In case you missed it, there’s an online space for I Live Here that has some interesting material related to the book. Check it out at http://www.i-live-here.com.
You are currently browsing the archive for the Readings category.
Man, there’s been a lot of discussion online about the WATCHMEN movie/book! It’s exhausting keeping up with all of it. But to facilitate our discussion today, here are some of the more… let’s say interesting… ones.
To start us off, here are the awesome (and awesomely dense) opening credits to the film. The company that made the credits posted this to the Web, but then took it down. It’s still around, though, if you look for it.
And while you’re watching the credits obsessively, looking for every last detail, this post might help you find a few tasty tidbits.
Charlie Jane Anders opines on the reasons why the movie felt flatter than the book. For Anders, it’s the difficulty of expressing the mindset of the Cold War years. An interesting read.
Jive Tarken, on the other hand, says both the strengths and weaknesses of the film are due to its closeness to the original book. Also a good read.
And if you want to read a nice rant about how the new ending ruined everything, John Patricelli has just what you’re looking for. (And if you play a druid in World of Warcraft, you really should be reading John anyway.)
Not everyone is happy with the changes to the movie. Here’s one concerned reader/viewer sharing his thoughts:
And if you’ve been bitten by the grown-up-comic bug, Graeme McMillan has some suggestions about what other comics you should check out.
Really, truly, finally… Hooray, kids! The Saturday Morning Watchmen are here!
As we discussed in class, Adrian Veidt’s superhero alterego is Ozymandias, which is also the name of a famous 1818 sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Here’s the text of Shelley’s poem:
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled hp and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
.And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my works. Ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Next week, when we discuss the entire book, I suspect we’ll want to touch on this sonnet.
Not to be all spoiler-y or anything.