“Fancy choice!”
Thursday, November 13, 2014
This Feminist Twist On "The Princess Bride" Is Inconceivably Perfect
Posted by Unknown on Thursday, November 13, 2014
The One Book Every "Serial" Fan Should Read
Posted by Unknown on Thursday, November 13, 2014
Why Janet Malcolm’s The Journalist and the Murderer is essential reading for Serial listeners.
Courtesy of Serial
Serial , a new podcast spin-off of This American Life, may have created a new form of media consumption: the binge listen. New listeners are likely to ingest every episode (eight so far) of the real life murder mystery in a single day. Once hooked, fans start debating, speculating, and comparing theories in the same manner they do Game of Thrones or LOST. There is an entire subreddit devoted to theories and discussion, an online parody, and weekly recaps on Slate .
Serial follows journalist Sarah Koenig's present-day investigation into the 1999 murder of teenager Hae Min Lee. The murder was pinned on her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, but the motive is vague and much of the evidence and testimony sketchy. The story is filled with twists and mysteries, and also forms a brilliant portrait of both the slipperiness of truth and the effort that goes into real investigative journalism. If you haven't listened yet, go play the first episode. You'll understand why Buzzfeed called it the best crime drama of the year.
For a non-fiction show to develop the same kind of addictive feel as prestige TV dramas is surprising, and for that non-fiction show to be purely audio is remarkable. The phenomenon also raises some tricky ethical questions. The characters in Serial are all real humans and the crime was a real crime. What does it mean for fans to be spinning fantastic conspiracy theories about real people with the same vigor they debate the ending of The Sopranos or the parentage of Jon Snow? Are the untrained online fans doing their own investigations—tracking down Facebook profiles, studying documents mentioned in the podcast—helping to solve the case or merely being irresponsible? And how much of our interest is in the truth and how much in a satisfying narrative?
Recently I was discussing the show with some acquaintances who were saying how angry they would be if the show ends on a "we'll never really know the truth" note. I said that seemed like the most likely outcome, as any legal change or truly revelatory evidence would likely be reported by other news outlets. One person suggested it was possible that Koenig could be preventing the reporting of relevant details until the podcast was over—as if "spoilers" were a more pressing concern than criminal justice.
I binge-listened to Serial last weekend and immediately went online to read people's theories. The show is highly engrossing and the case does feel like a genuine mystery. The way Koenig structures the "chapters" leaves the listener changing their mind about the case a half-dozen times an episode. It is frequently compared to Truman Capote's brilliant true crime novel In Cold Blood. While listening and reading the surrounding commentary, though, I couldn't help but think of my favorite true crime book: Janet Malcolm's The Journalist and the Murderer . This is one book that every fan of Serial should run out and read.
24 Things All Young Adult Fans Are Tired Of Hearing
Posted by Unknown on Thursday, November 13, 2014
Back away from my reading habits.
"Young Adult books are just less sophisticated."
O rly? And you know this from the zero you've read?
heckyeahreactiongifs.tumblr.com
"Oh yeah YA is good... I mean, if you're after an easy read."
Because reading for pleasure is just so ridiculous.
Cartoon Network
"Aren't you a little old to be reading that?"
Isn't it a little none of your business?
heckyeahreactiongifs.tumblr.com
"Oh that book is your fave? But it’s so bad."
Thank you for insulting something that brings me happiness. I needed that. Yep.
HBO
The 10 Best Book-To-Movie Adaptations Of 2014
Posted by Unknown on Thursday, November 13, 2014
In order of release, these films made 2014 the year of the book-to-movie adaptation.
Divergent
Release date: March 21, 2014
What it's based on: Divergent by Veronica Roth
Why it's the best: Badass lady butt-kicking action, Four's tattoos, and the slow realization that wow, that guy wasn't actually Macklemore.
Rudy Barajas/Lionsgate / Via divergentlife.com
The Double
Release date: May 9, 2014
What it's based on: The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Why it's the best: Double the Eisenberg, double the fun.
StudioCanal UK / Via reviewsfromabed.net
The Fault In Our Stars
Release date: June 6, 2014
What it's based on: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Why it's the best: We discovered which of our friends are secretly robots by asking if they cried at the end.
20th Century Fox / Via robshep.com
Edge of Tomorrow
Release date: June 6, 2014
What it's based on: All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka and Yoshitoshi ABe
Why it's the best: Time-resetting alien blood powers and Emily Blunt.
Warner Bros. Pictures / Via impawards.com
51 Books That Prove Reading Can Change Your Life
Posted by Unknown on Thursday, November 13, 2014
“After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” —Philip Pullman
We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community about the books that have helped them through hard times. These stories are just the tip of the iceberg.
Little, Brown, and Company
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
I actually took Anne of Green Gables to the mental hospital with me. I wasn't allowed to have any electronics, pens, pencils, etc. They only let me have it because it was a well worn paperback. It's such a simple, charming story, it instantly calms me. Something about being put in a cage just snaps something inside of you, and if I didn't have Anne's world to disappear into, I would've left that place a lot more damaged than I did.
—Eliza K., via Facebook
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
I once had a boyfriend who struggled with PTSD. Once I gave him my favorite book, The Catcher in the Rye, as a gift, and inscribed a loving message after Chapter 2 (to make sure he only got it if he actually read it). He finally read it when he was in the hospital after a suicide attempt, and the message found him when he most needed it. It is a comfort to have and to read now, since he lost his battle with depression.
—seranan
The Catcher in the Rye helped me cope with my dad's death.
—hayleya4c8776cd9
The Catcher in the Rye helped me while I was deployed in Afghanistan. It was comforting for someone else to understand a deep-seated want for peace.
—Jeremiah D., via Facebook
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
If I have to pick a book that helped me get a leg up on my depression recently, it's Good Omens. It's spectacular and made me feel so happy while reading it. I don't think I could ever thank the writers enough for writing it and what it meant to me.
—malkavian13
21 Literary Temporary Tattoos Every Book Lover Needs
Posted by Unknown on Thursday, November 13, 2014
Wear your love of literature on your (temporary) sleeve.
They've just launched a full line of literary temporary tattoos, available now.
Hamlet
Peter Pan
Pride and Prejudice
How Steven Johnson Got To Now
Posted by Unknown on Thursday, November 13, 2014
The host of PBS documentary series How We Got to Now time hops through his own life.
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed / Courtesy of Nutopia
Best-selling author Steven Johnson hosts six-part documentary How We Got to Now , a series about everyday innovations and how they interlaced with history to form our modern-day lives. The last episode, "Sound," airs this Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 10 p.m. EST on PBS.
After ushering us through a few centuries, here are six ways Steven got to where he is now, as he wrote to us in an email.
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed
What childhood toy or activity was your absolute favorite?
Steven Johnson: I had a serious obsession for three or four years with the whole extended genre of dice-based sports simulations (APBA, Strat-o-Matic). I fell into an increasingly weird rabbit hole of "indie" baseball simulations that were allegedly more statistically accurate than the mainstream games.
I went back and bought a few of them on eBay when I was writing Everything Bad Is Good For You (which opens with a little reverie about this part of my childhood). They were effectively just an entire binder full of numbers; nothing remotely resembling a game in any their visual cues: no cards, or tokens, or illustrated boards to play on.
This was the late-'70s, early-'80s — just far enough into the digital age to have the computers design the games, but not far enough for me to actually have a computer of my own. Eventually I started designing my own games, which I'm convinced taught me more about simulations, statistics, and probability than anything I learned in school.
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Chelsea Peretti Did A Book Signing Despite Not Having A Book