Tag: Jurassic Park

WWW Wednesday – July 5, 2023

Ryan2 Comments
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Nothing! I’m between books at the moment.

Recently Finished

Jurassic ParkMonday morning I managed to finish my reread of Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton; I’m really happy I was able to follow through on my prediction that I’d be able to do so by this week’s post. It was an excellent book, and I have gained the greater appreciation for it that I was hoping I would compared to when I read it back in middle school or high school. Something glaring about what motivated me to read it though was the fact that I’d seen so much hyping it up as a scarier story than the film, but it really isn’t. It’s definitely darker and a little more violent, but it doesn’t really give a horror atmosphere. Maybe I’m just harder to scare, but it still felt pretty firmly science fiction to me. Still, I’m happy for the refresher, as I want to move on to The Lost World soon.

Reading Next

Vermis II can’t remember how certain I’ve been about what I’ll read next lately, but the other morning I apparently committed to starting Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett, as I brought my copy with me in case I wanted to start it after finishing Jurassic Park. With my new-found reading time, I’m hoping I can finish this book within the month of July, but we’ll see. I’m also really considering reading through Vermis I by Plastiboo, which is a rather unique art book I recently purchased a copy of. It’s a guide book to a dungeon-crawling game that never existed, and it’s full of art that I simply adore. It probably won’t take much longer to read than a comic, and I’d really like to make myself read through it, as it’s something I could easily just let sit on a shelf like any other art book, but I really want to fully appreciate it.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – June 28, 2023

RyanLeave a comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Jurassic ParkI’m still chipping away at Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, but I’m thinking I will likely have it done by next week’s post. The raptors are now running amok around the park, quickly making themselves the most horrifying natural force on the island. I did find it a little funny though how the electric fences were off for hours, which the characters didn’t realize, and that is how the raptors got out, but nobody noticed that either nor did we hear of any attacks until after they finally did learn of this oversight. I’m probably just nit-picking, but it felt a little too coincidental all the same. The bigger tyrannosaur spent a great deal of time menacing Grant and the kids too, which I enjoyed as a possible nod to the creature potentially having a more focused intelligence.

Recently Finished

SporesAs I suggested I might, I failed to get myself to read The Yellow Wallpaper since last week. However, I did finally make myself read my physical copy of Spores by Joshua Barkman, which I went through in a sitting last night. It’s such a nice little story about creatures gaining a fleeting yet deeper understanding and appreciation for each other, and the art is just gorgeous. It coincidentally hits close to home for me too, as the wildlife depicted is reflective of what I often encounter on my weekly hikes, especially the black-capped chickadees, which I have become especially fond of. I’ve heard this book has been nominated for an Eisner award too; I hope it wins.

Reading Next

I don’t quite have any concrete plans for what I want to read next, but I ought to make up my mind soon if I really am finishing Jurassic Park within the next week.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – June 21, 2023

RyanLeave a comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Jurassic ParkI’ve managed to make substantial progress in Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton since last week. There has been an alteration to my work schedule, and while I would have rather it didn’t happen, it has allowed for an extended period of time where I can get some reading done. As such, in that period of time I was able to progress from page 173 to 290. Those probably still sound like rookie numbers to others, but that’s quite a lot for me with what my schedule had been lately. A lot has progressed in the novel in that number of pages, with much dinosaur mayhem ensuing. A moment I didn’t at all recall from my first reading that really stuck out to me was the exposure of the grievous error in the park’s monitoring system. The numbers of raptors jumping from 8 to 37 once the parameters changed made for a great, startling revelation considering its implications.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week.

Reading Next

The Yellow Wallpaper 2I recently acquired a copy of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, which I mean to try and read soon. Though it is technically a book on it’s own, it’s very short, as it’s a paperback binding of a single short story. I’ve been hearing a lot of interesting things about this short horror story, especially as a piece of feminist literature, which have me really interested in checking it out. I’ll probably have to temper my expectations, as I feel like there’s a possibility this something of a topic-of-the-week on BookTok, but by all accounts it has stood the test of time, so I don’t think I’ll need to worry too much about that. I really could read it in a sitting, so I do hope I make myself read it before next week, but I can be a fickle creature sometimes.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – June 14, 2023

RyanLeave a comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Jurassic ParkI’m still making slow but steady progress with Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. We’ve been slowly introduced to more and more dinosaurs, though things haven’t hit the fan just yet. I’m noticing more this time around how much the book itself is giving itself an out for how its dinosaurs are represented compared to what the science says; Doctor Wu states that they’ve only recreated the past as best they can, not literally revived dinosaurs as they were, especially since they filled in gaps in the genome. It used to bother me when I was younger that the dilophosaurus was venomous with no scientific basis too, but as I’ve come to understand paleo-art more and more, I realize such an artistic liberty isn’t at all inappropriate: you just shouldn’t be using fiction as the entire basis for your understanding of something.

Recently Finished

The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess 2Last night I read through the second volume of the manga adaptation of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess by Akira Himekawa. This volume properly introduces the impish Midna, with whom Link reluctantly partners in order to return to human form and fight back against Zant and his incursion into Hyrule. This volume moved things forward a lot more. I appreciated how the first volume set things up, but establishing Link and Midna’s dynamic was a lot more fun, especially since it is typically one-sided in the game. It deviated a little more from the game here with how events unfold, as tracking things down and completing a dungeon don’t really adapt well. I can’t help but be a little bothered by it, but I understand why the change was necessary.

Reading Next

The Complete Poetry of Edgar Allan PoeThough I still want to focus on stuff I’ve already been meaning to read for a while now, I cannot help but be tempted to start reading The Complete Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, which I picked up last month. I try to read poetry on occasion, though I struggle with reading it a lot more, and I really like the poem “The Raven” and this book is pretty short overall, so I’m hoping I’ll enjoying getting into this. I haven’t started reading it yet at all, but I have put a bookmark into it, and I feel like that counts for something.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – June 7, 2023

RyanLeave a comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Jurassic ParkI’ve been able to make some more decent progress in Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton since last week, though nothing too major. The main cast has made their way to island now and the initial tour is underway. Though I don’t think I was blind to it the first time I read this book, John Hammond’s petulance around the island’s safety being assessed is a lot more apparent to me. It is actually making some elements of the film feel a little dissonant to me, as he is treated a lot more kindly there, yet workers have suffered fatalities from dinosaurs right from the start of the movie. I get that he’s a bright-eyed idealist, but that rings a little hollow when you think harder about how much he’s deliberately overlooking the deaths of his workmen. I think I’m appreciating how much more the novel is matter-of-fact than I did the first time.

Recently Finished

The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess 1Over the weekend I read the first volume of the manga adaptation of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess by Akira Himekawa. It was an interesting adaptation of the early phases of that game, as a certain degree of work had to be put into characterizing Link, which is typically only lightly done in the games. I was surprised with how deep they made it, giving him a bit of a tortured backstory that situates him in a specific place in Hyrule while also explaining why he already has some skill with a sword. There’s also an element of him being an outsider to Ordon Village, which is a nice touch considering even in the game he has pointed ears while nobody else does there. I’m especially looking forward to what his dynamic will be like with Midna, which it seems we’ll start to get a look at starting in the next volume.

Reading Next

Not making anymore concrete plans right now, other than obvious, i.e., the second volume of Twilight Princess. I’ve got plenty to get to that I’ve said I would already, no sense in repeating myself.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – May 31, 2023

Ryan1 Comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Jurassic ParkI’ve made some decent progress in Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, though I’m still in the early phases of the story. I have finally met most of the main cast, however, and it won’t be long now until they arrive at the island. I’m actually surprised how much the first hundred pages or so are focused on the effects InGen’s experiments are already having on the world and the corporate landscape in general with respect to genetic engineering. It’s a sentiment I’ve shared already, but I really do appreciate how much the recklessness of all that’s being done is emphasized. I’m so much more familiar with the film adaptation, and while I continue to think it is a great film, I can’t help but find it a little tacky how much more they sideline the more cynical aspects of corporate negligence in favour or wide-eyed naivete.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week; I’m really letting the comics I keep meaning to read languish for some reason.

Reading Next

Carpe JugulumI haven’t solidly made up my mind about what I want to read next, but I’m fairly certain I haven’t read a single Discworld novel in a least a year, which I find troubling the more I think about it, so there is a good chance the next book I read will be Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett. I’m sure Jurassic Park won’t take me as long as American Psycho did too, so hopefully it’ll be sooner than later, but I do still have a ways to go in that book, so it’ll be a while yet. Nevertheless, I think I’d like to start mentally committing now.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – May 24, 2023

RyanLeave a comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

I’ve read a little bit of Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton since last week, though I’m still in the beginning phases of the story; I’ve yet to even meet the main cast of characters. So, I don’t really feel I have much to update about this book as yet. Hopefully I’ll have more to comment on next week.

Recently Finished

Adventure Time Season 11I just finished reading the comic book Adventure Time: Season 11 by Sonny Liew et al., having recently finished rewatching the series in its entirety, including the Distant Lands specials. Unfortunately, before I even finished reading this volume, I learned that the creators of the show don’t consider this comic book to be a canon continuation of the show, as they had virtually no involvement in its creation. There are also references to comics-only continuity as well, so that was a bit of a bummer. The volume contained two stories, one a little longer than the other. The first involved time travel to 1000 years in the future, a concept the comics seem oddly obsessed with. It was just okay. The latter two chapters felt a lot more character focused, however, with Finn still reeling from losing his home and having other humans closer by. Despite the first story being a little middling, by the end it was a nice little epilogue to the series as a whole, canon or not.

Reading Next

The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess 1Though there are a number of books I’ve mentioned in this section that I haven’t started yet, I recently received a book I had on hold at the library: the first volume of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess manga by Akira Himekawa. I’ve been on a bit of a Zelda kick again, since before even the new game came out, and I’ve been wanting to read this manga after recently finishing Twilight Princess HD. I really don’t want to buy more and more volumes of manga, however, and this adaptation is a lot longer than the others, so I was excited to see a lot of this series is in my library’s catalogue (though volume 3 is maddeningly absent). Hopefully the due date will spur me on to actually read this soon.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – May 17, 2023

RyanLeave a comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Jurassic ParkI’ve finally been able to start Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, my first reread in a very long time. I’m only about 20 pages in, but I already feel like I’m in a place where I can appreciate it a lot more than I did when I first read it in middle school/early high school. My interest started with videos emphasizing the horror of this original text, but lately I’ve noticed they’re typically rather repetitive, so I’m going to actively rein in my expectations a little. I don’t recall much being especially disturbing the first time around anyway, and I’m coming off a book that was legitimately upsetting in spots, so it’s likely that this will be a relatively light read. Still, the mystique around the dinosaurs and the fact that the danger they pose is already woefully apparent is something I’m really enjoying.

Recently Finished

American PsychoFinally, finally, I have finished reading American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. I want to try to have a review up soon, but we will see; my schedule doesn’t always allow me to put things up as soon as I’d like (e.g., this very post, which is going up very late Wednesday night). Before completing the book, something finally struck a meaningful chord with me with respect to the continually escalating acts of violence on the part of Patrick Bateman. Despite the horror of it all, it is vacuous. No drama, no suspense, nothing of substance. It’s some of the most discomforting content I’ve ever read, but it says nothing deep about Patrick and it shouldn’t. It doesn’t make him interesting or morbidly fascinating, he is just a sick man committing sick acts, worthy only of revulsion. Though I know its themes run deeper than this overall, these sections at least in part feel like an antithesis to romanticized stories of true crime.

Reading Next

I still have a few comics I’ve been meaning to pick up and read finally, such as Tombs by Junji Ito. Other than that, I don’t really have further concrete plans about what I’ll read next.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – March 29, 2023

RyanLeave a comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

American PsychoI’ve made a small amount of progress in American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis since last week, and I’m happy to report that most of what I have read since my last update has not resembled that one chapter that spent a little too much time on products for my liking. I’m curious in what way Bateman’s murderous tendencies will come into play. Is he already committing murders or is something going to set him off? For now, all I know is that he and his friends are pathetically superficial, so I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if his reasons for killing people follow those lines. It’s also kind of fun to realize that I don’t actually know what the meat of the plot is for this story, despite it having a significant enough cultural presence that I feel like I should. I look forward to figuring out what’s at stake, beyond being a killer and not wanting to get caught.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week.

Reading Next

Jurassic ParkThis is talking about something further down the line, but I have been thinking a lot lately about rereading Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. I’ve committed to this so much, in fact, that I’ve already bought myself a copy. I haven’t read it since middle school or high school, so it’s been quite some time, and as corners of the Internet and emerging fan-made lo-fi horror content remind me how much darker the books were than the films, I feel like perhaps I didn’t fully appreciate what I was reading back then. So, I think there’s a good chance this will be the novel I read next, though I don’t expect I’ll be done American Psycho any time soon. I won’t be posting about it again here until I’m actually about to read it, but I figured with things being lighter this week, this would be a good time to talk about this.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.