Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

And There Was Much Rejoicing

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

Over 20 years ago, the Priests of Morloth convened within the the chambers of the Temple of the Damned, to discuss and interpret these recent signs and portents. Some suggested that Morloth would finally emerge to claim the world that was rightfully His. Others feared that Thyrn, God of Light, would descend upon the earth to lay His Judgement upon the Damned.
But by the end of the day, when the light of the Sun crept back, they all agreed. Something terrible was Born. And so, the Priests of Morloth knew that they balanced upon the edge of a blade, a blade that would mean either Doom or Salvation.
As the clouds parted, the earth trembled and the sky opened up, threatening to unleash a furious light, the Priests of Morloth huddled in darkened corners, chanting their incantations, praying that Morloth’s Salvation would come at last. Then… there was silence.

Atomic

Dramatic nonsense aside, It’s actually my birthday today. Getting older is no picnic, I – and almost everyone else – can tell you that.
Becoming 20 was great, it’s a round number, and for some reason it is considered the ideal age. But becoming 21? Well, you realise it’s only going one way from here on out. It’s all downhill from here, folks!

On the other hand, it feels great! Who the hell wants to be 20 forever? Apart from those really sad middle-aged people you see hanging out at the trendy clubs. Or people who never dares to stop drinking or partying, because it’s the only thing they have left to cover up the fact that they are a just a complete douche.
No, getting older feels good. Despite the fact that society has a lot of expectations of me, and that I don’t fulfill any of them, I still feel pretty good.

My birthday wishes are these: That the Kimbo inside me remains strong.
That I will soon get my hands on a proper PC.
That part 1 of the 4th season of “Battlestar Galactica” will hit the shelves as soon as possible, and that I’ll love it.
That Sci-Fi channel picks up “Firefly”.
That Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis and Neil Gaiman never stops writing. T
hat season 4 of “Lost” will hit the shelves soon, and that they don’t ruin the mystery.
That Diablo III will be great.
That McCain will lose the November election.
And that I will always have a book to read, a show to watch, and a game to play.

I’m not much of a celebrator, so today will be relatively quiet, save for my brother and perhaps a few friends visiting.
Hopefully someone will give me a pretty good movie to watch. The Movie-Ghost has been kind lately, and blessed me with good films such as “Juno” and “Charlie Wilson’s War”. Something along those standards would be pretty neat for a present.

And with that, I conclude this self-glorifying birthday post, and leave you to your affairs.

Oh, and by the way, next post will be about a TV-series. I swear!

Posted in Battlestar Galactica, Blizzard, Books, Comics, Diablo, Games, Geek-Culture, Kimbo, MMA, Tv-series. | 8 Comments »

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

Saturday, February 2nd, 2008

(Note this is not a review, but simply me voicing an oppinion.)

Keywords: Skag, national identity, violence, AIDS and Iggy Pop,

The movie based on the novel is one of my absolute favourites, and I’ve seen it countless times since I was 12. Needless to say, it was about time I gave the book a try,

The novel, unlike the film, is nonlinear, and it is notably absent of a clear storyline arc. It is more a collection or series of (relatively) individual short stories mostly told in a first-person perspective of various friends or associates in Leath, Edinburgh.
It’s mostly written in a phonetic scottish accent, and takes a bbit of getting used to.

Trainspotting focuses on the daily lives and struggles of Mark Renton and his friends, most of whom struggles with a form of destructive addiction. Most notably heroin, but also alcohol, violence, amfetamin etc. Welsh goes into debth to describe in detail the lifestyle, upsides, downsides, effects and the struggles of a heroin addiction. In fact, his descriptions are so thorough that you’ll deeply sympathise with the junkies, wether you like it or not.
This sounds very bleak, I know, and normally it would be. But the way these characters descbribe things that would otherwise repulse me, is kind of what makes it such a brilliant novel. It’s disgusting, and yet somehow beautiful and deadly funny at the same time.

But it’s not all bleak and morbid, Welsh also tackles and challanges controversial issues, such as, Neo-Nazism, Unionism, Thatcher, Capitalism, Orangemen and society’s Values. This is especially shown through Renton’s point of view who venomously attacks these issues on several occasions, and is repulsed by what he percieves as society’s hypocrisy.

There is also a great diversity between the characters, especially the four most notable ones.
From the somewhat caring yet cynnical Renton (Or “Rent Boy” as Begbie enjoys calling him) struggling with heroin, guilt, insecurity, bitterness, and jeleousy. To the slick and self-confident Sick Boy, adept at picking up women and controlling his heroin usage, who has a fondness for playing with his mates heads. And the kind hearted and shy Spud, who possesses a child-like naivete and wishes that everyone would just get along. To the psycopathic, brutal and hateful Begbie, who resents his friends for their heroin addictions, despite his own heavy use of alcohol, violence and amfetamin.
Through the individual characters’ narrations, we learn about their relationships between each other, and their diffrent views.
Each character has their own style of narrating, such as Sick Boy’s habit of coversing with Sean Connery while thinking to himself, and Spud’s habit of referring to people as cats.

To give a short description of the novel’s plot: It narrates the individual characters’ joys and struggles with heroin, personal tragedies, depression, relationships, views on society. All while maintaining a a witty and strong dialogue.

By the way, Trainspotting has punk written all over it, so I suggest listening to The Sex Pistols while reading.

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