Day IV - Favorite Book
Oh man, I'm a HUGE BOOK NERD!!! So this is really difficult for me. But a book that will always stay close to my heart is Watership Down by Richard Adams.
I will always love this book. I admittedly saw the animated movie before seeing the book. However I saw the movie at my grandma's house when I was... 8 or 9 years old I want to say? Maybe a bit older. Which, looking back upon it, is kind of terrifying. The movie isn't your typical animated "kids" film. Its actually pretty dark with characters being eaten, and a bit scary. (I mean there's a villianous rabbit called General Woundwort who rules with an iron fist for cryin' out loud!)
This book is a really nice journey though of Fiver and Hazel leading a group of fellow rabbits in search of a new home. Fiver has visions, and one vision was their original warren being filled with blood and rabbits being torn up. They tried warning the chief rabbit who wanted to hear nothing of it. Needless to say Fiver and Hazel took whatever rabbits would come with them and escaped. Their warren was destroyed by man, the tunnels gassed and the ground torn up to build a new shopping center.
Seeing the world through the eyes of rabbits and how they may interpret things is interesting. Its fun and exciting to see the world through a predator animal. However rabbits are prey, and have to be aware of their surroundings constantly. So its interesting to see how Adams interpret how they see things and deal with their world. He also has the rabbits with their own version of why the world is what it is today. Elahrairah is their hero rabbit, the first rabbit on this earth. He is the reason they are what they are today, and throughout the book the rabbits tell stories of Elahrairah which adds some... I suppose an element of humanity to an animal that is otherwise very far removed from us beyond food.
The book is about friendship, the book is about finding a home, the book is about survival. The book is greater than any book about rabbits has any right to be. If you haven't read it yet what the hell are you waiting for?
Richard Adams also wrote Plague Dogs, which I only read once. Its about two dogs who escape a medical laboratory and are trying to find a place to belong while sticking together. I don't remember it all that well as I read it right after finishing Watership Down, but I remember being very fond of it. I should go back and read it again...
A close 2nd would probably be either The Stand by Stephen King, which is still his best work to date in my opinion, or World War Z by Max Brooks. Similar themes, but also very different. I love books about survival and dystopia. Stephen King writes the fall of civilization in a very realistic manner which makes it one of his most chilling books to read. Max Brooks writes the threat of zombies in a manner which is very believable, and various accounts caused me to be close to tears, filled with anger, or filled with goodness. There are stories of people doing horrible things to survive, people killing thousands to save millions, people having to make the hard choices.
Now, why haven't I said anything about George R R Martin?? Because his books are a series, not one singular book. You have to read all of them to get the full story, and we're still waiting for the last 3 books. I can not for certainty say if it is the best book series until it ends properly. I can say, however, that so far its my favorite book series and one that I chomp at the bit for in terms of the next book. He has a knack for writing characters to a point where you just want to murder them, only then to add some humanity to them which causes you to then just get angry because you can no longer hate them. I have literally thrown the book across the room after certain scenes in reaction to what he has done to some of the characters that I've loved. George R R Martin is a cruel cruel man, in more ways than one, and I love every minute of his cruelty, in the vain hope that some of my beloved characters will find happiness.
Day 01 → Your favorite song
Day 02 → Your favorite movie
Day 03 → Your favorite television program
Day 04 → Your favorite book
Day 05 → Your favorite quote
Day 06 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 → A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 → A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 → A photo you took
Day 10 → A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 → A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 → A fictional book
Day 14 → A non-fictional book
Day 15 → A fanfic
Day 16 → A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 → An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 → A talent of yours
Day 20 → A hobby of yours
Day 21 → A recipe
Day 22 → A website
Day 23 → A YouTube video
Day 24 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 → Your day, in great detail
Day 26 → Your week, in great detail
Day 27 → This month, in great detail
Day 28 → This year, in great detail
Day 29 → Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 → Whatever tickles your fancy
I will always love this book. I admittedly saw the animated movie before seeing the book. However I saw the movie at my grandma's house when I was... 8 or 9 years old I want to say? Maybe a bit older. Which, looking back upon it, is kind of terrifying. The movie isn't your typical animated "kids" film. Its actually pretty dark with characters being eaten, and a bit scary. (I mean there's a villianous rabbit called General Woundwort who rules with an iron fist for cryin' out loud!)
This book is a really nice journey though of Fiver and Hazel leading a group of fellow rabbits in search of a new home. Fiver has visions, and one vision was their original warren being filled with blood and rabbits being torn up. They tried warning the chief rabbit who wanted to hear nothing of it. Needless to say Fiver and Hazel took whatever rabbits would come with them and escaped. Their warren was destroyed by man, the tunnels gassed and the ground torn up to build a new shopping center.
Seeing the world through the eyes of rabbits and how they may interpret things is interesting. Its fun and exciting to see the world through a predator animal. However rabbits are prey, and have to be aware of their surroundings constantly. So its interesting to see how Adams interpret how they see things and deal with their world. He also has the rabbits with their own version of why the world is what it is today. Elahrairah is their hero rabbit, the first rabbit on this earth. He is the reason they are what they are today, and throughout the book the rabbits tell stories of Elahrairah which adds some... I suppose an element of humanity to an animal that is otherwise very far removed from us beyond food.
The book is about friendship, the book is about finding a home, the book is about survival. The book is greater than any book about rabbits has any right to be. If you haven't read it yet what the hell are you waiting for?
Richard Adams also wrote Plague Dogs, which I only read once. Its about two dogs who escape a medical laboratory and are trying to find a place to belong while sticking together. I don't remember it all that well as I read it right after finishing Watership Down, but I remember being very fond of it. I should go back and read it again...
A close 2nd would probably be either The Stand by Stephen King, which is still his best work to date in my opinion, or World War Z by Max Brooks. Similar themes, but also very different. I love books about survival and dystopia. Stephen King writes the fall of civilization in a very realistic manner which makes it one of his most chilling books to read. Max Brooks writes the threat of zombies in a manner which is very believable, and various accounts caused me to be close to tears, filled with anger, or filled with goodness. There are stories of people doing horrible things to survive, people killing thousands to save millions, people having to make the hard choices.
Now, why haven't I said anything about George R R Martin?? Because his books are a series, not one singular book. You have to read all of them to get the full story, and we're still waiting for the last 3 books. I can not for certainty say if it is the best book series until it ends properly. I can say, however, that so far its my favorite book series and one that I chomp at the bit for in terms of the next book. He has a knack for writing characters to a point where you just want to murder them, only then to add some humanity to them which causes you to then just get angry because you can no longer hate them. I have literally thrown the book across the room after certain scenes in reaction to what he has done to some of the characters that I've loved. George R R Martin is a cruel cruel man, in more ways than one, and I love every minute of his cruelty, in the vain hope that some of my beloved characters will find happiness.
Day 01 → Your favorite song
Day 02 → Your favorite movie
Day 03 → Your favorite television program
Day 04 → Your favorite book
Day 05 → Your favorite quote
Day 06 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 → A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 → A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 → A photo you took
Day 10 → A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 → A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 → A fictional book
Day 14 → A non-fictional book
Day 15 → A fanfic
Day 16 → A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 → An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 → A talent of yours
Day 20 → A hobby of yours
Day 21 → A recipe
Day 22 → A website
Day 23 → A YouTube video
Day 24 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 → Your day, in great detail
Day 26 → Your week, in great detail
Day 27 → This month, in great detail
Day 28 → This year, in great detail
Day 29 → Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 → Whatever tickles your fancy