Strange Planet

Strange Planet

- Nathan Pyle -

I laugh heartily at humour of this sort - a different perspective on the behaviours of humans.
This book takes you through common moments in the lives of us humans, the only difference is that it is told through the eyes of Aliens...which points out how absurd some of our behaviours and customs are. Like putting open flames in the face of a child to celebrate their birthday. The Aliens go through the routine of lighting candles on a birthday cake and then blowing them out. But when you change the words around, thesaurus style, it seems hilarious - bring a confection of flaming wax cylinders to celebrate another planetary rotation. Then exhaled upon the cake and we will consume it!

Strange Planet Birthday Cake

Most of the book is full of similar jokes. Which, funny enough, are often just recycled jokes from the past. 
The one example I can think of is how the aliens find a pet (aka animal companion) cat and it starts to purr. They comment that it appeared to have turned on. 

Cat joke - new age

Well, I remember laughing at a comic from The Family Circus Comics when I was eight years old (so many many moons ago) where one of the kids puts his ear to the cat and says, "Mom, the cat's motor is running". Very similar joke. Very funny. 

Cat Joke - old age

Timeless humour. Taking a human experience and putting a spin on it. It's been done over and over, and Strange Planet seems to be a great example of the latest spin for this generation.

I've been a big fan of humour like this since I was a kid. Like I mentioned I remember being young and reading Family Circus books and having a good laugh. I moved on to The Far Side by Gary Larson, which now that I look at it, seems to be very similar humour. 

While Family Circus took a funny take on life through the misinterpretations of children...like the cat's motor running.

The Far Side took a similar twist on human experiences. I always liked the one where the basketball pops and the players ask 'what do we do now'...a situation you can relate to, however, it was placed on a deserted island with nothing else around. That twist makes it funny.

Or the real reason dinosaurs went extinct...taking a human experience and putting it into a different context/species makes it seem funny.

Far side dinos acting like humans

Long story, Strange planet does a great job, just as great at Family Circus or The Far Side, of making fun of our human experience. And, what's more fun than laughing at ourselves? Laughing at animals behaving like us? Laughing at Aliens behaving like us? What's next robots having emotions...now that's funny! 

I would say, take this book for a spin. It was rated the best humour book of the year 2020 on Goodread.com, which is what inspired me to pick it up . I can't argue that it was funny and original take on life. I would have liked to see more...but, I guess I can't really complain, there is a book #2.

TINTIN BOOKS!!!

TINTIN BOOKS

- Hergé -

One of my literary challenges this year was to delve into the world of the "Graphic Novel" (aka comic books). This genre is continually coming up in my booklife. Online, I seem to be in a crowd of Graphic Novel readers and lovers. Offline, I noticed our library had set up a Graphic Novel section...right near my regular haunts in the Fantasy and Western section. Which makes me think a couple of things. 1) Since when did comic books become 'literature'?  2) Maybe I should take this genre a bit more seriously...I would probably enjoy it anyway.

After some quick google-wikipedia style research, one name kept coming up again and again - Tintin. I've decided to start my journey at the beginning. Apparently the Tintin series was a ground breaker in this genre. Shock to me as I remember reading these books when I was young. Why not reread them and see what they are like through adult eyes?
So, off I go to the library to search out a Tintin.



THE CALCULUS AFFAIR  - #18

According to reviews this book is the best of the series. Um, ok, I guess I was expecting more on the 'novel' front. Perhaps I'll have to read a few more before I come to any conclusions of my own.
The 'graphic' front was great. I was very surprised by how good the 'comics' were. The detail in the pictures was outstanding, especially the crowded marketplace scene. You could easily get a good feel for the time period, the location, and the action that was happening. You could even follow the story just by the pictures alone.
The story was good but felt too rushed...is that to be expected when pictures are added? To sum it up, Prof. Calculus invents a sound machine that could be used as a weapon. He is kidnapped by some secret agent types from what appears to be a cold war era communist country in an attempt to steal his idea. Tintin and the Captain go on a whirlwind tour of what looks like Eastern Europe or East Germany in an attempt to save the professor. As shown by the cover of the book they do save him, but, it was a close one. Thrown in with this action packed adventure was a humorous bit involving a pushy insurance salesman - that was a highlight for me.
But, I did have a hard time dealing with the lack of a backstory. As I stated, I am a novel reader.

EXPLORERS ON THE MOON - #17

Ahh, I'm reading these things all out of order. But, it doesn't make any difference, they are all essentially stand alone stories. Or, at least it seems that way to me after reading two.
This 'episode' was great! Tintin and the gang mistakenly board a spaceship to the moon. Somehow they manage to land the ship on the moon without any mishap. Then, Tintin takes the historic first steps on the moon. The Captain joins in and they go exploring a bit.
In the meantime, an evil villain has stowedaway on the ship...I guess a lot of this is explained in #16...he comes out of hiding and takes over the rocket. Luckily, Tintin is there to save the day, using only a wrench and a pistol I might add.
Explorers was actually kind of humorous with the Captain continually being the brunt of physical harm type jokes (he must have bashed his head two dozen times!) or the Captain getting drunk on his smuggled whiskey.
Onto #10.


THE SHOOTING STAR - #10

Shooting Star was more like the Tintin I remember of my short stint reading them in my youth. This one was far fetched and was so full of scientific holes it could have been mistaken for swiss cheese, haha. But, that is what made it fun.

An earth shattering juggernaut of a meteorite smashes into the Arctic and causes little damage b/c it lands in the ocean. Tintin and crew decide to go find it on the theory that it contains a new mineral non native to Earth. However, a rival gang has the same idea. Tintin and crew win, of course, however, there is more to this meteor than meets the eye. Strange things happen, like the giant mushroom as pictured on the cover. This fantasy science was one part I found pretty amusing. The race was also full of adventure including a harrowing plane flight. There was also a lot of that repetitive humour (The Captain and his drinking problem the majority of the jokes). Ahh, the perfect Tintin.