Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Book Review: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

This was a very fun book, and as usual, it was much better than the movie.  Reading this book reminded of the movie “A Knight’s Tale.”  My mother-in-law hates that movie because it is historically inaccurate.  It takes place in the 1370’s but has the crowd at jousting tournaments chanting “We Will Rock You” by Queen.  The movie does an excellent job at making us feel what the people felt back then.  They were excited! I’ll even bet the music was probably loud and rebellious for their time.

That is how Percy Jackson makes me feel about Greek/Roman Mythology – it brings it all to life.  It makes it modern; it makes the gods, the titans, the demi-gods – all real.  It makes the stories fun and relevant.  When I was in grade school and we watched “The Clash of the Titans” I only thought it was cool because there were swords and blood.  I didn’t understand the story, the villains weren’t really that scary, and the hero wasn’t inspirational – it was just a REALLY REALLY old story being told in an old black and white movie.  This book changes all that.  It weaves a new tale into the classic mythology.  It makes the gods and their personalities and passions modern and real.  It makes it exciting and fun – and it makes you want to learn more.  I admit – when I finished the book, I went straight to Wikipedia to look up the different gods and see who was related to whom, why they were rivals, who killed who, etc…  I was completely enthralled in the world of Greek mythology.

It’s a great book:  It’s clean, it’s fun, and it makes you want more.

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