Love Walked In/Belong to Me

Marisa De Los Santos has achieved something that has become so rare that it makes one want to shout from the roof top—“Hey, I’ve found it! Look!” De los Santos has successfully navigated the murky waters of the pejoratively named “chick lit” genre. In her first novel Love Walked In, de los Santos creates characters so warm and real that is nothing short of a refreshing delight to meet them again in her powerful sequel Belong to Me.

LOVE WALKED IN

My life – my real life – started when a man walked into it, a handsome stranger in a perfectly cut suit and, yes, I know how that sounds. Or I know how it might sound, to the kind of person I used to be, one who spent her days skirting around the edges of adulthood, commitment, responsibility, accomplishment – whatever word you use to describe diving into the deepest part of being human. Take your pick; they’re all woefully inadequate, but they’re also all we have. –Love Walked In, page 287.

Cornelia and Clare are the lovable and surprisingly—even tenderly—real pair at the center of Love Walked In. Cornelia is a modern woman who is successfully filtered through the lens of reality and, thankfully, is nothing like the Sex and the City image that movies and television lead viewers to believe are everyday people. Cornelia is a college educated woman who took a detour after one semester of graduate school. When the reader meets Cornelia, she is contentedly managing a coffee shop in Philadelphia. She is not stuck so much as waiting until she finds a career path she loves. She is navigating the city and enjoying life—and classic movies—when Martin Grace enters her life. He is a dreamishly handsome, successful businessman who, of course, takes and instant liking to Cornelia. He is, in appearances, everything that she would have if she could design her ideal man—right down to the striking resemblance to Cary Grant. However, Martin and Cornelia don’t quite click that way that Cary Grant always seems to in the movies. When his daughter Clare enters the scene everything changes drastically, leading to a love story (or two) of a whole other kind. 11-year-old Clare is going through a life crisis that people beyond her years are beyond the means to cope with. She enters Cornelia’s life and takes her by storm. The relationship is not always easy but is quite real. In the process of trying to help Clare, Cornelia finds some of the pieces—and people—missing from her life.

Love Walked In is not revolutionary. The book brings little actual substance to the table—other than—quite often—beautiful prose and real characters. For years the book has sat on my shelf, I did not rave about it—though I loved it. In fact I rarely ever mentioned it except when someone asked for a light reading recommendation. There are some poignant lines and phrase throughout the book that I have added to my list of quotes, but it wasn’t until I finished de los Santos’ second novel that I found the revolutionary qualities of the central characters.

BELONG TO ME

It seemed impossible that you could stand in a kitchen making hot chocolate and grilled-cheese sandwiches with your best friend dying in the next room, the voices of her children tangled up with the voices of your own, that you could butter bread and watch, through the window, the trees relinquishing their leaves and hear the silvery tumble of water into a kettle, and be suddenly aware that what resided at the heart of every shape and sound was peace. A rightness hovering above all that was wrong, shimmering, like heat rising from a street in summer.

--Belong To Me, page 85

Belong to Me is novel of an entirely different sort. While Love Walked In has elements of real life among the two central love stories, Belong to Me is, in many ways, entirely about real life and the unexpected, unwanted obstacles that fall into our lives.

Cornelia has now been transplanted from the urban life, to the suburbs. Far from the picturesque, Rockwellian life she had imagined, Cornelia is faced with navigating through the social circles strictly controlled by Piper—who, of course, takes an instant disliking to Cornelia. However, Piper is not all that she seems. Piper is dealing with a dying best friend and a swiftly imploding marriage. The reader will soon realize that Piper needs a friend just as much as Cornelia does. Then there is Dev the precociously intellectual 13-year-old boy who is trying to navigate the waters of a sudden, and unexplained, cross-country move. Though the Hitchcock-style twist can be spotted from miles away, so gifted was the story and the prose that I was all but screaming, simultaneously, “No, No, No” and “Yes, Yes, Yes” as I began to see the plot twisting.

Belong to Me was a rare novel in a genre filled to brim with clichés. Further to the beautiful prose, when I finished the book, I simply stopped. The book made me think--about nothing and everything all in the same moment. Marisa de los Santos has achieved with this novel that moves the reader to tears, laughter, and thought in equal measure.

Thoughts on HP & the Half-Blood Prince

Since midnight on July 15 it has been clear that people around that world have been eagerly awaiting an update in the Harry Potter saga. The fact that nearly everyone in the theatre already knows what is about to happen doesn’t seem to matter much. The movie pulled in the largest ever midnight showing box-office revenues and smashed through the opening weekend coming out, unsurprisingly, on top. Little if any of this was unsuspected. What was unsuspected was the vast difference between critical reviews and Potter fan reviews. The critics loved the film and Rowling book lovers, in large part, were not impressed. The problem, I think, lies in the fact that avid Potter readers walk into the theater and expect to see every plot point covered in the 652 page book portrayed on screen—in less than two and a half hours. It’s simply not possible.

Adapting a novel for the screen is about choosing what has to be left in, what has to be taken out, and what the story needs to fill the holes. I say this as someone who has never thought about adapting a novel for any reason let alone to add movie to the most successful movie franchise in Hollywood history. The point is however, The Half-Blood Prince is the most…internal, if you will, of the books in the saga. Large parts of the action in the book happen inside Harry’s Head. Harry struggling with his emotions towards Ginny, Harry’s curiosity about the actions of Malfoy, and Harry’s struggle to put the pieces of Dumbledore (or more accurately Voldemort’s) tale together. It’s difficult to portray all of these things without a drastic departure from the rest of the movie series. All that to say that I think Steve Kloves did a decent job considering the type of story with which he was working. But most of all, Potter fans should know by now that the films and books are two very different species and expectations from one should not be carried over to the other—it’s simply unfair.

Stepping away from the book, this movie is the best in the Potter series by far. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that this movie, without it’s potter support, is stand alone a well crafted and entertaining movie. The series has grown and the actors have certainly matured from the days when Christopher Columbus was at the helm, but that’s to be expected as they are some 10 years older. Excellent portrayals are to be seen from all sides and Rupert Grint and Tom Felton turn in their best performances to date showing that they have been drastically underused in previous installments.

In past movies, Grint has done little more than whimper at appropriate times (when confronted with spiders, crashing a car, the idea of Sirius Black, the mention of You-Know-Who’s proper name, Vampires, Bad Dress Robes, and so on). In this movie, Grint is finally given the chance to act. One of the most comic scenes in any of the seven books was brought to life beautifully—and hilariously—by Grint. On the Quiddich field, drugged by love potion, and suffering from an over attached girlfriend, Grint shows that he has comedy chops that could lead to a career outside of Hogwarts.

For the past two movies, Felton has shown up only to remind the viewers that life at Hogwarts comes with a few warts. In this movie, through clever script manipulation, Felton as Malfoy plays the chosen one opposite Harry Potter. Draco Malfoy struggles with the task he has been chosen for by the dark side. Felton gives more than his usual sneers in this film, he is allowed to stretch, allowed to grow and due to this shows that he has range as an actor. Felton’s portrayal of the struggling adolescent makes the viewer both despise Malfoy and pity him for the role he is struggling to fulfill.

Then there are Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson who turn in their usual high-quality performances. Watson is heartbreaking to watch as she portrays heartbreak and Radcliffe takes comedic scenes and shows that it is no mistake that he is at the center of this mega hit.

There are also the usual stellar British actors that provide sterling support for the young cast. Most of note in this film are Jim Broadbent who brings Professor Slughorn hilariously to life and Alan Rickman who makes it clear that there is no one else worthy enough to play Harry’s chief Hogwart’s foe.

All in all, taking the film for what it is—a movie dependent on literary fans for success—the film is very good. It may never make the ranks of the best films of all time but it is what it is: a blockbuster—and a very worthy one at that.

Another Interesting Show from Fox

I don't watch a lot of TV--I prefer movies and books--so for a show to break its way into my weekly line-up requires something different. Fox has been the center of the TV I do watch for several years now, though I do branch of to NBC to watch the hilarity that is Steve Carrell et al in The Office. I have been a fan of Fox's House, M.D. for years now thanks to the acting strength of the still Emmy-deprived Hugh Laurie. More recently I have fallen in love with Fox's Bones due to the interesting presentation of forensic science and the will-they-ever romance between Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and Booth (David Boreanaz). These shows have interesting concepts at the center, good (even great) acting from central and peripheral characters, and (in most cases) superb writing.

For the second half of the past season, I have seen Lie to Me promos and thought 'hmm...interesting' but I wasn't impressed enough to actually go so far as to watch the show. However, as it's mid-summer, I'm quickly running out of things to watch. Tied of dull summer shows, I remembered the mildly interesting promos for that Fox show. A month later I have finally gotten around to checking the show out. To my surprise, far from just passing the time, I have taken a liking to the show. Though I am skeptical of the science that is at the center of the show (lie detection through universal body language expressions), I found--minutes into the first episode--that it doesn't matter. The acting of Tim Roth and Kelli Williams pulled me in and had me buying the pseudosciencey concept. The series is not without flaws, the writing and, in some cases, direction (especially in earlier episodes) tend to tip the hand, showing the lies before the lies are meant to be shown. However, the acting and score so draws the viewer in that I found myself buying into the overt efforts at deception. Furthermore, since the Law and Order and CSI franchises have beat the crime-detection and whodunit genres to death, Lie to Me, like Bones, is a refreshing break from the normal means rousting the bad guy.

The show is not up to the level of Bones or House, but the point is that it could be. While I can certainly see how many would not be able to get past the shaky science at the center, in my opinion, Lie to Me is certainly worth checking out. I certainly found myself wishing the first season had comprised of more than 13 episodes and fully planning to catch every episode when the show returns in the Fall.

A Very Potter Musical

I'm not generally a sucker for everything attached to the name of Harry Potter. I love the books, I watch that movies but that is about it. This, however, I love. This is the first thing that has really excited me about Harry Potter since I was waiting in line for my copy of Deathly Hallows. A musical parody of Harry Potter made by fans for fans. I love it. The music is catchy, the jokes leave me gasping for breath, and it doesn't hurt that Darren Criss (who plays Harry) captivates me with his lyrics and his smile.

Check out "A Very Potter Musical" on the Starkidpotter channel on YouTube.



If you like the writing and actors, check out the webseries from the same group. It's called Little White Lie and is just as musically addictive as AVPM.