The first book I finished reading in January was The Creation of Anne Boleyn, by Susan Bordo. I've read quite a few books on the Tudors, but this was the first that focused only on Anne Boleyn. It was divided into three sections. The first section focused on the usual biographical information about Anne Boleyn's rise and fall, and details how Henry VIII courted her, made her queen, and then had her beheaded. The next section was more of a cultural history, and talked about how and why is she depicted the way she is (typically as a slutty homewrecker), and the cultural context for why that is. The third part is about how Anne Boleyn is depicted in pop culture, for example, in Anne of the Thousand Days, The Other Boleyn Girl, and The Tudors. It was a really interesting look that I haven't seen in any of the books I've read, so I found it really fascinating!
The next book I finished in January (even though I bought it when it was first released several months ago) was Life & Death: Twilight Reimagined. It was part of a special re-release of Twilight for its 10th anniversary (god, has it been that long?!). Essentially, most of the characters in the book switch genders. So Bella is now Beau, Edward is now Edythe, etc. Pretty much everyone but Bella's parents switch gender. Much of it is the same story, just with the names and pronouns switched out, but it definitely does change the characters' personalities, so the story is rewritten somewhat. The end, in particular, is completely different from the original Twilight ending. It's a pretty interesting concept, and one that was completely out of the blue. No one knew this was happening; if anything, people anticipated that perhaps Midnight Sun, the version of Twilight from Edward's point of view, would finally be released. Anyway, it was a pretty good read, and I really enjoyed it! I think another fun re-imaging of the story would be to switch Bella and Edward, so that Bella is the vampire and Edward is the human. Maybe for the 20th anniversary!
I'm in the middle of 3 more books, so I'll probably have more to report on next month!
No comments:
Post a Comment