globe and with the ever-growing premonition that they'll never make it back.

   As I soon learned during my first attempted reading of Moby-Dick, this book is far from what I'd call a swashbuckling sea story...on the contrary, the book is long and very slow. The characters are what mostly drives the story (if this book could be considered as driven by anything!). Captain Ahab, the main protagonist, is insane and obsessed with his revenge; Ishmael implies that this insanity began right after Ahab's leg was severed by Moby-Dick. But not only that, Captain Ahab is also very evil. Within the last 100 pages or so of the book, this aspect of him get so bad that at times it's unreadable (I recommend skipping the chapter called "The Forge"). And then, in contrast, we also get a few glimpes of Ahab's sanity (and cunning), and even moments where he seems close to repenting of his vengeance. As much as Ishmael writes about him, I was never able to fully understand this character...it's one of the many mysteries in this book.

   But it is Ahab's remarkable charisma that wins over most of the crew to his cause. The crew is made up of men from all over the world...most notable are Queequeg, the harpooner whom Ishmael befriends; 2nd mate Stubb, who tends to view everything in a humorous light; and 1st mate Starbuck, who is second-in-command, after the captain.  Starbuck is the only character on the whole ship who seems to have much of a conscience. From the very first time he hears of the captain's plan, Starbuck is outspokenly opposed to it, and throughout the voyage he struggles between his sense of justice, duty, and moral principles as he tries to do the right thing. He's the best character and I only wish he were in the book more (as opposed to Ishmael, who is incredibly annoying).

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"O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! / He chortled in his joy."

I'm in the mood for random quotes...happy random quotes...



* * *

Holmes: My brother Mycroft is coming round!

Watson:  Well, why not?

Holmes:  Why not? It is as if you met a tram-car coming down a country lane. Mycroft has his rails and he runs on them...Once and only once has he ever been here. What upheaval could've possibly derailed him?

* * *

Watson:  Sherlock holmes is cheerful, so Sherlock Holmes must have a case.
Holmes:  Pah!  See what you can make of that, friend Watson.

* * *


Mr Bracegirdle, to Midshipman Hornblower on the day of his examination:  You're as ready as you ever will be.

* * *

Gandalf:  Is it secret--is it safe?

* * *

Holmes:  'We can but try' — the motto of the firm.

* * *

Cheshire Cat singing: 
Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe!

* * *

And yes, I do have a less random post(s) that will be posted soon.  In the meantime, please vote, vote, vote on the poll!  :)  Thank you to those who already have!

Also, if you haven't seen them yet, I've posted some of my Moby-Dick drabbles on my writing blog (please follow if you like it!).  More coming soon.... 

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More Dawn Treader/Silver Chair ramblings

Heard about these at NarniaWeb.com:

Narnia Trilogy Boxset  I've been expecting this for a long time.  ;)  My sister already has the first 2, though, so instead we'll probably be getting:

Voyage of the Dawn Treader  Release date: April 8.  And there's extra scenes!  And gorgeous cover art. 

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is simply one of the very best movies I've watched in a while.  Mainly because the whole thing is great, and there are no cringeworthy or boring scenes that make you want to fastforward (and that's even more than I can say for Lord of the Rings).  I've heard other reviewers say they don't like the dialogue, or that there wasn't much of it...personally, I prefer less dialogue to cluttery, pretentious dialogue; and I thought that the dialogue was just the right level for kids and grownups alike.  It didn't seem notably cheesy to me, either.  The sets were lovely and the casting/acting wonderful; the Dawn Treader itself was gorgeous and book accurate (love tall ships!).  All in all, I'd say The Voyage of the Dawn Treader really is a classic.  I'd recommend it to almost anyone.

Next I'm hoping that they'll do The Silver Chair.  I'm rather a purist when it comes to this story, but I won't mind a few changes if it's as intelligently scripted as Dawn Treader.  :)  I have a feeling The Silver Chair is a difficult book to adapt, though, for various reasons.

•  Plot:  Jill and Eustace's journey vs. the lost prince's story.  Which one will get more focus?  Unfortunately, the hike through Narnia and Etttinsmoor may be deemed too boring to spend much time on.  Though I think that part is essential to character development.
• Characters:  There won't be any Pevensie siblings.  How very much different than the Pevensies will Jill and Eustace be portrayed?  Will it be a big deal at all?  How major a character will Puddleglum be (certainly a major character in the book, but not quite as much as Jill)?  Will Rilian be given an expanded role?  (I hope not.)  Will there be any narration by Jill?  It might break the continuity with the other films; but how else could we "read" her thoughts?
• Settings:  Like most Narnia readers, I have a pretty vivid picture of the marshes, Harfang, and the Lady-of-the-Green-Kirtle's house in my head.  And like many Narnia readers, this picture is strongly based on the original illustrations.  The previous Narnia films tended to be quite different from the books (I'm still sad that the avenue to the Magician's House was omitted from Dawn Treader).  The Silver Chair being a rather dark, "winter's eve" type of story, there isn't much room for inaccuarcy.  Still, I hope it sticks to the original illustrations...
• Dialogue/Script:  The Silver Chair is much less action-packed than LWW, PC, or VDT.  Rather, it's mostly about faith and persistence.  Most of the plot twists revolve around things people say, not big battle scenes or invading enemies or claiming a throne.  It will be interesting to see how this translates to screen. 

Thoughts? 

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Tutorial: 21st Century Vintage (coloring)

Tutorial for:  GIMP
Inspiration:  the video clip of London in the opening credits of "Sherlock" (BBC).  Sort of a bright, slightly vintage, almost-pastel color combo.  After some experimenting, I was able to get something pretty close:

1.  Sharpen your picture (if necessary), then duplicate.


2.  Make your foreground color #c36596 and the background color #fce498.  On the duplicate layer, go to Colors > Map > Gradient Map.  Set this layer to Color, 19 opacity.


3.  Duplicate the original, move this duplicate to the top.  Foreground color:  #a4ff95; background color: #ffffff.  Go to Filters > Repeat Gradient Map, and set this layer to Grain Merge, 49 opacity.


4.  Duplicate the original, move this duplicate to the top.  Foreground color:  #e579c0; background color:  #f7ca77.  Filters > Repeat Gradient Map, and set this layer to Color, 22 opacity.


5.  Duplicate the original, move this duplicate to the top.  Foreground color:  #4c3ab1; background color:  #f6f3fc.  Repeat Gradient Map, and set this layer to Overlay, 73 opacity.


6.  Duplicate the original, move this duplicate to the top.  Foreground color:  #dbe06c; background color:  #f3febf.  Repeat Gradient Map, and set this layer to Overlay, 75 opacity.


7.  At this point, you might (or might not) want to further adjust the opacity of the layers, brighten up the original layer (Colors > Levels), or tweak the colors/saturation on the original layer (Colors > Hue-Saturation).  It just depends on the original photo.  :)




Other results:
   



- Marian

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Jules Verne

Jules Verne was a science fiction author born on February 8, 1828.  Check out Google's interactive logo tribute!

Jules Verne is of the most amazing authors I've read.  Though famous for being "the father of science fiction" he is, relatively speaking, not very popular these days; and his real genius is often underrated, either by inaccurate movie adaptations or the simple fact that most of his books are ignored.  His most famous novels are 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in Eighty Days, and Journey to the Center of the Earth--but these three titles are only a fraction of his "Extraordinary Voyages" collection, which is comprised of at least 50 other sci-fi/adventure novels.  A mind-boggling number, considering all the research he would have had to do! :)

Sadly to say, these other works are often hard to come by--even from libraries--and often times the accuracy of the translations are dubious.  Even if there are English translations they usually aren't budget-friendly (unlike e-book reader versions, and for that reason I might just have to get an e-book reader).  Anyhow, years ago I was really into reading Verne, and I was happily able to find and read some of these more obscure books, namely:

• The Mysterious Island (sequel to 20,000 Leagues)
• Five Weeks in a Balloon
• Two Years’ Holiday
• The Green Ray
• The Mighty Orinoco
• The Lighthouse At the End of the World
• The Clipper of the Clouds  
  
• Paris in the Twentieth Century

Half of these nobody's ever heard of, which is too bad, since all of them (except Mighty Orinoco) were worthwhile reads.  And there's still tons more, like The Golden Volcano and Facing the Flag, which I've only just recently heard of, but they sound excellent.

Anyhow, I highly recommend his books.  :)  And though I've yet to see any accurate movies, the old classics such as Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and the new Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), are great movies that stay true to the spirit of his stories.

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"Art...is liable to take the strangest forms"

Once in a blue moon, when I'm feeling artsy and photo-manipulative, I'll open up GIMP and make some user pics (or wallpapers, if I'm really in the mood).  I love fiddling with colors and effects; it's almost therapeutic.  ;)  Here's a handful that I did yesterday:

       

{The first three are results from Wunderkind_Lucy's tutorials, the second three are freestyle, and the last one I don't remember which.  All photos taken by me.}

There are whole blogs/journals dedicated to making user pics.  At first glance it sounds a bit extraordinary...upon closer acquaintance, it makes sense and is a pretty fascinating idea.  There are several factors involved.  For example, how much can a subtle change in scale and positioning effect the picture?  Or how can color gradients take a drab picture and turn it into a traffic-stopper?  In the end, it's all about how much art one can fit into 10,000 pixels of space, which is really quite small.

And apart from all that, it's just a time-effective way to practice photo-manipulation.  And, GIMP is 100% free, so there's nothing to lose.  ;)

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Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn was a classical composer born on February 3rd, 1809.  Most people would recognise some of his more famous works--the Wedding March and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", for example.  Unfortunately, the larger (but no less excellent) amount of his works is relatively unknown.

His brilliant Italian Symphony was one of my first faves:

His music is so sane.  There's no shallow pathos, boring ho-hum repetition, or eccentric abstraction--Mendelssohn's music is deep, but it's also got clarity and meaning.  There's genius in it, but it's a sane genius.  It's the kind of music that can be solemn or cheerful, light or intense, but likewise uplifting.  

Mendelssohn helped bring about the Bach renaissance; and he was also one of the first Romantic composers, finding inspiration from sources like Shakespeare and travels in Europe and Britain.  One of his most epic overtures is the Hebrides Overture, or "Fingal's Cave", inspired by the famous Scottish cave of the same name.  {My sister and I have also dubbed it "Frugal Smeagol Fingal's Cave"...inside joke.  ;) }

Not only did he write the typical classical genres--concertos, sonatas, symphonies, etc--but he also wrote religious music, like the "Hymn of Praise" (Symphony #2).

{Lyrics from Romans 13:12 :  "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light."}

I don't really know why Mendelssohn isn't as well known as other composers.  I just hope that someday he gets the same recognition and status as Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach, because he certainly deserves it. 

Some of my fave albums:

Mendelssohn:  Symphonies 3 & 4 and Fingal's Cave  A great intro to Mendelssohn's orchestral music.

Mendelssohn:  5 Symphonies, 7 Overtures  This is probably the ultimate CD set for Mendelssohn fans.  ;)  Four discs of brilliance, and the interpretations/performances are right on, as far as I'm concerned.

Mendelssohn:  Piano Concertos 1 & 2 and Capriccio Brilliant  This recording by Howard Shelley is one of those listen-to-over-and-over-and-over-again CD's: energetic, elegant, and just gorgeous. 

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