Tuesday, November 29, 2011

And The Winners Are...


Laura @ Devouring Texts

and

Belle @ Belle's Bookshelf

Congratulations you two. I'll be sending your Christmas presents in the next day or two so you should (hopefully) see them just in time for Christmas! 

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to enter and for reading this blog!

Top 10 Tuesday: Books to read this summer

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!



1. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

2. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

3.Animal Farm by George Orwell

4. Nerd do Well by Simon Pegg

5. IQ84 by Haruki Murakami

6. Harry Potter 1-7 by J.K. Rowling

7. The Dark Tower by Stephen King (as many as possible)

8. Portrait of a Killer- Jack the Ripper by Patricia Corwell>

9. Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis

10. Manic Streets of Perth: Anthology by Dave Franklin

These aren't really "summer reads," more like "reads I don't get a chance to attempt when I'll in the middle of a uni semester".There is very little chance I'll make it through even half of these books this summer, but I'll do my best to make a serious dent! Most of these books are the big fat novels I avoid when I'm busy because I like to take significant chunks out of books when I read them, rather than spend two months reading bits and pieces at a time. Others are new (ish) releases or series that I'm desperate to finally get a start on. Harry Potter 1-7 are the only re-reads, and it's a re-read that I do every summer. On average it takes me about 1-2 weeks to read through them and reacquaint myself with my beloved characters and the school I always wished I went to.

I'll be sure to post some pictures of me reclining on the beach in Northern NSW with a book in hand for all of you battling your winter chills!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Review: The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King

The Gunslinger (Dark Tower 1)
Stephen King

Published: 1982

Synopsis:In The Gunslinger, King introduces his most enigmatic hero, Roland Deschain of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting, solitary figure at first, on a mysterious quest through a desolate world that eerily mirrors our own. Pursuing the man in black, an evil being who can bring the dead back to life, Roland is a good man who seems to leave nothing but death in his wake.


I've been wanting to read this series for awhile now. I've heard some rave reviews, but for some reason I've never felt compelled to go down to the book store and buy myself a copy. So instead I wait until I happen across a second hand store and look for a cheap copy I can take home. Unfortunately, while many of the other books in the series pop up in my local book haunts, people seem to hold onto this first book and make it that much harder for me to get started on it. Then, last week while I was looking through my bookcase for some books to read for the "books I should have read" challenge I found a copy alongside my other Stephen King books. I have no idea where it came from, or how long it's been there. Perhaps the book fairy dropped it in when s/he realised my search was going no where. Regardless of where it came from, I now have a copy and have finally been able to read it!

This'll be a short review because the way the "universe" is being created makes me think that I can't really impart anything without knowing what comes next (which I don't), so instead this'll be succinct and I'll revisit the review once I've completed the series. What I do want to discuss is Stephen King's mastery as an author. One problem I have with fantasy novels is when the author spends a good 100 pages outlining the world and history and loses track of the narrative. King manages to solve this problem by slowly seeping out details of the world, but painting enough of a world for you to understand what is happening as it happens, even if you don't know the full complexity of the world. In fact I think art is a perfect analogy for the way the fantasy world is created. The original sketch and base colours are firmly in place, we know this is a desolate and dying land where people are hard done by and evil plays a firm hand. But we can't yet see the details that will slowly be added a layer at a time, adding depth, detail and substance to the picture.

If you've read the series you'll possibly laugh at my inability to piece to world together with the clues given in this first book, but I'm still not exactly sure what this world is. Is it a future Earth? The reference to The Beatles and machines long unused suggest this is the case, but the discussion  and demonstration of demons suggests it isn't quite that clean cut. Are there parallel worlds with "doors" linking them that seeps bits of each world into one another? Is it a Planet of the Apes type situation? There are so many possibilities yet I have absolutely no idea, not yet, but I have faith that King will continue to tantalise and intrigue me with his leaking of details. The release of details may be slow, but at no time was I exasperated.   I want to know more about the world, but the journey of the protagonist Roland is captured with such detail, and captured my focus so completely that the details of the world aren't necessary until they impact upon Roland and his quest.

Roland is a fantastic protagonist. He's tall, dark and handsome (well I'm adding the handsome bit), haunted by his past, individualistic, solitary, quiet, broody, tough, determined and so many other things. He actually reminds me a lot of the Doctor from Doctor Who, both are the last of their kind, haunted by their past, take on new companions who never last long, and keep their personal story close to their chest. Both are touched by sadness and on many occasions seem to have lost hope in their crusade, yet fight with every inch of their being for it. Roland is a complex character and I can't wait to learn more about his past, and continue on his adventure with him.

So to sum up my teeny review, this book is a compelling start to a series I can see myself getting quite addicted to. I didn't blitz through it quite as fast as I did with Game of Thrones but it held my attention enough to determine that this time I'll go right to the book store to find the next book in the series, no book fairy needed!

My Rating: 4/5

Monday Links

*"13 punctuation marks that you never knew existed," or as I like to title it, 13 punctuation marks you knew about, but aren't in regular use and have nifty names and shapes.

*One of my current favourite tumblrs, Ugly Renaissance Babies. Warning, some of these will stop you sleeping!

*Daniel Kalder discusses Philip K. Dick's "exegisis" which has recently been published, and it's place within the compendium of PKD eccentricity.

*An opinion piece by Berkeley poetics and poetry professor Robert Hass about the Occupy protests and attacks on campus. Really beautifully written.

*In "honour" of the premiere of Twilight's Breaking Dawn part 1 here are 9 cultural zeitgeists arguably more damaging than Twilight.  Although the article author's number one is uneducated enough to make me want to hunt them down and force some knowledge into their head.

*The ins and outs of bibliotherapy.

*More casting news out of the upcoming Hollywood bastardisation of the immensely amazing and perfect Akira. Ken Watanabe is fantastic but seriously Hollywood, why are you doing this? Why?

*My Christmas give-away will be drawn at 9am tomorrow morning (my time). That gives you exactly 24 hours from the time of this post's posting to make sure you're in!



Friday, November 25, 2011

Fanart Friday: The 11th Doctor

I said the other week that David Tennant is my Doctor. However that doesn't mean I don't enjoy the magnificent job that Matt Smith has done in his rendition as the 11th regeneration of our favourite Galifreyan. He's a decidedly younger and more hip(ster) imagining, what with his tight jeans, bow ties and silly hats, but his youth actually works wonderfully to juxtapose the time-worn old man that can be seen at times in his eyes. The 11th Doctor is slightly more scatterbrained than I'm used to and seems to think well through a series of tangents and strange distractions, but his vast intellect and capacity for compassion continues through to this form. His relationship with Mr and Mrs Pond is delightfully odd and heartwarmingly real and the finest moment he's seen so far takes place during the Neil Gaiman penned episode The Doctor's Wife, where we glimpse a little closer into the mind, heart and memory of the timelord who so often closes himself off. So in celebration of this new(ish) form and, in particular Gaiman's ep, I present to you some scintillating art work depicting our favourite hat-wearing alien.

The Tardis and Her Doctor by BobPsycho

Come Along Pond by Girl-On-The-Moon

Doctor Who Run by Wynahiros

The Doctor's Wife by Lortay


Thursday, November 24, 2011

Giveaway reminder!



Hello all,

Just a friendly reminder that there aren't too many days left to enter my giveaway! For the entry form and all the entry details head over to the original post and check it out! There are two prize packs up for grabs, both of which include a brand-spanking new copy of Haruki Murakami's Norweigan Wood and a litany of other bookish festive season gifts. 

Good luck everyone, and remember, you've got to be in it, to win it!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Review: Great Gatsby (Graphic Novel) adapted by Nicki Greenberg

The Great Gatsby
By F.Scott Fitzgerald

Graphic Novel adapted by Nicki Greenberg

Published: 2007

Synopsis: A wonderful homage to F. Scott Fitzgerald's jazz-age classic that brings to life the glitter, the melancholy and the grand and crumpled dreams of Fitzgerald's unforgettable characters. In the exquisitely realised setting of 1920s New York, a throng of fantastical creatures play out the drama, the wry humour and the tragedy of the novel.

The Great Gatsby is simply one of the finest books ever written. Not everyone may agree with that sentiment but I'm honestly hard pressed to think about a book that means so much to me and is written so well. After becoming a fan of the book, I became a fan of the film (which I'll be reviewing later this week) and after that I became a fan of this graphic novel. Even before reading it I was enchanted with the idea of reading The Great Gatsby as a graphic novel, and was intrigued by the idea of making the characters animals, flowers and monsters. I won't be getting into too much detail about whether the construction of the characters as seahorses (Gatsby), dandelions (Daisy), slugs (Nick) or ogres (Tom) adds much in regards to further edifying the characteristics and qualities of the characters, but let me just say that this bold and slightly bizarre idea does, inexplicably, seem to lend a certain je ne sais quoi to the story. I can't really be certain how, although I do find myself wondering now how I never envisioned Gatsby as a seahorse before!

It seems to be a popular misconception that Fitzgerald was writing about the glory of the 1920s jazz age. I think it's fairly clear that rather than praise the era, it is, for the most part, illustrating the gratuitous and self-serving nature of that hedonistic time. To an extent I do understand the mistake. The beauty of Fitzgerald's writing makes me nostalgic for a time I never knew, and by all account (at least those written within the pages of The Great Gatsby) one which favoured money and social standing over anything of real value or substance. Everything in The Great Gatsby is about hiding away true emotions or thoughts and instead presenting the world with extravagant or superfluous shows. There are several mentions in the text of performances, and the gesticulating, over-the-top theatrics of many of the characters seem to suggest that no-one is free of the desire to shut away their true, smaller self, whether in fear of failure, destruction, or that they'll fade away into obscurity.

The graphic novel does a fantastic job of capturing the heart of the novel and presenting it in a new and entirely fresh manner for audiences. Personally I would recommend reading the book in it's original form, but the writing in the graphic novel is still Fitzgerald, so even if you're receiving primarily the dialogue and the more dazzling gems of Fitzgerald's commentary, you're still receiving something remarkable indeed. The graphic novel tells the story through a series of sepia toned "photos" displayed on the black card of an album, as the narrator, Nick Carroway, recounts the events that took place while he lived on West Egg next door to the mysterious and endearing Gatsby. The representation of the illustrations as old photographs which have been treasured and serve as a reminder to Nick of the better and worst aspects of that time in his life perfectly represents the feel of the original novel. Not only do we get the nostalgic memories seeping through the turns of phrase that Fitzgerald used, or the events of the story, but the visuals used to present the story are the literal manifestation of nostalgia, old, worn, faded and bruised, yet loved. The illustrations are also used to further emphasise the fleeting nature of the whirlwind time that Nick spent in West Egg, such as the photo that has the middle (presumed to be bearing the image of a woman) torn out, which follows the statement, "I even had a short affair with a girl who worked in the accounting department, until her brother began throwing mean looks in my direction. And I let it blow quietly away."

The story of Jay Gatsby and his all consuming love for Daisy, and the events that transpire through the novel when they are finally re-introduced is lovingly replicated in this graphic novel, as is the smaller points made against the frivolity and hedonism of the jazz age and the shifting emotions of melancholy, hope, love and devotion. It's a wonderful homage to a wonderful book and I recommend picking up a copy so that you can fall headlong into the story which is sure to move you to tears, laughter, anger and contentment. A must-read for fans of graphic novels and Fitzgerald alike.


Monday, November 21, 2011

Monday Links


*Liao Yiwu, a Chinese poet has exiled himself and retreated to Germany, where his books are best-sellers. His new found freedom has meant he can publish his memoir, which reveals all the torrid details of the abuse and turture he suffered at the hands of the Chinese justice system. This article is a sneak peak into his story and the forthcoming book, I highly recommend giving it a read.

*The Huffington Post listed 11 famous books and the best drinks to drink with them. It's a little silly but there are a couple I'll be trying out.

*Author Jesmyn Ward has won the National Book Award for fiction with her novel Salvage the Bones. Salvage the Bones is a story about a poor family in Mississippi struggling to survive as Hurricane Katrina is close to hitting the Gulf Coast. The press surrounding the book makes it sound like it'd be a wonderful (and perhaps heartbreaking) read, so I'll be keeping my eyes out for it!

*I thought I'd set out what challenges I'd be taking part in next year but then Gabe postedhis list of bits and pieces that he'll be hosting through next year and well, yeah, I'm going to be rather busy.

*Make sure you sign up for your chance to win one of two prize packs in my Christmas give-away. All you have to do is fill out a simple form and you're in with a shot!

*Tom and I started a horror blog that'll feature reviews and deconstructions of the best and worst of horror in books, films, games and music. I'd be oh-so very happy if you'd come over for a visit!


Review: Happyslapped by a Jellyfish by Karl Pilkington

Happyslapped by a Jellyfish
By Karl Pilkington

Published: 2007

Synopsis: A collection of baffling, hilarious, infuriating yet curiously compelling insights and anecdotes, diary entries, poems, "true" facts, cartoons, and assorted witterings concerning travel from the mind of Karl Pilkington.




About a year ago Tom introduced me to the Ricky Gervais podcast series which featured Ricky and Stephen Merchant (Both of whom I knew thanks to The Office and The Extras) and an oddball named Karl. I was hooked, the dynamic between the three of them and the absolutely batshit crazy tangents Karl would take the conversation on would have me doubled over in laughter. After listening to them all I moved on to the TV series An Idiot Abroad and this year on my birthday, Tom bought me two of Karl's books. Happyslapped by a Jellyfish is the travel diary, of sorts, that Karl wrote when the podcast was in its prime.

OK, so I may be a big fan of the podcast, but one thing that always irked me is the notoriety that Karl Pilkington has received since his rise to fame 5 or 6 years ago. In one podcast Stephen reads out a letter to the editor of a newspaper in which a woman wrote in complaining that Karl had been given the opportunity to film several 5 minute spots extolling his opinions on worldly matters. The one she watched was the one in which he said that museums should get rid off all their stuff, because one set of dinosaur bones is just like another...do we really need so many? Part of the charm to the podcast (to me) was how ridiculous and misguided his views were (I dare say he's never read a newspaper in his life) but also how sincere and (I say this without criticism) simple he was. That was where most of the comedy came from, he had no idea why people would laugh when he suggests we plant a "seed" in 78 year old women which becomes a baby when she dies. However, I'm uncomfortable with the idea of giving him the opportunity to preach his bizarre ideas in arenas where an expert, or someone with a basic understanding of anything, would be better suited. The idea that there are wonderful talented authors out there struggling to get published while Karl gets handed a publishing deal to spout rubbish for 200 pages makes me a little queasy.

90% of the anecdotes and diary entries in this book are ones I heard on the podcast. However, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who isn't a fan of the podcast series because I think you need to be able to visualise Karl's voice (yeah I know how silly that sounds!) as you read this, in order for it to maintain some of its humour and understand the bizarre tangents and references. He isn't a particularly literate or eloquent writer, and the only reason I found any of it funny was because it triggered memories of the podcast, and the conversations that were incited when Karl said something like, "There's too much fruit knocking around nowadays, and I think this is why we're told to eat five pieces a day-it's to get rid of it all." The start of the book appears as though he's trying hard to write intelligently and correctly, however he soon falls back into his conversational vernacular, using words like 'Nowt,' (naught)  'Sommat' (something) and regularly leaving the K or G of the ends of words. That's fine in your regular diary, or even in photocopied diary entries like in The Cobain Diaries, but when you're reproducing it in a book the least that he could do is put 10 minutes into actually writing a legible book.

The chapters, which range from 3-12 pages in length, each centre on a destination that Karl has travelled too, except the Australia chapter which is used to describe why he'll never come over here. Some of the chapters are copies of his diary from the trip and he describes the minutia of his holidays, and all the things that annoy him. Others are written as a brief description of the place he went to before meandering off to discuss some anecdote of him as a kid or a trip to the shops. Littered through are also a few poems he's written, "Rome wasn't built in a day/it just looks that way," comics he's created about weird stories, and a smattering of cartoons he's drawn which are actually quite good.

I've spent this entire blog post criticising the book, and for good reason. It's written in a very simple style, with   an amateur writer's attempt at stringing together anecdotes, ideas and insights. The subject matter isn't deep or critically aware or detailed enough to really be informative. BUT. But, if you're a fan of Karl Pilkington or the podcast, chances are you'll enjoy reading through this short book, if only for the nostalgia that you'll encounter when you're reintroduced to popular anecdotes from the show. So, I recommend this book under the proviso that you're aware of what you're getting into, the kind of comedy frequented in the podcast, and the less than stellar writing Karl is capable of. Enjoy?

My rating: 3/5

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Review: Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

Juliet, Naked
By Nick Hornby

Published in: 2009

Synopsis: Annie loves Duncan — or thinks she does. Duncan loves Annie, but then, all of a sudden, he doesn't. Duncan really loves Tucker Crowe, a reclusive Dylanish singer-songwriter who stopped making music twenty years ago. Annie stops loving Duncan, and starts getting her own life.

Juliet, Naked is about the nature of creativity and obsession, and how two lonely people can gradually find each other. 
__________________________________________________________________________

Juliet, Naked tells the tale of three intertwined characters. Duncan is  a 40-something college professor with a devout love of popular culture to the point of obsession. At the top of his obsession list is the musician Tucker Crowe, an American singer-songwriter from the 1980s who faded into obscurity after his massively popular break-up album, Juliet. Annie is Duncan's partner. She's a museum curator in their tiny English seaside town, and has constant thoughts about the pointlessness of her relationship with Duncan, and the wasted years she's spent with him. Finally we have Tucker Crowe himself, living a rather simple life with his wife Cat and young son, Jackson, while trying to make this relationship work unlike all his previous attempts.

The story begins in America, where Duncan and Annie are taking a pilgrimage across the country visiting the many locations that have some sort of Tucker-relevance. While Duncan revels in taking photos of the toilet where Tucker apparently made his life-changing decision to quit music, Annie is sick of it. It is immediately clear that this isn't a monogamous relationship, it's a menage trois with a fictional (well, essentially) man and Annie isn't a willing participant. 

When they return home Duncan receives a gift in his inbox, an advance copy of the early rough recordings of the famous Juliet album, now titled Juliet Naked. Duncan loves it, he writes a slobbering sycophantic review about how it exceeds anything every created in the history of music. Annie, however, hates it. She sees it as a poor reflection of a fantastic album, and writes a review that conflicts with everything Duncan said. This proves the catalyst for the rest of the novel's events. Duncan sees the review as Annie's shallow understanding of music and as a poor attempt to strike him where it hurts, while Annie finally realises how wrong their relationship is. As tension mounts between them Duncan finds himself in bed with another woman, and Annie finds herself emailing the man himself, Tucker Crowe. 

Ultimately this is a tale about love, about all kinds of different love. The love between father and son, the obsessive love of a fan who has devoted his life and work to a musician, the hopeful love of a 39 year old woman looking for a new start, and the platonic love that exists where romantic love used to be. It's also about the lack of love, where love should or used to be. The love that's absent between a father and his estranged kids, the love and fulfilment absent from a musician who hasn't created music in 20 years, and the love that should exist between a man and a woman who have created a life together, but perhaps never actually existed.

It's a fun and light book but it also made me a little sad. These aren't old people, Tucker is the oldest at 55, yet their lives are all so sad and empty and unfulfilled. I can't imagine being stuck in a job or a relationship for 15+ years because I'm too afraid or too comfortable (yet unhappy) to do something about it. Even after Duncan and Annie break up they both find themselves drawn back to one another because it is the easy, comfortable option, even though they fully accept that neither would actually be happy in their reunion. Light though the book may seem, there is a real stab of melancholy and nostalgia playing through the whole book that you don't really recognise until you stop and actually think about it. It's something Nick Hornby does often, and does well, and this is no exception.

So should you read it? Well, it was a quick read, and an enjoyable one, perfect for those days where you want nothing more than to curl up with a book and just read and read and read. The characters are interesting and realistic and the writing is well-crafted. It's an absolute joy to read Nick Hornby write about music again, he obviously loves it greatly and his passion coming through the writing is intoxicating. If you like Nick Hornby's other books you'll like Juliet, Naked. 


Friday, November 18, 2011

Fanart Friday: The TARDIS

"That's okay. We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh? 'Cause it was, you know. It was the best. The daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away. Did I ever tell you that I stole it? Well, I borrowed it. I was always going to take it back. Oh that box. Amy, you'll dream about that box. It'll never leave you. Big and little at the same time. Brand new and ancient and the bluest blue ever." -The Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) in The Big Bang (episode 13, season 5).



Doctor Who TARDIS keys by Police-Box-Traveler

TARDIS by Awkwardalpaca

Steampunk TARDIS by Promus-Kaa

The TARDIS in the Time Vortex by Thousand-Knights

Tardis by thedecay

Chameleon Circuit by Geodex

TARDIS by GirlofMelacholy

TARDIS by thegreatperhapss

Tardis by Stormkeeper

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Christmas Give-away!

I don't know about you guys but I love Christmas. There's no snow here in Queensland, in fact Christmas day is often unbearable without air-conditioning, but we still have our fair share of Christmas carols, Christmas trees, big sleep-inducing Christmas lunches and dinners and, of course, Christmas presents!

As much as I love receiving presents from my friends and family, I much prefer giving presents. So to keep me happy, I've created a give-away that'll reward two lucky Nylon Admiral readers!

Both winners will receive a copy of Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood as well as some other Christmas related bookish treats that I'm keeping a surprise.

Entries will remain open until the 28th of November, and the winners will be notified later that day so that I can send out the presents post-haste so you receive them by Christmas!

This give-away is open internationally and all you need to do is fill in the form located below to be in with a chance to win.

Good luck everyone! And Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Exciting News!

Hey there Nylon Admiral readers, have I got news for you!!

My boyfriend, Tom, and I have just launched our very own blog! We often spend our bus rides discussing all the projects we want to work on together, but we've finally done something to put our words into motion and last night we made our blog Hail Horrors, Hail public! So far it's fairly new and unpolished but we're hoping to really set it up, design-wise, in the next couple of weeks and make it a blog you'll all want to spend time visiting.

In some ways it'll be quite like this one, except it'll both be greater in scope AND more specific. While we'll be reviewing films, television shows, games and music as well as books, they'll all be of the horror persuasion. As most of you know, I've just finished an honours thesis in zombie film studies, and plan to move on to my PHD next year (fingers crossed) in the same area, and Tom is equally as enthusiastic about devouring content and then regurgitating opinions on this fantastic subject area and genre.

My first few posts will probably be slight re-writes of reviews I've written on this blog but Tom has some great reviews ready to launch about films we saw during BIFF, and let me tell you, you're really missing out if you don't take a few minutes to check out his wonderful and insightful opinions! OK, so that was the girlfriend in me coming through pretty strong, but really, they'll be great and well worth a read.

Anyway, it'll mean a lot to me if you guys head over there (not that there is much to see at the moment)  and join the little community we hope to create. I promise it'll be great fun and full of zombies, vampires, ghouls, ghosts and serial killers...light stuff really!


Top 10 Tuesday: Books growing dust on my shelf

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

This week: Top 10 books that have been on my shelf for the longest but I've never read.



I have a shameful habit of buying books every time I venture into town, even though there are dozens sitting on my shelf. At the rate I'm going I'll never be able to catch up! The worst culprit though, is the bi-annual Bookfest held in Brisbane. The Brisbane Convention Centre is filled to capacity with books of all shapes and sizes for extremely low, low, low prices. I'd be lying if I told you I ever walked out of there with any less than 10 books, many of which are bought due to their enticing price tag and the beautiful hard covers that have aged over countless decades. Typically I snap up the classic books I tell myself I will get around to one day, or the best-sellers that I can't bring myself to pay full retail for. I don't feel too bad though, since I rarely spend much more than $30-$40 AND it goes to charity! So in honour of this fantastic literary temptation I'm going to list ten books I've bought there yet have never read (so far).


1. A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe

2. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

3. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

4. Rabbit Redux by John Updike

5.Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

6. A Burnt Out Case by Graham Greene

7. Ulysses by James Joyce

8. 20, 000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

9. The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike

10. The High Window by Raymond Chandler


At the very least a few of these should be read before the year is out thanks to the challenge created by Gabe specifically for this problem so many of us bibliophiles have! How about all of you? Which books on your shelves are gathering dust, and when do you think you'll manage to get around to them?

Monday, November 14, 2011

Monday Links



*This is the trailer for Helldriver, one of the films I saw at BIFF. The trailer makes it look like it's a bit more serious action-y horror, but believe me when I tell you this is one of the most awesome, hilarious and utterly mad films you'll ever see!

*Six writers and their book collecting habits. This kind of made me loose my mind guys!

*10 famous literary characters and their real life inspiration. (Check out the one for Snape!!)

*With 2012 fast approaching,  I suggest all you book bloggers take a look at A Novel Challenge, a blog dedicated to providing info on all the latest challenges.

*These are some pics from a new book coming out called Science Ink. It blows my mind, I wish I was a little more science-y so I could have something this beautiful (and actually understand what it is) tattooed on me!

*This post is a little old, but Amanda (Dead White Guys) wrote a blog post about the difference between parenting and banning books. It's so good to have some time off and be able to just veg out reading old blog entries!

*I haven't done any self-promotion on Monday Links for ages so I thought I'd send you guys in the direction of some of my stuff. If you're on Tumblr (or just like Tumblr) check out my page. It's basically a hodge-podge of Doctor Who, Harry Potter, political thing-os and other sweet stuff that I didn't feel I could really incorporate into this blog.

*Also, while you're at it why not check out my last Fanart Friday post. It's full of extraordinary pictures of the handsome David Tennant as The Doctor (#10) by some remarkable artists. Go on...you know you want to.

Brisbane International Film Festival in review

I've just arrived home from my final BIFF film viewing for 2011. It's been a great two weeks filled with some amazing films and I want to share some of my experiences with you! Normally at the time BIFF rolls around I'm about two feet deep in end of year exam study so I miss out, but not this year! Of the 130+ films that were showing this fortnight I managed to make it to six. I wish I could have made it to more but my financial situation made that a little difficult unfortunately. It'll probably look like I went on a bit of a genre-frenzy with my selection when you see it below, but this year's BIFF was pretty dark and genre-y. Lots of sci-fi, thriller and horror and more than a few bleak films about depression, the end of the world and Hell rising up to take over the world. Light stuff just in time for Summer!

So below are a few personal reviews about the films I saw. They're more about my emotional reaction to the film, so if you'd like to expand my (surely) cryptic comments click through the link to the IMDB page.


Attack the Block (United Kingdom)
A really solid film that kicks some major butt. The film follows a gang of London youths as they try to survive an alien attack. The young actors were superb, Nick Frost's cameo was hilarious, and the SFX were pretty decent. A perfect blend of cinematic extravaganza, comedy, allegory and story.
4.5/5

Helldriver (Japan)
I can't even describe how crazy good this film is. It is one of those insane Japanese films that blends multiple cinematic techniques with an extremely bizarre story, hilarious lines and plot points and insanely gratuitous violence. It's shlock horror at its best and I guarantee if you like you horror with a side of outrageous (and sometimes sickening) comedy this is the film for you!
5/5

Cronos (Mexico)
This is a classic film from 1993 that was shown as part of the Cannes Critics Choice selection. It is a simply beautiful film about an antiques dealer who discovers a device created by a 15th century alchemist to grant immortality...but at a price, it turns you into a vampire. Though this may sound like a horror/supernatural thriller, the crux of the film is the emotions and relationships that exist between the antiques dealer (Jesus), his wife and his granddaughter. The performances of Jesus and his granddaughter were stunningly haunting and will stay with me for a long time.
5/5

Martha Marcy May Marlene (America)
Honestly, I only really saw this film so I could see if Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's sister (Elizabeth Olsen) actually had the acting chops reviews were crediting her with, or if it was nepotism gone mad. Elizabeth does indeed have a fair whack of talent behind her, and she manages to successfully embody a young woman coming to grips with life outside of a Manson-like cult, and the paranoia and fear that follows. It follows the typical indie film stylistic devices, which I do find tiring on occasion, but the strength of the film is the quality of the performances, and their ability to push the narrative along to greater depths.
3.5/5

Manborg(Canada)
This is an example of a film made on a shoe-string budget that understands its limitations yet works creatively within those limitations. It's incredibly shlocky, but it is obviously hamming it up as it references a multitude of 1980s video games, Rambo-esque films (the opening sequence will have you crying with laughter) and more current pop culture. This is a genre film made by a group of friends who obviously love genre films and wanted to pay homage to that. It's not going to win an Oscar any time soon but it sure as hell is a lot of fun! I'll be quoting it for months!
4/5

Melancholia (Denmark)
This film is not for everyone. It's very long, very stylised and very, very "arty". I'm a huge Von Trier fan but I found this film a little too much for me, it was liking watching a 2.5 hour perfume ad. It's beautifully shot, well-acted and the writing is consistently good, but I found myself bored much of the time. There are some interesting metaphors introduced on the subject of depression but it just wasn't enough to sustain a very simple story. Perhaps if the film was half an hour shorter I'd have come out happier than I did. Personally I think it was more suited to a 15-20 minute short film. Also, the opening sequence, while stunning, was some of the most pretentious "art" I've seen in awhile.
3/5

Friday, November 11, 2011

Fanart Friday: The 10th Doctor

David Tennant is my doctor. I've enjoyed the other actors hired to take on this momentous role but no one else manages to encapsulate the Doctor's sadness, lonliness, quirkiness and huge capacity for both love and anger like dear Mr Tennant. On top of his incredible acting prowess, he managed to endear me with his fantastic knack for dressing in pinstripe suits, long coats and converse shoes, 3D eyewear, *that* hair, and his delightful English accent (though his natural Scottish accent is quite wonderful also!). In honour of my favourite Doctor, the man who battled Darleks and Cybermen, fell in love with Rose Tyler, saved the Earth time and time again and taught us all a few valuable lessons, I've collected a few of the best artistic pieces on DeviantArt. Be sure to continue through the links to see the full-size images and the rest of their collections. Allons-y!!
Doctor Who by Mydogatela

Doctor Whoooo by K9Darkice

The Doctor by Key-0

Tenth Doctor by Nimloth87

Ghost of You by Aimeekitty

The Tenth Doctor by S-von-P

The Doctor by Eryslash

Oh and I probably should mention that this is the first batch in a kind of huge batch of Doctor Who Friday Fanart posts! Hope you're all as in love with DW as I am!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Film Review: LA Confidential

LA Confidential

Released: 1997

Directed by: Curtis Hanson

Starring: Kevin Spacey
Danny De Vito
Russell Crowe
Guy Pearce
Kim Bassinger

For synopsis please read my review of the book.


There are very few instances when I consider a film better than the book it was based on, but I think this is one of those cases. In my book review I stated that I found the book difficult to get into, and while I ended up really enjoying it I think the film was more successful in telling the story. Where the book was filled with tiny threads and leads that may or may not have anything to do with the primary story, the film is streamlined, as a film should be. You don't have space for waffle in a film, even if it is interesting, so there were angles, characters and even years cut off the original story.

It may minimise the scope of the story and the time-line but the film completely understood the central story that Ellroy was trying to express and it respected the characters. Any character eliminated (and there weren't many) were done away with because their story threads didn't effect the end result in the same way. If I had to sum it up I'd say that it focused more on the crime and less on the personal lives that the cops were dealing with congruent with their jobs. This isn't to say it's some dry police procedural, you still get a lot of "life" in the story, but the stray threads are definitely tidied up.

The film really is quite spectacular. For a movie filmed in 1997, and in colour, they really captured the Noir atmosphere that was so beautifully captivating back in the 1950s, and adapted really well into the original text. The colours are slightly muted, giving it a nostalgic air, however, without seeming like a film student's attempt to be arty. It simply works, every piece is pieced together perfectly and in synchronicity, the colouring, the costumes, the sound, the story and of course, the acting. The film is unbelievably well cast. Each actor embodies the character as though they stepped right out of the book's pages. The film stayed very loyal to their literary representation. Their language, emotions, reactions, even their physical descriptions are done to perfection. I think the only one who doesn't appear on film as he does in the book in Danny De Vito (though don't quote me on that). However De Vito did such a fantastic job as the sleazy investigative journalist it didn't matter that he was short and fat where the original character was taller and skinnier (that I can recall). The performances were nuanced, and subtle, yet realistic, emotional reaction was favoured over excessive dialogue or hammy performances. I really don't think I can fault any of the actors in this film, I'm sure James Ellroy would have been quite pleased with the cinematic depiction of his interesting and complex characters.

This was a first time for me watching this film, but it certainly won't be my last. I highly recommend this film to everyone, and I recommend it over the book. Unless you think you're ready to sit through 450+ pages and potentially struggle through the beginning of it (if you're like me that is), I highly recommend at least checking the movie out first to see if it's your cup of tea.


Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Review: LA Confidential by James Ellroy

LA Confidential
by James Ellroy

Written in: 1990

Synopsis (via goodreads)
: set in 1950s Los Angeles, kicks off with a shoot-out between a rogue ex-cop and a band of gangsters fronted by a crooked police lieutenant. Close on the heels of this scene comes a jarring Christmas Day precinct house riot, in which drunk and rampaging cops viciously beat up a group of jailed Mexican hoodlums. But, as readers will quickly learn, these sudden sprees of violence, laced with evidence of police corruption, are only teasers for the grisly events and pathos that follow this intricate police procedural. 


There must be something wrong with me at the moment, because this is the second book that I've started off feeling lukewarm about and then ended up loving. However, unlike My Sweet Saga which only took a few chapters for me to warm to, I was closer to the halfway mark before I began to really get into this book. I had seen the film first (which I'll review tomorrow), something I try not to do, because the DVD arrived from my mail-in rental service before the book did and I didn't want to wait too long. Perhaps this is partly to blame for my initial reaction to the book, though perhaps not.

The story is an interesting one. It follows three LA cops who are as different as can be. Ed Exley, the intelligent, rational cop determined to follow the law to the letter and climb the ladder to the top at the same time. Wendell "Bud" White, a headstrong emotional cop, with a hatred for men who attack women and a preference to use his fists and gun rather than his head. And Jack Vincennes, the Hollywood cop who has a lot to hide. It covers about 8 years, from the initial bloody Christmas killings, in which a series of drunken cops attacked a group of prisoners in their cells, to the first attempt to solve the Nite Owl murders, where 6 men and women were ruthlessly murdered and then to the reopening of the Nite Owl murders when it becomes clear the original suspects were set up. I'm struggling to tell you much about the cases without giving away the connections, red herrings and hints that are littered throughout the book. So instead I'll be broad.

Though the actual case is important to the story, more important is the actions of the cops in 1950s LA as they try to solve the cases. The three cops that form the focus all approach their jobs differently, and I think it'd be fair to say none of them are doing it purely to "serve and protect". They all have a reason, whether it's to avenge old foes, make up for past mistakes or rise above a favourite brother. Their different approaches leads to some serious antagonism between them, though especially between Exley and White. Exley, who always follows the rules and is undeniably good at what he does is seen as weak because he favours using his intellect in the interview room to get results. White, on the other hand, is seen as a hero because he uses force and aggression, and his brutality is often mistaken for a desire to rid the world of scum. Their conflicting personalities and styles forms the basis for the story, and around them it becomes apparent how many corners are cut, leads falsified and people killed more due to their race than any real evidence.

The book is quite confronting because it takes a very traditional view on the way people lived and thought in the 1950s, so any derogatory words you can think of relating to race is used frequently and with aggression. Similarly, characters in mixed race relationships are looked down upon, females are ejected from their house because they were raped, men are rewarded for aggressive acts, and homosexuality is mocked and despised. Regardless of whether the events are completely accurate or slightly (or not so slightly) exaggerated, the book highlights a world that did at one point exist, where hatred and bigotry were not only acceptable but expected. It was a remarkable journey to take, though completely unsettling and at times sickening.

So as I mentioned at the start it took awhile for me to get into this book. I can't really fault it and give an acceptable reason why it took so long for me to get into it. It's well written, the language isn't convoluted or complex, and while it sometimes is written in that "jive" style it's done infrequently and only when the particular character calls for it. The characters are interesting and multi-layered, and the unfolding of the story through the characters is interesting and never sloppy. For all intents and purposes it's a well-crafted book and I should have liked it. But I really had to force myself to read it at first, and even then I'd only read a small portion of it at a time. Similarly I can't really tell you why I suddenly got into it, I simply did. Perhaps there was the subtlest change in pacing or characterisation which resonated with me. Either way, my initial desire to give it about a 3/5 has changed, however I warn interested readers that they may suffer a similar lack of desire when they approach it themselves.


Tuesday, November 8, 2011

2012 Challenge: The League of Extraordinary Gentleman

Although I'm currently racing through my books to try and get my 2011 challenges completed I couldn't refrain from looking forward and signing up to this particular challenge. Not only does it look like a lot of fun, but it'll give me the push I need to finally start some of my TBR books.

So what is it exactly? Booking in Heels has created an entire challenge around the 2003 film The League of Extraordinary Gentleman. Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore, this fantastic story includes some of literatures best known characters. The focus of this challenge is to read the books that the characters first appeared in, so that means between January 1st and December 31st I'll be reading...

*King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard (Allan Quatermain)
*Dracula by Bram Stoker (Mina Harker)
*20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (Captain Nemo)
*The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (Tom Sawyer)
*The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (Dorian Gray)
*The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde)
*The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells (Rodney Skinner - kind of*)
*The Final Problem by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (James Moriarty)
*The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (The Phantom)

I'm also going to take a leaf out of Gabe's (of Gabriel Reads) book and read the original graphic novel. I've read a couple of other Alan Moore books and I've always enjoyed them, so I don't expect this to be any different.

If you want to take part in this great new challenge head over to the Booking In Heels blog and sign up. I can't wait to see everyone's reviews on these classic texts!


*Due to open copyright the characters from The Invisible Man couldn't be used directly, so instead they had to get a little creative with it.

Top 10 Tuesday: Books outside my comfort zone

 Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!



It's been awhile since I've done a TTT and I think I picked a really interesting week to reappear! So in no particular order I present to you ten books that were outside my comfort zone.

1. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Lolita is a story about a grown male who is infatuated by a young girl, and goes to some extraordinary lengths to obtain her. It's really, really heavy going subject wise and more than once I felt incredibly queasy. Nabokov is an amazing writer, but I'm fairly certain this is one book I won't be revisiting.

2. Candy by Luke Davies
This is one of my all time favourite books, and when I get time to re-read it I'll definitely post a review. It's a harrowing and heart-wrenching tale of a couple who are united through their love for one another and for heroin. It's dark and rarely happy but beautifully written. It's been made into a fantastic film starring Geoffrey Rush and Heath Ledger (and a stellar Aussie cast) which you should also check out.

3. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
Another favourite book of mine, and once again a not so happy tale of life as a drug addict! It's dark and (god I hate this term) gritty, but what really challenged me was the Scottish dialect it was written in. It was hard-going but so worth it in the end. (you can read my review here)

4. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
If I had to describe my literary style in two words I'd say "beat generation." Not simply for their style of writing (although that's definitely a part of it) but because of the content, language and the oomph of it. However, I really struggled to stay on top of the stream of consciousness in On The Road. How do you stop and pick it back up after a day or two? I was constantly having to retrack my paths or devote huge blocks of time to get through it. But like all the other books, this challenge really added to the experience.

5. Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
Another book up there with my favourites, this is possibly one of the best books written by Chuck Palahniuk. However the first short story, Guts, was so freaking disgusting (I nearly passed out when I read it on the train) that I had to gather all my courage (and read on an empty stomach) to be able to keep going. For any interested readers, none of the other stories are quite so stomach-churningly gross, so if you make it through Guts it'll be smooth sailing from then on!

6. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
I have a real aversion to Jane Austen. I've tried, over and over, to read her books but...I just can't. Ugh, it's so boring and dull and I just want to drill a hole in my head for something to do. Ha, so theatrics aside, I decided to challenge myself to get through the whole thing, but to make it more palatable I decided to take the route that included zombies. I won't be going back to read the original... (read my review here)

7. Powers of Horror: Essays on Abjection by Julia Kristeva
This book was an integral component of my thesis but it was so dense! It's written really beautifully (for a text on psychoanalysis) which seemed to lull me into thinking I understood it when I really had no idea!

8. Sandakan: A Conspiracy of Silence by Lynette Ramsay Silver
This is a non-fiction account of the Sandakan prison camps which were in operation during World War II. During the war there were a huge number of Australian soldiers incarcerated as POWs who were treated in the most inhumane and terrible ways possible. It was one of those eye-opening experiences for me and it hurt me to read about Australian soldiers starving and being tortured to death.

9. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
I've made no secret of my dislike of this series, I find the writing mediocre and it concerns me that this book (and books like it) promote this idea that intelligent girls need a boy to have some sort of direction or fulfillment in life. It was a real struggle, for me, to make it through the book.

Ok that's all I've got, for now. I'll add a final book if I can think about it. Which books pushed you out of your comfort zone?

Monday, November 7, 2011

Review: My Sweet Saga by Brett Sills

My Sweet Saga
By Brett Sills

Published: 2011

Synopsis (Via Goodreads): At nearly 30 years old, Brandon is barely able to make it through life, much less enjoy it. He is weeks away from what should be one of the happiest days of his life, his wedding day to his fiancé, Clarissa, but his attention is distracted when his estranged, erratic and oddly eccentric father suddenly reappears with a bizarre demand: to accompany him to Stockholm, Sweden, where they will meet a man who he claims will change their lives. Desperate for even a brief escape from his reality, Brandon reluctantly goes with his father, ready for a disaster. But his life changes completely the moment his eyes meet the mysterious Swedish man's daughter, Saga. On a cobblestone street in the middle of Stockholm, Brandon reawakens to life, though struggles to navigate the messy love triangle with Saga and his fiancé, which includes multiple arrests, hospital stays, terrorist bombs, acts of heroism and foolishness, family secrets and even a bit of public nudity


My Sweet Saga is Brett Sills first novel, and I was thrilled when the publisher Admiral J Press asked me if I'd like a free copy to review. I mean, just take a look at the synopsis above, it sounds like the wacky crazy book I always enjoy! I actually struggled through the first 20-50 pages as I got used to the protagonist's voice. If I'm being completely honest I possibly would have put it down after the second chapter if it wasn't a review requested book, I just had some real trouble getting into the groove of it. However I'm glad I kept at it because once I got used to the dry and sarcastic sense of humour I found myself really enjoying it.

Brandon is like so many other people out there, deeply unsatisfied with his job, his family, his friends and his current relationship. An aspiring journalist, Brandon is stuck working for a television studio hunting down billboard space for their tasteless TV shows. While I've never found myself as apathetic or as unhappy as Brandon one think I sympathise is that fear of striking out in something you love, and then failing. As terrible as it sounds, if you never actually take a chance and try to become whatever your dream career/lifestyle etc is, you can always keep it as a dream. If you try and then fail at it, who knows where you can turn? However, I've always managed to turn that fear into motivation; Brandon on the other hand is crippled by it, and not only in his career. Brandon's engaged to a young publicist, and although their wedding is fast approaching, the spark has disappeared from their relationship. They're together, at least on his part, because it's easier than striking out and trying to make it on his own. Also, because Brandon met Clarissa relatively early in his move to LA (from New York) his life well and truly revolves around their routines and her friends, and he'd have to start from scratch if he were to end the relationship. On top of this is his strained relationship with his father. Though they were close when Brandon was younger, four years ago his father won the lottery and subsequently paid his wife (Brandon's mother) to leave and never return, alienated his son and has spent most of his time travelling the world.

So as you can see Brandon isn't exactly the happiest or most content guy. This is the Brandon you meet as the story begins, he's uncomfortable, unhappy, tense and unwilling to show any warmth. And it is this Brandon who is told by his father, who he hasn't seen in some time, that he is going to accompany the old man to Sweden. As I've mentioned, Brandon isn't in a particularly close relationship with his father, and more than anything, he can't forgive his father for sending his mother, the woman he always professed his love for, away. His father, as far as Brandon is concerned, is the perfect proof that money does change people. However, as much as he dislikes his father, the upcoming wedding and his dissatisfaction at work combined with the idea of a free trip to Sweden (not to mention the idea of living for once) is enough to convince him to go to the airport. It's here that his life changes forever.

In Sweden Brandon meets a girl with light-bulb hair, Saga. She is everything Brandon isn't. She's competitive, gregarious and spontaneous and she loves every little thing that she sees and experiences. Through their whirlwind three day romance Brandon learns to expect something from life again, and that it doesn't have to be something to just suffer through. The challenge, however, is to keep it up once back in LA, with his fiancé and undesirable job. Though the basic premise may sound like a few other books out there, My Sweet Saga handles it with humour and approaches it from a new and interesting angle. It isn't an easy change from unhappy to happy, his relationships don't magically fix themselves, and he doesn't magically find a cheque on the road which solves all his problems. It's a quirky and honest look at the way a man struggles to make some real changes in his life, sparked by an almost fairy-tale or dream-like encounter. I really enjoyed going through the journey with Brandon. Though I took a bit of time to get into it, it didn't take long until I sympathised with his fears and concerns, punched the air when things would look up for him, and felt dejected and dispirited when things looked like they were going to fall apart.
Without giving anything away, I just want to say that the ending is great. It doesn't end in the sunshine and rainbow way that many books like this do, it challenges that 'tradition' and delivers something far more honest and interesting. However more than anything else, the way Brett Sills ties up the relationship between father and son is phenomenal. Anything more I say will give it away, but I just want to say it was emotionally satisfying, and completely off the wall, not what I expected. All in all, this was a thoroughly enjoyable book. The synopsis dragged me in and it delivered nothing that I expected. It was funnier, weirder, smarter and more emotionally driven than I could have imagined. I highly recommend it, but my recommendation comes with one caveat. There is a fair amount of swearing, detailed sex scenes, and some questionable remarks about race (which I discounted as the author being dry and sarcastic and over the top in a world obsessed with race- I hope I was right), however, if you've enjoyed other books I've rated highly I really don't think this is something that'll concern you!

My rating: 4.5/5

Monday Links

*In honour of NaNoWriMo here are six famous books that were written in less than a month. Can you imagine writing an entire book, plus edits, in four short weeks?

*Here's a  review about Colson Whitehead's new book Zone One. The reviewer has earned my hate by looking down on genre writers and readers, but through his arrogance he managed to describe a novel that might be the book that ends my aversion to zombie fiction.

*You lucky Americans can buy a copy of John Lithgow's memoir Drama: An Actor's Education, signed by the man himself.

*An interesting review about Craig Taylor's book Londoners, which transcribes the words of hundreds of men and women about London.

*Trolls have frequently left misogynistic comments on the posts of female writers and bloggers. This article delves into the experiences of several female writers and why it needs to stop.

*A few falsehoods about booksellers.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Fanart Friday: Good Omens

Fanart Friday is back! Now that my thesis is all done and dusted I could spend hours on Deviant Art looking for the greatest pictures of the greatest characters from the greatest books! For my first week back in six odd weeks I had to make sure it was with something special, and what is more special than depicting characters from the wonderful world created by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett? Though this is a Good Omens post, I probably should have called it Crowley and Aziraphale, because they feature pretty heavily. Can you blame me though? They're such fantastic characters who bounce off against each other perfectly. Black and white, yin and yang, light and dark, good and evil and all those binary opposites! Below are some of the best renderings of the Good Omens characters out in the interwebs. Make sure you click through the links to see them full size and the full range of the artists' incredible work. Especially the character profiles by JDillon82, squeezing them into my small blog frame really doesn't do them justice. Enjoy, and don't forget to let me know of any fanart requests you may have!

Good Omens by Mick347

Good Omens Armageddon by Himlayan

Good Omens- Humans by JDillon82

Good Omens - Supernaturals by JDillon82

Good Omens- Rain by Knaicha

Good Omens by Ankaris

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