It's the last day of BBAW! It's been a great (if busy) week. Before it's all over, I want to say congratulations to the fabulous Devourer of Books for winning Best Eclectic Book Blog. Her blog is great and definitely worth subscribing to if you haven't already. I was honestly surprised and honored to be shortlisted in this category with such fabulous company, so thank you to everyone who voted for this blog!
When BBAW drew to a close last year, this was a new book blog with a different name (Heidenkind's Hideaway). I wrote a post stating, "In the future, I'd like to have more author interviews, review weirder books, and improve my writing skillz. Also host another challenge, possibly, and change the design of my blog so that it's more better."
I believe I accomplished all of those things in the past year. My reading habits have definitely changed; in 2008, probably eighty percent of the books I read were romances. Now it's more between ten and twenty. Does book blogging have anything to do with that? Definitely. Although I've always been very eclectic in my reading habits, reading book blogs has amplified that and inspired me to try books I never would have even heard of, let alone picked up in the bookstore.
I have to confess, I'm still conflicted over this change in my reading habits. I often ask myself if I would be happier switching back to romances. Even though the tropes of romances aren't really working for me right now, people falling in love is still the major thing in stories that I respond to. Without it, I tend to just not care. I only read two five-star books in the past year... but then, both were recommended by book bloggers and were novels I never would have picked up without their recommendation, so sticking to romances might not have improved my year in reading at all. In any case, the past twelve months have been an adventure in reading--interesting, fun, occasionally frustrating, but certainly an adventure!
What does the future of Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Books hold? I want to keep reviewing a wide variety of books. I plan on reading what I want, when I want to, and writing whatever I think about it, whether snarky or fangrl-ish. One of the things I figured out during BBAW this week is that what I love to see most in reviews--or in anything, really--is creative thinking. I've been striving to bring more creativity to all my posts, and will continue to do so in the coming year.
Above all, I want this blog to be fun and to remain my happy space for the coming year. Thank you to all of my readers for helping to make it that way!
After watching The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I think I'm beginning see the appeal of the novel (which I haven't read). It has everything you could possibly want in a thriller--a down-on-his-luck reporter. Femme fatales. Nazis! Reclusive millionaires! Serial killers! Creepy portraits of beautiful women á la Laura! Deviant sexual behavior! And a happy ending.
Mikael Blomkvist is the last true investigative reporter in the world, but tangles with a corrupt corporation that's too big for him and winds up losing all journalistic creditability, not to mention receiving a prison sentence for libel. Depressed and unemployed, he accepts a sketchy job on a remote island, searching for the killer of a girl who disappeared over 40 years ago. Meanwhile, a Goth with amazing research skillz, Lisbeth Salander, is obsessed with Blomkvist and winds up helping him catch the killer. Did I say help? This guy couldn't find a tree in a forest.
There's a lot of rape and abuse in the movie, and it is very disturbing, but weirdly the film doesn't wind up being depressing. I think this is because of how the story is resolved--both of the women involved can and do fight against their attackers, and all the characters get their just reward in the dénouement. It leaves one with the sense that no matter what terrible experiences one suffers in life, there's the possibility of moving forward and starting anew. In that sense, the story is very cathartic.
The actor who plays Blomkvist, Michael Nyqvist, has a strange sort of Mulder-eque appeal. Despite his pockmarked face and hairy beer gut, I could believe Lisbeth might sleep with him. Maybe. Although I never understood her obsession with him--perhaps she's intrigued by the fact that he's a completely honorable person. When he wore metallic pants in the Australian Outback, though, it kind of threw me. Honestly, dude, you sleep with a twenty-four-year-old and suddenly you think you're a rock star? Reality check: no way. Further reality check: metallic pants in the Outback are totally impractical.
Lisbeth, meanwhile, is totally kick-ass. She literally does everything in this movie--if it wasn't for her, Blomkvist wouldn't have even gotten the job on the island, let alone everything that came afterward. She's also the only original element of this story. Without Lisbeth, the reporter, reclusive millionaire, and serial killer would seem pretty cheesy and predictable. It's Lisbeth's character that mixes it up and makes it seem more authentic than it is. I'm definitely interested in finding out what happens next with her character.
This is unequivocally a movie for adults only, but I don't think there's any reason not to watch it. There are very graphic scenes, but I didn't feel as if they were gratuitous or glamorized what was happening. And besides that, the film told a good story with excellent visuals from start to finish. I definitely recommend watching it if you're at all interested.
"As Dandini, Matthias Störmer is the match winner of the evening. With his joyful play, his expansive gestures and juvenile-powerful timbre, he engages the entire ensemble – and even the gags suddenly work."
Matthias Störmer started his musical education at the age of 16 at the Carinthian State Conservatory before he began his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. As a result of his participation in the masterclasses of Ks. Brigitte Fassbaender he was engaged as a ensemble member of the Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck. From 2010 to 2012 he sang there amongst others Joe Mulrooney in the world premiere of ‘The third Policeman’, Fléville and Fouquier-Tinville (Andrea Chénier), Happy (La fanciulla del West) as well as the Second Commissaire in ‘Dialogues des Carmélites’.
In June 2018, the young Austrian baritone celebrated his highly acclaimed role debut as Don Giovanni at the Theater Regensburg. Since the 2012-13 season, he sang roles such as Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Schaunard (La Bohème), Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), Dandini (La Cenerentola), Oreste (Iphigénie en Tauride) and Leopold (Im weißen Rössl), there. In 2017, the versatile baritone also gave a guest performance as Leopold at the Staatstheater Nürnberg. In the current season 2018-19, he will perform again in the title role of ‘Don Giovanni’ and as Papageno as well as in the new production ‘The Duchess of Chicago’ in Regensburg.
He has already worked with well-known directors such as Ks. Brigitte Fassbaender, Thaddeus Strassberger, Lotte de Beer, Lydia Steier, Aron Stiehl, Itay Tiran and Andreas Baesler, whom he was able to inspire with his powerful interpretations. His concert repertoire includes masses and oratorios such as J. Haydn's Timpani Mass, ‘The Last Seven Words’ and J.S. Bach's ‘St. John's Passion’, as well as works of contemporary sacred music.