I’m really happy that Chuck has written a book that I enjoy again. He’s been heading too far into gross out land for me lately.

I see wereldmuis’s point – the movie only works if you love these two actors enough. I think my view of them is wider than his, so seeing John Cusack do “whatever is necessary” in the name of love and family fits the stereotype I have. and seeing Morgan Freeman be perfectly charming while he does what he is going to do, regardless of your opinion, fits how I think of him.

oddly enough – none of these are stories about flying to a moon

The first 10 pages had so much unnecessary weird storytelling device and big words that didn’t help set the mood other than to make it “too big and important for something to read on the bus” that well, if I wasn’t on the bus, I would have stopped reading right there.

The ongoing interspersing the play with the novel was infuriating.

BUT - she really really got me with the gotcha. It was perfectly set up. So I read something else by her and it didn’t piss me off.

I bet her mysteries are good.

I grabbed a whole list of book recommendations from some friends, and put them on suspended hold at the library. The plan is to unsuspend one each time I go. So I’ll probably be reading a lot of books that surprise me in the next few weeks.

The weirdest thing about this is that it seems like it shouldn’t be enjoyable – there’s no action. None. Some is implied, so happens offstage, a lot happens in the past. But none happens in the book. Yet it is slowly gripping… I read the last 150 pages in one sitting, the last 30 in haste, saying “pleeeease end the way I want you to!”

It’s really well written. The characters are a little unpredictable because they have depth and are the sum of more experiences than you can put into even a large book. Everything fits together beautifully. Early parts that seem to be unrelated to the central thread get pulled back in. The way things are phrased gives beautiful foreshadowing. It’s almost a character study, with all the leadup being hints as to the motivations of each actor. Things change suddenly, and you are outwardly surprised, but reflectively realize it makes sense when you add up the little hints – which is exactly how the main character feels, so it makes you identify with him more.

When I complain about books it’s usually because of unlikeable (or far too stupid) characters and predictable plots. This had neither. Maybe it really is that liking the book is the default state, and it has to betray that to make itself unenjoyable.

But really, if you have characters you want to root for, and you’re kept wanting to know “what happens next?” .... sounds like a good recipe to me.

good is not the same as happy – it was really well told, and had lots of lovely little side bits that make you giggle, but it was SAD!

I’d been aware of the movie as “an Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman” vehicle since it came out – and boy, did that not sound appealing.

But I put it on our Netflix Q during that “OMG we have Netflix – add everything you’ve ever even considered seeing” fervor, and it has finally burbled up to the top.

My expectations were very low.

Then I found out Jude Law was in it – never seen anything I liked him in…starting to prepare to watch a known good movie afterwards to take the bad taste away.

And then almost immediately after it starts – “Whoa – I hadn’t thought of that – but it makes complete sense! What an amazingly good scifi idea” and then “Oh eek! and I would never have thought of reacting to it like THAT either.”

I think it really resonated for me because I can identify with that “Going to the stars or bust!” attitude. Like everyone else, when I was little I wanted to be an astronaut, and of course, that attitude is a driving force in a ton of the sci fi I grew up with.

The ideas are wonderful. (And not in a Solaris, not really scifi, crazy psychic Russian way.) The story is told really well. The actors all do a really great job on their parts: Jude Law is FANTASTIC. They should think of him whenever they need someone arrogant and nearly useless, but with attitude. Ethan Hawke … still not my favorite, but did a wonderful job of the transformation in the role. Uma … was a sop to the idea that you MUST have a love interest, but ok. At least she didn’t look like hell and have negative chemistry with her love interest, like in Paycheck.

And that’s all I can say – cause I’m sure there’s other people out there who haven’t seen it, and I want them to get the surprise if they want it.

If I try, I can keep my expectations pretty low.. but man, the majority of this movie made no sense at all.

It was kind of pretty. Except when she was making no sense at all Sophie had her wonderful attitude.

I just didn’t get it. And well – it’s a kids movie, I’d like to think that it’s not because I’m dumb.

If you’re gonna write a cute little girly novel – does it HAVE to have mystery and hidden secrets and stupid plot points? Some of the actions that the plot revolved around were beyond stupid. And then some of the other plot points would get started, run a little bit, and then get completely dropped. Mysteries would either come completely out of nowhere, or have really heavy handed hints.

Good side: the people interactions, how the friends dealt with each other, how the enemies dealt with each other. So funny sometimes.

I did very much want to know how it ended – but more for the side plots than for the main one.

I’m usually not a big fan of the genre, but I’ll read the odd bit. This is hands down the most gripping one I’ve read. It looks really daunting because it’s a big book and she’s not afraid to use old fashioned phrasing. But I got really into it, couldn’t wait to find out what happened to each character. Now I want to know what happens to them after this!