Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Star Warped
**** Star Warped by A3R Roberts. Science fiction/humor.
| (note: this video is not related to the book, but it's a similar sort of parody, including the British slant to the humor) |
I bought this for someone--probably Carl--for Christmas a couple of years ago. Eventually, all books in the house end up in my TBR pile. This one landed there after our move.
I really had no idea what to expect from this parody of the Star Wars series. I've seen all the movies, and I know that Han shot first, but I'm not up on all the minutiae that actual Star Wars fans know. So I expected to be a little bit lost. I wasn't. Since all six movies are covered in 384 smallish pages, there's not a lot of room for esoteric detail. And I think I expected it to be less respectful of the fans, because I was surprised that it wasn't, but on reflection, it wouldn't make any sense to be too critical of the movies or the fans--otherwise, who'd buy the book?
Some of the gags made mountains from molehills--it took me longer than I'd like to admit to realize that the reason Luke Seespotrun and his aunt and uncle were nudists comes from the Episode 4 title: A New (nude) Hope. *groan* That's typical of the humor, by the way, so if you have little tolerance for puns, I'd suggest skipping this.
Other gags were pretty predictable--Princess Leper's hair, for example. I don't think it's possible to spoof the original Star Wars without reference to her hair.
But the majority of the gags were fresh, relevant, and very, very funny. I even found myself laughing aloud as Hand Someman stuffed a frozen, snow-blind Luke Seespotrun into a dead piggibakka, with the result that now Luke is not just cold, but also slimy, smelly, and squashed. And there's the bit musing on why Pizza the Hutt (it's impossible for a parodist to re-name Jabba anything else) dressed Princess Leper in a metal bikini, reasoning that for his species, she'd be about as alluring as a lump of dough would be to us.
The biggest gag, of course, is the use of the Farce rather than the Force. Pratfalls are a big part of any fight.
Star Warped is obviously not great literature. And it doesn't really give you any new insight into the movie series. It does point out some of the illogic or inconsistencies that a casual fan, such as myself, might not have noticed before, but that's not really the point of the book.
It's just for fun. And it succeeds.
Categories: Books, 4stars, ScienceFiction, Humor
Labels: 4 stars, books, humor, ScienceFiction
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
I Am America (And So Can You!)
***** I Am America (and So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert. Humor.
I may have mentioned that I'm behind on reviews. It'll become clearer just how far behind I am when I admit that, contrary to the instructions in this book, I let Dagny take it on the plane with her when she went home... the first week in January. I'll buy myself another, honest!
Basically, if you've seen the Colbert Report, you pretty much know what to expect. And if you haven't, go to the website or YouTube--there are plenty of videos to sample. It's that same brand of humor, the same irreverence, the same no-holds-barred, nobody spared, tongue-in-cheek zaniness. The book has Colbert's take on everything from sex to religion and includes some handy extras, like a gay/not gay flow chart, stickers, games, and even helpful little notes in the margins. But mostly, it's full of truthiness.
And if you missed it (or just want to relive it), in the back, there's the text of his speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in 2006.
Obviously, if you don't like the show, you won't like the book--but if you don't like the show, why would you pick up the book?
My biggest complaint: I was unable to resist spending a lot of time watching the videos while I was looking for links.
Categories: Books, 5stars, Humor
Friday, May 18, 2007
Spring Reading Challenge
The Reading Challenge for spring is to revisit a favorite children's author, or an author you loved in the past but haven't read in a long while.
I chose:
***** The Thurber Carnival by James Thurber. Humor.
Not a children's author, but I remember reading all the books of his they had in the library when I was a kid--inspired by the short-running TV show "My World and Welcome to It" which was based on his work. Surprisingly, I was younger than I'd thought I was--8 or 9, rather than the 12 or 13 I'd guessed.
Amazingly, I found him just as entertaining as I did as a child. The Thurber Carnival is a hodge-podge of essays, stories, and drawings culled over several decades and from several other collections. Some are better than others, of course, and quite a few of them are very dated--unsurprisingly, since the book was originally published in 1945, and compiled at that time from earlier sources.
It doesn't really seem to matter. Even though I can't really relate to the early days of the automobile, it didn't stop me from laughing aloud at "Recollections of a Gas Buggy." Human nature hasn't changed all that much in the past 60 or 70 years.
There are quite a few classic stories in here, including "The Catbird Seat," which is a delicious story of revenge, and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," which I hadn't even realized was Thurber's.
His drawings are just as entertaining, which is even more startling after reading in the biography what poor eyesight he had. With just a few lines, he manages to do the same thing he does in the stories and essays with just a few words.
Most of the humor has to do with human nature--specifically, with the way people communicate, or don't. One of the best (i.e. most hilarious) examples is "What Do You Mean It Was Brillig?" in which he lampoons both his housekeeper's accent and his own misunderstanding of and reaction to it. There's also a darkly humorous story, "The Breaking Up of the Winships," about a couple who divorces over a disagreement about Greta Garbo. Change a few minor details, and these stories are as true today as they were when they were written.
I'm really happy about this reading challenge. Not only was it wonderfully nostalgic, and still entertaining today, but I've got this lovely book of very funny, very short pieces that are easy to share with my family. I don't even begrudge the 3 days it took me to read.
...more
Categories: ReadingChallenge, Books, 5stars, Humor
I chose:
***** The Thurber Carnival by James Thurber. Humor.
Not a children's author, but I remember reading all the books of his they had in the library when I was a kid--inspired by the short-running TV show "My World and Welcome to It" which was based on his work. Surprisingly, I was younger than I'd thought I was--8 or 9, rather than the 12 or 13 I'd guessed.
Amazingly, I found him just as entertaining as I did as a child. The Thurber Carnival is a hodge-podge of essays, stories, and drawings culled over several decades and from several other collections. Some are better than others, of course, and quite a few of them are very dated--unsurprisingly, since the book was originally published in 1945, and compiled at that time from earlier sources.
It doesn't really seem to matter. Even though I can't really relate to the early days of the automobile, it didn't stop me from laughing aloud at "Recollections of a Gas Buggy." Human nature hasn't changed all that much in the past 60 or 70 years.
There are quite a few classic stories in here, including "The Catbird Seat," which is a delicious story of revenge, and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," which I hadn't even realized was Thurber's.
His drawings are just as entertaining, which is even more startling after reading in the biography what poor eyesight he had. With just a few lines, he manages to do the same thing he does in the stories and essays with just a few words.
Most of the humor has to do with human nature--specifically, with the way people communicate, or don't. One of the best (i.e. most hilarious) examples is "What Do You Mean It Was Brillig?" in which he lampoons both his housekeeper's accent and his own misunderstanding of and reaction to it. There's also a darkly humorous story, "The Breaking Up of the Winships," about a couple who divorces over a disagreement about Greta Garbo. Change a few minor details, and these stories are as true today as they were when they were written.
I'm really happy about this reading challenge. Not only was it wonderfully nostalgic, and still entertaining today, but I've got this lovely book of very funny, very short pieces that are easy to share with my family. I don't even begrudge the 3 days it took me to read.
...more
Categories: ReadingChallenge, Books, 5stars, Humor
Labels: 5 stars, books, humor, reading challenge
