The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 31 May 2013 01:45 AM PDT Great actors, without a doubt; but the 'stars' of this week's featured graphic novel could also raise the wrist like no other. I will not be a common man. I will stir the smooth sands of monotony. – Peter O'Toole IF PETER O'Toole's life as chronicled in the graphic novel Hellraisers is anything to go by, his and compatriots Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Oliver Reed's lives have been anything but common. Indeed, the four Hellraisers featured in this depressingly droll (yes, it actually does manage to be both) volume can be uncouth, out of control and pretty much mad, but they are never, ever boring. Telling the stories of four of the greatest boozers of all time to emerge from the acting profession, the book is a clever mix of autobiography, fiction and satire, with a healthy dose of the fantastical thrown in. We are introduced to the story by Martin, a boozer whose excessive drinking has strained his family relationships to breaking point. As he is drinking in a pub alone on Christmas, he is visited, A Christmas Carol-style, by each of the four Hellraisers, and taken on a personal tour of their lives. This includes everything from their childhoods and rise to stardom to their messy relationships, astounding drunken adventures, and in some cases, their tragic demises. Written by Robert Sellers, the book is part rollicking adventure and part cautionary tale; stories of wild drunken parties, orgies and tall tales are mixed in with episodes of public humiliation, broken relationships and failing health. However, it is also a wild ride into a bygone era of screen and stage, and any cinephile will enjoy the liberal references to iconic films and plays these actors have been in. Equally enjoyable are vignettes detailing the actors' adventures with other famous names, like Errol Flynn introducing Burton to the pleasures of a bordello, or O'Toole getting Michael Caine so drunk that they lose several days. Bringing vivid life to these tales are the illustrations by JAKe, which manage to capture a wealth of detail despite the minimalistic approach. Each Hellraiser is perfectly drawn, and I particularly like how their changing appearances, from debonair stars to craggy older gentlemen, are depicted so well. The artist also fills each panel with tons of elements that pay homage to Hollywood, from iconic sets and movie scenes to instantly recognisable faces. The downside to the graphic novel, however, is that its episodic format tends to feel a little repetitive after a while. Each character follows a familiar arc, and after one or two, you can see where each is going. The segments also tend to feel slightly uneven; Burton's story, for instance, is quite long and filled with details, whereas Reed's and O'Toole's feel like they could have been expanded upon (especially since O'Toole, at 80, is the "last man standing" of the four). What does make Hellraisers so interesting, though, is that it both celebrates and critiques its main characters. Time and again, they talk about how they are not alcoholics, but rather, men who thoroughly enjoy the uninhibited camaraderie of boozing. It is also difficult not to feel admiration when you read about their humble working-class backgrounds and the obvious pleasure they took in life after working their way up. Yet, for each instance of this, there are several others of tearful wives, ruined career opportunities, lost memories and major illnesses. And by the end of the book, after reading through each of the Hellraisers' lives, you are left with a wistful sense of what could have been. Of course, few would argue that the likes of Burton or O'Toole could have had better careers, but you do get the sense that they could have been more considerate of others in their lives. And for all their carousing and notorious fame, their lives also seem permeated by loneliness, of their own making. But this is showbiz after all, and even the worst-behaved Hellraiser apparently deserves a chance at redemption. And so, as you say goodbye to the four jolly old men who you know have, for all their faults, led remarkable lives, it is truly with no small amount of affection. > The graphic novels reviewed today, Hellraisers and Scarlet, are available at Kinokuniya bookstore, Suria KLCC. For further enquiries, call 03-21648133 / e-mail ebd3_kbm@kinokuniya.co.jp /visit kinokuniya.com/my. |
| Posted: 30 May 2013 04:43 PM PDT Everything is broken. Good people are victims. Bad people are heroes. Dumb is a virtue. Food is poison. Corruption is a national pastime. Rapists rape. The poor are left to rot. No one is safe, and everyone thinks it's funny … why is the world allowed to be this way? – Scarlet Scarlet, Book 1 Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Artist: Alex Maleev MEET Scarlet Rue. She used to be just another rebellious teenage girl growing up in Portland, Oregon, falling in love with the perfect guy, and happily minding her own business … until a corrupt cop killed her boyfriend, shot her in the head and left her for dead. But that's just the beginning of the story. After miraculously surviving the shooting, Scarlet becomes hell-bent on revenge. Vowing to rid the world of power-abusing scumbags in positions of high authority, she is willing to use whatever means necessary to achieve her mission. Kind of like a modern-day V For Vendetta, except in her case, it's more like V for Vengeance (plus she's hotter than V too). But then, something crazy happened along the way. What started out as a mission of revenge turned into something bigger. It turned into a full-fledged, modern-day revolution. Collecting issues #1-#5 of Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev's creator-owned series, this first volume of Scarlet is a compelling read – giving light to real-world issues and problems in a gritty and violent yet strangely poetic way. Bendis is in the form of his life right now. Besides spearheading one of the most fun yet intriguing X-Men runs in a long time (the scribe currently handles the excellent All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men series), he also writes Ultimate Spider-Man, and is in the midst of wrapping up Marvel's main event for 2013 – Age Of Ultron – right now, as well as the stellar Daredevil: End Of Days miniseries. At the same time, he's also writing some excellent creator-owned series like Scarlet, Brilliant, Takio and Powers (even finding time to develop a Powers TV show pilot). Scarlet is a far cry from Bendis' relatively more innocent and clean-cut mainstream Marvel books. The script is foul-mouthed and hard-hitting, with dialogue that is smart and straight to the point. He sure as hell isn't afraid to lay on the shock and awe, either – his first panel has Scarlet breaking a dirty cop's neck, and later on, she gets hold of a sniper gun, a video camera and … well, you can guess the rest. Another interesting element also sees Scarlet (and a few other characters) breaking the fourth wall and addressing the reader directly. Though you might argue that it's a conveniently easy way for the writer to throw in some lengthy exposition about why she is doing what she does, it does allow him to get to the point early on – the first nine pages consists of Scarlet introducing herself to the reader and explaining her actions, before a quick fire montage of her life's "greatest hits" (ranging from birth, first kiss, first sexual experience, first drink, etc) sets us up for the big "origin story" of how the Scarlet we know came to be. Bendis' violently compelling story is complemented perfectly by Maleev's gritty, realistic artwork. The two have collaborated before (on Moon Knight, Daredevil and during Bendis' Avengers run), but the freedom of Marvel's mature Icon imprint allows him to let loose with some of his most compellingly realistic and detailed output yet. The way he draws Scarlet – with her mop of red hair and her not-unattractive looks – gives life to a character who flits from doe-eyed innocence to steely-eyed determination flawlessly. While Bendis' writing allows us to know what's going on inside Scarlet's head, Maleev's artwork translates those thoughts into pure emotional expressions of rage, hate, joy and sadness. Why should you read this book? Because it may "just be a comic book", but it hits the nail on the head with so many real-world issues and problems – corruption, crime, greed – and would resonate with anyone who gives a damn. To paraphrase Scarlet herself: "'Why' is the cloud… 'why' makes you better for just thinking the question. The question is … what are you going to do about it?" So stop asking, "why should I read this book?" and go read the darn thing already. |
| Posted: 30 May 2013 04:26 PM PDT This young adult fiction book has an unusual setting for its murder mystery wrapped in romance: Renaissance-era Venice. Venom I WAS fortunate to have finished reading Venom while on a trip to Venice, the very city this young adult fiction book is set in – and, as one of my friends mentioned, it may have slightly influenced my judgement of the book. I do have to say that I found the author's portrayal of this beautiful Italian city spot on, particularly when she writes about travelling by boat down the Grand Canal and describes the grand palazzos. Venom begins with a funeral – a bleak beginning indeed, though thankfully, the bleakness does not get deeper. At the funeral, our main character Cass is not only mourning the death of her friend but also – metaphorically – the demise of her own hopes and dreams. While she has always imagined a life of adventure, the imminent arrival of her wealthy fiancé from his studies abroad marks the end of daydreams and the beginning of a path she is not sure she wants to take – that of marriage. Within the first few chapters, one can tell that Cass is not the ditzy, waiting-for-her-knight-in-shining-armour-to-rescue-her sort of girl. This is made evident by how she thinks it's perfectly normal to walk into a graveyard in the middle of the night to say a personal farewell to her dead friend, which is where the story really begins. This is when she discovers that, one, the body in the crypt is not that of her friend Liviana; and, two, the casket holds the body of a young woman who has very clearly met a cruel end at someone's hands. Struggling with the horror of this discovery, she stumbles into Luca, a struggling artist whom she has met before and likened to a thorn in her side – a very handsome thorn that she finds herself drawn to against her better judgement. Unable to share her discovery of the dead girl with anyone else she knows, Cass turns to Luca for help and the pair embark on a journey to identify the murdered young woman and her murderer as well as find Liviana's body. This is the first book in The Secrets Of The Eternal Rose series and Fional Paul's debut novel. While the book is set at some point between the 14th and 17th centuries, the emotions and struggles experienced by the protagonist could easily be captured within the pages of a contemporary young adult novel. Unfortunately, this serves as both a positive and negative point. While the book's historical setting is unique for young adult fiction and beautiful, it does at times seem that the author could just as well have set the story in the present day. In other words, the setting doesn't influence the story enough. A historical note might have helped. Since the book is based in a particular time period, one that had a great impact on the Western world, I was slightly peeved that I could not even pinpoint which year the book is set in or the surrounding events that may have had significant impact on the main character's life. I always try to make a note of the cover and while it appears generic, there are aspects of the image that are linked to events in the book, and that is something I admire. One of my major gripes about book covers is when they are very obviously stock images that just look pretty and have nothing to do with the story. It was also slightly annoying to have been introduced to several characters in the book who did not seem to have much to contribute to the main storyline. Perhaps, though, these charcters will have more to contribute in the sequel, which I hope will also answer questions about the strange deaths of Cass's parents. To her credit, Paul doesn't end Venom with such a cliff-hanger that it would cause a reader to want to bite all her nails off.... While not the best book I have read, the author should be commended for coming up with a slightly romanticised version of the intrigue of Renaissance-era Venice while hinting at the underbelly of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. |
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