INDEPENDENT reading.

Well, today in class I discovered that we were supposed to write a reading response about the book that I am currently reading (or have recently read).

GREAT.

I apoligize for the meaningless entry, and also for the fact that this will happen a lot.

So, at the moment, I'm reading 'Darkly Dreaming Dexter' by Jeff Lindsay, 'Getting the Girl' by Markus Zuzak, 'The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God' and 'Pizzeria Kamikaze' by Etgar Keret. Usually I don't read so many books at one time, honest to blog.

So, I'm reading my very small collection of Etgar Keret; 'Kamikaze Pizzeria' and 'The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God'.
'The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God' is a collection of short stories.. Man, they're pretty twisted, I'm telling you right now. Some of them are too symbolic and I don't get them at all, but there's about 20 stories and I only have trouble understanding 2 or 3, so it's all good.
Etgar Keret isn't actually an English writer, so all of his stories have been translated. Pizzeria Kamikaze isn't too bad, but the other one is FULL of typos. It drives me crazy, but the stories are good enough to tough it out.

My favourite short stories are 'The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God', 'Good Intentions', and 'Kneller's Happy Campers'.
'Kneller's Happy Campers' was made into a graphic novel (Pizzeria Kamikaze) and a movie called 'Wristcutters:A Love Story' (which is actually how I heard about it).

BLACK COMEDY! I am so happy that I can put this in concept.

S U M M A R Y

'Kneller's Happy Campers' is a story about the afterlife reserved for suicides. Mordy, the main character, kills himself via poison, only to find himself in a different world that's just like his old one--only a little bit worse. He meets Uzi (shot himself in the army) and Lihi (OD). Lihi's convinced that she's there by mistake. When Mordy finds out that his old girlfriend killed herself shortly after his suicide, they go on a road trip looking for her, and the 'people in charge' who will help Lihi get back to life. On their trip, they find Rafe Kneller, a real wack job who runs a camp for people who are happy to have a second chance. I LOVE this story.

I like their names better in the movie, though... Mordy is Zia, Uzi is Eugene, and Lihi is Mikal. They also added a few wicked twists, like... in the afterlife, nobody can smile and there's no stars. Mikal really loved her life, and she hates everything about the afterlife.

S E T T I N G

In 'Pizzeria Kamikaze' the setting is in modern time. Although it's in the afterlife, they make it out to be a rundown version of Tel Aviv, Israel. It has a pretty depressing idea, however the atmosphere is optimistic and bright. You can tell that the three friends love eachother very much.

C H A R A C T E R T R A I T S

The protagonist is Mordy (hereby reffered to as Zia). The story revolves around his life (after death) and his adventures with his three best friends. Two character traits he has are reserved and compassionate.

Zia hardly tells anybody what he's feeling (he does tell us as the narrator), and when he does, he says it sarcastically so people don't actually know what he's feeling.

A part in the story that shows this?

S e t t i n g T h e S c e n e
Zia and Eugene are sitting up in their apartment, looking out the window. Zia has just found out that Desiree had killed herself, meaning she was somewhere in this crazy afterlife. He's trying to convince Eugene to come with him.

"Give me one good reason to go, and I will. It's not like I'm out to be a jerk, or anything."
"How about I love her?"
"No you don't; you just fill your head with words."
"No, really?"

Mordy and Desiree before they killed themselves

Zia is also really compassionate. Near the end of the book, he walks with Mikal (Lihi) on the beach, and they have a really deep conversation about life, and the people who never appreaciated it. They talked about why they killed themselves and what they were going to do about it, and for the first time in the book, we see a little bit of Zia's love (friendship) for Mikal. You can tell that they're truly best friends, and it's one of the best parts of the book.

Zia and Mikal on the beach.

I won't say anymore without spoiling it, but the movie is GREAT, despite it's emolicious title, and the books are EVEN BETTER.

This is one you haven't seen before. :D
Indie movies are always great too; the best actors are yet to be 'discovered'.

My verdict for this book is FABULOUS. I love the unique plot, the lovable characters, and the pictures. To show they're dead, it's in black and white, and all of Zia's dreams are in metallic silver. I reccomend this for anybody with an open mind.

So, that's what I'm reading at the moment! :D