The Weight of Shadows

The Weight of Shadows

Author: Alison Strobel

Publisher: Zondervan

Publication Date: May 7, 2010

Paperback, 320 pages

ISBN: 978-0310289456


I don't generally read a lot of Christian fiction. To put that more accurately, until recently I hadn't picked up a work of Christian fiction since I was still babysitting my cousins at their house (the youngest of these cousins has just finished grade 9, the oldest, her first year of university). I don't have anything against religious fiction as a rule; it's just that I rarely have occasion to read it. With Alison Strobel's The Weight of Shadows, the occasion found me - and I'm glad that it did.

The first thing that struck me about this book was how quickly I found myself caring about the characters. Not because they're the most amazing, wonderful, likeable people in the world, but, actually, because they're not. The characters in this book are, really, just people. They struggle. They make mistakes, like everyone else, some huge and life-altering and others mundane and inconsequential, but all of them mistakes that real people would make. Throughout the book, and especially toward the end, I found myself silently cheering them on or telling them off and willing them to make what seemed so obviously to be the right choices.

By the second chapter, the importance of the author's faith to her, and the roll it plays in her writing, is evident. Regardless of my own beliefs, I found myself awed by her expressions of that faith, from the inner thoughts and feelings of her three main characters to the little (but heartfelt) prayers that they utter throughout the entire novel. Before the three seemingly insular story lines start to intersect, they're held together by these thoughts, feelings and prayers.

I can only imagine the painstaking research that must have gone into making The Weight of Shadows the book that it is. Strobel offers readers a detailed look into the life and motivations of a battered woman, the workings of a shelter and the emotions of people trying to cope with long-standing guilt.

The Weight of Shadows is an interesting study in faith, love and the interdependence of people, thoroughly researched and uniquely executed. I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it.

About the author:

Alison inherited the writing gene from her father, Lee, and grew up composing stories on everything from napkins to typewriters. Her talent earned her awards throughout school, a two page spread featuring her work in her senior yearbook, and even saved her from failing college chemistry. But it wasn't until she moved to California after college that she wrote her first full-length novel, and that's when God made Alison's oldest dream come true.

--From Alison's website, www.alisonstrobel.com



For more information about the book, the author or the tour, check out Alison's Blog.

Alice in Shutter(is)land

I know I have a million things to review, but these are the most recent, so I thought I would mention something about them while they're still fresh in my mind.

Shutter Island: ★★★★★
Martin Scorsese and Leonardo Dicaprio team up once again for a psychological thriller about an inescapable island which contains a hospital for the criminally insane. Dicaprio plays a federal marshal, who goes to the island to find a missing patient. Wackiness ensues. First, let me just say that both of the full yellow stars go to the cast for outsanding performances. In fact, the bits of the movie that were just movie were really, really good. Unfortunately, there were parts of the movie that tried to be art, fell drastically short, and just ended up being annoying. The biggest bone I had to pick with this film was with the soundtrack. Honestly, this rates worse than the Troy soundtrack in terms of trying to convey meaning to an audience which is apparently too stupid to gather it from the information provided. Instead of music, they may as well have had a voice over saying "something suspenseful is happening" or "something is going to jump out at you now" or even, "this is creepy, in case you didn't know". For a better understanding of what I'm getting at, both in terms of music and movies attempting to be art, see the Mirror, Father Mirror scene from Ghost World here.


Alice in Wonderland: ★★★★★
Being that this was number (I think 7) of the Johnny Depp + Tim Burton movies (I think it's number 4 with Helena Bohem Carter (with Johnny Depp), number 2 including Alan Rickman), I expected to thoroughly enjoy it. I was not disappointed. Along with the aforementioned cast members, Stephen Fry joined the mix, and was, as expected, quite excellent.

This movie does not follow the book (thank jebus). It's more of a sequal to the book, with some familiar scenes, but mostly just completely original. Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter had a lot more depth to him than I was expecting. Also, newcomer Mia Wasikowska did very well as Alice, and Chrisopher Lee was the best Jaberwocky ever, even if it is actually called a Jaberwock in the book and Jaberwocky is the name of the poem.

The only things I wasn't thrilled with were the ending (which made me kinda sad) and the Mad Hatter's dance (which was just ridiculous). Those two things cost the movie a whole star, but still, I'd watch it again (and again, and again)

I Know, I'm Still Up. Sue Me.

Sometime in mid-June, I found out that one of my former high school teachers was going to be having an art show in February. I had no intention of being anywhere near here by then (now), so, other than being disappointed that I wasn't going to be able to make it, I didn't give it a lot of thought.

One of the first things that occured to me after I got back was that I was now going to be able to see this show. I'd been looking forward to it since December, and last night (technically the night before last, since it's now Sunday) I went with Spoy to see it.

Bloody Amazing. Anyone in the area (especially anyone who's grown up in our fair city) needs to see this. Go to the Arts Block sometime within the next month and enjoy. There's more info here.

Blargh?

I'm really sick, so this may not be entirely coherent. My temperature has been rising steadily all day, which, oddly enough, puts it at the high end of average (I guess I was cold this morning?) and for some reason, that makes it hard to think. Also, I have the worst sore throat of forever, so I called in sick to work. Telemarketing with no voice isn't exactly a walk in the park.

Sometime when I feel less like ass, I'm going to review a couple of things. To Catch A Thief being one, The Bridges of Madison County being another and Safe House being yet another. I also have some Pratchett in there I want to talk about and a book I want to add to my 2009 reading list, but I can't recall the name of either right now.

Today, if I wasn't sick, would be like a dream day of laziness. I slept in until 1:00, watched a movie, called in sick to work, went back to bed until 8:00, sent my brother to the store for treats and then watched another movie. Unfortunately, my head hurts and I feel like I'm going to pass out.

There we go, an update in the life of Athena McCormick, for your reading pleasure... or at least your mild, fleeting interest ;p

Some News(ish) in No Particular Order

Sninpo. Sounds like an evil clown.

I'm currently reading Terry Pratchett's The Truth, which is about news and is very good, and I'll be posting a review of as soon as I've finished it.

I took my dog (who is now lying behind me, looking sad) for an extra-long walk last night, and it was cold so my back was tensed and it still hurts.

I'm working on two new(ish) stories, 200 Pages and one which has yet to be named (currently known as: The one with the rock in). I think they both have major potential.

I need some money so I can order a new proof copy of Aigaion Girl with the new revisions, but I won't get paid until next week, which means I'm probably looking at well over a month before A/G is available for sale :(

I effing hate my job. I'm going to have to find a new one soon, I think. Basically, I get paid to bother people in the middle of dinner and try to sell them things they don't want. At the moment, I'm consolling myself by taking people off the list when they say they're absolutely not interested (we're supposed to put them on a list to be called back next year) and simply saying "thanks for your time" when people tell me they're too busy to talk to me. As a result, I'm not doing anywhere near as well as my co-workers, but then, I can look at myself in the mirror every day without wanting to throw up, so there you go. Apparently, next month, we're going to start working 6 days a week. Yeah, I think not.

I'm starving, but since the wonderful spontaneous lactose intolerance began, I've had the number of things that I can eat radically cut back, and there's pretty close to nothing in the house that I can actually eat right now without getting sick (Did anyone know that KD uses real cheese? I certainly didn't). Well, I think there might be some beef broth, but I'm not sure if that counts.

I think that wraps up this post. I've got some stuff to type out for the notes on the story with the rock in, and then I'm going to go to the store and see if I can't find something edible.

Also, I need to check if I still have an English Grammar and Usage Book. I know mine went missing, but I can't remember if I replaced it...

Royal LePage

Ookie.

So.

Editing. It's coming. It's slow, but it's coming. I'm working of WiliamGodwinizing Moloch, which is taking some doing, but I think is turning out fairly well. I'm almost 45% of the way through editing Moloch. Then I just have... well, every single other character... but I don't think they'll be anywhere near as hard to do, in some ways. I thought Moloch would be the easiest, initially, because I'm changing the way he speaks, not the way he thinks... but changing the way he speaks actually is harder, I think, because I have to do it pretty much one word at a time. Anyway, there's nothing much wrong with the way everyone else thinks, except that their thought processes are too similar, apparently. So I just have to clean that up. I want to be done by the end of the month 'cause I want August to be left for actual content. I think that's realistic. I'm buying myself a copy of this book for my birthday. I don't even care.

Also, I'm pretty much done the cover art. I might rewrite the synopsis, and I'm hoping to find an impartial reviewer, so I can have a quote on the back from someone who's not among my fictionpress readers, just to lend a little more credibility to the thing. Anyway, I'm fairly psyched.

What else. I nearly punched my brother in the head last night because he called me the C word. I showed remarkable restraint, and am kind of wishing I hadn't.

Now, as promised, some reviewiness.
I read Jingo after The Fifth Elephant because I liked the synopsis for Elephant better, but since they're both Terry Pratchett books, they were both amazing, and I probably should have read them in order, just because.

Anyway, Jingo was, as is to be expected, pretty amazing. It had a lot of Vimes, a lot of Carrot and a lot of Vetinary, and you can't go wrong with the three of them. It's a blatant attack of racisim and its causes, as well as media spin and almost everything that's wrong with the modern world, while at the same time, managing to make it acceptable to notice and discuss the differences of various cultures.

Seriously, if you don't read Pratchett, start now. Start yesterday. He's managed to surpass Heinlein as my favourite author, and Good Omens, his colaberation with Neil Gaiman, has almost usurped the throne of my number one favourite (still, barely, Pride and Prejudice). He's beyond amazing.

I've mentioned before that I'm a bigger fan of Pratchett's newer stuff, and Equal Rites is only his third novel. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed it. It was printed in 1987 and has a lot to do with women's rights and other social issues but, as is always the case with Pratchett, the issues are adressed sideways, so you're paying attention to the story, not the message behind it.

The story follows Esk, a young girl, on her journey to become the first female wizard. Wizards in Pratchett's universe are not only chauvanists, but misogynists as well... and everybody, it seems, is of the opinion that there is men's work and women's work, except, of course, Esk, who is too young to understand why this would be the case, and spends a large portion of the book asking really inconvenient questions like, "Why?"

Another good one, anyway. I'm not as huge a fan of Granny Weatherwax and the Ramtops as I am of Vimes and Anhk Morpork, but there you go. Can't have everything, and this was a nice diversion from the big city.

And now... I'm out of Pratchett!!!!! :( Most of the stuff in the house was my sister's and is now packed away in storage or at her boyfriend's house; everything that is still in the house, I've read. I suppose I could reread it, but I want something new. I don't know what I'm going to do when I run out of Pratchett for real... I think I'll just die.

Well, this has been fun, but I suppose I should get back to editing now. I have to clean the kitchen tonight, work out, edit some more and pack up for tomorrow, for I'm off to spend the week with my friend Sarah, which should be super fun.

General Smith Allen

You know what? I think from now on it's safe to assume I don't have a job, because when I do have a job, I'll likely have a huge post about how amazing it is to be employed (and how I'm okay with turning 35).

In the meantime.

I'm starting to freak out about Aigaion Girl. I just realized that I have a month and a half to finish editing it if I want it to be ready for the fall, and I really, really want it to be ready for the fall. Like, a lot. So much so that I actually misused 'like' in writing and am not going back to fix it. A. Lot. As well as editing it, I have to format it, design a cover for it and convert it into PDF. Okay, so the last part will take two seconds, but the formatting is likely to take approximately forever, and I'm scared that I'll screw it up somehow. For right now, the big thing is editing. I'm almost done editing one of my main characters. I have two and a half more main, three secondary and one background character to edit (it's written from the individual perspectives of a bunch of people), which I really want to get done by the end of this month, because then the actual story-edits start. Yeah, I'm freaking out just a tiny bit.

Also, I've noticed that when I'm... oh, how to put this delicately... when I'm being visited by my least-favourite aunt, I find that I'm more forgiving of asshole men who do not, under any circumstances, deserve anything from me, much less my forgiveness. I get all soft and feminine, and I think things that are absolutely ridiculous, like that said men might have a snowball's chance in Hell of ever winning back my affection. Obviously, this is beyond insane, and I put it down to hormones, because really. I mean, come on.

My back is killing me. I hate this desk.

I have no idea who General Smith Allen is, if indeed he is anybody. I typed in the word general, and the Smith Allen just flowed along after it. Whatever. I do the same thing when I draw. Every couple of pages in all of my sketch books is a drawing surrounded by weird little things I don't remember writing. An alarming number of them say things like: I hate my life and kill me, but a lot of them just say things that are completely and totally messed up and make absolutely no sense. A couple of them are scrawled sideways as if I had my eyes closed at the time, and warn about the perrils of trying to write in your sleep.

Anywho.

I miss people. I miss Claytron and I miss Morgan and I miss Dr. Allard who taught my Romanticism class, and Mr. Root, who taught Writer's Craft.

I think I should go. This is starting to read like I'm drunk and I'm not. Next up, reviews of whatever Terry Pratchett books I've read since my last review. Jingo and Equal Rites and probably one other one, but I can't recall for sure.

La, la, la

I totally forget what I was going to blog about.
Oh, right.

I´m done editing that one character, at least until I´ve edited the others, at which point I will likely start the process over again. So far I´m fairly happy with how it´s going. I´m staying at my brother´s place and going to the beach tomorrow, so I didn´t bring my laptop with me, which means I´m going just a little bit crazy, but that´s okay.

No job yet, but that´s not much of a surprise. I didn´t check the job bank today because my resume is on Mephistopheles and I can´t really do anything from hear anyway.

Also, I finished reading The Fifth Elephant, yet another of Terry Pratchett´s works of unadulterated brilliance. I love the Discworld books with Vimes in them; he is one of my absolute favourites. He and Vetinari and Detritus are all pretty well tied, and they´re all in this one, which is great. And Carrot. I love Captain Carrot. I´ll probably be reading Jingo as soon as I get home.

I want my story to be published now. I want people reading it now. I know I´ll have readers, when I do get it published. I know people will buy it - I just wish they were buying it right now, this second, no waiting. Ah well. You can´t always get what you want.

There was something else. Oh, BEACH. We were supposed to be doing other stuff this weekend, including camping, but alas, that fell through. So now we´re spending tomorrow at the beach, which will rock, but isn´t quite camping. I wish there was somewhere we could stop on the way and pick up a set of Morning Play. Morning Play is just amazing.

There was one other thing. Right. Party. I´m sort of ambivalent about going. For reasons that don´t really warrant blogging about, I´m sort of afraid it´s going to be horribly, horribly awkward. Maybe it won´t. Maybe everything will go swimingly... and anyway, I´ve gone to every single one of these things for six years; I´m not going to suddenly stop because of the potential for awkwardness... God knows if that would have stopped me from doing anything, it certainly wouldn´t be a worry now.

I think that covers the update of my life. It´s amazing to me how with no job, hardly any friends that I see regularly and next to nothing going on in my life, I manage to find so much to blog about. It´s a gift, really. I ought to be going now, I suppose. I want to head to the nearby convenience store and see if they have... I have no idea. I don´t really want anything, to be honest. I just feel like spending money and eating, because they seem like the things to do.

Okay, seriously, I need to stop writing this now. Apart from the fact that I´m not conveying any useful information, I´m probably scaring the Hell out of anyone who´s read this far. Sorry, gentle reader. See you soon for another update on my bizzare life.

PS, the Post Secrets from last Sunday were pretty good. I´m looking forward to Sunday´s, thatś for sure.

Rain, Rain

It's pouring out. Today was supposed to be my run-around-the-city-and-hand-out-resumes day, but instead it turned into my sit-in-my-house-and-finish-my-book day, which was a lot more fun, even if not so productive.

I just finished another one of Terry Pratchett's books, Monstrous Regiment. It may just be my favourite one of his books to date... maybe.

It follows Polly Perks on her journey through the army, which, of course, starts with her cutting off her hair, disguising herself as a man and joining up. I don't want to say more than that, 'cause I don't want to give it away, but it has everything you'd expect from one of Pratchett's novels: humour, hilarity and an uncompromising view of humanity.

Also, it means I'm up to three books this year, all of them Pratchett's.

In other news, I started something new. It began as a stray thought, which I planned on turning into a short story for Devereaux Court, and turned into a scene which I plan to be the opening for my next novel. The other things I'd started will likely have to wait, because this really does feel like my next big project. Of course, I'm going to spend the next two months editing Aigaion Gir, so I probably won't have much time for writing, but you never know. I can write down bits and pieces, and maybe a novel will be born.

I'm kind of bummed now, because I have nothing to read and sort-of nothing to write. Also, there were next to no new jobs on the job bank site, and the only one I was even remotely qualified for was at a place that I've already worked, where I'd really rather not work again, and where they're not terribly likely to want to hire me, if I'm honest.

Ah well. Not much to do for the moment, I guess. Laundry and stuff, but not much that will help me advance in the grand scheme of things, anyway. I guess that's it. Go read Monstrous Regiment, if you haven't already.

Celeron M

Sometimes, when I can't think of a title for my blog posts, I just pick something out of the room at random.

Okay, so first: Books.
I am very sorry (and a little bit horrified) to say that I've only read two books this year. That's right, two. The year is half-over and I've only read two books. And I read them in about three weeks.

Book #1 was Terry Pratchett's Nation, which his only non-Discworld book I've read (I'm not counting Good Omens, 'cause that was a collaborative effort with Neil Gaiman). It's absolutely amazing.

It's darker than most of his Discworld stuff, but I think that's because it's new, and Pratchett's work seems to get progressively darker - which is fine, because I've always loved that kind of unabashed cynicism. I think that's what drew me to him in the first place. I don't want to spoil it for you, so I'm not going to tell you what it's about, except that it's kind of about the end of the world, at least, the end of a world, which for the people living there is the same thing.

Book #2 was another Pratchett masterpiece, a much earlier Discworld book called Reaper Man. That copy has been in my family's house for years, and for years I didn't read it because I was terrified of the picture of Death on the front (not the same cover art as shown right - I couldn't find a picture of the book jacket ours used to have). When I was maybe 11, I tried to read The Colour of Magic and couldn't finish it, and then didn't read any Pratchett for ages. Reaper Man is pretty amazing, but I have to say that in parts, it seemed like Pratchett forgot his readers weren't in his head with him, so I found some parts confusing.

Mainly, I loved the story of Death essentially being fired, and going to live and work on a farm. It was all good, but that particular thread was just too amazing, and I found myself constantly wanting to run and give him a hug.

As with every other Terry Pratchett book I've read, I'd heartily recomend it to anyone who wants something funny, thoughful, thought-provoking and generally amazing to read.

Second: I still have no job. It's not that I haven't been applying, because I have. Maybe my applying hasn't been as rigorous as it could be - I've spent most of every day for the past few months writing my book (now finished!!!!!), working out and drinking tea. It may seem like wasting time, I guess, but c'mon - I wrote a bloody book and dropped at least two sizes. That has to count for something.

But still, I think the main problem is that there just aren't that many jobs available. I mean, if I had a car or a college and/or university education, there are plenty of jobs I could get... but no one seems to even be looking for people, and if they are, they want educated people. Why you need college-trained secretaries and forklift operators, I'll never know.

I think that's it. Edits on Aigaion Girl aren't going to start until July, 'cause I'm giving my brain some away-time from that story for the moment, as hard as that is. I feel like I should be writing but I went through all 26 of my pending stories the other day and I couldn't find anything that I felt like writing at the moment. Maybe I'll start something new.

Right now I'm off to go back through the job bank and see what's available. Monday, I'll have to plaster the city with resumes - which would be a lot easier to do if all of my summer clothes (and nice shoes) weren't sitting in some guys barn - another long story. Yes, I know I look like a hobo and I know I'm wearing flipflops/my youngest brother's handmedown running shoes, but seriously, take my resume, then call me at my mom's office, 'cause the home phone's been cut off and I can't get my cell phone hooked up until I get paid for work I did in January... Hire me.
Somehow, I don't see that working as well as I need it to.

Ah well. I'm grumbling again, and I really didn't mean this to be a grumbly post. But seriously, I should never have stayed in town for the summer. I should have just said screw it, despite the serious lack of job and money, and just gone wandering in May like I planned to. Ugh.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

I just watched all of this on YouTube, and I must say, it's nothing short of amazing.

I recognized Neil Patrick Harris as soon as I saw him, but only in a vague kind of isn't he that guy from that thing? kind of way. Now I feel oddly compelled to find and watch everything he's ever been in.

I found out about Dr. Horrible from Vicky, 'cause I've been on a Nathan Fillion kick for the past couple of days (his new show, Castle, is great), and she told me there was something with him singing in it, so I went digging. I'm so glad I did.

I don't know what it is about Joss Whedon's stuff, but whenever I see something of his, I have this horrible urge to copy it, and pretend the idea was mine. I don't, of course, because not only would it be obvious that I stole it, but that's also kind of a shit thing to do to someone, even if they never found out about it. I think it's that his ideas are so good, I just really, really wish I'd thought of them first.

I suppose I should try to go to sleep now. I made myself go to bed at quarter to four, and ended up tossing and turning until twenty five to five. Now it's five thirty, and I'm still not tired. Nonetheless, sleep is kind of important and I don't want to spend all day tomorrow unconscious and/or crazy tired. So, I guess now is the time to say goodnight. Goodnight.

Beware the Savage Jaw

Welcome to my very first book review of 2009. Today I will be reviewing the first 10 pages (or 35%) of George Orwell's 1984 Adapted for Children by Kade Johnston.

First, I would like to say that I am utterly astounded - and I mean that honestly. I have never read anything like this. I'm somewhat ambivalent on the question of whether or not I want to read anything like this again, because on the one hand, it provided me with a good deal of entertainment, and on the other, there is something to be said for the uniqueness of the experience of reading (even part of) this book.

I guess I can't really call this a book review, because I honestly cannot find the words to say everything I want to about this book. Instead, I'm going to post my favourite chapters (clicking on them should make them big enough to read) and let you all read it for yourselves. Trust me, it will make your head spin.

Really, you have to marvel at the sheer gutsiness of adapting a book like 1984 for children. It's just such an unusual concept. I wonder if, based on how well 1984 turned out, the author will adapt any other books for kids. The Handmaid's Tale, for example, or Who Has Seen the Wind. You could do a whole series.

(I love that Johnston includes little explanatory aids, like pyramid charts.)

I think chapter six is my favourite, but explaining why is far beyond my capabilities. I've included it, so you can read it (and love it) for yourselves.

I wish I could say more, but, again, I'm at a loss for words. I hope you have enjoyed my review of George Orwell's 1984 Adapted for Children as thoroughly as I enjoyed reading what I could of the book itself.

PS, V:18 H:20