In Which We Discuss Divergence

I quite liked the Divergent series.  Well, in all candor (which would be my faction) I liked 2/3s of it.  The last third, ie, the final book, was a bit of a let down.

Here Be Spoilers for Allegiant, book 3 of the Divergent Series

Veronica Roth knew exactly how she wanted the series to end and that isn't a bad thing, necessarily.  Rowling did the same thing with great success, and other authors have done something similar.  The mistake Roth made was in railroading her characters to her desired outcome.  She forced people to act in nonsensical ways, and to carry out plans which could have been greatly improved with a moment's thought.  She forced it.

Stories are like clockwork.  You wind them up and let them go.  Roth failed to grasp that, resulting in a failure of a third novel.

I'm currently in the process of watching the first movie of what will undoubtedly be a trilogy.  For once, I hope that the films do not follow the books, that they instead create a much better and more in-character and realistic ending.  I hope they diverge from the source material right at the point where it went wrong.

Here Spoilers for Allegiant, book 3 of the Divergent Series End 
Spoilers for Book 1 & Movie Continue

When I say I'm in the process of watching the movie, I mean I have it paused at 32:11 in another tab.  Blinkbox offered me a free movie because Tesco's TV site or whatever it was is ending, and I'd been meaning to get to it so...

Oh, and I also realised that I still had just over £3 left of a gift voucher someone gave me, so I got Lovelace as well.  Two rented movie for under 50p, bargain.  I am celebrating with popcorn and gummy cherries.

Anyway, back to the movie.  So far, I'm enjoying it.  I like Shailene Woodley and Theo James as Tris and Four, particularly the latter.  He looks exactly as Four is described in the books.  I think we can forgive the fact that Tris is wearing an awful lot of make-up for a Stiff, since that comes under the same law that explains how Emma and Snow White's false eyelashes stayed on while wandering through the enchanted forest of Once Upon a Time.  I'm not so sure I like Caleb, but he won't really come into play until much later.  Very happy to see Ashley Judd as Natalie, since I loved her in Where the Heart Is and Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood (both also adapted from books!).

I quite liked the way the test played out, though I'm sure they skipped some bits and took a bit of visual artistic license with it.  I've also liked seeing the Dauntless so far; all very pulse-raising.  I am genuinely concerned for Tris' well-being despite knowing how this book ends.

Ooh, I like the futuristic tattooing style, though I miss the explanation of why Tris chose it.  I suppose it isn't important, and since the film is over two hours long anyway, it was easy to cut.  But still.

I'm also disappointed that they cut out Four taunting Tris when he threw knives at her, though the capture-the-flag sequence is a lot more dramatic than I remember it being.

I'm not a big fan of Miles Teller as Peter.  He seems impactless, to me.  Doesn't really make any impression.

Oh, here's a key bit of divergence.  Tris and Christina grabbed the flag together, Tris first, rather than Christina taking all of the glory.  I'm pretty sure the bit in the hospital didn't happen that way either.

I should reread the book to verify this stuff.

Oh, the fear landscape is different.  They only did one.  That disappoints me.

We're carrying on with this reflection thing?  Okay, that's interesting. 

A few subtle changes in Four's fear landscape.  Not sure how I feel about those yet.

Ha!  They left the hilarious bit of Tris' landscape the same.  I enjoyed that.

Is it just me or does Shailene Woodley have a voice almost identical to a young Lindsay Lohan?

I'm 90% sure that the dagger through the hand thing is new!


Why on earth would you let go when you knew you needed to grab her again a second later?

The ending seems different.  It doesn't seem to lead into an obvious sequel.  Maybe they weren't sure if they were going to be able to make the next one?

In Which We Discuss Books I Read Last Week IV

I started work last Monday, so this week has involved slightly less reading.  Well, actually, it's more complicated than that.  I've had less time for doing stuff in general, but I'm reading regularly on the train and during my breaks, so it's a more regular amount of reading time, and more than I did when I was just playing videogames and watching movies all day.  I did do that sometimes, and barely read anything.

Anyway; this week's books!

I forget whether Coraline showed up on Kind of Book or not.  I do recall that it was very cheap, and since I liked the film and the graphic novel, I figured I should give it a read.  I gave it 4/5 stars.  Because the story wasn't new to me, it's hard to find anything to say about it.

I've had The Donor for a while.  Last time Kobo ran a competition, I used some of my vouchers to pick it up cheaply.  It's initially introduced as a dilemma; twins are both suffering from kidney failure, and their (single) father cannot donate to both of them.  So yeah, it sounds a bit Jodi Picoult-ish.  The book itself goes into their relationships with each other and their past in a way that's a lot more interesting than the actual dilemma, even if the whole thing does twinge on an incredibly unlikely fact.

Spoilers Below

Seriously - no one has ever told Will that two blue-eyed parents couldn't have brown-eyed children?  No one's ever mentioned that to him, ever?  I can understand why no one else would point it out, since they'd probably just assume that Georgie and Kay's mother had brown-eyes, and even the girls themselves might not have looked that closely at old photos.  The author didn't even need to throw that fact in there; their paternity wasn't realised or even suspected because of their eyes, and it could so easily have not been mentioned at all.

End Spoilers.

I gave it 4/5 stars because I enjoyed the journey.

Rage I've read before.  It was Stephen King's fifth published novel, though one that he started in High School.  It's no longer in print, though it does seem to be included in the Kindle edition of The Bachman Books, and you can still pick up second hand copies.  I gave that 4/5 stars as well.

I picked up Thank You For Smoking because Kind of Book notified me that it was reduced to 99p. I'd heard of the movie and thought of watching it, though I never actually got around to it.  Anyway, I figured I'd just read the book because it sounded pretty interesting.  4/5.

Divergent was another book I found on Kind of Book, and I really should break that addiction.  A friend of mine has been recommending it for ages, and I'm so glad I finally got around to reading it.  It's another dystopian teen trilogy like The Hunger Games or Pretties.  The basic premise is that, in this society, sixteen-year-olds are given an aptitude test which indicates which of five societal groups they are best suited to being before choosing which of those groups to belong to for the rest of their lives.  I predict it will follow the essential path; the first book introduces the society, focusing on one member who doesn't quite fit into it as they come up to a specific occasion where they are to take on their adult role within society.  They train for this role for a while, learning more and more, until they - or she, usually she - accidentally breaks society due to their personality being incompatible plus some kind of megalomaniacal Big Bad trying to take over.  During the second book, our societally unacceptable heroine will join some rebels, at least one of whom will have important technical knowledge.  Finally, she will triumph in the third book.

All of that isn't to say that I don't enjoy this kind of thing, or that I won't read more of it.  Another 4/5.