You Feel It Just Below the Ribs [book, audiobook]

 You Feel It Just Below the Ribs [book, audiobook]

I HAVE SUCH MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THIS NOW! I *LOVED* THIS BOOK, FOR 90% OF IT THIS WAS MY FAVORITE BOOK I'VE READ IN YEARS. IT'S A FICTIONAL NOVEL OF AN 80 YEAR OLD WOMAN IN THE 1990S WRITING HER LIFE STORY IN A WORLD WHERE WORLD WAR I STRETCHED ON FOR DECADES. SO IT'S GOT THIS UNRELIABLE NARRATOR THING OF BEING SOMEONE'S MEMORIES, BUT THEN THE FICTIONAL CONCEPT IS THE BOOK WE ARE ACTUALLY READING IS ACTUALLY A BOOK RELEASED SOMETIME YEARS AFTER THAT IS HEAVILY ANNOTATED BUT NOT CENSORED BY AN AMBIGUOUSLY EVIL ORGANIZATION CONNECTED TO THE EVENTS.  THIS IS AN AMAZING STRUCTURE FOR A BOOK! IT'S VERY WELL WRITTEN AND IT'S NOT SO AMBIGUOUS YOU EVER FULLY DOUBT THE NARRATOR BUT THEY DO SUCH A GOOD JOB MAKING IT JUST AMBIGUOUS ENOUGH FOR MOST OF IT YOU DO KINDA WONDER ESPECIALLY ABOUT THE MORALITY AND NECESSITY OF THINGS.  

BUT HERE IS THE THING. THIS IS WRITTEN BY THE AUTHORS OF "WITHIN THE WIRES",  A PODCAST I HAVE ENCOUNTERED BUT NEVER REALLY ENGAGED WITH LISTENING TO. SO I KNEW THIS WAS EXTREMELY SIMILAR IN CONCEPT TO THAT.  A BOOK VERSION OF THE PODCAST CONCEPT. BUT I DID NOT KNOW THIS WAS A STRAIGHT PREQUEL UNTIL NEAR THE END OF THE BOOK (IT'S NOT A TWIST TO FIND OUT, THEY EVEN SAY THE PHRASE 'WITHIN THE WIRES" IN THE BOOK, IT'S JUST MY DIM AWARENESS OF THE SERIES ONLY HIT THE CONNECTION WHEN THEY STARTED MAKING THE TAPES) AND I HATE HOW MUCH THAT SAPPED MY ENJOYMENT OF THIS. IT'S SO DUMB OF ME, IT'S NOT LIKE I DISLIKE THE PODCAST. IT'S SPECIFICALLY THAT BY MAKING THIS NOT IT'S OWN STAND ALONE THING IT MAKES EVERYTHING LESS AMBIGUOUS, ALL THE OFF SCREEN MYSTERY IS JUST ON ANOTHER SCREEN SOMEWHERE. I DON'T KNOW, IT'S DUMB HOW MUCH THAT DEFLATED MY ENJOYMENT. THE FACT IS, THE WHOLE CONCEPT OF WITHIN THE WIRES IS THE EXACT EXPERIENCE I HAD. I AM SURE THIS BOOK WAS A THOUSAND TIMES BETTER FOR ME TO READ THAN A FAN OF THE SERIES, AS THE WHOLE POINT OF THE SERIES IS TO LEARN ABOUT A FICTIONAL WORLD IN THIS TANGENTIAL WAY AND I'M SURE SEASON 5 IS ROBBED OF THE MYSTERY ELEMENT THAT I GOT TO READ THIS LATE INTO THE SERIES BOOK ALMOST TOTALLY INTACT. 

I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY ABOUT THIS BOOK! I LIKE THIS BOOK SO MUCH! IT'S SO WELL WRITTEN, BUT THE PART I ENJOYED IS TAKEN AWAY BY THERE BEING MORE MATERIAL. BUT THIS IS THE EXPERIENCE A LISTENER TO THE PODCAST WAS SUPPOSED TO GET BACK WHEN IT WAS NEW AND THERE WAS NO ACCUMULATED LORE. SO I KINDA READ THE BEST POSSIBLE VERSION OF THIS BOOK BUT FEEL ANGRY SOMEONE ELSE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO READ IT THE SAME WAY!

PS. IT'S FUNNY I NEVER ACTUALLY LISTENED TO THE SERIES BECAUSE I DID LISTEN TO THE FIRST TWO EPISODES OF THE SECOND SEASON (A MUSEUM AUDIO TOUR OF A FICTIONAL MUSEUM) WHILE IN A REAL WORLD MUSEUM AND I LOVED DOING THAT.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always [movie]

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always [movie] I DON'T KNOW. THIS MOVIE RULES. IT'S ONE OF THOSE MOVIES THAT IS DEFINITELY A PARODY BUT THE KIND OF PARODY WHERE THEY LITERALLY EVER MAKE A JOKE OR TRY TO BE FUNNY AND IT'S JUST LIKE THE MOST SPOT ON FULL HEARTED LEGITIMATE VERSION OF HOW STUPID POWER RANGERS ALWAYS WAS. LIKE ALL THE POWER RANGERS ARE 40 AND YOU THINK THEY WOULD MAKE JOKES ABOUT THAT, BUT THEY REALLY DON'T. SO YOU THINK THEY WOULD EXAGGERATE HOW BAD THE WRITING IS, BUT THEY DON'T DO THAT EITHER, OR YOU THINK THEY WOULD GO THE OTHER WAY AND TRY TO MAKE POWER RANGERS ACTUALLY COOL AS IT THOUGHT IT WAS AND THEY DON'T DO THAT THEY JUST WRITE EXACTLY WHAT EVERYONE WOULD HAVE SAID EXACTLY IN THE ORIGINAL AND JUST LET HOW STUPID IT IS STAND. IT RULES. LIKE HE JUST BREAK DANCE FIGHTS AND THE MOVIE NEITHER TRIES TO MAKE IT ANY LESS LAME THAN IT WAS NOR PLAYS UP HOW STUPID THAT IS. IT JUST DOES IT.  PS. JESUS CHRIST, YELLOW RANGER DIED IN REAL LIFE.
Read more

The Green Knight [movie]

 The Green Knight [movie] YEAH, THIS IS ONE OF THOSE MOVIES THAT I KNEW I WOULD LIKE SO MUCH I COULDN'T GET MYSELF TO WATCH IT BECAUSE OF THE PRESSURE. BUT YEAH, IT'S GOOD. I LOVE HOW CLEAR IT IS THEY JUST OWN ONE BIG SPOT LIGHT AND DECIDED TO MAKE EVERY SINGLE EFFECT IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE TURNING ON AND ON THAT LIGHT AND USING GELS. IT'S LIKE LEGITIMATELY GREAT.  I WOULD SAY LIKE 75% OF SCENES INVOLVE CAMERA LOOKING AT SOMETHING, SPOTLIGHT BEHIND A WALL DEAD CENTER TO THE CAMERA THEN SPOTLIGHT COMING ON AT SOME POINT TO SHOW THE MOOD SHIFTING AND IT LOOKS *SO GOOD* PS. I DO NOT THINK "MY SISTER QUEEFED YOU OUT" IS A REAL PHRASE FROM THAT TIME PERIOD OR THIS TIME PERIOD OR ANYTHING ANYONE HAS EVER SAID EVER. WHY DID HE SAY THAT?
Read more

Hypertrophy Genital Girls [movie]

YOU KNOW, I'VE KNOWN THIS MOVIE EXISTED FOR YEARS AND NEVER GOT AROUND TO WATCHING IT, ON ONE HAND NOBORU IGUCHI IS JUST ABOUT THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED BUT ON THE OTHER HAND THIS ONE IS JUST A FLAT OUT POROGRAPHY THAT JUST HAPPENS TO HAVE HIS INSANITY MAKEUP INCLUDED. I THINK MAYBE I HAD HOPED IT WOULD BE MORE NOBORU AND LESS PORONO BECAUSE REALLY IT WAS JUST 4 RAPE SCENES IN A ROW THEN AN HOUR LONG SCENE WITH THE TWO GIRLS HAVING 'SEX' AND PRETTY MUCH NO STORY. ALSO THERE IS NO TRANSLATION SO MY KNOWLEDGE OF JAPANESE WAS ALL I COULD USE TO FOLLOW THE STORY, LUCKY I KNOW "ALIEN", "CUNT", "WEIRDO", 'WHAT?' AND "STOP!" AND THAT IS REALLY ALL THERE WAS. PS. THE ONLY TWO PARTS THAT HAD THE MAGIC OF HIS REAL MOVIES WAS THE ALIEN PUNCHING THE GIRLS SUDDENLY WITH NO BUILD UP AND ALSO THE FACT THE VERY LAST SCENE IS THE GIRLS KISSING IN A SHOWER OF BLOOD COMING OUT OF THE GIRL'S GIANT PAPER MACHE VAGINA. WHAT?
Read more