Stepping on Roses vol. 1

I just bought Stepping on Roses vol. 1 by Rinko Ueda (she of Tail of the Moon).  I read it and thought it was cute and the girl’s dresses were pretty.  I read a bunch of reviews and people had nothing nice to say about it.

Perhaps because I’ve been ill and have been stressed at work, I enjoyed the familiarity of it.

The story is this: Sumi is taking care of a passel of orphans while her profligate brother gambles away the rent money.  In desperation, she decides to prostitute herself to save the children from being sold to pay a gambling debt.  Soichiro, wealthy, handsome, and cruel, agrees to pay her debt if she’ll become his bride. Previously, another rich young man, Nozomu, gave Sumi money in a handkerchief to pay for one of the orphan’s medicine.  She keeps his handkerchief with her always.  Lo, Nozomu is Soichiro’s best friend.

I can understand why reviewers didn’t like it.   It’s not funny.  It’s not genre-savvy.  It does not inform on the Meiji period.  The characters are not lovable.  I also agree that if Sumi was going hungry and willing to sacrifice her virginity for the sake of the children, she should at least try to sneak out of the house to see if they are OK.

On the other hand, I didn’t mind that she is painfully ignorant and overwrought and doesn’t have an steely sense of self.  She’s 15 year old illiterate orphan who has had too much responsibility.

It is a marriage of convenience which is my favorite romance plot.  The best version to my mind is still Georgette Heyer’s Convenient Marriage, in which Horatia offers to marry the Earl of Rule to spare her elder sister.   It would be an effort not to adore Horatia and the Earl of Rule is delightfully gentle with her.

I also like any kind of super babysitter tale in which the heroine has to convey her charges to safety.  (Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink, Tiger Burning Bright by Theodora Dubois, The Small Woman by Alan Burgess, and so on).  I hope that Sumi goes back to her babies soon.

Plus, Sumi’s attire is very, very pretty and everyone has sparkly eyes.

Last Man on Earth (1964)

Cover of The Last Man on Earth

Tagline: Alive among the lifeless… alone among the crawling creatures of evil that make the night hideous with their inhuman craving!

Director: Ubaldo Ragona & Sidney Salkow

Actors:  Vincent Price (Dr. Robert Morgan),  Franca Bettoia (Ruth Collins), Emma Danieli (Virginia Morgan), Giacomo Rossi-Stuart (Ben Cortman), Christi Courtland (Kathy Morgan)

It’s based on the fine novel, I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson.  There are two other film versions: The Omega Man (1971) with Charlton Heston and I Am Legend (2007) with Will Smith.

The book by Matheson is amazing and worth reading because the 2007 and the 1964 versions don’t come close to it in intensity and bleakness.  I haven’t seen the Heston version.

Story:  After a plague destroys the earth’s population, a lone survivor dedicates himself to eradicating the undead plague victims.

The victims have vampiric symptoms but they act a lot more like zombies.  I’m going to call them monsters.

Comments: The movie is atmospheric and Price does his best but the pacing is leaden to say the least.  Ruth eventually shows up and Morgan has to solve her mystery.  Is she the ‘last woman’ or is she infected too?  She wasn’t especially interesting or believable, though.

The movie focuses on Morgan ‘quiet life of desperation’ rather than any kind of last stand against the monsters.  He seems so clumsy and inefficient in his daily routine that it’s surprising he’s lasted for three years. It also puzzled me that he said he’d killed 14 monsters in three years.  That seems like a low body count, especially since they’re unconscious and don’t appear that hard to find.  He finds them lying on the streets and outside his door in the morning.

Personally, I felt uncomfortable and not moved by Morgan’s emotional breakdown in the movie.  I think it’s because I think he could have done so much better in fending off the monsters.

I kept wondering why he stayed in such an indefensible place, a small house that all the monsters knew about.  Why didn’t he have his watering system full of garlic juice and spray the suckers as they approached? Why didn’t he have bright lights shining at night? Why didn’t he have bigger mirrors or reflective metal all over his house?  Why couldn’t he soundproof his house?  Why didn’t he drive a van or some bigger vehicle?  Why didn’t he have more guns?  Why didn’t he have bolt holes all over the city?

All in all, it was OK but not a must see.

Links

• Review – (Cinmefantastiqueonline.com) mixed
• Review – (horrorsquad.com) positive
• Review – (doctor zombie.blogspot) positive
• Review – (moria.com) mixed
• Review – (monster hunter.com) funny, negative
• Review – (bad movie report) detailed, negative
• Review – (videograveyard.com) positive

Movies I Watched in April 2010

Ouran, a girl and five boys who run a host club at their high school, was lots of fun with an amiable and innocent ending.  The classical music and the character designs made it a step above most.  The plotting was extremely silly and I would watch the whole series again.

I rewatched Lake House to compare it to Il Mare. I liked the characters better in Il Mare but I enjoyed the ending better in Lake House.

Grenadier started out very enjoyable with the Old West meets Old East vibe.  Rushuna’s bullet-loading cleavage made me smile. The ending got bogged down by too much inept plotting but I liked the animation and the conversations of the characters.

What Dreams May Come is a good crying movie, which I did with gusto through most of it.  I’m sorry I didn’t see it on the big screen as it must have been spectacular.

Battlestar Galactica is emotionally difficult series to watch but I’m definitely caught by it.

Minority Report and Last Man on Earth were for my Sci-Fi project found here.

I’m enjoying the second series of Vandread a lot.  Things are developing on several different levels.  The character designs were just a bit different which bothered but only for a moment.  I may have to buy this one.

Watching old comedies lately.  Major and the Minor is about a woman who pretends to be a little girl and ends up spending the night in a nearsighted major’s train sleeping car.  Everyone thinks he’s cheated on his fiancée but when they are told she’s a little girl, it’s all OK.  Very weird but as long as you buy the premise, it’s cute enough.  Love Crazy was delightful.  I was surprised by how physical the comedy was but William Powell was wonderful in this movie.  Myrna Loy is elegant and witty too.  Very much worth seeing.

• Ouran (2006)
• Lake House (2006) (re-watched)
• Batman Beyond (season 2)
• Minority Report (2002)
• The Major and the Minor (1942)
• Last Man on Earth (1964)
• Love Crazy (1941)
• Grenadier (2005)
• What Dreams May Come (1998)
• Battlestar Galactica 1:2
• Charmed 4:2
• Vandread Second Stage vols. 1&2

Books I read in April 2010

Bargain Bride was a surprisingly entertaining novel about a very young woman struggling to survive in Oregon.  Babymouse: Queen of the World was cute story about a mouse gaining integrity but not as remarkable as I had been lead to believe.  I was charmed by The Worry Web Site in which student type out their worries anonymously and their teacher helps them solve their problems.  It was much lighter in tone than it could have been and for which I was thankful.

Old Pig is the best picture book about death I’ve ever read.  It’s painful and soothing at the same time.  And the watercolors are just perfect.  Ella, Of Course is a delightful tale about girl who loves her umbrella.  Sheep is a Shop is a funny book and I loved how it was resolved.  Bug City is weird but cool.  I adore Peggy Rathman and Officer and Goldie is just right as a funny, touching story.  Black and White is more of a graphic novel than a picture book and worth reading although I can’t sum it up well.

• Babymouse: Queen of the World by Matthew & Jennifer Holm. (graphic novel)
• Spider-Girl: Bedeviled by Tom Defalco (graphic novel)
• Bargain Bride by Evelyn Lampman (juvenile novel)
• The Worry Web Site by Jacqueline Wilson (j)

Picture Books

• Old Pig by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks (p)
• Ella, Of Course by Sarah Weeks (p)
• Joe on the Go by Peggy Anderson (p)
• The Wedding by Iza Trapani, Eve Bunting (p)
• Goldilicious by Victoria Kann (p)
• Max and the Chocolate Chicken by Rosemary Wells (p)
• Sheep in a Shop by  Nancy Shaw (p)
• Sheep Out to Eat by Nancy Shaw (p)
• Bug City by Dahlov Ipcar (p)
• Silver Rain Brown by Mary-Claire Helldorfer (p)
• My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson, art by Penny Dale (p)
• Psst! by Adam Rex (p)
• Jazzmatazz by Stephanie Calmenson (p)
• Little Pea by Amy Rosenthal (p)
• Burger Boy by Alan Durant (p)
• Letters from a Desperate Dog by Eileen Christelow (p)
• Ruby the Copycat by Peggy Rathmann (p)
• Officer and Goldie by Peggy Rathmann (Caldecott art)
• Saint George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges (Caldecott art by Trina Schart Hyman)
• Black and White by David MacAuly (Caldecott art)
• Golem by David Wisniewski (Caldecott art)
• Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback (Caldecott art)
• So You Want to Be President? by Judith St. George & David Small (Caldecott art)
• The Three Pigs by  David Wiesner (Caldecott art)
• My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann (Caldecott art)
• Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes (Caldecott art)
• Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster & Chris Raschka  (Caldecott art)
• Flotsam by David Wiesner (Caldecott art)

Links

Statistics male and female in children’s lit awards. link

Related articles by Zemanta

• Meet Caldecott Medal winner Jerry Pinkney (timeoutny.com)
• Caldecott, Newbery and Printz Book Awards Announced (pastemagazine.com)