Sunday, July 31, 2005

Bennion Strikes Again



Such a cute and fuzzy little cover, innit?

A few summers ago as Ted and I sped across the beautiful fairways of Belmont Country Club, he mentioned a great book that he had read called "Lion of Ireland," the story of Brian Boru, a man who briefly united the warring tribes of the Emerald Isle around the year 1000 AD. "Lion of Ireland" was very well written, and for someone who's a fan of the sword and sorcery style of books, this book was a great read. I tore through it quickly and ordered the sequel, "Pride of Lions," which details the warring that went on following Brian's death.

So, needless to say, after that first recommendation, Bennion had my ear when it came to recommending books. But I was caught more than a little by surprise when I received an IM saying that he knew of a book that I would enjoy. Hoping there would be more raping and pillaging, I eagerly awaited his response. "It's called Watership Down," to which I inquired about the subject matter. When he replied that it was about rabbits, my skepticism meter leaped. TED BENNION, of all people, recommending a book about rabbits?

Ted convinced me, though, to pick up this classic, which I did over Thanksgiving break last year. Although it's truly sad that it took me this long to get through a 500 page book, I finally capped it off last night. And, of course, Bennion was spot on. Don't let the subject matter fool you, this is no children's story. Although it does deal with rabbits and their quest for a new home, it is much more adult in its telling. Although the set-up of the story itself (ie the first 100 pages or so) starts a little slowly, you won't be able to put it down by the end.

In conclusion, anyone who's looking for a fast, interesting read soon would be hard pressed to say no to something like this. It is thoroughly enjoyable, and, if nothing else, will change the way you look at rabbits...

10 Comments:

Blogger Failoz said...

3 lousy stars for The Godfather?

Esta enfirma en la cabeza?

2:45 PM  
Blogger steven said...

Which equals a C. A "C" for the Godfather. Very bewildering.

5:41 PM  
Blogger Brad said...

Geez guys, that's been up there for a week. Watched it awhile back and just really never got into it. Too many names and different people going in and out that I didn't care who they were or what happened to them. Classic example was Luca Brazzi. He's in the original party scene for about 2 minutes, then he shows up later in the movie, apparently just to get killed. So many people were getting killed and getting revenge killed and making alliances that I just got lost in who was fighting who, who was getting whacked for what reason, and why that was relevant to the story. Maybe I'll view the first one more highly once I've seen the whole the other two and gotten a better idea of what's going on.

5:01 PM  
Blogger Brad said...

explain why I'm wrong.

5:05 PM  
Blogger steven said...

Maybe you just weren't in the mood. You'll probably enjoy part II, as it's much easier to follow...and I think it's probably my favorite of the three, anyway.

10:44 PM  
Blogger Brad said...

that's interesting that you say that, because I have heard that from so many other places too. There are even facebook groups here at IU that are something to the tune of "Godfather II is the best of the series" and such. I'm really hoping we can get to it soon, but we've been moving Michelle from one apartment to the other for the last two days and have had no free time, plus her parents are here.

10:46 PM  
Blogger Failoz said...

Bahhhhhhhhh the only thing two had over one was DeNiro.


C'mon Brad, admit that restaurant scene was one of the best in cinema history!

1:29 PM  
Blogger Brad said...

the one at the end? what was great about it?

9:59 PM  
Blogger Failoz said...

*Godfather Spoiler










It was perfect man.

The suspense was amazing. Is the gun there? Uh-oh its not. Oh there it is? Am I really going to go thru with this? Can I kill another man? The subway rumbling in the background. The brilliant acting. The sound of the whole scene. Oh man, that scene had it all, and then he actually goes thru with it. It was so bang-bang.


And don't even get me started on the baptism scene. Truly an oustanding finish.

7:43 PM  
Blogger Bobby said...

I can never recommend Watership Down to anyone, they can't get past the "well, it's about a bunch of rabbits and..." and they cut me off. I have loved this book forever, hopefully you will get others to read it.

4:16 PM  

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