Three books down this month! Two of this month’s reads were inspired by a desire to read some of Aaron’s favorite books. The third was a revisit of one of the greatest literature series of my teenage years. How does that grab ya?
- The Once and Future King by T.H. White. Aaron is a big fan of the fantasy/medieval genre. I remember when we first met, I asked him what his favorite book was and this was his near-immediate response! It’s an anachronistic telling on the legend of King Arthur. It’s technically five books in one, and it took me a while to completely finish! Truthfully, I didn’t fully learn the story of King Arthur as a kid. I know what you’re thinking: “Aren’t you a Disney fan? What about The Sword and the Stone?” Yes, I did watch that movie and own the VHS as a kid, but I barely remember it. In fact, it wasn’t until someone I follow on Twitter posted stills of the movie that fit within the context of the book that I started recalling parts of it. Thankfully, I have Disney Plus to re-watch the movie, now that I know the legend from beginning to end!
I will say that the length of the story made it a little less enjoyable, but I enjoyed the characters and the silly references to then-modern situations (like cars, World War II, etc.). I also never thought I’d ever text anyone “Mordred is a lil’ bitch,” but I’m pretty sure I did that at least twice while reading. I didn’t take note of favorite quotes in this book, because Aaron’s copy is an original edition and if anything tarnished the book I think he’d never forgive me. - Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer. In my younger years, as the story of a young wizard boy and the battle for good and evil came to a close, a new fantasy series was beginning to take fruition: Twilight. A romantic young adult series about a human teenage girl falling in love with a permanently teenaged, yet hundred year old, vampire boy. The novel spawned three sequels and iconic film adaptations, including this scene that is, without question, a cultural reset. Bella Swan, the protagonist, was played by then-mocked-now-adored Kristen Stewart, and we were all bidding for the heart of either Taylor Lautner, who played the second love interest Jacob Black, or Robert Pattinson, who played Edward Cullen, the quietly brooding vampire. While 2019 belonged to Timothee Chalamet, 2020 belongs to Robert Pattinson. He returned to the zeitgeist with the 2019 critically acclaimed The Lighthouse. Between starring in this year’s Nolan thriller Tenet and taking on the role of the Dark Knight in the upcoming Batman film, we all have our eyes back on Robert. How perfectly timed is it that Midnight Sun is released.
Midnight Sun was in its early stages in 2008 when twelve chapters were leaked, and Stephenie Meyer decided to wait to finish it, leaving us “Twilighters” devastated. It was released on August 4. I downloaded it immediately. It was a trip.
Midnight Sun returns us to Forks, Washington, to retell the story of Twilight from Edward’s perspective. It’s not the greatest book I’ve ever read, and parts of it were overdrawn out to a degree. I’m also no longer fifteen years old, “quivering” with love for a monster I just met. Some of the mooney-eyed talk of passion and how a girl so plain could be so beautiful had me rolling my eyes… but in the most good-natured way. I had fun reading it! And if they wanted to make a movie of it with Timothee Chalamet as Edward, I wouldn’t object! Let it happen! I’m not in charge!
Two quotes I loved (one’s an overlap from the original, the other is just a good take on modern dating conventions):“You’re doing it again,” she murmured.
“What?”
“Dazzling me,” she admitted, meeting my eyes wearily.“How silly humans were, to let a six-inch height difference confound their happiness.”
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Another favorite of Aaron’s! His sense of humor is prevalent in both books mentioned here, as well as what I remember from a Terry Pratchett novel I almost read five years ago (we’ll be circling back around to that in a minute). He calls it vaguely British, like Monty Python, and I’m tempted to agree. This book reminded me a bit of The Twilight Zone, with one big distinction: when the paradigm shift occurs, the protagonist just sort of rolls with the punches (in The Twilight Zone the protagonist often loses their mind and cannot accept this change). It was a quick and fun read, and I imagine I’ll read the other four books in the series some other time! A good-humored sci-fi adventure seemed par for the course, considering my penchant for Star Wars lately.
The writing of this book is so patently amusing that I could have picked swarths of paragraphs that stuck out to me. That said, here’s a few gems:“I went to Cambridge University. I took a number of baths — and a degree in English.”“Mr. Prosser wanted to be at point D. Point D wasn’t anywhere in particular, it was just any convenient point a very long way from points A, B, and C. “
“On Earth it is never possible to be farther than sixteen thousand miles from your birthplace, which really isn’t very far, so such signals are too minute to be noticed.”
(I Googled this… it’s true!)“I repeat, all planet leave is canceled. I’ve just had an unhappy love affair, so I don’t see why anybody else should have a good time. Message ends.”
(This has big Chris Traeger in “Operation Ann” energy)
I was also going to read “Pratchett’s Women,” a series of essays on the female characters in Terry Pratchett’s canon. Terry Pratchett is unquestionably Aaron’s favorite writer, having read almost, if not all, of his novels. However, I only got about one essay in when Aaron asked “Why are you reading this when you haven’t read any of his books?” A valid point. He provided several recommendations to get me started, and I’m eager to see how I like them!
Overall, a fun month of reading. However, I am more than halfway behind my reading goals. I have read 22 books this year, leaving me thirty to go. If I read ten books a month, I can pull it off. I don’t necessarily think it’s impossible, but considering how it takes me an entire month to read four books, I’m going to have to really focus! In October, I’ll be keeping to the theme of spooky and scary. I’ll explore the typical Halloween spooks (haunted houses, vampires, etc.), but I’ll also be reading a few true-crime novels, bringing in a dose of real-life horror: the American serial killer. Considering the fact that I play true-crime docs as background noise at work, I think this will be easier. My first dalliance: the Audible version of American Psycho. Ya like Huey Lewis and the News?