A Study in Charlotte

Lately I've been in a mood to share my opinions on things. This is one final post before my NaPoWriMo poetry!

I recently had the pleasure of reading A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro. The story follows the great-(a bunch of greats)-grandchildren of John Watson and Sherlock Holmes, James Watson and Charlotte Holmes. They are in America at boarding school where they must solve a string of incidents which are made to follow Sherlock Holmes stories.

I don't know if book reviews should include Spoiler Alerts, but if they should, this is it (although I haven't described the mystery or said who the perpetrator is, so I don't reveal the MOST vital points, but I recommend reading on with caution).



These characters are, in some ways, very similar to their 'ancestors.'

Sadly, Charlotte is somewhat misanthropic, struggles with drug addiction, and might possibly have an eating disorder. In addition to drug addiction, the story also somewhat touches on the difficult topic of rape; however, I expect this will be a bigger part of the next novels. Due to this more intense subject matter, I would recommend the story for more mature teens.

I love that Charlotte is intelligent, independent, and headstrong. I hate that she struggles with addiction, [the after effects of] rape, and an eating disorder. But sexual harassment and assault are, unfortunately, realities in our schools. I do believe that many girls could find something in Charlotte to identify with.

I like that James has romanticized Charlotte and realizes that he has; he is afraid of getting to know her and having his imaginary Charlotte destroyed, but simultaneously wants more than anything for her to let him in. I think that James is, like me, a bit of a hopeless romantic.

As you might expect, with Charlotte and James working closely together and being of the opposite sex there is some chemistry between them, while this is a welcome aside, I am grateful that this is not the focal point of the story.

I believe Charlotte and James teach each other things, balance each other out, take care of one another, and bring out the best in each other; making them, on the whole, a likable pair.

James's father has been estranged and I believe that James's treatment of his father (keeping him at a distance) is accurate; however, based on personal observations, I'm not sure that his father and step-mother's welcoming attitudes are always real.

While I tend to avoid series, I do look forward to the remaining books in the series.

Other nice things about the book:

• Told from Watson's POV with an epilogue from Charlotte - paying homage to the source material.
• I love the gender bending! Girls can be detectives (and scientists)!
• Charlotte sounds similar to Sherlock.
• Charlotte sounds similar to Scarlet, making the title of the book a play on one of the stories' titles (A Study in Scarlet).
• It's a mystery!
• I somehow managed to solve it (partially) before the main characters!
• More Holmes and Watson!

Less nice things:

• I didn't think of it!
• The presence of Moriartys.

A note about my distaste of Moriarty:

In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works, Moriarty was originally introduced specifically to end Sherlock. Doyle had become tired of writing about the detective and thought if he killed him, he could be done with Sherlock (hence Holmes falling over Reichenbach Falls in "The Final Problem"). Honestly, I thought it was a bit shoddy and lazy. Out of nowhere, Moriarty is introduced as this great nemesis, but there was really nothing to point to his existence before that story. Anyway, the plan backfired, Holmesians wanted more and Doyle had to return to Sherlock (thank goodness!).

That being said, I can't hold it against Ms. Cavallaro for including the Moriartys because she is trying to stay true to the source material while introducing interesting and enjoyable twists - I devoured the book in two sittings, something I've not done in awhile.

Happy Reading!

Sharon

Beauty and the Beast

In a few days, I will begin the month-long deluge of poetry. In the meantime, I give you a review/critique/rambling thoughts on Beauty and the Beast.

First of all I give it 4.786250914/5 stars, saw it twice, would see again, and the Sharon Seal of Approval.

Disney promised us a live action remake of the much beloved 1991 animated classic Disney's Beauty and the Beast and boy did they deliver.

But if you wanted it to be a shot-for-shot, line-for-line, exactly, 100% the same movie, then you may be in for a surprise.

Consider this your SPOILER WARNING. I'll give those of you who have yet to see the film a moment to navigate away from this page.


Still there?

Bueller?

Alright, let's go.

All the major plot points were there, but the original movie's runtime was 84 minutes (less than an hour and a half), while modern movies tend to be closer to 2 hours; they had to add something to the film.

And add they did. They added backstory to the characters, they made the enchantress a bigger part of the story, they gave the Beast his own bittersweet song. And they added a touch of a different version of Beauty and the Beast.

They made the story more meaningful and nuanced. They made the Beast more worthy of Belle's love and they made Gaston more of a villain and they even gave Le Fou a conscience. I found myself feeling that Le Fou was not a fool in this telling at all. They changed the bookkeeper to be an academic priest who seems to appreciate and encourage Belle's intelligence while the rest of the town condemns it. They even connected the fates of the servants in the castle with the village people. They changed Maurice to be a heartbroken, overprotective, artist father.

The movie is a beautiful rendition of the animated classic, which I'm sure will become a classic in its own right.

It has the favorite standby songs, with some minor changes. For example, I really missed the sheep in "Belle" and Gaston's famous line "every last inch of me's covered with hair" in "Gaston." But they added a sweet song sung first by Maurice, "How Does a Moment Last Forever" which seems to be a song from the creators of the new movie, nodding to the anxiety of re-creating a well-loved movie, while also hinting at something more in the story. They also added a song for the servants in the castle where they pine after their former lives "Days in the Sun" where Belle begins to fall in love and hurt for the servants and wants to help them before she sees any humanity in the Beast. "Evermore" is the Beast's new solo, where he climbs up high in the tower as he watches Belle leave to rescue her father - sure she will never return, he sings "I'll fool myself, she'll walk right in And be with me for evermore." Even though I knew that Belle returns, I couldn't help but tear up.

That wasn't the first time I teared up either, when Belle and Beast are building a relationship, Beast shares a book the enchantress left him which allows him to travel anywhere in the world. Belle uses it to take them to the windmill in Paris where her family lived until her mother caught the plague and died - they had to leave here there to protect themselves. From then on, Maurice did his best to protect Belle.

So what did I not like about the movie?
I already mentioned that I missed the sheep and "every last inch of me's covered with hair" but there were a couple other minor things that bothered me about the movie. First, Belle wore shoes that looked unmistakably like Toms; surely they could have found her some more appropriate footwear? Second, I love Emma Watson, but something about her as Belle, just did not feel quite right to me. Finally, I had trouble determining when on earth this movie was supposed to take place. I think this movie should have occurred much after the plague, but I'm not sure.

By and large, I loved the movie. The animated film reigns supreme, but this film holds an honorable second place in my heart.

What were your thoughts on the film?

Happy End of March!
Sharon

Rambling Thoughts on La La Land

*This is your one spoiler warning*

My friends and I just saw the movie La La Land. Literally, I just drove home from the theater and am putting my jumbled thoughts out into the world.

If you appreciate music, you will like this movie.
If you appreciate waltz and dancing and fun choreography (by none other than Mandy Moore - what?!), you will like this movie.
If you enjoy singing, you will like this movie.
If you enjoy the beginning part of a relationship, you will like this movie.
If you like happy endings, you may or may not like this movie.
If what I just said gives you pause, go see this movie anyway.
If you like piano, Emma Stone's big, beautiful eyes, and Ryan Gosling's je ne sais quoi, you will like this movie.

At the end of the movie, my friends and I watched the credits and listened to the beautiful music in silent awe. Our emotions had just been taken for a wild ride and we were taking a minute to process. It left me feeling a little raw and exposed. It resonated with me. It left us shocked.

La La Land did so well because I think it treats "La-la land" with a firm grip of reality. Having never been an aspiring actress or musician in Hollywood, I cannot say for sure, but I suspect it was accurate.

It showed the fears and pains and struggles of making it in Hollywood which, really, are the same as the struggles every one of us faces. And it treated them in an authentic way.

You followed the story of Mia and Sebastian as their lives intertwined, you fell in love with them, you sang with them, you danced with them. You routed for them and you invested in them. This was a couple that could make it work.

As someone once told me, "the beginning of any relationship is always fun." And we saw that, we were swept along with it. And then when they fought, we were a little shaken, but I think we thought Mia and Seb would make it through this.

But this movie also examines a difficult question: Is it possible to have both love and your dreams? The answer, a resounding no.

Mia puts on a one woman show which is underattended and Seb, Seb fails to make it on time. By the time he gets there, the show is over, Mia is leaving, stricken that no one came, that those who did had negative comments, and possibly most troubling to her that Seb wasn't there.

She leaves town, Seb is given the opportunity to win her back with a romantic gesture that involves an audition that might be Mia's big break. He takes her to the audition and afterward, Mia asks Seb, "where are we?" I think all relationships face this question at some point or another and the answer can make or break the relationship. Seb tells her that they will just have to wait and see; they tell each other that they will always love each other, and evidently, Mia does get the gig.

Ultimately, we find out that they both have achieved their respective dreams. And I think it was Mia almost walking out on her dream that shook Seb up and made him go grab his with both hands. Seeing someone you love give up or almost give up on their dream does that to you.

It is a moving movie because it treats life with honesty. We are swept away in the euphoria of a budding romance. We route for the characters, their relationship, and their dreams. But then it strips that away, it asks what we will do when things are not working out how we wanted them to. It shakes us awake and asks us what we will give up for our dream.

What will the cost of achieving our dream be? Will it be the love of our life? Or will being with the love of our live cause us to give up our dream?

Life doesn't have to be that stark, but it often is. And maybe, they weren't the love of each other's lives. It was obvious that Mia's dream was not to be married, but to be an actress and she got that. Seb wanted a club and he got that.

But I think the painful thing is that Seb may not have moved on even though Mia has. He names the club what Mia suggested and when he sees her there in the heartbreaking final scene of the movie, he plays their song.

He told her he would always love her and he meant it.

But maybe he loves her because she encouraged him to go after his dream. He saw her walking out on hers and forced her not to so then he had to do the same.

As we were leaving the theater, one of my friends said, "I can't even be happy about their success because they didn't end up together. She's not with the love of her life."

Mia's life was about acting; Seb's was about opening an amazing jazz club. They both inspired each other to go out and get their dreams. Isn't that all anyone can ask for?

This movie is about priorities, perception, dreams, fears, struggles. And it does have a happy ending, if not the one we so often expect. But neither does life.

In a way, this movie reminds me of Pygmalion. When he originally wrote the play, George Bernard Shaw discovered that people thought Eliza should end up with Prof. Higgins; this bothered him so much that he wrote an epilogue in which Eliza is married to Freddy. Henry Higgins was never the right man for Eliza to marry. He helped her to rise above her position and then they moved on from one another. Mia and Seb both helped each other rise from their position and achieve their dream. Maybe they were not the right person for the other to marry. But they were the person the other needed at that time in their life.

I know I'm rambling, but I'm trying to make sense of the way this movie shook up my insides. If nothing more, we should remember that happy endings don't always look the same. Emma Stone is my spirit animal, I want her wardrobe from this movie, and I want the soundtrack to the movie as well; Ryan Gosling is, as ever, a stud.


Go see the movie and let me know what you thought.

May the music stay with you,
Sharon