The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more

Movie Review: Howard the Duck (1986)

Movie #1 of 2017:

Howard the Duck (1986)

Okay, so there’s no denying that this is a bad movie, but it’s definitely one that’s so bad it’s good (especially when watched with a group of friends making jokes throughout about possible connections to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, like how the technology that brings Howard to earth is the sort of stuff Jane is working on in the first Thor movie). I also knew very little about this movie going into it – basically just a little bit about the Marvel comics character it’s based on – so it was a delightful surprise about halfway through the film when it turned from a duck-out-of-water story into a plot to stop Lovecraftian aliens from conquering the earth. Again, this is by no means a great movie, but it was weird and fun to watch exactly once.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Book #13 of 2017:

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The first third of this book is a bit of a bore, as the heroine’s only real character trait is that she is nicer and smarter and with a better relationship to her father than all the other girls at her boarding school. And since she’s also the richest of them, it’s hard not to see this characterization as a defense of classism and the inherent superiority of the wealthy. Sara becomes a little more compelling once she loses her family fortune and the narrative shifts into a Cinderella story, but she is still perpetually cast as a better person than those who are poor by birth (and who are regularly described in patronizing and animalistic terms by both Sara and the text). In the end she becomes rich again, her fellow maid gets the reward of being Sara’s servant now, and there’s not really any evidence that the child has learned or gained anything from the experience.

★★☆☆☆

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Book Review: The Big Four by Agatha Christie

Book #12 of 2017:

The Big Four by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #5)

Agatha Christie at her worst. I could be charitable and say that this book is an homage to Poirot’s literary predecessor Sherlock Holmes, as it involves the Belgian detective going up against an international crime syndicate and faking his own death in the process… but really, that’s an insult to Arthur Conan Doyle. The Big Four reads more like a bad James Bond movie, complete with a team of four villainous masterminds bent on world domination through vague means and under-explained mad science. (They even have a secret underground base hidden inside of a mountain. I am not making this up.) Poirot is as likely to drop a smoke bomb as to engage in any detecting, and when he does make deductions, they are generally from clues that were not shared with the reader in advance. Thankfully Christie can do a lot better than this, and so can you as a reader.

★☆☆☆☆

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Book Review: The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip

Book #11 of 2017:

The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip (Riddle-Master #1)

Like the best of fantasy, The Riddle-Master of Hed reads like a beautiful dream. And the reluctant warrior at its center, fated to be a powerful figure of prophecy despite all his wishes for a quiet life back home, makes for a compelling hero. But the worldbuilding is maddeningly opaque here, such that the reader can feel the subtleties eluding us every time a character speaks. It adds to the hazy dreamlike quality of the text, but it’s frustrating for anyone trying to actually follow the plot.

★★★☆☆

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TV Review: The Magicians, season 1

TV #6 of 2017:

The Magicians, season 1

This show’s writers made a lot of very smart choices when it came to adapting Lev Grossman’s book series, seamlessly weaving together plot points from the first two novels to create the arc for this season. Some of it was faithful adaptation, some of it was a remixing of elements from various parts of the books to create more compelling television, and some of it was entirely original. All throughout, though, it was a confident vision that I actually liked a lot better than the source material… right up until the last 20 minutes or so. The second half of the season finale was a complete shitshow, with most of the material being new, all of it being bad, and the one thing that was closest to the books being a rape scene that was originally from a different storyline and was 100% unnecessary both there and here. I’m gonna keep watching, since 1/26th of the season being awful isn’t really a bad metric (especially given the much spottier quality of the source material). But ugh. What a letdown after such a strong run.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Book #10 of 2017:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I loved this novel’s focus on black domestic servants during the Jim Crow era, which is an aspect of American history that doesn’t get talked about as much as it should – and is more recent than some folks might like to admit. I would have preferred for the book to spend less time on Skeeter, who comes across as something of a white savior, but I appreciated that some of the black characters like Aibileen and Minny call her out on that, and she does get better as the story progresses.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

Book #9 of 2017:

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #8)

This early Discworld novel introduces the character Sam Vimes and the rest of the City Watch, although it’s clear that author Terry Pratchett was still figuring out who they would be at this point. Here the Watch investigates the sudden appearance of a dragon in their city, and the political satire is heavy-handed but effective as the citizens are unwilling to speak out against the deadly creature even as it declares itself king and demands human sacrifices. It’s not really an instant classic, but it’s a solid foundation for this set of characters.

★★★☆☆

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TV Review: The Good Place, season 1

TV #5 of 2017:

The Good Place, season 1

I love this show so much! Kristen Bell plays a dead woman who gets welcomed to the show’s version of heaven for living such a good life – except there must have been some kind of mix-up, because she was actually kind of a terrible person back on earth. It’s a very smart, very funny comedy, and it’s one of the few sitcoms that regularly changes up its status quo (to the point where practically every episode moves the series plot forward in significant and unexpected ways). The showrunner Michael Schur is the same guy who created Parks and Rec, and this season was just about as good as that show at its best. I really hope The Good Place gets renewed, but I could see myself rewatching this show a bunch even if these 13 episodes are all we ever get.

★★★★★

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TV Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 1

TV #4 of 2017:

Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 1

Ah, the next stage in my quest to watch all of Star Trek from the beginning. So far, I would say that TNG is about on par with the original series – which is both a good and a bad thing, of course. It’s still a little hokey and clunky, but also smart and thrilling in equal measure. I’ve been told that this is a show that improves a lot over the course of its seasons – and it’s hard to see how the character of Wesley Crusher could get any worse with age – so I’m looking forward to seeing how it improves from here. Engage!

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Book #8 of 2017:

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (Inkworld #1)

Inkheart is that rare book that feels like coming home to an old favorite the very first time you read it. This story of a father and daughter who can bring to life characters from the books they read shares more than a little DNA with the Schwarzenegger comedy Last Action Hero, but it’s actually more like The Princess Bride with its warm, comfortable mode of storytelling. I had some minor quibbles – like how characters keep getting thrown into and then breaking out of prison, or how the magic in the climax doesn’t really fit with what we’re shown before – but all in all, Inkheart was a book-lover’s delight.

★★★★☆

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