Review: Eaters of the Dead

So Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton is the most recent book I've read. I chose it spur of the moment almost 3 weeks ago as we were rushing out the door and I wanted to bring a book with me.

I was incredibly confused throughout the whole book on whether or not it was fiction. I know this is a fiction author, though I've never read his other books. Yet he talked about it in the intro and had the footnotes that made me think it was real. The truth is it's a little of both. It's based on a real life manuscript and after the beginning it takes off on it's own fictitious path. The true, historical, part is that this Arab goes off to a new post in the north. The fiction is that he goes off with some vikings to fight neanderthal cannibals. The fiction part is apparently based on Beowulf, which I have no previous experience with in any way, so I can't compare the two.

There is also apparently a movie based on this book, which I think I might have seen, though I don't remember it a lot. It's called The 13th Warrior. Now who would have guessed that? I only found that out cause I was getting that amazon link up there and happened to see it. I mean the title does make sense but you would have had to read the book to realize that title was connected with this book.

The writing is very plain and matter of fact. Hardly any emotion at all. But I do think it was a good choice to read since I was frequently interrupted during it and I didn't care about being broken out of it. It wasn't the sort of story you get sucked into. That's not to say it's not a good story. Just that it's not the sort that you get so into you don't want to be jarred out of it. I could stop and pick up at any point and it took no effort to get back into it.

The deciding victorious moment is dull and anti-climatic. Very anti-climatic. I'm talking about the cave scene. There's all this buildup for, like, two chapters, and then in one short paragraph it's over.

Overall it's an ok book, I think. I mean, I'm not going to say you should go out of your way to read it, but it's not something to avoid either. The only bad thing I have to say about it is that the cave scene was surprisingly short.

Vampire Diaries

So this is a bit late but oh well. I finished watching Vampire Diaries about 2-3 weeks ago. I dunno, February's been weird. I kept forgetting it was February at all for like a week and now I keep mixing up what day it is. Anyway...

I really, really liked it. But I had no idea it was an in-process show. Netflix only has the first 3 seasons. Apparently there's 4 with a 5th on the way or something. Great. I only started watching it cause I saw it on the recently added list and it was 2011's season, so I guess this means I have to wait till next January to watch season 4? Maybe I'll see if I know anyone who has the dvd (is there a dvd? I'm sure there has to be) so I can borrow it. Or if I find it cheap I'll just buy it. I intend to do that with the first 3 seasons. Also, apparently it's based on a book? The opening credits say so. I shall have to look into that some day.

I do like watching Twilight cause it's just so stupid, but this is way better. I mean, there are some things that seem similar, but, really, this is waaay better. It just draws you in. It's very addictive. Towards the end I was staying up late at night to watch them, and sneaking them in during Tommy's naps, instead of doing things like cleaning. lol The end of almost every episode ends in a cliffhanger. And since it consumed my life for a few weeks I am taking a break on tv shows for now.

Now, just cause I wanna, my favorite characters are Damon (*squee*), Alaric, and Elijah. Really, Damon is just a really, really well done character. Sometimes you don't know if he's bad or good, sometimes you just want to break down sobbing and cuddle him forever, other times you want to slap him. ...usually you just want to hold him and stroke his hair and cry and tell him "I'll love you..."

Anyway, I have a few complaints, since we all know how good I am at complaining. I don't think they're very spoiler-ific, though if you want to avoid minor spoilers then stop reading now.

How can people just slice open their hands over and over? Like everyone's doing it and no one cares. Occasionally there's a wince or gasp. If I sliced open my hand I'd be crying like a baby, but these people are all "*slice* Ho, hum. Just another normal, boring day. Oh, I suppose I should think about bandaging that sometime." Not everyone has that kind of pain tolerance!

When she loses all that blood in season 3 no one cares, not even her. Now, when I had Tommy I had to get 2 bags of blood. So I assume I must have lost about 2 bags. The show indicates she lost several bags. Now after having lost just as little as I did I passed out 10 feet from where I lost it, and then was confined to my bed unless I had a nurse to supervise me getting around. Two days later I wasn't allowed to even shower unless someone was in the next room listening for if I needed help. Meanwhile Elena's all "Ladida, lost several bags of blood and all I have is a bit of a headache. Let's go home so I can paint!" What!? If someone I knew lost that much I'd be taking her to the hospital asap to get more.