Thought Train to Pusan

Where to begin with this one? In anticipation for the film adaptation of Call Me By Your Name coming out later this year, I chose to read André Aciman’s novel on which it is based. Well, actually, it’s not so simple as that: I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see the film at all, for some reason that I can’t really explain. And so, for some reason, I figured that reading this book first would tell me if I wanted to see the movie? I don’t know, it doesn’t entirely make sense, but what I do know is that I did find something here: connections and feeling that I am all to familiar with, yet weren’t so overtly tragic or following the typical “coming-of-age-coming-out” formula that I’ve seen so often. It’s more than anything else, an examination of desire, and how it can affect us so deeply. The story of Call Me By Your Name is about a young boy named Elio, and the relationship he forms with Oliver, the summer guest of his family’s home in Italy. Elio is immediately drawn to Oliver, but ha...

Sometimes, at comic expos I decide that I can wear these deer antlers I have for no reason other than I feel like it. I usually pair this up with my regular everyday clothes (normally some kind of plaid flannel) and on my way I go! The last few times, however, I noticed for sale a comic series by the name of Sweet Tooth featuring a boy with deer antlers wearing a plaid shirt. And I think, "whoa, I unintentionally cosplayed!" Oh hey, I'm actually in that getup in my avatar at the moment, too, go figure! And so, after a long period of time sitting on my wish/to-read list, I finally dive into the first book of the series, by Canadian author Jeff Lemire. This first book joins together volumes 1 and 2 of Sweet Tooth , with story arcs respectively titled "Out of the Deep Woods" and "In Captivity". The story takes place in a rural, post-apocalyptic America, after an illness has wiped out most of the population, mostly all at once but people continue to g...