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Scott-Charles Stikes Through The Count of Monte Cristo Ch. XXXVI-XLIII

After yet another hiatus, Scott-Charles returns to his journey through Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo (CoMC)! I'm kind of hoping to marathon through this through this week, so let's see what happens.

Scott-Charles Strikes Through The Count of Monte Cristo Ch. XXXI-XXXV

After a week without posting, Scott-Charles continues his journey through Alexandre Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo (ComC). In this portion, we get a new protagonist, a new environment, and a new perspective on Edmond Dantés.

Scott Charles Strikes Through Argo

Scott Charles reviews Argo, a film directed by Ben Affleck, starring Ben Affleck and written by Chris Terrio. Spoiler-Free! Keep reading after the jump!

Scott Charles Strikes Through The Count of Monte Cristo Ch XXV-XXX

Edmond Dantés' journey continues in a bold new direction in these five chapters of Alexandre Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo.

Scott Charles Strikes Through: Superman Last Son of Krypton Part 1

Scott Charles reviews the story Superman: Last Son, which makes up the first half of this odd trade paperback. This story was written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner (!) and it is written by Adam Kubert. Spoilers after the jump

Scott Charles Strikes Through The Count of Monte Cristo Ch. XXI-XXV

Scott Charles continues his unending quest through The Count of Monte Cristo with a late post! Having escaped from the Chateau D'If, Edmond Dantés engages in adventures on the sea

Scott Charles Strikes Through: The Count of Monte Cristo Ch XVI-XX

The journey through Dumas' CoMC continues in this third post! We've got less than 100 chapters left guys!

Scott Charles Strikes Through: Superman: Last Son of Krypton Intro

In anticipation for the release of the newest Superman film and because I'm not ready for the next CoMC installment, I, Scott Charles, will periodically go through some classic Superman stories and discuss how they may inspire or impact the upcoming film.

I'm starting with the recently released paperback Superman: the Last Son of Krypton written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner and drawn by Andy Kubert and Gary Frank. This post will lay out what exactly this trade contains, provide continuity context, and set the board for striking through the stories themselves.

So... Let's go!

Scott Charles Strikes Through: The Count of Monte Christo Ch. XI-XV

Scott-Charles' journey through Dumas' epic continues in the next five chapters of the Count of Monte Cristo (CoMC)! Expect political upheaval! Prison life! Dramatic Tension!

Kat Strikes Through: An Evening of Awesome and Introduction to Les Mis

In my French class we have been talking about "les mauvais concequences" of technology. Our homework the other night was to watch this short film and then write a summary of events and whatnot.

This is probably the most depressing film I have ever seen. What really made me upset about it was it seemed as if the message was: if you have made a mistake, do not even try to change, you will only make your life even worse. Not only did it seem to condemn technology, but it seemed to condemn trying to change. I got stuck in a cycle thinking about why do we even try if nothing improves, is there a purpose, there cannot be. For a little while, I was deep in a reverie of nihilism.

A couple of hours ago, John Green, one of my favorite contemporary authors and people, expressed this same emotion while telling the story of his time as a chaplain at a children's hospital. He saw children needlessly suffering and he was stuck in an abyss of nihilism, and the only way he could get out was through the help others.

"An Evening of Awesome" is a concert that was held at Carnegie Hall to celebrate the anniversary of John Green's incredible best-selling book The Fault in Our Stars. It is among my favorite books and I will probably do a post on it one day since it means so much to me.

John was accompanied on the stage by his brother, Hank, with whom he does a bi-weekly video blog called Vlogbrothers, the cast of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, fellow youtubers, the Mountain Goats, and Neil Gaimen, the God of fiction about Gods. John talked about the ideas of for him, the purpose of his life is collaborating with others and sharing the joy of life; I truly agree. Without the collaborations from other people I certainly would not be a very happy person. There would be no books for Scotty and I to discuss, no movies for my friends and I to laugh about, no Moby-Dick to allude to in English class, no Lizzie Bennet Diaries with which to obsess. My life would be a whole lot less beautiful without the songs of the Mountain Goats or the Beatles and it would be a whole lot less meaningful without the ideas of those who precede me. Without these collaborators of books, movies, music, plays, and ideas, the purpose of my life would reduce to survival and procreation.

That is the thing about humanity: unlike nearly all species, our lives are not reduced to our own survival and procreation, but instead we try to make discoveries, new ideas, or to improve life for the future. This is very prevalent in both the book and film musical, Les Miserables, which I will be discussing next time, as the main characters fight for, not what is good for them, but for what is right and for what would change the future for the better.

Scott Charles Strikes Through: The Count of Monte Cristo Ch. I-X

With this my journey through The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas begins. The following encompasses all of the knowledge I possessed about the plot of this book before I began:

• It's rather lengthy
• The Simpsons parody, "The Count of Monte Fatso," was hilarious
• Or at least it was hilarious when I saw it however many years ago
• I cannot find this clip on youtube or hulu
• It's V's favorite film (from V for Vendetta)
• This clip, on the other hand, is readily findable.
• I’m aware of the basic plot regarding the main character being betrayed, imprisoned, escaping, and then obtaining vengeance. 

With this series of posts, I'm trying to figure out how big of a chunk of the post each post should cover. My gut feeling is to do ten chapters per post, which would result in 12 posts. This might change as the blog continues.

I am reading from the Penguin Classics edition of the book, primarily because of the good things I have heard about the translation. 

Also, fair warning, this post will contain spoilers for the first ten chapters.

So... Let's do it!

Scott-Charles Strikes Through: Cloud Atlas

Scott-Charles writes about Cloud Atlas in his first post on this blog. Formatting will be tested, things will be said, and my portion of the blog will begin after the jump.

Kat Introduces

Hello there,

My brother and I are starting this blog in order to document what we read, see, and hear, and our thoughts on such works. We are embarking on this journey for many reasons: to encourage ourselves to read more for fun, to read more thoughtfully, to talk with each other more, to share our opinions, but there is something more. We will be spending hours each week discussing works that have taken their makers lifetimes to make. When we discuss a movie, a book, a song, a photo, or anything else, we are not only discussing  a work of art, but a life. These writers and artists often put their entire being into these works and when they are gone, they live longer, not forever, but longer through their works. Other people are what make my life worth living and I want to notice them, to meet them, and to thank them. 

The next post, Scott-Charles (truly, I call him Scotty, but he likes Scott-Charles) will begin his journey through The Count of Monte Cristo and then I will discuss Les Mis, both the book and the recent movie.

Thanks for reading and see you soon,

Kat