Yee-Haw, This Wasn’t It: A Review of Six-Gun Snow White (ft. Eight Great Books by Indigenous Authors)

Hello again, traveler! (Scroll to the images of a fluffy Highland cows divider for the rec list! In fact, read the rec list first! But only if you want.)

Six-Gun Snow White | Book by Catherynne M. Valente, Charlie Bowater |  Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster

SYNOPSIS:

Forget the dark, enchanted forest. Picture instead a masterfully evoked Old West where you are more likely to find coyotes as the seven dwarves. Insert into this scene a plain-spoken, appealing narrator who relates the history of our heroine’s parents — a Nevada silver baron who forced the Crow people to give up one of their most beautiful daughters, Gun That Sings, in marriage to him. Although her mother’s life ended as hers began, so begins a remarkable tale: equal parts heartbreak and strength. This girl has been born into a world with no place for a half-native, half-white child. After being hidden for years, a very wicked stepmother finally gifts her with the name Snow White, referring to the pale skin she will never have. Filled with fascinating glimpses through the fabled looking glass and a close-up look at hard living in the gritty gun-slinging West, this is an utterly enchanting story… at once familiar and entirely new. 

MY RATING: ★★

“Saint Michael doesn’t question why when the Big Dog says git.” (I just enjoyed this line.)

I picked up this book from my school’s online library because it didn’t have a wait time, hehe.

Catherynne M. Valente is (probably; this position often fluctuates! I’m more of Ken Liu stan nowadays) my favorite writer. Her works are some of the wildest rides I’ve ever caught hold of.  Six-Gun Snow White is no exception.

I’m still giving it two stars, though.

Hear me out!

Continue reading “Yee-Haw, This Wasn’t It: A Review of Six-Gun Snow White (ft. Eight Great Books by Indigenous Authors)”

I Watched Parasite (2019) and I Can’t Stop Thinking About It

Watch Parasite (English Subtitled) | Prime Video

Synopsis:

Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.

MY RATING:

I’m unsure how to rate movies and shows on this blog. Books are a different story entirely (no pun intended. Can this be considered a pun?) since Goodreads‘s five-point star-system is an easily applicable outline. I’m certainly going to be divulging my thoughts below! But a rating? Let me think about it for one second.

(Thinking…)

Stars it is!

★★★★★

(It slapped.)

Hey there, traveler!

On November 24, 2020, I watched Parasite (2019) via a free trial subscription to Hulu (to relish during Fall Break and Fall Break only), perched on a blue suede sofa and sandwiched between my mother (who dislikes “scary movies” such as this one, and deigned to watch Parasite for my sake. She’s also a big fan of Park So-Dam) and younger brother (he was finishing his World History homework, and figured that a movie would be good background noise). 

It is 1:14 A.M. on Thanksgiving Day, November 26 (and the days leech on as I piece together this review), and I still can’t stop thinking about it.

Indeed, Bong Joon-ho’s masterpiece has infiltrated my mind the way Herpes zoster easily infiltrates the Cupid’s bow of a susceptible host. Though my symbiotic relationship with Parasite is more commensalistic than anything. Parasite is the reef shark, existing, and I latch onto it: the gaping remora.

The movie was incredible.

Thank you for reading!

Okay, okay, but like — 

(When did this blog become a film-review blog? What turns of fate and fortune took me here? My best friend never left our hometown to study abroad, thereby referring me for a tutoring gig with the high-school student he has a crush on. I didn’t weave a web of intrigue and deceit — I can barely weave on a Rainbow Loom. I’m just on my laptop, y’all.)

Spoilers for Parasite to follow. 

Speaking of spoilers, I have a confession to make (real quick): 

Spoilers are my ambrosia — my life-force. I bask in all their prowess. I follow Twitter currently-reading threads to the end, even if the read in question waits unfinished on my e-reader. My YouTube history is filled with video-essay analyses of movies and books I have never experienced. (Side note: some of my fave creators are Accented Cinema, Yhara zayd, Be Kind Rewind, Ladyknightthebrave, and Cold Crash Pictures!) When I was younger, I’d skip to the end of novels, bored by the second-act lulls and curious to see how the story concluded. (I don’t do this anymore. At least not as much!) 

I live life on the edge.

Parasite was different.

I refrained from heeding the scrutinizing opinions of video essayists. Traveler, I didn’t even glance at Parasite’s Rotten Tomatoes score (quite an achievement for me). I had a vague understanding of the concepts explored in the film — wealth and poverty, greed and avarice, retribution and justice. 

Otherwise, I entered the story blind.

I highly recommend that you do the same.

Tangent over! Shall we?

Continue reading “I Watched Parasite (2019) and I Can’t Stop Thinking About It”