The Lousypoet

Who won the Hugo for Best Novel with the Graveyard Book. If you haven’t read it, go do it… Now!

So here’s an interesting rumour. EW.com is floating the story Drew Barrymore will direct Twilight 3. Supposedly they’re looking at a third director because they want the third instalment (Eclipse) to be released all of 6 months after New Moon. This overlapping of production times would mean Chris Weitz, who is directing New Moon, would be unable to do the director duties on the third film. This seems a little off to me. I mean, if Weitz delivers on New Moon, shouldn’t he be given the shot at the third film? I’m guessing that Summit Films is trying to push this series through while people still give a crap. But if they really want a series people will keep coming back to, they should go for quality, not just slap-dash productions. I mean, check out Harry Potter. The films are great movies, regardless of the source material. People keep coming back to the films because they are quality, not just because they’re adaptations of their favourite books. Oh well, I guess it’s a good thing I was never completely in love with this series, cause I predict the films are going to be shite.

Meanwhile, Watchmen continues to get some pretty great reviews. I’m totally pumped for this film. One thing I think is unfair is that it is getting constantly compared to The Dark Knight. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a big Batman fan and I really did like TDK, but really, I don’t think it was as completely perfect as some people make out. Also, remember that Watchmen has the difficult task of being an adaptation. All Dark Knight had to do was be a good Batman story. I know, certain Batman films in the past have proven that it is entirely all too easy to mess up a Batman story, but I still think crafting an original story with a character with such amazingly rich history as Batman is easier than taking something as complex as Watchmen and trying to compress it all into one film.

Some Book News, Neil Gaiman has a new one coming out in March. It is an illustrated kids book with art by Charles Vess. Apparently the words are from something Neil wrote for Tori Amos when she had her baby girl. While I welcome damn near anything new from Mr. Gaiman, I can’t help but think this is Harper striking while the iron’s hot and getting some more kid lit our there under Neil’s name so soon after his Newberry award for The Graveyard Book. Of course, I’ll probably buy it anyway

In some book into movie news, Mania.com wrote this article on a planned Neverending Story remake. Seems Warner Brothers is looking to breath some new life into this series after 25 years. I suppose some spiffy effects and all will be added, but they’re saying that more of the nuances of the book will be explored instead of glossed over like in the first film. Now, I have to admit, I have yet to work my way through the book. With this news, I might just have to see if I can finish the thing.

I couldn’t help but laugh. As I wrote the other day, Neil Gaiman’s book, The Graveyard Book, just won the Newbery award, one of the most prestigious awards given for children’s literature. Gaiman’s twitter response was classic, as was his post on his blog. And then comes the news that The Graveyard Book is being turned into a feature film with Neil Jordan (In The Company of Wolves, Interview with the Vampire) doing the adaptation and directing. This could bode quite well for the film! And then we have the theatrical release of Coraline, which looks simply amazing!

And speaking of Coraline, here’s a great little trailer featuring the god writer himself, apparently in his front sitting room and library.

Ahh, to have even a fraction of this man’s talent….

I just received the following announcement in my email! Congratulations Mr. Gaiman, it is well deserved.

January 26, 2009

The Graveyard Book has won the prestigious 2009 Newbery Medal!

A delicious mix of murder, fantasy, humor and human longing, the tale of Nobody Owens is told in magical, haunting prose. A child marked for death by an ancient league of assassins escapes into an abandoned graveyard, where he is reared and protected by its spirit denizens.

The book, published September 30, 2008, was an instant New York Times #1 bestseller, and continues to be counted on many national and regional bestseller lists.

“A child named Nobody, an assassin, a graveyard and the dead are the perfect combination in this deliciously creepy tale, which is sometimes humorous, sometimes haunting and sometimes surprising,” said Newbery Committee Chair Rose V. Trevi&ntildeo.

The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman

It’s always a pleasure to sit down with a new Neil Gaiman book. The man has yet to disappoint me, and that’s saying something. I had been eagerly anticipating the Graveyard Book’s release for sometime now, and I burned through it.

The Graveyard Book is the tale of Nobody, or Bod for short, who on the night his family is murdered wanders, no more than a toddler, into a local graveyard where he is adopted by the spirits within. The book follows Bod as he grows, matures, ventures into the world beyond the safety of the graveyard, and eventually confronts the truth of his origins.

This book was a little different from Gaiman’s other novels. While most of his books contain driving narratives that propel you forward in the singular story, the Graveyard Book is actually a series of vignettes showing us key moments in Bod’s life. We literally follow the child from barely a year old to the age of 15. It is only the continuing threat of the murderer Jack that provides cohesion throughout the book. There are eight chapters, and really it is only chapters one and seven that serve the overall narrative.

But this way of telling the story had an immense charm to it. Bod is an extremely likable character. Unlike too many other child characters, he is neither precocious, nor do you feel stupidity or ignorance land him in the hot water situations he finds himself in. There is an incredible innocence to Bod that is so refreshing. I was a particular fan of the chapter where Bod goes to school. His observations and the ultimate revelation of where he went wrong struck a very deep chord in me.

Because, in the end, the Graveyard Book is a tale of growing up. While it may be steeped in fantasy, filled with vampires, werewolves, ghouls, ghosts and magic, it really comes down to a tale about a boy becoming a man, and learning that eventually, he has to stand on his own two feet.

I loved this book. The only real complaint I have is that I want more. I want to know more about what happens to Bod. I want more of Silas, his obviously vampiric gaurdian. I can only hope that someday Mr. Gaiman decides to let us in on more of their stories.

Until then, go a find a copy of the Graveyard book. I highly recommend it!