I’m supposed to be writing about my projects. Like these really cool socks I’m working on for my March KAL.
or how much I love the heel flap. 
But the literature geek in me is only thinking of 2 things.
and 
It’s sad that I only started reading the Harry Potter books recently. I’m completely hooked, but part of me is already longing to move on to the Baroom books that John Carter was based on. If you haven’t seen John Carter, make a point of catching it before it leaves the theatres.
I know. I know what you’re thinking. It looks like a mash-up of a bunch of sci-fi movies you’ve already seen. What you may not know is that John Carter came before Star Wars, and Avatar, and Dune. It was written in 1917 by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the same man who brought us Tarzan. And fortunately for us, Burroughs seemed to enjoy writing stories about men in loincloths.
*blink*
When I came home from seeing the movie, I wanted two things. First, to have my sons with me so we could have one of our old-fashioned discussions about the merits of the film. I have no doubt we’d be discussing who stole what from Burroughs. Second, I knew I had to read the books. Reading would be the definitive way of identifying what parts inspired the stories that came after these books. Right away I saw Star Wars and Avatar had been influenced heavily by Burroughs’ Barsoom. Carter’s exploration of Barsoom (Mars) was in some ways very similar to Ransom’s exploration of Malacandra in C. S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet. Even more there is a very Braveheart moment and there are characters very similar to The Watchers in Fringe.
When I mentioned these things to my sons in the far-off lands of Texas, I was presented with this. “How John Carter Made Me Young Again.” Yes, yes, yes. This is exactly how I felt about the movie. It’s a heroic tale. It’s a space epic. It’s…it’s…it’s just what I needed. See the movie. Read the book. Feel young again.
wiredyarn 