What's Croik doing?
Oct. 15th, 2008 12:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
croikBeen a while since I posted, so I figured I might as well say some stuff!
House front is still fucked. I think I must have killed a poor innocent house in a former life. Or maybe it's because I declared to not watch House anymore and then went back on my word. In any case, I am not lodged in a house as of yet. It's a good thing my priorities are unhealthily skewed towards gaming and internet, or else it would be really getting to me by now!!
Speaking of gaming, right now I've been working on Warriors Orochi 2. It doesn't have the same charm that WO1 had, but I feel like I've been more efficient about unlocking items and thingies, and the new characters are a great addition.
For the record I am not happy about Samurai Warriors 3 being announced for the Wii, and I hope Koei smartens up! ONLY THE SUPERIOR POWER OF THE PS3 CAN HANDLE ENOUGH FACELESS PEONS TO QUENCH MY THIRST FOR DEAD SAMURAI BLOOD!!! Also I have no Wii and have no plans to change this, despite the temptation of Oboro Muramasa Yotoden. Vanilliaware whyyyyyyyyyyy ;_;
However, the last laugh shall be mine, when I butcher a Muramasa level on Little Big Planet. DARE ME!!!!
(Actually I'm more interested in making a killer Gantz level with a giant Buddha. That would be so rock)
Anyone else getting LBP? I have literally no friends on my PS3 account. Come make beautiful alien Buddha with me plz :U
But the most interesting thing I've been up to is reading James Clavell's Shogun for the first time.
You may be thinking, "But Croik! You love Japan and especially samurai! And especially especially the Sengoku Era! How did you survive all these years without having read it yet!?"
The answer is JUST BARELY.
The reason I've never read it before is a combination of two very important factors:
1) I'm lazy. Yes, I know, it's totally shocking, but alas, very true. Hearing it was over 1000 pages did not help. I don't read for recreation nearly as much as I once did, so the prospect of diving into a monster of a novel was not all that appealing for a long time. It was only just recently when I was in a Borders with a friend and had a good excuse that I finally bought it.
2) It's not written by a Japanese person. This is not as weaboo as it sounds, I promise. A few years ago I went looking for fiction books about Japan, and just about every one I picked up (there were not that many) had the same premise: Blonde awesome person goes to Japan and is awesome. American ninjas, American samurai, American values. And in the one that I was unfortunate enough to be rec'd, though there were no "Americans" the author took great pains to implant her belief system into it anyway, pointing out all the evils of ancient Japanese culture with the mighty powers of hindsight. Some of you may have heard me rant about it: the story of the "Christian Ninja" which I consider to be the worst book I have ever read.
So, knowing that Shogun was written by a foreigner and featured a blonde awesome foreigner entering Japan and being awesome, my reaction was for a long time supreme apathy. I was very wrong to doubt it and I'm sorry :( But come on, in today's Otaku culture, you can't blame me too much for being wary of a setup like that!
Anyway, the book is awesome. Part of the reason I bought it was because I was hoping it would be a learning experience that would help me in my own writing, and in that regard I've gotten way more than I expected.
The style is a little weird to me in that it jumps perspective very quickly, and there are times where it chooses to relate a scene as a "flashback", even if the event happened only a few days or hours ago and could have just as easily been told up front. I guess it's a time saving device so you can skip through a scene quickly, which the book needs because it's already soooooo incredibly long. But at the same time the longness doesn't bother me because fuck, it's samurai! I've also found myself confused a few times because even though the plot is very much based on real Japanese history (to an extent) all the names of the historical figures have been changed. For the first half I spent so much time trying to figure out who everyone really was I lost track of the plot for a bit! But now I've looked them up, so that problem is solved.
I'm sorry, Blackthorne. I know you love Mariko and all, but now I still see her as this.
"WHAT A STRANGE AND WONDERFUL WORLD~~~~" <333
Anyway, tiny tiny quibbles in what is a great book. I don't actually want to say too much in case of spoilers and also because I'm only just over halfway finished and don't want to be spoiled myself (though I know they're going to Sekigahara, I mean, they have to be, right??). But I really respect Clavell for being able to write so well from such different points of views. I think it's one of the hardest things to write characters that have a different set of morals than your own, down to the very core. There are some times where you can't tell which side of the argument he really agrees with, and that's pretty damn spectacular, especially when they dig into the religous arguments.
One of the things that really bugged me about The Worst Book Ever was its treatment of seppuku and it's place in samurai culture, but Shogun has used it expertly. There was one point in the book (if you know the story, mentioning seppuku should be enough to tell you which part I mean) that literally reduced me to tears. Not just because it was that good, but because it made me think to myself, "There is no way I'll ever be able to write something this good." It was very humbling.
Not in an emo way or anything, though. I'm more determined to write than ever! And I have been! My original writing is going really well so far, though it is strange not posting every chapter I finish somewhere. It's a battle against my review-whore nature >.>;;; I worry about it sometimes but I just have to let it play out. I can't wait to get out of this smelly sweltering apartment and get some real work on it done.
Anyway, back to the point, Shogun is awesome and anyone who can spare the time to read 1000 pages should do so. Even though every time it mentions "The Dictator Goroda" it makes me sad that the book isn't actually about Nobunaga instead. ;_;
So that's what I've been up to :D I've also been watching Chuck, Heroes, and House (why!?) but I'll save those thoughts for another post.
House front is still fucked. I think I must have killed a poor innocent house in a former life. Or maybe it's because I declared to not watch House anymore and then went back on my word. In any case, I am not lodged in a house as of yet. It's a good thing my priorities are unhealthily skewed towards gaming and internet, or else it would be really getting to me by now!!
Speaking of gaming, right now I've been working on Warriors Orochi 2. It doesn't have the same charm that WO1 had, but I feel like I've been more efficient about unlocking items and thingies, and the new characters are a great addition.
For the record I am not happy about Samurai Warriors 3 being announced for the Wii, and I hope Koei smartens up! ONLY THE SUPERIOR POWER OF THE PS3 CAN HANDLE ENOUGH FACELESS PEONS TO QUENCH MY THIRST FOR DEAD SAMURAI BLOOD!!! Also I have no Wii and have no plans to change this, despite the temptation of Oboro Muramasa Yotoden. Vanilliaware whyyyyyyyyyyy ;_;
However, the last laugh shall be mine, when I butcher a Muramasa level on Little Big Planet. DARE ME!!!!
(Actually I'm more interested in making a killer Gantz level with a giant Buddha. That would be so rock)
Anyone else getting LBP? I have literally no friends on my PS3 account. Come make beautiful alien Buddha with me plz :U
But the most interesting thing I've been up to is reading James Clavell's Shogun for the first time.
You may be thinking, "But Croik! You love Japan and especially samurai! And especially especially the Sengoku Era! How did you survive all these years without having read it yet!?"
The answer is JUST BARELY.
The reason I've never read it before is a combination of two very important factors:
1) I'm lazy. Yes, I know, it's totally shocking, but alas, very true. Hearing it was over 1000 pages did not help. I don't read for recreation nearly as much as I once did, so the prospect of diving into a monster of a novel was not all that appealing for a long time. It was only just recently when I was in a Borders with a friend and had a good excuse that I finally bought it.
2) It's not written by a Japanese person. This is not as weaboo as it sounds, I promise. A few years ago I went looking for fiction books about Japan, and just about every one I picked up (there were not that many) had the same premise: Blonde awesome person goes to Japan and is awesome. American ninjas, American samurai, American values. And in the one that I was unfortunate enough to be rec'd, though there were no "Americans" the author took great pains to implant her belief system into it anyway, pointing out all the evils of ancient Japanese culture with the mighty powers of hindsight. Some of you may have heard me rant about it: the story of the "Christian Ninja" which I consider to be the worst book I have ever read.
So, knowing that Shogun was written by a foreigner and featured a blonde awesome foreigner entering Japan and being awesome, my reaction was for a long time supreme apathy. I was very wrong to doubt it and I'm sorry :( But come on, in today's Otaku culture, you can't blame me too much for being wary of a setup like that!
Anyway, the book is awesome. Part of the reason I bought it was because I was hoping it would be a learning experience that would help me in my own writing, and in that regard I've gotten way more than I expected.
The style is a little weird to me in that it jumps perspective very quickly, and there are times where it chooses to relate a scene as a "flashback", even if the event happened only a few days or hours ago and could have just as easily been told up front. I guess it's a time saving device so you can skip through a scene quickly, which the book needs because it's already soooooo incredibly long. But at the same time the longness doesn't bother me because fuck, it's samurai! I've also found myself confused a few times because even though the plot is very much based on real Japanese history (to an extent) all the names of the historical figures have been changed. For the first half I spent so much time trying to figure out who everyone really was I lost track of the plot for a bit! But now I've looked them up, so that problem is solved.
I'm sorry, Blackthorne. I know you love Mariko and all, but now I still see her as this.
"WHAT A STRANGE AND WONDERFUL WORLD~~~~" <333
Anyway, tiny tiny quibbles in what is a great book. I don't actually want to say too much in case of spoilers and also because I'm only just over halfway finished and don't want to be spoiled myself (though I know they're going to Sekigahara, I mean, they have to be, right??). But I really respect Clavell for being able to write so well from such different points of views. I think it's one of the hardest things to write characters that have a different set of morals than your own, down to the very core. There are some times where you can't tell which side of the argument he really agrees with, and that's pretty damn spectacular, especially when they dig into the religous arguments.
One of the things that really bugged me about The Worst Book Ever was its treatment of seppuku and it's place in samurai culture, but Shogun has used it expertly. There was one point in the book (if you know the story, mentioning seppuku should be enough to tell you which part I mean) that literally reduced me to tears. Not just because it was that good, but because it made me think to myself, "There is no way I'll ever be able to write something this good." It was very humbling.
Not in an emo way or anything, though. I'm more determined to write than ever! And I have been! My original writing is going really well so far, though it is strange not posting every chapter I finish somewhere. It's a battle against my review-whore nature >.>;;; I worry about it sometimes but I just have to let it play out. I can't wait to get out of this smelly sweltering apartment and get some real work on it done.
Anyway, back to the point, Shogun is awesome and anyone who can spare the time to read 1000 pages should do so. Even though every time it mentions "The Dictator Goroda" it makes me sad that the book isn't actually about Nobunaga instead. ;_;
So that's what I've been up to :D I've also been watching Chuck, Heroes, and House (why!?) but I'll save those thoughts for another post.
