Tuesday Tue-for Review-for!

Good morning faithful readers!

Today, we are going to review two completely different entertainment media oeuvres...

a book review

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Well, since I'm mostly a stand-up guy, I'll admit, we're only reviewing this one single book, and not Hosseini's entire collection of work, on account of I haven't read any of his other works (if you understand why I used this disclaimer, pat yourself on the back and congratulate your 10th grade vocab lessons).

Once again (like some very sad lemon cake), I read this book on account of my wonderful sister-in-law (read her here, she's got a pretty good handle on this whole blog thing) and her monthly online book club. Once again, I read this book later than everyone else. That's just how I roll.

Anywhoseewhatsit, I wasn't a big fan. I suppose I should clarify, though. The reason I didn't like it wasn't at all because it was a bad book, but because it a) wasn't a genre I generally much care for, and 2) it wasn't what I expected it to be. In fact, Hosseini is an excellent writer, and if you're into his kind of stories I'd imagine you'd think very highly of this book.

I suppose I expected a more linear plot line, you know some exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolutions, but instead I discovered concentric circular stories, each one connected and a refracted version of the others. Not that there's anything wrong with that; Geoffry Chauncer got a lot of play from that style, and one of my favorite books, Hyperion by Dan Simmons, uses it as well. It just wasn't enough to overcome my prepossessions.

clearly the best and most accurate depiction of Chaucer in our era...

I've just spent a lot of time explaining why I didn't like it but making excuses that you probably will, so you might as well just go read it yourself. You can tell me what you think, in the comments below.

so, then, because we're doing a Tuesday Tue-for, a tv review

The Big Bang Theory, Season 6.

I love the Big Bang Theory, and I have for a very long time. but since I prefer to watch my television shows in compressed-time-frame batches, I usually wait for it to come out on DVD before I watch. And this is the case here.

Well, as I mentioned, I followed tBBT since the days when Penny was simply the object of desire, and not the possessed-reward. I loved the geek humor (because I'm a geek). True story, my roommate and I once had a Lord of the Rings-related argument, and then watched the same argument unfold on tBBT a week later. As the show progressed, it moved away from geek-centric joke formula to a geeks-in-a-relationship formula, which admitted, I can relate to much less. But I still enjoy it.

It was very clear to me that a great deal of the writers on the show changed out beginning in Season 5, which started off very slow before they finally hit their stride and found their comfort level with the characters.

I don't know if they changed out writers again, but the direction they went with Season 6 was clearlyy a departure from their old ways. With most of the characters in a much more stable life situation, they switched the focus from "light-hearted" to "warm-hearted." Tenderness replaced whimsical.

And they did a pretty good job of the warm fuzzies, fact. I enjoyed the season, but I prefer the whimsical. There were a number of excellent moments in the season, but taken on a whole, it was their weakest season in my opinion.

*Spoilers here follow, proceed at your own caution!*

the excellent moments

• Penny telling Leonard she loves him
• Amy & Sheldon discussing the intimacy of their relationship after the D&D game
• The girls arguing about comic books (one of the funniest moments in the show, for sure)
• The guys playing D&D (both times)
• Raj & Stewart forming a friendship

the areas found lacking

• every scene of Howard in space.
• Raj & Stewart's friendship completely vanishing halfway through the season
• Raj's alcoholism (i know it was necessary to keep him in the show, but you wrote yourself into your own hole with that gag in season 1. it took you way to long to dig out of it)
• the complete lack of chemistry for Leonard & Penny's relationship (with the exception of the scene noted above)
• the overuse of the horny Amy Farah-Fowler jokes
• how many times can a character(s) go away at the end of the season on some big science journey. You've gotta find a new way to end the season.
• we're treading thin on the Sheldon's quirks jokes. They've been hilarious, true, but there's only so much carriage you can get of them, and we've got 6 seasons so far.

Overall rating? Above average for sitcoms, in general (which I usually find to be awful), but below average for The Big Bang Theory on whole. If you're a fan of the show, don't miss, but if you're not, don't start here. Start at the beginning.