Matt Zimmer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
matt_zimmer) wrote2023-03-05 06:17 am
matt_zimmer) wrote2023-03-05 06:17 am
Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur "Moon Girl's Day Off" Review (Spoilers)
Also a review for the novel Desperation.
Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur "Moon Girl's Day Off"
This show is just the cutest.
I love that Abyss absorbed the moral Lunella just learned, and called her mom and told her she didn't want to be a supervillain anymore. That was very sweet.
Okay, it is VERY clear to me Mimi knows Lunella is Moon Girl.
The Beyonder makes a fun recapper.
This show is living up to its early promise so far. ****.
Desperation by Stephen King
I have always been a bit ambivalent about this novel. But upon this reading I guess I can finally admit I dislike it. It's one of King's scariest and most violent novels. But the thing that bothers me is I can't figure out what point King is trying to make. The stuff with God and the bummer ending makes the morality of the book entirely unclear. I don't mind ambiguity in fiction at all. But if you create a fictional story this gruesome and horrific, I don't think expecting a self-evident moral is out of line. If anything, that makes it MORE necessary, not less.
For a story about God, what Biblical allegory King is going for isn't clear. The Book of Job? If that's so, it's wrong because the ending isn't horrible ENOUGH. I really can't understand the message here, or what King is trying to get across about faith.
All the God stuff really rankles me for that reason. Stephen King has his share of precocious kid characters, like Mark Petrie from "'Salem's Lot", Scarecrow Joe McClatchey from "Under The Dome", and Luke Ellis from "The Institute". King is not afraid of making child characters either capable or cool, and I admire him for not giving a crap about what fandom believes about kid characters, mostly that they are all annoying.
But I DO find David Carver annoying. I found Mark Petrie's knowledge of the supernatural compelling, and Scarecrow Joe's science nerdiness relatable, and the fact that Luke was an equal opportunity genius was excellent too. David's expertise in God is not something I like or appreciate the character for.
The ties to its mirror universe Richard Bachman novel "The Regulators" are something I was always leery of. The same characters in different situations isn't as neat as King thinks it is, and makes both stories feel more like gimmicks instead of actual stories in and of themselves, with real stakes and characters for you to care about. "The Regulators" very much feels like a sick joke for that reason.
Johnny Marinville is also one of the most unlikable protagonists King has ever created. Part of that is done to keep the reader guessing on whether or not he really IS going to wimp out and be a worthless human being, but having him do horrible things to "keep us guessing" doesn't make me like the character at all.
I liked seeing Cynthia Smith from "Rose Madder" in the book, and I like that she survived this one too. She survived Normal Daniels, she'll survive Desperation. Cynthia is one of the only characters present (along with Steve Ames) to survive both this book AND "The Regulators". Many are killed in both. The rest besides Steve and Cynthia survive only one or the other.
King Connections Of Note: Besides the connections to "The Regulators", the chants by Tak seem to have some bearing on "The Dark Tower". I think the terms "can toi" meaning Low Men in "The Dark Tower" can be chalked up to an actual Universal coincidence, but Tak's chants can also be heard in the tent of "The Little Sisters Of Eluria", a prequel Roland Deschain short story found in "Everything's Eventual". The supplementary material from "The Dark Tower" Marvel Comics by Robin Furth also hint at further connections between "Desperation" and Eluria as well, although Furth herself is quick to point out those comics exist on a separate level of the Tower. Cynthia mentions her ordeal with Norman Daniels, as well her friendship with Gert from "Rose Madder". Ellen Carver is a Misery fan from the book "Misery". "The Tommyknockers" are mentioned, as general boogeymen / gremlins, rather than the hostile alien invaders they were in that self-titled book. The actual Regulators connections make this story a good example of how the Multiverse and different levels of The Dark Tower work in the Stephen Kingverse too.
I finally made up my mind about this book, (on what was probably my fifth read). I think it largely sucks. **.
Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur "Moon Girl's Day Off"
This show is just the cutest.
I love that Abyss absorbed the moral Lunella just learned, and called her mom and told her she didn't want to be a supervillain anymore. That was very sweet.
Okay, it is VERY clear to me Mimi knows Lunella is Moon Girl.
The Beyonder makes a fun recapper.
This show is living up to its early promise so far. ****.
Desperation by Stephen King
I have always been a bit ambivalent about this novel. But upon this reading I guess I can finally admit I dislike it. It's one of King's scariest and most violent novels. But the thing that bothers me is I can't figure out what point King is trying to make. The stuff with God and the bummer ending makes the morality of the book entirely unclear. I don't mind ambiguity in fiction at all. But if you create a fictional story this gruesome and horrific, I don't think expecting a self-evident moral is out of line. If anything, that makes it MORE necessary, not less.
For a story about God, what Biblical allegory King is going for isn't clear. The Book of Job? If that's so, it's wrong because the ending isn't horrible ENOUGH. I really can't understand the message here, or what King is trying to get across about faith.
All the God stuff really rankles me for that reason. Stephen King has his share of precocious kid characters, like Mark Petrie from "'Salem's Lot", Scarecrow Joe McClatchey from "Under The Dome", and Luke Ellis from "The Institute". King is not afraid of making child characters either capable or cool, and I admire him for not giving a crap about what fandom believes about kid characters, mostly that they are all annoying.
But I DO find David Carver annoying. I found Mark Petrie's knowledge of the supernatural compelling, and Scarecrow Joe's science nerdiness relatable, and the fact that Luke was an equal opportunity genius was excellent too. David's expertise in God is not something I like or appreciate the character for.
The ties to its mirror universe Richard Bachman novel "The Regulators" are something I was always leery of. The same characters in different situations isn't as neat as King thinks it is, and makes both stories feel more like gimmicks instead of actual stories in and of themselves, with real stakes and characters for you to care about. "The Regulators" very much feels like a sick joke for that reason.
Johnny Marinville is also one of the most unlikable protagonists King has ever created. Part of that is done to keep the reader guessing on whether or not he really IS going to wimp out and be a worthless human being, but having him do horrible things to "keep us guessing" doesn't make me like the character at all.
I liked seeing Cynthia Smith from "Rose Madder" in the book, and I like that she survived this one too. She survived Normal Daniels, she'll survive Desperation. Cynthia is one of the only characters present (along with Steve Ames) to survive both this book AND "The Regulators". Many are killed in both. The rest besides Steve and Cynthia survive only one or the other.
King Connections Of Note: Besides the connections to "The Regulators", the chants by Tak seem to have some bearing on "The Dark Tower". I think the terms "can toi" meaning Low Men in "The Dark Tower" can be chalked up to an actual Universal coincidence, but Tak's chants can also be heard in the tent of "The Little Sisters Of Eluria", a prequel Roland Deschain short story found in "Everything's Eventual". The supplementary material from "The Dark Tower" Marvel Comics by Robin Furth also hint at further connections between "Desperation" and Eluria as well, although Furth herself is quick to point out those comics exist on a separate level of the Tower. Cynthia mentions her ordeal with Norman Daniels, as well her friendship with Gert from "Rose Madder". Ellen Carver is a Misery fan from the book "Misery". "The Tommyknockers" are mentioned, as general boogeymen / gremlins, rather than the hostile alien invaders they were in that self-titled book. The actual Regulators connections make this story a good example of how the Multiverse and different levels of The Dark Tower work in the Stephen Kingverse too.
I finally made up my mind about this book, (on what was probably my fifth read). I think it largely sucks. **.