Half assed book review

Was going to hit the sack after getting knocked out of a tourney on Tilt when my tens lost to 3s when he spiked a set but Turner Classics came up with a movie I like at the moment so decided I’ll stat up and watch and do a bit of writing. Played some with Goatlady tonight and had a great time. Hope to see her at the tables again.

This post however is going to concentrate on my recent reading. As I said in previous posts I have acquired a new supply of reading materials and have actually gotten to read some of them so decided to give my opinions on some of them and hopefully convince some folks to pick up a book.

Think I will start with Watchmen by Alan Moore. Watchmen started out as a comic book series but has been collected into a graphic novel. Now of course there will be those snobs who look down on “comics” but Watchmen is not your ordinary, everyday comic. Not that I have anything against them, I enjoy the hell out of them, but if you take away the graphic format you have a book that is every bit as relevant as any great piece of literature and more so than most. Written back in the 80’s the subject matter was very relevant to the times and even more striking, some of the subject matter relates very much to the attitude of many in the upper echelons of the US government over the last 8 years, almost prescient. On the whole it is thought provoking, including the comic within the comic and especially the ending. The movie version is due to be released in March of 09 and I wonder how they will handle it?

I’ll try not to let out any spoilers but I can’t guarantee what will happen when my fingers go on a roll. Watchmen, like many comics, is based on costumed heroes but, except for one of them, they do not possess super powers. They are masked vigilantes, more of the Batman type, and rather than super pure fighters for truth, justice and the American Way, they are all too human with the faults and foibles of normal people, except for the one guy who is actually a superman, and as things progress he goes in the opposite direction, finding it hard to relate to humanity. It’s these characteristics that lead to the thought provoking scenarios that unfold.

The setting is also not your typical comic setting of the world at large, though I have heard that modern comics have gone to the alternate universe extreme to kill off characters and bring them back. Watchmen is set in an alternate universe where the US has a decided edge over the rest of the world due to “control” of the one actual super being, Dr. Manhattan, but the Russians aren’t exactly kowtowing so that the Doomsday clock is set at 5 minutes to midnight. Also, instead of running free a law has been passed which requires “heroes” to register, and be under the control of, the US government. Due to this most of them have retired though a couple work in sanction and one at least doesn’t give a rat’s patoot and is an actual vigilante, operating outside the law.

The book opens with the murder of a man, which is nothing strange, until the one true vigilante discovers that he was one of the “heroes” working in sanction with the government. This leads him to contact the others who have retired with the backgrounds and attitudes of these people framing the situation in their own terms. As the story progresses it also regresses as much of it is back-story on the history of the masked crime fighter in the world. It dwells on motives and actions and the fate of many of the vigilantes. The story leads us down paths as to what happens to people when they stray into the realms of the unusual. Add in what happens when the level that people care, or don’t care, and the methods they use to show it and there are conflicts galore. The author draws no pat conclusions and does not ram morals down your throat. You are required to think to make any sense of this story and anyone seeking pat answers or stories that make you feel warm and fuzzy will probably not like it. If you like a challenge to your mind however it is a recommended read. I have no idea how Hollywood is going to handle this one without wrecking the entire story but will be interesting to see what they have done.