Weekend Review: Horns by Joe Hill

I admit that I didn't finish this book. I got further in this book than I thought, but I didn't finish it. After about eighty pages I stopped reading. Why did I decide to review this book if I haven't finished it? Well, I feel like I got enough of the book's overall tone. I had been wanting to check out Joe Hill's writing for a long time, and I thought I would check out his comic book first, but then I saw the trailer for the movie Horns. The book and movie are about a man named Ig who is accused of the murder and rape of his girlfriend. The story starts a year after her death when Ig wakes up with horns that make people confess their darkest desires to him. I would have kept reading the book if it had the same pacing that it had from the start. Unfortunately, the book went into flashback mode to show an old friendship/the relationship between Ig and his girlfriend. They met in the church when she was using Morse code to tell him to stop looking at her legs. I get the impression that Morse code was something big for her because the book had Morse code all over the inside. After the church scene I lost interest. I thought about picking up the book again and skipping around, but I couldn't do it. I had already been taken out of the experience I was having.



Two Out Of Five Stars

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How much of myself do I put into a character?

When I was in middle school my art teacher told the class that everyone puts a bit of themselves into their artwork. I can paint, but I can't draw, but I consider my art to be writing. While I've never based a character on myself, I do find myself using things that I've experienced to influence my characters. I might put a little of myself into them. I might give one of them a joke that I would usually tell or have one of them wear a shade of lipstick that I love. There's no one character that I've written that I think of as like me, but I can see parts of me in them. I think every writer draws from experience. I don't know if you can have a character go through something you haven't. Well, I don't think it would be believable to the readers. This is the very reason I'm looking to try new things, because I want to be the best writer that I can be.

Casual Friday: Poems from the past

This might be cheating because this is sort of about writing. When I was in high school I used to write songs and poems. I joined the library club because we got to do this open mic coffee house poetry reading where they gave us snacks and coffee and let us read poems. I think we had a weekly meeting, and almost everyone in the club was my friend so I had no trouble getting on stage and reading in front of everyone. I decided today would be a good day to share something I wrote along those lines. Please keep in mind that these are very old and emotionally driven. I haven't written a poem in about ten years.


I wonder what happened to make things so wonderful,
so wonderful that it's pitiful.
I caused you pain, I caused myself pain,
I meant for happiness to remain.
I wanted you,
you claimed you wanted me too.
I never meant any harm,
I never meant to make my way out of your arms.
I never meant to make those mistakes,
to have you back I'd do anything it takes.
This is just wonderful,
we are both misberable.
I never thought it would hurt so bad,
you were the best relationship I ever had.
Then I did something wrong,
then all your feelings for me were gone.
Everything disappeared,
everything was the way that I had feared.
I never meant any harm,
I never meant to make my way out of your arms.
I never meant to make those mistakes,
to have you back I'd do anything it takes.
This is just wonderful,
we are both misberable.
Everything's destroyed,
I destroyed something that I enjoyed.
I destroyed the person I cared for,
I made his feelings towards me not exist anymore.
Everything was so wonderful,
now it's all miserable.
I never meant any harm,
I never meant to make my way out of your arms.
I never meant to make those mistakes,
to have you back I'd do anything it takes.
This is just wonderful,
we are both misberable.
I guess I should just let you go,
I wanted my feelings to be known.
I wanted to tell you that I care,
if you ever need anything I'd be there.
I don't want you away,
I wish you would chose to stay.
I never meant any harm,
I never meant to make my way out of your arms.
I never meant to make those mistakes,
to have you back I'd do anything it takes.
This is just wonderful,
we are both misberable.



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Why I give up on books, or what I don't like in a book.

I finally gave up on Horns, by Joe Hill. It had been in my possession for over a month and I didn't find myself tempted to read it. It started out good enough, with a promising idea, but it started to bore me. It seemed interesting enough, guy accused of murdering his girlfriend grows horns and people start telling him their darkest secrets and desires. I kept thinking of what it would be like if that happened to me. I probably wouldn't want to know every one's dark secrets and desires, just like I wouldn't want Sookie Stackhouse's ability to read minds. Anyway, the book lost me when it got off track and went back in time. I'm sure there was a point to that, but I didn't feel like reading to find out why. I'm sure it introduces the girlfriend and shows their relationship, but at that point I would have preferred to see what was going on with the horns. I don't like when stories take me out of the story to show me something else. In horns there were plenty of nods to the way the girlfriend behaved. I didn't read too much about her to see if any of those things were true. I also don't like when stories get too silly. They have to have some level of believability.

Update

I didn't do a weekend review this weekend, because my internet was down, and I didn't read anything new. I didn't even get to finish my homework because of my internet. I did work on my writing a small bit this weekend. I also missed going to the gym this morning, so I had a rough day and a rough weekend.

Watching The World

Part of my job as a writer is observing. I'm always observing. When I'm at work I'm observing, trying to figure out why people do what they do. When I'm at lunch I usually sit outside under a large umbrella and observe the world around me. When it rains I sit by the window and watch the weather. Rain is my favorite type of weather. I love watching the sky darken and having the first few drops of rain wash over me. I love the scent of the air before it rains, and the drop in temperature. I love coming inside after being soaked with rain and putting my hair up, before changing into pajamas. I love the sound of the rain beating on a tin roof, which I used to have to hear in art class during my senior year of high school. We took art in a small building that had a tin roof. I hate the winter and how the weather chills me to the bone. I hate wearing bulky clothing, I hate layering my clothes. I hate the sad excuse we have for snow that gets in my shoes and clings to my socks. It's more like wet, muddy, mush. Creative types see the world differently than regular people. Something that means nothing to a regular person could inspire a song, a poem, a drawing, or even a book.

Casual Friday: My drawings

I wish I had a talent for drawing. I have a few drawing books, and I do try every now and then, but I can't do it. Even when I follow the guides my work doesn't come out as great as it should. I took four years of art in high school, I even joined the art club, and my drawings still look like this. I'm more of a painter anyway. I remember painting the windows for Halloween at McDonald's as part of the art club. For whatever reason, I never seen McDonald's painted for any holidays anymore. I kind of miss that. I had a blast painting those windows. Anyway, here are my few drawings.