The reader's shelf
Aug. 24th, 2008 01:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lazypadawanHere are some of the books I've finished lately:
The Making Of Indiana Jones
t's a very interesting book, particularly since I don't know nearly as much about the behind-the-scenes stuff on the IJ movies as I do about SW. The meatiest part of the book is about Raiders of the Lost Ark; here you can read about the evolution of Indiana Jones and the movies/artwork that inspired the character as well as the process of casting. Everybody knows Tom Selleck was originally going to play the character until CBS decided it needed to rope him down with "Magnum P.I.." But did you know Sean Young--then an actress with only a little bit of experience--was a strong contender to play Marion? Every detail of filming is chronicled, from the illnesses of cast and crew to the quirks of Steven Spielberg (he brought his own canned food on location, which was probably smart) and Frank Marshall (who created a tradition of jumping into a cake). There's less detail on the subsequent films but some surprising things crop up nonetheless. Ke Huy Quan, the kid who played Short Round, was only accompanying a brother trying out for the film only for the casting folks to take an interest in him instead. Papa George wanted to have a Scottish haunted castle somewhere in there, which ended up being the unhaunted big German castle in "The Last Crusade." The book kinda runs out of gas when it gets to "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Sure it was interesting to see what plot points and set pieces were there from the get-go--Lucas insisted on aliens all along and Spielberg had to be convinced--but because there's not a lot of history behind the movie we instead get a lot of PR-ish "(insert name) is so awesome" or "(insert name) is just the best." It gets a little old after a while. But there is a poignancy to the fact that many of the key players who worked on "Raiders" were deceased by the time KOTCS started shooting.
All in all a fascinating read.
Star Wars Manga Black & Silver
This was originally published in Japan with different language translations in Europe by Tokyopop. I remember reading about it a few years ago and could never find anywhere with a copy until I came across a recent LiveJournal post on how the two volumes are available through Amazon's British sister site, Amazon.co.uk. The order wasn't cheap, even at a discount from a second-hand seller, thanks to the exchange rate. But the manga is definitely unique and it's always fun to have something unusual and rare in your collection. It's a bit like the Star Wars Infinities series, with most of the stories revolving around Darth Vader. One dark, angst-filled story is about Vader taking on a young Jedi survivor named Tao as an apprentice and then discovering his son is still alive. But other characters like General Grievous star in their own stories and there's some lighthearted fare, including one about Jawas and another about a Gungan playing a feint with Vader just before ANH. As someone not used to reading untranslated manga, the format was a bit of challenge to follow.
The Clone Wars
Just finished Karen Traviss's novelization. This reads like a PG-rated version of her Republic Commando books only with more Anakin and less Mando culture. The book's Anakin is darker and angstier than the one in the CW cartoon, a guy with a lot of secrets and resentment. It's obvious Traviss loooooves Anakin and haaaaaates the Jedi Council. If it's not Anakin mulling over how the Council has screwed him over or its mind games, it's Ventress mulling over how the Jedi are hypocrites. Still, Anakin takes to Ahsoka and there are several passages that will make A/P fans happy :). Ahsoka fares well and at one point, Anakin realizes she is going to be a good Jedi and will butt heads with the Council, figuring that went hand-in-hand. Captain Rex and his fellow clones are written well too. There are scenes not in the theatrical release and there are scenes done from a different perspective than the film version.
The Making Of Indiana Jones
t's a very interesting book, particularly since I don't know nearly as much about the behind-the-scenes stuff on the IJ movies as I do about SW. The meatiest part of the book is about Raiders of the Lost Ark; here you can read about the evolution of Indiana Jones and the movies/artwork that inspired the character as well as the process of casting. Everybody knows Tom Selleck was originally going to play the character until CBS decided it needed to rope him down with "Magnum P.I.." But did you know Sean Young--then an actress with only a little bit of experience--was a strong contender to play Marion? Every detail of filming is chronicled, from the illnesses of cast and crew to the quirks of Steven Spielberg (he brought his own canned food on location, which was probably smart) and Frank Marshall (who created a tradition of jumping into a cake). There's less detail on the subsequent films but some surprising things crop up nonetheless. Ke Huy Quan, the kid who played Short Round, was only accompanying a brother trying out for the film only for the casting folks to take an interest in him instead. Papa George wanted to have a Scottish haunted castle somewhere in there, which ended up being the unhaunted big German castle in "The Last Crusade." The book kinda runs out of gas when it gets to "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Sure it was interesting to see what plot points and set pieces were there from the get-go--Lucas insisted on aliens all along and Spielberg had to be convinced--but because there's not a lot of history behind the movie we instead get a lot of PR-ish "(insert name) is so awesome" or "(insert name) is just the best." It gets a little old after a while. But there is a poignancy to the fact that many of the key players who worked on "Raiders" were deceased by the time KOTCS started shooting.
All in all a fascinating read.
Star Wars Manga Black & Silver
This was originally published in Japan with different language translations in Europe by Tokyopop. I remember reading about it a few years ago and could never find anywhere with a copy until I came across a recent LiveJournal post on how the two volumes are available through Amazon's British sister site, Amazon.co.uk. The order wasn't cheap, even at a discount from a second-hand seller, thanks to the exchange rate. But the manga is definitely unique and it's always fun to have something unusual and rare in your collection. It's a bit like the Star Wars Infinities series, with most of the stories revolving around Darth Vader. One dark, angst-filled story is about Vader taking on a young Jedi survivor named Tao as an apprentice and then discovering his son is still alive. But other characters like General Grievous star in their own stories and there's some lighthearted fare, including one about Jawas and another about a Gungan playing a feint with Vader just before ANH. As someone not used to reading untranslated manga, the format was a bit of challenge to follow.
The Clone Wars
Just finished Karen Traviss's novelization. This reads like a PG-rated version of her Republic Commando books only with more Anakin and less Mando culture. The book's Anakin is darker and angstier than the one in the CW cartoon, a guy with a lot of secrets and resentment. It's obvious Traviss loooooves Anakin and haaaaaates the Jedi Council. If it's not Anakin mulling over how the Council has screwed him over or its mind games, it's Ventress mulling over how the Jedi are hypocrites. Still, Anakin takes to Ahsoka and there are several passages that will make A/P fans happy :). Ahsoka fares well and at one point, Anakin realizes she is going to be a good Jedi and will butt heads with the Council, figuring that went hand-in-hand. Captain Rex and his fellow clones are written well too. There are scenes not in the theatrical release and there are scenes done from a different perspective than the film version.
