The Universe Got Jokes

I’m still on vacation, so once again two posts in one day. Also, I’m computer free, so please forgive the hyphens masquerading as em dashes. On to the point, eventually . . .

Let’s tackle the obvious first. That should be doesn't have, but it’s summer, so let’s go with it. I’ve decided The Giant Lion Turtle occasionally exacts a price-his 30 pieces or his pound of flesh-for my occasionally frequent requests, even though he doesn’t fulfill them. For instance, I wanted Nick Robinson to replace the racist that was originally playing Chris in The Hate U Give movie. Instead The Giant Lion Turtle made sure the job went to KJ Apa of Riverdale fame. Riverdale is an abomination of a tv series. Even so, I must grudgingly admit that based on the trailer KJ Apa looks like he is pulling it off-playing Chris not Riverdale. Riverdale can’t even be fixed with boxes of matches and lighter fluid, but I digress. Once again The Giant Lion Turtle has exacted a price, but now he’s interfering with my reading life. I just finished reading The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken, and it hit some of my sweet spots. It reminds me of Kelley Armstrong’s Darkest Powers trilogy, which I love, and The Young World by Chris Weitz, which started off shaky but rebounded. It’s a little dystopian, a little sci-fi, a little fantasy, some damaged kids with powers, a few roaming packs of feral children, and clueless adults. It isn’t a flawless book, but I can deal with the flaws-for now. What I didn’t handle well was the Giant Lion Turtle amusing himself at my expense. So there I am, enjoying my reading. The pages are flying. I’m getting into the story. I have questions. I want answers. Then it happens. My albatross. Watership Down. Are you kidding me! One character is reading it. Another character is quoting it. Why?! And not just reading it and quoting it, but acting like it was the I Ching or Art of War or Tao of Pooh. It is not. It is rabbits fighting and making bad decisions and having names that are easily mispronounced. It is not the book that offers sound advice for living your life. It is not the book that offers survival strategies in a pre-apocalyptic America-if it were I’d gladly read it again. No I wouldn’t. Okay The Universe. I see you.