Closing some tabs…The Dan Brown Edition

I feel like I’d be remiss if I let the day pass without at least making note of the fact that Dan Brown’s new novel, The Lost Symbol, is in stores today. His follow-up to juggernaut The Da Vinci Code, he takes his code solving mysteries to Washington, D.C., which is apparently overrun with power hungry Freemasons. Here’s a heaping helping of links to fill all your Dan Brown needs, if you like that sort of thing. I’ll throw in a couple of other interesting tidbits to keep you on your toes, of course.

• Plug in a city and a sect, and the Dan Brown Sequel Generator will kick out a plot.
• Slate wonders if it’s really possible to be a professor of symbology like Robert Langdon, star of Brown’s novels.
• If you printed the Internet, it would be a book weighing 1.2 billion pounds and 10,000 feet tall.
• Forget vampires. Angels are the coming new big thing in young adult literature.
• Now that the Infinite Jest reading project is coming to a close at Infinite Summer, they’re encouraging people to read Dracula by Halloween.
• Jon Krakauer, who has scored some successes of his own with Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, has a new book out today, too. He talks about Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman at The Daily Beast, Entertainment Weekly, and NPR.

The Strain, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Usually, I like to reserve books from the horror genre for October, where I have a scary Halloween celebration the entire month by reading tales of terror and fright. But ever since its release in June, I’ve listened to friends talk about The Strain and its new take on the vampire trope. Unable to wait even a month longer to read it for myself, I grabbed the book and prepared to be scared.

Well…it wasn’t necessarily scary. But it wasn’t the same old boring vampire crap that has come about as a result of Twilight, True Blood and their ilk, either. Treating vampirism like something repulsive and unwanted is a bold approach in these days of Team Edward, but I’ll be damed if Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan didn’t pull it off.

The story has an excellent set-up. A jumbo jet arrives in New York City and lands safely, but as it taxis down the runway, it suddenly shuts down completely. Power is off, and the air traffic controller can’t raise the pilots. When the ground crew goes out to investigate, they discover that everyone onboard the plane has died – and thus, the Centers for Disease Control are called in. Yes, there is a virus, or some sort of disease afflicting the people on the plane. But as you can probably guess, it’s a disease that lets its victims seem alive even after death.

I did think there were many things the book did well. There was a constantly building sense of dread, and there is some solid character development done. Overall themes are carried through even to the smallest story line. And as I mentioned before, rather than having people pine to become vampires, everyone who comes into contact with the afflicted knows instantly that this is a fate worse than death. There’s no romanticizing the Undead here.

Those of you who are familiar with the name will recognize author del Toro from his directorial work on films like Pan’s Labyrinth, the Hellboy movies, and The Devil’s Backbone. He has a real talent for creating fantastical worlds and following through with imagery even if it’s unappealing. He previously ventured into the world of vampires with the movie Blade II, and the vampires in The Strain do indeed bear a bit of similarity to some of the creatures in that movie (especially with their mouths and the way they feed. I felt like del Toro had already drawn the picture for me).

I do sort of wish that del Toro and Hogan had avoided stuff like having a grizzly, wise old vampire hunter who knew all the secrets. It seems like the story could have been significantly more tense if the main characters had needed to uncover the disease’s source for themselves. Also, the book does end rather suddenly, and isn’t really a self-contained tale. There’s definitely a “to be continued” aspect to it, which is fine and leaves the reader wanting more, but doesn’t really allow the book to become an instant classic in its own right.

I do recommend The Strain, though. It’s a quick, engaging page-turner and I’m certainly anticipating the follow-up, because the end of the first book definitely sets up something huge. Bring on “The Fall”!

And in my own local library news…

The Knox County Public Library is looking at expanding one location and doing away with some branches. As a library user who heavily relies on a branch location that is nice and close to home, I find this a disappointing move, since I’m sure there are a lot of people who feel the same way. It’s remarkably convenient to be able to hop online, put my item on hold, and then transfer it to my branch. For those with limited transportation, it certainly eliminates some options (not that I’m in that situation, but I feel for those that are). It’s yet another example of the economy both bolstering and bringing down our repositories of information.

Philadelphia closing public libraries

Considering how much additional business libraries have been doing in the current economic situation, it’s surprising and unfortunate that Philadelphia will close all public libraries on October 2nd. Read more here to learn how to make your concerns heard.

The Unwritten #1

Mike, my friendly neighborhood comic book store guy, strongly recommended The Unwritten to me as something he was confident I would love. I immediately noted that it’s a book from Vertigo, which does indeed instantly increase its chances of being something I’d go for. Some of my favorite comics are from their imprint, including Fables, Sandman, Air, and Y the Last Man.

The book opens in a world that looks a lot like, well, Harry Potter. There’s a boy hero named Tommy Taylor who wears glasses, and he has two friends – a boy and a girl – who help him in his battle against a dark…something or other. The scene shifts to a comic convention, where a young man named Tom Taylor – the son of the author, who disappeared years ago – is signing books. Tom obviously resents having to rely on his father’s work to make a living, but it’s the only thing that seems to stick (he’s tried being a musician, a writer, all sorts of things).

Things get weird at the convention when a woman in the audience suggests that Tom might not have been the writer’s son after all, and soon he’s accused of faking it to get the writer’s money. Oddly, though, what we find out instead is that Tom in fact seems to be the real Tommy – and that his nemesis is real as well as his childhood friends. A nice element of the art is that Tom undergoes some changes in appearance through issue #1 – and by the end he really does look like a grown-up Tommy.

It’s all a pretty strong setup for a series, and I look forward to seeing where it goes. The art is quite solid (and reminds me of Fables, really). I’ll be getting the next issues (we’re already up to #5) so I can see what happens next.

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month

Do you have a library card? Does your child have a library card? In conjunction with the start of school, the American Library Association has deemed the month of September to be Library Card Sign-Up Month. Candace Parker, who led the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team to two national championships, won an Olympic Gold Medal, and was both Rookie and Player of the Year for the WNBA in 2008, is lending her support to the cause. Sign up for a card today. What better way to read than free?

Kurt Vonnegut, meet Brenda Walsh

Slaughterhouse 90210 captions pop culture with classic literary quotes.

Book to Film: Whiteout

We all know that Hollywood is creatively bankrupt. Just look at all of the various “re-imaginings”, remakes, and movies based on toys if you have any doubt. Another source for Hollywood inspiration is books of all sorts – novels, non-fiction, graphic novels, kid-lit and comic books. Sometimes, these adaptations work extraordinarily well (The Lord of the Rings, Silence of the Lambs, No Country for Old Men), but more often, people find themselves disappointed that the movie desecrated a book they loved. As they’re about to enter theaters, I’ll take a quick look at these book-to-film projects, starting today with Whiteout.

Whiteout is a thriller/murder mystery set in Antarctica and is based on a limited-run comic book series written by Greg Rucka and illustrated by Steve Lieber. The main character is a female US Marshal who struggles against a sinister killer as well as some bitter cold as she attempts to uncover the secrets behind the murders.

I’ve actually read Whiteout, and though its my understanding that it’s fairly highly regarded, it left me a little cold (get it? Ha ha!). I liked that the central character was female and drawn realistically, but that’s about as far as it went. I never found myself particularly invested in their stories, which made it difficult for me to care whether she solved the mystery or if something terrible happened to her. It’s one of those books that I basically forgot about five minutes after I finished it.

It’s surprising, then, that someone thought there was enough mileage in Whiteout to expand to a full-length feature film. (I’d guess that the entire book takes about 40 minutes to read.) Sure, the challenges of filming a story set in Antarctica might be interesting visually, but as far as having a truly gripping story or engaging characters, there would have to be some significant work done. Considering that Kate Beckinsale was cast in the lead role – and she looks more like most “typical” female comic book characters than the one in Whiteout – it seems like the primary redeeming aspect of the book was left behind anyway.

If reviews are any indication, it looks like critics would have you steer clear of the movie, too. As I write this, Whiteout is 2% Fresh (thats *one* out of 50 reviews) at RottenTomatoes, the film review aggregator site. I suppose that’s what comes from choosing to adapt such average material in the first place.

Literary Podcasts

Details has a rundown on the best literary podcasts.

Book Monogamy?

A conversation I had recently…

Me: I just finished reading The Lazarus Project. I’m still pondering how I felt about it. Also, I’m up to page 827 of Infinite Jest. Only 154 pages to go (plus two pages of footnotes).

Dignan: You had to cheat on IJ with another book. You should probably just give up now.

Me: I think I’ve cheated on it with three so far. I’m not usually monogamous with books, though.

And it’s true. I usually am reading at least two books at once. Maybe it’s a classic case of ADD, or perhaps I’m just such a ravenous consumer of literature that I’m obsessively compelled to “read it all”. I particularly find it helpful to read multiple books when I’m working through something that’s particularly dense or long (like Infinite Jest, Against the Day, or Europe Central). I have to take breaks from those 1,000 page books – especially when they’re as complex as IJ.

Since I’ve had my Kindle, this behavior has grown even more consistent. I like to have a book going on the Kindle, but then I feel guilt that I’m not reading one of the many, many novels sitting on my bookshelves. Consuming two books at once helps me feel like I’m racing faster to get through my massive “to be read” list. Ultimately, it makes for a rich and varied experience, and feels like I’m giving my brain a good stretch. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.