Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier

 When American Ella Turner moves with her husband to Lisle-sur-Tarn, a small town in southwestern France, she hopes to qualify to practice as a midwife as well as to start a family of her own. Instead she is disrupted by less-than-idyllic village life and strange dreams of the color blue. Haunted by sleepless nights, bewildered by her unwelcoming neighbors, Ella tries to forge a bond with her new home by investigating her French ancestors, with the help of seductive librarian Jean-Paul. Ella’s research takes her to the Cévennes, isolated mountains in the south and the birthplace of the Tournier/Turner family.

16th-century peasant Isabelle du Moulin, known as La Rousse for her red hair, is suspected of witchcraft and tormented for her association with the Virgin Mary even after she and the rest of the village have converted to the “Truth” – the new Protestantism as preached by Calvin’s ministers. When she becomes pregnant, she has no choice but to marry into the powerful Tournier family. The Massacre of St. Bartholomew in Paris sends waves of persecution throughout France, and the Tourniers are forced to flee their home near Le Pont de Montvert for a new life in the Swiss town of Moutier. Old ways follow them there, however, and Isabelle's final shocking fate lies undiscovered — until Ella Turner's arrival four centuries later…
(http://www.tchevalier.com/thevirginblue/story/index.html)

Two paragraphs above pretty sum it up…:)

Virgin Blue is about two women, Ella and Isabelle, who come from different century.  This kind of story is not unusual. Summerhouse and Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux and Ghost by Danielle Steel have quite the same concept, but The Virgin Blue offers more than romantic-easy-to-read story.  It was emotional and well-told.  You can feel the sadness and depression of the main characters.  Ella faced an ugly cultural shock after she moved to France and pressure to have a child of her own while Isabelle must countered religious conflict, unstable political condition in 16th century France, and deep hardship caused by living in a family full of hatred.  From the two tangled stories of Ella and Isabelle, I found Isabelle’s story was more compelling. Her ‘simple faith’ to Virgin Mary, the religious/ mystical power which seemed present only in old times, and the tale about The Huguenot put vivid descriptions for the story.

You, Men from Mars, might not like this novel, but probably if you want to try something new... The story was not dragging at all, no over description, no over-romantic scene (like something you can find in Twilight Saga), and the ending was not cliché.

You can find the book online (please, no piracy) or you can buy it from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, or Abe Book. The price starts from $0.01 for used book and $1.00 for the new one (shipping cost and tax excluded).  I think they have the audiobook too.


Happy reading, Fella!
Nidya

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Eragon and Bag of Bones: True Crimes

Eragon

I just bought and read the last book of Eragon, Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. A little bit late, but considering the time and money needed to read the book, I think I bought it in quite the right time.  I’m in maternity leave and my husband was generous enough to allow me to buy Inheritance.
The thing is, I read the third book, Brisingr, years ago (or it feels like years ago) and I already forgot some of the stories and the characters. So, I decided to read the whole pack once more, from Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and at last Inheritance plus I rented a DVD of the film, Eragon.

Started from approximately 10 days ago, I finished reading the books yesterday and watching the movie this morning. I thought it would be good, but I was totally wrong. It was a disastrous movie.

First, the images of various characters were off. Arya was supposed to be raven-haired lady with slim sword, bow and quiver, and Saphira’s egg on her lap.  How did it translate to a blond girl with low cut dress and no weapon at all, carrying Saphira’s egg on her back? She was mysterious, calm, and charming because of her smooth physical feature, strength, and silences. Unlike weak frightened teenager who tried to be charming with words as they described. Then there was Garrow with his all friendly attitude while he was actually both warmhearted and curt.  No Katrina in the movie. Roran’s main reason for marching through Alagaesia didn’t even being mentioned. It would be hard to make the reasons needed for Roran’s actions in the next movies without the existence of Katrina. Who did they forget again? Let’s see…Solembum the Werecat. The movie maker must be careful for Solembum was the one keeping secrets of Eragon’s success or failure in confronting Galbatorix. At last, Saphira has membranes not fur. She is a dragon for God sake, not a bird.

Second, I know the words ‘based on’ doesn’t have the same meaning with ‘exactly the same’, but I thought, at least the story would be similar, but noooo…big NO there. The plot in the movie is just twisted as hell.

Third, there was no magic at all. I mean, the feeling was just disappeared into thin air since the first time Arya opened her mouth. Unlike what happened in Fellowship of the Ring when Arwen appeared.  THAT was magical.

So, there’s no point of making the second, third, or fourth movie of Eragon.

Bag of Bones

Several years after his wife's death, novelist Mike Noonan still suffers writer's block. A dream inspires him to return to the couple's summer retreat in western Maine, a lakeside house called Sara Laughs. Shortly after arriving, Noonan is caught in the middle of a custody battle involving the daughter of an attractive young widow and the child's enormously wealthy grandfather. He also discovers that Sara Laughs is haunted and that his late wife, Joanna, still has something to tell him. (http://www.stephenking.com/library/novel/bag_of_bones.html)

You have to feel the chill when King described the cry of invisible child in the hall of Sara Laughs or Michael Noonan's dream about his wife being under the bed and asking for her vacuum cleaner, the green lady in the forest, the knockings in the basement, letters on the fridge, Bunter’s bell, and so on and so forth.

But, Brosnan’s performance was good…

Long opinion made short: Some of King’s ideas are best left to imagination. Don’t waste your time with the miniseries….go read the book.

Cheers,
Nidya

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Hello World!

Hi, it has been a long time since my last post. It doesn’t mean I didn’t read and watch any books or movies…I was just too overwhelmed to write about anything. I watched King’s miniseries of Bag of Bones, downloaded series of The Mentalist, Bones, and Castle. I read Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier, Summerhouse and Knight in Shining Armor  by Jude Deveraux, Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan (Disney’s Official Site), re-read Bourne’s Trilogy by Robert Ludlum, Umberto Eco’s Name of The Roses, to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa…the list could go on. Wow, I even had the time to watch Lord of The Rings extended versions (run about 9 hours or so).

What will I review in this post? Nothing. The next post will talk about Eragon and the miniseries of Bag of Bones. See you next time!

Nidya

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