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review 2015-10-27 00:00
"A Lisbeth Salander novel" - as if! And "continuing Stieg Larsson's Millennium Series"? My ass.
The Girl in the Spider's Web - David Lagercrantz

I'm sorry, but this went on my "hell no!" shelf faster than you could say 'Mike'. Because honestly? It doesn't even matter to me of it is a good thriller per se, or not.

This book is everything Stieg Larsson's life partner has been fighting against ever since he left this world way before his time. Stieg Larsson was a brilliant writer and was, as far as I'm concerned, one of the most authentic and GOOD men this world and profession has seen in a long time.

What made his works so terrific was his extraordinary eye for detail, his talent to draw you in with even the most mundane descriptions of people's actions or thoughts. And he kept you absolutely hooked with his carefully drawn, wonderfully complex and unconventional (anti-)heroes.

Now, under normal circumstances, it is almost impossible to reach the standards he set for his series and genre. And even though I was saddened beyond belief that the other 7 books of his Millenium Saga weren't finished before his untimely death, I also believe in the right of every author to decide what to publish or not. Fact of the matter is, Larsson didn't publish more books in the series because they weren't done. Because he didn't want to! And his partner is still fighting for his scripts and drafts to remain unpublished and not being used by somebody else.

So this book right here? Has NOTHING to do with Stieg Larsson. Absolutely nothing. I find it insulting and more than a little disrespectful to use his name for something that 1. is not even really inspired by his own vision for the series - because his scripts are still being guarded by his life partner and 2. is a result of somebody along the line thinking: "What the hell? So he's dead. Let's just do it ourselves, it can't be that hard." Because f* you very much. It is THAT hard. Least of all because it's not your freaking story to continue!

So I'm not going to touch this one. Like I said, maybe it's not even a bad book. But I absolutely don't care. Right here, the wishes and ideas of an author are hurt post mortem, with no regard to his personal ideals, visions or feelings while he was still alive.

IMHO, there are few ways to completely disrespect one of the most authentic and brilliant writers of our time and his legacy more than this thing does. It's shameful, wrong and I hate it. 

 

That's all. 

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text 2015-09-23 11:27
Co nas nie zabije, to wywoła mieszane uczucia. Krótki tekst o kryminałach i miłości.
Co nas nie zabije - David Lagercrantz

Sięgając po "Mężczyzn, którzy nienawidzą kobiet", złamałam jedną ze swych czytelniczych zasad – by trzymać się z dala od bestsellerów. Ale Kindla miałam wtedy od niedawna i należało coś na niego wgrać, a e-book był do wygrania w konkursie. 

 

W "Millenium" się zakochałam. W postaciach, w skomplikowanej fabule, w nieznanym mi wcześniej szwedzkim klimacie, w stylu Larssona, szczegółowym i rozwlekłym, dokładnie takim jak lubię. "Millenium" zapoczątkowało moje zainteresowanie skandynawską literaturą (głównie kryminałami), zresztą wybuchła w tym czasie moda na te tytuły. Przeczytałam więc Perssona, Wagnera, Edwardsona, Nessera, Høvsgaarda, Blædel, Läckberg, Rosenfeldta i Hjortha, Nesbø, Åsbrink. W kolejce czeka Renberg. Co ciekawe, najlepsze wrażenie zrobiły na mnie raczej nazwiska spoza "Czarnej Serii", te raczej nie promowane. Arne Dahl z serią o zespole A (wydawanym w e-booku, ze względu na prawa autorskie, od 5 tomu), Gaute Heivoll z "Zanim spłonę", Jan Guillou ze "Złem". Także "Grzech pierworodny w Wilmslow" Lagercrantza wspominam z sympatią. 

 

Ale żadna z tych książek, jak szybko zrozumiałam, nie jest "Millenium". Bo raz, że "Millenium" nazywane jest kryminałem niekoniecznie najtrafniej, a dwa – że to jednak inny kaliber. Historia stworzona przez Larssona, jak i jego styl, są wyjątkowe. Są inne. Wyróżniają się. Czy to znaczy, że Hesser czy Nesbø są źli? Oczywiście, że nie, bo nie o to mi w tym porównaniu chodzi. Chodzi mi o to, że "Co nas nie zabije" nie jest "Millenium" – jest jak wszystko inne. Jest kryminałem z "Czarnej Serii".

 

Pierwsza połowa tej książki niesamowicie mnie rozczarowała, właśnie dlatego, że odniosłam wrażenie, że czytam kolejny skandynawski kryminał. Lubię skandynawskie kryminały. I ten jest całkiem dobry. Zwyczajnie brakuje mu niesamowitości Larssona, co sprawia, że gdyby podmienić postaci, gdyby zrobić z tego zupełnie niezależną historię, prawdopodobnie bardzo by mi się podobała. Lagercrantz nie umęczył mnie tak jak Persson, nie było w nim takich językowych potknięć jak u Edwardsona (choć oczywiście trzeba pamiętać, że część to zapewne kwestia tłumaczenia). Lagercrantz potrafi pisać – stosuje zabieg z prezentowaniem tej samej sceny z punktu widzenia różnych postaci, co może się wydawać sposobem na zwiększenie objętości, ale po namyśle stwierdzam, że jednak mi się ta forma pisania spodobała, pozwalała na przedstawienie różnych perspektyw. Muszę też pochwalić fabułę i zaplecenie intrygi, bo ta rzeczywiście skojarzyła mi się z klimatem Larssona. Jest też dobrze rozplanowana i napisana, więc nie pogubiłam się w trakcie czytania. Ma wszystko, czego można by oczekiwać od tej opowieści – hakerów, mafię, wielkie pieniądze i rodzinne dramaty, a także sprzeciw wobec zła, które dotyka słabych i niewinnych.

 

Bo są takie momenty, gdy trochę ducha "Millenium" wyczuwałam – pojawiły się one w drugiej połowie książki, w rozmowie Blomkvista z Palmgrenem o dzieciństwie Lisbeth, rozmowie Blomkvista z Edem the Nedem, a także na sam koniec, gdy już intryga zostaje podsumowana. Pojawia się też najważniejszy wątek oryginalnej trylogii, mężczyźni nienawidzący kobiet. Zupełnie, jakby Lagercrantz pewniej czuł się wtedy, gdy nie musiał wymyślać własnych elementów, a jedynie odtwarzać dzieło Larssona.

 

Miłość do "Millenium" stawia mnie jednak w trudnej sytuacji. Nie wiem, na ile moje odczucia odnoszą się bezpośrednio do treści "Co nas nie zabije", a na ile są wypadkową sentymentu po lekturze sprzed kilku lat. Zresztą wiele osób narzekało, że to zwykły skok na kasę. Muszę powiedzieć, że po skończonej lekturze obudziła się we mnie obawa, że powstaną także kolejne książki z serii, o czym świadczą pewne napoczęte wątki. Wolałabym, żeby tak się nie stało, bo to jednak nie ten sam poziom opowieści. Sentymenty są mocne, domagają się uszanowania materiału wyjściowego...

 

Z drugiej jednak strony – czy tworzenie historii zależnych nie jest jedną z najpiękniejszych cech kultury? Czy te wszystkie "Rozważne, romantyczne i zombie", parodie i przeróbki, fakt, iż każda książka w Uniwersum Metro 2033 jest napisana przez innego autora, w końcu miliony fanfików do Harry'ego Pottera nie są znakiem prawdziwej miłości do literatury? Tak jest nie tylko z książkami, ale też filmami, serialami, grami. Nieustannie poszukujemy magii kryjącej się w fikcji. Wymyślone światy niezmiennie nas pociągają i pobudzają wyobraźnię. "Co nas nie zabije" nie jest najlepszą książką na świecie. Nie jest też godnym następcą "Millenium". Za to może być skokiem na kasę. Ostatecznie jednak wyrasta z tego samego uczucia co fanarty do "Supernatural" – z fascynacji historiami, które podbiły nasze serca.

 

Gdybym jednak miała coś Lagercrantzowi polecić, to by napisał własną serię. Po tej książce widzę, że potrafiłby to zrobić. A ja chętnie bym ją przeczytała. Może nawet bym ją pokochała.

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review 2015-01-01 05:35
The Pursuit of the Millenium
Pursuit of the Millenium - Cohn N

Pursuit of the Millenium is a well-documented history of anarchic millenarian movements in the Middle Ages that might have been perfect if it weren't for some fairly obvious auctorial bias.

Cohn starts with an excellent thesis and documentation about how the fervor of the Crusades, particularly among the poor, set the stage for later millenarian cults. The 2nd Crusade, in particular, set the stage for later messianic movements by using the non-canonical "Sibylline Prophecies" as pretext for invading the Holy Land and killing a lot of innocent Jews, Muslims, *and* Christians (almost always representatives of the Catholic church) along the way. These prophecies, forged at a much later date than their authors' claimed that they were written, were composed mostly by monks to elaborate and integrate the eschatological pronouncements of the Revelation of John into a world-view that saw an "Emperor of the Last Days," either a reflection of or a resurrected Charlemagne, as the key figure that would usher in the final judgement of the world and an era of peace and prosperity for believers. These apocryphal writings informed, to some degree or another, all the millenial movements that came after the 2nd Crusade. Common themes were the rise of a righteous earthly ruler who would lead the fight against the Antichrist (first in the form of the Saracens, later in the form of the Pope) and his minions, resulting in their utter destruction.

In most cases, this "phantasie," as Cohn calls it, led to instabilities in the social order, revolution, violence, and, much of the time, the extermination of anyone identified as an enemy to the movement. Think religious terrorism is of modern provenience? Think again! The methods and agenda of the anonymous author of the Book of a Hundred Chapters, written in the mid-15th-century, would make Daesh squeamish. He even claimed to have used alchemy to invent explosives with which to overthrow the kingdoms of Europe. Car bombs before there were cars!

Cohn's writing throughout is solid and, at times, downright poetic. Take, for instance, this paragraph about the flagellants, those who felt that by lacerating themselves with metal-barbed whips, the world would be bettered by their suffering penitence:

A chronicler remarked that during the flagellant processions people behaved as though they feared that as a punishment for their sins God was about to destroy them all by earthquake and by fire from on high. It was in a world which seemed poised on the brink of the abyss that penitents cried out, as they beat themselves and threw themselves upon their faces: "Holy Virgin, take pity on us! Beg Jesus Christ to spare us! and: "Mercy, mercy! Peace, peace!" - calling ceaselessly, we are told, until the fields and mountains seemed to echo with their prayers and musical instruments fell silent and love-songs died away.

But why stop at whipping yourselves when you can help others to be repentant, as well? These flagellants were wont to destroy the inhabitants of entire cities at a time, likely whipped up into a frenzy of violence by their self-punishment. 'Tis better to give than to receive, no?

While Cohn starts out in a strictly Marxist vein, he branches out to other methods of historical analysis in the later two-thirds of the book. The history of the Brethren of the Free Spirit is fascinating, complex, and "layered" in a way that makes a very confusing movement understandable. Best of all, at this point, Cohn lays off on both the thick Marxist and thinly-veiled Freudian analysis, both of which show too much of their structural prejudices early on in the book. This section is really compelling history!

One of my biggest complaints about Cohn is his assumption that Luke's account in Acts Chapter 4 is an "Imaginary version of the primitive church". The only evidence I see of this is Cohn's say-so, which makes for very bad interpolative history. Luke was there. He saw it and lived it. There are other accounts that corroborate this evidence, too. Just because the millenial cults used this to further their own arguments for egalitarianism doesn't make it "imaginary". Furthermore, I don't know why Cohn is so adamant in distancing himself from this "phantasy". I wonder if it had something to do with the time in which Pursuit of the Millenium was originally published, 1957, at the height of the Red Scare. Perhaps Cohn was fearful of being outed as a communist for his analysis of these movements, which often pitted the poor against the rich, so he made certain that it was known that he did not believe that early Christianity actually practiced the commmunal order that they claim to have practiced. But he presents absolutely no compelling evidence to substantiate his argument.

The account of the Taborite movement is fascinating - reading it was like watching what was essentially a medieval hippie commune disintegrate from the inside out. The usual problem with these arrangements reared its head: No one wanted to work, but everyone wanted the benefits of work. The idealism of the movement sowed the seeds of it's own self-destruction, while economic reality caused them to blossom into oblivion. Here, Cohn is back on his game with well-reasoned arguments and a careful reconstruction of the foundation, growth, demise, and the significant influence of the movement on later generations of millenarians.

The beginning of Matthys' Anabaptist movement in Munster sends historical echoes even further down the hall of time to the opening of Khmer Rouge rule in Cambodia. Though the movements are not connected in any way geographically or chronologically, the methodology of both is strikingly similar. From the use of intimidation to the extremities of communal ownership to the fostering of ignorance (in the Anabaptist sects through the burning of all books that were not the Bible and in the Khmer Rouge through the execution of all intellectuals, doctors, etc), the analogs are shocking. Comparing the two would make for interesting research in social history. To whomever takes this as their doctoral dissertation in comparative history, you're welcome. Mention me in the credits, please.

While this is good history, for the most part, it is clear that Cohn really, REALLY likes Marxist analysis. That's fine, as it seems to suit the subject matter and the evidence, at least in the early instances of the millenarian movements. But I suspect that some people joined these revolts out of a sense of spiritual compulsion, not just because they were poor. Poverty is neither necessary nor sufficient to push a person into millenarianism, though it might be sufficient to foster the growth of such movements. The evidence seems compelling, but what evidence *isn't* being shown here? Cohn does not show the full deck of cards here, and I believe he is hiding a card or two up his sleeve. It's not blatant enough to accuse him of outright cheating in the game of presenting historical evidence, but it's enough to arouse suspicion in the reader who is paying attention.

Still, a solid historical work on a subject that could use a lot more attention, given the religious extremism we see both domestically and abroad. Alas, we may just be doomed to having to deal with false Messiahs and their violent movements again and again. After all, we've been doing it, in the Christian world, at least, for 1500 years now. And that is a lot of historical precedent to drag behind us as we try to move forward. At least Cohn's work here helps us to clearly see the sort of circumstances that lead to these extremist movements. Maybe it's enough to start to get a grasp on how to prevent them from spreading so quickly and becoming so violent. Maybe . . . maybe . . .

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text 2014-11-29 17:40
A few thoughts about the Star Wars- The Force Awakens trailer

 

Ok, the wait is over.  You can all exhale now.

 

I don't get crazy over movies.  Why?- because they're just movies.  Same reason I don't get hyper over books, cds, tv shows, singers, actors, pro athletes, etc.  I'm a fan but never a fanatic.  The day you find me camping out for days on end to be first in line for something, you have my blanket authorization to shoot me in the head.  Take a screen shot of this in case you need it.

 

That said, there are certain movies I'm excited to see, even eager to.  Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies... heck, I may even get around to watching Guardians of the Galaxy and Frozen before the year is out.  Yeah, you read that right: I haven't seen either of them yet.  Why?- because they're just movies.

 

Geeks, Nerds, Fanbois and Fangurls had a collective orgasm on Friday with the release of the new trailer (I even know a couple of people who went to theaters just to see it),and I kinda feel embarrassed for you.  Reminds me of that poor guy from The People vs George Lucas who declared God never made anything that could compare... and he was referring to the trailer for The Phantom Menace.  Wonder how he felt after seeing the movie?

 

What can we expect from the plot of this new flick?  I dunno; since everything is pretty much speculation it's not worth the effort to comb through rumors and wild guesses, but something along the lines of passing the torch to the next generation would seem pretty obvious.  And a recently resurfaced interview clip with Mark Hamill might offer a wee hint of confirmation.

 

 

Mind you, he said that back in 1983.  Strong in the Force is this one.

 

Anyways, on to the trailer.

 

 

First thing you'll notice is... there's a black man.

Wait... I'm black, all alone in the desert and I'm a stormtrooper. I need a new agent.

 

The whole problem is, of course, that it's noticeable as this makes him the fifth one in the entire franchise (Lando Calrissian, Mace Windu, some rebel pilot, Captain Panaka and now this guy).  His appearance begs the question: since all stormtroopers are clones of Jango Fett, who the heck is he?  We also presume that he's on Tattooine, both due to a lack of originality and for re-establishing geek cred with the fan base.

 

Next, we have the latest in cute, cuddly robots.

Hi... I'm a rejected design from Frozen, coming to a store near you Black Friday 2015.

 

In case you forgot, Disney owns the franchise now- lock, stock and Death Star.  Moving on...

 

Lightsabers have a new feature.

This'll make marshmallow roasts a whole lot easier.

 

One site went so far as to call this a 'crucifix-design'.  *sigh*  This, my friends, is exactly what's wrong with geekdom- all the overthinking and reading waaaay too much into stuff.  Lightsabers are modeled from swords, hence the name. Swords used to have these things called handguards- guess what their purpose was?  Giving a lightsaber a handguard is so imminently logical you have to wonder what took so long?   And from there it ain't much of a leap to get some use out of it by redirecting some of that blade's energy through it.  But until I see it in action, what it can actually do... meh.

 

X-Wings operating in an atmosphere

Remind me to thank whoever thought of adding Nitrus Oxide to our engines.

 

Now this I like.  We've only seen X-Wings in zero-g space... and other than Luke only had Wedge Antilles come back for another flight, so I'm not too optimistic about these guys making it off-planet.  But it's a good look.

 

And finally...

This is how we do! Han Solo style, baby!

 

Ah yes... the Millenium Falcon, pitching and yawing at full throttle through the upper atmosphere whilst dodging a swarm of TIE fighters.  What could be better?

 

So, what's the verdict?

 

It's still just a movie teaser trailer.  It's supposed to get you excited and interested in seeing the film yet not give too much, if anything, away.  Did it do that?  Ok, then- we're good.  And that's pretty much the size of it.  See ya in the spring when we get a full trailer... wonder what all this analysis and projection based upon almost no info will be worth then?

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review 2014-07-12 15:47
Do you want to play a game?
Yu-Gi-Oh! Vol. 1: The Millenium Puzzle - Kazuki Takahashi

You might have heard of Yu Gi Oh through pop culture. It's not only a children's card game, it's also an anime and manga about people playing a children's card game, not to mention the abridged series on the internet.

 

This is not that. Well... it's a precursor.

 

In its first incarnation, the Yu Gi Oh manga concerned itself with games of all kinds, made deadly by the magic of an ancient Egyptian puzzle and the spirit housed within it. (Fictional Ancient Egypt - always out to get you. Always). While the card game that would become its most famous aspect makes an appearance in this first seven-book series, it doesn't show up here, in volume one. Instead, we get games involving stabbing money, playing explosive table hockey and that old gem that parents everywhere love, "let's see who can stay quiet the longest."

 

The original seven-volume Yu Gi Oh series is an odd bird. It's got this weird whiplashy tone thing going on. The characters are ostensibly normal high school kids doing basically high school kid things -going to school, gossipping about celebrities, getting part-time jobs, trying to watch pixelated porn on the pay channels. But the games and some of the situations that set them up are *ridiculously* dark. And when I say ridiculously, I don't mean "very." I mean the situations are so ridiculous it can be hard to take them seriously. Like the school bully who decides if his patsy can't scrape together a lot of money (200k yen) in 24 hours he's going to go after him with a knife. Or adults beating up on kids, just as a matter of course. Or a hardened criminal casually discussing killing people.

 

But even darker than THAT are the penalties for the losers in these games. Some people are driven insane. One's literally set aflame. And then the story's like "Well, THAT was fun!" and we're back to normal school stuff again.

 

So, anyone familiar with my tastes can probably already guess. I LOVE this first volume, even if the art hasn't quite settled in yet. It's so ridiculous and wild, lacking the arching storylines and card games of the later series. But I love the variety and the oddness

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