Ref: I am Number Four (Final)

So what denotes a hero story? Generally?

-An oddity: some unfortunate kid who doesn't quite fit in

-Loss of a parent (or parents), family member, friend etc

-A set back

-An overcoming of said set back

-A love interest

-A villain

i.e Harry Potter, Avatar, Spiderman, Batman etc.

So what makes these stories different or special (as opposed to a retelling of the same story with different names) lies in the story's delivery or the characters themselves. By delivery, I mean the writing, the style, the voice of the author or character. By the characters themselves, I mean their nature (Harry is obviously very different from Peter Parker).

The issue I have then with I am Number Four is pretty obvious then no?

Alien teen trying to survive extermination from another alien race- that's okay, acceptable, new stuff.

Alien teen with super powers who falls in love at first sight with ex-cheerleader- uh. what?

Alien teen who has trouble reconciling the difference between the love he feels for the cheerleader and the real "love" he would feel for another alien girl- why is this starting to sound like a twilight knockoff?

Alien teen who's fighting evil and saving the planet, while in love with blonde cheerleader- ....

Alien teen who's alias is "John Smith"- what crap..

So obviously there's a lot of things that don't add up. John's supposed to be a teenager by human terms, he's only been on the earth for about 10 years, so that would make him like 15 human years. Yet his race is supposed to live upwards of 200 years, so wouldn't he in reality be like 7.5 years old? And "John Smith" really? Could you try harder to blend in? John Smith and Jane Doe are stereotypical, but if you're trying to evade an intelligent pursuer by blending in, that one dumb-ass choice.

Plus isn't it just weird that the author's writing himself in as a character?

But.. of course I can see the ups of this book if you're a pubescent preteen, who wouldn't want to read about average kids getting with the prettiest girl in town, who happens to be a blue eyed blonde ex cheerleader.

Maybe I'm just too old for this stuff now.

Final Rating:

First Thoughts: I am Number Four

Seeing as I am Number Four is coming out on the big screen not to long from now, I figured I'd sit down and actually do some leisure-reading for the first time in a long time.

Just a few amusing excerpts:

“Any day, John,” he reiterates. “If your fingers start to disappear, or if you start to float, or shake violently, if you lose muscular control or begin to hear voices even when nobody is talking. Anything at all, you call.”

"She’s shockingly beautiful with straight blond hair past her shoulders, ivory skin, high cheekbones, and soft blue eyes. Everyone seems to know her and says hello to her, and no one objects to her taking their picture"

“Do you know what you have?” he asks.

“Lights in my hands.”

He chuckles. “It’s called Lumen. You’ll be able to control the light in time.”

...

“Lumen,” he says. “You’re going to become resistant to fire and heat. Your hands come naturally, but we’ll have to train the rest of your body.” "

Sounds like your average teen drama, angst, super powers and evil murderers hurrah. Thus far, the characters have been flat, the narration, dry, and the plot, predictable but I'm only on chapter four so we'll see how it goes neh~.

Rating:

REF: Linchpin (first half)

"'Where do you put the fear?' What separates a linchpin from an ordinary person is the answer to this question. Most of us feel the fear and react to it. We stop doing what is making us afraid. Then the fear goes away.

The linchpin feels the fear, acknowledges it, then proceeds. I can't tell you how to do this; I think the answer is different for everyone. What I can tell you is that in today's economy, doing it is a prerequisite for success." (65)

Honestly, aside from the initial 50 pages of repeating the same thing (the linchpin is indispensable, her work is an emotional labor, a genius art yadayada), Godin has presented nothing of sustenance. He has made his point that the linchpin is unique, but not specified how one becomes one; he has labeled the linchpin as fearless (but not reckless, mind you) but not how to dispel fear.... which essentially just sounds like a load of optimistic bull-crap. Of course the successful, indispensable person is one who takes risks in spite of the consequences, and has his/her own genius... that doesn't really need to be said. What I'm really curious about is why it took Godin a whopping 75+ pages to establish something already known through endless examples of oftentimes unknown people (except when he decides to ramble about Steve Jobs and his designer, or the buyer for Anthropologie who's name I've already forgotten).

BREV: Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Zafón (2001)

Shadow of the Wind- Ruiz Zafón, Carlos, trans. Lucia Graves
"Sombra Del Viento"
Mystery, Drama, Romance, Thriller

"Destiny is usually around the corner. Like a thief, like a hooker, or a lottery vendor: its three most common personifications. But what destiny does not do is home visits. You have to go for it."

From Publishers Weekly
"Ruiz Zafón's novel, a bestseller in his native Spain, takes the satanic touches from Angel Heart and stirs them into a bookish intrigue à la Foucault's Pendulum. The time is the 1950s; the place, Barcelona. Daniel Sempere, the son of a widowed bookstore owner, is 10 when he discovers a novel, The Shadow of the Wind, by Julián Carax. The novel is rare, the author obscure, and rumors tell of a horribly disfigured man who has been burning every copy he can find of Carax's novels. The man calls himself Laín Coubert-the name of the devil in one of Carax's novels. As he grows up, Daniel's fascination with the mysterious Carax links him to a blind femme fatale with a "porcelain gaze," Clara Barceló; another fan, a leftist jack-of-all-trades, Fermín Romero de Torres; his best friend's sister, the delectable Beatriz Aguilar; and, as he begins investigating the life and death of Carax, a cast of characters with secrets to hide.... "
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General thoughts: This book is by far the best book I've read in 2010 (which isn't really saying a whole lot seeing as I haven't been doing much reading); Zafón's use of language is nostalgic, flowery, often cute, and in short, beautiful. The story did not by any means trap me within itself but rather burned slow and dull until the climax. His words resounded deeply in my mind, and most definitely incited a descent down memory lane.
The Good: Language, general plot, imagery
The Bad: Transitions (i.e, Daniel's transition from boy to man was abrupt: his father goes from a major character, to a minor character who speaks/makes an appearance about once every 200 pages), Horror aspect (seeing as Zafón is often compared to Stephen King, he pales in comparison)
The Ugly: Overuse of parallelism, cliché, I won't explain this one so as to not give any spoilers
Excerpt: "For the life of God, I hereby swear that I have never lain with an underage woman, and not for lack of inclination or opportunities. Bear in mind that what you see today is but a shadow of my former self, but there was a time when I cut as dashing a figure as they come. Yet even then, just to be on the safe side, or if I sensed that a girl might be overly flighty, I would not proceed without seeing some form of identification or, failing that, a written paternal authorization. One has to maintain certain moral standards."

-Fermin Romero de Torres

Rating: