Starship Troopers

I chose to read Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein because the movie is one of my all time favorites. I’ve heard that the movie rendition was a bit different than the book. After reading it, I can say I agree. It was difficult to take my mind away from the images that the movie gave, which are more corny and funny (in my opinion). The book is much more political and serious. There was a new element which I don’t remember being in the movie, which was the power armor. It gives the soldiers more super human type qualities that I’m surprised weren’t added to the movie format. It would have been fun and entertaining to see this in action.

I like this book because it takes you into a futuristic world of what it would be like in boot camp and training, without a bunch of mindless action. The book focuses on the affects of war and racial (human/alien) differences in an extreme political system. I also liked the political system of the 2 offense rule. If you commit a crime twice, you’re killed. I definitely enjoyed the book though I think much of the reason why I love the movie so much is the nostalgia and strange style that the visual effects gave to it. The book was a more engrossing read and definitely worth the effort.

A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange written by Anthony Burgess is a novella which inspired the classic Stanley Kubrick film. Such a great film, I just had to go and read the book. The movie turned out to follow the book quite closely and was just as exciting to read as it was to watch!The book follows the story of Alex, a juvenile delinquent who strays down a path of drugs and violence. The first section of the book consists of the horrible deeds Alex commits from, random beatings, to burglary and even breaks into an author’s house and beats him, destroys his current writing and rapes his wife.

The second section of the novella takes place after Alex is caught and sent to jail for his crimes, separating him from his “droogs.” He quickly gets elected for an experimental behavior modifying technique where he is drugged to feel nauseous as he is forced to watch violent acts which was called the Ludovico Technique. The result turns out effective as he gets released and feels to nauseous to commit any violent or sexual acts again. Being released from jail is the third section of the novella, where he finds he cannot avoid violence and because of his condition ends up being brutally beaten because of his past.

In the end, Alex reverts back to his form before he received the Ludovico Technique.This novella holds up very well today, and it is no wonder it inspired such a great movie. The story warns you have behavior modification techniques and the more harm it can do then good. Anthony Burgess is trying to show that stripping someone of their free will is only going to harm them, and will only most likely revert back to their normal self after a period of time. I highly recommend this book, especially to anyone who loved the movie like I did.

Fahrenheit 451

The movie Fahrenheit 451 is directed by Francois Truffaut and is based off of the novel written by Ray Bradbury. Before this I had read Fahrenheit 451 and was quickly interested in seeing the movie based off such a great novel. The title of the novel and book is a clever reference to the temperature at which books burn at. The movie as do most movies based on books, strays from the book a fair amount, but still remains faithful at many points.

The movie follows Guy Montag, a firefighter in very bleak future run by a totalitarian government. However, firefighters in this future are the exact opposite of what we know a firefighter does. The government hires these firefighters to burn and destroy any book they can get their hands on. In this future books are illegal and harboring them is a crime. Guy Montag follows along blindly, living the same exact life as everyone else. This all changes when he meets his neighbor Clarisse. She makes him see what the government is doing and learns to become interested in the information he has been destroying all his life.

This movie lives up to the novel, and is an excellent view. It maintains its point against the reason things should not be censored as it leads to a future of a mindless culture groomed to do nothing but the governments bidding. The story is very compelling while I believe holds a very important message about censorship and the negatives it can cause.

Transmetropolitan Vol 1

The comic series Transmetropolitan written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Darick Robinson was first published in 1997 by Helix. The series was later continued by Vertigo comics, part of the DC comic line. I got hooked onto Transmetropolitan as soon as I started reading it. The story follows a journalist named Spider Jerusalem in a steam punk distant future. Spider is not your normal protagonist of a story, he is a heavy drug user and very loudly spoken, yet they still make him a very likeable character.

The story starts with Spider Jerusalem living in the isolation up in the mountains. We find out he has lived there for the past five years, but it comes to an end when he decides to avoid lawsuits and return to the city to finish the two books he owes a publisher. The futuristic city is beautifully drawn and immerses you into an excellent world. The book continues to follow Spider as he writes and reveals the problems with the current world, and fights the corruption of the current presidents.

I was very excited for a chance to read Transmetropolitan volume one, as Warren Ellis is a great author and has put out many good graphic novels. Transmetropolitan has turned out to be a great story and already has me hooked. I cannot wait to continue and finish the story through the other nine volumes that were written.