LITERATURE OF HORROR, FANTASY & SCI-FI

  While reading "A Wild Sheep Chase" by Haruki Murakami, I had a hard time predicting where the narrative was going. I had no idea that the journey would lead to traveling to rural Japan and literally going on a sheep hunt.  I found there to be a lot of parallels within the book and the writing was very deliberate in terms of execution. It is still hard for me to take some of the big themes of the novel and try to make sense of them. I think there is a definite split in depictions and definitions of good vs evil in western media as opposed to different cultures. To me, western depictions and expressions are usually very specific and will go to lengths to explain to the audience the motivation or intention of the evil or antagonist. This is not always the case but it seems  that other cultures' expressions of good vs evil in media tend to not explicitly define these assumptions as thoroughly.  We talked a little in class about the idea of Japanese literature oftentimes not

Interview With a Vampire by Anne Rice is one of the few movies I have seen before I read the book.  The movie I felt like was such a long movie, so many details and almost boring at times. When you dive headfirst into the book it makes sense. The book is very rich in trying to put you into this new world.  One of the most fascinating, less prominent parts of the novel was when the reader would find out things about vampires that go against the stereotypical norms of the "classic vampire". For example, we found out through the novel that vampires can touch crosses, survive a stake through the heart, however, they can't turn into mist and should never feed on a human once they've died and they don't sparkle in the sun like Twilight suggests.  Another thing that caught my attention was the little girl, Claudia, who is this dying girl that never asks for the life she lives while being a vampire. I could not imagine being a woman stuck in a girl’s body and used as a pa

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is absolutely a classic. I can't tell you how many different times I have been asked to read this and I enjoy every second of it.  The biggest thing I find on a daily basis is how many people  ATTEMPT to recreate Frakenstien and always portray the monster with the name. However we know that the Doctor is infact Frankestien... Curiousty begs the question of how that got lost in translation.  The realization of how closely correlated the stories of both Frankenstein and his creature were.  Both of them introduced themselves into this story as beings of hope, who loved everything around them.  They were both  positive individuals and looked to the brighter side of hope . Within both of their corresponding storylines the reader could watch the arc of each of their characters slowly begin to focus on nothing but the other.  The creature, of course, quickly took my interest over Frankenstein, which I feel is how most people begin to think the story is named F