Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader


The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a movie that lives up to the promise that the name Narnia gives. When people think of Narnia they think of adventure, an amazing world, and a wholesome message. This adaptation of C.S. Lewis's third novel in that series fulfills all that. It is not a word perfect adaptation. There are scenes throughout the movie which are never found in the book. The main plot of returning seven swords to stop an evil green mist is not even found in the novel. But the characters, setting, and a majority of the events are familiar. All of the various islands found in the novel are in the book in some form or other, although mixed up and occasionally mashed together. Additionally, and most importantly the movie stays true to the theme and message of the author. Temptation is the major theme of the book and, while there were plot changes and character tweaks that can make the hardcore Lewis fan cringe, because the central message is the same as the books the adaptation is well worth seeing. In the end The Voyage of the Dawn Treader  goes with the spirit rather than the letter of the book. However it does it in such a way that the end product is recognizable and enjoyable to those who have read the books. If you have not seen this yet I highly recommend that you do.

-Daniel

Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Plan

Earlier today I posted my first book review of Out of the Silent Planet. My plan for this site is for it to be the place to go for a decent book review. I also will include from time to time movie reviews and possibly some game reviews. My goal for 2011 is to read 100 books. I will record and review each of those books as I read them starting on January 1st. Until then I will try to add reviews of different books building up a collection of those reviews. I look forward to reading anything from history to science fiction, fantasy, and other fiction. If there's a specific book you wish me to read and review comment and I will try to review it.

-Daniel

Out of the Silent Planet

Out of the Silent Planet By C. S. Lewis is a great book.At first glance it appears to be an excellent science fiction novel written before Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke had even been published. It includes a trip into space on an incredible spherical space ship, the discovery of alien culture and life on Mars and encounters between our culture and that of the Martians or Malacandrians as they are called. However this book is so much more than just a simple science fiction novel. In fact if you went into this book expecting simple adventures and tales of the future of science you would be disappointed. The purpose of this book is not that of many science fiction novels, to glorify science. Through this  book we are given insights into what we value and whether we value the right things things. In this book written in the 1930's it is questioned if we have taken science to far for all the wrong reasons. This book definitely worth reading but it is far from mindless and far from what you may be used to in the science fiction genre; however, if you take a couple hours to read it, it's under 150 pages, you will have something worth considering. Out of the Silent Planet fulfills the ends of Henry Longfellow in reading this book you might find that tomorrow you are farther than today.

-Daniel