So, I’ve had this particular blog for over a year now, and it’s been pleasant, I suppose. My blog-habits have definitely been questionable at times. I’m entertaining myself more than anything, I think. Which is okay. I don’t really tell people I know to come read this. I think because I think they’ll think I’m weird. And that was way too many uses of the word “think” in one sentence.
Anywho, so, the thing is, I’m not often very productive in the sense of creating cool and interesting things myself. But my last blog (the linking of the video) made me realize that I could be excellent and VERY productive in the sense of pointing to cool things that already exist courtesy of other people. And if nothing else, I can look back next year and remember all the things I thought were cool, and be happy that I thought they were cool. I can be cool by association.
So, here’s something I think is cool.
This book:
The thing is, internet, that when I see that a movie is coming out, which is based on a book, I don’t immediately think, “I want to see that movie!” I think, “I want to read that book!” Such is the case with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
And what I have found concerning this book is as follows: though I have not yet seen the movie, I can almost guarantee that I will be disappointed. Not because the movie’s gonna be horrible, it’s just gonna be different. Movies based on books never quite get it right in my mind. I think that the minute a story hits the big screen, it ceases to be the same story it was in the book. It may have the same characters, and the same general plot-line, but it’s NOT the same. Because the world of a book is so much more than events, or dialogue. The author’s writing style is a big part of it, but it’s even more than that. When you read a book, you don’t just know that character on a superficial level. You know their thoughts, their ideas, their insecurities, their feelings. You’re literally INSIDE. THEIR. HEAD. You are them.
I could tell from within the first 50 pages of this book that I was going to love it. I love Oskar; I think he’s hilarious and awesome. Also, I love novels for an adult audience, written from the point of view of a kid. I specify that because I love kids’ and YA books too, but this is different. When it’s written for an adult audience, the kids’ thoughts/words/actions have to be somewhat simplistic (cuz it’s a kid), but at the same time, written in a more sophisticated way, for the adults reading it. It’s complicated, and books that pull it off make me happy. But I digress.
I love this book because what’s happening is tragic, but because you’re inside this kid’s head, thinking his thoughts and being him, you don’t quite get the full impact of the tragedy. You’re thinking about what he’s thinking about, and you see the sadness out there on the outer level of the story. And it stings sometimes. But, at any given moment, you’re more concerned about if Mom’s gonna catch you in your lies about being sick so you can stay home from school and investigate the mysterious key from the blue vase in Dad’s closet.
So, you see, this is why books are amazing. Books are capable of making you feel like a kid when you’re not a kid. Movies can’t really do that, at least not in the same way.
So there you have it: a thing that I think is cool. Yay cool things!
The End.
